NPC-mod

SPECIAL [AU] APPLICATION: Princess Tutu - Autor [DREAM RE-WRITE]

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:36:16 GMT

Original application is HERE.

DREAM: In the dim candlelight filling an otherwise dark and dusty room, he could see birds flocking and swirling against an unusual high, convex wooden ceiling, dancing to what he played on the piano in front of him. Birds of every kind. Crows, most noticeably, but mixed in with them were blackbirds, swans, geese, sparrows, finches, even ducks, all moving to the same music in one flock.

For then.

He experimented.

He moved his right hand up an octave and played as normal, and just like that, the flock split in half, one half dark, one half bright, the brighter-feathered birds breaking away, circling the other flock once before mirroring its flight patterns, crossing them midair from time to time.

An improvised high note.

The songbirds split from the waterfowl, copying them ten feet higher.

Another.

In an explosion, the flocks scattered, flying in a sphere of feathers and wings before regrouping into the two separate flocks.

He improvised further and further, until he was no longer playing off the sheet music in front of him - in fact, he picked up a book off a nearby desk and covered it deliberately (The Prince and the Raven by D. D. Drosselmeyer, he noted, a thick, ornately-bound book similar to the ones crammed into the shelves lining the walls), directing the birds in accordance to what he wanted to see and hear while simultaneously playing off what they surprised him with, watching where each note led them and split-second thinking where that would lead in turn, building and building.

It was no song he'd ever heard or been taught before anymore. Just the dance of the birds. A simple title. Perhaps he could think of a better one later, but that was an easy to remember working title for the time being. The Dance of the Birds. As it took shape, patterns, repeating solidifying verses and themes in the birds' flight, he shut his eyes, sure he was now in tune with where he was conducting them, imagining their dance in his head and leaving them to it, trying to memorize every note as he played it.

In another experiment, guided entirely by feeling his own music, his hand shot aside from the melody for just a moment, playing a single quick, high note. As he predicted, one bird broke off from the flock, a large, glossy black crow, and landed on the top of the piano, tilting its head, red-tinted eyes seeming to glow, catching the light of a nearby candle.

Removing his left hand from the rhythm, he reached out to pet it.

And his hand stopped short a few inches away.

He withdrew his hand and then tried again.

Something was pulling it back.

Something shining in the air right above it like a strand of spiderweb.

A puppet string?

He gasped, head whipping to his right hand. A string attached to each finger and the wrist.

He wasn't truly playing at all?

A harsh, involuntarily-pushed note led to the crow taking off again and joining the rest. With his hands restrained, he couldn't have tried to stop it if he'd thought to.

He jerked side to side. Strings were restricting his shoulders, arms, he even felt them around his waist and his neck. Just like that he felt his throat seize up. The string wasn't even pulled until he unthinkingly started to struggle, succeeding in nothing more but what looked and felt like hopeless twitching, no matter how much force he put into it, held almost in place by what he was trying to escape, the strings squeezing his insides and cutting off his breath fueling his attempts, desperate and terror-blinded.

Then his hands were lifted up overhead. The ceiling opened up, revealing clockwork, thrumming along smoothly, packed just too tight to allow any glimpse from his immobile, panicking position to what was behind them or how high the ceiling actually went. The birds bursting up from their flight pattern into it and scattered, disappearing between and through gears.

Suddenly, he was following them - the strings were pulling him off his seat, up into the clockwork. He started trembling and felt freezing cold all over, breaking out into a sweat and his heart hammering as he saw his writing desk getting smaller and smaller until he couldn't make out anything that had been on it anymore and, paralyzed, couldn't remember, until it disappeared behind a gear. He'd broken through the false ceiling.

There was a clatter as something dropped through the air next to him and stopped abruptly, pulling a string of its own taut. He was still moving up too quickly to tell what it was by looking down. Instead, he managed to turn his head upward. More were falling, and his eyes followed them on their way down. He realized that they were wooden birds, marionettes, the birds that he'd been conducting.

They started coming faster and faster, the music getting faster and losing key as if its player was steadily going insane, getting to be almost unbearable. He ground his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, whimpering to himself as though it would drown it out.

It didn't. The repeated clattering of bird puppets reaching the ends of their strings was, more and more close together until it sounded like fifty were dropping at once with a noise like one solid wood-carved construct hitting the ground from a cliff.

He cringed.

Once the sound faded, the music had resumed its tempo, but it sounded different somehow. Not piano, but metallic, like a music box. His ascent was slowing as well. Again, he looked up. The face of a clock tower wasn't too far off.

It felt like he'd reached it in the next second, looking outside it like a window.

It was night outside. A moonlit night. He could see a single oak tree off in the distance, not thinking of trying to calculate how far off, not even noticing its surroundings. Just the oak tree, pulling his focus into it and only into it, yet expanding it at the same time. He suddenly visualized it right in front of him, feeling the wind instead of the pull of the strings, closer and closer, drawing him in. It was slightly radiating, most curiously, with a pale green glow, he realized.

Or was it? Just like that he was pulled past the window and snapping into reality so hard he could almost hear it in his head. To the way out, he hoped - he had to check that tree - no, no, not the tree, this tower, where was it, what was going on, where were these strings coming from?

...No, the tree. Something about it - it was important. It was practically calling him over, and, well, he couldn't keep it waiting. He couldn't even try to guess why, but he supposed he'd have to find out, and the sooner, the better.

There was a sharp swooping noise somewhere above him. Shhhing.

Before he could process it, the window had shot back above him, the oak tree snapping out of view.

His insides were rushing into his throat, a blast of air was freezing him and stinging his eyes.

He realized that his strings were broken. No, they'd been cut, that was the noise, and he was freefalling fast down the clock tower.

He could move and get his breath now.

He was free to claw at the walls and scream his lungs out on his quick way down god knew how far to the candlelit room, tiers of the wall and the tower's clock tower rushing past in a blur from their own speed and his watering eyes. And he was about to.

Then he realized he was holding something. A sheet of paper and quill from the stand on the piano.

No time to think what they were for or what good they'd be, just that they were all he had. There had to be something on them - some kind of spell, even, to slow his fall, or reassurance, anything. He twisted himself around in midair, trying to get them in front of his face, quickly, to see if they were good for anything...

They were torn out of his hands by the rushing air, scattering like leaves above him, their own fall graceful and leisurely.

And that was all he'd had.

He didn't know how long he'd been falling or how far. All he knew was how fast the strings had had to pull him to get him to the top. He was falling from the top of a clock tower to a hard wooden floor.

He used the freedom that the cutting of the strings had finally gotten him after all before blacking out.

[ABILITIES] Request for Update: Reed

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:00:23 GMT

Submitted here are my attempts at revising Reed's "abilities" based on the changes made in Final Fantasy Tactics v1.3. While this is an unofficial version of the game, the spirit of his abilities remains intact and I feel the way they manifest feels much more in-tune with roleplay, especially given the absence of any empirical 'stats' for his abilities to raise. For similar reason I've taken away the two awkward Oracle spells- Disbelief and Trepidation- and replaced them instead with knight abilities more in-tune with his role as a physical combatant. I hope you approve!

-Prof

A FINAL NOTE: When compiling Ramza's abilities in my original application, I'd deliberately omitted an ability. "Focus"- or "Accumulate" in the PSX version- raises Ramza's physical attack stat by a single point for the duration of the battle. Given that I thought any move boiling down to "Spending a turn charging to increase one's power level" was a rather silly idea and especially ridiculous in an RP like this, I chose to instead interpret it as Ramza using that turn to steady his nerves and bolster himself to keep the rigors of battle from grinding him down. More of an exercise in mental discipline than any sort of ability. I have included it here only for the sake of completion.
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ABILITIES: (List and descriptions to the best of your ability)
Though Ramza is a learned man in many methods of combat, his primary areas of expertise are in swordsmanship and leadership, though he has dabbled in magic to a lesser extent.
(Mun's note: For many of Ramza's ingame abilities, only names and functions are provided; I've attempted to provide some reason to his unique abilities in accordance with his character.)
PASSIVE ABILITIES:
-Swordsmanship: Ramza is a very proficient swordsman due to a combination of formal knighthood training and a great amount of combat experience spiced with often-mortal danger. He is very apt, accurate, and deadly with a good blade in his hands (Albeit less so with blades of Asian design such as katana or nodachi.)
-Ambidexterity: Following on his abilities with swordplay, in spite of his frame Ramza possesses a great deal of strength and prowess, and is capable of wielding two swords at once- even ones of exceptionally large size such as claymores.
-Armor Proficiency: Ramza is well-accustomed to fighting in all varieties of armor, including while holding shields.
-Throw Stone: While hardly a unique or even impressive ability by any stretch of the imagination, one of the first survival techniques Ramza had learned in combat training was the simple action of hitting an enemy with a thrown rock. While it is not very noteworthy as an ability, it would be likely to ping memories regarding his training or service as a cadet.
-Focus: In what periods of idleness he may find in battle, Ramza will often take a moment to steel his senses and bolster his strength.

UNLOCKABLE:

-Steel: Ramza utters an inspirational word or command; the target will find themselves spiritually fortified, their fears becoming replaced by grit and determination. Pain takes its leave and endorphins take hold, spurring the recipient back into fray as their body seemingly begins tending to its own wounds.

-Tailwind: Ramza urges his target to take immediate action; said target will find him or herself rushing with adrenaline, prompting expedience in action. The recipient will find their movement and actions rapidly increasing in speed.

-Salve: Any good knight-cadet knows the importance of adequate preparation; but a GREAT knight-cadet knows improvisation as well. Ramza has learned how to create a simple topical salve on the fly, the likes of which is capable of curing minor ailnesses such as bloodlust, paralysis, impaired vision, mild to moderate poisons, and a lost voice.

-Chant: While his training may be combat-oriented, a heart such as Ramza's knows sympathy like none other; as a result, Ramza's compassion and sympathy may manifest as a luminescent cascade of healing energy, the likes of which can cure moderate wounds at the expense of exhausting Ramza's stamina reserves.

-Scream (Shout): The same principles of motivating one's troops work on oneself. As such, when faced with a difficult (most often combat-related) situation, Ramza's emotions come pouring out in the form of a magnificently loud kiai; in addition to being a very impressive sight, Ramza finds himself struck with battle-lust, becoming faster, stronger, impervious to pain and, incredibly enough, many forms of magic, until such time as the rush of battle has left his senses. (A note about the magic immunity: I leave it to parley with the muns of the battle in question as to whether or not the FFT-style magic immunity would prove effective against their characters' abilities.)

-Ultima: One of the few magical abilities in Ramza's arsenal, calling forth a pillar of blue light which then erupts in a very impressive impressive and equally damaging explosion. However, Ramza is also stuck with the unfortunate circumstance of having only learned such a technique through a relevatory experience; and, as such, he will not be able to learn it again through any means short of being struck with a near-identical technique. We are very unlikely to ever see this come to fruition, but it's worth mentioning should the situation arise, and it's worth a chuckle until then.

-Speed Ruin: Another of the few magical abilities in Ramza's arsenal, yet this is a spell of a subtler and more easily known nature. Reed will swing a blade at an enemy he has engaged, blue motes of energy gathering around and sinking against the victim from the waist. The poor subject who finds himself successfully snared in this attack will find the strength leaving his or her legs and his body feeling leaden, slowing down the foe for easier pursuit. (Another note: This attack does not always hit; many targets- particularly the expecting- evade or avoid the magic bindings entirely. Mun judgement.)

-Weapon Break: More of a tricky technique than any sort of exclusive ability. Ramza is experienced in not merely disarming foes but sundering their weapons entirely; any weapon that could be broken by a blow from metal- mundane swords wielded by other warriors among them- can be broken entirely with a clean, directed hit. However, this will not work on all weapons, nor is there any guarantee of success on the first, second, or subsequent blows... (Final note: Clearly the effectiveness of this technique is reliant on the weapon choice and battle prowess of the opposition. Once more, mun judgement.)

LOCKED:
-An awful lot of abilities: Ramza actually has access to nearly every ability and ability set in the game that does not belong to a unique character. As it would be both cumbersome and ludicrous to feature or list them all, just take it on good authority that there is quite a lot he can do, and consequentially quite a lot we won't be seeing here.

SPECIAL [AU/CARRY OVER] APPLICATION: Ace Attorney - Kristoph Gavin

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:58:00 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

AU/Carry-Over Character Application

CHARACTER INFOPLAYER INFO
NAME: Kelley
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Phoenix Wright/Truth, Lumio/Angel
CHARACTER NAME: Kristoph Gavin
SERIES: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
FORMER RP(s): The Phoenix Wright Dressing Room- pwdressingroom

PERSONALITY: Kristoph is always perfectly groomed and composed for the spotlight. He takes great care in his appearance, and always seems to have an almost-smile on his face when in public. To those that have seen him, on the outside he appears to be a blindingly intelligent gentleman. He is calm and collected at all times, known as "the coolest defense in the west" back in LA. He's a bit sarcastic and sometimes uses a dry humor that not all might catch up on, and is not beyond teasing people for his own amusement. He is a bit of a control freak, and rarely trusts anyone to come closer than an arm's length. When he does trust, however, he trusts deeply, and those who he would consider to be friends or family have someone that they can depend on in any situation.

Underneath that skin, however, lies a very troubled man. Kristoph is severely mentally unsound, and has either schizoaffective disorder or full-on schizophrenia. Without his medications, he's severely paranoid. Add this to someone that must always have control, and you have a recipe for disaster. Kristoph can be volatile, and can snap when something pushes him too far, lashing out physically. He carries a lot of rage and sorrow in his core, and there are times that this comes bubbling to the surface. He is not above using others the further his own goals, and is just about as paranoid and cunning as a person can be.
When medicated, his paranoia subsides and he comes off as a bit of a worrywart. He uses his medication as a method of self-control, and he relies heavily on his medications, using them as a crutch. And he pops Valium like no tomorrow, to get that outer calm that he so desires, let me tell you.

When not in the spotlight, Kristoph spends a lot of time alone, in the quiet of his own home. He is a withdrawn man when not thrust in the spotlight, and would honestly rather spend time in the calm of one of his homes rather than have to deal with the public. He is at once both fragile and strong- determined not to break again, but relying heavily on his support network of his family and a few friends to keep him from slipping.

This brother will always be a special case for Kristoph. Now a changed man, he relies on his brother and owes him almost what he sees as a debt for nearly killing him. He will, in time, move on, but for now he considers that he owes something to his brother, and will stay by Klavier's side for as long as it takes to repay that.

CANON+AU+FORMER RP BACKGROUND:
Canon Background:
Kristoph built a reputation for himself as a defense attorney, but when the famous magician Zak Gramarye was arrested for the murder of his mentor, Kristoph saw it as his opportunity to truly make a name for himself. He secured the case, even going to the lengths of commissioning a forged piece of evidence from the forging prodigy Vera Misham.

However, Zak fired him after Kristoph lost against him in a game of poker. Incensed by the outright rejection and at being replaced by Phoenix Wright, Kristoph planned to exact his revenge by giving the forged evidence to Wright. After tipping off his brother, Prosecutor Klavier Gavin, the night before the trial, everything went as planned and Wright was caught with the forged evidence.

Mostly, that is. Instead of being sentenced to death as she should have, Zak simply vanished from the courtroom. It was the first in many things that would go wrong for the defense attorney. After an atroquinine-poisoned stamp failed to reach its target, and a bottle of nail polish laced with the same deadly poison failed to dispatch the only girl who knew who the real person to commission the forged evidence, Kristoph was left to keep a close eye on not only the Mishams, but everyone involved in the trial, lest Zak reappear and tell everyone that Kristoph was originally to be his attorney (thus linking him to the forged evidence). During these seven years, Kristoph befriended and even defended Phoenix against the allegations of forgery.

And then Zak reappeared. Kristoph murdered him and attempted to frame Phonix for the killing, but the plan fell through and he walked right into Phoenix's trap when he agreed to let his young assistant, Apollo, defend him. Phoenix coached Apollo through the case, and Kristoph was found guilty of the murder.

So he sat in Solitary Confinement Cell 13, keeping to himself in a mildly comfortable cell that resembled not so much a prison chamber, but a library, awaiting his appeals.

Until one day, when his poisoned stamp finally did take a life, and the web that he had sat in for so long began to unravel underneath him. Called in as a special witness on the case, and accused of murder in front of (and by) his own brother, Kristoph descended into madness and was able to only laugh when he was sentenced (again) to death.

AU Background:
Now take everything I just told you and scrap it.

Kristoph was born in a small city near Munich, Germany (Rothenburg ob der Tauber). His father, Kristian Gavin, was a well-known defense attorney. His mother was very mentally troubled, and it can be said that Kristoph inherited her demons. When he was eight, his brother Klavier was born, and though Kristoph didn't care much for the child and was often jealous of him, he was still very protective and looked after him. When he was ten, Kristian hired a tutor to teach his sons English, and shortly thereafter they moved to Los Angeles, California.
Kristoph was a good student, excelling in his grades but often having to be disciplined for behavioral problems. He had a pet when he was younger- a cobalt blue tarantula named "Ophelia". He also took private lessons and learned how to play the piano, violin, and cello, and took up fencing as a sport in school.

And this is where my headcanon splits between regular Kristoph and this AU. In this AU, his parents lived, and Kristoph passed the California bar exam after taking college courses in his teens. At eighteen, he joined his father's practice and the Gavin and Gavin law offices were formed. Kristoph took on smaller cases, always looking for something more, something more prestigious for himself. He eventually started handling murder cases, and was well on his way to making a name for himself. When he was twenty-five, his parents both fell very ill and died. Kristoph took his father's last wish, that he look after his brother, and accepted Klavier's offer to manage his new band, The Gavinners.

Things went well for him. The band's first album was released, and they saw international recognition. Kristoph, meticulous and controlling as ever, was guiding the band under a careful, steady hand. Everything was going exactly as it should until, after a concert, Klavier threw one of his "diva fits". The fight escalated until Kristoph tackled Klavier, strangling him. The other band members had to break up the altercation and the two were sent to the hospital (Krisoph suffered a laceration on his hand he required stitches for). Klavier agreed to not press charges if Kristoph sought help, and Kristoph, shocked that he could lose control enough to attack his own brother, checked himself into an inpatient facility.

Now, remember that whole bit about Zak Gramarye? Kristoph was never approached for the case- he was in psychiatric care at the time. Phoenix Wright successfully defended that case against Miles Edgeworth (it was to be Klavier Gavin's first case as a prosecutor), and everything went as well as any of Phoenix's cases usually do.

Kristoph was released, heavily medicated, eight months later- just in time for Christmas, and the band celebrated his return. From then on, Kristoph carefully managed the band, and they found international fame. Kristoph involved himself with several projects- sometimes singing backup or writing songs. He also lent the sounds of his Stradivarius violin, Allegretti, and his cello, Mara, to the tracks. He would occasionally preform on stage with his brother in the third act of their show.

His next show for the public would be to defend the famous clothing designer Armin Delacroix (who is an OC created for the purposes of this AU) in a case where Armin was accused of murdering one of his models. Of course, Kristoph proved his innocence, and Armin asked him to fill in for the lost model in his show. Armin would prove to be one of Kristoph's only friends- even going so far as to conspire with Kristoph to stage a relationship for the mutual benefit from getting their names in the presses.

Life goes on like this for another year, until one day when The Gavinners are finishing up their world tour with a stop in Munich. Kristoph, going to supervise the band at a photo shoot, steps out of the hotel and is taken somewhere else.

Previous RP Background:
Kristoph found himself taken to the dressing room- a series of rooms that act like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter. Once he adapted to being taken from his world, he made friends with an older AU version of Miles Edgeworth.

Kristoph soon discovered that his doppelgangers (OU and AU versions of himself) were pretty much all murderers, and set a plan in place to contain one of the most dangerous (nicknamed "der leibhaftige"- "the devil") and send a message to the other residents of the dressing room. To accomplish this, he discovered a room that detailed all of the characters' backgrounds in neatly bound books. He stole those of himself, a teenage version of himself, and several of his alternates.

Kristoph disguised himself as an OU version of himself to catch der liebhaftige. He wound up giving his defense badge away to a younger Miles Edgeworth, and used a younger version of his own brother, Klavier Gavin, as bait for der liebhaftige. The boy lured der leibhaftige into the open, and Kristoph snuck up on him and drugged him. He then put his alternate in a stright-jacket and in a prison cell, opening the room for all to see his own brand of vigilante justice. Kristoph, while the cell was open to viewing, burned the books he had taken from the library, effectively erasing his history and that of his teenage self and his own direct alternate- der leibhaftige.

Der leibhaftige escaped, however, and went into hiding, plotting the demise of the doppelganger who locked him up and looking after the teenage version of himself, determined not to let his direct alternate change to boy.

During this time, Kristoph entered a bachelor auction as a lark, and was won by that older Miles Edgeworth I mentioned. The two begin a relationship, starting with the simple understanding that the relationship was no great romance- they were both men with lovers in their home worlds. The relationship was simple friendship and physical enjoyment of the other, nothing more.

Kristoph then finds his younger self and tried to talk sense into the boy- to explain to him that he must change or suffer the fate of der leibhaftige (who was on death row in his home universe). His younger self resisted, taking his pet spider, Ophelia, and causing her to bite Kristoph before he escaped back to der liebhaftige.

Nothing very important happens for some time, Kristoph meeting with his younger self when he could, and der leibhaftige planning his revenge. Kristoph and Edgeworth go waltzing, and Kristoph nearly has a psychotic breakdown. Edgeworth, to his credit, stays with Kristoph until his brother arrives.

Shortly after this, Edgeworth goes to call on Kristoph and instead is confronted by the teenage Kristoph, who has a gun. The younger Kristoph taunts Edgeworth for a short while before becoming upset that he cannot turn Edgeworth against his older-self, and fires the gun into the wall. His pet spider bites Edgeworth, and the younger Kristoph escapes. Kristoph comes back to find Edgeworth passed-out in his living room, and takes him to his guest room. He allowed Edgeworth to stay for a few days before letting him return to his own space in the dressing room.

Klavier tells Kristoph that he would rather that Kristoph have suffered the same fate as the OU Kristoph Gavins because he feels he would be happier. Kristoph, deeply upset, takes his violin and goes to the room where Edgeworth is staying, spending the night there after mixing Valium and half a glass of scotch.

ABILITIES: Kristoph is a normal human, but he does have certain strengths. He is very good at deceiving people when need be, and he is very manipulative. He's a perfectionist and desires control above all things. He is also possessed of a natural charm, and most can be won over by him. This particular AU has also approached change and no longer resists it as much as his OU counterpart.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Lazarus
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes, if it's no trouble.
DREAM: One. He can hear, rather than see, the drip of the IV taped to his arm. He feels it, distantly, like one might feel a limb after anesthetic kicks in.

He sits up, and though his room he could see a hotel room on a rainy day. He is lying in bed, a man sleeping next to him, and if he closed his eyes, he could smell the warmth of him.

Flashbulbs. There are microphones shoved in his face by a faceless crowd. He waves his hands at them, and at once they silence. The faceless mannequins collapse to the floor, cameras clattering and the sound of glass crunching in their wake.

The hospital again. Again, he feels his arm distantly, and he closes his eyes against it. There is a cup in his hand filled with pills that spill over into his hand. He can see them, eyes closed, and he weighs them in his mind, as if they are on a scale. He opens his eyes and they are gone, and he smiles softly.

JOURNAL SAMPLE: Well, that was most certainly a different experience. Thank you, Miss Iris, for your assistance. I do again apologize if I caused you any small bit of nervousness or fright.

I suppose that introductions are in order. My name is Lazarus, and it comes to my great surprise that I find these journals do indeed work as I was told. I suppose that you'll simply have to forgive me some small amount of disbelief in this.

As for the rest, it seems that I've a short bit of time to find assistance in job placement. I don't suppose that the medics are hiring, are they?

ASPIRATIONS: It will be fun writing his memories, when he does get them. He's just here to do his thang and be the one Kristoph that I could play in a game like this. The OU version doesn't work out so well, I found. Also, I would like for him to work as the Pharmacist at Medical, if no one has any objections.

SPECIAL [AU] APPLICATION: Princess Tutu - Autor

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:45:13 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED

AU Character Application

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Blue
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: West Coast US
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Sho Minamimoto/Tybalt, Tailmon/Ari

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Autor
SERIES: Princess Tutu
PERSONALITY:

Mmh. How to begin to describe Autor? Scholarly. Intelligent. Cultured. A gentleman-in-training... Arrogant, pushy, snobby, and pompous. He really seems to be perfectly aware how sharp he is, that or he pulls his giving himself airs elsewhere. He's cocky in his own actions and judgements and has an imperious demeanor and way of speaking. He's rather proud of the way of speaking bit, too, thinking he can use logic to out-talk anyone and saying force has no power in the face of diplomacy, though he's too mule-stubborn and unwilling to be admit his mistakes or see another side to things to truly be diplomatic himself, making him a pain to argue with, and aside from that, push him to a certain point and you'll realize that behind his excessively cool front he's very high-strung and will suddenly crack under just the right amount of pressure. He also obviously enjoys hearing himself talk - he has a showoffy, smug attitude and a flair for the dramatic when he's on any sort of roll with mind-screwing and not-so-subtle subtlety most likely not below him, and is cold towards and openly critical of anyone on his bad side, readily showing when he's irritated and tending towards being snarky and patronizing now and then.

But of course, he's got his good points. He's typically well-mannered, eloquent, never obnoxious, extremely honest and sincere (though that can come across as over-bluntness), especially in regards to his own emotions and opinions, capable of taking care of himself, and also pretty wise beyond his years and he tries to be mature, sometimes coming across as trying a little too hard. He can seem a bit uptight or controlling and has a sense of humor that only selectively appears in a conventional form and probably otherwise at the expense of those he dislikes. He's quite sharp and analytical as well as curious - anything he doesn't yet know, he'll fight to learn, and he's also rather a bibliophile, loving the knowledge he gets from nonfiction almost as much as the thrill he gets from a good story. Even better is when he gets involved in one - to some level, he seems to crave excitement. He's not exactly a hero in the face of danger (though he has reason not to be, as he's pretty physically weak), but he's fascinated by intrigue and mysteries he'll do anything to unravel them, both probably because he loves the mental challenge and to show off how capable he is of it. To anyone else, though, he may look a little too fascinated by the bizarre or story-worthy. He's the sort whose eyes would light up and drill for all the information he could find if he walked in on a murder investigation or insist with a smirk that he's coming up with a brilliant plan to survive an undead infestation, though he's actually not very easy to impress, maybe irritatingly so, and he wouldn't give in and say so if he were to take on more than he could handle. He doesn't know when to quit - unable to do something, you say? Oh, no, he just needs to give everything a second observation and approach it from another angle, and another, and another.

He's also ambitious - according to a character bio somewhere, his goal in life is "world domination". He'd love to have a feeling of power, and resents being overlooked in favor of others, dominated, or ignored. This comes from in fact technically good or at least natural intentions. Though, yes, there's a shade of egocentricity in this, he likely thinks that he'd be smart enough to wield any kind of extreme power better than anyone. Aside from that, all he really wants is to make something of his life, and he can't stand his own failures or bad luck, needing to be the best at everything he tries. He never admits defeat or insignificance in any picture even if he knows he's lost or that he really isn't needed, and misery loves company - he'll readily kick his rivals when they're down or be reluctant to help them even if it's in everyone's best interest. Chances are, though, in a case like the latter, he will do everything in his power for anything he sees as right, especially if it means acknowledgement as having brought about a solution. He does like having his ego stroked. Really, though, it's because deep down he has an inferiority complex and a horrible fear of feeling disposable, weak, or insignificant; he openly wondered what his purpose in life is when he wasn't chosen as Drosselmeyer's heir. All one has to do to see his best side, the thoughtful, eager-to-please, and heartfelt one, is listen to him and affirm him - being understood is a breath of fresh air to him and he'll open up surprisingly quickly to anyone who seems to understand how he feels or take in his musings or theories. Often, sadly, he doesn't really give anyone an opening for that. He tends to be a recluse, preferring to be alone in peace and quiet with a good book or fifty, maybe another manifestation of his desire to prove his capabilities, though the fact that he doesn't have much patience for others or the noise that tends to come with them helps. He doesn't exactly get lonely - he might end up wishing for kindreds, but not company in general. Mix his fanaticism with his idea of excitement and he can look downright delusional. And maybe he is, a little bit.

It's hard to say how he acts around friends - in canon, he seems to be a loner, and no wonder; he's not all that easy to get along with. That may be reason to believe that he'd do his best to keep any real ones he would make, on the other hand, and even outside of that, it's shown that he's incredibly devoted wherever he places his liking or interest and is even capable of self-sacrificing loyalty. If he honestly loves something or someone, he won't be shy about it and try to prove it if he must.

As for other miscellaneous character notes, he isn't always seen in the best of moods. He's at his happiest when he's accomplished or engaged in something and otherwise tends to seem wary and irritable around others, especially if something gets in the way of his focus (he's often heard yelling at others to please be quiet! for so much as talking around him if he's reading or playing piano) or relaxation - and he does need that relaxation, being on the tense and obsessive side. He loves tea. And the arts, though he thinks too much to have an easy time of pulling any of them off but his music. And beautiful girls. He'd probably be pretty chivalrous and gentlemanly, or at least try to be, if he didn't get flustered at a lurvely lady even giving him a moment's positive attention. I suppose that's what happens when you don't get out much, eh?

TIMELINE: Post-series.

CANON+AU BACKGROUND:

[I'd decided to use an AU application as it's stated that characters whose backgrounds rely mainly on fan assumption/fanon count - Autor in at least his personality is a pretty solid character, but he's given virtually no background (he sort of just shows up in the show in its last quarter, where he comes from not elaborated on), and what is presented is in the form of hints or similarly just evidence for guesswork. If that's not enough, I understand. What's seen of him in-series starts with him and Fakir finally meeting.]

Autor's whole life up to this point has been spent in the isolated and idyllic Goldcrown Town, born into and raised by a knowledgeable, scholarly family, living his life normally by the standards of the town... Which in fact is not all that normally. Peaceful Goldcrown may be, but that doesn't make it typical or unexciting by any means. Not everyone noticed so it seemed, something that always puzzled Autor, and if they did they didn't care, but the place always seemed... fantastical. Like it was locked inside a fairy tale made real. It was a place where a puppet could be made to have all the personality and autonomy of an actual person, animals could be seen speaking and working with people, and rumors of ghosts of Wili maidens and knights who never completed their duties could (and often did) prove to be true. And on a less fantastical level, it was unbelievably rich in art and culture to the point where the school there, mixed in its students' ages, taught primarily the arts, with the students able to pick classes in whatever most suits them. Autor himself learned piano, something he had quite a knack for.

And yet it was something he somewhat ignored.

He found books to be his greater passion, spending most of his free time reading, studying whatever it came to him to study and enjoying any story he hadn't yet heard.

In particular, he was fascinated by the works of D. D. Drosselmeyer, a writer of fairy tales famous throughout the city who went from being famous to infamous when the people of the town found that he had a rare power called Storyspinning - he could bend reality with his writing. There were times elements of his stories managed to seep into the world he lived in, and even more dangerous, he would write and bring to life anything someone requested if they payed him a large enough sum. Eventually, a secretive group of people came to fear his power enough that they found Drosselmeyer, chopped off his hands to keep him from writing any longer, and killed him.

It was such an inspiration to Autor - the imagination and story-weaving talent, of course, not the psycho-for-hire bits - that he started to make up stories of his own and spend whatever time not spent on reading on writing, though of course it was never at quite the level of his idol. In fact, he's had periods where he ignored his musical commitments entirely in favor of trying to develop his ability to write, never to his satisfaction, resulting in hours of wasted time and sheets of wasted paper. And all this was the closest Autor ever thought he'd get to association with his hero.

His mind changed on that level, though, when eavesdropping on a conversation one day between his father and a visitor - a visitor whose surname was Drosselmeyer. Autor had known for a long time that when his father was a child, he'd gotten himself lost and this Drosselmeyer man had helped him out. It was a story he only knew the vague details of. Whenever he'd asked questions, nobody really told him anything of interest and this Drosselmeyer had denied any kind of relation to the famous one.

This conversation contradicted all that. While speaking to Autor's father, this Drosselmeyer referenced being a close descendant of the unusually gifted author - and what's more, he referenced (though less blatantly) that he and his father were related, thus making Autor himself a relative of the writer.

Nobody knew he'd learned all this, and given that everything related to this connection had been hidden from him before, he figured that if he wanted to find out even more, he would have to do it himself. He started to spend almost all his time outside of classes at the library, reading extensively and analyzing anything that had to do with Drosselmeyer to the point of obsession - even replicating detail for detail Drosselmeyer's studio in a house owned and given to him by his family. It wasn't entirely without help - eventually he'd confided in a bookstore owner on one of his research-hunts what it was he was after, and that bookstore owner admitted he knew quite a lot about Drosselmeyer and his bloodline - Drosselmeyer's powers, as it turned out, were hereditary, only adding to Autor's excitement. What he didn't learn was that the bookseller was a descendant and member of the group, called the Bookmen, who killed Drosselmeyer and were still together who would be ready and willing to kill him if he started to exhibit Storyspinning powers. He did learn plenty else, though, about Drosselmeyer's family and powers.

He came by enough knowledge to write up a decently detailed family tree, and from that he found out that his close family weren't the only known living descendants of Drosselmeyer. Fakir, a ballet student from town and an orphan, was a descendant as well - not only that, but the reincarnation of the knight from The Prince and the Raven, the book that Drosselmeyer had been working on when he died, forcing it to go unfinished but its characters to flee the story to complete it in the town.

It took him quite a while to actually become interested in Fakir himself. It did occur to him that a relative in a lineage like theirs would be worth researching, so he learned enough. As it turned out, Fakir had been aware of his own power and (if rarely) able to make it work for ages and had been ignoring it, refusing to use it, ever since it had gotten his parents killed, and instead acting on his role of the knight.

More importantly, it encouraged him to do a bit of extra research on The Prince and the Raven, the part of it that proved to be truly valuable, giving him a whole new understanding of the town. Fakir was the knight and such story characters as the prince and princess were coming to attention - things had been becoming unusual even for Goldcrown Town. How could the unfinished story still be writing itself and everything in the town conveniently following along?

It occured to him that no longer was the story in Goldcrown Town - Goldcrown Town was in the story, all its people its characters, puppets dancing on strings, subject to the whims of an author. Drosselmeyer had somehow continued - and furthered - his influence even after death and was writing the future history of the town like just another fairy tale.

It was a realization that disappointed Autor - but didn't discourage him. It strengthened his ambitions. He wasn't going to be written, he was going to write. He wasn't going to be a puppet, he was going to pull the strings. There were so many wonderful new stories he wanted to write, and plenty of edits or twists called for in current ones. He would be a worthy heir to Drosselmeyer and make the most of it.

Several times he attempted to bend reality through writing, all unsuccessfully, until he found out that the powers in his blood had to awaken first.

There had once been an old oak tree that Drosselmeyer's line had drawn their powers from. It had died long ago, chopped down by Bookmen, but it wasn't entirely gone - he knew the place where its petrified remains still existed, stuck in the ground, inconspicuously resembling rocks. To awaken his powers, an aspiring storyteller would have to wait until the bell in the town's centerpiece (its clock tower) chimed midnight and touch the tree from the spot its voice could most clearly be heard - that would allow the tree to speak to him. Again through strenuous research, Autor found that spot and attempted the ritual one night.

The tree quite audibly sighed.

It wasn't a wind sound, either. He'd heard it quite unmistakably as a sigh.

It was encouraging - but not enough to awaken his power.

He'd been getting another load of research underway to see if there was anything he could've been missing when Fakir finally approached him. When it became all too real to him that the knight's fate was to die, just like in the story, and any attempts to fulfill his role would be met by failure, he realized that Storyspinning was his only chance to help his friends - Ahiru, really Princess Tutu, and Mytho, the prince who had lost his heart in the story and was now fighting to get it back.

Autor didn't hide his knowledge. In fact, he thought it was about time. You'd think a descendant of Drosselmeyer would be quicker to try to uncover the secrets of his bloodline, and Autor was proud, so proud, that he knew so much more about the whole affair than this cousin of his. He couldn't see Fakir being Drosselmeyer's heir, not possibly, when he knew and apparently cared nothing for their illustrious bloodline without respect for the most powerful one of the lot. Perhaps this would serve as a confidence boost.

After a bit of grueling training, all necessity that he'd put himself through already, Autor took Fakir to the tree.

Midnight struck.

Fakir touched the tree.

And all three - the Drosselmeyers and Ahiru - appeared to be greeted with absolutely nothing.

Still, Fakir didn't move or say a word. Autor approached him to snap him out of it, touching his shoulder, only to feel a brilliant surge of energy burst through him from Fakir and knock him off his feet.

In a daze, he watched everything afterward from the ground. Fakir finally stood up, not even conscious-seeming, and began growing branches and leaves, surrounded by tendrils of wood, transforming into a human tree. Once that transformation completed, all the wood and leaves vanished in a flash of light, leaving Fakir awakened in every sense in Ahiru's arms.

It was a mystifying thing to see. But not quite as much as it was heartbreaking as well as explaining the sigh Autor had heard - that was surely proof that the oak tree had chosen Fakir to succeed Drosselmeyer from the beginning, no matter how hard he worked or how much he wanted it.

A trip to the bookstore shortly after was only met with confirmation from the Bookman, and as Autor walked alone on his way back home, he came across a girl passed out in the middle of the street, Rue, a prima ballerina from school. Once they saw each other, she got up and, much to Autor's surprise to the point that he was mesmerized, approached him. Very closely. As in, she moved to occupy his ~~vital regions~~ personal space, pinned him to the wall, and rested her head on his chest, listening to his quickened heart rate.

She asked him to accompany her home, and he was too stunned to decline.

"Home" was apparently located in the dark basement of a spooky old building in town. Autor couldn't bring himself to mind as he'd gotten to talking - talking about everything that had happened recently, his theories and ideas, and his ambitions. Not once did she complain about his talking or argue with anything he'd said, listening the whole time, affirming, even to the point of telling him "It's true. You can change the world"

Nothing he'd ever been told before. In fact, people rarely ever even listened to him, let alone praise him.

Indeed, Rue was unlike any girl he'd seem before. And not only was she apparently understanding and intelligent, she was gorgeous and graceful.

It wasn't an idea that he liked, but it occurred to him that the way he'd started to feel had been destined by the story. He found himself not caring. That didn't change that it was true - he was falling for her. And he told her so.

All she did was laugh, telling him he couldn't be serious. When he insisted he was, she almost defensively kicked him out, another disappointment. It wasn't until the following day that he understood why she'd snapped - Rue was secretly the daughter of the Raven, the villain from Drosselmeyer's last book, and was looking for a heart to feed him to bring him back to power, a flavorful and young one, which was where she'd been leading him - to conduct a sacrificial ritual and remove his heart. It was for his own good that she turned him away. After being raised told nobody could ever love something that was a human on the outside but a raven inside, she couldn't bring herself to kill someone who honestly loved her.

Within a day, things picked up pace. Fakir confirmed to Autor that The Prince and the Raven had come alive. Exciting, yes, but bad news as the Raven's return was fast approaching. The hidden pieces of the prince's heart were keeping him sealed away, and since said prince had been getting them back rapidly, it was only a matter of time before the two titular characters would have to do battle. The seal had already become so weak, in fact, that the Raven could work some of his power over the town. It began to rain only a little while later, raining not water but the Raven's blood, turning all who were exposed to it into crows, one of two factors keeping him inside. The other was that Fakir insisted that he needed him, the knowledgeable one, staying put to help him write, the only way he'd be able to help in the battle against the Raven.

After he looked for Ahiru, that is - Drosselmeyer's ghost had appeared before him (Fakir had nearly punched Autor in the jaw for being pleased at hearing that) and demonstrating his power by using his writing to force her into a lake of despair via figurative language made real.

