Hey there, everyone! I'm Larry Lang, better known in the ring as the Golden Boy of Coney Island! If you got something to say to me, step up to the mat. Status: Dead [This is a Dangan Ronpa character blog associated with the Doubt Academy RP group.]
So, with Doubt Academy 2 having officially been wrapped up, I thought it would be fun to voice a bit of Larry's early dialogue. Unfortunately...this cut is pretty bad. There were a few people asleep where I was at the time of recording, so I couldn't be quite as animated as would be necessary to accurately portray Larry. I'll have to do a better cut at some point, but yeah: Larry's first big speech of Doubt Academy 2: White--his defense against accusations that he had murdered Takibana Koemi.
Thanks again for all the great memories, guys! And for all our readers, thanks for sticking with us and being as big a part of this as the players and the GMs! You're all great!
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First off, everyone: I want to apologize for being so severely MIA. A combination of life obligations, technology mishaps, and work scheduling has kept me away for far longer than I'd have liked; even as I type this up, I'm actually on my lunch break at work, using the wireless here to post.
Since this first fact was guessed fairly into the game, I'll start here: Larry's surname, Lang, is a reference to James "Clubber" Lang--Rocky's opponent, played by Mr. T, in the film Rocky III.
Furthering the reference, Larry's given birthday, May 28th, is the day Rocky III was released to theaters, with only the year adjusted to make his age fit the guidelines for DA2.
A character trait that was eventually cut from his overall character was that Larry was initially supposed to have a fear of knives. This would have been due to the fact that, since his hands are his livelihood, any accidents with a knife (which he had experienced once in his early youth) could end his career. There was even evidence of this in his room, with the remainders of sandwiches left about--sandwiches were one of the few foods Larry could make in the kitchen with relatively small risk to his hands. However, this trait was retconned out, as it didn't fit with his overall personality.
A small detail: Larry's relationship with someone could be gauged by paying attention to how he addressed them. Casual acquaintances and relative strangers were often referred to solely by their last name, and the honorific "-san" (I.E. - Ueyama-san) or "-dono" in the case of Mimi Arakaki. Closer acquaintances and new friends were referred to by their first name, again with the honorific "-san" (I.E. - Kiyoshi-san). Friends, allies, and romantic interests of sufficient closeness were referred to by first names, with the appropriate honorific "-kun" or "-chan" (I.E. - Kazuya-kun, Koemi-chan). Finally, people of enduring importance to Larry were referred to by first name, sans honorifics, or by nicknames (I.E. - "Little Brother" Eiji Oshirou, etc.) depending on their exact relationship to him.
The above fact leads to...a rather amusing anecdote that never came up during the small window of time it would have been relevant. As some of you may recall, I, at one point, wrote a smutfic of Larry x Mimi called "Cold Comfort". While initially meant to be little more than fiction created based on some jokes tossed around in the NSFW chat...Cold Comfort later became canon, as a result of collaboration between myself and Mimi's lovely, amazingly talented mun. Yes, Larry and Mimi ended up becoming 'intimate' following the Renée/Ritsuka trial. In their mutual grief over both losing their loved ones, Larry and Mimi turned to each other for comfort, leading to a one-night stand between them. This was supposed to be further expanded on, leading to deeper character development between the two, but was derailed following Mimi's murder, as the preceding two weeks leading up to it, Larry had been heavily embroiled in a private investigation.
The small window of time when the above anecdote would've been relevant? The 'naked trial' a.k.a. Adeline/Marian's trial, if I'm not mistaken (please correct me if I'm wrong). Two subtle pieces of evidence hinted at the altered relationship between Larry and Mimi: the first piece of evidence was that, from that trial forward, Larry switched from addressing Mimi as "Arakaki-dono" to "Mimi-chan." The second piece of evidence? Larry's back. Because of the cursory nature of the naked trial, Larry never had to show his back to the class--an event he remarked on with relief during an internal monologue. Had he been made to reveal his back, the marks from Mimi's nails would have still been visible, most likely necessitating the need for him to explain their origin.
To a handful (if not more) of the players, Larry's deteriorating mental state was no secret. However, a small detail that may have made it under the radar, was Larry's Madness Mantra. Yes, Larry had a phrase that he would repeat whenever he felt his sanity starting to slip. The phrase? "It's gotta get worse before it gets better." (Seriously, if you feel so inclined, take a look back at each time he says it: he's very rarely himself after doing so.)
