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User Name/Nick: Gwen
User LJ: betterdeadthanred
AIM/IM: girlwonder004 @ AIM
E-mail: isthereair@gmail.com
Other Characters: Dick, Trip, McCoy, Flynn, Charles. Trade in for Zuko.

Character Name: Luther Scott
Series: Confession/Deadly Secrets
Age: Six weeks shy of his eighteenth birthday, so cursed to be seventeen forever thanks to Barge magic.
From When?: After succumbing to his injuries at the end of the film.

Inmate/Warden: Inmate. Luther is an intensely selfish, self protective person, and is directly responsible for the death of one of his fellow students, almost framing one of the priests (his ethics teacher) for the murder and then shooting and killing his best friend.
Item: N/A

Abilities/Powers: Although a very charismatic, gifted liar, Luther is a totally normal human teenager, powers-wise. He speaks Latin fluently and is incredibly smart, but otherwise, normal kid.

Personality: Luther Scott projects a very convincing image of being extremely, extremely self confident. This is largely because for the most part, he is a pretty self confident person. He's good looking, charismatic, articulate, and almost too smart to know what to do with himself, and he knows it. So, it's very easy to show other people this very carefully crafted outer shell and keep everyone very much at arm's length, while getting them to do or hear exactly what he wants them to.

He is incredibly smart, and again, charisma, wit and charm come very naturally to him. He's a very convincing person to talk to, and he can read people and situations pretty well, knowing exactly what to say to someone to push their buttons or get them to do what he wants. Unfortunately, he doesn’t really use these powers for good. While he does do his own school work and has pretty phenomenal grades, he generally uses his particular skills to manipulate other people and lie to get himself out of trouble. While at Saint Michael’s, he became the kid everyone would go to to get stuff they weren’t allowed to have on campus – movies, cigarettes, alcohol, porn, drugs, you name it, Luther could probably find a way to provide it – and while people maybe suspected he could be involved, he wasn't caught until he was explicitly ratted out by a classmate.

He's a huge hypocrite in certain ways, in a way a lot of teenagers are. He says he understands that things happen because of the choices people make and not because of God, and tells Robbie that it was his choice to work with him, and that it's not Luther's fault he was getting in trouble. It's easy to look at Robbie and say it's not my fault you got in trouble, but it's harder to look at himself and say this is something I did and now I'm facing the consequences. The one time he did choose to face up to what he'd done, he was shot twice in the chest due to a misunderstanding/last minute suicide attempt and died. He says he isn't afraid anymore, but almost all his actions are motivated by fear and worry that he's ruined his life. Even his irreverence towards God and faith doesn't matter as much when he's hurt and facing the consequences of what he's done.

There is a lot of pent up anger about his life, especially when he's backed into a corner. He hates his school, he's incredibly irreverent towards the whole Catholic school thing, and a lot of his actions before things really spiraled out of control were basically a giant fuck you to the world he was stuck in and didn't really feel a part of, not that he really wanted to. He's prone to more violent, physical outbursts when upset, as he jumps at Robbie when he's panicking about being expelled, gets too physical with Bennett which pushes him over the side of the balcony in the first place, and punches a wall when the police get involved. He's angry, and doesn't really have a healthy outlet for it.

Luther is an extremely self protective person. He holds pretty much everyone at more than arm’s length, and turns the conversation around on them instead of being honest about himself. He's willing to go to very extreme lengths to cover up what he's done, and is entirely willing to throw other people under the bus as long as he gets away clean. In the film, he flees the scene of an accident instead of stopping to help the injured party in fear of being caught while impersonating a priest from the school if he stuck around to help, and he spends most of the film escalating what he'd do to protect himself from being labelled as a murderer. He explicitly chooses to frame Father Kelly for what happened when he feels that Kelly was going to tell the police about his involvement in Bennett's death, and is more than willing to keep up the routine even when it's clear this man's life is going to be ruined. What he cares about at the end of the day is himself and his own survival, and not much else.