Autor was therefore left alone for a while to make the preparations. Some part of him wanted to look for Rue - as the Raven's daughter, wouldn't she be involved in all this? Needing help? Possessing information? Maybe in trouble? But it'd be hopeless.

By the time Fakir had come back, the Raven and the Prince had both been restored. Princess Tutu had lost all her power and turned into a duck and Rue had been swallowed, forced to dance herself to death in a desert of despair (oh the alliteration), by her father, with the Prince, as much in love with her as Autor was, desperate to save her.

Fakir had given up on writing stories for Mytho, the prince, long ago - it was Ahiru that he could write for, and he immediately set to work trying to set his pen to the duck's aid, allowing her to help the prince in any way he could. But of course, Drosselmeyer's influence was still stronger than his. Whenever he tried to write the duck making a move, the story wrote crows stopping it with a peck. He nearly gave up and left to fight, but when Autor reminded him that his position as the story's knight entailed death in vain, he remembered that writing was his only choice and continued with it.

And as if fighting Drosselmeyer weren't enough, a peek out the door showed the Bookman, slowly coming down the street in a cloak.

As the duck-prince-raven battle continued, still seemingly hopeless and only getting worse as Ahiru and Mytho were starting to tire and having to fight against injuries, the Bookman arrived, armed with an axe, which he used to chop the door down and swing at Fakir, which Autor in a borderline frenzy blocked with a tome.

The Bookman claimed that they were driving the story off the edge into tragedy, all their meddling making everything worse, and that he'd come, the only Bookman who hadn't turned into a crow, to punish them. Autor tried to negotiate, not wanting to fight a creepy man with an axe, especially not at a time like this. It was all futile. The Bookman raised his axe yet again to slice off Fakir's writing hand.

It struck table as a punch from Autor knocked Fakir to the ground, away from the assailant. In a desperate and rage-fueled effort to allow the Storyspinning to continue, Drosselmeyer's heirs to live, end the story properly, rescue Rue, and set everything right, he sprang at the Bookman, tackling him through a wall and causing them to both tumble into the basement. The old man was instantly knocked out, and Autor fainted shortly after picking himself up.

By the time he'd woken up, he found the story ended. Fakir's writing had allowed the duck to dance in turn calling upon her innate Tutu's power - the power of hope - which had radiated over the transformed townspeople, changing them back and causing the raven's blood curse to leave their minds. This left the path open for the prince to enter the Raven's mouth where he lifted his princess off the wasteland and destroyed the Raven's heart. A machine that Drosselmeyer's spirit had manipulated to do the actual writing of the town's events was located and broken, leaving the way for Fakir to take over and write life's stories, promising not to leave Ahiru even as a duck. Mytho left Goldcrown itself to return to his story - taking Rue with him, where they were married.

Big happy ending.

And yet it left Autor less than satisfied.

What had he gotten out of it? Not the power he'd wanted but Fakir now possessed. Not love, like Mytho. He was left the same as always. A piano-playing bibliophile, descended from Drosselmeyer without it counting for anything, completely normal. His knowledge - and in that little incident with the axe-wielding Bookman, his actions - made the ending possible, and what did he get from it? Not a reward, not learning his purpose in life, not even a little appreciation.

But maybe that'll change here.

ABILITIES: Absolutely nothing, much to his own disappointment, but his piano playing, which by now is likely static muscle memory.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Elster
BIRTHDAY LOG: C'mon, Elster, think of the giant squirrels. They think of you. Naked. Yes, I'd be interested in one for him.

DREAM: He watched the birds dance in the window of sky made by the trees around the lake, flying in formation, moving together in circles, loops, climbing and descending, splitting and reforming, all directed by the sound of his piano at a rocky overhang. Birds of every kind. Crows, most noticeably, but mixed in with them were blackbirds, swans, geese, sparrows, finches, even ducks, all moving to the same music in one flock.

For then.

He experimented.

He moved his right hand up an octave and played as normal, and just like that, the flock split in half, one half dark, one half bright, the brighter-feathered birds breaking away, circling the other flock once before mirroring its flight patterns, crossing them midair from time to time.

An improvised high note.

The songbirds split from the waterfowl, copying them ten feet higher, looking almost like white, tan, and yellow stars, even against the daytime sky.

Another.

In an explosion, the flocks scattered, flying in a sphere of feathers and wings before regrouping into the two separate flocks.

He improvised further and further, until he was no longer playing off the sheet music in front of him, directing the birds in accordance to what he wanted to see and hear while simultaneously playing off what they surprised him with, watching where each note led them and split-second thinking where that would lead in turn, building and building.

It was no song he'd ever heard or been taught before anymore. Just the dance of the birds. A simple title. Perhaps he could think of a better one later, but that was an easy to remember working title for the time being. The Dance of the Birds. As it took shape, patterns, repeating solidifying verses and themes in the birds' flight, he shut his eyes, sure he was now in tune with where he was conducting them, imagining their dance in his head and leaving them to it, trying to memorize every note as he played it.

He imagined himself writing it down.

Then he actually felt his hand writing - not playing anymore, but writing. His left hand was motionless. Yet he still heard his own playing and the wingbeats and calls of the birds.

When he opened his eyes, it was much darker, the birds still dancing overhead, but they were against a strangely high, convex wooden ceiling, not the open sky. They were in a room now, walls lined with candles and shelves crammed with an assortment of books.

He turned his attention to right in front of him. He was sitting at a desk instead of a piano now, strewn with loose parchment, a couple of small stacks of books - he stopped to identify a few by the gold-leafed text on their spines: William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, D. D. Drosselmeyer - and a few other items he couldn't help feeling comforted by the sight of. There was a tea set over at the edge which he'd probably have to move before something disastrous happened, a duck-feather quill, an inkwell shaped like a frog, a golden pocketwatch ticking audibly. The seconds were passing in time with his composition, sounding off like a metronome.

Finally, at himself. Indeed, he was writing now, and still directing the birds. But he wasn't writing sheet music. He was writing words.

He was writing their flight, describing their movements before they made them, the words for it flowing out without him needing to pause and think or visualize.

Taking another look at the parchment littering his desk, he realized that some were completely filled with his handwriting, about creatures, people, and events.

He was writing everything. This little show was just one little just for fun chapter in a story of life.

With a smile, he scribbled down enough to last the birds likely ten to thirty seconds, and then wrote, "A single crow dove down and landed at the corner of the desk."

One did. A large, glossy black crow broke off from the flock and landed on the corner he was leaning towards, tilting its head, red-tinted eyes seeming to glow, catching the light of a nearby candle.

He reached out to pet it.

And his hand stopped short a few inches away.

He withdrew his hand and then tried again.

Something was pulling it back.

Something shining in the air right above it like a strand of spiderweb.

A puppet string?

He gasped, head whipping to his writing hand. A string attached to each finger and the wrist. He wasn't truly writing at all. All he was doing was holding the quill, some out-of-sight puppeteer or force controlling what was being written.

It wrote the crow taking off again and joining the rest. With his hands restrained, he couldn't have tried to stop it if he'd thought to.

He jerked side to side. Strings were restricting his shoulders, arms, he even felt them around his waist and his neck. Just like that he felt his throat seize up. The string wasn't even pulled until he unthinkingly started to struggle, succeeding in nothing more but what looked and felt like hopeless twitching, no matter how much force he put into it, held almost in place by what he was trying to escape, the strings squeezing his insides and cutting off his breath fueling his attempts, desperate and terror-blinded.

His writing hand started to move again, against his will. He couldn't see or tell what was being written, but once the line was finished, the ceiling opened up, revealing clockwork, thrumming along smoothly, packed just too tight to allow any glimpse from his immobile, panicking position to what was behind them or how high the ceiling actually went. The birds bursting up from their flight pattern into it and scattered, disappearing between and through gears.

Suddenly, he was following them - the strings were pulling him off his seat, up into the clockwork. He started trembling and felt freezing cold all over, breaking out into a sweat and his heart hammering as he saw his writing desk getting smaller and smaller until he couldn't make out anything that had been on it anymore and, paralyzed, couldn't remember, until it disappeared behind a gear. He'd broken through the false ceiling.

There was a clatter as something dropped through the air next to him and stopped abruptly, pulling a string of its own taut. He was still moving up too quickly to tell what it was by looking down. Instead, he managed to turn his head upward. More were falling, and his eyes followed them on their way down. He realized that they were wooden birds, marionettes, the birds that he'd been conducting.

They started coming faster and faster, the music getting faster and losing key as if its player was steadily going insane, getting to be almost unbearable. He ground his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, whimpering to himself as though it would drown it out.

It didn't. The repeated clattering of bird puppets reaching the ends of their strings was, more and more close together until it sounded like fifty were dropping at once with a noise like one solid wood-carved construct hitting the ground from a cliff.

He cringed.

Once the sound faded, the music had resumed its tempo, but it sounded different somehow. Not piano, but metallic, like a music box. His ascent was slowing as well. Again, he looked up. The face of a clock tower wasn't too far off.

It felt like he'd reached it in the next second, looking outside it like a window.

It was night outside. A moonlit night. He could see a single oak tree off in the distance, not thinking of trying to calculate how far off, not even noticing its surroundings. Just the oak tree, pulling his focus into it and only into it, yet expanding it at the same time. He suddenly visualized it right in front of him, feeling the wind instead of the pull of the strings, closer and closer, drawing him in. It was slightly radiating, most curiously, with a pale green glow, he realized.

Or was it? Just like that he was pulled past the window and snapping into reality so hard he could almost hear it in his head. To the way out, he hoped - he had to check that tree - no, no, not the tree, this tower, where was it, what was going on, where were these strings coming from?

Perhaps he'd have time for both. He could see a trapdoor overhead, only forty feet ahead at the most, and getting closer. He took in all the breath he had room to for a sigh of relief.

Both his hands were pulled upward towards its handle once it was within reach, and he moved to grab it with his left. Strangely, his right was still clutching paper and a black, white-tipped quill. Like a reversed piano keyboard, he thought deliriously.

Then something flashed through the air from nowhere.

Reflexively he withdrew his hands again. It sliced through the air above him and disappeared.

It was too late by the time he realized what had happened.

That had been an axe. An enormous executioner's axe.

And it had cut through his strings.

He could move and get his breath now.

He was free to claw at the walls and scream his lungs out on his quick way down god knew how far to the candlelit room, tiers of the wall and the tower's clock tower rushing past in a blur from their own speed and his watering eyes. And he was about to.

Then he realized his hands were free. He squeezed his paper and quill as he tried to twist in the air to get them in front of them. He had to be able to write reality. Why else would the strings have been manipulating him instead of the quill directly? He could write himself flying, or drifting down, or at least something to break his fall, quickly, quickly, quickly -

They were torn out of his hands by the rushing air, scattering like leaves above him, their own fall graceful and leisurely.

And that was all he'd had.

He didn't know how long he'd been falling or how far. All he knew was how fast the strings had had to pull him to get him to the top. He was falling from the top of a clock tower to a hard wooden floor.

He used the freedom that the cutting of the strings had finally gotten him after all before blacking out.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

[Writing is almost calligraphic - very formal, flowing, and with a slant to it almost to the point where it looks like it was done with deliberation. Entry is preceded by rapid pentapping, and for those watching as the entry's written, there are pauses here and there as the one holding the pen tries to find the proper wording.]

Greetings.

My name is Elster, and I am a [Pause.] newborn. This is, of course, my first time writing to Edensphere. This could be considered a test of my journal. I am seeing writing appear on the next page as we speak, but the proof that my writing can be seen in any of your journals as well as vice versa is far more important to me: would any of my seniors know if this Edensphere has a library, or somewhere similar I could find myself something decent to read? I'm not finding the temporary residential section to be the most stimulating of places.

[Added hesitantly.]

I also must admit I'm not settling in particularly quickly and am a bit anxious. I'd also like to know of any places that serve tea. Even if the cafeteria here has any, I'd hardly trust it.

Regardless of what the answers to my questions are, thank you in advance for your time.

ASPIRATIONS: All I can say for now is I really want him to be happy here. He's my favorite muse, I admit, and I've tried playing him elsewhere - he never found a niche, and a friend even said they wished I could find some way to have him brighten up a little. XD I want him to make friends, feel accomplished, just find some kind of place at the Sphere.

Hi, Blue!

Thank you for your patience. Moderation requests a dream rewrite since it's so elaborate that it's almost like recounting the character's entire life story, even though it isn't. Upon approving a dream resubmission, we will accept your character. We look forward to hearing from you!

Player Response

APPLICATION: Final Fantasy X - Seymour Guado

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:21:58 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Tegu!
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST.
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Cecil Harvey/Paladin

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Maester Seymour Guado
SERIES: Final Fantasy X
RESERVED: Yes.
WISHLIST: No.
PERSONALITY:

Seymour is…hm. He’s a very complex character. Due to events during his
childhood which will be elaborated on in the history, he basically
went mad from the trauma and the revelation of the truth of his world.
But since it’s been twenty years, he’s become very high-functioning…as
such, you could say there are two Seymours: What he presents as
normally and what is normally only present in his ravings.

Normally, Seymour is quite inoffensive. He’s polite enough, and not
outwardly cruel. His voice might annoy people like, say, Stoneface, as
it is cultured, upper-class, holier-than-thou—a subtext that pervades
his interactions with nearly everyone he meets. He’s intelligent,
clever, cunning, and he knows it. Nevertheless, he behaves graciously
enough—he is a generous host. Seymour is not shy but confident, with
impressive presence and the ability to be very commanding when he
wants to be. He has a fixation on mothers and mother-figures that
might strike one as troubling, the more time one spends with him, and
it really serves as a sort of canary in the mineshaft… The worst one
could say about this Seymour is that sometimes he comes off as a smug,
condescending jerk.

However, there are hidden depths and watch out: Here there be dragons.
Seymour hasn’t been quite right in the head since his mother died. The
personality described above is a part of him, yes, but it is carefully
trimmed and maintained as his only public persona. To understand the
rest of Seymour, it is important to know how and why his mother died.
At the age of eight, Seymour went with his mother on a quest to save
the world, intentions pure and sweet; he was a good person then. At
the end of their journey, though, they were cruelly stopped by the
revelation of what saving the world actually meant (again, elaborated
on in the background), and suffice to say that at the age of eight,
Seymour’s mother was killed, his worldview shattered, and his psyche
irreparably damaged. That was twenty years ago, and the child’s grief,
shock, despair, and fear has resolved itself into the adult’s anger,
antipathy, cynicism, and nihilism frightening in its depth and
absoluteness. Seymour has no more moral compass, he has come to the
conclusion that life is suffering, the world is dying, the laws and
mores of his subjects are lies, and that death is the best thing that
could ever happen to any person. The odd thing, though, is that he
still considers himself a good person—he kills without remorse because
the fleeting dream of life is cruel, but death is peace, is slumber,
is mercy. He has no love for anything anymore—there is no real passion
for anything other than returning everything to dust, so that nothing,
not even himself, will live and therefore suffer. The best one could
say about this Seymour is that he is completely insane.

Seymour uses people. He lies. He twists the truth. He kills, because
it is merciful. He kills, because some dare stand in his way. He
kills, sometimes, because he wants to, because he has power and he
enjoys exercising it. There is, quite literally, nothing that he will
not do to further his plans because once his plans are complete
nothing will mean anything anymore. Likewise, there is quite little
that can stop him, dying three times was only a minor inconvenience.
Seymour is manipulative, cold, uncaring, ruthless, and, ultimately, a
monster.

He also reacts to women trying to kill him with near-naked arousal.
Make of that what you will.

TIMELINE: Immediately after Yuna Sends him (i.e. his fourth and
final death) in the endgame of Final Fantasy X.
BACKGROUND:

Seymour is very much a product of the twisted, morbid land of Spira,
so to understand him, an understanding of his land is required.

For one thousand years, the world of Spira has been under
near-constant attack by a monster named Sin. Sin is best described as
a monstrous whale, able to appear in almost any part of the
waterlogged Spira. It is bigger than a mountain, so huge that
apparently cities were built on its back. Sin exists for one purpose
and one alone: to destroy. Sin came into being as a result of the
Machina War, a battle between the great cities of Zanarkand and
Bevelle. Bevelle’s machina—machines—assured their victory against
Zanarkand, whose main offensive forces were summoners. Then, in an
event no one on Spira really understood, Zanarkand was wiped off the
face of the map, the machina armies destroyed, and above it all was a
malevolent, monstrous creature that no weapon could destroy and no
magic placate.

In short time, and seemingly out of nowhere, the Bevelle-based Church
of Yevon was formed, which advocated its rituals as the key to
destroying Sin and proclaimed Sin’s appearance as the result of the
sins of the peoples of Spira, issuing a set of proscriptions
accordingly. When, under its auspices, the summoner Yunalesca used the
ritual of the Final Summoning of the Final Aeon to successfully
“defeat Sin,” it gained legitimacy and became the primary governing
force in a world ravaged back to the Stone Age by this monster.

Over the course of a thousand years, the religion of the Yevonites
evolved but slightly. Among its many proscribed things are machina of
almost any kind—anyone who creates, invents, or salvages a machine
must subject it to temple approval. Yevon, the primary god of the
religion, is worshipped by obedience to the church laws, prayer (a
ritualized prayer; in its most basic form, a Yevonite prays by
stepping back and bending the knees with arms out to the side, then
returning to a standing position at the same time as bringing both
hands in front of the torso as though holding a ball or sphere, left
hand cradling the bottom with right hand cupping the top, then bowing
while keeping the hands perpendicular to the ground, then repeating
the gesture if needed. This prayer sign is also used as a greeting to
the faithful, particularly priests or Maesters. The most involved
prayer ritual seen in the game has the person praying kneel with their
head bowed and back bent, then in one motion straightening the back
and looking to the sky, left arm raised straight up with the right arm
also up but bent so that the right hand touches the left elbow, then
bringing the arms around and down into the same sphere-cradling
gesture described above while bowing. The gesture is then repeated as
the worshipper continues to pray), and the recitation of a short,
six-line song called the Hymn of the Fayth. There are five standing
temples of Yevon in Spira, one in Besaid, Kilika, Djose, Macalania,
and Bevelle itself, where the faithful may come to worship. The Church
of Yevon really is a world religion and Spira a theocracy; in the time
in which the game is set, any part of Spira that is centralized is
under Yevonite rule, including four of the five races of Spira:
Humans, being the initial founders of the Church of Yevon, are all
ruled by it. The Ronso, leonine mountain-dwellers, also ascribe to the
Yevonite church and have for an unspecified amount of time. The
Hypello, amphibious beings, are also implied to follow the Church of
Yevon. The Guado, plantlike humanoids of almost elven aspect, came to
the teachings of Yevon roughly forty or fifty years before the events
of the game. The exception is the Al Bhed, a nomadic people who seem
to be humans adapted for desert life, who reject the teachings of
Yevon—all of them—and are marginalized, persecuted, and ostracized for
their trouble.

The Yevonite church has a particular doctrine on death and the
afterlife: Should a person die normally, their soul and essence
disperses into pyreflies, lingering on even after death and growing
more and more resentful of the living until the remaining humanity
vanishes and they are transformed into fiends. This is prevented by
church officials known as summoners, who perform a sort of last rites
called the Sending, a dance that calms the deceased’s spirit and
guides it to the Farplane, Spira’s afterlife. The existence of the
Farplane is not conjecture, a door to it exists in the Guado capital
of Guadosalam; people journey there to see apparitions of their dearly
departed. The Al Bhed hold that the Farplane is merely a concentration
of pyreflies that mimic the thoughts and memories of their beholders,
but as no living person or Unsent has ever been seen in the Farplane,
it’s likely that the Yevonite interpretation is closer to the truth.

Unsent, mentioned above, are people who have died but live on, rather
like ghosts, so called because the Sending was either never performed
for them or they had the power to reject it. Their will and
determination tie them to this world and animate them, no longer bound
by their bodies their strength and abilities can be frighteningly
powerful, and because they are already dead, they cannot be killed
conventionally as they will merely resurrect themselves once more;
only by being Sent by a summoner or surrendering to death can they
truly die. An Unsent is generally visually indistinguishable from a
living person, though they can now display the pyreflies that compose
their bodies at will if they wish to advertise their status. Few do,
though, as Unsent are regarded by Spiran society as abominations and
aberrations who must be Sent at the nearest opportunity. Considering
the tendency of Unsent to regress to furious monsters, though, the
people of Spira can hardly be blamed.

The summoners have one other role to play in the Church of Yevon, and
it is a very major one. Summoners are the only ones, it is taught,
capable of defeating Sin, if only for a little while, as Sin can
revive itself. A summoner’s art is the summoning (obviously) of
intensely powerful beings called Aeons, the power of the fayth. Fayth
are the souls of people who “gave their life willingly in the fight
against Sin,” rent from their bodies and encased in stone statues. A
summoner prays before the statue of the fayth to prove their
worth—once found worthy, the fayth grants their power to the summoner,
and that summoner can then call down the power of that Aeon to fight
alongside them. There is one fayth in all of the five standing
temples, to visit them all and pray to every fayth is what is known as
the summoner’s pilgrimage (obstructing a summoner’s pilgrimage is
something that is Not Done in Spiran society). A summoner is
accompanied on their pilgrimage only by their guardians, warriors who
protect the summoner from fiends and other threats. The relationship
between a summoner and his or her guardians is considerably
romanticized by Spiran society, and as a result for a summoner to
travel with more than one or two is considered unseemly, despite it
being the most logically effective way to protect the summoner. The
end of a summoner’s pilgrimage is in the lost city of Zanarkand, the
“city at the end of the world,” where, if they have trained to prove
themselves worthy, a summoner will be granted access to the fayth of
the Final Aeon, a tremendously powerful creature—and from there, it is
the summoner’s obligation to perform the last scene of the holiest of
Yevon’s rituals and confront the monstrous Sin on the battlefield of
their choosing. There, they will summon the Final Aeon, and that will
be a creature powerful enough to strike Sin down, bringing the period
of time known as the Calm, before Sin can revive itself again—and
always, the prayer that this time, the people have repented enough so
that Yevon will call back Sin and let Spira live in peace. The
summoner who has been valiant enough to kill Sin will be honored
throughout Spiran history as a High Summoner.

This process will kill the summoner. Always. No exceptions.

Such is how life on Spira has unfolded through the past thousand
years—the confederacy of cities and tribes under Yevon’s control
expanding even as the general population contracts, filling Spira with
ruined cities and abandoned settlements and slowly dying hope—Sin is
slowly killing their world. Now the story of Seymour himself can at
last begin.

His story starts with his parents. His father was Jyscal Guado, the
hereditary ruler of the Guado people (a title simply called ‘Lord’).
Earlier in life, Jyscal converted to the Church of Yevon and
subsequently brought the faith to his subjects, spreading the
teachings far and wide and seeing them upheld wherever he went. Due to
his great services to the Church, Jyscal was made a Maester—one of
four, who are the effective rulers of Spira, there is no higher
authority. As this represented the beginning of the integration of the
Guado into more mainstream Spiran society, Jyscal made another
symbolic outreach by marrying a human woman, whose name is never given
to us in canon, making the first known union between a Guado and
human. And all was well and good until said woman became pregnant with
Seymour, again, the first known half-Guado, half-human. Public opinion
turned against Seymour and his mother, violently so—there was
apparently no recourse other than for the two of them—his mother, and
Seymour himself--to be exiled to the remote island of Baaj, tiny,
unimportant, safe.

Seymour spent his childhood there, essentially, alone but for his
mother and whatever servants and tutors she may have kept. He must
have shown disquieting aptitude for the magical arts, as even at a
young age he seemed capable of becoming a summoner. Seymour and his
mother, though, waited out the turmoil amongst Yevon and the Guado
about him—or at least, they tried to, even though eight years passed
and the two of them, despite being absolutely inoffensive were still
looked at with contempt, even hate. And then, just when it looked like
things could not get worse, they did: Seymour’s mother contracted a
terminal illness.

Now, consider her situation: She knows she is going to die soon, and
with her, possibly the last person in the world who loves this small
child (The canon is silent on Jyscal’s opinion of his son at this
point in his life). Despite the fact that Seymour is Jyscal’s heir and
a prodigy, he appears to be so thoroughly reviled that he has little
in the way of a future. She’s desperate, and only one solution seems
present: Send Seymour on a summoner’s pilgrimage, and guard him on the
way. The pilgrimage can be completed before her illness takes her, and
as a result of Seymour killing Sin he will go down in history as a
High Summoner, beloved by the people, and he will be dead and on the
Farplane, unable to be hurt by anyone ever again—and once her illness
takes her, she can join him there, and while they live she can comfort
him on his coming death—be his pillar of strength.

Seymour accepts this—he loves his mother, deeply, she must know best
and she will be with him, anyhow. So they leave Baaj on their
pilgrimage—Seymour the summoner, his mother his guardian, and complete
it, arriving in Zanarkand, prepared to find the fayth of the Final
Aeon. And they do find the fayth.

It’s a blasted, empty statue, cracked and broken, with no power in it at all.

It is at this point that Yunalesca comes to them—even though she was
supposed to have been killed in her own Final Summoning a millennium
ago, she persists in this world as an Unsent. It is at this point that
she reveals to them that what Yevon teaches as the path to destroying
Sin is an utter lie: To receive the Final Aeon, what happens is that
Yunalesca rips out the soul of the summoner’s guardian with the
closest bond to the summoner and turns it into an Aeon, subjecting the
guardian to a fate worse than death, really. The bond is important, as
only an Aeon personally linked with the summoner can pierce Sin’s
armor—that is in fact the purpose of the pilgrimage. Obtaining the
Aeon of every fayth is just a cover, what the pilgrimage is meant to
do is foster a close relationship between summoner and guardian,
making them fire-forged friends, if you will, so that their bond can
give power to the Aeon and the summoning.

Seymour is shocked and horrified, but his mother seems to take this in
her stride. After all, she knows her own death is coming soon, why not
speed the process along? She accepts Yunalesca’s offer, though her son
begs and cries for her not to—and as Seymour watches, Yunalesca turns
his mother into an Aeon—specifically, into a creature named Anima, a
chained, rotting corpse in a shell, larger than a three-story house.

And then it got worse.

Yunalesca tells him to go confront Sin, and tells him that what will
happen is that, once Sin is killed by Anima, the creature possessing
and controlling Sin—an entity named Yu Yevon—will in turn take Anima
as a host and transform her, over the years, into a new Sin, with
which he can return to the ravaging of Spira. And that this is how it
should be.

For those of you keeping track at home: An eight-year-old little boy
is all alone at the end of the world, being told by the dead woman who
just killed his mother and turned her soul into an ungodly monster,
that what he must do is to confront a mountain-sized cosmic
abomination and summon his mother’s soul, so that said mountain-sized
cosmic abomination can possess it and turn it into another
mountain-sized cosmic abomination, killing him in the process. Is it
any surprise at all that he lost his mind?

Seymour didn’t confront Sin. He fled, to where, we know not. All we
know is that some years later, his father Jyscal had him returned to
the mainland from Baaj. The Guado and the humans were more accepting
of him now, it seemed, so Seymour began working to legitimize himself,
to rise in power, to attain everything his father had and more. But,
in reality, he had other motivations. He had, in the years following
his mother’s death, become so cynical and disillusioned about the
world—about dying, doomed Spira—that he had arrived at the conclusion
that there is no hope anymore, and that euthanizing the world is the
only way. So he climbs the ranks of the Church of Yevon to gain
influence, respect, importance, to replicate the position of Lord Zaon
of Zanarkand, Yunalesca’s husband and first fayth of the Final
Summoning—his own ultimate goal. If he should become the fayth of a
Final Summoning, then he will become Sin itself, and will at last have
the power to kill the planet, to burn and ravage until nothing could
ever live on it again, and then slowly die himself, the greatest of
mercies. And yet, no one caught on to his plans, though they all began
to fear his immense power. Twenty years later, he attained it all,
everything his father had: Summoner, High Priest of the temple at
Macalania, Lord of the Guado, and Maester of Yevon. The last two
became his after the murder of his father—by himself, and he somehow
managed to do it in such a way that though Jyscal knew Seymour would
kill him, he accepted it and did not resist.

That is the end of the backstory: Two weeks later, the events of Final
Fantasy X began.

As players, we first run into Seymour in Luca, the second biggest city
in Spira. He is there accompanying his colleague, Grand Maester Yo
Mika, to the blitzball tournament being held in his honor, for his
fifty years serving as Maester. Seymour there discovers the summoner
Yuna of Besaid, daughter of High Summoner Braska, on her own
pilgrimage to stop Sin. She is young, and pretty, and very, very
naïve…it seems like Seymour’s found the Yunalesca to his Zaon.
Fortunately, he can begin the campaign to impress and woo her right
then, as the stadium the blitzball tournament is being held in is
attacked by fiends, hordes of them. So, he summons the Aeon Anima, and
she proceeds to utterly and completely destroy all of them, saving
thousands of people from a grisly end, leaving them looking to him
with awe and wonder, Yuna especially.

He has other obligations, though, and cannot stay to bask in that
glory. He, along with fellow Maester Wen Kinoc, is supervising the
Crusader-Al Bhed joint endeavor, Operation Mi’ihen. The Crusaders,
Yevon’s military branch, are performing a great heresy in working with
the Al Bhed, but the two Maesters, representing Yevon’s greatness and
mercy, will remain to bear witness to their heroism and give what
service they may. Or…so it seems.

He also encounters Yuna’s party at the entrance to Mushroom Rock Road,
where Operation Mi’ihen is luring Sin in to kill it. Because of the
extreme danger involved, no unaffiliated parties are allowed passage
through Mushroom Rock Road—not even the summoners who must traverse
the road to access the temple at Djose. But Seymour is only too happy
to grant Yuna a favor and allow her passage through the area. They see
the machina the Al Bhed plan to use to kill Sin, and the party begins
to question the wisdom of this when Seymour appears to make small
talk, remarkably blasé about the whole affair (“But, using
machina…that’s bad, isn’t it?” “Pretend you didn’t see them.” “Beg
your pardon, sir, but that’s not something a Maester should say!”
“Then pretend I didn’t say it.”). Seymour’s interested in Auron,
though—Auron, the legendary Guardian of High Summoner Braska, now
guarding Yuna, Auron, who has been to Zanarkand and knows the truth.
Auron, though, brushes him off. In any case, duty calls, and he cannot
accompany a wandering summoner exploring the ground of the
operation—he can order that she come to the command center, though,
where he can keep an eye on her…what good to him is a summoner lost
amongst the casualties of the front line?

The plan is to lure Sin within range of the Al Bhed machina by
torturing its Sinspawn—the monsters it sheds and leaves in its
wake—and making the spawn call out for Sin. Unfortunately, the spawn
escapes and confronts Yuna’s party—but their defeat of it works in
favor of the original plan, as behind the spawn’s twitching body, Sin
is rising from the sea…

What follows isn’t pretty. Machina weapons fire at Sin, knocking off
more spawn that assault the beach, and then, Sin readies a blast that
doesn’t just kill the humans and spawn on the shore but disintegrates
them, causing chaos as the system of caves and precipices surrounding
the beach (It’s called Mushroom Rock Road for a reason) begins to
collapse. Yuna awakens in the confusion, and sees that Auron is with
her, as is Seymour—Seymour, in fact, is singlehandedly holding back
the spawn Yuna and party failed to kill beforehand. Another fight
ensues, and Seymour easily kills the beast, though oddly he does not
use any of his Aeons.

In the aftermath, Yuna’s party regroups, but Seymour has one last
conversation with her before he returns to his offices in the Guado
capital. He encourages her to be strong, to persevere…but not to do so
alone, and offers himself to help and guide her, marking the first
time in the dialogue of the game that he likens himself to Zaon and
Yuna to Yunalesca.

Once in Guadosalam, his capital, the city he knows Yuna must pass
through before heading to Macalania and her next temple—he has work to
do, yes, both the work of his many posts, and the work to lay a trap
for Yuna: He orders his majordomo, Tromell Guado, to stop Yuna’s party
in Guadosalam, to invite them to his manor, he orders the manor
servants to prepare the great hall, to lay out a feast, to pull out
all the stops—when Yuna and her party arrives in Guadosalam, he does
his best to dazzle them—specifically, dazzle her, with splendor and
luxury and the astonishing sight of Zanarkand. No, not the ruins, but
a reconstruction, a simulation, of the city at its peak, showing the
city in all its mechanical-magical glory…and, eventually, showing us
Yunalesca and her husband Zaon. Seymour knows the secrets of
Zanarkand, he tells Yuna of the necessary bond of love between
summoner and guardian, and of the need of the summoner to rely on the
guardian…As the simulation comes to an end, he carefully—almost
shyly—leans down and whispers something in Yuna’s ear. He’s asking her
to marry him.

Yuna is flustered, to say the least, and Auron isn’t pleased with this
development, either. He engages Seymour about this, and for his
trouble receives a veiled threat—Seymour knows Auron is an Unsent,
now, and can have him Sent at any time. In any case, Seymour lets Yuna
leave, encouraging her to consult with friends, with relatives, with
the dead in the Farplane. He has work to do in Macalania and must
depart.

Seymour is flattered when barely a day passes and Yuna is coming to
accept his offer—or so it seems. Irritatingly, she met his father in
the Farplane, and he seems to have kept with him a sphere detailing
the manner of his death. She now plans to negotiate something with
him—to appeal to his better nature, she has come, alone, unarmed, into
a murderer’s den, surrounded by the murderer’s servants.

This does not look like it will end well for Yuna.

But somehow, against all chances, she makes it out alive (probably
because killing her would be counterproductive for Seymour),
unfortunately, then all six of her Guardians are there and they seem
to have an issue with Seymour killing his father, for some bizarre
reason—a confrontation is irksomely inevitable, it seems. And it
happens, and then Seymour makes a mistake and suddenly the hall is red
and he is reeling and he’s collapsed in a heap. Dead. A minor
inconvenience.

No, really, it is only minor. He reanimates himself as an Unsent soon,
and discovers that while he was out, Yuna and her party have escaped
and somehow traveled to the Isle of Bikanel. Well, time to go get her.
The Guado launch a massive raid on Bikanel, excusing it as an assault
on the heretic Al Bhed, as by lucky coincidence, Bikanel is the site
of the Al Bhed’s base of operations, creatively called Home. The Guado
find her, separated from her guardians once more, and spirit her away
to Bevelle. There she meets with Seymour again, all contrition, and
agrees to marry him. Finally, and the preparations can be
underway.

However long it takes Seymour to prepare for the wedding isn’t
elaborated on in the game, but eventually we return to them at the
ceremony itself, in the gorgeously-rendered aerial Palace Of St.
Bevelle. Their wedding is interrupted, though, by Yuna’s guardians,
who have escaped from Home by allying with the Al Bhed and using their
airship, and are now crashing the wedding. Good thing Seymour has a
small army of guards, eh?

The guardians attempt to cut through the army of warrior monks, but
are stopped just short of the altar—fortunately, for Yuna at least,
they have served as an interruption and distraction, and she begins to
dance the Sending. Seymour realizes at this point that this was the
reason Yuna even agreed to marry him in the first place: so that she
could get close enough to Send him. Strangely, though, he’s not upset
or betrayed by this, but instead seems…kinda turned on by it.

It doesn’t work, though—Grand Maester Mika, who is officiating the
ceremony, stops Yuna by telling her an attempt to Send Seymour will
result in her guardians eating lead—choose, and choose wisely. She
chooses life, and the party is forced to watch as the ceremony
continues, completes, and ends with Seymour giving Yuna one of the
longest, squickiest, and most possessive wedding kisses in fiction.
Afterwards, he orders the monks to kill her guardians. Yuna is
surprised by this, for some reason.

In the confusion surrounding the monks’ attempt to kill the guardians
and the guardians’ attempts to not die, Yuna manages to get out of
Seymour’s sight long enough to reach a balcony. There, she orders
Seymour to order the monks to stand down, or else she’ll jump. Seymour
does so. Yuna…jumps anyways. Remarkably, though, she does not die, as
in the fall she summons the Aeon Valefor, who catches her before she
can die on the Bevelle skyline, and Valefor spirits her away to the
Temple of Bevelle. Meanwhile, the guardians escape, and things look
grim for Seymour…

…Except that he can read Yuna just as well as her guardians can. He
knows she will head to the temple, and so it is of little difficulty
to corner her and her guardians there in the inner sanctum. They are
to stand trial. (“I expect it will be a fair trial?” “Of course it
will.”)

At the trial, the last of the four Maesters makes his appearance: Kelk
Ronso. He recites Yuna’s crimes back to her, and commands her tell the
court of Yevon (composed exclusively of the Four Maesters, without
witnesses) what possessed her to do such things. Yuna counters by
telling Kelk that Seymour is the real villain, having killed Maester
Jyscal and all—Kelk is shocked and disgusted, but the other Maesters
take this in their stride, which should have been Yuna’s first clue,
but she continues on. She tells the court of Maesters that Seymour is
himself an Unsent, an abomination, and thus should be Sent now.

It is at this point that Mika tells her that if she wishes to Send
Seymour, she will have to do so after Sending him. Yes, the Maesters
of Yevon are Unsent, despite their own teachings preaching the Sending
of all souls. Their reasons for this: “Enlightened rule by the dead is
preferable to the misguided failures of the living.” “Life is but a
passing dream, but the death that follows is eternal.” “Men die.
Beasts die. Trees die. Even continents perish. Only the power of death
truly commands in Spira. Resisting its power is futile.”

Yuna is found guilty. She and her party are sentenced to death.

However, the Church of Yevon does not execute directly. Rather it
maintains prisons, dungeons, traps. As such, there is always a chance,
albeit a very small one, of survival. As he confers with the other
Maesters, Seymour works to persuade Mika to let her live, and when
that fails, Mika is reminded of the chance of survival…Mika orders
guards to be posted and to kill any who might emerge. Seymour takes
this upon himself, though Kinoc insists on accompanying him because he
doesn’t trust Seymour.

Seymour accepts Kinoc’s company. The moment they’re out of earshot of
Mika, Seymour kills Kinoc. Again, really should’ve seen that one
coming.

Once outside the dungeon, the Via Purifico, Seymour finds that indeed,
Yuna and party have survived. He demonstrates to them his philosophy,
his nihilism, with Kinoc’s dead body, and expounds upon where this
will lead him. (“I will destroy Spira! I will save it!”) For some
reason, the party is not receptive. (“You’re totally nuts!”) Kimahri,
Yuna’s Ronso guardian, lunges for Seymour and buries his spear in
Seymour’s chest. Seymour just looks down at it and sighs, annoyed,
before transforming into the creature known as Seymour Natus and
engaging them, then falling once again.

Eventually he pulls himself together again and receives more input
from his Guado underlings on Yuna’s whereabouts: She crosses the Calm
Lands, she makes for Mount Gagazet, homeland of the Ronso and the
final obstacle before Zanarkand. Clearly, time is running out for
Seymour—she will soon make it to Zanarkand and choose as her fayth
someone who is not him. This must be prevented at all costs, so he
sends Guado warriors armed with ancient machina weapons out to stop
Yuna. Predictably, they fail, and when the news reaches Seymour he
leaves to climb Gagazet himself.

Trouble is, the Ronso on Gagazet are not receptive to Seymour’s
presence. Due to Seymour’s increasingly irrepressible lapses in
sanity—and the whole Jyscal-murder-thing—Kelk has left Yevon in
disgust, and has returned to the sacred mountain to be with his
people. He has allowed Yuna to pass, after Yuna demonstrated to him
that there is hope for a future even outside of Yevon, and as a result
is doubly determined that no one shall harm her. For some reason, he
seems to think of Seymour as a threat to Yuna. Can’t imagine why that
is. Anyhow, the entire Ronso tribe has gathered at the foot of
Gagazet, and they are determined that none shall pass. Especially not
Seymour.