Related to Larry's declining mental health: though I only ever got around to having Koemi and Fumiko featured in one, Larry's hallucinations of his dead classmates was initially intended to be a recurring event, that often followed a particularly stressful trial. Due to time constraints, I didn't get an opportunity to collaborate with you all as much as I would've liked, so his remaining hallucinations were relegated to subtle cues in his inner monologues. These near-constant hallucinations are why Larry seems largely unfazed that he's able to talk to Koemi utilizing the specialized facilities in the Spa, and why arriving in the 'deadside' spa didn't leave him confused or disoriented.
A meta example: Larry's mental state and overall personality was reflected in the autoplay on his blog. Early on, it consisted of upbeat, almost inappropriate music--given the situation he was in--reflecting Larry's denial that everyone would come out of the Spa fine, and that he could still save the majority of his classmates, ultimately becoming the 'big hero'. When he was enraged over Renée's death, his autoplay consisted of aggressive, beat-heavy music, while his declining sanity was marked with more melancholy, eerie tunes.
Larry's haircut was largely symbolic: his afro symbolized Larry the "Showman": big, over-the-top, and largely a gimmick meant to make him stand out and be seen as an entertainer and athlete. When he cut it down to the fauxhawk, it was a return to form for him: He was dedicated, focused, relying on his body and mind to see him through, instead of depending on his persona as a 'celebrity'. Instead of Larry the Showman, he was--for a brief time--Larry the Boxer once more.
Larry's love of the occult was exacerbated further by the events of DA2. Being surrounded by death, the supernatural, and a constant environment of lying, secrecy, and ulterior motives, his penchant for the eerie, unexplained, and even taboo, was gradually rising to the surface. This can be glimpsed in a lot of his behavior up to, and including, Mitsuko's murder. Mitsuko's murder, in and of itself, was almost ritualistic--the presentation meant to make his classmates see a 'higher truth': his belief that either Mitsuko herself, or Naoto was the Mastermind. (That he was wrong on both counts is what contributed to his attempt at gracefully accepting his death: with most of the more informed students now dead, and Naoto being the last of his former secret investigation team remaining, Larry accepted that he wasn't any closer to finding the Mastermind than when he started.)
Speaking of his former investigation team, Larry had developed a special bond with Noa Kita, a.k.a. Yukiko Asahara. Initially starstruck that he was speaking to one of his favorite horror authors, Larry came to respect her both as a friend, and as something of a mentor. Regardless of her feelings on the matter, Larry saw in Yukiko something noble. She was ultimately well-intentioned, if not occasionally misguided in her attempts, and that spoke volumes about who she was as a person. This is why, even after learning that Yukiko was the one who killed Renée, Larry still saw her as a friend and continued to act warmly towards her. That vague element of hero worship was still in play however, in the sense that--save for a few moments of weakness on his part--he never saw Yukiko in a romantic/sexual light: she was "too far above him" to think such base thoughts about her. This gradually tapered off after his death, leading to more equal and genuine friendship between the two.
There's probably more I can think of given time, but this post is already running on WAY too long, and my break is pretty much almost over. Thank you so much for your time, attention, and to my fellow players and our great GMs, another massive thanks to all of you for a wonderful experience that, honestly, I most likely won't ever forget. Here's to you, and to Doubt Academy. Let's prepare for endgame!
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A blighted, monotone wasteland sat lifeless under a sky of eternal dusk. Dead trees, their emaciated limbs clawing at the sky like the hands of so many fallen souls, stood arranged in an eerie uniformity. A hot, dry wind billowed across the macabre expanse. A pale ring of light shone down upon the otherwise featureless tableau; whether it was moon or sun remained unclear. And standing lost, at its center, was Lawrence Lang.
He felt as though he had been traveling this lonely purgatory for an eternity. Things like thirst and hunger troubled him not, his only burden being the weight of the guilt and despair that seemed to hang from his back and shoulders, threatening to drag him down into the cracked earth. Aimlessly he had wandered, deviating little from the immediate path before him.
"Not that it would matter." The boxer thought bitterly, continuing his hopeless journey. "I haven't seen anything that would suggest I'm making any progress towards...well...anything."
The fatigue that had been steadily building within him finally reached a head, and he took refuge at the base of a nearby tree, the otherworldly incandescent orb in the sky causing it to cast a rather lengthy shadow--one of the few lucky breaks he'd had.
