Kasimer Ossowiski

Kasimir Ossowiski ("Kas") was/is an Associate Professor at Columbia University, specializing in 20th Century History, and more specifically on the history and workings of cults. He grew up in a very religious family, but left it as soon as he could, cutting contact with his parents and with religion in general.

He has worked officially (with DHS) and unofficially (generally in online support groups) to help identify cults and help people break away from them and transition back into a more regular life.

## Biography

Born with DSD that was medically “corrected” before his first birthday, Kasimir was initially raised as a girl, against his own strong desires through childhood, until he hit puberty and did not develop as his parents expected.

This, combined with his parents’ overall controlling and dismissive personalities and strict religious beliefs and child-rearing techniques, led to him leaving home at age 17 and cutting all contact and ties with them. He is however still very close with his sister and her son.

Kasimir’s particular upbringing is what sparked his interest in cults, eventually, though his study (both holistic and academic) into how people work began very, very early. Because he needed to constantly advocate for himself, and often find ways to avoid punishments or interpersonal childhood scrapes, he set out very early on to learn how to make people like him. Whether one would describe this as ‘passing’, ‘masking’, or otherwise, how he presents himself and even what information he shares is always extremely intentional.

This desire to understand how people worked led to the study of cults because it was, in his view, an extreme example that thus made it easier to understand. Cult leaders often had idea that were not rational, and often harmful, yet they were able to convince many people of their leadership ability and the truthfulness of their particular beliefs or way of living. Kasimir has studied cult leaders in particular to learn their kind of charisma and uses the best of it to make his own life easier and safer.

This combination of self-advocacy, personal identity and medical conflict, and study of manipulation techniques has led to Kasimir being incredibly aware of and staunch in his own beliefs and understandings of the world.

Kasimir is an Atheist, a belief that originally came from a rejection of his parents’ religion but has been strengthened by his research into cults and, most recently, by the incident which led him to joining Delta Green.

Kasimir is part of an online support group for people with C-PTSD, and is very close with some of the members, considering them good friends. He is also still close with his ex-girlfriend, Andi Friedell.

## Personality/Description

Kas is friendly and charming—he presents himself very intentionally, cultivating a look that broadcasts ‘harmless but pleasant academic’. He defers to others when they clearly have more knowledge about a subject than he does, but will not let himself be steamrolled. He does not yell or raise his voice, and smiles most of the time, but only when it is appropriate.

He has intentionally avoided most physical exercise, which has left him slightly weaker than the average person. This was done because he has found that women are (in general) more likely to like or be open towards a man who appears unthreatening physically and men are (in general) more likely to like a man who allows them to appear stronger and does not challenge them in that arena. But he has not allowed himself to become so weak as to be seen as a burden.

## Skills/Expertise

* Academics (history)
* Hindi
* Russian
* Talking to people

### Special Abilities

* I am the Gate - The ability to influence a door to open onto any room he wants (so long as he has been in that room before)
* (name to be added) - The ability to influence the outcome of an action, causing it to be a critical success or critical failure.

## Relationships

### Beatrice-Rose Holloway

Part of the trio who now depend on each other to get through whatever's happening in the world. Kas is very impressed with Frost's computer skills and is absolutely convinced she has interesting secrets. He very much thinks she would benefit from therapy and continues to try to convince her of that.

### Kara Langley

Another part of the weird-world trio. Kas is similarly impressed with Bug's expertise in health and has a lot of respect her work outside Delta Green. He feels slightly closer to her because she seems more open than Frost, but would like to get to know her better as well.

### Klara Ossowiski

Kas's younger sister (b. 1981). Kas has stayed close to her (or as close as he can manage) after breaking from the rest of their family. He cares deeply about her being happy and keeping her safe, but due to his tendency to get too involved with things, is not the best at maintaining communication.

### Andrej Ossowiski

Klara's son and Kas's nephew (b. 2000). Kas tries hard to stay close to his nephew, learning about the things he likes (ex. Minecraft) and trying to facetime or visit him as often as he can. Due to the various weird-world things going on, he has missed at least one of Andrej's recent birthdays.

### Andi Freidell

Kas's ex-girlfriend (b. 1972). Andi came out as trans during their relationship, and it came to an end shortly after as they weren't compatible any longer, but Kas has stayed close and supported her as much as he could during her transition. They've remained good friends, at least until recently, during the weird-world troubles of the last few years.

### Dr. Matthew Dean

Kas's Ph.D. advisor. Kas is professionally close to him and quite friendly. Also knowledgeable about cults and religious movements, especially in recent history.

## Known Alters

### Isabelle Sauer

Kas' alter in the β-dimension and Project Masticate.

### Michael Witwer

Kas' alter in the Ε - dimension and Project Temple.

## Trivia

* He shares a birthday with Charles Manson. He finds this very funny.
* He has a perfect rating on RateMyProfessor.com. His classes always have waitlists.