What happened at the foot of Gagazet essentially boils down to “if it
moved, it died.” Leaving the bodies of the dead and dying Ronso, as
well as those fortunate enough not to attract his attention, Seymour
resumes climbing Gagazet, and encounters Yuna’s party once more near
the summit. He tries a new approach in his attempt to woo Yuna over to
his side, promising that he and he alone can free Jecht should Yuna
come with him to Zanrkand…but once more, the party just doesn’t
listen, and Seymour has to administer corrections, transforming into
the creature called Seymour Flux. By some miracle and many,
many, many reloads he falls yet again, disintegrating into
pyreflies off the edge of a cliff on the Zanarkand side of Gagazet.

However, this time, he doesn’t quite pull himself together again in
the same way. The monstrous Sin is there, waiting for the summoner to
come out, with Yunalesca’s power granted to them…except that Yunalesca
is dying, Seymour can feel her winking out of existence…and in a flash
of inspiration, he has a new plan. Still more a collection of
pyreflies than anything resembling a person, he floats over to Sin and
incorporates himself into the monster itself—after all, if Sin is a
modified Aeon, then it too is made of pyreflies, and thus for Seymour
to reintegrate himself into it is a simple matter.

As it turns out, the innards of Sin are not anything resembling
organs, but instead fields, plains, clouds, cities, all dead, all
abandoned. He has set himself up a fine place to base his operations,
and from here he plans to take over Sin from inside—becoming not so
much Sin as Yu Yevon himself, immortal, eternal…he has no need to
hurry, with Yunalesca dead he has all the time in the world.

Except that somehow, somehow, the party has followed him here, intent
on killing Yu Yevon to destroy Sin. When will the infants learn? Such
is impossible. He stands before them, to stop them, transforming into
the ghostly creature called Seymour Omnis, but is struck down once
more. This time, though, there is no reason for Yuna to have to flee
the area, or a precipice to fall from, or servants to remove his body;
there is no way to halt the Sending. Yuna Sends him, and he, in a beam
of light, disperses into pyreflies for the last time.

ABILITIES: (List and descriptions to the best of your ability)

…Seymour is not only a Final Fantasy villain, but a Final Fantasy
villain who is temporarily made playable in order to show off how
powerful he is. In short, Seymour is teh hax. His haxiness will be
described here.

First, physical abilities. Seymour has very impressive stature and
build and, unsurprisingly, has substantial physical strength to go
with it. However, because dishing out physical punishment was never
what he focused on, he is not nearly as strong as brawlers like, say,
Kiba or Bastet, and the only weapon he uses is a staff. In short, he
would be able to overpower non-combat characters like, say, the
lawyers, fairly easily, and in a straight physical fight with some of
the more “normal-human” characters like Stoneface, it might go either
way, kinda, he stands a chance of winning… but confronted in a
strictly physical fight with the physical warriors, he will lose.

But if he’s allowed access to his magical abilities, all bets are off.
As a mage, Seymour is top-notch, and knows pretty much every piece of
white and black magic in the game—and because of his ungodly-high
magic stat, they HURT when he casts them. He also has max MP (999),
which means he can cast all day if he wants without breaking a sweat.
However, he’ll need a staff to use as a conduit for his powers, and of
course, he’ll have to remember/rediscover what magic he can do before
he can cast it. Here they are:

WHITE MAGIC – the term for magic that heals the target, or grants the
caster or their target temporary strengths or protections.

Cure/Cura/Curaga: Spells that restore health and vitality, closing
wounds and curing burns. Cure is a light spell that only restores the
target slightly, best for persons not severely injured. Cura restores
the target moderately, and will be put to great use on the seriously
wounded. Curaga restores vast amounts of vitality, and ought to be
used on the critically injured to bring them back to perfect condition
in no time. All of these spells will accept only one target.

NulBlaze/NulTide/NulShock/NulFrost: Barrier spells that absorb an
attack of the corresponding element (NulBlaze nullifies fire, NulTide
nullifies water, etc.) for one occasion—after that, the spell must be
recast to absorb further attacks. However, the spell is a quick,
cheap, easy cast. The Nuls cannot be cast on a single target but
rather all targets, whether they be opponent or the party itself.

Scan: Another cheap, easy spell, Scan displays the target’s vital
statistics, affinities, health, status, and immunities.

Esuna: A fairly cheap and quick spell that relieves the target of its
status ailments, such as being blinded, silence, petrified, confused,
put to sleep, et cetera. It can only hit one target.

Regen: A spell that heals the target over time for a duration of
moderate length. It can only hit one target.

Life/Full-Life: Magic that restores the target to life. Life returns
it to life and gives the target roughly half of its vitality back,
Full-Life revives the target completely, leaving him or her feeling at
their absolute best.

Slow/Slowga: Magic that retards the motion and speed of the target.
Time slows down for them, leaving them unable to react to threats or
take action. Slow targets only one individual, Slowga hits all
opponents on the field.

Haste/Hastega: Magic that accelerates the motion and speed of the
target. They are “sped up,” able to react to things with superhuman
reflexes and moving very fast. Haste targets only one individual,
Hastega hits all allies on the field.

Protect: Magic that throws up a barrier that guards the target from
physical attacks like sword blows, punches, et cetera, reducing the
harm they do. It can only be cast on one target at a time. It will
wear off at the end of a fight.

Shell: Magic that creates a barrier that guards the target from
magical attacks like pillars of fire or icicle impalement, et cetera,
reducing the damage they do. It can only be cast on one target at a
time. It will wear off at the end of a fight.

Reflect: Magic that creates a barrier that guards the target from all
magic completely: Anything cast on the Reflect-using individual will
rebound, whether it is healing magic or offensive magic, with only a
few exceptions. A spell can only be reflected once, though, meaning
that in a battle where both opponents use Reflect, a viable strategy
is to cast offensive magic on yourself, where it will rebound and hit
the opposing side. Reflect can only be cast on one target at a time.
It will wear off at the end of a fight.

Dispel: Magic that removes all magical enhancements an individual is
using—it will eliminate Regen, Haste, Protect, Shell, and Reflect; it
is one of the few spells Reflect does not cause to rebound. Although
in the game, when the player uses Dispel, it will only target one
character, when Seymour uses it, it can target everyone, because
Seymour is a hax like that.

That’s all for white magic.

BLACK MAGIC – the term for magic designed to deal damage to the opponents.

Fire/Fira/Firaga: Magic that damages an opponent by burning it,
causing fire-elemental damage. Fire causes light damage, only setting
the target aflame briefly. Fira causes moderate damage, causing a
pillar of flame to engulf the target. Firaga causes very heavy damage,
essentially placing the target in the center of an explosion. Though
for most mages in the world of Final Fantasy X, these spells can take
only one target and be cast once per “turn,” Seymour can cast them
two, three, four times consecutively, with no downtime whatsoever, and
varying the target if he so likes.

Blizzard/Blizzara/Blizzaga: Magic that damages an opponent by freezing
it, causing ice-elemental damage. Blizzard causes light damage,
frosting over and freezing the target. Blizzara causes moderate
damage, creating a ten-foot pointed pillar of ice to puncture the
target from below. Blizzaga causes very heavy damage, encasing the
target in several feet of ice and essentially flash-freezing them. The
aforementioned ability of Seymour to “quad-cast” applies to these
spells as well.

Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga: Magic that damages an opponent by
electrically shocking it, causing lightning-elemental damage. Thunder
causes light damage, calling down a single thin bolt of lightning to
strike the opponent. Thundara causes moderate damage, calling down a
thick and complex bolt of lightning to strike the opponent. Thundaga
causes very heavy damage, circling the opponent with electric streams
before striking them from above with a huge blast of lightning. The
aforementioned ability of Seymour to “quad-cast” applies to these
spells as well.

Water/Watera/Waterga: Magic that damages an opponent it by dousing it,
causing water-elemental damage. Water causes light damage, engulfing
the opponent in a fountain spray of water. Watera causes moderate
damage, engulfing the opponent in a giant sphere of water that then
blasts apart. Waterga causes very heavy damage, engulfing the opponent
in a maelstrom. The aforementioned ability of Seymour to “quad-cast”
applies to these spells as well.

Break: Magic that causes the opponent to be turned to stone. They are
encased in a massive rock, which breaks and falls away in pieces—what
is left is a grey stone statue of the opponent, which may shatter if
struck. Seymour has never been shown to “quad-cast” Break, and as this
spell is exclusive to Seymour in FFX, it is not known if it is
possible.

Flare: Magic that deals massive damage of a non-elemental nature to an
opponent, usually likened within the series to being vaguely nuclear
in nature. Dark flames surround the opponent and circle in on them,
then explode outwards. Seymour has never been shown to “quad-cast”
Flare, though at least a double-cast of Flare is certainly possible in
the game mechanics.

Ultima: The supreme attack magic. It targets all opponents and cannot
be reflected. Ultima bathes the opponents in darkness, then light,
then engulfs them in a sphere of pure magical energy that bursts
outwards. It deals extremely heavy damage. Seymour has never been
shown to “quad-cast” Ultima, though at least a double-cast of Ultima
is certainly possible in the game mechanics.

That’s it for black magic.

OVERDRIVE – All player characters in Final Fantasy X have access to an
“overdrive,” essentially an extremely powerful attack usable once only
before it must be recharged, and Seymour is no exception. Overdrives
cost no mana, though often the user must “rest” slightly before
returning to the fray (i.e., in game, the Overdrive user usually skips
their next one (or several) turns, depending on the speed of the user
or their enemies). Each character has a different way of charging
their Overdrives; while Seymour’s is never spelled out it appears to
be “stoic mode,” taking damage will charge his Overdrive. The charge
will remain even if he is healed of his injuries and will stay the
same throughout multiple fights without resetting. Once the Overdrive
meter is charged, the attack itself can be unleashed as the player
wills it. TL;DR: Whack him enough and he will get pissed and use a
super attack on you. His one Overdrive is called Requiem, and it deals
heavy non-elemental magic damage to all enemies in a bloody red
lightshow. It hurts. Lots.

AEONS – Seymour is a summoner, a powerful one, if he was able to make
it to Zanarkand, and thus can call upon the spirits of the fayth to
incarnate themselves as Aeons and fight alongside him. As he is a
summoner who has completed his pilgrimage, Seymour is known to have
access to six of the eight Aeons of Final Fantasy X (while he may be
able to summon the remaining two, it is unknown to the players if he
can and I will assume that he cannot). Aeons work differently than
previous uses of summon magic in the Final Fantasy games: In earlier
games, the summoner expended a portion of MP to call upon the
esper/eidolon/GF/whatever it was called, and the summoned creature
would use one trademark, exclusive, and extremely powerful attack, and
then leave. An Aeon, however, once called, travels to the plane of the
summoner and fights alongside them, protecting them. Calling an Aeon
requires no expenditure of mana, and so long as the Aeon is on the
field, the summoner can be neither healed nor harmed. An Aeon will
leave only under three circumstances: One, the Aeon is dismissed by
the summoner for whatever reason. Two, the fight ends in favor of the
Aeon, whereupon it leaves of its own volition, returning to whence it
came. Three, the opponent damages the Aeon to such a point that it
cannot maintain physical presence in this plane and thus dissipates.
Resting and the passage of time will restore the Aeon’s health and
make it summonable again. Aeons can be defeated temporarily, but
actually killing them off permanently is very, very difficult.
Aeons are also immune to almost every status effect; they cannot be
poisoned, blinded, petrified, or confused, though they can be cursed.
Aeons can be taught almost every ability in the game, but Seymour’s
Aeons will have only the defaults: Minor capability in the magical
arts, their standard attacks, their exclusive special attacks, and
their Overdrive. It should be noted that Aeons have all Overdrive
charge modes active at all times; any action they take or you take
against them charges up the Overdrive.

With that, here are Seymour’s Aeons, in ascending order of power.

Valefor: A birdlike creature a couple of feet taller than a man.
Valefor is female, and characterized by being fast and difficult to
hit. She has no elemental affinity herself, and can cast
Cure/Fire/Blizzard/Thunder/Water, though her spells do very little
damage. Her special attack is called Sonic Wings, and it is a blast
from her wings that knocks the opponent back, delaying them as they
scramble back to their original position. Valefor can learn two
Overdrives, but will only have the weakest one for purposes of this
application. Her Overdrive, Energy Ray, deals non-elemental magic
damage to all enemies on the field, and consists of her firing a laser
from her beak across the field of battle, after a short delay, the
line made by the laser explodes violently.

Ifrit: A horned, werewolf-like creature larger than a man with burning
orange fur and huge claws. He is aligned with fire, absorbing any
flame-based assault and taking extra damage from ice, and is
characterized by his massive strength. Ifrit’s magical abilities are
almost nonexistent, limited only to NulBlaze, NulFrost, and Fire, and
very weak. His special attack is Meteor Strike, wherein he conjures a
burning rock and bats it at the enemy, dealing more damage than a
standard slash and penetrating any attempt to bolster defenses. Ifrit
has one Overdrive, Hellfire, which deals fire-elemental damage, and
consists of the Aeon engulfing all enemies in a gigantic pillar of
flame, then firing a blast that turns the pillar into a fireball, then
tearing a chunk of earth several times his size up and flinging it at
the fireball-trapped enemies.

Ixion: A fanciful, gigantic unicorn with a long, curved horn. He is
aligned with lightning, absorbing all electrical attacks and taking
double damage from water, and is characterized by his maintaining a
high defense against any attack. Like Ifrit, his magical capabilities
are nothing to write home about: NulTide, NulShock, Thunder, Thundara.
Ixion’s special attack is called Aerospark, where he charges from his
horn two quick-spinning discs that strike the opponent, dealing damage
and casting Dispel, essentially. His singular Overdrive is called
Thor’s Hammer, which does lightning-elemental damage to all enemies,
and consists of him charging a huge blast of lightning from his horn,
which traps the opponents in a sphere of electricity and lifts them
from the ground. To finish it, he sends an extra, explosive jolt along
the bolts connecting him to the trapped opponents, which causes an
explosion and drops them back to the ground.

Shiva: A tall, graceful woman with light blue skin and massive amounts
of darker blue hair. She is aligned with ice and absorbs any attempts
to freeze her, but takes heavy damage from flame-based attacks, and is
characterized by high speed and accuracy. Her magical abilities are
much the same as Ixion’s: NulFrost, NulBlaze, Blizzard, Blizzara.
Shiva’s special attack is called Heavenly Strike, wherein she calls
down from heaven a chunk of ice that strikes the opponent and slows
them down. Her Overdrive, Diamond Dust, is ice-elemental damage to the
entire field—she encases everything in a sheet of ice several feet
thick, then snaps her fingers to shatter it.

Bahamut: A huge dark dragon who stands on two legs like a man, with
rainbow wings and a golden wheel hovering behind him. He has no
elemental affinity, but is characterized by high strength and defense.
Unlike the previous Aeons, he has greater proficiency in magic,
capable of casting Haste as well as all elemental magic. His special
attack, Impulse, strikes all enemies on the field for moderate damage,
and consists of him charging four energy spheres—one for each arm and
wing—then flinging them at the enemy line. Bahamut’s Overdrive, Mega
Flare, deals massive non-elemental magical damage to all enemies. He
performs it by settling onto all fours and bracing himself as the
wheel hovering behind him starts to spin, charging up, and releasing
in a massive hadoken of energy that blows away the enemy.

Anima: The Aeon made from his mother, Anima is a three-story rotting
corpse pulled from an underworld by an anchor and bound by chains—at
least at first sight… She has no elemental affinity, and is
characterized by being massively, massively powerful. Unlike her
fellow Aeons, Anima has skills that deal damage and inflict bad
statuses—blind, sleep, silence, and zombie. As well, she can cast all
elemental magic, as well as the spells Bio (deals damage, inflicts
poisoning) and Death (exactly what it says on the tin). Her special
attack is called Pain, wherein she charges her usual eye-blast, and it
deals heavy damage to one opponent, and has at least a fifty-fifty
chance of inflicting Instant Death on them if they survive the attack
itself and are not immune to Instant Death. Anima’s Overdrive,
Oblivion, is, quite frankly, teh hax, being the most powerful attack
in the entire game. It consists of Anima pulling the entire enemy line
under the earth, into her own hellish dimension, where she reveals
that what you see is but one half of a whole; she is mirrored by an
even-more-shackled creature, a maned, horned, fanged, crowned
creature, little more than a skeleton. Upon perceiving that something
has entered her realm, Anima’s other half breaks the shackles on her
arms and proceeds to give the invaders a vicious beatdown, ending with
yet more explosions and her sigil searing them. This, too, has a
chance of inflicting Instant Death if anything survives the beatdown.

Although not a summon, Seymour has access to Banish, a move that will
instantly kill any Aeon summoned against him and that he can use as a
counter to any Aeon’s summoning.

That’s all for Aeons.

In terms of non-combat capabilities—as described in his personality
section, Seymour is clever, cunning, and patient. He can out-think and
out-maneuver opponents, and set elaborate traps and schemes. Seymour’s
also got a silver tongue and is quite good at flattery and
manipulation when he wants. He’s cultured as well, and can hold his
own in hoity-toity small talk. He also possesses some degree of skill
in manipulation of the secret machina of Yevon, though he’s nowhere
near as good as an Al Bhed engineer. One particular talent of his is
the manipulation and engineering of public opinion, which he uses to
gain power, popularity, and cover up his own looming insanity—it isn’t
until the end of the game, long after his death, that the greater part
of Spiran society realizes how much of a monster he was. His lack of
morals and inhibitions can also prove to be a strength—to further his
own ends there is absolutely nothing he will not do, and in
this freedom from constraint there can be great power.

As a half-Guado, Seymour has various quirks, most of which are
aesthetic but a few of which are worth mentioning: slightly heightened
senses, especially smell, and especially where death is concerned; a
Guado can smell death/the Farplane/an Unsent coming from quite some
distance. Also, Guado have dangerous claws, being that Seymour is only
half-Guado his claws are not as impressive as a full-blood’s, but they
are still long and strong and pointy and hurt very very much.

That’s all for abilities; as Seymour is being given a living body for
this game, none of his special abilities/mutations/etc related to his
Unsent incarnation are present.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Animus
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes please!
DREAM:

The world is a dark and cold place, full of hate and lies, filth and
cruelty…but that doesn’t matter. His world is small, and warm,
and though it is dark the darkness is not icy and pitch but rather the
comfortable darkness of a pleasant night. Conducive to sleep.
Conducive to many things. He is in a tree, a massive tree so old its
base is petrified—in a sea-torn hall of ruins—in the decayed, haunted
dome of the end of the world—in the machine city of lies, in the
machine city of the past, in an icicle palace, home of a goddess—he
doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter. He is buried in the
small-dark-warm-soft core, and she is with him.

Under him, she is beautiful and innocent, pure, gazing up at him with
pretty mismatched eyes—he fancies that he can see reflections of two
different hims in them, as well as a light and a hope and something
else he wanted for his own. Her voice is crying out his name but from
so far away he cannot hear her anymore, though he can hear pain and
fear in her cries. There is blood. She pushes against his shoulders
and when her palms come away they are coated in blood, he clasps her
to his chest and when they pull apart her white skin is covered in
red, all down her front. Now, he can hear her voice echoing in the
small room, something about sending and bonds and summoning and I Can
Fly. Wings erupt from her back, somehow not tearing the sheets, and
when the feathers have fallen away she might be free.

There is a new voice, but not a different one. It is the same voice,
with the addition of ten years and the subtraction of fear and pain.
When he has a moment to look, through a hazy, half-open eye he can see
her face is different, with long dark hair he could lose himself in.
He redoubles his efforts and lets her stroke his face. “My son, my
son,” she is saying, and she is so proud of him, he can hear it in
her voice, he presses his lips to hers and wills his breath to pass
from him into her, wills the dark blood welling up in her to stay
down, wills her to smell like smiles and cookies and freshly laundered
clothes and hugs instead of grim dark death.

Now he can hear Medusa’s voice, hissing with her snakes, ”Poor
thing. Would you like to save ____, princeling?” He doesn’t answer
in any way other than to hold her so close he might be trying to make
her part of him. ”If you wish it, I will give you Anima.”

He gives neither assent nor dissent, but nonetheless what he’s tangled
with has changed in his arms, he opens his eyes and surveys--”In
your wildest dreams, princeling, did you ever imagine this?”--a
corpse, dead and rotting, with even her funeral shroud tattered over
her body but merciful enough to hide her face from him. The corpse
screams through her fangs and looks at him with her glowing eye. This
is the truth, he knows, and wraps his arms around her and loves her,
wants her, needs her. Where they touch he too is dying, he too is
withering into a shadow of a living thing, even as light builds behind
her eye until he is struck blind, uncomprehending.

He dies, then, but the death is small, and it does not trouble him overmuch.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

Greetings, Edensphere. My name is Animus, and I am pleased to be
making your acquaintance. I have been told that your land is ravaged
by flames, that rebuilding is occurring. It would honor me to be of
any assistance at all.

Ah…I have as well a younger sibling, a small boy named Contract.
Please, look kindly upon him when I am not there to care for him.

And when you rebuild this town, make the doorways larger than
the ones in temporary housing.

ASPIRATIONS: Animus/Seymour is a grade-A looney tune, no matter
what he pretends, so it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to the
fishbowl. Sooner or later, especially, I’d like for the evil priest
within him to surface and for him to start thinking of the tree as a
sort of god, and he might (with mod and player approval, of course)
start taking matters into his own hands with regards to certain people
who somehow have NOT received the treeshanking they so richly deserve…
Yeah, crazy psycho killer funtimes, basically, but with much more
skeeve and manipulating and a general desire to evoke an “…oh, you
BASTARD” reaction :3

APPLICATION: Digimon Zero Two - Yagami Taichi

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:20:10 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO

NAME: Taiora. You can call me Tai (｡・ω・｡)
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Sora/Roxas

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Yagami Taichi
SERIES: Digimon Adventure Zero Two
RESERVED: No
WISHLIST: No

PERSONALITY: Taichi doesn’t come off as the smartest person but he is actually an amazing leader. His ideas and plans keep his friends out of trouble and he is brave enough to head most of them himself. As the adventure progresses, the plans become more intense and complicated. His actions seem a little selfish at times, but Taichi is actually looking at the big picture at the same time. He's childish and hot-headed, but ignorance can often times be bliss. He rarely slows down and does not often think about the consequences of his actions.

He is intensely afraid of failure. When he is unable to come through for a friend or his sister, he tends to put himself down for being unable to do anything. But in the end, he overcomes his problems by using his crest trait of courage.

For someone so young, Taichi is extremely courageous and has a very strong sense of justice. He is protective of those close to him and will fight for their safety and well being. He’s dedicated, especially to his best friends and sister. These people are his driving force and he would do anything to keep them safe and sound. This over-protectiveness can lead to trouble many times.

But outside of the extreme conditions and adventure, Taichi is a very playful boy. He enjoys soccer and loves to play with his friends. He’s loyal and an extrovert to the core. He is friendly, outgoing and definitely a people person. He is not shy to get to know people and makes friends easily. He puts a lot of faith in his friends and teammates, especially after everything they have been through. He’ll do anything to keep the team’s spirits up. In the end, he always seems to know just what to do to make things right, even when he guesses or goes on impulse (which he goes on quite often!).

TIMELINE: End of series, after the children defeat Diaboromon a second time.

BACKGROUND: Taichi's adventure starts when he was just a young child. He and his sister find a digiegg in their apartment (it came out of the computer screen) and it quickly evolved into a strange dinosaur (Agumon) which kidnapped Hikari in its search for whatever it was he was looking for. Whether it was looking for an opponent or just a way back home is undetermined. Once the battle was done, Taichi, Hikari and the six other children from Hikarigaoka that viewed it were marked as "Chosen Children"--those few that were destined to save the digital world.

Then, years later at summer camp, Taichi and the other children (who didn't really know each other) get sucked into another, strange world where soon enough they are united with their digimon partners. Taichi's partner, a Koromon much like the one that had visited his home years ago, and the other digimon all evolved to protect their new friends from danger, bringing the rookie form of Agumon to Taichi's side. At first, their goal is to get home any way they can--but soon they find out that they are involved in something much, much deeper. The digiworld was in danger. At its root? Apocalymon. He pulled the strings over everything that happened to the children as they made their way through the digital world.

They began their adventure on File Island, which had been taken over by Devimon. Devimon split the island (and consequently, the children's group) up into different parts; dark gears moving the different pieces of the island further and further from each other. Taichi and Yamato, another chosen child with a Gabumon, had to work through their differences to cooperate and destroy the dark gears that controlled their part of the island, bringing them a little closer to some sort of understanding and friendship (for the time being). When the island is brought back together (and everyone is reunited again) the children fight Devimon. In the end, it was Patamon, evolved into Angemon, that defeated Devimon, but all of the digimon helped the process along.

The next tier of their adventure finds the children on the Server Continent. Having traveled via Whamon to its shores, the next thing that is needed is to find the sacred crests that will help the digimon evolve further and fight stronger enemies. Taichi's crest, the crest of courage, was the key to unlocking Agumon's ultimate form of MetalGreymon. But in his haste to be able to evolve further, Taichi pushes Agumon too far and accidentally forces his virus form, SkullGreymon out, unleashing a terrible and unyielding monster that cannot be destroyed until he simply exhausted his energy, reverting back to Koromon once more. It isn't until their major fight with Etemon, the next big boss and "ruler" over Server Continent, that Agumon can transform into MetalGreymon, save the day, and open a portal back to the real world.

Taichi and Agumon are sucked into the real world to find that he had just barely left home, even though it had been months in the digiworld--a discovery that would prove important later on in the story. Returning home, he finds his sister alone (his parents went to visit relatives) and a bit better from when he had left earlier. It is discovered that she stayed home because of an illness and that she knew Koromon from the four years prior, which is something that she realizes later on. It seemed that Taichi and the rest surpressed the memories of the attack that occurred in their old home. Even though Koromon seemed to be enjoying himself, Taichi was having difficulty simply relaxing as his friends were still in the digital world. Soon enough, digimon begin appearing in the real world and Koromon returns to his rookie form in order to protect the city from, what seems like (to everyone else), an invisible threat. By fighting and "protecting" the city, they open another warp hole to the digital world and Taichi is forced to abandon his kid sister once more to save the children on the other side. (A tearful farewell, to say the least. He promises to return as soon as he can as he is extremely over protective of his sister).

When he returns to the digital world, Taichi finds that his friends have all split up (leaving poor Takeru on his own! :( ) to look for him. While this is touching, Taichi is now forced to take action and reunite the group once more. It seems, without his leadership, the group falls apart. Once they are all together again, they find out that their next big battle lies with Vamdemon, the digimon that is seeking to take over the real world and destroy the final chosen children, the eigth child. The children are able to return to the real world to find that the eigth child that they are all searching for turns out to be Hikari, Taichi's sister!! With the help of Tailmon and Patamon's evolved forms, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are able to destroy Vamdemon (in his next level, VenomVamdemon, which rose after Angewoman (Tailmon's evolved form) supposedly defeated him.)

Once they returned to the digital world, they find that it had been conquered by four "Dark Masters" and redesigned into Spiral Mountain, the new dark and devastating landscape of their beloved digital plane. But with Taichi at the level he was, they were not going to defeat the masters. Thus he had to rise to the occasion and become a better leader than he previously was, causing a rift in his friendship with Yamato. However, to defeat Piemon, the two would set aside their differences and work together to win, with assistance from HolyAngemon, Patamon's ultimate form. Their true enemy, Apocalymon, appeared shortly after, destroying the crests and tags and "deleting" the eight children. Only when the children discovered that their crest power was really inside of them the entire time were they able to return and destroy Apocalymon. Sadly enough however, the children are forced to have a tearful goodbye with their partners to return home to the real world.

Just when they think they will never see their digifriends again, Taichi, Yamato, Koushiro and Takeru are called upon to destroy what started off as a virus on the internet. This virus turned out to be a digimon named Keramon that fed on computer information. As he evolved and made himself out to be a general nuisence, it became increasingly difficult to stay on the outside and watch their digimon fight without helping them. And so, Taichi and Yamato found their way inside of the computer to help their digimon destroy the virus and save Japan from a dangerous bomb.

Just before the new batch of chosen children began their adventure four years after the original one, Taichi and co needed to give up their crest power to restore the digital world to its original beautiful state--and gave up the ability to evolve their partners past their champion forms. This rendered them nearly useless during the new battles and fights that took place (in season 2) and to only able to evolve into their champion forms was a great disadvantage. Taichi helped the new generation as best as he could, regardless of Agumon's ability to digivolve, including fighting when he could. He seemed to be the one older chosen child that had the most time on his hands.

When Agumon was kidnapped by the Digimon Kaiser, Taichi played a major role in getting him back. They also played a minor role in destroying the dark spires. As far as the second season is concerned, Taichi and the other older children were not very active until the world wide digimon arc where they traveled the world to help with the digimon battles.

One of the last things that had occurred for the brunette was the second battle with Diaboromon. The chosen children are gathered together because there seems to be an outbreak of Kuramon around Odaiba. Taichi and Yamato must return again to the internet and defeat Diaboromon. If only it were that simple. They do destroy the beast, but then they are trapped in the internet and the Kuramon perform a mass exodus to the real world. The outbreak is vast, and Ken and Daisuke must try to help Yamato and Taichi the best they can. It isn't until teamwork creates Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode (Omnimon (created by Agumon and Gabumon) turns into a sword which Imperialdramon (created by Ken's Wormmon and Daisuke's Buimon) can use to battle with--aided by the light (and hope) of the citizens who are watching (including the chosen children)).

ABILITIES: Many of Taichi’s abilities are actually basic and surprisingly intellectual. He’s a quick thinker and can make decisive decisions based on the situation he finds himself in.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Yuuki
BIRTHDAY LOG: Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you naked. Yesssss~
DREAM: Orange light shimmered as the boy slowly opened his eyes, blinding him once more as he peered to break through the image of the glowing orange sun drawing. Seven figures of varying heights stood in front of him and he could feel himself smile, turning to face the darkness that lay behind him. A desolate waste land, cold and foreboding met his gaze. White stone laid out before him. The dark sky turned what would be a beautiful view into a sad and scary sight.

His heart was beating fast, but the boy turned again toward the light, looking once more on the seven figures and making a fist. “Minna…. Yuuki wo tsubasa ni shite. Watashitachi wa kore wo dekimasu. Kachi da yo!!*” He furrowed his brow and gave a confident smile at the team as they heartily agreed, earnestly punching their fists in excitement.

Turning around again, the dreamer could see eight strange shapes fighting against a huge figure and his heart beat faster, hope and courage welling within him. They could win, he knew they could!

As the eight figures moved to engage with the larger one, the world flashed orange once more and he found himself floating, awake, and struggling to get out into the world that surrounded him. What was that strange language? Who were those people? For that matter, who was he?

*Everyone... Lets turn our courage into wings. We can do this. Lets win!!

JOURNAL SAMPLE: [The handwriting is messy, as if his body isn’t used to writing in this way. Its sharp and a little sloppy in its approach, but sincere in a way. The scribble is still visible and looks like it was a sentence he didn't know how to finish.]

I found it! Its all I want to be! An adventurer! It’s gonna be so hard to get into, but I really want to do it! I can’t help but wonder if there’s a place I can get some clothes and stuff… I don’t like much what I’m wearing right now. It isn’t very cool is it…

I'll probably need tools and stuff too to do what I want to do, right? ~~I kind of wanna tie my hair back~~ I wonder if there's anything else that I'd need?

Anyway, I couldn’t help myself. I had to go and explore this place. I wanted to go up into the wilderness, but I heard somewhere that it wasn't very safe. Also, to be wary of the elevator... though how do I go up and down the tree without it? I could climb, I guess, but that'd be pretty stupid and kind of dangerous. But I went up to the bridges today and when I looked across, I saw the market place :)! Come to think of it, I could probably get clothes there!! :) :) :)!!

I want to go right away! I wonder if someone will go with me?

--- Yuuki

ASPIRATIONS: Taichi is my favorite character like… ever. I love playing him and I really hope to be able to bring him to Edensphere. ~~I kind of want it to be my only rp but its unfair to say this so.. <<;~~ Its also fun to play a character who is born Japanese into a world that is written in “English”. His mannerisms or unconscious body movements should all be the same as before.

APPLICATION: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 - Aragaki Shinjiro

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:18:33 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO

NAME: Susan

LJ: zombie_fodder

AGE: 21

CONTACT: AIM | m0n0chr0me Scars

LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST

CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: H/Allelujah Haptism/P/Raise

CHARACTER INFO

CHARACTER NAME: Aragaki Shinjiro

SERIES: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

RESERVED: Nope

WISHLIST: Nope.

PERSONALITY: Shinjiro comes across as crude, apathetic, harsh, tough-talking, and self-centered. He has a tendency to dismiss others, and call people out on their bullshit if need be. He's blatant and does not hide his opinions on things, and seemed to bear few allegiances. Living on the street and in alleyways has caused him to be mistrusting of most and slightly cynical to all.

If people can put up with his gruff defenses, though, his true personality can be seen under it. He tends to be protective of his friends, committed to his convictions, and is, actually, a good guy. Despite being rough around the edges, Shinjiro is a good person at heart, willing to save innocent people and sacrifice himself if need be. He loves dogs and cooking shows, gets all sniffly at heartwarming movies about animals, and his extremely to loyal to those he is dedicated to- that extremely short list of people.

He also has a more contemplative side- Constantly being eaten away at by the fact that control is something he lacks at times. Unlike all his fellows in SEES, Shinjiro is not fully capable of controlling his Persona, and was recommended not to join SEES in the beginning. The fact that he is a drug addict also adds to this feeling of lack of control sometimes, though he rarely shows it.

He tends to push people away, knowing that his life has a time limit because of the various circumstances he has, but get close and he's a good friend to have. And he cooks better than Your Momma. Trufax.

TIMELINE: After his death.

BACKGROUND: Aragaki Shinjiro grew up in an orphanage with his best friends Sanada Akihiko and his sister Sanada Miki. The three lived contently, until a fire destroyed the orphanage and claimed Miki's life. (Akihiko describes it in game as watching his sister die as the adults held him back.) The two moved on from the experience, Akihiko taking up boxing to try and grow stronger- to never feel helpless to help someone again, and Shinjiro stayed right beside him.

The two best friends eventually moved to a private school- Gekkoukan High School. There they met the daughter of the group that founded the school and most of the companies on the island- Kirijo Mitsuru. The three became friends at school, Mitsuru joining the student council, Akihiko excelling on the boxing team, and Shinjiro supporting the two in their endeavors. They actually never say WHAT he does back then, other than just sort of be there. But whatever.

Eventually the Kirijo group discovered Akihiko and Shinjiro's ability to remain aware during the hidden, twenty-fifth hour of the day: The Dark Hour. During this time, ordinary people are transmogrified into coffins while creatures called Shadows prey on the minds of any unfortunate enough to remain aware. Mitsuru also had the ability to stay aware and had been part of research involving The Dark Hour for some time, and all three had the rare ability of Persona.

The Kirijo Group, led by Mitsuru's father, recruited the three into a Shadow-fighting team known as SEES- The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Akihiko original protested Shinjiro's involvement, unsure that the other man could control his Persona, but Shinjiro refused to vacate the SEES dorm, as doing so would leave his friend's side. The three friends organized in a group, utilizing their Personas and defeating the shadows every night they could.

Personas are a manifestation of one's personality into the form of a creature, usually designated by one of the Major Arcana. Shinjiro's Persona is Castor, a metallic creature riding a one-legged, skeletal horse, of the Hierophant Arcana. Like himself, his Persona utilizes physical attacks more than magic, relying on brute strength. Shinjiro has plenty of this, wielding gigantic battle axes, hammers, and maces in one hand.

Personas are called out with Evokers, objects that resemble a gun. When shot into the head it frees the beasts from the person's mind, though they are typically dormant unless called.

Unfortunately, however, Akihiko's prediction came true one night while the three were in 10th grade. While fighting Shadows on the streets, Shinjiro lost control of his Persona. Without him touching his evoker or willing it, Castor broke free from his mind, attacking an innocent woman right before her child and killing her. After this incident Shinjiro left SEES, vacating the dorm and breaking contact will all friends except Akihiko.

He began skipping classes at school and living in alleyways and on the streets- he also began doing underhanded deals with another Persona-using group called Strega. The members of Strega could control their Personas even less than Shinjiro, to the point that their Personas broke free to try and kill them on a regular basis. To circumvent this, the group took Suppressants, drugs intended to keep a Persona at bay. Unfortunately, though, taking the Suppressants gave each person a death sentence- though their Personas wouldn't kill them, the drugs were lethal to the body, giving them only a few years to live.

Shinjiro took them anyway, not wanting another incident with his Persona to occur.

Two years after the incident that night, SEES began to grow again. Mitsuru and Akihiko had recruited numerous people, such as Takeba Yukari, Arisato Minato, Iori Junpei, the anti-Shadow robot Aegis, and Amada Ken. The last person piqued his interest the most- Amada Ken was the son of the woman he had killed. He showed concern, asking if Ken had joined on his own, or been forcibly recruited, already a suspicion of the boys intentions growing.

Shinjiro finally rejoined the team, knowing full well of Ken's loathing of him and desire for revenge. He once again took up his axe and evoker to explore the Shadow Nest of Tartarus, though would skirt any questions Akihiko had about his Suppressant usage. He had made his decision, after all.

On a full moon in October- the second anniversary of the death of Ken's Mother, while the rest of SEES was fighting two extremely large and dangerous Shadows, Ken called Shinjiro out to meet him. Shinjiro knew that Ken wanted to kill him and made no resistance, simply warning him that if Ken killed him to avenge his mother, he may just end up like Shinjiro- hating everything he had become and the circumstances that had led to it.

Their dealing was interrupted by the leader of Strega, Takaya, who had been watching. He pointed out that Ken probably wanted to kill himself afterwards- something that Ken, the twelve year old, did not deny. He also revealed that whether or not Ken kills him, Shinjiro will die- he made that decision years ago, which annihilates Ken's idea of avenging his mother. What's the point when your nemesis will die anyway?

Takaya shoots Shinjiro. When Ken does not move to kill the man, Takaya pulls out a handgun and goes to shoot the child. Shinjiro leaps before the bullet to protect him, fatally wounding himself. He reminds Ken that there's more to life then vengeance, before dying.

His death is slated as an accident, and no one at the school even knows who he was at the memorial, having rarely, if ever, shown up.

ABILITIES: Shinjiro has the power of Persona! A persona is a manifestation of a person's personality in the form of a monster. They are capable of various abilities, though Shinjiro's is focused towards physical attacks- he can't cast any elemental or healing spells- the best he can do is inflict Fear using the Evil Smile tech.

Summoning Castor, his Persona, requires an Evoker, which looks like a gun, and he needs to shoot himself in the head with it.

UNFORTUNATELY, Shinjiro does not have the best control in the world over his persona- Castor has, on occasion, come forth without being called. This is pretty super rare, though, just worth noting.

GAME INFO

EDENSPHERE NAME: Castor. (Again.)

BIRTHDAY LOG: "Think of the Giant squirrels. They think of you naked." Nah, I'll pass.

DREAM: He brought the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, voices instantly filling the silent area.

"We stand up for what we think is right, okay?" The man before him smiled and they touched fists, sealing the informal agreement. "That's what our power's for."

The area quieted again, and he looked down at the gun in his hand. The silence was almost painful. As though to circumvent this, he brought the gun back up, shooting himself in the temple once more.

He could hear the man's voice again. "I don't think you should join." A woman spoke as well.

"You can't control Castor well enough. We can't take that risk."

As though to spite their voices, he pulled the trigger again as soon as the silence had approached again. There were no words this time, only the sounds of someone screaming- a child? Agonizing, crying, screaming for comfort.

Another gunshot.

His own voice this time: "Castor has no weaknesses. In order for a Persona to have weaknesses, the Persona user has to have weaknesses. And I don't." And yet there was the noise of foil cracking and he easily downed two pills.

Bang. He shot himself again.

"You haven't been taking them, have you?" The man was accusing, angry.

Bang.

