Descant Valente

Descant Valente is a character the player meets along with Christopher Atrose in the Snrubville Visual Novel. Descant is a workaholic that is rarely seen outside of their office. When people do see them, they usually look too dead to talk to. Still, they are a reliable person that many depend on to get work done.

## Appearance

Descant has an average build and a generally androgynous look about them. The most notable thing about their appearance is the gray streaks in their hair, despite the fact that they are only 19 years old. Descant wanted to dye their hair black but, when the idea was brought up in conversation with Christopher Atrose, their co-worker insisted to keep the streaks so that the two could match. Descant has kept their hair un-dyed since.

Descant dresses according to how they identify on the given day. On days where they feel more like a male, they will tie their hair in a bun and wear a suit to work. On female-feeling days they will put more effort into a nice rosewood-coloured dress or cardigan and wear some light makeup.

## Personality

Descant is known to be very tired constantly, but besides that they are quite reserved, sometimes to the point that they come off as rude. They are anxious about their life and constantly over-thinks things, following the logic in their head instead of what their heart tells them. Because of their reserved nature, Descant does not know many of the townsfolk even after the years they have lived here. Most of the socializing is done by their best friend Christopher who will introduce people to them occasionally.

As the opposite to their best friend, Descant is the more strict parent of Lukas Keller, the orphan and newest intern of the News Station they and Chris adopted. Descant makes sure that Lukas and Chris don't get themselves into stupid situations and are actually eating more than lollipops and gummies. Descant usually cooks for their little family and finds relaxation in seeing Chris and Lukas happily eat what they make.

Descant likes their siblings and friends, being busy, their job, and most of their co-workers. They dislike having too much free time, birds, large social gatherings, and their parents (somewhat).

## History

Descant grew up in the small town of Toan Aux Thundeer, Canada with their younger sister, brother, and parents. They were the oldest child and loved their siblings, despite the usual petty quarrels that came with having them and were extremely close with Descant despite the age gap. They were the first Descant told about their gender identity and when they were going to leave home. Leonie, their younger sister, was fully supportive of her older sibling and is usually the one sending updates about their family to them. She has tried multiple times to get her parents to understand Descant but to no avail, even Descant warned her not to go too far with it, knowing how their parents are. Descant used to sit with their brother, Yanis, and read or sneak snacks into him and Leonie's shared room to have sleepovers after especially hard days.

When Descant figured out that they were genderfluid, they started expressing themselves in the ways they felt comfortable. When their parents questioned Descant, they came out to their family assuming they would support them. Sadly, their parents didn't agree with Descant's gender identity, actively scorning whenever they would act 'unnaturally.' Their mother complained about Descant to the neighbours, which gradually grew into the whole town of 800 learning and scorning Descant as well. Their siblings supported the eldest child the best they could, but there was only so much hostility Descant could take. They worked hard to move out of Toan Aux Thundeer as soon as they could, choosing Snrubville as their new home seeing the strangeness as something that could cover the identity Descant thought people would hate them for. Descant has since cut ties with their parents, but their siblings who are living at home still communicate with them and tell Descant how they are doing. The most Descant will communicate with their parents is though gift money on holidays with simple, holiday appropriate notes attached. After living in Snrubville for many years now, Descant truly feels it is their home despite its oddities.

Descant first arrived in Snrubville at 16 where they attended the local high school. They spent those years keeping their head down and fitting in, resulting in the only friend they made being Carlotta who shared many classes. After graduating, it took a couple months for Descant to find work, only doing so after first meeting a sulking Christopher Atrose on a daily commute who they again met when Descant was hired as the TV co-anchor at the Snrubville News Station. Since then, Chris became Descant's second and closest friend, introducing them to many of the town's citizens. One of which was Charn Amorin who pointed out how Descant's vocal range is surprisingly wide. Their astounding voice control and eye for detail makes being a newscaster a perfect job for them. Later on, Descant and Chris decided to live together and adopt the 14-year-old intern of the News Station, Lukas Keller, whom the two care for and teach the ropes of anchoring to.

## Relationships

### Friends:

#### Christopher Atrose

Descant and Christopher first met on the bus ride to the Snrubville News station. Their first impression of Chris was him pouting for not being recognized, but when they and Chris met again in the studio the two were able to give proper introductions to each other. While it may be odd to think the two of them would become so close considering their complete opposite personalities, there are very few people as close to Descant than Chris. The news stations love having them anchoring together because of their entertaining back-and-forth on live television. The two care for their adopted child and very new intern of The Snrubville News, Lukas Keller, together under a non-married, separate guardian adoption agreement.

#### Carlotta Mutone:

The two were in multiple high school classes together, despite Descant transferring in late. Because of the frequency they would see each other, they naturally got closer. After graduating, the two occasionally talk about the stress of work and have tried scheduling things together, but their work always got in the way. Descant hears most of the horrors of Elias through Carlotta's limited stories of her work, which has manifested a fear of the young mayor in Descant.

### Enemies:

#### BeNoir LeBlanc

Descant's first interaction with BeNoir was, unsurprisingly, very negative. It started when they exited the bus into town for the very first time only to see a drunk BeNoir (the natural state of the creature) passed out on the side of the street. Descant was so mortified that they immediately walked the opposite direction and ended up getting lost late in the night, too anxious to ask anyone for directions. They're second run-in with BeNoir happened while working when he stumbled onto the newscast set and broke the cameras and lights. This made Descant so stressed that they considered running into the woods, to which Chris convinced them not to.

### Family:

#### Stefano Valente

Father of Descant, both he and his wife are quite conservative, as is many in their town of 800. He regularly makes misogynistic comments that are supported by the other men of Thundeer. He works an office job and is the sole provider of his family. When Descant came out to him, he actively scorned them but tried to keep it secret from the rest of the town.

#### Irene Valente

Mother of Descant who stays at home to care for the family. After her eldest child came out to her and her family, she immediately began crying thinking it was a curse. In response to this and ignoring Descant's pleas, Irene asked the local church to "cleanse" Descant. This caused an argument between Irene and Stefano, who wanted to keep it from the townsfolk until Descant moved on from their "phase." Irene would also gossip about Descant to the other citizens which is how word about them spread so fast.

#### Léonie Valente

Descant's younger sister who is currently in middle school in Toan Aux Thundeer. She's outgoing and, according to her mother, 'unladylike' which as resulted in Léonie being reprimanded by her parents regularly. She's confident to a fault and continues to try and repair their relationship. Descant feels guilty leaving her with their conservative family even though he had no choice, so makes sure to send a long letter and a gift every week or so detailing his life in Snrubville.

#### Yanis Valente

Twin brother of Léonie, also in middle school. He is much quieter than his sister and looked to Descant as comfort when the three still lived together. He is constantly pressured by his father to become more of a "man" and is forced into sports camps and clubs despite him evidently showing his dislike for such things. After Descant came out, the pressure on Yanis got more intense and he secretly loathes Descant. Talking with Léonie made him realize he misses his eldest sibling more than anything.

## Trivia

* Created by Arsomnatique
* Sau created Descant after seeing the character Christopher Atrose and thinking that he needed a co-anchor
* Descant was meant to be a direct opposite to Christopher in both personality and physicality
* Sau got confused about the sketch he drew for Descant and the fact that they were originally supposed to be a woman (to contradict Christopher) so he made them genderfluid