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GODSONG PERMISSIONS OPT-IN

Arguably, the most important plot device inherent to THE WICKED + THE DIVINE is how the gods inspire humanity -- and this session of godlings employ sound/music. The divine influence speaks to the essence of the human condition, to the persuasion of love and hate and hope and despair, to all the little agonies and glories that define a human life. There is literally an entire issue (1923) that explores the reverberation of Pantheon influence through art upon the century to come -- in the WicDiv universe, it is life that imitates art, gods that describe mortals, fresh creation in the manic zeitgeist of bottled lightning. For better or worse.

Baphomet's own sound is barely examined in the comic itself; his only exhibition is a TRULY INFURIATED duet with the Morrigan, so the impact of his godsong will be highly headcanoned. Given his canon themes (captivity, tragedy, rage, resilience) and his ACTUAL GOD NERGAL divinity spheres of influence (war, death, pestilence, the high noon sun), I conceive his godsong as infectious and heated, like a glow beneath the skin that can never be scratched out. His song inspires rebellion -- to an extreme degree, riot. Depending on the individual receptive to his sound, this could be a questioning of one's priorities, a new burst of defiance against oppressive forces, it could be a break of old bad habits, it could be a total annihilation of the painstakingly built life one had made for oneself. His song is an OUTBREAK. It is a PLAGUE, it is BREAKING FREE. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely on the player working with it plotwise.

His godsong must be audibly heard -- it can be heard over social media, over the Network, but it must be verbally delivered (nothing psychic, that wouldn't have impact). While Baphomet's godlike state grants him unusual durability, he will always be at his weakest when he's performing his godsong. Severe injury and even death can obliterate him more easily in those moments.

If you are interested in being susceptible to Baphomet's song, please fill out the following:

<B>CHARACTER NAME:</B> <B>CHARACTER POWERS:</B> <B>CHARACTER FAVORITE CELESTIAL EVENT:</B> <B>CHARACTER FEARS:</B>

I'll reply with a likely range of how your character might be affected. You don't HAVE to play that out, but if you're looking for some direction, feel free to use it! Please remember that any murdering/major property damage committed in game still needs modly approval.

〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Sara
AGE: 100000
JOURNAL: noematic

PLURK: cyanidetimes
RETURNING: Yes, I play Frederick Chilton

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Baphomet
CHARACTER AGE: Ambiguously between 19-21
CANON ORIGIN: The Wicked + The Divine
CHRONOLOGY: Christmas 2014, referenced in issue #27
CLASS: Soft goth antihero
HOUSING: Anywhere except Maurtia Falls, since I already have Frederick Chilton living there

BACKGROUND: In the world of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, there exists The Pantheon -- twelve gods are reincarnated every 90 years (otherwise known as the Recurrence) to allegedly inspire and innovate humanity. Their godhood is comprised of mortality's envy, which is to say that the gods are beautiful and supernatural and irrevocably famous. But they are also brief, and after their two years of glory are up, they then die (usually brutally, only sometimes with panache). The main thrust of the story picks up in 2013 in a world otherwise very similar to our own, and moves onwards through the months and years to follow.

Baphomet Ascended (which is to say, he was turned godly after having lived a mortal life) only because his Complicated Relationship Status Marian (the Morrigan) had asked a favor of Ananke (one mean lady). Originally Ascended as Nergal, Baphomet masquerades as a different god for fear of ridicule in the face of his looming demise.

Also: a character-specific wiki page.

PERSONALITY: The trick to the ticking coil that is Baphomet unravels quite simply: he is someone deeply uncomfortable with himself. He is afraid, despite his bravado. He is codependent, despite his isolation. He is a boy who desperately does not want to die, yet he cannot truly commit to living. Self-proclaimed Baphomet, born as Cameron, Ascended as Nergal, embraces the slick facade of a wordsmithing, smirking, glib prince of darkness because that is much easier than measuring the person he really should be. He relies heavily on his wittiness and charm to survive social situations, and his casual rebellious streak (too often) wins him affection. Nevertheless, his impulse to mask and remake himself is not one free of tension; his frustration at himself often manifests in self-destructive ways. He cheats on Marian/the Morrigan. A lot. She reacts violently. Often. He says he deserves it -- every time. While he is aware of a vicious cycle, his nihilistic tendencies afford him no ambition to escape it. He knows his relationship with the Morrigan is codependency at its most destructive, and he is content to embrace it.

His dismal perspective and waning self-esteem does not, however, color his outwardly demeanor. Baphomet often displays (sometimes ill-timed) gallows humor, and he has a knack for lightening up a dark room. He isn't prone to brooding, not publicly, and he generally maintains a genial, jocular rapport with those he considers to be good company. Part of his demeanor is due to his resilience, and part to the fact that he deeply cares about what people think of him. Only with highly intimate individuals, people he truly trusts, would he ever betray real emotional vulnerability.

Emotional coherence is something that Baphomet can tune into; despite his personal tragedies and his tendency to internalize his problems, he is adept at identifying emotional pain in others, and lending a hand to help (as best he can). He is ironically compassionate and empathetic, something that would contradict his "goth bad boy" brand, but he maintains a persistence of being there for the emotionally tormented. His temporary nursing of Persephone, after she had witnessed Inanna's (presumed) murder and the murder of her entire family, was born of patience and empathy, two qualities that rarely would anyone else in the Pantheon show their traumatized brethren (the exception being Actual Good Person Dionysus). And while he doesn't always take the right steps in his quest to help others, his instinct is certainly not to turn his back. He understands that he hurts Marian, and that understanding helps excuse her controlling behavior in his mind -- it helps him rationalize his way to stay at her side.