"You know the reason! Ten years ago! My sister! The fire!" A dull cracking noise as the man hit him on the jaw.

Bang.

"I can't go back." He was speaking again, irritated. "Not after what happened." More foil cracking.

Bang. One last gunshot and the man spoke again. "...And the side effects?"

He let out a dismissive noise. "I have something I need to take care of. Don't worry about me."

JOURNAL SAMPLE:
[Again his handwriting is simple chickenscratch- thin, straight lines to make kind of irregular and lopsided letters.]

Alright, so this's my own special diary for talkin to people. Take it there ain't no phones here?

Shit. this things a clusterfuck.

Name's Castor.
[A few false starts, and then he gives up.]

ASPIRATIONS: Now that real life has settled- I'd like to play a more casual, jack-assy character, make friends with a different crowd, and see how he deals with the new environment.

APPLICATION: Baccano! - Ennis

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:16:49 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Nin
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: Mountain Standard (Western Canada)
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: n/a

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Ennis
SERIES: Baccano! (Anime + Light Novel)
RESERVED: Yes
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY:
Ennis used to be an emotionless, blindly obedient slave to Szilard
Quates until the day she killed an immortal, and in the process, took
all of his knowledge and memories into herself and learned of sin and
morality for the very first time. Though she was plagued with guilt
due to her part in the murder of all sorts of people before and since,
Ennis had no other option than to continue to obey or die, and Szilard
had ensured early on that she feared the permanent death that he could
deliver at any time. She envied the people who complained that there
was no meaning in their existence, because she knew her purpose all
too well--she was the tool and weapon of a man she could never hope to
escape, and was expected to fulfill her orders without thought or
hesitation. Ennis was able to do this for the most part, as Szilard
tended to prefer killing people rather than having her do it (mainly
so he could have their knowledge for himself), but when it came to
killing one of Szilard's underlings for failing to keep the elixir
safe, she instead brought him back to her master so that he could
explain himself properly. Unfortunately, the man was killed anyway and
she was berated for making excuses.

Ennis managed to survive by clinging onto and savoring the moments of
silence in-between orders, causing her to become a quiet and withdrawn
individual, only talking when necessary, and even then only in formal
and clipped speech. Outside of her comfort zone, though (such as when
interacting with loud and nonsensical people) Ennis can be very
hesitant and shy. In order to protect herself, she had no choice but
to hide her new emotional capabilities from Szilard, and so became
skilled in tucking her feelings away so she could maintain a neutral
expression in his presence and while fulfilling orders--in fact, doing
so likely made it much easier for her to accomplish the worst of her
tasks, and it was also helpful that she could set aside all personal
thoughts in order to fully focus on one thing at a time (such as
following a detailed map of Manhattan stored in her memories in order
to reach various destinations). However, when she made friends for the
first time, she became honestly and fiercely loyal to them to the
point where she would literally throw her life away to keep them safe.
Additionally, remembering what her life was like when she was limited
only to the knowledge Szilard would entrust to her, Ennis began to
feel sympathetic toward Firo once she understood that he had no idea
what was going on or even why Szilard was attacking Maiza and was very
willing to fully explain the situation to him--even going so far as to
use smaller words upon his request when she got a little too
technical.

When Szilard was killed, Ennis, no longer his slave, settled into a
more carefree existence and slowly began to express herself, most
apparent in her wish to have people she could call family in her life.
Due to her unique creation and life experience, Ennis is mentally and
physically mature, but slow to grow emotionally. Despite her lack of
experience with emotions, though, Ennis is extremely smart and
observant, noticing things that easily slip by another's attention.
While she tends to keep to herself if she can get away with it rather
than approaching others on her own, she can be easily pulled into
excitable people's shenanigans with minimal effort, and is quick to
discover that she's also having fun alongside them.

TIMELINE: Post anime/4th light novel

BACKGROUND:
In 1711, a group of alchemists on board a ship on route to America
summoned a demon in order to create the Cure-All Elixir. Their efforts
paid off and they received a liquor granting them immortality, but
when the demon taught only one of them how to recreate it and revealed
that immortals could kill each other and receive all the others'
knowledge and memories in the process, the alchemist decided to seal
the recipe, fearing a massacre if it were to ever be released to the
public. However, his decision angered one of the others, who
immediately went on a killing spree in an attempt to get the recipe
for himself. Through the efforts of the surviving alchemists, they
managed to throw him off the ship, but fearing his eventual return,
they scattered across the globe, hiding within the darkest corners of
human society to protect themselves--immortals were made unable to use
false names among themselves, so none could safely pursue a career
that would bring them fame.

Szilard Quates, the rogue alchemist, continued hunting down his fellow
alchemists for over two hundred years before finding Maiza Avaro, the
one who knew the recipe, but in the meantime he used the knowledge he
had gathered to create homunculi and attempt to rediscover the elixir
himself. Ennis was his latest homunculus, created after the previous
ones eventually turned on him. However, as he used his own immortal
cells to create them, killing them was as simple as willing them to
die. Szilard was unaware of it, but Ennis, whose knowledge of emotion
was previously limited only to the fear of death at his hands, had
begun to become capable of much more after she'd been ordered to kill
an immortal and received knowledge of morality and much more for the
first time as a result. She feels immensely guilty about her part in
the murders of the past and present, but has no other choices other
than obedience or her own death.

Taking a break from alchemist-stalking, the two of them returned to
New York City in 1930 when they learned that Szilard's subordinates
had completed the liquor of immortality, but due to a certain string
of events, the storehouse burned to the ground and the bottles saved
from the fire were stolen. Ennis was sent out to recover the elixir
from the thieves, but as it continued to change hands, she experienced
a few fateful encounters, first by meeting an immediately lovestruck
young man named Firo Prochainezo about to be promoted within his
Camorra, the Martillo Family, and then by running into a pair of
thieves, Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, who became her very first
friends after she saved them from a group of violent street thugs. As
the day went on, the elixir ended up being served at Firo's promotion
party, creating a whole new generation of immortals, and Maiza was
discovered within that same organization. When Szilard appeared to
kill him, the entire Camorra was pulled into the struggle along with
Isaac and Miria. When the two thieves were put in danger, Ennis
betrayed Szilard in order to give them an opportunity to escape, but
was easily paralyzed by her master with a single thought. Isaac and
Miria, wanting to save her, managed to stall Szilard until Firo and
the rest of the Camorra reappeared. In the battle that ensued, Firo
followed Ennis's instructions and managed to kill Szilard, acquiring
all his knowledge and memories in the process. Because of that, he was
able to save Ennis by replacing Szilard's immortal cells with his own,
which granted new life to her dying body.

Ennis began to live with Firo soon after, grateful to him for saving
her life and wanting to thank him by helping him however she could,
but due to her slow emotional growth, she did not have much ability to
return his affection for quite some time, and, in fact, was not even
aware of his feelings for years afterword. Meanwhile, in 1931, after
misinterpreting a letter Ennis sent them, Isaac and Miria assumed that
she wanted a kid brother... even though what she actually mentioned
was her regret at never being able to meet her long deceased
homunculus brothers. The two of them ended up bringing her Czeslaw
Meyer, a young boy who became immortal on the ship in 1711, as a
'souvenir' when they returned to New York, and he began to live with
her and Firo after she adopted him as her younger brother. Along with
him, Firo, Isaac, Miria, the Martillo Family and their allies, Ennis
was finally able to have something resembling a family to call her
own.

ABILITIES:
As an immortal, she will never age and any damage to her body will
reverse within a few minutes on its own--even severed body parts will
reattach and burned flesh will revert into healthy tissue from smoke
and ash. Even though she is a homunculus, Ennis is also subject to the
'rules' of immortal humans; she cannot use pseudonyms among other
immortals (though this may be altered or ignored for game purposes
once discussed with immortal canonmates!), she is able to transfer
knowledge to other immortals by placing her hand upon their head and
thinking about the information she wishes to share, and it is possible
for her to 'eat' other immortals through her right hand by touching
their head and wishing to 'eat' them, effectively ending the other
immortal's life and granting her all of the deceased immortal's
knowledge and memories.

Being 'eaten' is the only way an immortal can die permanently, though
Ennis can also be killed if her 'master' (Originally Szilard before he
was replaced by Firo) wills her to die. In addition, Ennis also has
extensive knowledge of armed and unarmed fighting techniques,
languages, cooking, driving, law, and money transactions among other
skills useful in serving Szilard Quates and aiding in his quest to
hunt down the remaining immortals.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Button
BIRTHDAY LOG: "Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you
naked." Yes!

DREAM:
She stands in the threshold, sheltered in the shadow of a door
blocking out the evening sun. The streets outside are darkening, but
the room inside is darker still. Gathered there, elderly men are
discussing various topics in low tones, but she hears the voices more
than the words. They are forcing words past throats choked with fear
as they address one man in particular, and she cannot think any less
of them for it as a similar fear courses silently through her veins.
Yet, for the time being, she stands there, ignored, as though the
shadow has swallowed her completely and she has successfully become an
unobserved observer.

Wishful thinking. The old man turns his attention to her, and regards
her with cold, calculating, and cruelly indiscriminate eyes. This is
a man who views everyone equally beneath him. More vivid than his
physical form is this impression of him and the fact that her life is
completely in his hands. He is dangerous and powerful and he is
speaking to her now. Orders. "Yes, sir." The words are redundant.
Obedience is expected and disobedience is death. He either enjoys the
affirmation or does not care enough to silence her.

She is relieved and guilty when he returns to the others, just as
captive as she, living on borrowed time and the collector looming ever
closer. There is nothing she can do for them. There is nothing she
can do for herself. In a world without hope, she steps into the
street, still within the lengthening shadow of the door.

Abruptly, hands fall upon her shoulders, and she looks up, bewildered,
at the two vague figures standing before her, exuding cheer and
excitement, so incredibly different from the old man that she is at a
loss as to how she ought to respond, but she does, and quickly
discovers that there are no right or wrong words. So surprised by
this, she talks more than she should and reveals thoughts that no
other person but her is aware she has, but she rationalizes it. This
was the only opportunity she may ever have to talk about herself so
openly, so it was acceptable for her to take it, right?

But it is a mistake. Already she feels the chill of death
approaching--not for her, but for these two wonderful people she has
endangered simply by speaking to them. Cutting the encounter short,
she quickly continues down the street, leading the danger away from
them. It seems that, in those few moments, she has been drawn into
regarding the darkness with increasing abhorrence, and it was well
aware of her treason. The sun is setting and even the shadow she is
hiding in begins to fade as it lost the light it needs to survive.
Pure darkness starts to overtake the streets, and she ran from it,
desperate. She spots a flickering motion that originates from an
alley up ahead--from afar, it looks like the shadows of a small
gathering of people dancing around a fire and she knows instinctively
that the couple is there. How can they not be in the last joyful
place this road has to offer? Breathing hard, she does not know if
she is running from the dark or running to the light, and if it even
makes a difference.

She is just out of reach of the light when the darkness catches up. A
terrible cold encompasses her body, steals her strength and sends her
plummeting to the ground. Her hand drops short of the flickering
light and she cannot move an inch. All she is able to do is lift her
head and breathe, but even that rapidly becomes difficult. There is
no time left and she still has so many words left to say.

Someone touches her outstretched hand and she looks up, expecting to
see the grinning face of death looking down upon her, but instead, the
smile is soft and rather than than the expected elderly male in a
black cloak, it is a young man dressed in lively shades of green. He
presses something into the palm of her hand and warmth trickles back
up the limb to the rest of her, bringing back feeling and restoring
life to her body. She pulls back her hand, uncurls her fingers, and
looks down to see a shimmering gold button resting there.

It is the brightest thing she has ever seen.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:
[The writing is neat and tidy, but the writer is hesitant. The
words themselves are written quickly enough, but there are noticeable
pauses between sentences, as though significant thought is put into
each phrase before it is put on paper.]

The sensations I experienced upon waking in the cocoon were not
unfamiliar. It was warm and I was aware that I would not drown. I
was content to stay until I realized that there was no immediately
identifiable method I could utilize to absorb nutrition. The only
reason I decided to come out was because I thought I might have to
endure the pain of hunger if I were to remain inside. I clearly
remember the thought processes leading to that decision, but it no
longer seems logical. My first response should have been to fear the
accumulating fluid in my lungs and desperately reach for open air.

I do not understand how I would have known such things while so much
more escapes me. Other than that dream, I have yet to remember
anything about myself before awakening. Considering the nature of
that dream, I am conflicted on whether or not I even wish to remember.

For now, it is enough to be alive. The first goal is continuing to
survive. Once that is assured, I can attempt to decide the rest from
there.

[There is a more lengthy pause before the rest is added, like
an afterthought.]

My name is Button. I suppose.

ASPIRATIONS: I really can't think of anything big. |D She'll
almost certainly just try to live like a normal person with a normal
life, getting a place to stay, a job, and maybe a few friends in the
process. Since she'll instinctively try to fade into the background,
it'll probably be a little tough for her to accomplish, but she would
be most happy if she's able to form a few familial type relationships.
She probably won't get involved with the mysteries of Edensphere
unless close friends show interest and ask for her help... or if she
has reason to believe that they're placing themselves in danger, in
which case she'll try to help them even against their will. :>

APPLICATION: Fullmetal Alchemist - Alfons Heiderich

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:15:16 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: ~~Lady of Terror~~ Rain
TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: none, previously Kanda Yuu (Sol) from D.Gray-man. HI AGAIN GUYS.

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Alfons ~~mother fucking~~ Heiderich
SERIES: Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa

RESERVED: N
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY:
Diligent and hard-working, Alfons is a fairly simple guy working towards achieving his dreams. He is more than willing to work until exhausted to the bone or while nearly hacking up one of his lungs in order to make his dreams of creating a rocket-ship worthy of reaching space and permanently etching his name into the history into a reality. There are only a couple things that he could considered to be even nearly as important.

While hopelessly devoted to his work, Alfons cares a great deal for his house-mate, Edward Elric, to the point where he feels relieved as opposed to when Edward asks him for permission to temporarily allow a traveling gypsy into their home because he's glad that Edward is finally showing some form of interest in a woman. He's only known Edward for two years, and neither of them have breached past that "barely friends" state, but he's always worried relentlessly over him regardless. He listens to everything Edward tells him with rapt attention, even though he doesn't believe the stories of his home world for a second and is more than willing to argue with him over the logic behind it.

Alfons is also eerily patient, level-headed and calm. When Alfons crashes their car right into a ditch and they have to hock a ride from some passer-by who may potentially be extremely dangerous, he doesn't even remotely get mad at Edward and simply smiles as he watches him go flag down the next car coming by. He accepts nearly everything in life as it comes, including his own death, with a smile. Alfons isn't the kind of the person to ask for help or allow others to pity him either, keeping his illness a secret from everyone until he finally coughs up blood in front of Edward and Noa ("I must be coming down with a cold", he tells Edward), and he keeps on working into the wee hours of the night without asking anyone to stay behind with him or bothering to go home and sleep then come back to work.

However, Alfons isn't immune to anger. He gets upset when Edward tries to convince him to stop making his rocket, claiming that he wants to leave some proof that he lived in this world, his world which was just as real as Edward's homeworld, and storms back off to the factory. One of Alfon's major issues is the deep-seated fear of being forgotten, which was either born from Edward's constant claims that the world they lived in must be a dream and his refusal to allow himself to get close to Alfons. So, when he straps Edwards into the one-man rocket to finally grant him access to his home world, he all but pleads with Edward to remember him because he existed and he was never just a figment of Edward's imagination.

He's selfless and kind, as he'll take in Noa (who could have been a swindler even) into his home despite the backlash he'd receive considering her nationality and profession, but yet selfish all the same. He knows that he is going to die soon, but he wants to at least live on in Edward's memory.

TIMELINE: post-death.

BACKGROUND:
For Alfons Heiderich, a young upstart rocket scientist, his life did not truly begin until he met Edward Elric in Romania of 1921. His family and the kind of lifestyle he lived prior to meeting both Hohenheim and his son at the university where Hohenheim taught are still a mystery, although widely speculated upon. It was likely that considering his personality, the fact that he lived alone, and because he never made any kind of mention of a family that are they deceased and unlike his doppelganger, Alphonse Elric, Alfons had to live a life without an overbearing older brother to depend on and dote after him. The absence of such family had lead Alfons to growing up to be a very strong and independent individual even if a little wary to rely on others.

Shortly after meeting Alfons, Edward's father disappeared yet again which led to Alfons accepting him into both his home and his life. The two of them studied under Dr. Herman Oberth in rocketry together for an undisclosed amount of time, although Edward was only interested in them for the sake of returning to his world, Alfons had a strong love for rockets and building them. One of Alfons's fondest desires was to create a rocket magnificent enough to both carry someone into space as well as leave his mark on the world with.

Edward lived with him during the majority of his stay in the "other world", which was meant to parallel our own only with alchemy and giant dragons, although he barely made an effort to get to know Alfons or allow Alfons to get to know him. He happily entertained Alfons with humorous stories of his home world, of which Alfons dismissed as nothing but fantasy, but would never breathe overly personal details such as the state he had put his brother in. This was not a one-sided situation as Alfons restrained himself from sharing such intimate details with Edward as well.

Nearly all of Alfons's time was spent working on rockets, designing blue-prints, and testing out prototypes along with his assistants. Every minute was another minute closer to achieving their dream, which Alfons thought had finally came within reach when he was approached by a man known as Hess from the Thule Society offering to sponsor Alfons and his assistants in their endeavors. Completely obvious to their foul intentions, Alfons and his group readily started working on a magnificent rocket-ship, along with a couple side projects, with the belief that they were going to use it to attempt to venture into space.

The harsh reality was that Eckhart and her lackeys all intended to use the ship to cross through the Gate and enter what they believed to be Shamballa via Hohenheim's alchemy. After the first successful attempt to pass through into the other world, Edward's world, Eckhart came to fully realize that that world was not Shamballa but the one belonging to both Edward and Hohenheim and she plotted to destroy it for the simple reason that it terrified her. Alchemy? Homunculi? She wasn't having any of it.

Not long after completing the ship, inhaling a lethal dose of rocket fumes, and watching Edward come crashing through the ceiling window in hopes of thwarting Eckhart, Alfons finally fully came to understand the fact that Edward's stories had been a reality. So, despite the fact that he didn't have much longer to live due to the sickness that was eating him up inside, he assisted Edward by strapping him into a one-man rocket-ship and sent him flying up towards the gate between worlds that Eckhart had previously opened up and escaped into.

As Alfons watched Edward fly up towards the other world in his creation, a nearby soldier tooks the opportunity to lodge a well-aimed bullet in Alfons's chest and effectively ending his life.

ABILITIES:
If you're looking for supernatural abilities, I'm afraid you won't find any within Alfons. He's a fairly normal run-of-the-mill human with the exception of being in rather bad health, which is from working in particularly dangerous environments. He is, however, exceptionally intelligent and a skilled scientist and engineer. He is also a decent cook and home-maker since he was previously living on his own before "adopting" Edward.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Alphonse (or Mirror)
DREAM:
His head spun and his vision was blurred, making the world surrounding him look like nothing but giant moving blobs of colour. He could hear a low hum of a machine in the distance, a familiar and comforting noise, and suddenly it amplified in volume, completely drowning out any other noises to the point where the only other sound he could was the sound of his blood pumping in his ears. He let out a soft groan, lifting a hand to his forehead in an attempt to quell the nausea washing over him as he struggled to sit up on the make-shift bed, which he assumed to be nothing more than several layers of folded blankets on the floor.

The moment he managed to prop himself upright, back perfectly straight, the mechanical hum of the mysterious machine, that had to be somewhere in the house or where ever it was that he had found himself, was silenced after a series of noises that sounded suspiciously like metal crashing against metal.

A name broke the newly acquired silence, a name that he had heard nearly a hundred times just on a daily basis and made his stomach twist violently, threatening to force him to expel its contents. The other man continues to shriek and shout, all but chanting the name "Alphonse" as he almost literally tore through the house in order to find him.

When the door the room opened, he snapped his head towards the person who had caused such a ruckus. All he could see was a short glob of yellow, silver, and brown standing in the threshold, obviously staring at him for whatever reason. Then, the blob was all but throwing himself at him as he continued to cry out that same name.

"I thought I'd lost everything again," he can hear the blob tell him, his voice coming out mechanical and distorted. "I couldn't do it again."

He opened his mouth to speak, to question this clingy and now whimpering blob, but no sound left his mouth. He continued to try to speak to him as if his words could be heard, yet the blob obviously couldn't hear his voice at all and made absolutely no signs towards the contrary. He lifted a hand to shove off the blob then, to touch him, to do anything, only to watch as his hand passed right through the blob's tiny body.

"Alphonse," the blob repeatedly, and his vision finally cleared so that he could see the both the blond man and the surrounding room. On the wall behind them was a mirror which was unable to reflect his face back at him, only that the back of the blond blob still clinging to him.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:
[ the handwriting is a very neat and precise cursive with nice sharp curves ]

Aah, how lovely. This place seems like something right out of a storybook. It's quite beautiful, but I feel as if I must still be dreaming.

Good evening. I seem to be unable to recall my name, . . . how peculiar, so please call me Alphonse. I was told that this is normal occurrence here, however. . . it is still rather, ah, alarming.

Does it get any easier to cope with?

ASPIRATIONS:
I am mostly applying for this character to interact with the FMA cast, and particularly freak out an Alphonse if one is ever applied here again. ♥ I'm all about the CR even from sources outside of his canon.

APPLICATION: Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals - Prettz

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:13:16 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Cat
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: N/a

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Prettz
SERIES: Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals

RESERVED: Y
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY: Prettz is a relatively carefree young man. The most important thing on his mind is getting some alone time with his crush and friend Linaly. Alone time when they're not out saving the world that is anyways.

Extremely confident, Prettz holds a lot of faith in himself and his abilities. Even if something seems crazy, he's willing to give it a try if he feels it's an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Of course he tends to take incredibly stupid risks that put his life in danger or earn him the enmity of others when doing so. When it's taken into account the fact that he'd most likely become deathly ill if he ever managed to keep his mouth shut and his opinions to himself, it's a surprise he's managed to live this long.

A sarcastic streak a mile wide, he's also incredibly nosy. He can't help, but poke and prod at other peoples thoughts, opinions and ideals. He says he doesn't care and his constant rude attitude only furthers this impression, but he has a hard time simply walking away and leaving well enough alone. He would find it hard to ignore the plight of others. Yet he retains a constant stream of complaints and argumentative remarks when helping others. His attitude is usually completely at odds with his actions; it can be hard to see his kindness, so obscured is it by the vitriol that tends to pour from his mouth.

The most important thing to know about Prettz is that he will be obnoxious. At all times. Regardless of the situation. All sense of tact escapes him entirely. He also has something of a chip on his shoulder that even a good thrashing could never knock loose. He rarely shows respect for others in his words and he's quick to lose his temper. Underneath it all though he has a good heart, even if he would never admit it, preferring to be considered a "realist" than altruistic.

TIMELINE: Post-canon
BACKGROUND: Prettz has lived in Lix his whole life. Growing up with Linaly, the two are childhood friends. Overtime though Prett'z feelings grew deeper and he has quite the crush on the tomboy he used to play with. Too bad her grandfather disapproves immensely.

Things were always relatively peaceful aside from Linaly's grandfather's snubs and local monsters, but one day when he is sixteen, Linaly's grandfather sense a disturbance in the elemental forces of the world. Grabbing Linaly, the old man sets out for the Temple of the Wind, determined to protect the elemental crystal there. Prettz stalks them, not actually being allowed to join them. On the way though he saves the two from an antlion and ends up accompanying Linaly from that point onward while her grandfather remains behind recuperating from injuries.

They run into a group of sky pirates led by self-titled "Queen of the Sky Pirates" Rouge, but manage to escape (after Prettz insults her several times of course). Arriving at the Temple of the Wind, Prettz and Linaly make their way inside and grab the crystal, hoping to protect it. The crystal enters Linaly's body though and she immediately feels sick. Hoping to rush her to a blue mage to cure her, the two are blocked in their attempt to leave the Temple of the Wind by Valkus of the Tycoon military who believes the two to be responsible for the thefts of the other three elemental crystals of the world.

Talking falls through thanks to Prettz's natural charm with words (or lack thereof) and a fight breaks out. It's interrupted by Rouge who kidnaps Valkus, Prettz and Linaly. After interrogating them as to the whereabouts of the Wind Crystal (which she wants to add to her collection of treasure), she locks them up in her dungeon. At this point the spirit of Mid, helper to the legendary Valiant Ones who saved the world two hundred years ago from the evil Exdeath appears from the Wind Crystal.

He explains that an evil being named Ra Devil stole the brain of his departed grandfather Cid two hundred years ago, killing Mid in the process. Ra Devil plans to use the secrets of the crystals locked in Cid's brain to transform into a godlike creature known as Deathgyunos. To achieve this he needs the four crystals. Mid asks Prettz and Linaly to protect the crystal by allowing it to remain hidden in Linaly's body.

At this point Rouge comes back in, having overheard the whole thing, and drags off Linaly. Her plan? To force Linaly to drink laxatives until her body gives up the Wind Crystal. Prettz is naturally enraged and with the help of Valkus manages to escape the dungeon. Going after Rouge, he rescues Linaly and makes an attempt at escape, fighting the Sky Pirate Queen's forces all the way. At the exit he confronts Rouge again and it looks like it's going to be a showdown. Valkus attempts to intercede, not wanting Rouge (who he has fallen in love with) to be hurt, but duty bound to protect the crystal Linaly is guarding.

Before anything too serious can happen Ra Devil's minions attack putting a halt to everything. In an effort to protect Linaly, Prettz claims to have the crystal. Leaving Linaly with Valkus, he races back into the maze of Rouge's hideout. Linaly, Rouge and Valkus use the chance to escape. Leading Ra Devil's minions into the explosive store room of the hideout, Prettz blows it up. The hideout crumbles.

Through a lucky break he survives and the group heads to Tycoon where they meet with Queen Lenna. She asks them to protect the Wind Crystal, retrieve the other crystals and save the world. After some snark Prettz agrees, as does Linaly and Valkus. Rouge agrees after being given a room full of treasure. To accomplish their task the foursome need to fly to the Black Moon though. The only being capable of doing such is the dragon hidden beneath the Dragon Tower.

It's at this time Ra Devil again attacks. Rouge and Valkus defend Tycoon while Prettz and Linaly rush to retrieve the dragon. Though they manage to do so, Linaly (and thusly the Wind Crystal) is kidnapped by Ra Devil and taken to the Black Moon. Valkus, Rouge and Prettz use the dragon to fly to the Black Moon. Unfortunately the airships they were riding in crash. The rest of their force remains behind while the three heroes plus Mid venture forth to Ra Devil's layer. They're too late though as Ra Devil uses the power of the crystals right before their eyes to begin his transformation into Deathgyunos.

Prettz uses the opportunity to rescue Linaly who has to be brought out of a trance (in which she painfully beats up Prettz with chocobo summons) first before the group can take any action. Then the attack against Deathgyunos begins in earnest. Nothing is effective though and the end seems near. At that moment the Wind Crystal transfers from Linaly's body to Prettz's and with it's strength he manages to destroy Deathgyunos. The world saved, the group retrieve their airships and the dragon and head back to their planet, ready for a well-deserved (relatively) peaceful life.

ABILITIES: Prettz is a fairly normal human. He has knowledge in bombs (more primative ones; he has no clue about time bombs, but ones that run on gunpowder he can do) and motorcycles. For the most part though what he excels at is self-taught swordsmanship, able to swing a long nodachi with relative ease. Beyond that he has vocal cords of steel, able to yell in a voice that can carry city blocks without so much as getting hoarse.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Joe
BIRTHDAY LOG: Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you naked. Yes
DREAM: He drove as fast as he could. The turns were harrowing, his motorcycle barely staying on the narrow rocky ledge as he swerved deeper into the rocky maze. He leaned to the left with all his weight, just missing tumbling off into the deep chasm taunting his right side.

Behind him they were coming. He could hear them. An explosion only eight yards back marked the increasingly short distance between him and his pursuers. Leaning forward he tried to make himself as small as possible, cutting down on wind resistance. A series of hairpin turns gained him some distance. He couldn't be caught. Not yet.

After all he had to protect her didn't he? And to do that he needed to be the distraction, heh. These tin cans didn't have the skill to so much as touch him. The bike roared down a set of stairs into a chamber buried deep into the rock of the cliff. He spun it around to face his assailants, a big shit eating grin on his face. They were in for the surprise of their life. The last surprise if he had anything to say about it!

Reaching into the saddle bag on his bike he pulled out two bombs. "Eat this ya tin cans!" The bombs flew through the air, landing on a pile of gunpowder. He didn't even catch sight of his pursuers before the bombs exploded and the room became a roaring inferno. As the flames engulfed him an image of a young girl his age flashed through his mind. She turned, smiling at him, his name on her lips though he couldn't hear it over the roar surrounding him. She had blue hair and while he couldn't quite make out her face he did notice her skirt was incredibly short and...and her butt was...glowing. He could feel the nosebleed before it even started.

This was enough to protect her though..right?

JOURNAL SAMPLE: HEY! HEY. Do I have your attention? This has to be the stupidest way to communicate. What idiot thought a journal would be a good idea?

You can call me Joe. And I suppose I need a job. I'm the epitome of youth so if you need a smart, dependable guy helping you out, someone give me a shout.

Oh yea and introduce yourselves, jeez!

ASPIRATIONS: I don't really have anything specific. I would just like Prettz to annoy as many people as possible! Which he's pretty good at by just breathing.

APPLICATION: Firefly/Serenity - River Tam

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:23:11 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Jules
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: None!

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: River Tam
SERIES: Firefly
RESERVED: Yes!
WISHLIST: And again, yes 8)
PERSONALITY:

Who River Tam used to be and who she is now have largely been separated from each other – with a few exceptions. She used to be a vivacious and bright girl with a passion for dancing and an aptitude for teasing her brother like no other. Nowadays, you only see these parts of her on her ‘good days’, when her medication seems to be working.

River’s unstable. The things that the Alliance did to her has left her with a barrage of horrifying memories that can be triggered at any moment. She hears voices that aren’t there and can go from serene calm to screaming and crying hysteria in a matter of seconds. The doctors removed her amygdala, which acts as a filter for her emotions, the ‘back of your brain’ that one often pushes fear and sadness away into. This means that she can’t filter anything out. She feels everything, every negative emotion, and she can’t help it.

Most people don’t seem to understand the things that River says. It’s often a mix of scientific babble and seemingly random musings about seemingly random things. Most people just think that she’s spouting nonsense phrases, but those that look deeper into the things that she says will know that there is meaning behind it. Conversely, River doesn’t always know what she’s saying, or the effect it has on other people. She’s very childlike in that manner. A great example of this would be in ’Safe’, where, on the verge of being burned at the stake, she reveals that the current leader of the town killed the old one. This not only ensures her death by burning, but hastens it as well (until the captain and his crew come to rescue them). She’ll often blurt things out without thinking of the consequences it holds.

Being a psychic, River often knows things about people that she couldn’t possibly know. She merely has to glance at them to see their secrets. This means that she can understand people better than most – she sees their intentions and their thoughts and therefore knows why they are doing what they are. One could say that she understands people better than they understand themselves. But despite being a psychic and a genius, there are flaws to her reasonings. She’s very, very bothered by things that she deems irrational, even to the extent that it cripples her. She needs things to make sense. And when they don’t, she needs to fix them so they do make sense. Crossing out passages and correcting the Bible is one example of this.

River is very loyal to those that she has deemed her friends and her family. She understands that there are people that have given up a chance at safety or prosperity in order to keep her safe from the Alliance. Without her on board, the crew of the Serenity could live simple. Her brother could go back to his quickly rising medical career. And it hurts her to know that. The only thing that she can do is try to protect them as much as she can. A debt must be repaid, after all.

Speaking of family, Simon is all she’s got left. He’s the most important person in her life. Simon rescued her and takes care of her and she relies on him a great deal. They have quite the bond, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t brother and sister in the conventional way. River can be kind of a brat sometimes, and teasing her brother is one of the ways she shows that she’s still in there, somewhere. Even if that means telling him the hodgeberries he was eating were poisoned and then laughing at him when he spits them out.

She’s a weapon. She was a person trained and raised to kill people, and she’s very good at doing it. River’s scared of herself, and she knows that she scares others as well. Sometimes she can’t see the difference between the girl that she was and the mixture of brass and steel that she’s become.

What River wants more than anything is for everything to be as it was before her time at the Academy. She wants to function and be like a girl again, and she wants Simon to be happy and not have to worry about her. She tries and tries to get better but sometimes it’s so hard. All she knows is that they’re here for now, they’ve found home, and that’s enough.

TIMELINE: Post - Safe [1 x 5]

BACKGROUND:

500 or so odd years in the future and the world as we know it has changed beyond recognition. 'Earth', or at least our conventional Earth, has been destroyed - and humanity has moved on to different planets, carefully 'terraformed' in order to support life while ruled over by a government called the 'Alliance'.

River Tam’s childhood was moneyed and sheltered – she was a good girl who played with her brother and studied hard and was generally guaranteed a bright future. The Tams were a very affluent family living on one of the best planets in the Core, Osiris. They had everything they wanted, and both of the Tam children were highly gifted. But River was different. She wasn’t just intelligent. She was a prodigy. Her childhood was a happy, blurry mix of dinner parties and teasing Simon and having love and attention lavished on her – but that was a long time ago. Too long ago to remember, if the memories are still there.

She found out about a different school, one for special children like her. After a few interviews she decided to enter into the Academy, but found that not all was as she’d hoped. She and the other students became experiments – the military’s attempt at creating the perfect living weapons. And River was their star pupil. They tortured her to get a glimpse of her pain tolerance, cut into her brain time and time again, and psychologically conditioned her to follow commands, to carry out her extensive weapons and combat training.

Forbidden to see her brother, she was forced to write to him in code – using words that were misspelled (she started correcting her brother’s spelling at the age of three) and references to events that never happened. The code quite simply read: they’re hurting us. Get me out.

Her brother Simon gave up everything he had to find her - including his career as an extremely successful doctor. With lots of money - and a little luck, they find themselves on board the Serenity - although they're far from being welcomed there, at least at first. River is worth a lot of money - enough money to ensure that the Alliance would want her back. She's their star pupil, and it isn't long before reports are sent out from all over the core. River and her brother Simon are officially fugitives on the run from the law. Given the 'work' (petty crime) that is done on the ship, this reaction by the captain and crew isn't surprising. But due to a twist of fate - and of course the fact that they can't simply hand the siblings over because they're automatically culpable for harboring them, the crew is stuck with them.

Simon earns his keep by becoming the ship's doctor, and all the while works on trying to 'fix' his little sister. Even though he's not quite sure what was done to her and this makes it difficult, he tries his best anyways. River, for her part, tries her best to get better - but she's still having nightmares and she's still hearing voices on an almost daily basis.

It gets increasingly harder to hide from the Alliance as their search spreads out to even the furthest corners of the black. In 'Bushwhacked', Simon and River are forced to hide outside of the ship in space suits because of an unexpected Alliance search of the ship. What should have been one short stop on a border planet ends in a kidnapping - the impoverished and desperate villages on these planets often resort to taking professionals such as doctors to help their village. Simon is taken at first, but when River follows she is given the same fate as the two of them are dragged into dwellings that are remarkably primitive despite the high level of technology on other planets.

Still, it's unlike Simon to refuse treatment to anyone despite the kidnapping and everything seems to be going (somewhat) well, until River reveals her abilities to the townspeople by mentioning something that she could not possibly know. The villagers attempt to burn her at the stake despite Simon's best efforts to stop them, and he eventually climbs up to the post right next to her and orders them to light it. Or at least, until they're rescued just in the nick of time by the Captain and his crew, because that's just what they do. They're big damn heroes.

ABILITIES:

River was raised to be a living weapon. She’s an excellent fighter who moves with extreme grace on the battlefield and is able to defeat roomfuls of opponents much larger than herself an escape unscathed. Reavers are no exception to this rule. Still, despite her superior training, she’s still a 90-pound girl, and therefore has limitations to her strength. She’s only human in that respect.

The Academy trained her well. Once, when faced with three different opponents, all shooting at her from different areas of the room, she took one look at the battlefield to gauge their positions and shot them all dead with three shots- with her eyes closed. That might give you an example of her memory and cognitive ability.

River is also a psychic. It’s not exactly overt, there are no whistles and bells to go along with it, but she knows things that she shouldn’t or couldn’t possibly know. Before her time at the Academy, this ability was extremely subtle and very undeveloped and attributed more to intuitive ability and intelligence than real psychic ability. But since the government has start playing with her brain, it’s a lot more open to this ability than before.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Serenity
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes!

DREAM:

"We're doing such good work."

She remembers the pain and the needles - the ones that poked into her eyes and elsewhere, everywhere. They were sharp and the hands that held them were ruthless and cold - voices as jarring as the bright lights that were always shining above her. She remembers that the orderlies wore masks, and she remembers them taking something from her - they were always taking. She remembers dreaming of home and having the sun on her face but the memories are tainted, stained with the red of blood and the screams in her ears. It was only afterwards that she realized that it was her voice screaming.

And then she remembers someone. A man with a comforting voice. He took the needles from her face because he needed her to wake up. Because he was taking her somewhere else, somewhere away from here. He was a man who looked down at her with love and she loved him back but his face - his face was a mystery to her. All she knew, beyond the fear and the screaming, was that she trusted this man and he knew her name.

There was also a ship that meant freedom and the people who lived on that ship. She belonged and yet she didn't, being too forced into the mould of a girl.

Freedom and...family. Friends. There's another word on the tip of her tongue but it's gone, lost in the haze that surrounds her as she sleeps.

The last thing she sees is another face, but not a warm one. A scarred and pitted face stitched together at the seams, its mouth stained red with blood. Matted hair and a terrible scream jolts her from her sleep and she awakes with a scream of her own.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

[the paper is crumpled up badly and there are various complicated scientific and mathematical equations in the corners and around the edges]

Two and one, two in one. I can't remember. I say it enough times until it becomes a mantra, one for each heartbeat. Approximately 75 beats per minute at a resting rate, averaged out and calculated but nothing stays the same. The heart is always pumping, systole and diastole.

Blood is thicker than water, but it means nothing without context.

~~I want my~~

ASPIRATIONS:

As a newbie to Edensphere, I haven't yet come up with these crazy awesome ideas, but I'll be sure to let the mods know if I do think of anything?

APPLICATION: Bleach - Soi Fong

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:21:46 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Cham
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: Gmt + 1
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: n/a

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Soi Fong
SERIES: BLEACH
RESERVED: N
WISHLIST: Y

PERSONALITY: Cold, heartless, stubborn, merciless; and insecure, dependent and utterly devoted. All of these words describe Soi Fong's personality.

Most of the people who know her would use the first set of adjectives when talking about her. With her subordinates she's strict to the point of being cruel, often says she doesn't care if they live or die, unlike most captains she avoids being friendly or try to get to know them better. Her superiors know she's devoted to her duty, would be honored to die on the battlefield, but also that they'd trust her with a mission, not with their friendship- maybe for the simple reason that Soi Fong doesn't seem to want it. Anyone who deals with her can immediately tell she's hard to talk to, and keeps everyone as far as possible. She'll try to ignore anyone who seems interested in her, making it quite clear that she isn't interested in them. It doesn't take much to anger her, she'll get defensive anytime someone tries to get too close to her, and will hold grudges and make anyone who hurts her pay. After all, she says herself that she'll kill anyone who gets in her way.

On the other hand, there's another side to her personality, that doesn't come out often. The determined, aloof woman will disappear in favor of a self-conscious, shy girl that stutters and hesitates, and even blushes very easily. But, for this 'transformation' to happen, Yoruichi must be around. Because it's around Yoruichi that Soi Fong changes completely. Despite being independent and head-strong, she'd do anything Yoruichi tells her to do; despite how cold and even rude she can be with other people, she'll kneel before her 'goddess' and treasure every moment the woman spends with her.

