Lawrence Oleander

Background

From a very early age, Lawrence didn’t fit in with his peers - the fact that he drowned in a river and miraculously survived didn't help his case, at all. He was unpopular and, unsurprisingly, the subject of many rumors. Lawrence‘s parents - who are obsessively invested with appearances - eventually pulled him from the educational system and home-taught him for a year (Grades 4-5.) Afterwards, it’s unclear whether he reinstated or otherwise. Ironically, despite his family‘s neglect, treating him like a dirty secret, Lawrence craves isolation; he did, and does, anything get it (even sometimes resorting to violence.) Up during the night (i.e., eating and doing work) and sleeping during the day, his nocturnal habits wildly manifested; as he matured his behavior worsened. He never felt welcomed or wanted by his parents; he left as soon as he could, never looking back. Boyfriend to Death 2: Fresh Blood Currently, Lawrence works a labor job at a warehouse covering the night shift from 11PM-7AM. While most of Lawrence‘s concept art was scrapped under the decision it wasn’t necessary for the plot, and deviated game significance, it's confirmed canon for Lawrence's lore: Often, Lawrence is depicted in eerie ritualistic settings constantly attached to strange, skeletal creatures (supernatural embodiments.) The general idea behind it was a sort of possession-dynamic where demons/monsters have strong elemental alignments towards humans‘ vulnerabilities. Susceptibility towards certain “elements” (e.g., fire, water, etc.) are prevalent for some people based on their psychic equilibrium: certain people are “balanced“ (i.e., in-tune with the mind and body), tying them wholly to one element, singularly one monster/demon, and others are “unbalanced” (i.e., not so much - inherently unstable), which ties them to multiple elements... and a plethora of things. Lawrence is shown to exude extreme levels of elemental-Decay - as if Decay, epitomized, haunts him.

Personality

Lawrence feels like an outsider to the human race and finds other people to generally be dangerous and untrustworthy. Either they’re a nuisance, or dangerous, or lying. At his best, he’s a loner who wants to be away from society whenever he can, but he’s also quick on lashing out at any person who interacts with him. He relates people to pretty flowers who lie to get what they want. Lawrence is generally withdrawn. He's shown to be flustered and uncomfortable when the player character approaches him at the beginning of his or Ren's route. He's quick to anger, especially if he thinks the player character seeks to abandon him. Lawrence likes to read a lot and go for walks from time to time. However, he does that only very late at night. He likes to walk through the old parts of town under street lamps. Sometimes he collects things he finds, like string or interesting rocks. When he has days off, sometimes he drives off to spend the day out in the woods. He finds it very relaxing. He's oddly self-aware that his actions would be deemed wrong and immoral, maybe even sadistic. Gatobob has mentioned that he would probably agree that being locked up would be the best option[2]. From the author's description, if she had to describe a voice for him it be: a low voice, which is usually soft-spoken. His voice naturally carries further than others (due to the pitch) so he compensates by speaking as quietly as he can. However, he is really something to behold when he’s shouting. Lawrence has a bit of a stutter that comes up when he’s anxious. His laugh is awkward and stifled usually and he’ll automatically would try to cover his mouth when he does. If someone could make him truly unabashedly laugh, it would be booming, though something like that is very rare and unlikely.

Appearance

Lawrence is a tall, lean, fair-skinned man with blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail and cool blue eyes. He wears an open gray jacket over a red, plaid, buttoned-up shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. A thick, black ring is tattooed around both of his biceps. He is occasionally depicted with light blue, ghostly deer antlers, which are sometimes drawn backwards. These are, according to Gatobob, a way of showing a lack of lucidity, and to portray Lawrence as an unnatural, backwards occurrence.

Trivia

Oleander is a name of a flower. Its symbolic meaning is beauty and grace despite its being a poisonous plant. Lawrence is barren Lawrence's sisters, Lily and Laurel, were originally from a fanfic Gatobob read. Poppies are his favorite flowers. He likes the way they look as if they’ve died from the inside, surrounded by red. Of course, he’s also a fan of the seeds and ‘milk’[4]. If Lawrence had a tumblr it would be "serpulalacrymans" Serpula lacrymans is the scientific name for dry rot. Giving the MC a floral name, such as Poppy, Ivy, Rose, etc, would give an affection boost with Lawrence. Lawrence would also silently compliment the player's name. Although fans speculate Lawrence is something like a wendigo, Gatobob has actually said he is closer to a revenant or a lich. Lawrence is a confirmed necrophile, commenting in-game (though he trails off) that he's "Never done it with someone who's still..." which is assumed to be ended with 'alive'. Lawrence might talk to any bugs among his plants. Lawrence has a tendency to cut up and destroy his plants and seems to enjoy it. Gatobob has mentioned that if there were a type of art Lawrence would make it would be "Contemporary natural sculpture"[5]. Though he's physically stronger than Strade and has more stamina, Lawrence could still lose, as he fights like a cornered animal[6]. His diet consists of gas station sandwiches, fast food, and herbal tea[6]. Lawrence got his tattoos to mentally separate his arms from his body because he 'couldn't accept the things his arms have done'.