Gustavo “Stavo” Acosta is a major character in the Scream roleplay universe, appearing in Volumes II and III of The Story so Far and The Final Retreat.

An enigmatic artist with an almost practiced air of diffidence, Stavo comes to Lakewood with his father, the newly appointed sheriff. The move was meant as a clean break for the Acosta family, following a succession of tragedies that had befallen them in their native Phoenix, including the death of Stavo’s mother.

Stavo found a town still reeling from the effects of the 2015 Lakewood Slashings. The morbidity triggered his creative spirit, and he got to work doing what he did best: finding majesty in the macabre. This artistic inspiration, unsurprisingly, wasn’t meant with acclaim from his peers and, when people started turning up dead again, he found himself skyrocketing to the top of everyone’s suspect list.

Not everyone was repelled by Stavo’s little eccentricities, however. During the murder spree, Stavo struck up a friendship with puckish theater kid Micah Hendricks, who modeled for him more than once. His torrid relationship with Brooke Maddox was considerably more fraught, but proved to have staying power, despite vigorous opposition.

A canon character in the second season of the TV series, Stavo wasn’t included in the 2016 Season 2 AU, which began before the season had begun airing. He was incorporated into the October 2016 Season 3 AU, which was then loosely adapted into Volume III of The Story so Far. The character has changed hands several times being played briefly by former forum moderator TheDerpHowlsatMidnight and then, after his relaunch failed and The Final Retreat formally began, by TellatrixForever and, since Chapter 5 of the main game, Snafu Guru.