"<I have no clue where I am...I have no idea how I even got here...this is hopeless.>"
Larry sighed, pressing his head back against the gnarled trunk, his eyes closing in a facsimile of peace. The parched air made breathing uncomfortable, but doable. He had laid there for but a few moments, when he felt a sudden pressure on his wrist, which woke him with a start. Looking down, he noticed a delicate, pale hand clinging to him, and as his gaze sprinted along the hand, up an arm, to its source, he was confronted with a tangle of black hair, and his words collapsed in his throat as the apparition called out to him.
"Lawrence."
A line of cold fire exploded along his spine.
"<FUCK!>"
Tumbling out of his bed, Lawrence Lang found himself on the floor of his dorm, drawing in shallow, ragged breaths as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. It had just been another nightmare. This was a comparatively tame one, though that brought him little tranquility.
"<Goddammit...again...>"
Larry picked himself up off the floor. He tried hard to mentally retrace his steps. After witnessing the execution of Yukiko Asahara, something within the boxer had shut down. Perhaps it was a self-defense mechanism, but with not a word to any of his classmates, Larry slipped out of the courtroom, and back to his dorm, promptly collapsing into bed. As he gazed at its now rumpled surface, no doubt in such a state from his restless tossing and turning, he could make out the faint outline of his body, and realized he had broken out into a cold sweat.
"<Yukiko...what's goin' on? Are you...tryin' to tell me somethin' from the other side? And why me?>"
Larry swallowed hard, finally getting a handle on his emotions.
"<Take it easy, Lang...you're just...you're just gettin' bent out of shape because...because Yukiko is...>"
Even just thinking of saying the words made bile rise in his throat, and it took him a moment to steady himself once more.
"<You can't crack yet. Get it together...you're the last person she can depend on to solve this thing...there'll be time to grieve when this is all over.>"
The pep talk Larry recited to himself like a mantra served less to reassure him, and more to give him a point of focus--a means to distract himself from the reality of the situation long enough to continue his investigation. He knew such deep denial couldn't be healthy for him, especially in his current state, but if he gave in to his feelings now, he would surely enter a pit of despair from which even his strength could not extricate him.
"<And remember...the Mastermind vote was wrong...Yukiko was innocent. She's...you need to find the real Mastermind and bring them to justice. Not just for her. For everyone: Koemi...Fumiko...Renée...Mimi...Kazuya and Jaejin...them and every other student that'd been killed in these pointless murders. You may not be a hero...but you'll be damned if you're not gonna try all the same. So get your shit together and start bein' useful.>"
The boxer barely believed his own words. But they were enough to keep him from crawling back into bed and pulling the sheets over his head, isolating himself from the Resort and its horrors.
"<Shower and get your grind on; it's time to go to work.>"
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((Once again, I'm going to be reblogging any recent Larry posts that I missed from the last trial. I end up getting so into the trial that I forget to reblog them then and there, so pardon my dust, and apologies for any confusion or clutter this causes on your dash. Orz
I'll be making a post to say when I'm done with the reblogs and stuff, just to be certain. Thank you for your time and patience!))
"Well, you see...my gloves actually have a [REDACTED] so I can [REDACTED] without any sort of problems. Even better, if I [REDACTED], I can also use them to make julienne fries."
<Warning, unauthorized use of Bright Side Spa & Resort computers will have all offending materials censored for content before being published. Please refrain from using the network for frivolous or incriminating activities in the future.>
"Kawasaki-san...yeah, sure. Nothin' much has changed, but as usual--when a body shows up, I leave my room unlocked. You're free to look around, if you like." The boxer seems more preoccupied than usual. There's a sort of lost, hollow look in his eyes as he waves the seiyuu off in the direction of his room and continues further down the hallway.
When I’d try to count all the simple feelings,
I’d find I forgot even the warmth you shared with me
Goodbye, and we’ll never, ever meet again;
That’s just what feeling I get, that’s just what I thought…
I can’t smile wide, I’m stuck, there’s nothing I can do…
( x ) - d o n u t h o l e ; hachi ft. gumi -
In the end, I remembered that little word
Taking my breaths calmly, my eyes opened up…
My eyes opened up… My eyes opened up…
Your name is -
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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((I'm going to be reblogging some of my trial posts and other pre-(Ab)normal Days posts that I didn't have time to get to early. Sorry for any confusion that results! orz ))