It's not love, it's not admiration, she worships Yoruichi. Soi Fong wants to be like her, yet believes she'll never reach her, wants her approval, yet never thinks of being fully deserving it. She can always get a little stronger, do better, nothing is ever enough for her beloved 'Yoruichi-sama'.

Soi Fong is shown behaving like this only around Yoruichi, but it's also true that she doesn't interact with many people at all. Unlike most characters, she doesn't have any friends, her five brothers are all dead and the only people she interacts with are her subordinates- loyal men with their face permanently hidden to protect their identity during missions, her vice-captain- that she doesn't hesitate to define annoying, loud and useless, and the other captains- with whom she talks as little as possible.

Her position as the Captain of the Second Division and Commander of the Covert Ops keeps her busy every hour of every day, so not only she isn't friendly, outgoing, or interested in spending her time with anyone, even if she wanted to it'd be very hard, with her 'job' occupying all of her time.

But the real reason why she's so cold and wary of everyone, is that she's hurt. Yoruichi was the only person she trusted and admired, the only one she would have opened up for, the person she would have been glad to die for; and this person left her behind, disappeared before her eyes, betrayed her trust. It's this wound that changed her personality, probably forever. She'll hide it and will avoid to talk about it even with Yoruichi, but in fact, she doesn't trust anyone, and it will be hard for her to ever believe in someone again. Soi Fong might have become Yoruichi's faithful 'little bee' again when she came back, but this doesn't mean it's like that betrayal never happened-- a hundred years of loneliness, wrath and pain won't be erased that easily.

Even before that betrayal happened, Soi Fong was constantly focused on becoming stronger, not interested in having friends, she already was strict and rather cold as a young girl. This attitude has been exacerbated by Yoruichi's disappearance, but it was there even before. Maybe she was more naive, less aggressive, but she has never been and will never be a people person. Reserved, quiet, determined, hard to reach, yet not at all insensitive and heartless: those are traits of her personality that have always been there, and will always be there. Not even that night when Yoruichi left could make her stop caring completely about the people around her, as is quite obvious when she fights Barragan, and hesitates in leaving her vice-captain behind to prepare her Ban Kai, or when she screams Ushoda Hachigen's name, scared that the Espada's Death Breath reached him.

Also, while definitely being a serious, often sad character, this isn't all that there is to her personality. She does have a sense of humor, a very peculiar, wicked, often sarcastic sense of humor, but it's there. Also, under her icy façade, she can be extremely childish, as it's shown when she promises Hachigen she'll collaborate with him, but only if he traps Urahara in a kidou-box for a month once the war is over. She will always want to win, and will do anything to succeed. She doesn't care if she has to cheat, the only thing that matters to her is winning. She is also extremely proud, and cares a lot about what people think of her. She'll want to do what she thinks she's expected to do, just like she fulfilled her family's expectations becoming a warrior, and then the head of Yoruichi's guard.

All things considered, she is just a girl who has been hurt, badly, and who's trying to protect herself pushing everyone away. She did what she was expected to do, and yet was rewarded with pain and loneliness. If one knew her whole story, how for a century she wore the uniform of the woman who betrayed her, how she took her place and was trapped in her own painful memories, they wouldn't be surprised that she's so unfriendly and aggressive.

Should anyone happen to break through the icy exterior and actually get close to her, they might manage to see her true personality, to see the girl who adores black cats just because they remind her of her mentor, who puts her duty before everything, and is much more sensitive and caring that she wishes to be. After all, when she tells her subordinates to try and go die somewhere, she's only trying to make them react to her words and become more determined to survive. Most of the things she says should be translated, she's never liked sharing her thoughts and letting other people know how she feels, and some things never change.

TIMELINE: Chapter 370

BACKGROUND: Soi Fong, born Shaolin Fong, is the youngest of six sons, all of which died during missions. Not only she's the only girl and the only one who survived, but she's also the most successful. The Fong family is a minor noble family in Soul Society, whose purpose is to serve the Shihouin clan. Shaolin Fong fulfilled her family's expectation joining the Covert Ops under the name of Soi Fong (her grandmother's name), and quickly became stronger and stronger, in only seven years she was able to become part of Yoruichi's guard. Yoruichi, at that time, was the head of the Shihouin clan and the new Commander of the Covert Ops.

It was only a matter of time before Soi Fong became the head of the guard, and therefore Yoruichi's most trusted underling. When Yoruichi betrayed Soul Society, Soi Fong decided she'd catch her herself and kill her. To do so, she took her place as Captain of the Second Division and Commander of the Covert Ops. It took her one hundred years to see Yoruichi again, and when she did, they fought. Her former mentor won, but Soi Fong was at least able to show her how strong she had become, before bursting into tears out of frustration when the woman blocked all of her attacks and dominated her completely. She didn't cry because she had lost the fight- she cried for having been left behind a century before, and asked Yoruichi why she hadn't brought her with her. The question remained unanswered.

Even though Yoruichi was back, there was a war going on, Aizen had betrayed Soul Society and the both of them had a lot to do. Soi Fong's new mission was to protect Karakura town, or, more exactly, the Four Pillars that kept it out of Aizen's reach. She didn't get to fight with Aizen, but had to fight one of the Espada's Fraccions first: Ggio Vega, the second Espada's fraccion. She defeated him easily, the gap between their powers being too much for the Arrancar not to succumb. After killing his Fraccion, she fought against Barragan, but even her Ban Kai, her ultimate weapon, wasn't enough to defeat him. She had to accept one of the Vaizard's help, and only together they were able to win.

Barragan's Death Breath, though, forced her to cut off her left arm, but she continued fight nonetheless.

ABILITIES: Kidou: as every shinigami, Soi Fong is able to use kidou. Kidou lets a shinigami focus their spiritual energy and use it in three ways: to heal, to attack, or to defend. As a Captain, Soi Fong probably knows at least the most basic healing spells, and can heal people, even if only slowly and not as well as someone from the Fourth Division. On the other hand, she's extremely good with attack and defensive spells, thus being able to freeze an enemy, block them behind a barrier, and hurt them, if not kill them.

Shunpo: shunpo is the ability that lets her move from one place to another faster than the eye can follow. It's been said that she's the fastest person in Soul Society beside Yoruichi.

Hand to hand combat: as any member of the Covert Ops she's trained her body for centuries, and even if she happened not to be able to rely on her sword or on her spiritual energy, she'd still be anything but defenseless. Not only she's a very skilled hand-to-hand combattant, but she's also a good strategist and is highly durable, meaning she'll keep on fighting despite how injured she might be.

Shunko: a technique that mixes hand-to-hand and kidou, it concentrates her spiritual energy around her shoulders and back, enhancing strength.

Suzumebachi: Soi Fong's sword. In his normal form, Suzumebachi is merely a katana like anyone else's, and sometimes Soi Fong prefers to fight like this. Otherwise she can release it- Suzumebachi takes the form of a metal sting on Soi Fong's middle finger. If she hits anyone with it, a butterfly-shaped tattoo will appear. If she manages to hit them again on the mark, her opponent dies immediately. She also has a Ban Kai: a giant ~~ion cannon~~ armor that encases her right arm completely, somewhat similar to a rocket launcher. If fired, the missile will cause a huge explosion, so strong that Soi Fong herself is seen tying herself to a building with a steel sash to avoid being blown away.

GAME INFO EDENSPHERE NAME: Shaolin.

BIRTHDAY LOG: Uhm anyway-- yes.

DREAM: At first, she couldn't see or hear a thing. She tried to open her eyes, but the light was too strong. Then, a voice.

"Shaolin! Shaolin!"

A man pointed to the the figure that was sitting between her and the sun. A woman in a palanquin, dark hair, golden eyes; a beauty that could take her breath away. A goddess.

"Do you see her, Shaolin? She's--" The palanquin moved, the light was too strong again. The woman wasn't keeping her in her shadow anymore.

Then, in another time and place, Shaolin was running. No, she wasn't runnng, she was chasing someone. She was sure she was speaking, shouting even, but couldn't hear her own voice. And there she was, the gorgeous woman whose beauty could compete with the sun. But this time, she wasn't sitting down, a princess in her purplish clothes. She was throwing daggers at her.

They were fighting, they were enemies. A kick to her chest, a soaring pain that forced her to her knees.

The place changed again. This time, she could see and hear clearly.

Only to hear the silence. Still on her knees, alone in a room, she hid her face in her hands, her cheeks wet. It felt like a habit, like something she had done a thousand times: standing up, shaking her head, wiping away the tears, it all felt so familiar, so natural. Then, she lay down, forcing herself to get some sleep.

Even the quiet chirping of the crickets was enough to keep her awake.

JOURNAL SAMPLE: There's nothing to do here. I've been told to find a job, ~~what job, anyway?~~ but I'd rather find a way out. I have things to do home, ~~whatever they are~~ I can't waste my time here.

And you. I ~~don't want to~~ have no reason to fight with you as long as you leave me alone.

((ooc; strikes not readable, also she'll be pretending she hasn't lost her memories.))

ASPIRATIONS: In canon Soi Fong is always irremediably unhappy, beside those few years she spent with Yoruichi. Maybe in a place where she doesn't have those painful memories, she could finally be a little happier, even make some friends? Anyway, I'm up for anything.

However, we would also like for Soi Fong to be given a different name, and for "Shaolin" to be blurred or otherwise made difficult for her to hear in her dream. If you wish, you may re-write or expand her dream to reflect this, but it is not required.

APPLICATION: Fate/Stay Night - Archer

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:14:40 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Chimp
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: East Coast USA (EST)
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: None.

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Archer (Heroic Spirit: Emiya Shirou)
SERIES: Fate/Stay Night (Visual Novel)
RESERVED: No.
WISHLIST: No.

PERSONALITY: Despite his tone of arrogance, Archer is surprisingly humble. He loathes himself and to a degree, thinks only of making good on his mistakes. He's hard on himself because he has a natural sense to look for improvement, but it doesn't stop him from talking down on others for their own faults. Archer is someone with a measure of kindness, though it's somewhat rare given his own torrid lifetime. He's the type of person to reprimand another person for their mistakes and at the same time reflect on his own. Though he comes off as arrogant and pompous, Archer really is modest in his own accomplishments. He doesn't hold pride like other heroic spirits, as his abilities are without reputation or true power. Though, he has a strong sense to be dedicated to someone when he respects them, except if it's in complete opposition with what his ambitions are. Namely, there are a few minor contradictions to Archer's nature that become clear in his dialogue. He says he's the strongest Servant in the start of the story, but he adds that it's because Rin is his Master(that she's the most powerful Master) and he tells Lancer that he can feed his 'meaningless pride to the dogs' after commending him for being the best spear-man in the world. While Archer mocks others and acts derisively towards himself, he is far from incapable of boosting himself and acting superior to them. Archer isn't someone you can trust to be on your side, but he is someone to trust to do whatever it takes to reach his own goals regardless of the situation.

Archer does not simply insult people whenever he seemingly reprimands them--he confronts their views directly and regards them as simple points of logic. Archer is incapable of seriously trying to hurt someone verbally aside from Shirou--when it's hardly an issue of insulting someone 'else' since it's really just himself that he's criticizing harshly. In the Holy Grail War, Archer views the sacrifices of Fuyuki City with a clear mind as necessary to save many other people since he would prefer to keep the Holy Grail War from extending outside of the reaches of the city itself if the Grail happens to get put in the wrong hands. Archer is someone who doesn't mind weighing an abundance of casualties in order to prevent many more casualties from occurring.

He's known to compliment his enemies without a care in the world as he blatantly compliments each and every Servant just about every time he confronts them, save for Gilgamesh. Archer is someone who will use tools as efficiently as possible to reach his goals and has a clear enough mind to plot events in order to get what he wants. He's known for luring a few enemies into a sense of safety before attempting to dispose of them in an efficient, clean way.

In the beginning, Archer was an idealist. He only had one reward as a fighter and a killer--the desire to be a hero and save people simply to save them. His ideal to be an excellent savior was something that he couldn't support. He was betrayed by those who didn't understand him. He thought that if he could save everyone within his sight, then he would be happy, but that wasn't something he could have. Archer became embittered by his own ideal close to his own death and because of that, he covered up his ideal--deciding that he'd make a contract to sell his soul in order to try and further his goals. But, in the end, Archer got nothing like that. Because of the betrayal of reality in showing that no such ideal could exist, Archer's bitterness increased and he turned into what he was during the Fifth War--someone who would cover up his goals for the sake of having to avoid addressing his bitterness. Archer is someone who will hide his true nature out of disgust for it and absolutely strive to destroy it if at all possible--if only to prevent his own transformation into that heroic body that he so desired. It's a weakness that he once appreciated, but now loathes. At the very end of Archer's life, he spends his last moments knowing he's being executed for 'crimes against humanity', as he was considered a scapegoat and not a hero--cementing his loathing for his own ideals.

TIMELINE: Fate Route of the Visual Novel; Right as he's dying after fighting Berserker.

BACKGROUND: He is the heroic spirit of Emiya Shirou--having made a pact with the world to become a hero and as a result, he's thrown through time and space to fight for the world as its eternal whipping boy. Archer has three possible existences in Fate/Stay Night as it's a Visual Novel with different choices and routes to take. This Archer is from 'Fate' Route which heavily centers around Saber and Shirou. Archer's own existence is consistent no matter what choice is taken up until the Fifth Holy Grail war, where the player is allowed to make different choices. Though it isn't specifically stated, 'Fate' Route is the closest route there is to a definitive backstory and reasoning for Archer's existence, as it clearly shows methods for his existence to come to fruition through Emiya Shirou's choices. 'Fate' is the most reasonable scenario to use as a basis for his background as Shirou never becomes aware in that route that he will eventually become Archer and Archer never directly interferes with the plot during that route.

Archer is Emiya Shirou, so his background begins with the great fire in Fuyuki City. The main business district was in flames as a result of the Fourth Holy Grail being poured out onto it. Destruction arose from those flames and Shirou's very first terrible memory occurred. It was something he dreamed about his whole life--a burning city where he was the only survivor. He was rescued by a man named Emiya Kiritsugu--who adopted him despite the others that he may have saved. Kiritsugu raised Shirou, teaching him minor aspects of magecraft, though he purposefully limited his experience for seemingly no reason. Shirou ended up inheriting Kiritsugu's name and not his magical crest, as a result becoming a third-class magus who could do absolutely nothing besides basic reinforcement and nearly terrible projection.

Shirou grows up performing magecraft the wrong way--creating a whole new circuit when he practices magecraft instead of using a simple, already existing one. He does things the foolish way because he doesn't know how to do it the proper way and as a result, risks his life a lot more than he normally should each time he practices. When it comes to the Fifth Holy Grail War, Shirou is chosen as a master to summon a heroic spirit despite being an awful magus and ends up summoning the strongest Servant of all, Saber. Archer himself is summoned into the Fifth War, being brought back in time to fight in it despite how in reality, the Emiya Shirou of that time was only 16 years old. Emiya Shirou survives the war and becomes a powerful magus who has his talents exploited by those around him. In Archer's true timeline, he leaves the Holy Grail War after losing Saber at the very end, his ambitions to become an ally of justice cemented in his mind. He vastly improves on his magecraft and achieves his reality marble 'Unlimited Blade Works' after a lot of hardship and work. Because of the use of his projection and Unlimited Blade Works, Archer's body reconfigures somewhat--his skin turning much darker and his hair staining white. He doesn't match Emiya Shirou by very much, which covers his identity fairly well.

Though he feels he's close to his goal, Emiya Shirou begins to realize the fallacies of the world around him and in return for his eternal soul, he makes a pact with the world to save many lives from damnation. Though he gains the power he's so desired, Emiya Shirou is ostracized, hated and used as a scape-goat by those around him for political reasons. He's tried and executed for crimes against humanity simply because he was the right person to pick and be judged. After his death, Shirou becomes a 'Counter Force', or a seemingly nameless hero who is thrown back and forth through time endlessly to live, fight and die for humanity--to prevent people from destroying themselves or the world by proxy. He's made to kill innocents and villains alike to achieve his goals no matter how much it would violate his ideals, simply to prevent total destruction. As a result, Emiya Shirou comes to hate his ideals and his reasoning behind them, thinking his immature lifetime was something to be regretted. He answers the call to the Holy Grail in the past in order to find himself and kill him before he decides to become that hero--despite the fact that he doesn't know whether or not the actual process would work.

In the course of Fate-Route, Archer fights the Servants: Lancer, Saber and Berserker to some extent. He's accidentally summoned by Tohsaka Rin who tries to summon the Servant Saber instead. The reason that she summoned him happened to be the pendant she wore--the same pendant she used to save him(Emiya Shirou) after he'd been pierced by Lancer in the heart with Gae Bolg. Archer himself, from that point on after the war, wore that jewel around his neck and since his heart was made of magical energy from that jewel itself, it was a very clear driving force for him to respond to the call of the grail--as Servants summoned into the war respond to things that were around them or in their possession during their lifetimes. He briefly matches Lancer before he's nearly overwhelmed, is taken by surprise by Saber and injured and later on in the course of the war sacrifices himself in order to delay Berserker and give Saber enough time to replenish her magical energy. Archer, in Fate-Route, has no chance to enact his ideals and kill Emiya Shirou despite badly wanting to. During the course of the story, Archer spends a deal of time imparting some advice to Shirou almost as if to try and crush his ideals before they become cemented in his mind, though he's clearly disappointed when they don't stick.

ABILITIES:

Analyzing/Composition Determination (Static/Magic): Pumping magic into an object, Archer can easily determine the composition of something and see whether or not it has damage. From that point on, he can easily repair it using basic magic. In Shirou's perspective, he uses this magic a lot around school, gaining a title as a 'fix-it' specialist very swiftly amongst his peers. It's not remotely difficult to use, so he would likely actually do this by accident without realizing it.

Reinforcement(Unlockable/Magic): This magic brings a particular item or bit of matter to its potential--bringing its shape to something stronger or something different in appearance. A magus such as Archer can reinforce parts of his body over time to increase his speed, strength and stamina to match heroes of the old age. It seems as if constant use of this technique has had side-effects on his body to make him considerably stronger without having to actively use reinforcement. Though, with normal reinforcement, the side-effects will be rather temporary--as if one reinforces a newspaper to act as a shield, it will only really be good for one attempt. With a human body, though, it will be much easier to continually reinforce one's self in certain parts. In Heaven's Feel, Shirou who has Archer's arm grafted onto him retains Archer's naturally reinforced nerves which allow him to fall 5 or 6 stories onto his feet without feeling a thing.

Projection(Unlockable/Magic): This is an offset result of Archer's natural talents, but it's still the actual magecraft itself. He can project and create items temporarily. They will eventually fade from existence as they were created from magical energy, but anything he makes temporarily with a perfect structure will serve its purpose--albeit with a bit of deficiency likely due to the infallibility of the method to begin with. Something projected will usually be inferior to the original blueprint. One would likely use projection solely to recreate small items that

Unlimited Blade Works(Unlockable/Magic): This is Archer's true ability. He can put shape to his mind in one of the biggest violations of reality--as he can turn his magical energy into advanced weaponry from history. He can take just about any Noble Phantasm that he sees even for a moment and transform it into his own weapon with his own variation of 'Projection'. Unlimited Blade Works is a reality marble, or, an envisionment of the magus' true reality. As it isn't something that the world allows to exist for long, a reality marble is a violation is something that will disappear rather swiftly upon its summoning. Though, Archer's Unlimited blade Works isn't easily pushed aside--since he can use it at will and in small forms. He can project individual weapons on impulse and ahead of time, Archer can project dozens and dozens of weapons to be used in an instant and flung without much focus at all. Alternatively, Archer can summon Unlimited Blade Works as a large closed region of space where he controls an infinite number of weapons. It's not just an accumulation of blueprints for weapons--this is a psychological weapon for Archer, as its incantation is molded by his very being.

Broken Phantasm(So very Unlockable/Magic): Archer can break down a Noble Phantasm(Mythical Weapon) That he creates using Unlimited Blade Works and convert it to pure magical energy. Converting it to pure magical energy shoots up the weapon's power and turns it into an extremely deadly grenade which can badly injure or kill other Servants. A Broken Phantasm speeds up the fading process on a weapon he brings into existence and converts its remaining power into something devastating.

Magical Adjustment(So extremely difficult to unlock--likely a lot of trial and error even if he understands it): Archer's abilities to reinforce his body and use Broken Phantasms seemingly spawned this ability--to which he can modify certain Noble Phantasms to have different effects and visible shapes. He's speculated to be able to modify not just Broken Phantasms, but the actual weapons created beforehand--examples being Caladbolg and Hrunting, both weapons that he's used as Broken Phantasms.

Cooking & Cleaning(Static/Borderline Magical): As most of the game is a gigantic cooking scene, Archer by proxy of being Emiya Shirou in the future is extremely proficient in cooking and cleaning. This could actually be considered an ability, as he cleans up a mangled room within one night to the point that it's sparkling and beautiful once more before Rin even wakes up--giving him plenty of time to brew some tea.

Sword-Fighting & Archery(Static/Acquired through experience and training): Archer is naturally talented with a bow--to the extent that he could snipe a target a mile or so away from himself to pin-point accuracy. With his own swords, through hard-work and battle experience spanning likely to a thousand years of combat, Archer's become effective with his two short-blades that he can take on even the quickest Servant and survive just as he could take on the strongest Servant and get out of the fight without a missing limb. Victory? Likely much more difficult than one would imagine.

GAME INFO

EDENSPHERE NAME: Trigger
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes, thank you!

DREAM: He walked on without worry or a sense of his own suffering. The thing he approached was something beyond comprehension, but that wasn't what sent chills down his spine. He opened his hands as he walked, feeling nothing within their grasp. The beast he stepped forth to meet was monstrous and demonic--something that should not have existed. It was a terror which would take things and gobble them up like delectable candy, but it wasn't the thing that frightened him. What he was frightened of were those empty hands. They weren't shaking. Why not? The thing which he so brazenly approached slowly and seemingly without a care was the scariest thing in the world. It would have made a person mad simply locking eyes with it.

And yet, those empty hands never once twitched unless commanded to. Each step was strong and from those steps, the grass turned gray, died and dissolved. The only thing left in his wake was sand. The sound of turning gears. Blades of all sized and shapes sprung from the ground like grass around his feet as he walked, following him in his maddening approach. He was already in pain, but his mind wouldn't register it. His body wouldn't slow. This man didn't know true courage, but he was already used to that maddening pressure. The flat ground became a hill and only the height made it harder to walk. The beast waited for him, anticipating its prey walking right into its mouth. When he arrived, he did something far more terrifying.

Empty hands became full. He drew a beautiful bow from his left emptied palm, a tight fist holding it still. Each weapon around him supported him--each ornate design filling his mind and breaking it at the same time. No one had the capacity for such things. It was insane to try and hold each one in his head, but he did it anyway. He picked up a twisted black sword from the ground and strung it into the bow. Notched and ready, he faced that beast without twitching. Red filled his eyes. He would break, because that was something beyond his limit. The only thing his body told him was to defeat himself--the true monster of that world. It was his domain and only a bullet to the head would stop him. He murmured right before he woke up.

"Trigger, --Off."

JOURNAL SAMPLE: This is troublesome. It's definitely not something fitting for a person, is it? Though I don't have much an inkling for personal comfort, I'm displeased with this none the less. That has to be natural, though--wouldn't anyone feel cramped in this place with barely any leg room?

I can't say whether or not it's natural for one to emerge from a cocoon even then, but what past experience do I have with cocoons, anyway? It's definitely troublesome and in one of the worst ways possible. Considering myself at the level of an insect blossoming from a long nap--that's something to consider as torrid and a kick to one's ego.

So--aside from this eccentric situation--where exactly in this backwards complex can I find somewhere more open to walk? It might be worthwhile to actually get what exercise I can around here.

ASPIRATIONS: Archer is content to do whatever it is that soothes him and as he likely won't have heroic impulses without a direct connection to what he remembered of Kiritsugu, he wouldn't want to play hero with anyone. Though, it's in his mind and body to protect for some weird reason, so it doesn't mean he'll stay completely idle if he has a chance to play the moron.

Otherwise--the possible chance of having Archer give people nightmares from seeing his god-awful twisted memories full of pain, hardship and suffering seems a bit too hard to pass on.

APPLICATION: Kingdom Hearts - Axel [DREAM REWRITE]

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:50:08 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

Original application is HERE.

DREAM: All around him, the flames burned bright and hot, licking the walls and casting eerie shadows dancing across the floor. In his gloved hands were a pair of wind-and-fire wheels, also ablaze, though the deadly fire that whorled round his hands did not scald. Dancing amid the fire were figures, eerie and white, tall and spindly, with great gaping mouths and limbs far too long for their bodies. They shimmied and swayed with the rhythm of the flames, flickering in and out of sight as they undulated in circles surrounding him.

So many...there were so many. How could he possibly hope to defeat them all?

A presence at his back made him turn, peering over his shoulder to see a small person behind him, a great steel key in his hands, a mop of wild brown hair atop his head. His face...he couldn't see his face, yet he was certain he knew this boy.

"Feeling a little...regret?" the boy asked, and he scoffed.

"Nah...I can handle these punks," he said confidently, spinning the chakrams in his hands and then gripping them tightly. That was right--he was here for a reason. Here in this room of shifting green and blue space filled with flames and the dancing white figures...he was here to fulfill a purpose. To alleviate those regrets that danced somewhere at the edge of his brain.

Regret...? Why did it feel like such an alien concept to him? Everyone felt regret, didn't they? Everyone...felt, right? So why was it that this heavy sensation of chagrin clung like cold mis around his insides? Why did this feeling of doubt and hesitation echo hollowly within his chest? Why...it was as if he were empty inside and the uncertainty just reverberated off his very bones.

Sea-blue eyes flickered somewhere across his mind, wide and questioning, and a voice, soft and confused, echoed in the back of his brain.

     'I can't... just look inside. But I figure... if there is something in there--inside us--then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?'

The figure of a girl, small and slim, with white-blonde hair and a sad sort of weight to her presence was fuzzy in his mind's eye--why couldn't he see the details of her face?

     'What if...what if we do have hearts--?'
     'We don't. Got it memorized?'

Strange...there was almost something like static in his head, whiting out words and blurring out faces. He shook his head, quashing the strange heavy squirmy feeling in his gut, whorling the chakrams around his hands again.

"Watch this!" he shouted to the boy behind him, and dashed forward. Enough with the fragments of distantly vague memories--he was here to destroy these figures in white, to open a path for the boy with brown hair, to help him keep moving forward, so that...

...what? So that he could...what? He couldn't remember. He was sure it was important, but he just couldn't remember what it was.

The dancing figures in white swarmed around him, gyrating like snakes, and he spread his arms, the fiery wheels in his hands now spinning freely at his sides. With a great roar, he focused all of his energy into a massive ball of flame which engulfed the whole room. The air
burned, the room dissolved into a twisting arc of red and gold and unbearable heat, and then something snapped somewhere in his head. An image flickered, grainy and half-grey, like bad reception on a television. A dark, husky voice was garbled in his ears.

     'Which would you rather suffer the loss of: some make-believe friendship, or a real one? We have to set things right. There is simply too much on the line...Lea.'

With a soft cry, he felt himself falling, and as the flames died around him, the ground rose up to meet him, and he crumpled, rolling onto his back. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe, and the chakrams would no longer return to his hands.

The grainy image in his head hitched and jerked--the signal was fading. With a sharp inhale, he opened his eyes--when had he closed them?--to see the boy with the brown hair hovering over him. He looked so perplexedly concerned, it was almost endearing. Those eyes, there was something so familiar about them. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"You're...fading away," the boy said. His face was all out of focus, like he was looking at him through frosted glass.

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack," he replied. Ah, true enough. That explained why he couldn't feel his legs anymore. He'd used up all his energy to destroy those figures in white. ...Why? Ah, that was right. "Go, find Kairi." Huh. Even the sound in his ears was fading now. The edges of his vision were growing dark, and his own voice sounded alien to him. "Oh, almost forgot... Sorry for what I did to her."

Was that his regret? Was that why he was here to help this boy?

"You can tell her yourself when we find her," the boy insisted, and he just shook his head, his whole body heavy now.

"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it." He gave a weak laugh. Haven't got one.

The boy's brow furrowed in a way that was oh so nostalgic. "Axel..." There went the sound again. "What
were you trying to do?"

"I wanted to see him," he replied honestly. "He made me feel...like I had a heart after all..." Damn his blurry vision and damn the fading sound! He was sure this was important!

A quick shake of his head. Eugh--okay, enough with this sappy crap. He was dying, for crying out loud, and he still had that regret to take care of. Summoning the last of his dwindling energy, he lifted a hand with some effort, and spread his fingers. A whorl of
dark power pulsed amid the roiling greens and blues of the strange and silent room, and a portal shimmered into existence. ...Huh. That was interesting. Could he do that? Guess it was too late to really wonder now.

"Kairi's in the castle dungeon," he said with some effort. "Now go."

The boy with the brown hair crinkled his brow again, and he had to look away. Something about those big blue eyes just...hurt.

     'How long do you think you'll last if you make an enemy of the Organization?'
     'It's not like anyone would be sad without me.'
     'That's not true... I...would be sad.'*

     'Let's meet again, kid. In the next life, okay?'

He closed his eyes, a smile on his face as the image of a blond head nodding shot across his mind as the darkness closed in.

And then it all went black.

And then there was goo. ...Lots of goo. And that was about when he decided that nothing really made sense anymore, and maybe it was just better to start from scratch.

     '...In the next life, okay?'
     'Yeah. I'll...be waiting.'
     'Dummy...just because you've got a
shot at a next life...'

APPLICATION: Avatar - Iroh [BACKGROUND ELABORATIONS]

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:18:21 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

The original application is here

You asked specifically about three things in your request for a revision. One of them is doable. I’ve expanded the beginning of Iroh’s journey. Unfortunately, the other two tread into headcanon and I do not do headcanon. After the expansion of the beginning of Iroh’s journey I’ve included several paragraphs on what has had significance on Iroh, but I do not feel the journey changed Iroh at all. The journey changed Zuko, and this is not an application for Zuko. The last point, in regards to his involvement with the White Lotus Masters, is entirely unknown. He is seen with them for one scene before they attack Ba Sing Se. He does not spend time conversing with them. He sets the Fire Nation banner on fire with a look of disgust. Even if I was to speculate, I have nothing to speculate with.

The journey began with no real hope. It’s been a hundred years since the Avatar was last seen. Due to the cycle of rebirth for Avatars, it was known that he would be an Airbender, and the Fire Nation had wiped out every Airbender they could find. The temples were destroyed, and nothing is seen of other Air Nomads throughout the series. But somehow, the Fire Nation knew the Avatar had not been killed, and continued looking for him. Fire Lord Azulon, the one who killed the previous Avatar, Avatar Roku, searched fruitlessly. He died, and Ozai became Fire Lord. When Prince Zuko, son of Ozai, contested military decisions and then chose not to fight his own father out of a sense of respect for Ozai, Ozai burned him. Zuko saw one chance to regain his honor – find the Avatar. Iroh joined him on the quest that had no chance of success. And so the two of them set off to search the world.

In the second episode of the show they come across the Avatar, Aang, a young boy. No longer is the quest futile, but without much difficulty Aang gets away. Iroh doesn’t help to try to capture Aang – instead, his focus can be seen to be on his nephew. He’s more concerned about Zuko than he is with capturing the Avatar, and this stays the same hrough the entire journey. He wants Zuko to have a chance to become his own person instead of a copy of his father.

~*~

There are two points at which Iroh actually changed as well as one possible point and none of them are during the journey. The journey had significance for Zuko, showing him what he could be and do. Iroh was there for Zuko, and never changed what he said or stood for. However, in the interests of covering things, I’ll explain the three points where Iroh changed.

The possible changing point was when Iroh went to kill a dragon. There’s no way to know his exact mentality, but the school system of the Fire Nation and how the dragons were nearly hunted to extinction says that almost everyone who went after the dragons intended to kill them. There’s no reason to think Iroh was any different until he met the dragons and learned from them. He lies to the Fire Nation, saying that he killed the last one. This shows compassion that isn’t demonstrated by a majority of Fire Nation adults.

The first known changing point is when Lu Ten is killed outside the walls of Ba Sing Se. We know nothing about Iroh’s wife or lover, Lu Ten’s mother, but we know that Lu Ten was very important to Iroh. Up until this point he’d been winning the battle against the strongest fortress of the Earth Kingdom. He held his course ruthlessly, fighting for the Fire Nation in a war they started. They were at the brink of breaking in when Lu Ten died… and Iroh left the field. He brought back his forces, abandoning the war, causing Ozai and Azula to look down on him. Further evidence of how much losing his son hurt him is shown in the episode “Tales of Ba Sing Se,” where Iroh spends most of the day helping people out as he gathers what is needed for a simple time of mourning on Lu Ten’s birthday.

The second known changing point is while Iroh is imprisoned. His decision to save the Avatar and Katara from Azula and Zuko is nothing new. It isn’t due to the journey, it ties back to him saving the dragons and being a part of the Order of the White Lotus. He’s already seeking balance long before he sets out with Zuko. But when Iroh is imprisoned, he makes his decision to actively work against the Fire Nation. He trains himself, breaks free, and leaves the Fire Nation. We next see him as he attacks the Fire Nation at Ba Sing Se, completing the circle that began shortly before the death of his son.

APPLICATION: Original - Lumio [BACKGROUND ELABORATIONS]

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:24:36 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

Original application is here.

The following is my expanded background for Lumio:

Lumio's history is fuzzy before he was brought to the church as a young child- no one is quite certain of his origins, despite the fact that the priest that brought him into the church, Agron, claims him as a brother. Still, Lumio took to the teachings of the church and devoted himself to the good god, committing his life to living as close to the teachings of the god and the great prophet as closely as he could. He idolized his brother and treasured the short visits they had together. It was during this time that heavily-scarred Agron impressed upon him the need to stay pure and, specifically, to avoid women and he would be fine. This was the start of the boy's avoidance of even the nuns that eventually turned into a full-blown phobia of all women.

Lumio was treated as a sort of "mascot" by the older priests even as he grew up from being a young child, and he stood in for the children the could never have. Some of them would spoil him as a child, letting him get away with things like staying up late or allowing him to keep a pet cat when he was younger. As he grew older, both Lumio and the cat grew into their roles- both accustomed to being cared for and looked over by the members of the church as a community. Lumio quickly found himself as a junior priest, and his endless helpfulness was not under appreciated by the priests the would assist.

Lumio is a devotee of Trinidism- a religion that celebrates a male god that rules over the three realms (earth, the sky, and the heavens), and acknowledges a main prophet as the earthly representative of the god. I can provide more details if needed, but it's mainly a good religion that focuses on kindness to one another and loving thy neighbor and all that good stuff.

Lumio grew up within the church, his "brother" Agron visiting from time to time and checking in on the boy until Lumio was fifteen. It was then that Agron came back and stayed for a short while- teaching Lumio the basics of self-defense and training him as an exorcist. Lumio's training lasted for several months- he was a smart boy and picked up the basics quickly enough, and the rest he trusted that Agron would be with him for.

Agron's small group of exorcists, The Lightbringers, were ready to adopt Lumio as this most junior member, for reasons unknown to the boy. Lumio accepted, eager the spend more time with the man who he saw as his only blood family, and the two began traveling together along with a woman named Saiyoun- a being from the mystical race of Arbiters that are reputedly descended from the gods and oversee the lives of mortals. They added a fourth member to their ranks when Lord Constable Archibald Verityr joined several months after Lumio, and stayed for nearly a year. Lumio didn't much care for the other members of the group. Saiyoun (other than the obvious that she is a woman) was from outside the church and was only a member to keep tabs on Agron and his group. Lumio viewed her much like one might a snake in their garden- something outside and dangerous. To Archibald, he was cooly polite. Archibald was a proud man, and his own tenuous faith and blatant rejection of some of the church's teachings put him on Lumio's bad list early on. The two remained polite, but Lumio didn't speak much to the other members save for Agron, who he nearly idol-worshiped.

Lumio's experience with The Lightbringers would be what evertually uncovered a dormant angelic power within him. During a case that they were tracking a demon, Agron and Lumio were alone when the demon made itself known and attacked them. Agron was badly wounded, and as Lumio tried to heal him, the demon struck again, making Lumio its intended target. The attack never met him- almost at once, Lumio was transformed into what could only be called an angel, and the demon was incinerated with only a glance. Later, the group celebrated and Lumio was wordlessly acknowledged as the most powerful member of The Lightbringers, earning him the respect of both Archibald and Saiyoun. Saiyoun's approval was cold, however, and later she chided Agron for keeping secrets from her- but Agron merely shrugged and claimed he had "no idea that the kid could do that".

Lumio stayed with The Lightbringers for several years, traveling about and solving cases that involved either demons or the church in some way. Archibald left the group after nearly a year, returning to his normal duties as a Lord Constable. The Lightbringers would travel between parishes and sometimes stay in inns when the situation called for it, but despite having traveled, Lumio cannot be said to have seen much of the world at all- he never truly got to act independently and remained by the side of Agron for the whole time. Also, Lumio never really did much of the reconnaissance work required for cases or was omitted from others entirely- so much of his experience with The Lightbringers was sitting in a room waiting for Agron to return. He did act on the more serious cases after his powers were awakened- cases that simple capture of a demon was not an option. In these situations, he was an invaluable member of the group, as their most powerful exorcist.

One notable case The Lightbringers were called on for was the hunting and capture of one demon named Klavier. The two never actually met, however, as Klavier was ultimately caught and detained by Archibald, and thus the case was out of the church's jurisdiction and was in the hands of the normal human courts.

Lumio returned to the church after the group was disbanded after several years. He was not promoted quickly within the church, and at age 20 is still a junior priest, despite having been a member of The Lightbringers. Saiyoun returned to the mountains to the north of the continent, leaving Agron with one final gift- a charm that would make him immortal. Agron requested one for Lumio, as well (though, without the charm, as he will be in Edensphere, Lumio has an average life expectancy. Not that it matters, what with the sphere stopping aging), and then he vanished again, leaving Lumio only to hope for his brother's return.

APPLICATION: Gundam Wing - Quatre Raberba Winner [JOURNAL SAMPLE REWRITE]

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:46:51 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

Original application is here.

I don't understand how anyone can consider the process that brings us
here and then robs us of our memories a birth. The only things I can
remember of my dream are war and death.

And the name Zero.

That is the name I've taken here because I can't remember my own,
but... I suppose I can't allow myself to be defined by a name. Or lack
thereof. I hope that others have had better dreams to greet them.

I want to thank the greeter who was there to help me when I arrived.
If there is anything that I can do to return your kindness, please,
let me know.

As for this place... Edensphere.

I've seen and heard from others about the tragedy that happened here
before. What can I do to help the relief efforts? I'm not sure of what
skills I might have possessed before forgetting them, but construction
seems to be needed the most.

APPLICATION: Wild ARMS - Zed

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:07:49 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Ami
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST.
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Lezard Valeth and Layer/Locket

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME:Zed
SERIES:Wild ARMS
RESERVED: N
WISHLIST: N

PERSONALITY:

Zed is the comedy relief character in Wild Arms, popping in and out of situations with a few nonsensical lines and metaphors while gesticulating wildly and maybe flipping his brightly-colored scarf a few times. He is energetic, always prepared to react to anything coming his way, and the very cupcake that is his personality is sprinkled with brightly-colored pieces of idiocy. Zed is quite exasperating, exhausting to more serious types, as he always tries to come up with alternatives and recover (to the best of his ability) from his mistakes. If one thing doesn't work, he'll try another, again and again until his options are exhausted and he'll make his timely getaway. There is an ounce of intelligence in this guy, as he does show moments of surprising tact and wisdom, but they tend to come from a completely irrelevant source. For example, he will look at a complicated math problem, and will answer it in the form of an English essay... yet somehow be on the right track. However, this is merely the icing on top of how Zed functions emotionally.

