RhenVao
Eyanameh
"Are you ready to begin?"
Jennifer Simpson drew a long breath. "As ready as I can be."
Dr. Hoffman leaned back into his chair and steepled his fingers. "Start from the beginning, Jennifer."
"I didn't know my parents for very long," Jennifer began. "My Dad disappeared and my mother left me after she started seeing other men. I was sent to the Granite Orphanage and fell in with a friend group." She smiled fondly at the memory. "Laura, Anne, and Lotte were the only friends I had. We were close, like sisters. We wanted to be real sisters, so we made a pact to be adopted together. One day, we were."
"Was that the day you met Mrs. Barrows?" Dr. Hoffman asked, his bushy grey eyebrows arched.
Jennifer nodded somberly. "I was fourteen when we were adopted into the Barrows family. Mrs. Barrows seemed like a kind old lady. She had a huge mansion in Oslo. We thought we would be happy there." Jennifer's face fell as the memories came flooding back in all their unpleasant horror. "Our dream lasted less than an hour before it became a living nightmare. We were attacked by a maniac wielding a giant pair of scissors. Like, garden shears, I think. He killed my friends, one by one, and I could only run and hide, fearing for my life."
Jennifer paused to rub her forehead.
Hoffman scribbled down some notes, then looked up from his clipboard. "Please, continue."
"It turns out that Mrs. Barrows adopted us to have us killed by her children. They were horrifically deformed, monstrous even." Jennifer recounted her harrowing experience at the hands of the Scissorman. She managed to survive the ordeal by killing Mrs. Barrows and her murderous children in self-defense, but at the cost of all her friends and her innocence. She didn't learn until later that Simon Barrows, the husband of Mrs. Barrows had been confined to a makeshift dungeon in the garage to prevent him from interfering in her devious plot. The poor old man succumbed to starvation before the police could reach him.
She then told Hoffman of her experiences with the second Scissorman--the resurrected Dan Barrows--and how she tried to find peace after the nightmare was over.
"Is that why you moved to Stavanger?" Dr. Hoffman inquired.
Jennifer nodded. "I couldn't stay in Oslo after two experiences like that, back-to-back. I felt I needed a fresh start in a new town where I wasn't just Jennifer Simpson, the Clock Tower Girl." She grimaced at the memory of her classmates and bystanders alike whispering about her in the halls and on the streets. There was no shortage of reporters shoving their microphones and recorders into her face, asking questions about her experiences and reopening wounds that were yet to heal. Perhaps they never would.
Eventually, Jennifer smiled. "But I feel I've finally made some progress. My child."
"You've mentioned adopting before," said Hoffman. "You adopted them."
Jennifer hummed an affirmative. "At five years-old. I saw myself in them. I wanted to give them the childhood I never had."
"Where are they now?"
"University," said Jennifer. "They're pursuing their major."
"Have they faced any hardships for their relation to you?"
Jennifer turned to look out the window. "Sometimes. I rarely speak of the incident to them because I don't want them to see me as Jennifer the Survivor. I just want to be her mother. I fear my past is casting such a large shadow, they're caught up in it. I can only hope they find their way out."
Jennifer Simpson drew a long breath. "As ready as I can be."
Dr. Hoffman leaned back into his chair and steepled his fingers. "Start from the beginning, Jennifer."
"I didn't know my parents for very long," Jennifer began. "My Dad disappeared and my mother left me after she started seeing other men. I was sent to the Granite Orphanage and fell in with a friend group." She smiled fondly at the memory. "Laura, Anne, and Lotte were the only friends I had. We were close, like sisters. We wanted to be real sisters, so we made a pact to be adopted together. One day, we were."
"Was that the day you met Mrs. Barrows?" Dr. Hoffman asked, his bushy grey eyebrows arched.
Jennifer nodded somberly. "I was fourteen when we were adopted into the Barrows family. Mrs. Barrows seemed like a kind old lady. She had a huge mansion in Oslo. We thought we would be happy there." Jennifer's face fell as the memories came flooding back in all their unpleasant horror. "Our dream lasted less than an hour before it became a living nightmare. We were attacked by a maniac wielding a giant pair of scissors. Like, garden shears, I think. He killed my friends, one by one, and I could only run and hide, fearing for my life."