Trust is a huge issue for Luther. He feels like everyone he's ever trusted has betrayed him in some way, which is what led to his eventual snap. After his girlfriend told him he was taking things too fast by talking about making long term plans after he was kicked out of school, and Father Kelly implied he was going to tell the police the truth about Luther's involvement in Benett's death, Robbie fessing up to what happened was just the last straw. He felt cut off from everyone, like he was alone in the world and that everyone was against him, even the people he trusted most. This was what motivated him to shoot Robbie. It was a spur of the moment, angry reaction, and he probably didn't actually really rationally intended to kill him. Robbie was the one person he thought he could trust left, and he still betrayed him, which blew the lid off the stress of trying to hide the truth, and proving to him that he was alone and everyone was against him.

Really, he just feels very lost and alone. He's torn between wanting to be noticed and accepted, and giving a giant middle finger to the world, and has a really hard time finding a good middle ground. He's not really sure where he's going in life, and like most teenagers, sometimes constructs plans that just aren't practical, like running away with his girlfriend once Jamie graduates. He wants to find people he can trust, but feels betrayed by everyone he's reached out to, and is reluctant to put himself out there again to get hurt. And generally, he just lacks the coping skills to make healthy decisions, even if he feels like he's doing the right thing for himself. He's immature and childish, and needs to learn how to be more open and less cavalier with other people's wants, desires and well beings.

He's not used to facing real consequences. When he and Robbie are waiting to be questioned, accused and punished by the headmaster, he's very convinced they're not actually going to get in much trouble. Actually facing a huge consequence - being kicked out of school and being faced with an angry parent who's planning on sending him off to military school - is what triggers the entire events of the film, and shows a complete lack of healthy coping mechanisms with owning your mistakes. He likes to think he can just talk himself out of anything and charm his way out of owning up to what he's done, and when he can't, he panics and gets more and more desperate to damage control the situation, which really just makes things worse.

That said, when faced with a stressful situation, he can sometimes pull himself together much faster than others involved and figure out a way to get things quasi under control. He's a schemer, and always tries to think of the next thing to maintain the lies he's got going, even if it doesn't always work out the way he wants it to. He likes feeling in control of things, even if he isn't always, and tries to wrangle it back under his control when stuff gets complicated. He likes to think he's good at compartmentalizing and that things don't bother him, but it really just simmers away until it boils over in a generally destructive way.

The truth is, he's not really a bad kid, just extremely maladapted. He does legitimately feel sorry for what happened to David Bennet, as evidenced by his complete breakdown in confession to Father Kelly, and admission that he only wanted to scare him a little, not hurt him. Things spun out of his control, and he regrets what happened. The same thing can be seen when he kills Robbie and threatens to kill himself, too. He's disgusted with the mess he's fallen into, and doesn't know how to pull himself out of it because the situation's spiraled so far out of his control. He doesn't want to hurt other people, or to be considered a murderer, even though that's really what he is now, and he doesn't know how to cope with the mess he's made his life into. He just has a tendency to react violently when backed into a corner, and in that moment, he felt that Robbie had betrayed him and was really and truly ruining his life, which is exactly what Luther ends up having him do. Confessing it had been an accident and they'd covered it up because they were scared would look a lot better to a jury than shooting and killing your best friend in front of your classmates and a squad of police officers.

Really, Luther just self destructed, and needs some guidance in life. He already feels guilty about what he did, but he needs to know how to prevent something like that from happening again, how to deal with stress and how to own up to your mistakes. On the Barge, he'll probably go back and forth between keeping to himself, and trying to get people to do what he wants them to. He'll likely gravitate towards other teenagers, and be a little distrustful of adults, and will definitely be secretive and quiet. He'll have a hard time opening up to people, and will likely take a few steps backwards on his path to redemption if a friend ever leaves or vanishes.