This sediment of kindness is not an endlessly renewable resource, however, and his better instincts are often hampered by his impulsive, reckless behavior and shortened temper. These qualities feed into his aforementioned self-destructive tendencies, and these patterns pack into his behavior so thoroughly that he sometimes buys into the narrative that others weave -- like Ananke attempting to frame him for murder, in part by manipulating Baphomet into nearly killing Inanna (or, at least, Baph certainly attempting to do so). After he figures out her scam, he is quick to belittle himself before blaming her for the manipulation; Baphomet rarely consider himself to be worthy of esteem, and that alone might make most individuals angry and defiant.

(Important note: punning is not a personality trait, so I'm not going to talk about how puns are half his dialogue.)

POWER:
PYROKINESIS (aka Trashfire)
As a sun-turned-underground god, Nergal inherently possesses the ability to ignite, combust, and control fire. Fortunately for him, as he is pretending to be Baphomet, this ability is generally assumed to be chthonic (or even demonic) in nature -- but it is limited to a combustion range within his immediate vicinity. I tend to judge it by eyesight: if he is present and can see it, he can burn it. Baphomet has never demonstrated the ability to ignite remote fires (i.e. over social media), and he is immune to the effects of fire -- something that is pretty important, since he touches it a lot.

IDEA GOLEMS (that's what he calls them, or aka Light Thinkums)
Baph can generate realistic illusions and communicate through them. He explains the constructs as "voices in his head" that he "makes live" (WICDIV, issue #27), and demonstrates the ability to create anything from complex architecture to human beings with apparent personalities. It can be assumed that these idea golems do not last more than 24 hours, and that the more complex the construction the more draining it is for him. Moreover, these illusions are ONLY illusions; while they can talk and move, they can take up space like any prop might, but they cannot fight, they cannot inflict damage to people or the immediate environment, and they cannot physically impair. He isn't about to raise an army of "undead" spookies, here. Baphomet only seems to use this power for emotional impact, as exhibited when he reconstructs Persephone's dead mother, father, and younger sister as "idea golems" so that she might experience some therapeutic closure. It is rational to believe that anyone (imPort or otherwise) with the ability to see through illusions would be able to detect Baph's idea golems for what they truly were.

GODSONG (aka This Needs A Permissions Post)
So this one needs an Opt-In Permissions Post. Arguably, the most important plot device inherent to THE WICKED + THE DIVINE is how the gods inspire humanity -- and this session of godlings employ sound/music. The divine influence speaks to the essence of the human condition, to the persuasion of love and hate and hope and despair, to all the little agonies and glories that define a human life. There is literally an entire issue (1923) that explores the reverberation of Pantheon influence through art upon the century to come -- in the WicDiv universe, it is life that imitates art, gods that describe mortals, fresh creation in the manic zeitgeist of bottled lightning. For better or worse.

Baphomet's own sound is barely examined in the comic itself; his only exhibition is a TRULY INFURIATED duet with the Morrigan, so the impact of his godsong will be highly headcanoned. Given his canon themes (captivity, tragedy, rage, resilience) and his ACTUAL GOD NERGAL divinity spheres of influence (war, death, pestilence, the high noon sun), I conceive his godsong as infectious and heated, like a glow beneath the skin that can never be scratched out. His song inspires rebellion -- to an extreme degree, riot. Depending on the individual receptive to his sound, this could be a questioning of one's priorities, a new burst of defiance against oppressive forces, it could be a break of old bad habits, it could be a total annihilation of the painstakingly built life one had made for oneself. His song is an OUTBREAK. It is a PLAGUE, it is BREAKING FREE. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely on the player working with it plotwise.

His godsong must be audibly heard -- it can be heard over social media, over the Network, but it must be verbally delivered (nothing psychic, that wouldn't have impact). While Baphomet's godlike state grants him unusual durability, he will always be at his weakest when he's performing his godsong. Severe injury and even death can obliterate him more easily in those moments.


〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: recent TDM sample

LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: She wasn't here. He had scoured the Network, pawed through tabloids, and scanned every notable imPort fan blog -- even those that qualified more as a footnote. And only one searing, burning revelation was possible: she was not in this world.

He was without the Morrigan.

The epiphany proved horrifying, breathtaking. Baphomet felt unraveled -- free-floating, perhaps in a manner that some might even call liberating. Now unchaperoned and uncensored, he knew he could make the moves he wanted.
He just... Didn't know what he wanted. He loved her, even as he resented their entrapment, he found it hard to swallow air without her. Without the idea of her. He felt forsaken, however unintentionally, he felt so alone.

Maneuvering around the midnight streets of Nonah, the bright moon glistening far above his head, he didn't want to think about what he wanted -- he simply needed to be. It was almost zen, he thought, the sharp teeth in his mouth accessorizing a wry smile. Maybe Dio would even be a little proud. Maybe Persephone would think it about time. His thoughts about their thoughts consumed his mind, a warm relief to the listless existentialism he was otherwise threatened with.

It was so easy, to fall back on thinking what others might think.

FINAL NOTES: I made him a playlist.

Final, final note: Baphomet seems to interpret his identity as Nergal via the Talmudic "dunghill cock" edition, instead of the Actually Really Cool Mesopotamian Lion Body Guy. Despite his massively cool lion imagery post-Ascension. Despite Nergal's entire main myth acting as a perfect metaphor for his relationship with the Morrigan. Despite his character arc not moving towards self-acceptance at all, for years. DES. PITE.