Jennifer paused to rub her forehead.
Hoffman scribbled down some notes, then looked up from his clipboard. "Please, continue."
"It turns out that Mrs. Barrows adopted us to have us killed by her children. They were horrifically deformed, monstrous even." Jennifer recounted her harrowing experience at the hands of the Scissorman. She managed to survive the ordeal by killing Mrs. Barrows and her murderous children in self-defense, but at the cost of all her friends and her innocence. She didn't learn until later that Simon Barrows, the husband of Mrs. Barrows had been confined to a makeshift dungeon in the garage to prevent him from interfering in her devious plot. The poor old man succumbed to starvation before the police could reach him.
She then told Hoffman of her experiences with the second Scissorman--the resurrected Dan Barrows--and how she tried to find peace after the nightmare was over.
"Is that why you moved to Stavanger?" Dr. Hoffman inquired.
Jennifer nodded. "I couldn't stay in Oslo after two experiences like that, back-to-back. I felt I needed a fresh start in a new town where I wasn't just Jennifer Simpson, the Clock Tower Girl." She grimaced at the memory of her classmates and bystanders alike whispering about her in the halls and on the streets. There was no shortage of reporters shoving their microphones and recorders into her face, asking questions about her experiences and reopening wounds that were yet to heal. Perhaps they never would.
Eventually, Jennifer smiled. "But I feel I've finally made some progress. My child."
"You've mentioned adopting before," said Hoffman. "You adopted them."
Jennifer hummed an affirmative. "At five years-old. I saw myself in them. I wanted to give them the childhood I never had."
"Where are they now?"
"University," said Jennifer. "They're pursuing their major."
"Have they faced any hardships for their relation to you?"
Jennifer turned to look out the window. "Sometimes. I rarely speak of the incident to them because I don't want them to see me as Jennifer the Survivor. I just want to be her mother. I fear my past is casting such a large shadow, they're caught up in it. I can only hope they find their way out."
Welcome to my first interest check in... well, months! I wanted to hone in on something specific, and chose the Clock Tower series. I feel it's an underrated franchise that would be fun to delve into. I wanted to take an approach similar to the 2018 Halloween film, where the original story is the backdrop for the events of the present day, with returning legacy characters.
Here's the pitch. Your OC is the adopted son or daughter of Jennifer Simpson. They're pursuing their major in University, when a new string of Scissorman killings rock campus, and it soon becomes clear that YC is their primary target. As the body count rises and the killer closes in, it's up to YC, along with the aid of friends, to uncover the horrors that inhabit campus grounds.
Some ground rules:
- I roleplay with those above the age of 18. This non-negotiable. I'm only comfortable roleplaying with other adults.
- Given my relative free time, I can put out a reply once or multiple times a day, perhaps bi-weekly at the slowest. If that rate changes, I will inform you ahead of time. That being said, do not feel pressured to match my reply rate. This is simply for your knowledge!
- There will be periods where I disappear for a time, and I will endeavor to inform you when one of those periods come, so we can put the roleplay on hold until I return, without confusion or worry that I dropped things.
- While I have a direction for the plot, it never hurts to collaborate on the details and characters. That is half the fun of a roleplay, after all!
- If you're new to Clock Tower, or have never played it or even seen a walk-through of the games, don't feel daunted. I'll be sure to break you in so that you're at least familiar with the history and characters. The one good thing about taking after the "re-quel" trend is that it's a good jumping on point for late/newcomers. A fellow fan of the series is always welcome, however!
- I'm not going to have my feelings hurt if you ghost. It's just a reality of the site that a lot of us have to live with, and stuff happens. I get it!
- Face claim-wise, I can do anime, realistic, and other character art. It's open to discussion at your discretion!
- As demonstrated by my prologue above, I write third-person, past tense and prefer to write with a partner who does the same, for consistency! I am very capable of writing multiple paragraphs. Sometimes, I can write several for the sake of setting a scene, or a few for easier flow of dialogue. It depends on what's needed. Don't feel like you have to write ten to twenty paragraphs. If you can provide even one or two well-written paragraphs that give me something to work with, I'll be happy.
If you're interested, please DM me! I look forward to hearing from you, fellow players!