Path to Redemption: Although Luther is really not a bad kid, this path to redemption will still not be an easy one, as he first needs to get through his extreme trust issues and pathological blame shifting before making any lasting progress. Get him to realize that his actions have consequences and get him to own up to the things he's done, and he'll make some progress. He already feels guilty about the deaths he's responsible for, and really desperately needs coping mechanisms and guidance so this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

Honestly, what Luther needs most is someone who actually cares about him, someone who won't leave, and someone who won't stab him in the back or abandon him when things get difficult. He is very much not actually a bad kid, just one who lashes out at other people when backed into a corner, and a good warden will be one who is a consistent figure and presence in his life. He'll need friends who will actually be there for him if he's going to make progress, and feel like there are people who care about him. He'll be more willing to open up and try to work with someone who he knows will have his back, while he'll close off from someone he doesn't think he can trust. He'll outright try to sabotage or get physical with someone he perceives as a threat to his safety, and will try to finagle a reassignment if he doesn't like his warden.

Another important step is to get him to control his anger. Help him find some healthy outlets instead of exploding at people and accidentally pushing them off balconies and shooting them in the heat of the moment. Once he has those, he'll be able to respond more positively to stressful situations.

History:
Headcanon backstory for depth: Luther wasn’t always the way he is now. Born to a wealthy businessman and his wife, the very early years of his life were pretty run of the mill. The one real thing of note was that his mother died when he was young, and he had a better relationship with her than he did with his father, so losing that early positive influence and person he felt he could trust and rely on was kind of rough. His father was way too busy to give him the attention he craved, but he was too little for a while to really understand just how distant and uninterested he was. But, after years of missed school events and handing him off to nannies or sitters at every available opportunity, Luther caught on that his father didn’t really seem to pay attention to him the same way other kid’s parents did, and he realized something: that sucked. He wanted his father to actually notice him, and apparently, being a good, intelligent kid wasn’t good enough for him, so he needed to step it up a little.

So, in what seemed like a very logical decision for a nine year old kid, he began acting out. Little things at first, just trying to find ways to get his father to actually notice he existed. He became known as a trouble maker - smart, gifted, but a trouble maker - and eventually, when he was in middle school, he finally took it a step too far. It really wasn't a huge deal, but Luther's father decided enough was enough and shipped his son off to a private school to be someone else's problem. So, basically, this plan to get attention worked, just not in the way he wanted it to.

Luther really didn't get why he was being punished, and instead of learning from this mistake, he just got angry. Clearly this was just his father being a shitty parent, and not at all his fault for being a bad kid. Instead of fixing the problem, it really just made it worse, and Luther continued to be sort of a quiet problem child. He started withdrawing from people and having trust issues.

Robbie was Luther's childhood friend who he always felt like he could vent to and would support him in his various endeavors while other people were more critical. Luther's father began playing the card of "why can't you be more like your friend Robbie". It was mostly tolerable until high school, when Luther was sent off to St. Michael's as continued "maybe this will help fix your issues with authority and generally being kind of an asshole". Luther's father also decided to send Robbie off to school and paid for his tuition as a kindness, since Robbie would thrive in an environment like St. Michael's. This wasn't so bad until Robbie took it upon himself to become a huge goody two shoes student instead of Luther's partner in crime, and Luther basically ignored him for the better part of two years, feeling angry with both Robbie and his father. Luther became the go to guy on campus for things they weren't allowed to have in school - DVDs, porn, cigarettes, alcohol - and came up with creative ways to get his hands on them. (The beginning of the film opens with Luther picking up a prescription dressed as a priest, and selling the drugs to a classmate in the church.)

Which brings us to the plot of the film: Luther has been at St. Michael's for about three years, which puts him at junior year of high school when the events of the film take place. He and Robbie became roommates shortly before the film starts (as their interaction in their room and Robbie's innocence about Luther's nocturnal activities seem to indicate they hadn't been living together long) and one night, instead of going to night prayers like he usually did, Luther convinced Robbie to stay in and help him sell stuff to their classmates.