The meat of his personality, the 'cake' of the cupcake if you will, is that of an always-overlooked individual that just wants to be cool. He wants to be popular, he wants to be loved, and he wants to be appreciated. Zed wishes to MATTER. Treated like such dirt practically all of his existence by Mother and the Quarter Knights, Zed bears many signs of having an inferiority complex: Nothing he does will ever be good enough in his eyes, but he will try his hardest nonetheless to be cool to somebody. It doesn't matter who.

"This feeling may be manifested in ... excessive seeking for attention, criticism of others, overly dutiful obedience, fear and worry." This sums this poor guy up proper. He follows orders like nobody's business to feel important, and when things go wrong he tends to flip his lid and go off on tangents.

TIMELINE: After the events of Wild ARMS 1.

BACKGROUND:

Our story takes place on the planet of Filgaia, a world that is slowly dying from war. Plant life is drying up and deteriorating, replacing itself with vast deserts and dry gulches.

For a thousand years, the humans fought the Metal Demons for control over the planet: The humans wished to protect their home, while the demons - whose homeworld had long since been eliminated - wanted a new place to stay. Led by their dear Mother, the demons had the advantage, their forces more ruthless, far stronger, and far greater in number.

The humans, however, were more resourceful. Knowing that they could not fully destroy Mother, as she could quickly regenerate anything on her person that was lost, they attacked and took her apart instead: Mother's heart was split into three, sealed in stone statues, and scattered around the world. Mother's body was sealed in a cocoon, and imprisoned in a castle in the tundra region of Arctica. Without their leader, the demons began to disappear, dying off from human attack, or went into hiding. With time, the humans slowly forgot the sorrows of war, focusing on adapting to an Old Western life.

The game itself begins when, after an undetermined time of peace, a small group of Metal Demons attack Arctica Castle. Their royal family, the guard, and all else who dwelled in the castle were slaughtered, though one escaped (and I'll get to him in a little bit!). This group of demons, known as the Quarter Knights, succeeded in their plan, stealing back Mother's imprisoned body. All they needed now were the three pieces of her heart, and the seal to her prison would be lifted, reviving her.

Enter Rudy Roughnight, our silent protagonist and a unique boy with the power to link to and use ARMs, ancient weapons created by the Metal Demons ages ago. He was banished from Surf Village (where he worked as a ranch-hand to make a temporary living, as he was a migrant) for being able to use the ARM, which was considered to only bring misfortune to anyone who associated with him. The boy finds himself in the city of Adlehyde, where he meets Princess Cecilia Adlehyde, and a treasure hunter named Jack. Later in the game, it is revealed that Jack is the sole survivor of the Arctica Castle attack.

While the city celebrated a Ruin Festival, showcasing strange, deactivated robotic creatures they excavated from ancient ruins around the world, the Metal Demons attacked. Stealing these robotic creatures (these "golems"), mortally wounding the King, and setting the city ablaze, they demanded the royal family hand over the "Tear Drop". A precious family heirloom and an object of great power, the Tear Drop would be the perfect catalyst for reviving Mother. To prevent any further bloodshed, Cecilia forfeits the Tear Drop to the demons, who soon depart. Rudy, Cecilia, and Jack vow to stop the demons from reviving Mother and taking over Filgaia. With Cecilia's power as a shaman, they could also restore elemental balance to the planet and help it heal itself, as it was in a constant decline since the Demon War.

Try as they might, the three depart and make pacts with the various elemental guardians of the world. To their misfortune, the Metal Demons thwart them every step of the way, breaking the statues and undoing the seals just two steps ahead of the heroes. It is when they encounter the third and final statue seal, stowed away on board the ship 'Sweet Candy', that they meet a unique Metal Demon... one named Zed.

Zed denounces their activity as folly, proclaiming that he will smash the statue and help revive Mother, and the trio fights him. Finding them to be a little too strong for his liking, but putting it off as 'an unfair three-on-one fight', Zed makes a hasty getaway. Another Quarter Knight appears, Lady Harken, and while explaining that they tossed in Zed as a diversion, she breaks the statue. Jack finds this woman... strangely familiar, and notes that her fighting style is akin to his own.

As the heroes contemplate their next move to attack the demons directly, the Quarter Knights are joyous to witness Mother's revival. Overjoyed to be free from her spell, Mother begins her plans... to destroy Filgaia? What!? It is then revealed that Mother is like a giant locust, sapping life from a planet and then moving onward. Mother was what destroyed the Metal Demons' home world, Saturn Hiades. Shocked and confused, the leader of the Quarter Knights, Zeikfried, attempts to reason with Mother, but to no avail. Filgaia... is rather screwed.

Well... not if Rudy and his group can help it. Rumors spread of treasure and special weapons in a place called the Volcannon Trap. Amid the seas of lava and traps, the heroes might find something that will help them strike down Mother and the Quarter Knights. It is here that the group meets Zed once more, smashing through a stone wall. He came for a promotion, and if he were to defeat the three, he would get just that and finally get the respect that he felt he deserved. Much stronger now, he engages them in battle. Once again, Zed gets hit butt kicked. Playing it off again as if he was to let them live, he casually steps out of the heroes' way, much to their confusion.

Deeper in the pit of lava and stone, the heroes encounter Berserk, another of the Quarter Knights. Here it is revealed that the rumor of a special weapon was bait, and the trap is activated as the monstrous demon attacks the group with all he's got. Through sheer power (and a little help from an accidental deactivation of a device that was powering Berserk in the first place), the demon is defeated, and soon after perishes. Glad to be out of that mess, the heroes depart.

Meanwhile, at the Quarter Knights' base the Photosphere, Zeikfried informs Mother that Berserk has failed. The Quarter Knights are now three. Mother assures them not to worry, for "the missing piece is here". Poor Zed, who was the only other presumably in the room, assumes that Mother has finally acknowledged him. Could it be!? Was he finally going to become a Quarter Knight!?

No. The mysterious rogue, Boomerang, appears, with his faithful companion Luceid (the guardian of desire). Unacknowledged once more, Zed deflates, and is silent for a little while longer. Perhaps he just wasn't trying hard enough. He was beaten by the heroes twice!

The heroes find and awaken Asgard, one of the ancient golems that slumber within the crust of Filgaia, and finally have what they need to storm the Photosphere. The great machine easily punches through the protective barrier of the stronghold, and our protagonists head right in.

Inside, they encounter a mysterious robed man who guides them to where the demons are keeping the Tear Drop. Not believing the phrase 'an enemy of my enemy is my friend', the heroes are apprehensive, but the man holds true to his word: Cecilia picks up the Tear Drop, happy to see the heirloom once more, but asks the man why he helped them. He simply tells them that Mother consumes massive amounts of energy: Without the Tear Drop, Mother would be no more. He wished for Filgaia to remain whole and safe... "unlike Saturn Hiades". With that, he disappears.

With all the pieces in place, the heroes finally face Mother. As the fateful encounter begins, the Photosphere itself rumbles - it's lifting off the ground, making its move over the nearest ocean. Throughout the battle, Mother is confused at the strength of humans, but confident: Regardless of how the fight ends, she will be victorious. The reason why is revealed when Mother is defeated soundly: Control over the Photosphere is released, and the strange castle-in-a-shell is sent crashing down into the sea. If the heroes do not escape, they will all drown, perishing with Mother.

Fortunately, the Sweet Candy ship and friends arrive to bail them out, leaving an ailing Mother to her own demise. On board, the heroes congratulate themselves on a job well done, happy to see the world safe... until the Quarter Knights they'd forgotten arrive, telling them that with Mother out of the way, they can properly conquer Filgaia as their own. They also reveal their trump card: During their studies of the Tear Drop, they created their own crystal, an evil object that gives off a dark aura. With it, they can snuff out the very life force of Filgaia, including the elemental guardians. Officially declaring war on the humans, the Metal Demons depart.

Not knowing what the demons will do next, our heroes return to Adlehyde to formulate a game plan: If they were to awaken the powers of the remaining guardians that had been slumbering since the start of the Demon War, the power they will lend will be enough to thwart the Quarter Knights. The anti-Tear Drop they possess can end all life, and it wouldn't be long until the demons had what they needed to unleash that power.

Soon, the heroes return to their travels and meet Lucadia, the guardian of the sea. Lucadia tells them that the guardians themselves do not possess the power to heal Filgaia's ailing state after the damage caused by the Demon War, and that only by coming together to amplify each other's powers do they simply stabilize it. A mysterious, ancient race known as the Elw knew that the guardians had their places on Filgaia and could not possibly remain in such close proximity forever. Thus, they built special machines, a network that spreads their life energy throughout the planet, however thin it was. Just as the guardians' coming together, it only stabilized the planet, but did not begin to heal it. The network, called the 'Leylines' of Filgaia, have become its near-literal lifeblood.

Lady Harken, one of the Quarter Knights, appears to reveal to the party that their plan is to sever these Leylines, essentially shattering what held the planet's deterioration at bay. It was the perfect way to further bend humans to their will: Obey, and their planet would not die further. Refuse....

The group fights her, and though they are victorious, Harken seems ready to finish off the exhausted party. Lucadia attempts to slow her down with a spell, revealing that she had forgotten something... something important about herself. She is not who she thinks she is. Lady Harken makes her hasty (yet confused) getaway, however, leaving Lucadia to perish, that spell having used to last of its vitality. Grieving for the dead spirit and heeding its words, the party leaves.

After another fight with Boomerang while acquiring the guardians of love and hope, they are directed to face the Quarter Knight Alhazad at her lab. "If you fight Alhazad, it'll build and sharpen your strength. You need more time on the anvil." Unsure of why the demon insisted upon the three of them growing stronger, they proceed to where Alhazad tends to her.. interesting experiments.

It is here that they face Lady Harken once more before the aptly-named Darkness Tear. Upon her defeat, everything becomes clear as the demonic power cleanses itself from her: She was once Elmina, Jack's lover, and fellow knight of Arctica Castle. Alhazad appears and cuts the reunion short, however, and makes off with her guinea pig much to Jack's rage and dismay. With nothing left for them in the laboratory, they depart.

As they travel through the desert outside, however, a massive hole is torn open in the sky. Zeikfried arrives to greet them, introducing his Gate Generator- ancient technology that can create holes in the space-time continuum, bringing its user wherever they like- and with the power of the Darkness Tear, it'll help them achieve their plans. Sucking the heroes into the rip in the sky, the demon challenges them to come and face him at the top of the massive Gate Generator building, and they find themselves looking at a massive array of puzzles and traps.

And Zed.

Again the poor guy is put on 'distraction duty', and it is here that he gives you an entertaining run through the dungeon. Pulling switches, throwing insults, and feeling extremely put off when you thwart him every step of the way, it's a mad chase through the dungeon's puzzles and traps to get to him and your destination. At the top of the Gate Generator, the control room, Zed feels it's time to pull out the big guns. They may have outsmarted him in every room, and they may have defeated that crazy golem he tossed at them, but darn it he's gonna beat you now! Before he can transform, however, the Gate Generator comes to life very close by, distracting all four of the characters.

Zeikfried steps out to play. Because the heroes were busy "wasting time" with Zed, the machine was able to recharge. All they needed to do was put in any coordinates, and the system would disintegrate, creating a black hole. After a quick and dirty fight with the protagonists, he orders Zed to enter coordinates, uncaring of who does and does not survive. Zed is disgusted with the idea of being a simple subordinate, the humiliation, and the fact that his own comrade cared so little about his life while valuing his own.

Before he can put in any data, Jack and his wind mouse Hanpan stop Zed, while Rudy and Zeikfried grapple over the edge and near the growing black hole that was all ready forming in the belly of the machine. With one shot of Rudy's ARM (losing his real one in the process), Zeikfried plummets to oblivion. The heroes gather up and use the Tear Drop to make their getaway as the black hole gobbles up the entire building, and presumably a severely crestfallen Zed with it.

In a quick scene, we see where Zeikfried ended up: In the Photosphere at the bottom of the sea. Here, while the demon is glad to see he survived, he fails to see the gelatinous remains of Mother gathering up until they engulf him... devouring him. Yummy.

Meanwhile, back with the heroes, they seek the aid of the very last Elw on Filgaia, Mariel, to help them in healing Rudy's injury (remember, he did blow off his arm to disconnect Zeikfried from himself). The little girl reveals that Rudy is actually a golem, and would require a special metal to be repaired. If they were to travel back in time, they would find where all the world's Elw had disappeared to: Their own dimension, the Elw Dimension. There, they enlist the help of one of them to craft the "Living Metal" needed to fix his arm. With the aid of the guardians of light and darkness and a week's rest, Rudy's arm is restored anew. Bidding the Elw farewell, they depart.

After gathering the required parts, they hire the aid of a mechanic to build a flying machine that would allow them to quickly gather the last of the guardians. Their search begins in the strange stronghold of Pandemonium. There, Alhazad (holding Elmina) appears, springing his trap and capturing the trio.

With the help of a sneaky little wind mouse, the heroes escape their imprisonment, but encounter the Quarter Knights too late: Activating the power of the Darkness Tear, they use its power to channel through the corrupt Filgaia's leylines, and great disasters befall all parts of the planet. Whirlwinds, tidal waves, volanic eruptions... and the power of the guardians is nearly snuffed completely. The tremor of power has also undone the seal on a literal orbital elevator known as Ka Dingel, which the guardians have sealed away during the Demon War. (It's here in the game where you wrap up some loose ends before the final two dungeons.)

In their travel to Ka Dingel, the heroes come across the city of Saint Centaur. Guarded by one of the last guardians before the disasters, it now lay in ruins, infested by monsters. Alhazad had used the people as experiments, turning them into obedient beasts. After a thorough investigation of the city, they find the sole survivor, a blind girl named Aura. She is shocked to hear of the demise of her fellow citizens, and tells the group that a swordsman has been taking care of her, protecting her from the monster attacks. At a loss on how to help her, they proceed out of town... and encounter Zed once more, practicing jumps and flips on the outskirts.

In surprise, he transforms into his monster form and attacks them. Although it is a very, VERY tough encounter, the heroes come out on top, and Zed reveals what he's been up to since the Gate Generator incident: The black hole did not kill him, but throw him back onto Filgaia near Saint Centaur. With nowhere left to go - as Zeikfried was a giant jerk and the Quarter Knights didn't want him in the first place - he stuck around and fought his way through the waves of monsters that invaded the city. It was soon after that he found Aura. Her blindness disallowed her to see him as a Metal Demon, so she treated him like a person, something Zed has always wanted: Acceptance. Because of her kindness, the demon protected her for the passing weeks from the invading monsters, and attacked the heroes because he feared they might tell Aura that Zed is actually a demon. With that secret kept, Zed is relieved, but asks the heroes to find out a way to drive the monsters permanently out of the city. If Aura was safe....

The heroes vow to save what is left of Saint Centaur, and proceed to Ka Dingel. Perhaps there, they would find what they needed. Alhazad is there to challenge them in her beastly true form, and she is soundly destroyed, never to toy with another human life ever again. They come across a peculiar object in their exploration... a barrier generator! To tie up one last loose end, the heroes return to Saint Centaur.

Using the barrier generator, the city is purged of monsters for good. With the area (and Aura) safe, Zed joins your party, and the final elemental guardian is collected. All that was left is beyond Ka Dingel... the satellite moon known as Malduke.

Before they can enter Malduke proper, they are attacked by ... Berserk. In the remake of the game, someone decided to randomly bring him back to life, which was an unnecessary decision, as he's soundly whupped and killed, never to come back again.

Zeikfried is waiting for them at the control room of Malduke, ready to face them. When they defeat him, something strange occurs: He is seen here writhing on the ground, beginning to glow with a newfound energy, and the Malduke's cannon is beginning to charge and fire on Filgaia. Who's pulling the strings? ...Then a feminine laughter fills the room. Feasting further upon Zeikfried's flesh, Mother fuels her own revival. In a horrific amalgamation of flesh, Motherfried is born. Malduke's cannon fires, striking Filgaia and covering its surface in complete darkness.

In a final battle, the group defeats the freakish Motherfried, and amid her dying words the Tear Drop responds. Combining the power if the heirloom with the spirit of all the guardians that have awakened, the Malduke's cannon fires once more, this time striking Filgaia with a rejuvenating, cleansing light. Purging the darkness, the guardians inform the new heroes that the hope of humans is what will restore Filgaia to its previous lush state, and that their actions will help to renew a sense of hope for the future in mankind.

In their return to Filgaia, travelling through a subspace portal in Maldule to return to Filgaia, they are given one last surprise: The enraged, crazed remains of Zeikfried, broken away from Mother, attack the party one last time. The party could not defeat him, but burning up in the atmosphere did the job. ... yeah.

Time passes. Filgaia is at peace now, and everyone is gathering together to celebrate in a vast field of freshly-grown flowers, a sight Filgaia hasn't seen in centuries. The heroes and their comrades enjoy the flowers and the sunshine, and we see Zed sitting on a rock closeby. People that ignore you and gather together without you must mean that they're planning a surprise birthday party! Oh, those silly heroes! ...Zed's out-loud musing is met with pebbles thrown at him by the young gunslinger, Jane.

Before the two fight, they are separated, kicking and yelling, the Cecilia only looks fondly at the mish-mesh of people: Humans, Elw, demons... all together on the planet living in harmony. It's here that the game ends.

ABILITIES:

Swordplay

Garyu Ichimongiri [Unlockable]- Think 'Demon Fang' of the Tales Series' fame. Sword is swung, shockwave is sent to enemy.

Ryoujin-Ranbu [Unlockable]- Dark energy is gathered in the blade, released in a strong downward or upward slash.

Kajin-Eisatsu [Unlockable]- Standard whirlwind slash.

Secret Sword [Unlockable]- An all-or-nothing-style attack. Zed rushes forward, unleashing great power from his blade. If it misses or defeats his opponent, it hurts Zed as well.

Magic

Heaven's Wrath [Unlockable]- Zed charges a beam of light that shoots straight upward, then fires down upon his opponent. Works well on flying enemies.

Demon's Annhilation [Unlockable]- A stronger version of Heaven's Wrath. Light energy is charged, but is then discharged as a concussive burst from his body. Works well on grounded enemies.

Forbidden Hand [LOCKED]- Zed opens up a portal to the underworld, banishing enemies and causing instant death. Haha, yeah right. Locked like heck.

Star Blast [Unlockable]- Zed charges to quickly slash and beat the enemy senseless with his blade. The resulting pent-up energy is then released upon the opponent in a flashy, explosive display of light. Probably Zed's best move.

Other

Monster Form [Innate]- A form given to him by Alhazad. When put into a life-or-death situation to himself or that he wishes to protect, Zed can shapeshift into a much larger (measuring around 12 feet by the looks of it), very feral monster form. Strength and ferocity are increased.

GAME INFO

EDENSPHERE NAME: Night

BIRTHDAY LOG: SURE. I mean, good luck. He's *weird*.

DREAM:

"I'm hungry too, mama," he whined. His words fell on deaf ears again.

He was in a warm, cozy cottage, lowly lit and filled with the scent of delicious edibles that made his stomach ache with need. Seated at the dining table, a large wooden thing decorated with a lone blue candle and fine cloth, seated a beautiful woman and four children: their faces were blurred, so he could not determine gender. Try as he might, yelling and waving his arms, none of the dining family even looked up from each other, laughing and feasting... on what he could not tell. Perhaps they just didn't have enough food to go around! Yeah, that's it!

"I'm going to the river to catch a fish. With my bare hands, if I have to," he whispered, his mind filled with the thought of catching a huge trout. He'd feast, and people would be proud.

His sight swam. Thinking it to be unshed tears, he brought his forearm to his eyes to wipe them away. When he pulled the limb away, however, his eyesight was crystal clear: It was a full moon, casting silvery light on a grassy field filled with moon flowers in full bloom, their giant white blossoms a pleasant sight. Perhaps he would pick some... it would make her smile, wouldn't it? His eyes on the star-filled sky, he began to cast his line into the river. When he picked up a fishing pole, he'd never know. Small creatures materialized in the grass, standing on their tiny hind legs and wiggling their whiskers.

"You're really cool," said a little field mouse of a strange blue color, peering up at him in admiration with small, glittering eyes.

"You're the smartest!" Chirped a yellow.

The third mouse with red fur only nodded.

"HAH! I am, aren't I?" He said to himself, grinning from ear to ear now. Just then, he felt a tug on his fishing line. A bite! There was going to be fish tonight! There was a great rumble of the earth when he gave a yank of the fishing pole to surface his catch, and at the hook was... something dark he could not identify.

WHAP. It struck him in the forehead and he was out cold.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

So I went to the Marketplace today, and I saw a man selling some scarves. It takes a genius like myself to identify a good, solid color, and my eyes were stuck on the orange one! Orange... it's the color of spirit, of excitement, of my favorite breakfast drink in the morning! It had to be mine, and I could feel it against my neck now... but I could not afford it. Oooh, makes me shiver!

The man dared to tell me that if I wanted it I could just take it, that that shade of orange was an ugly color and he'd had it for weeks. "Just take it, pal," he insisted! Do you simply give a man a bag of oranges because the color makes you ill? Although we all could use some extra Vitamin C, and giving fruit to someone is an act of kindness, it's not nice to judge a color by their.. cover..

That goes for everyone! Do not be afraid of the color orange, or scarves like these will never see the respect they deserve! People work so hard on these clothes!

...Maybe I should buy an outfit in nothing but orange.

ASPIRATIONS: I have my villainous, plotty character, and my down-to-earth female. They aren't much for something relatively energetic and silly, and this particular character's been bouncing around in my head for a few months, so here it is.

I think the tree needs some eager, obedient idiots to do grunt work around here. I know, I know, this app looks very familiar, but I chickened out and found that I'd feel bad if I apped a duplicate Grell Sutcliffe (even if Mira told me it was okay) and I had a draft copy of my Zed app sitting around. Eh, I'll give it a total rewrite if you want! hahahaha .. D8

APPLICATION: Baccano! - Firo Prochainezo

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:04:27 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Chiqui
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: +8 GMT
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Regene Regetta / Yehuda

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Firo Prochainezo
SERIES: Baccano!
RESERVED: Y
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY:
So who is the lead character of Baccano? Carole argues that it should be Firo "because he is lead character-ish."

And what we do see is an easygoing young man dressed in a neat, green suit, complete with smug dialogue and awesome moves. He's generous when he's in a good mood, aware of the danger associated with being a member of the Martillo family but taking it in cool stride, and very much willing to fight back when provoked. Oh, and did I mention he regenerates?

Firo is, essentially, a badass. But there's a little more to him than just that.

It is no secret that Firo is confident even in the face of danger, and that he will fight without hesitation when needed. He's aware of his superior fighting skills, and it can be seen most in the cheeky smile he puts on just before a fight he knows he'd definitely win. He doesn't go out of his way to brag about it or his status as a member of the Martillo family, though, unless it's to provoke people into fighting him. But as for his actual fights... Let's just say his acts of "self-defense" can be a bit of an overkill. It's not surprising that he resorts to violence, too; after all, he's been raised in an organization wherein disagreements between families often end with one family attacking another. You can say that he's used to such a way of life and that there isn't quite much else to it.

Because Firo looks a lot younger than he really is, he often surprises people when he speaks like an adult. He's someone who tells anyone what he thinks to their face, mocks enemies in the midst of battle, and can be relentless in his (oftentimes frank and less-than-courteous) questions. He despises people who deliberately put the lives of others in danger and who look down on the Martillo Family. He is very much willing to lend a hand to both friends and strangers alike, whether they ask for it or not. Of course, "lending a hand" almost always seems to end in beating someone up, but considering that said assistance comes from a Camorrista, what else is there to expect? He is also intensely determined when he has a set goal in mind. Such goals have a wide range, from getting into the Camorras to finding the girl who lost the button in her sleeve so he can return it to her. And since he isn't easily disheartened, you can say that he often achieves such goals in the long run. He's not the type to reflect much on the subject of life even after he himself becomes an Immortal and prefers instead to live in the moment. He's also an atheist and doesn't believe in life after death.

As a devoted Camorrista, Firo is well aware that he could go to jail, get killed by someone close to him, and likewise kill for the Martillos. He's so fiercely loyal to the Martillo family that he will undergo various troubles to become one of them and to defend them, even if it means taking his own life. After all, he was used to not having any reason to be happy and could only wish that he could smile like the Italians in the movies, until the Martillos took him in. They're the closest thing he has to a family, and hey, he likes them a lot.

However, behind that is a person who's rather childish and easily amused: For instance, when the Martillo Family tells him about his promotion, a childlike smile forms on his face. When he hears that the Flying Pussyfoot is a strangely decorated train, he wants to see it for himself even more. Albeit highly skeptical when he first sees everyone arranging dominos in a pattern, he is the most excited when the dominos start to fall (after accidentally pushing a domino down himself). He also does little to contain his excitement, the kind of transparency that can be witnessed in any of his other emotions.

So does Firo have the makings of a lead character-ish? The answer, of course, is simply left to the audience.

TIMELINE: After Firo has been proclaimed the newest Martillo Executive (End of episode 13)
BACKGROUND:
November 1930: Once there was an 18-year old boy who went out shopping for hats with his close friend. It all seemed normal enough... Except that the boy wasn't quite the average boy, given that he had easily beaten up a murderer just moments before. And in a few more hours, he will officially become a member of the executive staff of the Martillo Family, a small branch of the Camorras located in Manhattan, New York.

But Firo Prochainezo wasn't always a member of the Camorras. Born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, Firo was orphaned when he was only nine years old. He lived in the Manhattan Italian slums until the Martillo Family found him wandering in the streets one day and took him under their care. He stayed with them ever since, eventually becoming extremely skilled in combat and a valuable member of the Martillos. He had been given the task of overseeing Martillo-owned casinos to catch cheaters, and it was here that he had been able to train his vision, a strength that became valuable when he fought. Aside from that, he had learned wrestling techniques and practiced knife skills with the other Martillo executives, thus gaining good judgement during combat.

Back to the year 1930: A wooden building had burned down, and an old man who just completed the Elixir of Life for Szilad Quates saved two bottles and escaped the inferno. However, Firo and Maiza Avaro had been, for the moment, completely oblivious to this event as they were out shopping for hats to symbolize Firo's promotion as a Martillo executive. It was also here where they first met Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, but the importance of the two rather odd thieves will come much later. On their way back, Firo spotted the fire and ran to check it out, in the process bumping into Ennis (who had been looking for the old man mentioned earlier) at the scene of the fire. The gold button of Ennis' suit dropped, and Firo picked it up and ran after her with the intention of returning it (and because it was most likely love at first sight). While searching for her, he spotted Dallas Genoard and his cronies beating up the same old man with the Elixir of Life. Firo took down Dallas and his henchmen easily and went on his way.

Not being able to find the girl, Firo eventually headed to the restaurant Alveare for his swear-in ceremony to officially become a Camorrista and a Martillo executive. As part of the ritual, he needed to go against Maiza in a knife battle, which he won after dealing a cut to Maiza's wrist. He also noticed that Maiza's wound healed itself almost instantly, but had not been able to ask Maiza about this since the executives started congratulating him. Kanshichiro Yagulma, one of the top executives, told him that he was the first person to defeat Maiza in a knife fight. A shot was fired in honor of Firo, but the bullet shot through the ceiling and accidentally hit Isaac, who had been on the floor above them, in the head.

However, Isaac seemed fine when Firo checked on him, albeit a bit overly dramatic. The people in Alveare (which included Isaac, Miria, the Gandor brothers, and the Martillo executives) drank wine in celebration, and Firo eventually confronted Maiza about how his wound quickly healed. But their conversation was cut short when Firo spotted Ennis, ran after her, and handed the button over, much to her surprise and confusion. Their meeting had been brief, however, when they both heard gunshots originating from the Alveare. Alarmed, Firo rushed back, and in his tussle with Ennis spotted Szilad through a bullet hole in the back door. Ennis then told Firo about the Immortals and the Elixir of Life, and her real nature as a sort of daughter created by Szilard to do his bidding. Firo grew enraged upon hearing Ennis' story and told Ennis that fathers weren't supposed to enslave their daughters, and besides, he didn't think someone as beautiful as Ennis could have had him for a father, anyway. Just then, Dallas and his henchmen appeared again and pointed guns at Firo and Ennis. Dallas told Firo that he couldn't die, either, but Luck, Berga, and Keith Gandor appeared just in time to save them. Dallas tried to convince Luck that Firo had been responsible for the attack on the Gandor's turf, but Luck saw through their deception and mentioned that the Martillo and Gandor families were in good terms. Aside from that, Firo had been a close friend of theirs since childhood, and how did Dallas know about the attack unless he had something to do with it, anyway? With that, the Gandors shot Dallas and his henchmen. However, because Szilard had injected Dallas and his comrades with Elixir of Life that was slightly different (it made them heal instantly but did not render them immune to aging), their wounds healed and they gunned down Firo, Ennis, and the Gandors.

And the story would have ended there, except for the fact that Firo and the Gandor brothers regenerated. Apparently, the wine at the party? It was the Elixir of Life that the old man had saved from the fire. So Firo quickly headed over to where Maiza and Szilard were located, just in time spot Ennis on the floor, dying, after she stabbed Szilard in the back. The other Martillos set Szilard on fire, and Ennis instructed Firo how to "eat" Szilard: Put his right hand on Szilard's forehead and think "I want to eat". Firo then absorbed Szilard into his body, thus effectively killing Szilard and obtaining all the knowledge he had. Among the knowledge Szilard held was part of the secret on how to make the Elixir of Life, obtained from eating Maiza's younger brother, Gerd, during the year 1705, and how to save Ennis' life. And so he did save Ennis and introduced himself as Firo. He then asked for Ennis' name, and when she pointed out that he already knew her name, he replied that he simply wanted to hear her say it himself.

Maiza apologized to Firo, the Martillos, the Gandors, and the two thieves for bringing the curse of Immortality to them, but Firo said that he didn't want to die anyway, and that he felt really happy right now. Everyone else agreed with him, and everyone on that night toasted to the newest Martillo executive, Firo Prochainezo.

ABILITIES:
Firo is an exceptional fighter who uses knives as his primary weapon, but who can also fare well in hand-to-hand combat. His strength lies in having a broad field of vision and being able to visually track fast movements, a skill he honed through catching cheaters at organization-owned casinos.

Aside from that, Firo is one of the Immortals. As an Immortal, a person's physical age is halted, so Firo can be a hundred years old and still look 18. Moreover, an Immortal can't be killed because they are able to regenerate when wounded, even when their entire body is burned or gunned down. It'd still hurt like hell, though.

There are certain ways to kill an Immortal, and this can only be done by fellow Immortals. Firo himself has done this once: He placed his hand on the head of Szilad, wished in his mind to "eat" the person, and absorbed Szilad into his body. In addition to killing Szilad, Firo managed to gain all the knowledge stored in Szilad and in all the Immortals Szilad has eaten. Thus, all Immortals can obtain the knowledge other Immortals have through "eating" them.

As a side note, I would actually like to retain Firo's being an Immortal at ES if mods allow!

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Martillo
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes!
DREAM:
There's nothing that surrounds him, not even light or the faintest noise of another person's existence. It's around this point that he thinks, "Hey, isn't this kinda weird? It's not like it's a usual thing for me to go walkin' around nothin' after all, ya know?" And then he tells himself that hey, this black vacuum of sorts wasn't really here yesterday—except how would he know that, when he can't even remember what yesterday was like? And now can a nothing exist today when it's supposed to be nothing in the first place? Geez, this is confusing!

He keeps on walking anyway, 'cause let's face it: It's not like there's anything else he could do in a place where there's nothing, right? So he continues to tread aimlessly. One, two, three meters onward, and then the realization slowly dawns on him.

It's kind of lonely, being all alone like this.

And that's when it appears: All of a sudden, under a spotlight, which is pretty weird if he really thinks about it, because the light seems to extend upward to forever as if it comes from the heavens and God and the angels themselves—if he actually believes a place like that exists. Anyway, there it is right before him, as if things usually appear out of nowhere all the time: a lone, green fedora.

He blinks and reaches out automatically to grab hold of the hat (somehow it's a familiar image to him, something that seems to hold an answer though he isn't really sure what, because he's really not one of the smart fellas who actually spend really long hours reflecting about these things), and his eyes widen in surprise when hands suddenly materialize around it. Arms appear shortly after that, and then a body attached to those arms, and then a head and tidy, brown hair under a dark hat. The spotlight, though, shines in a way that keeps the person's face hidden from view, but even then he feels as if he knows this man, and a sense of comfort and belonging instantly replaces that sadness he felt only moments earlier.

And then he hears voices all around him, talking, laughing, and then there's the pouring of drink and the clinking of glasses. Somehow this lifts his spirits, and though at first he's content in listening to the merriment forever, eventually he decides that he wants to join in. It's around then that the sounds abruptly die out and a single, powerful voice directs one question at him:

"Will you die in the name of the Martillo Family?"

He considers this only for a short while, because then he realizes that hey, if he's to become part of those fellas who are able to laugh like that, have fun like that? It's not a really bad thing to ask at all.

The crowd cheers as if they can hear his thoughts, but now he catches something else from the corner of his eye: A girl wearing a thin suit, face blocked away from view, running fast as if searching for something or someone. He feels something form in his hand all of a sudden, and when he opens it he finds a button in the center of his palm, and he wonders, "How did that get there?". It must be hers, he thinks, though he isn't sure exactly why he came to that conclusion. He just knows that it is.

When he raises his eyes to find her, though, there's an old man before him, with lines on his face that tells of his knowledge but the glint in his eye that warns of his corruption. The old geezer turns away and that's when he spots the girl, back towards him so he still can't see her features, and even if they're only walking they move away from him so quickly until they become a tiny dot against the darkness, before continually fading away.

But he isn't giving up that easily. So he tucks the button safely inside his pocket and places his complete focus on the path ahead.

And he runs.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:
[In a messy, hurried writing]
So if we write stuff here, other fellas will get to see it, huh? Don't really get how it works, but I guess it won't hurt to try. So hey there! Name's Martillo. You can say I'm one of the new guys here.

[Momentary pause before the same careless handwriting continues]

Does this thing really work?

ASPIRATIONS: I'm basically aiming to build some interesting CR with Firo. He can be both really nice and somewhat of an ass, especially to those who hurts the people he likes, so it'd be definitely interesting to get him to talk and meet different kinds of people. Eventually he'll be looking for people to call a family, too, since he'll always (somewhat unconsciously) be looking for that sense of family and camaraderie he had back in his world. To this family, he'll become extremely loyal and overprotective, and even horribly biased, going to lengths such as beating people up or even sacrificing his life for them (except LOL no because he's immortal). He'll probably involve himself in the mystery of the Sphere at one point, but only if they mess with his family or if one of the people he cares about asks him to research on some stuff for said person.

APPLICATION: Valkyrie Profile - Lenneth

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:02:16 GMT

This application was NOT ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO

NAME: Theresa
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST

CHARACTER INFO

CHARACTER NAME: Lenneth Valkyrie
SERIES: Valkyrie Profile
RESERVED: No
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Given her task as chooser of the slain, Lenneth is generally stoic and cold. Although at times, she has expressed sorrow and empathy for the plight of humans.
TIMELINE: After Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, assuming that Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume has happened sometime prior to it.
BACKGROUND:
Lenneth is one of the three Valkyries, sometimes known by humans as Battle Maidens or, less favorably, as Goddesses of Death. They are chosen by Odin - father of the gods - to recruit the souls of deceased warriors (einherjar) from Midgard to assist in the war against the Vanir and prevent the destruction of Asgard in Ragnarok. All three Valkyrie sisters share the same body and while one is awakened by Odin to tour Midgard for worthy souls, the other two "sleep" in the bodies of mortals.

More sympathetic towards humans than her sister Hrist and the other gods and goddesses of Asgard, Lenneth sometimes felt guilt for what she did. The anger of one particular boy, whose father she had chosen to become einherjar, particularly struck her deeply and questioned the good of her task.

Because of her sympathy towards humans, Odin had her memories sealed as her spirit lay dormant in a human girl named Platina. And upon returning to her duties, he had given her the Niebelung Ring to wear, allowing the seal to remain in place. Lenneth had no recollection of her life as a human nor her sympathies towards them.

It was during one of her travels in the human world that Lenneth eventually discovered that, while she had been "sleeping", her soul had been reborn in Midgard as the girl named Platina. Unfortunately, Odin wasn't pleased when she regained the memories that he had sealed away and he made the decision to replace her with her eldest sister Hrist. Through the efforts of Arngrim and Mystina - two of her einherjar - Lezard Valeth, a necromancer with dark intentions, and a vampire named Brahms, Lenneth was returned to the Valkyrie body. Mystina had captured Lenneth's soul when Hrist was defeated and her body destroyed and Lezard joined Lenneth's soul to one of his homunculi - artifical humans made from the corpses of elves and humans.

Lenneth went on then back to Asgard, the realm of the gods, to stop Ragnarok - the end of the world - from happening. During her battle with the god responsible named Loki, Lenneth discovered that her rebirth in a half-elven/half-human homunculus body, granted her powers surpassing those of Odin and gave her the power of creation. After killing Loki, Lenneth restored Lucian and Midgard to life, and the two were able live together in peace with Lenneth as the Lord of Creation.

Later, Lenneth traveled back in time in order to stop the deterioration of her world. Lezard Valeth had used the same time machine to go back in time and alter the past. Working with her two sisters Hrist and Silmeria, as well as a human princess named Alicia, a half-elf named Rufus and Brahams, they confronted Lezard but he had since learned of the spell that sealed the souls of the Valkyries known as the Sovereign's Rite. He cast it on the sisters and imprisoned Lenneth in a crystal prison, intending to combine his and her souls but was stopped by Alicia and the others. With the help of Brahms, Alicia and the three Valkyries merged into one soul and defeated Lezard. The four souls separated afterwards but what became of the three Valkyries is still unknown.

ABILITIES: A warrior goddess, Lenneth is quite capable with a sword. She appears to be an ordinary, gentle woman but in truth, she possesses more strength than mortal men. She also possesses a pair of wings that appear at will and grant her the ability of flight.

GAME INFO

EDENSPHERE NAME: Death
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes.

DREAM:
"Death Goddess!"

She recoiled at the words the woman spat out as she wept at the news of her husband's death. The widow couldn't see the one she called 'Death' but the winged, silver-haired woman saw the mortal woman clearly, grieving and wailing and expressing her contempt of her whom she considered a harbringer of destuction.

Is this truly my purpose? To bring so much suffering and pain? She thought mournfully to herself. I pity them, these mortals. Kindred are the hearts of gods and men.

All around her, she could hear the wailing of others who reviled and scorned her for bringing death to their families. There were some who hailed her as the Battle Maiden, taking joy and pride in the choosing of their kin but they were few and far between.

There were just too many. Too many people who were suffering. And she could not remain unaffected by their cries of grief.

Not willing to hear anymore, she took to the sky with a great pair of white wings.

JOURNAL SAMPLE: I find myself still very much confused and I am very uneasy about this uncertainty. Forgive me if I do not take kindly to any of you immediately. I ... My dream was unnerving, to say the least, and I do not like what it implied. If I only knew more. I do not like this feeling of complete ignorance.

ASPIRATIONS: I hope that as she gains more of her memories, Lenneth not only learns to accept what has been done and to stop blaming herself but to eventually choose her own path.

Hello, Theresa,

Unfortunately, we have decided to reject your application. We feel that the personality and background are insufficient to display knowledge of Lenneth's character and canon; in addition, many of her abilities were ommitted from the list. However, you are welcome to rewrite and resubmit this application or apply for another character in a future application cycle. Thank you for your interest in Edensphere.