The headmaster and a potential student with his parents happened to stumble in on the wild party going on in the dorm, and Robbie and Luther quickly pretended to be sleeping and doing homework. Another classmate - David Bennett - ratted the two of them out as the suppliers of the illegal substances, and they were brought before the headmaster and expelled, given a few days to wrap things up at school. Luther visited with his girlfriend - who attended the sister school to St. Michael's - and told her about what happened, but was frustrated when Jamie didn't support his current plans for post turning 18 life and expressed frustration and disappointment that he thought he'd been falling in love with her.

Luther quickly realized that David Bennett was the one who ratted them out, and told Robbie they needed to do something to make him pay for what he'd done to them. After David confessed what had happened to Father Kelly, and admitted he hadn't really ratted Luther and Robbie out for the best reasons, Luther followed him into the bathroom and confronted him with the help of Robbie and a borrowed priest habit. They chased Robbie outside, and Luther cornered him on a balcony, holding him close to the edge and threatening him. Bennett struggled, and ended up slipping a little out of Luther's grasp, eventually kicking him in the face, which caused Luther to lose his grasp on him. Robbie - watching below, and yelling for Luther to back off - watched David fall and smash his head open on the pavement. The two freaked out, but Luther pulled it together faster and instructed Robbie to hide the body when someone snuck up on them. They both got away, but not before Luther was spotted fleeing the scene dressed as a priest.

Luther immediately went to confession, distraught and crying about how he hadn't meant to kill David, just scare him a little bit. Father Kelly was the priest in the confessional (and a teacher Luther sort of respected and had a decent relationship with) and comforted Luther about what happened, which gave Luther some temporary reassurance that things would work themselves out.

When David's body was found on school property, the police were immediately called in and people were questioned about the incident. Luther was instantly concerned that Father Kelly would tell someone about what they'd done, despite being bound by law not to as Luther had confessed during confession. He was still worried about it, tried to reassure Robbie and confronted Father Kelly about it, wanting to know if he would tell. When Father Kelly was vague about whether or not he'd tell the truth about what had happened, Luther immediately felt his trust had been violated and Kelly became a threat to his personal well being.

He started subtly, but very much intentionally, framing Father Kelly for the murder, implying to the police that Kelly really didn't like Bennett during an interview. Luther was still concerned he was going to get found out, and felt that his life was starting to unravel, especially as Robbie got more and more concerned about telling the truth about what had happened. He felt alone and scared, and not sure of where things were going, and after being called in for more questioning, left the bloody priest uniform he'd been wearing when Bennett died outside Father Kelly's room.

Robbie became increasingly guilty about what had happened, and Luther tried to get him to promise he wouldn't tell, because it was them against the world, and as long as they had each other's backs, nothing would go wrong. He was feeling less and less in control of the situation, and Robbie's continued pulling away made it worse, and Luther began unraveling.

When the police finally decided they had enough evidence to arrest Father Kelly, Luther tried to remind Robbie not to do anything stupid, but Robbie had had enough. Telling Luther a literal screw you and your promise, he left to tell the truth about what had happened. Panicking, Luther assaulted a police officer and stole his gun. Just as Robbie was admitting what had happened, Luther snuck up behind him and shot him in the back, devastated by the betrayal and feeling like there was no other option than to take everyone down with him. He shot at Father Kelly, grazing his arm, and the police shot him in the shoulder, after which he ran off to hide in the confessional where everything had more or less started.

Father Kelly approached him and tried to get him to listen to reason. Desperate, panicking and clearly unsure of what to do now, Luther threatened to kill himself and probably would have had Father Kelly not grabbed him and intervened, trying to talk him into owning up to what he did and trying to move forward, rather than ending his life there. He coaxed him into coming outside with him to turn himself into the cops, and Luther reluctantly agreed, still distraught.