APPLICATION: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Iroh

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:57:40 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Jackie
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Youth (Maito Gai) - spandexisyouth

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Iroh
SERIES: Avatar: The Last Airbender
RESERVED: N
WISHLIST: Y

PERSONALITY: On the surface, Iroh is inept and lazy, accepting
tea with people he shouldn’t, trying to turn various possibly deadly
poisonous plants into tea, and relaxing in hot springs when enemies
are on his trail. His lack of awareness and talents for turning
everything into a proverb often infuriate his traveling companion, his
nephew Zuko.

But Iroh is not a surface character. Beneath the mask of silliness is
a very aware and cunning strategist, and a man who loves and cares
very much. When captured by Earth Nation soldiers who recognized him,
Iroh managed to leave behind a trail for Zuko and fight back. When he
had a chance to save Zuko by temporarily serving Zhao, Iroh took it,
sacrificing his pride for strategy’s sake. He’s part of a secret
order, the Order of the White Lotus, masters from every nation
carefully working to re-balance the world.

Thanks to the death of his beloved son, Iroh has come to value life
and understanding. He is prone to advising anyone he comes across,
seeking to bring out the best in them. When finding Toph wandering
alone, he sits down and makes tea for her, giving advice but listening
too. He never ceases to try to help his nephew; he’s faithful and
loyal. Iroh does not give up hope, even when everything seems lost to
him, when his nephew has declared him wrong and left. He still hoped
for that moment of reconciliation with Zuko that came at the gathering
of those in the Order of the White Lotus.

TIMELINE: Just after Iroh embraces Zuko in his tent at the
gathering of the Order of the White Lotus members.

BACKGROUND: Iroh was born heir to the Fire Nation throne, son
of Azulon and older brother to Ozai. He had a son named Lu Ten.

A brilliant and powerful general, Iroh was leading the assault on Ba
Sing Se when a counterattack killed his son, and killed his resolve.
The Dragon of the West pulled back, abandoning the fighting, even
though they were well on the way to victory. He returned to find his
younger brother had taken the throne. There’s no sign that Iroh ever
protested this change. Around a few years after Iroh’s return, his
young nephew, whom he had sent many gifts during his campaign, was
disgraced. Zuko is exiled, and Iroh voluntarily joins him. Only one
way is given for Zuko to return, something his grandfather Azulon
never managed – find and capture the Avatar.

They find him… and fail to capture him. Their ship is so damaged that
they have to go to port where Commander Zhao is stationed. Iroh is
there tempted by one of his favorite things, tea. Over tea, it comes
out that the Avatar has been found, and thus the stage is set. Zhao
wants to get him first for glory; Zuko needs to get Aang first to
restore his honor. And Iroh, well, Iroh loves his nephew.

There are a lot of near captures. Sometimes they’re foiled by Fire
Nation, sometimes they’re foiled by Iroh thinking he misplaced his
White Lotus tile, sometimes they’re foiled by tea, and sometimes
they’re foiled by Zuko’s temper.

At the end of the first season and beginning of the second, the Fire
Nation fleet, with Iroh and Zuko, are at the Northern Water Tribe,
believing Aang and his friends to be there. Commander Zhao attacks the
spirit of the moon, Tui, endangering all of the waterbenders and the
balance of the world. Iroh makes a difficult decision, and protects
the fish representing the spirit. He is then branded a traitor.

Iroh does not know for certain of this declaration until Azula comes
for him and Zuko, claiming they’re allowed to return, forgiven. As
they go to join her on her ship, one of the soldiers calls them
prisoners, and Zuko and Iroh fight and escape. This is when they make
a choice. It’s time to leave their old lives behind. Together, they
cut off their topknots and begin making their way as refugees. Zuko
can’t accept this life and abandons Iroh, but Iroh doesn’t give up
hope. He follows Zuko.

Along the way, Iroh runs into Toph and shares tea and advice. It’s a
very pleasant meeting before he runs into Zuko and joins forces with
Aang, Katara, Soka, and Zuko against Azula. Seeing her chance, Azula
attacks Iroh and flees. This is when Iroh shows that for once, he’s
given up on someone, declaring that Azula is crazy and needs to go
down. He teaches Zuko a very useful move, how to redirect lightning.
It’s his own technique, made by watching waterbenders.

Soon after, Zuko and Iroh make it to Ba Sing Se. Iroh gets the chance
of his dreams, his own tea shop, and Zuko actually finds a nice girl
who likes him. Seeing the struggle of his nephew, Iroh tries to
convince him that now is the time to turn good. The anniversary of his
son’s death comes around, and Iroh spends a day in town gathering what
he needs to honor Lu Ten’s memory while righting a few wrongs.

When Zuko frees Appa, Iroh encourages him to leave behind the Blue
Spirit and change. After a struggle with fever, Zuko might have done
just that… if his sister hadn’t shown up offering him a chance at
redemption. When she and Zuko attack the Avatar and Katara, Iroh
stands against them. He surrenders once Aang and Katara are safe, with
a look of regret given to his nephew.

Much time later, it is revealed that Iroh has been imprisoned by the
Dai Lee. Sometimes Zuko visits him, but for the most part Iroh spends
his time acting stupid to fool the guards and training to one day
break free. He manages to let Zuko know the story of both of his
ancestors, trying to sway Zuko. On the day of Black Sun, when
firebending no longer works, Iroh breaks from his prison cell and
escapes, ostensibly seeking out members of the Order of the White
Lotus.

He finally shows up again when Zuko reaches the White Lotus camp with
the Avatar’s party. He listens to Zuko’s apology, turns, and embraces
his nephew, forgiving him. Iroh never stopped hoping.

ABILITIES: Firebending, obviously. Firebending is using the
element of fire as an attack or defensive mechanism, and is an inborn
talent of many of the Fire Nation people. Fire can be channeled or
directed, flung, and generally manipulated by those born with this
ability. He’s very powerful, having a unique technique where he blows
out flames, reminiscent of a dragon. He also has a technique he
invented to redirect lightning, and can use lightning firebending.

Strategy – an intelligent general and leader of men, Iroh is a skilled
strategist and tactician.

Muscular strength – “Like a one-man army,” from a defeated guard. It’s
an exaggeration, of course, but he’s not to be trifled with.

Tsungi Horn playing – arguable. Depends probably on if you like
the tsungi horn.

Tea making – he brews excellent tea, the best in the city of Ba Sing
Se. But he’s not the most expert botanist, sometimes using things that
are actually poisonous.

Pai Sho master, Pai Sho being a strategy game played with small circular tiles.

GAME INFO

EDENSPHERE NAME: Jasmine

BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes please.

DREAM: He looked at the walls for the second time in his life,
tall, towering, impressive. This time, though, he looked at them from
the inside. No longer was he trying to invade; those walls were now
symbols of safety. The market was crowded as he wandered through it,
gathering supplies for his tea shop. He needed to be back in an hour
to open on time, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t make it. There
were far too many interesting shops to see to worry about timely
openings. And far too many ladies to charm. Time was something to be
enjoyed, not pushed.

And so he ambled along, flirting and buying, fully aware of the fact
that someone would yell at him when he returned, and that the yelling
was only a sign of affection. His mind was vaugue on who the someone
was. They mattered, he was sure, but the harder he tried to remember,
the more nebulous the thought was. He shook his head and wandered on.
Surely it would come back to him. Maybe he should pick up some throat
lozenges while he was out, just in case. It wouldn’t do for… that
person to have a sore throat. And polish for his tsungi horn. And a
new pai sho board, in case friends came for a visit.

There was a stall in front of him with many different types of plants.
He loved plants. Clapping his hands together, he nodded to the stall
owner before picking through the selection. Aha. Jasmine! He hadn’t
found fresh Jasmine in the city in weeks. And now it was his. His day
was made.

He remembered the polish and board, but as he headed home, he wondered
if there was something he’d forgotten. Probably not.

JOURNAL SAMPLE: A blank page is a beautiful thing, but if it’s
left blank, it will never reach its full potential. Just like a cup of
water. To be the best that it can be, it must be turned into tea! And
look, now I am sharing proverbs and poetry!

And I am also getting ahead of myself. I am called Jasmine, and I need
a teapot. I thought I needed tea, as well, but then I spotted a very
delicate plant growing near me. By the shape of its leaves and the
scent of its blossoms, I have determined that it will create a very
flavorful tea! Or, since it has three leaves, it may poison me.

A teapot will answer this difficult question.

ASPIRATIONS: I would like him to help work in the tea shop with
Ukitake/Koi, because that’s what Iroh knows. I could see him easily
‘adopting’ many of the younger people and trying to take them under
his wing with a lot of weird proverbs. He’ll be a little more tricky
than Youth, since Iroh will be quietly studying the world and trying
to understand it – and he’s got more of a focused intelligence.

Hi, Jackie!

Thank you for your patience. After reviewing your application, we have decided to ask for an expanded background. While we feel you are on the right track, we also feel as though there are important aspects of Iroh's life that were glossed over. Specifically, we would like more detail about the beginning of his and Zuko's journey, the significance of that journey on Iroh, and his involvement with the White Lotus Masters.

Shurimon (Edensphere helpstaff, Sky/Bridge/Will/Derrick)

Player Response

APPLICATION: Dollhouse - Topher Brink

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:22:53 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Kikos
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: California/PST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Ghost/Jack Landors, Apple/Cooro

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Topher Brink
SERIES: Dollhouse
RESERVED: Y
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY:

Topher Brink is an overgrown child. He is immature, sarcastic,
extremely self centered, amoral, disrespectful to just about anyone,
entertaining and emotionally delayed. It is possible he suffers from
narcissistic personality disorder since he shows all the classic signs
of someone with a God Complex: he possesses an exaggerated sense of
self-importance and power, lacks empathy and exploits others for his
own gain. Physically Topher looks like your typical "geeky" teenager
(even through he's about 26-28 years old) as he shows up to work in
flannel, school boy sweater vests, ripped jeans and sneakers while
everyone else around him is in business casual. His laboratory at the
Dollhouse looks more like a play room as it is filled with multiple
board games and video game consoles, an arcade "Wack-a-mole" machine
(for that extra God-Complex touch), a massive refrigerator, copious
amounts of root beer and juice boxes (like the kind you put in a
child's lunchbox) and a trampoline. His interactions with people are
playful, always teasing and never serious, unless it is an emergency.
Then he tends to yell and flail around like a scared little girl. He
also gets incredibly embarrassed and worked up when talking about
sexuality, particularly male sexuality. This is particularly ironic
and full of fail since he is a doctor yet he cannot even bring himself
to say the word erection--he calls them "man-reactions".

Much of Topher's arrogance stems from the fact that he is a genius.
He flew through medical school in one of the hardest fields, was hired
by a clandestine organization and revolutionized his field with a new
type of medical technology all by the time he was in his mid twenties.
The richest and most powerful people in America pay exuberant amounts
of money for the "product" Topher creates. This is because what Topher
creates are humans--built to order people. He creates the living
embodiment of a person's fantasy by erasing volunteers' memories and
replacing them with fabricated personalities. Although this comes off
as nothing but high end, technological prostitution and would horrify
most decent people, Topher sees his work as "art" and he takes great
pride and joy in manipulating the people under his care. To Topher,
everything comes down to Science. Human beings are merely a
collection of fired up neurons and chemicals bonded
together--everything can be explained by biology. He is actually
quite adapt at human psychology. But his perspective is so detached,
he has a hard time applying empathy to anyone. Also that little thing
called the Hippocratic Oath? Totally not even considered by this guy.
Topher sees nothing wrong with what he does because his entire
worldview excludes morality, ethnics and social acceptance as
limitations. In fact he considers morality to be a form of mere
social conditioning, a product of an individuals upbringing plus
societal norms. Because he sees it as subjective, he is able to
dismiss it as irrelevant to him. But at the same time, the childish
part of Topher enjoys the illegalness of what he does. He also takes
this approach towards drugs, viewing the 'taboo' with childish
fascination. In the same way a child might smile after eating a
stolen chocolate chip cookie, Topher enjoys the challenge of working
for a secret organization. He thrills at being the creator of
people--the doll maker of the dollhouse.

What makes Topher complicated is that he's not some horrible baby
eating monster. He actually comes off as a friendly guy- he has a good
sense of humor and a quirky style of speech. He likes to argue that
ultimately his job is to make people happy--the rest of it, the how
and who and why, are subjective. He has been known to perform acts
of charity, mostly because it gives him a sense of pride and
accomplishment rather than out of some sense of obligation. He is also
an incredibly hard worker and he has often spends the night working
and sleeping on a cot instead of gong home. He is creative,
insightful and excellent at piecing together a mystery and will get
something done fast if it interests him or he's threatened enough.

But following up on that, like most geniuses, there are times when
Topher comes off as mentally unstable (as if the God complex wasn't
enough of a tip off). His incredible insights tend to blindside the
limited common sense he has, causing him to leap before he looks. He
will run experiments before testing them and has no problem with
skipping most of the scientific method to get results like an
impatient brat. He is so focused on his own little world that when
something goes wrong he is completely blindsided and he reacts poorly
as an result. He also has a tendency to talk to himself when stressed.
When he's pushed too far emotionally he tends to shut down rather
than face the situation head on. In this sense he is exactly like a
little kid without coping mechanisms and like a child he is afraid of
the dark. Ironically he also has a phobia of rats.

Ultimately Topher sees himself as a private person. He once told his
coworker Claire Saunders that nobody in the dollhouse knows him due to
the clandestine nature of his job--they cannot know him "not fully,
not ever". One gets the sense that working for the Dollhouse also
prevents Topher from having any outside friends--or it's more likely
that his personality does that for him. He comes off as tragic rather
than deeply malicious because of his childish persona and his naivete
in believing he can escape facing the consequences of his actions.

TIMELINE: End of the episode "Belonging" from Season 2.

BACKGROUND: Before getting into Topher's history there's a lot
of logistical background to explain first. Dollhouse is a scifi
series that centers on the themes of memory loss, human identity,
corporate/capitalist greed, consumer fetishism and both sexual and non
sexual fantasies. It uses flashbacks and flash-forwards to show the
past and future of it's characters. The show is set a slightly
alternate universe Los Angeles. The majority occurs in the year 2009,
where Lady Gaga is still blasted on the radio and people refer to a
black president. However in this universe, medical technology is far
more advanced, particularly in neuroscience. Doctors have developed
technology that can remove a person's entire sum of memories without
ever cutting into their scalp. Memories can also be implanted,
overlaid atop a blank mind to create a completely different
personality with a set of borrowed or fabricated memories. The
memories can also be archived on hard drives, called "wedges". So far
in the series, it seems as though only the entity of a person's
memories are capable of being removed, instead of selecting certain
aspects of a person's life to erase. Similarly, altered or fabricated
memories cannot be implanted in a normal brain. The person must be
wiped first. All of this research and invocation is funded by the
Rosselem corporation, a shady drug conglomerate that holds a
significant amount of power in America. They have several senators,
congressmen and governors in their pockets and their influence is seen
everywhere. In the public eye, Rosselem appears to develop memory
enhancing drugs and potential cures for crippling degenerative
neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. In closed doors they run a
lucrative side business: The Dollhouse. Rosselem is such a vast
corporation that there is said to be a Dollhouse in every major city
in the world.

Using the memory erasure technology, the Dollhouse organization
specializes in creating custom people, called Actives or Dolls, for
extremely wealthy clients to use discretely for any purpose. Dolls
(both male and female) are programmed to be the client's ultimate
fantasy come true, and they are programmed to like it. If a client
wishes for a beautiful woman to fall in love with him, she
will--chemically, physically and emotionally. There is no acting here.
Then when the "engagement" is finished, the Active's memory is wiped
and all knowledge of the client is removed, ensuring ultimate privacy
and zero accountability. In theory, each active in the Dollhouse is
there voluntarily. In the Los Angeles Dollhouse, Actives are signed
up on 5 year contracts. Actives agree to have their memories erased
and their bodies sold, with their original personality copied and
archived. When five years are up they are to be re-implanted with
their original personality and paid copious amounts of money. Actives
are usually chosen because they are desperate individuals or people
suffering from traumatic memories that they wish to lose--so far
Actives have been revealed to be former war veterans, mothers who have
lost children and criminals with life sentences. They even lose their
names when they join the Dollhouse (lol)--they are code-named
according to the NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc).
When Actives aren't on engagements, they exist in a memory-less state
called the tabula rasa. This is where Dollhouse memory loss differs
from Edensphere's. Dolls in the tabula rasa state have no personality.
They are infantile, retaining only basic abilities like how to speak
and feed themselves, along with some basic workout skills (how to run,
swim and do yoga) so they can keep their bodies in shape. The
progress of erasing an Active is extremely painful and is said to feel
a lot like being born. Therefore the person programming and erasing
the dolls must carefully control their immediate environment,
eliminating harsh external stimuli, loud noises or conflict. The
programmer has ultimate control over the Actives--he or she is their
God.

Now (finally) enter Topher Brink, head programmer and memory ganker
for the Los Angeles Dollhouse. When he was hired by the head, Adelle
DeWitt, he brought new technological innovations that shot the LA
branch to the top house in the world. Prior to his hiring on,
downloading personalities took several hours using analog cables.
Within a few months, Topher created a wireless sound wave technology
that reduces the upload/download time to a mere minutes. This was a
critical technological advance because not only did it increase their
productivity but it introduced a dangerous premise--the ability to use
sound waves to erase a person's mind. Keep this in mind--we'll return
to it later.

Arguably Topher has the second most powerful position in the
dollhouse. He refers to himself as Adelle DeWitt's 'favorite son',
and it is clear he is highly privileged. While the rest of the
Dollhouse employees (save the Dolls who have a sub human status in the
house, once likened to pets) run around in business suits, Topher
stands out in his in his jeans. He is even allowed to use a doll for
free, once a year on his birthday. But get your minds out of the
gutter--Topher's idea of a dream birthday? Is spending time with a
female version of himself, playing video games and laser tag INSIDE of
the Dollhouse. So, not only is Topher well paid with great benefits,
he also has a swanky office and tons of minions to boss around. For a
while life is great. But after a year or so, the "mindless dolls"
begin to act a little strangely, which brings us to the actual plot of
the show.

In 2008 a doll named Alpha began to display self awareness while in
the blank state. Instead of being comfortably mindless, he was drawn
to a new doll named Echo and repulsed by the most requested doll in
the house, a petite girl named Whiskey. In his former life Alpha was
a budding serial killer/convict named Carl William Craft. Somehow,
Carl's murderous personality began to bleed through into Alpha's, up
until one day he snapped and attacked Whiskey's face with a pair of
sharp scissors. While Alpha was restrained in his lab, Topher
struggled to figure out why the doll had "glitched" and gone off
programing. Thinking that there was something wrong with the other
personalities the Dollhouse has imprinted on him, Topher uploaded 48
artificial personalities into his computer to analyze. But right as
he did so, Alpha snapped again and damaged the computers, causing all
of the personalities to download into his brain. This created one
"composite" personality; he was now a man with 48 personalities plus
his own murderous soul.

The now insane Alpha went on a murderous rampage, killing fellow dolls
and multiple staff members, including the Dollhouse's main doctor, Dr.
Saunders. Somehow, Topher managed to survive the event. Alpha
escaped although the Dollhouse supervisors tried to cover this up by
telling everyone, including Topher, that he was eliminated. In the
aftermath, Adelle ordered Topher to create a new doctor for the house,
giving him permission to use the facially disfigured Whiskey doll. In
response to Alpha, Topher took that mandate and poured everything into
the new Dr. "Claire" Saunders. He made her gentle, comforting and
deeply committed to the actives. He also made her personality the
opposite of his, making her 'everything he is not'--serious,
empathetic and mature. In Topher's mind, the dollhouse needed someone
who could argue with him, someone who could point out the things they
might ordinarily miss. Dr. Saunders couldn't be a normal doll--she had
to be a "whole person" with a free will. But alongside that, Topher
also gave her a phobia of the outside world to keep her a virtual
prisoner to her job--because after all she was still an active. Most
importantly, Topher and the Dollhouse hid the knowledge that Saunders
was a doll from herself. In many ways, Dr. Saunders became Topher's
masterpiece--his most complete doll, created to atone for the
Frankenstein he'd accidentally created.

It was a masterpiece that turned on her own creator. In striving to
make Saunders everything he was not, Topher created someone who was
his moral opposite, someone who couldn't stand his intellectual
detachment, childishness and blatant disregard for human life. In
fact her hatred for Topher was rather impressive--she called him a
"loathsome swine" and detested even the smell of him. So while
Saunders was openly hostile to Topher, the Dollhouse struggled to
rebuild itself. They eventually hired a new handler (basically a
doll's bodyguard/observer during their engagements) for Echo, an ex
cop named Boyd Langton. With Whiskey gone, Echo shot up to the most
requested doll status, so Topher found himself interacting with her
and her handler regularly. Despite being total opposites, Topher
tried to befriend Langton through the use of sarcasm and humor.
Eventually, they seemed to develop a budding respect for each other,
even though Boyd visibly struggled with the ethical consequences of
aligning with the Dollhouse. During this time, Topher also developed a
strange work relationship with his assistant Ivy. Their relationship
mostly consisted of Topher making her his gopher, sending her out into
the real world to fetch pizza and snacks for him and other such
privilege abuses. However, at one point, it was suggested that Ivy
possibly had a crush on her immature boss (to which Topher responded
blankly. For being rather sexless, Topher has more ships than
the Los Angeles harbor. I'm just saying.).

As Echo rose in popularity, she too started to show disturbing signs
of self-awareness. Luckily, unlike Alpha, Echo's former personality
was of a sane college graduate named Caroline Farrell. Her behavior
in the blank state was much more rational, showing an interest towards
protecting her fellow dolls. Over time she also seemed capable of
understanding what was happening to her and even retrained emotions
and bits of memories from the fabricated personalities Topher
imprinted her. While one would think this should have made Echo
fearful or hateful towards Topher, she actually began to show fondness
for the genius. She had the uncanny ability to show up right when
Topher was in the middle of a complex problem, and even in her
infantile state she usually managed to help him by leaving clues. At
one point she even rested her hand on Topher's chest when he was
upset, like how a mother might calm a frightened child. Her trust of
Topher is a major mystery that the show likes to return to--that she
seems to understand and accept Topher's actions, while having some
sort of identity, seems to indicate that there is more goodness to
Topher than the audience is aware of.

But as Echo began to develop her own personality it soon became clear
that she was being stalked by multiple people, one of which was Alpha.
Among the multiple episodic attempts to kill Echo that make up this
show, there was one that were highly significant to Topher. One day
while on a highly secretive engagement to steal an Elgin Marble from a
private collector's vault, Echo's imprinted bugler personality was
remotely wiped using a cellphone and a sound wave frequency~in other
words her mind was erased without Topher's fancy equipment. This was
verrrry bad as it left Echo in her blank state while still engaged in
the robbery. Although Boyd managed to save the day, Topher was left
astonished. Someone had modified his own sound wave technology and
enhanced it so it could be used through a cellphone instead of in a
sterile lab with fancy machines. The technology was evolving--and
Topher had no idea who was behind it. DUN DUN DUN.

In the season finale, Alpha was able to sneak back into the Dollhouse
with a plucky FBI investigator named Paul Ballard. Together the two
of them tasered Topher and kidnapped Echo, along with all the
personalities Topher ever created for her, plus her original one.
Alpha also managed to track down Dr. Saunders and slyly reveal to her
that she too was a doll--one created by the man she so loathed. After
terrorizing her for a bit, Alpha escaped with Echo and dragged her
back to his technologically advanced lair. It turns out that in
addition to being a psychopath, Alpha was also imprinted to be a
genius, capable of using the Dollhouse technology against them. oops.
So once there he managed to recreate the composite event that created
him by downloading 38 personalities into Echo. He believed that
because they were made of multiple personalities, they were the
embodiment of Nietzsche's Übermensch concept (pretentious? Joss
Whedon? NO WAY)--in order words he believed they were the next form of
human evolution.

But somehow, instead of going batshit INSANE like Alpha, Echo managed
to resemble some sort of sanity and kick Alpha's ass with a
~~rusty~~ metal pole. Eventually Echo was saved and
Topher erased the composition event. ...Well he tried but it
became quickly obvious that being composited had only made Echo
stronger and more resistant to the repeated memory wipes. She was now
developing a separate identity that was not Caroline Farrell or any
other personality. She was becoming Echo, a human being in her own
right.

In the aftermath of Alpha's second attack, Dr. Saunders was now
burdened with the knowledge that everything she'd ever believed was
real was a lie, a fabrication from the one thing in the world she
could not abide. This knowledge began to twist her--she was no longer
sure if she truly hated Topher or if he'd programmed her that way.
For a while, she tried to pretend everything was all right. But after
a while her hated for Topher grew and she began to pull childish
pranks on him, things like releasing rats into his lab and messing
with his computers. This mild form of retribution eventually
escalated with her sneaking into Topher's bed--whereupon she revealed
that she had decided the only reason why Topher had made her to hate
him was because he actually wanted her to love him. (...yeah. Take a
minute to headdesk. No go on. I did.) Anyways, Topher firmly denied
that he had made her anything less than perfect--he had given her free
will and with that free will she had chosen to hate him. She was
becoming human. He then asked her if she wanted to learn her
true identity but she rejected this idea. "I don't want to die," she
told him. She had self awareness now and she didn't want to give her
body back to her original personality. This left Topher utterly
shocked.

Soon afterwards Saunders ran away from the Dollhouse. But her
confrontation with Topher was a major turning point for him. He began
to question some of the house's practices--shocking everyone since he
had the reputation of being ...well...amoral. But because Topher is
so immature, his budding sense of morality was infantile in it's
operation. He had no idea what to do with the sense of guilt that was
now tainting his wonderful world. It was not unlike watching a child
struggle through his first major moral decision on the playground.
Later episodes showed Topher looking haggard. In one episode he held
an entire conversation with himself which culminated with him
realizing that he was beginning to sound as crazy as Alpha. But the
first major sign that there is something mentally wrong with Topher
came when Echo walked into his office one day holding a crude
watercolor painting. It had been created by another doll named
Sierra. The picture showed a stick figure bird next to a black ominous
cloud. Echo told Topher that Sierra had painted the picture because
"Sierra hates the bad man". Then she gave the picture to Topher to
keep. Burdened with the guilt over Saunders, Topher pulled all of the
paintings that Sierra had painted while in her blank state and
discovered that the "bad man" was a repeated image in her pictures.
He then pulled her engagement files and discovered that there was one
client she had seen repeatedly: a man named Nolan Kinnard.

Eventually Topher, with the help of Boyd, figured out that Nolan
Kinnard was responsible for Sierra being placed into the Dollhouse.
She used to be an Australian artist named Priya Tsetsang who was
living illegally in the United States. Nolan, a doctor and powerful
Rosselem exec, fell in love with Priya but she spurned her advances.
In revenge, Nolan kidnapped Priya, pumped her full of drugs that
mimicked schizophrenia and institutionalized her. Then he called the
Dollhouse and told Adelle Dewitt that he ha a potential doll for her
house. Adelle sent Topher to confirm Priya's schizophrenia diagnosis.
However Topher, being Topher, failed to look closely at her scans and
by doing so accidentally brought a innocent woman against her will
into the Dollhouse. Topher and Boyd reported this to Adelle, who in
turn confronted Nolan. But because the man held such a high position
in Rosselem, Adelle was forced to give him Sierra to keep for good.
Left with no choice, Adelle ordered Topher to imprint Sierra one last
time so they could send her back This development was critical for
Topher--for the first time ever, he openly tried to refuse an order
from his boss. Adelle just shrugged and said in reply:

""You'll do it because you must. The cold reality? Is that everyone
here was chosen because their morals have been compromised in some
way. Everyone...except you. You Topher were chosen because you had no
morals. You have always thought of people as playthings. This is not a
judgement. You always take very good care of your toys."

To Topher, this was a cold, bitter revelation. Although he had always
said he was 'beyond' moral choices, this was the first time he'd felt
truly horrified by his own actions. Therefore he made a decision: when
he was supposed to prepare Sierra for her permanent assignment he
chose to give back her real memories. He then told her everything he
knew...and allowed her to be sent to Nolan's house alone. Once there
Sierra/Priya confronted her rapist and in an ensuring struggle killed
him. Afterwards a reluctant Topher and Boyd helped her destroy the
body. Both Topher and Priya were deeply traumatized by the act--being
a doctor, Topher was forced by Boyd to cut up Nolan's body and
disintegrate it with chemicals. The murder was kept a secret and
since she was a murderer as well as a illegal immigrant, Priya
rejoined the Dollhouse. Her last words to Topher were to beg him to
make sure she never remembered the day again.

This is where Topher is taken from in the application. However I did
want to add an additional background note (sorry guys). In season one
there was a DVD only episode called Epitaph One. This episode is
considered canon and it jumps 10 years into the future where an
apocalyptic event has plunged the entire world into chaos and war. I
don't want to go into this too much because Topher is taken from
before this event, but in the episode it was revealed that the memory
wiping wireless technology Topher created was eventually modified so
it could remotely wipe any human instantaneously over tvs, radios,
cellphones--any kind of broadcasting technology-- causing the
destruction of millions of lives. Governments could create instant
soldiers out of entire city population of civilians, turning them to
their side or reducing them to blank infants. In other words: Topher
ended the world. He went insane from guilt, meaning that his mental
anguish shown earlier with Priya/Sierra and Saunders will eventually
result in full psychosis. I thought that was important to mention
that to explain Topher's fragile mental state in case I ever wanted to
play on his mental health while in a highly volatile place like
Edensphere.

That and well, he caused the end of the freak'n world!

ABILITIES: Season two reveals that Topher was trained to be a
doctor, my best guess is as a neurosurgeon or more likely something in
computational neuroscience or neuropsychology, which makes him one of
the most over-educated individuals in the sphere. (Neurologists have
some of the longest medical training, an average of 12 years, and
Topher is only 28 at the oldest. Yes he is disgustingly brilliant).
Because his work is so specialized, he actually fails at the more
general forms of medical practice and is squeamish at the sight of
blood or at dissection. In a pinch he could set a broken leg, but
he'd mostly think that was beneath him. However he is excellent at
theoretical medical mysteries and anything that involves, in his words
'machines that go ping!' He should be able to diagnose with any sort
of affliction of the nervous system (that of course includes amnesia
and drain bramage) and he takes particular glee in tweeking the human
body in strange and usual ways (he once bragged about making Echo
lactate--please don't ask-- by tweaking her hormones and altering her
"on a glandular level"). People like Aurora or genetic mutants like
the Power Rangers would fascinate him.

Although socially inept himself, Topher shows extensive knowledge of
psychology and human behavior as he is said to be one of the best doll
programmers in the country. He is brilliant with computers and all
forms of programing, and he plays a mean game of battleship and laser
tag. Most importantly (to the mods at least), because his universe
reflects ours so closely, he has the power to break the fourth wall.
He is a nerd and knows nerdy things ~~like livejournal~~.
Since its an memory loss game, I feel pretty confident that I can
control his fourth walling--as in not do it. Unless it's for the lols
and its with player permission of course.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Genius
BIRTHDAY LOG: YES!
DREAM:

"You promised me."

There was a chess set directly in front of him, a landscape of cheap
wood pieces scattered in a massacre of black over white. His hand
hovered over a black King, one move away from checkmating his white
opponent. Such an easy win. It was dull, boring! No challenge to it.

He looked up from the game and saw a pretty dark haired Asian girl in
a lab coat pouting at him. They were standing at a raised table in
the middle of grey elevator of all things. The elevator doors were
just behind the girl, the electronic button display dinging as it
counted down the floors. 55...54...53...52...

"Promised what?" He asked as he twirled a black chess piece
between his fingers.

"You promised to show me how to avoid spandrels when when aligning
rigid designators!" The girl huffed as she moved her white pawn.
"You may be the boy god of all things neuro, but you suck at
keeping promises."

The elevator was still dinging. 28...27...26...

He felt himself smirk as he easily made the winning move.
"Humility is part of the learning process," he told her.

...3...2...1...DING!

The door opened and he walked out, leaving the girl behind. Recycled
air greeted him as he moved across a catwalk that rose over a massive
atrium. Perhaps it was the change in pressure or maybe it was the
temperature, but he felt a bit dizzy as he moved. He walked down
polished wood stairs to his next chess opponent, a man with light hair
dressed in a business suit. The man was sitting cross legged at a
stone chess set that was balanced at the ledge of a square decorative
pond. Even as he approached, he saw that this game was all but over
as well. The black stones had the clear advantage.

The man--handsome and a bit crazy in the eyes--glared at him as he
walked up. "How'd you do that? A pale hand flicked over the
board.

He shrugged. " I don't want to use the word genius," he said
as he removed the man's King, "but I'd be OK if you wanted to."
He handed the piece to the man and continued to move, his dizziness
growing worse by the second.

He moved from the pond to a workout room. There was a tall black man
there, also in a suit. Silver chess pieces glimmered in the bright
lights of the space. He wasn't sure if he wanted to play
anymore--his head was starting to ache. But the game beckoned him.
This game was much more complex--he was wining but just barely. His
opponent was two steps behind him.

The man looked sympathetic as he took his spot at the game. "It
didn't go so well," he said gently.

He shook his head, wincing when the movement made his head throb.
"No, I was just trying to help." He made his move. His
strategy wasn't so clear here, he felt clouded by his growing
headache. He also felt wary of this opponent. For some reason this
man made him feel fearful.

The man waved as he walked off. "See you....friend."

He walked into a dark office decorated in sobering colors and covered
with shelves of files. There was a petite woman sitting at a massive
wooden desk. The chess set in front of her was made of glass. The
game looked tied.

He didn't notice until he was a few feet from her that the woman's
face was horribly scarred, angry red lines etched across her face in
sharp divides. He jumped and tried to back away from her in horror.

The woman had tears in her eyes. "Why shouldn't I love you?"
She cried. "Aren't you the Lord my God?!" She threw a chess
piece at his head and he ducked--he heard it shatter on the wall
behind him.

He ran and nearly fell up a fight up stairs, into another office--no a
lab. A lab filled with toys and a trampoline....

There was an older woman dressed impeccably in a silk blouse and dress
skirt, waiting for him with a chess board on a table in front of a
large examination chair. The chess pieces were tiny shot glasses,
filled with what looked like whiskey.

The game was over. He'd lost--his side of the board was fill of empty
glasses and he felt drunk.

"You know why you were chosen," she said in a soft accent. She
held out a glass.

His head felt like it was about to burst. But he managed to reach for
the shot and down it with his eyes closed. The world tilted
dangerously and bright lights burned through his eyelids.

When he opened his eyes he was sitting in the examination chair, in a
half reclined position with computers surrounding him. There was a
different Asian woman with light brown hair standing over him in a
purple tank top. Behind her stood another woman wearing yoga pants
and a red top. She had a gold chess board set up for a new game.

The Asian woman smiled at him. "Hello ******."

""Did I fall asleep?" He asked her.

"For a little while."

"Shall I go now?"

"If you like."

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

Seriously? There has got to be some mistake here! I'm pretty
sure I did NOT sign up for the medial temporal lobe lobotomy. Or check
into the magical Tree-hotel that staffed by 15 year olds with freaky
eye tattoos--not that I have anything against goth kids. I'm sure
your middle class life was very traumatic and your upwardly mobile
parents drove a mini van and were very very mean.

Greeter-man said I should use this so called *~MAGICAL JOURNAL~* to
introduce myself. (Cool tech btw) So hello magical tree people. I go
by Genius. Not that I expect us to be friends or anything because as
soon as I wake up from this obvious drug induced hallucination you're
all gonna go back to being furniture and bits of badly digested ramen.

I can't wait till it wears off.

...Any time now.

...Please?

ASPIRATIONS: Dissection! Medical intrigue! Experiments on the
cocoons and on residents! Building computers! Genius is at heart a mad
scientist. He'd so create designer drugs given the right
situation--I mean whut. Ironically, he would also make an
excellent greeter, based on his canon responsibility of greeting
actives when they awake in the blank state (he does fake sincerity so
well) but I know that's going to take a while to open up/build trust
with Fugue.

/plays Fugue sympathizers forever

APPLICATION: Bakemonogatari - Oshino Meme

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:21:12 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Pana
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: PST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: N/A

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Oshino Meme
SERIES: Bakemonogatari
RESERVED: N
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY:

Oshino Meme is
not as adorable as his name implies. However, he is rather
affable, with an approachable demeanor that makes it easy for people
to request his assistance. He is easygoing and, although not loud,
talkative and inquisitive about others. This friendliness is
punctuated with informal speech, the occasional bawdy remark, and a
dry sense of humor with sarcasm that tends to remain lighthearted. His
intentions, at least, never seem malicious in any way. Even the
confidence he exudes does not tend to present itself through
arrogance. He is capable of much and he knows it, but it isn't
something he rubs in people's faces.

Despite his hospitable behavior, there is a darker side to Oshino. His
knowledge and perception is vast, not only when it comes to
supernatural phenomena but regarding the people he encounters as well.
He seems to know everything, and what he doesn't know he has a talent
of drawing out through questioning. This almost-psychic understanding
ends up being extremely invasive as he picks up on dark secrets and
traumatic experiences foremost.

And none of this perception appears to grant him any empathy. When
there is a problem, he will bluntly present the textbook solution,
whether or not the parties involved will by upset or frightened by it.
If they protest, he will manipulate the situation himself so that
others end up playing out his scenario regardless, which leads Koyomi
to refer to him at one point as a "magnificent bastard".
Granted, he gets the job done. But even his help must be bought.
Unless there is some benefit for him, he doesn't intervene with the
problems of others, and even chides Koyomi for rescuing people too
often. Heroic, Oshino is not.

TIMELINE: After the Nadeko Snake arc.
BACKGROUND:

Oshino's past is a
mystery. Although he admits to having studied religion in college, he
is not a priest. He is a homeless thirtysomthing wanderer who takes up
shelter in an abandoned cram school, occasionally investigating
strange occurrences in the area and watching over a silent girl he
named Shinobu. Shinobu is actually a remnant of the first oddity
involving a student named Araragi Koyomi. Oshino and Koyomi met during
spring break when a vampire called Kiss-shot Acerola-orion
Heart-under-blade attacked the boy and turned him into a creature like
herself. Oshino intervened, restoring most of Koyomi's humanity and in
the process draining the 500-year-old vampire of power until she
became the weak child Shinobu.

Since that time, Koyomi has been in debt to Oshino, who never offers
his services for free. Whether it is lucky or unlucky for Oshino,
Koyomi has a habit of attracting oddities. As new phenomena occur
around him, he inevitably seeks Oshino's assistance in investigating,
exorcising, or putting the supernatural spirits to rest. With each
guest who seeks his aid, Oshino enjoys handsome compensation.

After the vampire incident, the first person that Koyomi brought to
Oshino's attention was Hanekawa Tsubasa,his classmate. During Golden
Week, Tsubasa experienced nightly transformations that left her
white-haired with cat features. Her own parents fell victim to her,
hospitalized after she drained them of energy. When she attacked
Koyomi one night, Shinobu intervened, draining Tsubasa's power until
she reverted to normal. Oshino determined that it was stress that had
brought out multiple personality disorder and the Sawarineko within
Tsubasa.

Oshino expressed amused surprise when Koyomi later came to him with
another beautiful girl in distress. Senjougahara Hitagi was plagued
with a mysterious "illness" which left her completely
weightless. Oshino guessed that Hitagi must be a rich spoiled girl,
the sort that Omoshikani are drawn to. Because this weight crab spirit
was in fact a god, Oshino decided that they would pray to it rather
than banish it. He arranged a Shinto ritual for Hitagi that enabled
her to appeal to it for the return of her weight.

Hitagi herself appeared before Oshino sometime later on Koyomi's
behalf when Koyomi began behaving strangely and following someone he
believed to be a little girl named Hachikuji Mayoi, who Hitagi could
not see. Oshino deduced that this was the work of a lost snail. He
sent Hitagi back to Koyomi with instructions on how to banish it,
explaining that in order to escape the enchantment one simply had to
leave the snail ghost, or Mayoi, behind. Koyomi refused to do this and
ended up leading Mayoi to the destination she had been seeking all
along, transforming her from a ghost into a wandering spirit.