While walking back to the front of the building, they stumbled across a cop who immediately drew his weapon on Luther. Father Kelly tried to convince him not to shoot, but Luther reached behind him for something and the cop immediately pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. When Luther didn't immediately fall over, he shot him again, and Father Kelly rushed over to try and help him. Luther had been reaching for a prayer book, which contained verses that were supposed to help people accept death. Mumbling incoherently, Luther managed to say "Pray for me, Father" to Father Kelly as the man he'd tried to frame tried to help save his life.

Father Kelly accompanied Luther in an ambulance to the hospital, but Luther eventually succumbed to his injuries.

Sample Journal Entry:
[So. Dat VIP flood. Luther's been keeping his head pretty low since things went back to normal, and isn't bothering with a video feed today, because he knows he looks kind of sulky and miserable. And maybe a little sad.]

You shouldn't listen to anything Robbie said. He has no idea what he's talking about. He knew exactly what he was doing when he got involved, and- [Luther cuts himself off and laughs, angrily, and when he starts talking again, his voice sounds like it's on the verge of breaking.]

What's the point of this kind of thing if we don't even get to talk to the people the Admiral brings over here? It doesn't make any sense-

[He sounds like he's maybe going to say more before he angrily cuts the feed.]

Sample RP:
The worst part about being stuck on the ship of the damned - aside from the whole being dead thing, and still being in jail anyway - was needing to rely on a warden to get anywhere remotely interesting. Yeah, there was the pool table and the gym, and at least he didn't have to bargain with someone for when he wanted access to food or follow a schedule, he still would have preferred feeling like he got a little bit of free reign in where he wanted to go on a day to day basis. It was hard to sneak off and do your own thing when there wasn't anywhere to sneak off to, especially if he needed to ask his warden for permission first.

At the moment, he was staring at the door to the CES. He had been inside, once, as a sort of carrot on the end of the stick so they could talk about what happened and what he wanted to do now. In theory, he could just ask them to let him in, but he wasn't exactly on speaking terms with his warden at the moment - in that they would try and get in touch with him, and Luther would ignore them - so he couldn't just call up and ask them to let him in without getting back into the discussion that he still didn't want to have. Even if he really did want some fresh air.

But it seemed like fortune was throwing him a bone today, because who was approaching the CES but a new warden. She looked like she was about his age, maybe a little older, and he hadn't talked to her yet. She'd announced she was here last night, and Luther smiled at her as she approached.

"Excuse me, hi." He distantly knew he'd probably be getting in trouble for lying to her like this at some point, but he didn't really care. He was tired of being stuck on the Barge and being at the mercy of his warden, so turning the charm up to eleven and acting like a totally normal, polite guy (which he was, he wasn't half as bad as ninety percent of the people here) was a go. "Do you mind opening the door for me? I'm not assigned yet and I'd really like to see what this looks like on the inside."

Special Notes: This is an extremely obscure movie in that it doesn't even have a wikipedia page, so here's its IMDB page to prove it's a legit thing. It's currently available instantly on Netflix and I know Ari, Mel and Kit have seen it if there's an issue about no one has seen this movie Gwen wtf is wrong with you for apping from it.

Not much is actually revealed about Luther's background over the course of the film, but a lot can be inferred based on dialogue and suggestions made by other characters. As St. Michael's is a prestigious prep school, with a competitive and lengthy application process, and isn't cheap to go to, it's probably safe to say that Luther's parents are pretty well off, as they were able to send him without worrying about tuition costs, unlike his friend Robbie. Luther mentions while being interviewed by Detective Fletcher that he's known as a bad kid back home, which probably explains why he has been shipped off to St. Michael's and at least partially explains his resentment for it. This, plus his behavior over the course of the film towards people like Robbie, Father Kelly and Jamie, has given me some stuff to start off with, but for the purpose of the app and giving a warden something concrete to work with, I've developed headcanon to further explain how and why he is the way he is.

Assuming Luther's accepted, I'll be dropping Zuko to make room on my roster, and here is some supplemental voice testing: One, two and three.