Continuing his heroic streak, Koyomi later brought Oshino another
"customer" in the form of Kanbaru Suruga, whose arm had
transformed into a monkey's paw with its own will and killing intent.
Upon seeing the arm, Oshino explained that this was not the
wish-granting monkey's paw of legend but a demon called Rainy Devil.
Although this demon would grant its host three wishes, Suruga was
paying for it with her soul. He also recognized Suruga's dark
intentions and that one of her wishes was to kill Koyomi. He decided
that to save Suruga, they must either sever the arm from her body or
allow the arm to fulfill its task and attempt to kill Koyomi. Koyomi
insisted on the latter but Oshino contacted Hitagi, asking her to
intervene, which triggered a loophole in the demon's contract that
freed Suruga.

It was finally Oshino's turn to call in a favor with Koyomi, and he
gave the boy the task of placing an ofuda on the altar of an abandoned
shrine. While completing his mission, Koyomi encountered an old
childhood friend named Sengoku Nadeko. Nadeko's body was covered in
scaly imprint marks which led Oshino to the conclusion that she was
plagued by Jagirinawa, snake spirits formed from another's malice. He
provided Koyomi with a charm to assist in the ritual to lift the
curse. However, perhaps troubled by Koyomi's dependence on him and the
knowledge that he would have to depart soon, he warned Koyomi that he
won't always be around to solve the boy's problems. Koyomi remembered
this later when he realized halfway through the ritual that he was
mistaken: Nadeko was haunted by not one snake but two. He was forced
to take matters into his own hands and wrestle the snake off Nadeko,
which may have been Oshino's intention all along as he did not require
compensation for his assistance. The reason he stated, though, was
that Koyomi had actually helped him to prevent an entire war within
the spirit world by delivering that ofuda.

ABILITIES:

Oshino is a
spiritual (and consequently often psychological) diagnostician. He has
the innate ability to recognize supernatural ailments and how to cure
them. This does not mean he himself is always capable of administering
the cure, only that he knows what must be done to fix the problem. He
is not a mind reader but his perception borders on clairvoyance. One
look at the subject can usually give him the insight he needs to
determine what is ailing them. He is also practiced in various
exorcism techniques and purifying rituals which have all shown
themselves to be completely successful, even when dealing with gods.
Physically, he is stronger than he appears and proficient in martial
arts, particularly aikido.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Aloha
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes.
DREAM:

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The water put out his cigarette.

There was a leak in the ceiling. He hadn't noticed it before, which
was odd because when he raised his head to look at the source, there
was a great gaping hole where the roof had collapsed. Of course. The
roof had collapsed years ago. He felt he had known that before but the
memory of it simply escaped him.

He assumed that dripping meant it would be raining but the sky above
was clear. From where he sat perched upon a school desk under the open
sky, he would of course had been drenched if it was raining. Instead
he was bathed in pale moonlight.

In the place of the moon, however, there hovered a giant glowing crab.
"Aloha," the crab said to him in a smooth, detached female
voice. Her claws clacked with a sound that reminded him vaguely of
staplers punching.

"I think there's been a mistake, princess," he said to the
moon-crab, but even as the words left his mouth, he could feel himself
getting lighter. Weightless. "Wait, weight," he called out,
waving his hand at her. "That's mine, I don't need you to--"

Someone pushed him from behind. Now that he weighed nothing, he went
flying off the desk and tumbled head-over-feet into the air. He
thought he was falling up, then suddenly he was falling down.

He landed in an empty lot overgrown with weeds, surrounded by a
chainlink fence. He had the disorienting sensation that if he tried to
stand, he would float up into the sky and never find his way down, so
he remained lying on the broken pavement. After what might have been a
minute or an hour, he heard a creaking sound like a bicycle
approaching slowly.

When he looked over, his brother had already crossed the fence.
Perhaps he'd climbed over, or slipped between some gap. How he knew
this boy was his brother, he wasn't sure. Maybe they weren't even
brothers. It was only a feeling he had, that his little brother had
come here on his bicycle and hopped the fence. His mouth started to
form his brother's name.

He choked on the first syllable. Stuttered. There was a fire in his
throat like it had been slit. Glowing yellow eyes filled his vision.
It was her. His blood was spilling from her lips, dripping down
her chin drip drip drip and he thought briefly he knew this was
coming and he shouldn't have kept her but he thought--

Then it all faded.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:

Well well
well. It seems I've found myself in quite a mystery. Or is it more
appropriate to say mystery has found itself in me? That I embody
mystery..? No, that I am part of a mystery. That seems close to
the truth.

Before I can learn about myself, something tells me I ought to learn
about everyone else. So, ladies and gentlemen: who are
you?

ASPIRATIONS: There isn't really anything the mods need to do
when it comes to Oshino, unless there happens to be some mod plot
involving the supernatural. I'm mainly interested in having him meddle
in the lives of others and help them uncover their mysteries more than
his own. Oshino's a character who grows through assisting the people
around him.

APPLICATION: Kuroshitsuji - Sebastian Michaelis [REWRITE]

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:19:19 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Desh
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: EST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: (None)

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Sebastian Michaelis
SERIES: Kuroshitsuji Manga Verse
RESERVED: It was the first time
WISHLIST: Yes
PERSONALITY: Since Sebastian is a complicated character and his main tool is deception I will split this into two parts.

Sebastian- The Butler:
Prompt and on time, Sebastian always heeds his master's call. To Ciel, he is respectful, not moving without an order. Though he will generally tease, often once or twice, concerning his master's laziness. He wishes to voke a suitable and entertaining reaction out of him. Able to demonstrate and do whatever is requested, he will not sway from his master's side, showing his extreme loyalty. An example of this is shown when offered money to join another side. Even when the price became higher than Ciel's own life, Sebastian did not waver. A price of a valuable soul can not be bought. As a butler, he is there to serve, only to obtain Ciel's soul, and nothing more. His inward hate towards Ciel is masked through his usually seen false smile.

While on duty, he is humble, found to be denying any praise he is given for his service, or his delightful sweets. Loyal, he is a butler to the core, serving Ciel with any desire, from morning to evening, even after he is asleep when protection is needed. Polite, he stiffens when touched, allowing them to do so when grabbed or held, or pinned. Inwardly anti social, he isn't afraid to step into someones personal space, as with examining Beast's Hallmark without permission, despite it's personal area. He is seen as kind, even though he is not. Though the servants of the household highly admire him for his quick and taskful work, he can seem off or slightly scary. In truth Sebastian only hired them for their able tasks, and not their household work. He even portrays them as servants of the household, when they are really there for their defensive measures in protecting the Phantomhive household. Sebastian will scold if need be for their disastrous work of
the household.

~Side note: Sebastian also has an unearthly obsession for cats, those with soft paws and elongated hair. He humanizes them in a way, touching their paws and feeds them. Certainly a cat person in nature, he will seem crude towards dogs. As seen during the circus ark, he volunteers almost immediately to move into the center ring with a tiger, grabbing its paw and feeling it. He presses that it was his own rudeness that got him harmed when bitten. He finds them much more acceptable than the pets of the demon world.

Sebastian- The Demon:
A man of many talents, this side of Sebastian is not the mask he wears. Cold, heartless, calculative, and resourceful, he is far different from his butler form. When given an order, it is carried out to perfection, even if that very order puts him into harms way, as seen with the venomous snakes in the top tier circus snakes, completing an order down to the letter by releasing them once the members returned, even though Ciel was still within the tent. He does not hesitate to inform Ciel that it was his own order that would've gotten him killed or harm. He only follows orders. He doesn't care of the well being nor can assure Ciel's well being if the order is flawed.

When touched, he lashes out with violence, striking people often with devastating blows. In this form he neither hesitates showing disgust, or voicing his opinions on a matter, being down right degrading or insulting towards his opponents and even to Ciel, his very master. Cruel and uninviting, Sebastian also does not hesitate to kill. When Grell Sutcliffe begs for his life, Sebastian neither cares, nor wastes any time in trying to go for that final blow. Even towards Ciel's aunt, he was willing to kill her in order to fulfill an order. He neither cared for Ciel's feelings towards his aunt, when she was one of the two halves of Jack the Ripper that was meant to be killed.

While out of butler form, Sebastian remains loyal to Ciel, taking blows to the body, putting himself in danger, even losing an arm, and suffering damages/punctures to the body. This is not out of adoration for the boy, nor caring. It is only his job, as he will state often, and cruelly. He will use every trick in the book to obtain what he wants, even seducing and tempting other human souls. Even resulting to carnal favors such as sex to obtain information is not out of his league, as seen with Beast within the circus. Without his butler mask, he remains deceptively cruel, using the inner ambitions and faults of the human heart. As starved as he is, he remains loyal to Ciel's soul, waiting for the completion of the contract for his soul and his alone.

TIMELINE: Chapter 35 After the Noah Circus Arc, but before returning to the estate.
BACKGROUND: Sebastian has no past noticeable before Ciel. As seen when he was ripped into by Grell's scythe/chainsaw, his only memories and past was of Ciel. Sebastian first appeared in his true form shortly after the fire of the Phantomhive Mansion and Ciel's slavery. Ciel then made a Faustian contract with the crow demon, in order to find out who killed his parents in exchange for Ciel's soul when the mission completes itself. With this seal, found in Ciel's eye and Sebastian's left hand, he must abide to Ciel's will and complete any task given to him, which he does to perfection, despite his hate and resentment of the boy. He returns to the mansion with Ciel as the Phantomhive butler along with the role of Ciel's bodyguard.

Sebastian is given his name by Ciel, once belonging to the Phantomhive family dog, and looks very similar to Ciel's father.

One of the first scenes to Sebastian's skill is his ability to make up for the other servants lacking qualities. When dinner is ruined, the tea is ruined, and the scenery and tablecloths is ruined, Sebastian displays his quick thinking, making up for the loss of dinner with an outdoor themed dinner set, entertaining a guest with a task that would normally be completed in five hours, in just fewer than two. He manages to put on a stunning performance, impressing the man despite the Earl of the Phantomhive house being a small boy.

When Ciel is captured by a group of thugs, Sebastian easily obtains him back, using tactical precision in throwing silverware, running in abnormal speed after a speeding car, taking out nearly a lobby full of guards, twisting a man's arm without even touching him, and catching a bullet before it hits Ciel. Though Ciel is severely beaten, he neither apologizes for being late, or taking his time in killing all the guards.

Ciel is the "queen's watch dog" and in turn is given tasks by the queen to investigate, which Sebastian follows and helps him complete. During the Jack the Ripper case, Sebastian is ordered to obtain information on everyone in town that has any doctor or medical backgrounds. He astounds all those around him by already having the information present upon Ciel's arrival. The Viscount of Druitt is named the prime suspect and he disguises Ciel as a female in order to draw out the real culprit. He acts as Ciel's teacher, which he is in a manner of ways and even teaches him how to dance, both at a ball and the black market congregation. When the Viscount is found not to be he killer, Sebastian turns elsewhere.

After finding out that Ciel's own Aunt, nicknamed Madame Red, is one of two people of the persona Jack the Ripper, he is ordered to kill them, along with Grell, a shinigami, or death god. When Grell turns on Madam Red and kills her, Sebastian engages Grell. He is able to keep on par with the flamboyant shinigami- even though he becomes overwhelmed by his modified death scythe that can cut through anything- using his wit to jam Grell's scythe with his own well made coat. In a fist fight after the weapon is disabled, Sebastian easily defeats Grell, pinning him to the ground and carries out the order to kill Grell.

Grell begs for mercy, asking Sebastian not to kill him. Sebastian coolly responds with a cheerful smile, "I don't want to.", or wishes to "see him suffer" in some translations of the manga. He is interrupted from killing Grell with his own weapon by William T. Spears, another shinigami, and supervisor of the head of death affairs. Grell is carted away half alive.

Shortly after, Ciel is visited by Marchioness Frances Middleford -Ciel's other aunt- and her daughter Elizabeth, his fiancee. The Marchioness demands a hunting expedition, and when both parties are attacked by a bear, Sebastian steps in and kills the bear, seemingly making it as if the Marchioness killed it herself. The Marchioness calls him on it in private. He merely states that it was his job and nothing more. Ciel in a way needed to be challenged and upheld, and hence why he hadn't intervened until then.

Sebastian is next requested to investigate a group of killings where people who return from India are hung dead outside pubs only belonging to Indian pubs. They meet Prince Soma and Agni, his butler/servant, who is looking for a childhood friend Meena. When Agni is learned to be under a British man's control as blackmail for a secret he doesn't want Soma to know, in order to gain a Royal Warrent for their company, Ciel orders Sebastian to make the finest curry in order to win the Royal Warrent for his own company.

Sebastian is warned that Agni makes the best curry and has no chance of winning the competition. He manages to make a curry that is similar to Agni's after a few couple dozen batches of experimental ones. Sebastian before knew nothing of curry. During the competition, Sebastian manages to tie with Agni in making something he had no experience in, even though Sebastain's curry is claimed the winner by the Queen who makes a short visit.

The Queen sends another task, giving them two tickets to a circus. After being bit by a tiger, when he approaches it after volunteering, he is sent to a medical tent. All the circus people have fake limbs, and he notices the hallmark, after lifting Beast's leg and examining her closely, without asking, being blunt in asking.

They both end up joining the circus, even helping Ciel painfully enter from the side lines. Using rocks as a means to keep Ciel balanced even though each hit causes his master to feel pain. Sebastian follows every order from Ciel, even when he is told to release a group of dangerous snakes when the tenants of the circus return. Ciel did not remove himself in time, almost being bitten by one of those snakes until Doll intervened, and when asked why he was put in danger, Sebastian makes it clear he follows every order, even if the order is flawed. Sebastian would not move to save Ciel without an order, if another order is already in place. It is merely his job, and not his willingness to comply.

William is another circus "new entry" portraying himself as a man within the crowd. While he lacks the human interaction and deceptiveness that Sebastian has obtained over the years, he scolds William that further speaking of demons and shinigami --which the circus performers consider jokes-- would further compromise their mission. Despite the shinigami following him around and hindering almost every action, he ends up becoming the stiff shinigami's team mate. William forbids Sebastian from moving around, being that demons are wild and unpredictable. Sebastian exclaims that he is not your average demon. He doesn't not wildly feast on every soul in the vicinity. He awaits the perfect soul, one worth working for.

When Sebastian and Ciel learn that the tenants "Father" is the one responsible for all the missing children, Ciel hunts down the man responsible, a Baron that took in the tenants as children. The Baron is cruel, ordering the untrained abducted children to put on a performance, getting several of them killed brutally. Sebastian does not move in to save any of them, until Ciel in a disgusted panic orders him to. Ciel shoots him in the end, after seeing his past being rebuilt and relived around him, ordering Sebastian to burn down everything, even though it goes against the Queen's order to investigate and report, but not kill or take action on his own. Sebastian
obeys.

ABILITIES: Sebastian is able to create illusions, over power someone in strength, leap great distances, and has blinding speed, as seen being on one side of the mansion and when summoned crosses to the other side in a blink of an eye. As a demon, he is able to manipulate the weak minds of humans, boding and beckoning them to his will, manipulating them to do almost anything. Sebastian's main weapon or tool, if any is worth mentioning, is Deception.

He's an excellent cook. Ciel even exclaims that he has never tasted nor desired anyone elses sweets/desserts after tasting Sebastian's. Sebastian is able to complete any order once given, going to extreme measures to do so. Extremely intelligent, he is able to learn new tasks at a rapid speed, as seen without any knowledge of how to make curry, but managing to learn the extensive art --that took years to master-- in a few short days. His healing abilities excel that of a shinigami, shown to be growing limbs and heal over wounds in mere seconds.

Sebastian is also a shape shifter. Though he's only been seen as being able to turn into his true form-- a demon with sharp teeth, pointy and dangerous, feathers, long nails, longer hair, and high heeled boots. The butler "outfit" he wears is not his true form.

Sebastian neither requires food or sleep to maintain energy. He can survive a long while without eating souls.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Black
BIRTHDAY LOG: "Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you naked.". Yes, please.
DREAM: His heels clicked against the floor, announcing his presence. Before him stretched a long dark hallway, endless in its accountance of mirrors. Taking a step forward along the marble floor, one of the mirrors began to glow, and his blood red eyes turned in aversion towards it.

There he was, properly dressed from head to toe. Butler to the core, he was mindlessly moving throughout the estate, cleaning a book, dusting a table, prepping and ironing someones clothes. It cycled through each task, straight onto breakfast, lunch and dinner. Annoyingly so, each time a task was almost complete, a bell went off in the corner, signally which room he was needed in. His brows would always furrow, annoyed internally, and after making sure he was dressed, the man, himself, walked off to attend to what was needed.

His hand lifted to touch the mirror and upon pressure of a single fingertip, it cracked down the middle, the image disappearing. He had wanted to know more.

Behind him, another mirror began to glow, and he turned willingly away from the broken and useless one. Somewhere dark and distant, someone different was seen within the mirror. Fires burned and plaguing darkness surrounded the demon. No, that was him, wasn't it? That vision of evil. That feathered beast ripping into other demons. A fight for territory it seemed.

His hand rose lightly and a finger curled under his chin, curious. To the right another mirror was glowing. He wanted to continue watching the mirror before him, but seeing as the other began to play, he stepped away towards it.

This one was unclear. There was a boy hovering in mid air, with a sheet draped over him. He smirked faintly, feeling the resonated soul echoing from the boy. His hand ghosted out to touch the figure in the mirror, tracing down the porcelain frame. But he was there already within the mirror, that demon figure from the other beckoning, deceiving, questioning, promising some fufillment, and finally bowing towards the other.

The symbol on his own hand under his white glove began to glow, and with a single finger, he pulled. It flopped to the ground. What did it mean? His red eyes floated back up towards the mirror, but it was fizzing out, blocking out the images, and his brows furrowed in irritation once more.

Is this all you have for me? questioned himself to the mirrors.

Another one? This time he was bowing, lacked and composed. The butler's eyes rose and glared at someone else out of view, brow twitching at the taxing request. The other man sighed lightly and bowed more, his knee touching the ground. Servitude at its best. He couldn't see the other, but only heard the two voices.

"There is only one thing I should be hearing from you,"spoke a fuzzed voice. He himself stayed in that one kneed bow composition within that mirror.

Yes, my lord...

The mirrors shattered all at once at the response and turned around Sebastian, showing the cracked images replaying all at once. His eyes trained on them all, watching them move closer. Was this his life? If so he would not avoid them. The mirrors were turning, faster and faster, making the images harder to see, and they began to pull, faster by the second towards him. He wanted to know more, and beckoned it. The mirrors came, as if listening, fully crashing into him and exploded into shards and feathers.

JOURNAL SAMPLE:
I'm awake now. Yes, because that was surely a dream.

My name is... Black.

The guards seemed lost, confused, and yet they guide young pups as myself, new and memory less into the "Edensphere". This amuses me. I was hoping for something more... spectacular. Did anyone else recieve that same feeling? An entire world encase in a sphere. Remarkable, but seemingly ordinary. Is there more than what is seen?

Reading over this guide, it seems helpful, yet leaves a lot of questions.

Are you here, that figure in my dream? You're short, I'm sure of it. I can't remember anything else. What purpose am I to you? I could not see you. If so, tell me what it means. I demand it. I want answers.

Things to do/Chores
Bath.
Find work/Something to do
Why? Why am I here?
Clothes
{The symbol on his hand] What does this mean?

ASPIRATIONS: I really have huge aspirations for Sebastian. I wish to play him in this setting as a challenge for me. I want him to be out there and to really get into the game and role. Otherwise I don't mind him being involved in plots, as I usually follow events and mini- and large plots alike.

APPLICATION: Kingdom Hearts - Axel

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:17:06 GMT

This application has been ACCEPTED.

PLAYER INFO
NAME: Kari
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: PST
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: First Character!

CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Axel
SERIES: Kingdom Hearts
RESERVED: Yes
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Snide, snarky, sarcastic and sly, Axel is a bit of
an abrasive character and most assuredly an acquired taste in company.
He's competitive to a fault and confident as the day is long, with a
tendency to mouth off and an inclination toward incorrigibility; it
definitely takes a little getting used to his acerbic nature before
you realize that for the most part he means little harm. His
incendiary demeanor and antagonistic manner are a bit of a turn-off,
it's true (and mostly a defense mechanism), but in Axel's opinion,
people take themselves way too seriously anyway, and sometimes it's
just too tempting to poke them with a stick. As a general rule, he's a
good-natured breed of troublemaker who enjoys pushing peoples' buttons
just to get a rise out of them, and while at first glance it seems
like he doesn't play well with others, the fact of the matter is
simply that most people don't bother to get to know him well enough to
learn otherwise. A tad duplicitous and an expert at manipulating his
words, it takes someone with a lot of patience and a genuine desire to
put forth the effort to read between his lines to get through his
thick skin to the ~~squishy nougat center~~ fundamentally nice guy
he pretends not to be.

Axel is also rather childish when you get right down to it. He's a
little needy, and though he is more than willing to loudly voice his
own opinions, he has a tendency to be rash when he doesn't have a
contingency plan. He wears his moods on his sleeves quite visibly in
safe company, and despite how it takes quite a shock to break through
that calm collected mask he dons most of the time, Axel is most
assuredly not as infallible as he chalks himself up to be. A little
possessive, a hair melodramatic, and a smidgen ridiculous, he's
definitely entertaining company, if nothing else. He's fierce and
proud, rebellious and suspicious...slow to trust, but rock-solid to
the end once his affinity has been earned. He'll follow orders when he
knows he has to or when it's in his best interests, but he hates to be
told what to do. Derisive, brash, and downright sassy at times, he
seems not to think too highly of most people, and puts on a very
blatant show of assuming he's better than everyone else. He may not be
a scholastic genius, but he's little if not ambitious and
driven to get what he wants in order to facilitate his own aims.
Strategically, he's difficult to outwit, because he's almost always
planned two steps ahead of the game.

Something of a showoff, Axel is mischievous and clever, and can't sit
still; he's resourceful and dangerously driven, perhaps even a little
bit reckless given the right circumstances--he knows what he wants,
and he despises losing. He doesn't particularly enjoy work, either,
though less because he's lazy (though if given the option he would
love to just nap all day) and more because he'd just rather
someone else take care of things. He prefers to pass the buck and let
others deal with problems, since getting his hands dirty often leads
to having to take responsibility--something Axel always endeavors not
to have to do. However he has no issues handling the nastier jobs if
the right person is asking.

What you really don't see is that the preening and posturing is mostly
to hide that Axel's a pretty decent guy. True, he is rather volatile,
and he certainly has a fiery temper, but his pugnaciousness is
diffused by a generally world-weary cynicism that keeps his jokes just
shy of going too far and actually hurting anyone. He's got a sharp
edge, but rarely presses hard enough to draw blood, and despite
getting his yayas out at the expense of others, it's unusual for him
to be outright cruel without a damn good reason. Charismatic,
street-smart, and quick on his feet, Axel is definitely a good ally to
have on your side. For that matter, he's a pretty good friend if you
can stand him for more than ten minutes. He's actually quite loyal
when he attaches himself to a person (or a cause), it just takes a lot
of convincing (or a really awesome person) to impress him to the point
where he'll stop being insufferable long enough to let someone in.
Despite not having a heart with which to do so, it's pretty easy to
tell Axel loves his friends dearly, though the circle tends to remain
small. He pulls out all the stops to try and make things easier for
them (even if that means skipping a nap to pull double work duty, or
going on an icky dangerous mission to make sure nobody gets themselves
killed), and even puts them before work...which could easily get him
killed, in his specific occupation. He's always ready with a smart
remark or a dumb joke to try and lighten the mood, and he's protective
of the people he takes a liking to, almost to the point of
possessiveness. For a guy without a heart, he sure hates to see his
friends troubled or in pain. He's always good on his word, silver
tongue notwithstanding, and if he screws something up, you can bet
your last ten munny he's going to try and set things right. Axel
would never have said that he would die for his friends, but in
the end, his actions spoke much louder.

TIMELINE: Point-of-death, Kingdom Hearts II--I have also played
through and beaten the recently-released DS game, so I'm
full-released-canon compliant! *victory sign*

BACKGROUND: Very little is known about Axel's past before he
joined Organization XIII. Like the other members of the organization,
he remembers his past, he just has no desire to explain it to
anybody, and so he keeps his nebulous history to himself. The only
other person who seems to know anything about his elusive past is
Saïx, the organization's #7, with whom this history seems to collide.
Of course, Saïx isn't very forthcoming with information, either. All
we know for certain is that before his heart was lost to the darkness,
Axel's name was Lea (リア--a variation of the name Lee, pronounced
Lee-ah, despite what the English adaptation of 358/2 Days indicates).
Any actual details regarding his past, however, are shrouded in
mystery.

When a heart is lost to darkness, two byproducts are created--a
Heartless and a Nobody. The lost heart is housed in the dark vessel
of the Heartless, and the empty husk of the flesh becomes a Nobody.
Obviously, the strength of the heart plays a part in this process: the
stronger the heart, the stronger the Heartless, the stronger the
Nobody. Most of the Heartless and Nobodies created as darkness
continued to take over the different worlds were small and weak, but
there were the rare powerful Heartless and Nobodies with not only
sentience, but intelligence, and it was the cream of that crop that
created Organization XIII--a gathering of the strongest of the strong
Nobodies. The organization was founded by Xemnas and his five
cohorts, whose delving into the mysteries of the heart drove them to
lose them. Known as Xehanort in life, Xemnas was the apprentice to
Ansem the Wise, a great scientist who had been studying the workings
of the heart for many years. However his recent studies had brought
Ansem to the brink of a very dangerous revelation, and he had the
entire project stopped. When Xehanort voiced a desire to continue the
research, Ansem forbade it, and so Xehanort moved forward on his own.
Along with his five interns, Xehanort probed into the darkest corners
of his own heart, losing it to the consuming darkness and creating a
powerful Heartless and Nobody. The Heartless called itself Ansem, in
an attempt to smear the name of the man who stymied their research,
and the Nobody was known as Xemnas.

However, after the deed was done, the Nobody created in the process
realized that without a heart, the world was an empty, desolate place.
And so with the Nobodies of his fallen interns the six of them
combined their power, intelligence, and resources to attempt to undo
what their investigations had done: they wanted their hearts back, and
supposed that the only way to do so would be to collect the hearts
stolen by the Heartless. When all of the stolen hearts combined, it
would create Kingdom Hearts, and only then would the Nobodies be whole
once more. Such was the goal of Organization XIII.

After joining the organization, Axel quickly made a bit of a spectacle
of himself. It was actually Saïx--the first of the neophyte
members--who rose to the top to become the organization's
second-in-command. Axel of course denies that his ties with Saïx had
anything to do with how quickly he himself came into favor with the
brass. The organization favors those who get the job done, after all,
and if there's one thing Axel is good at, it's his job. Which is
recon and killing Heartless, of course. Despite his youth and general
newness to the organization, Axel quickly became one of its most
efficient and trusted members--if Xemnas needed something done fast
and right, Axel was the one he called upon. When the Nobody of the
Keyblade Master was found and inducted into the ranks, his training
was put into Axel's hands, and despite a bit of a rocky beginning,
Axel and Roxas became close. However their budding friendship was put
on hold when Axel was ordered to take a mission in Castle Oblivion.
It seemed that the Keyblade Master was falling right into the trap
they'd laid out, and Xemnas wanted to make sure nothing got in their
way. There was talk of mutiny in the ranks, and Axel was charged with
sniffing out the insurgents and making sure the interests of the
organization were preserved.

Castle Oblivion was the Organizations second base, as it were, where
Vexen--the fourth member--was conducting most of his research. Luring
Sora into the castle to erase his memories was the first step in an
experiment to see if the Keyblade Master's powers could be replicated.
As he made his way to the top floors of the castle, Sora
progressively lost more and more of his memories, even forgetting the
most important person in his life--Kairi. His memories of Kairi were
replaced with memories of Naminé, the memory witch who was to
unravel Sora's memories so that Xemnas could make use of them himself.
Axel had a vested interest in Sora, of course, since he was Roxas's
Somebody, but he knew his real objectives were rooted elsewhere.
After sidewinding his way into Larxene and Marluxia's little plot to
overthrow Xemnas, he turned the tables and aided Sora in destroying
them, fulfilling his orders to destroy the resistance and ascertain
the organization's victory.

Unfortunately, things didn't end up going entirely in Axel's favor.
The traitors were destroyed, and Axel killed two of his senior
comrades with his own hands, but the prize was still lost. Naminé
was spirited away into the hands of the mysterious DiZ. Naturally,
Axel denies that he had anything to do with this--he didn't see
her escape, after all... With Naminé gone and Sora put into a
deep sleep so that his memories could be reconstructed, the
organization now had precious little time to pick up the pieces if
their dream of Kingdom Hearts was to come to fruition. In the end,
Axel returned the sole survivor of the fiasco at Castle Oblivion. He
seemed mostly unaffected by the loss of his comrades, but of course,
he doesn't have a heart to feel with anyway, right? He was just
following orders! It's difficult to tell if Axel has ever actually
taken a side, or if he's just in this for himself: his apathy toward
Vexen as he kills him with a snap of his fingers could indicate that
perhaps he hated the man, and the way he remorselessly allowed the
replica of Riku devour and absorb Zexion could almost be seen as
cruel, but what does a creature with no heart know of hatred
and cruelty? Maybe he's just doing it because he's told, maybe he's
doing it because he enjoys it...or maybe he just honestly feels
nothing--'Nobody' knows for sure. He keeps his true alliances
so close to his...heart...that it's nigh impossible to tell who he's
crossing, because he really never lets on just where his loyalties
lie.

Upon returning to The World That Never Was, Axel is reunited with
Roxas, and the two of them get back to working missions together.
Incidentally, it is shortly after his return during a brief trip to
Hollow Bastion that Axel actually unwittingly releases Maleficent's
crow, Diablo, from its imprisonment. Spying a crow locked in a cage,
Roxas wonders aloud if they should release it, and so Axel obliges
him, throwing his chakrams and breaking the cage. It is because of
this event that Maleficent was able to return to again play a part in
the web of wickedness driving the story. Also during this time,
Organization XIII had already acquired its inexplicable fourteenth
member, Xion, but Axel had never spoken with her prior to his
departure for Castle Oblivion. He returns to find that in his
absence, Roxas and Xion have become close, and though he does a decent
job of hiding it, he is visibly rankled by their friendship. Whether
out of jealousy or remorse, however, he'll never tell.

Whatever his personal feelings on the issue may truly be, Axel
befriends Xion as well, though he knows something isn't quite right
about her. When exactly he comes into the knowledge that she's the
puppet intended to absorb Roxas's power over the Keyblade isn't
specified, but as Xion's actions grow more and more reckless and
Roxas's energy begins to wane, Axel knows it's only a matter of time
before one of them ends up destroying the other. Xion has actually
pulled some of the sleeping Sora's missing memories--those desperately
important memories of Kairi--into herself, and so long as she retains
those memories, Sora can never awaken (which is good for the
Organization), but Roxas will continue to lose power (which is bad for
the Organization). The memories of one boy cannot be split between
two shadows and sustain them both.

Pulled in two directions, Axel has to confront his own misgivings and
make a choice: Xion, or Roxas? The puppet for whom Roxas cares, or
the one genuine friendship he truly has? Ultimately, Axel knows the
choice isn't really his to make--this is up to Roxas--and so when he
finds the boy fleeing the castle, he doesn't stop him. Understanding
that this is something Roxas will have to figure out on his own ("No
one would be sad without me, anyway," Roxas snarls as he leaves), he
lets him go, but not before admitting, mostly to himself, that his
absence will hurt at least one person. After Roxas departs,
Axel makes one last trip to Twilight Town, finding Xion at the gates
of the mansion in the woods, where she had spoken with Naminé and
learned the whole truth of her false existence. Though he claims that
Xion returning Sora's stolen memories was the best choice all along,
it's clear in Axel's words and the tone of his voice that the
inevitable battle between them cuts him deeply. Axel's wounds are
twofold when he not only fails to save Xion, whose very essence was
erased, the memories returning to Sora and all traces of her ever
having existed vanishing with them, but Roxas as well, who falls to
Riku in the battle at Memory's Skyscraper and is forced into an
illusory Twilight Town while Naminé unravels the rest of Sora's
memories, which will allow the Keyblade Master to awaken...but will
cause Roxas to fade from existence forever.

Axel's loyalties to the organization are shaken to their core when
Xemnas charges him with finding Roxas and either bringing him
back...or destroying him with his own hands. He feels responsible for
having let him go, and wonders if things could have been different if
he'd only tried harder to keep him at the castle. But orders were
orders, and Axel knew if he didn't go after Roxas, someone else
would...and would likely be less gentle about it. Though gentleness
wasn't really an option--confronting the boy in Twilight Town, Axel
was beyond dismayed to learn that Roxas had, in fact, completely
forgotten all about him. But their showdown was cut short when DiZ
managed to purge Axel from the fabricated Twilight Town, leaving Roxas
confused and scared, and Axel to return empty-handed. A final attempt
is made to bring Roxas back to the organization, but it fails as well,
though it seems Roxas may have finally regained some of his memories.
As Axel fades into the dark corridors that will take him back to the
castle, he and Roxas make a promise to meet again in the next life,
though Axel knows no such thing awaits him.

After that, Axel knows he can never go home again. Branded a traitor,
he is forced to live between worlds, never able to stay in one place
for very long. He rescues Naminé from DiZ, where it is
discovered that he had plans to destroy her all along, since "Nobodies
were never meant to exist anyway". It turns out DiZ is none other
than Ansem the Wise. Forced into hiding when Xehanort's Heartless
tarnished his good name, DiZ took to trying to rectify the mistakes of
his apprentices from the shadows, working with Riku and King Mickey to
keep Sora safe and try and destroy the Organization. Taking
Naminé away, Axel entrusts her to Riku before setting off to find
Kairi. It was Naminés greatest wish to meet Kairi, and it wasn't
like he had anything else to do. Might as well screw up the
Organizations plans a little more. He had to admit he was curious as
to what might happen if a Nobody met their Somebody, and so he goes
back to Twilight Town and attempts to bring Kairi to Naminé, but
is stymied by Saïx, who kidnaps Kairi and locks her away in the castle
in The World That Never Was.

By this point, Axel knows he's really screwed up. There's really only
one way to fix things now--might as well go for broke. Finding Sora
in Betwixt and Between--the shifting dimension between worlds--Axel
helps him defeat the army of Nobodies guarding the gateway to The
World That Never Was...but at a heavy price. His energy spent, Axel
begins to fade away, but not before confessing to Sora that he'd done
everything he'd done for the simple reason of wanting to see Roxas
again. After telling Sora where to find Kairi (and apologizing for
kidnapping her in the first place), Axel opens a portal to the castle,
bidding Sora to go and finish what he hadn't been able to do, and then
fades into the nothingness he came from. Huh. Turns out maybe his
loyalties were just with Roxas the whole time...

ABILITIES:
• Chakrams/Fire - His weapons of choice are a pair of
red-and-silver spiked chakrams that can be
conjured at will from the air. These serve as melee as well as ranged
weapons, as they can be both used to slashing/stabbing and be thrown.
He also has an ability to weild fire, though whether this is directly
linked to the chakrams themselves is uncertain. He can conjure
circles of flame as well as projectile fireballs in battle. His
codename in the Organization was The Flurry of Dancing Flames
(おどる火の風).

• Speed/Teleportation - Axel is able to manipulate the corridors
of darkness to move between and within worlds. These corridors are
able to bridge any distance, utilizing the flux space between
dimensions known as Betwixt and Between to close the gaps between
planes. He's also insanely fast and can zap in and out of space
faster than the eye can see, throwing his weapons and then just
appearing on the other side of the arena to catch them and
throw them again.

• Negotiation - A real smooth operator, Axel has quite a silver
tongue and a way of talking himself out of (or into) just about any
manner of trouble. He's an accomplished double-agent.

GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Lea
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes please~ :D The Orihime reserve is a friend of
mine, and if possible, we'd like to have their birthday log together
if we are both accepted.

DREAM: All around him, the flames burned bright and hot,
licking the walls and casting eerie shadows dancing across the floor.
In his gloved hands were a pair of wind-and-fire wheels, also ablaze,
though the deadly fire that whorled round his hands did not scald.
Dancing amid the fire were figures, eerie and white, tall and spindly,
with great gaping mouths and limbs far too long for their bodies.
They shimmied and swayed with the rhythm of the flames, flickering in
and out of sight as they undulated in circles surrounding him.

So many...there were so many. How could he possibly hope to defeat them all?

A presence at his back made him turn, peering over his shoulder to see
a small person behind him, a great steel key in his hands, a mop of
wild brown hair atop his head. His face...he couldn't see his face,
yet he was certain he knew this boy.

"Feeling a little...regret?" the boy asked, and he scoffed.

"Nah...I can handle these punks," he said confidently, spinning the
chakrams in his hands and then gripping them tightly. That was
right--he was here for a reason. Here in this room of shifting green
and blue space filled with flames and the dancing white figures...he
was here to fulfill a purpose. To alleviate those regrets that danced
somewhere at the edge of his brain.

Regret...? Why did it feel like such an alien concept to him?
Everyone felt regret, didn't they? Everyone...felt, right? So
why was it that this heavy sensation of chagrin clung like cold mist
around his insides? Why did this feeling of doubt and hesitation echo
hollowly within his chest? Why...it was as if he were empty
inside and the uncertainty just reverberated off his very bones.

Sea-blue eyes flickered somewhere across his mind, wide and
questioning, and a voice, soft and confused, echoed in the back of his
brain.

     'Are you really sure you don't have a heart?'
     'I dunno. I can't... just look inside. But I
figure... if there is something in there--inside us--then we'd feel
it, wouldn't we?'

The figure of a girl, small and slim, with white-blonde hair and a sad
sort of weight to her presence was fuzzy in his mind's eye--why
couldn't he see the details of her face?

     'What if...what if we do have hearts--?'
     'We don't. We don't have
hearts--Nobodies don't have hearts. Got it memorized?'

He shook his head, quashing the strange heavy squirmy feeling in his
gut, whorling the chakrams around his hands again.

"Watch this!" he shouted to the boy behind him, and dashed forward.
Enough with the fragments of distantly vague memories--he was here to
destroy these figures in white, to open a path for the boy with brown
hair, to help him keep moving forward, so that...

...what? So that he could...what? He couldn't remember. He was
sure it was important, but he just couldn't remember what it
was.

The dancing figures in white swarmed around him, gyrating like snakes,
and he spread his arms, the fiery wheels in his hands now spinning
freely at his sides. With a great roar, he focused all of his energy
into a massive ball of flame which engulfed the whole room. The air
burned, the room dissolved into a twisting arc of red and gold and
unbearable heat, and then something snapped somewhere in his head. An
image flickered, grainy and half-grey, like bad reception on a
television. A dark, husky voice was garbled in his ears.

     'If you could save one of them, why would
you choose the puppet? Which would you rather suffer the loss of:
some make-believe friendship, or a real one? We have to set things
right. There is simply too much on the line...Lea.'

With a soft cry, he felt himself falling, and as the flames died
around him, the ground rose up to meet him, and he crumpled, rolling
onto his back. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe, and the chakrams
would no longer return to his hands.

The grainy image hitched and jerked--the signal was fading--and there
were those blue eyes again. Or...were they the same?

     'What're you gonna do?'
     'I've decided that i have to go back to
where I belong. It's for the good of everyone.'
     'But how do you know that? Everybody thinks
they're right.'
     'This is right.'
     'They're gonna destroy you!'

With a sharp inhale, he opened his eyes--when had he closed them?--to
see the boy with the brown hair hovering over him. He looked so
perplexedly concerned, it was almost endearing. Those eyes, there was
something so familiar about them. He just couldn't put his
finger on it.

"You're...fading away," the boy said. His face was all out of focus,
like he was looking at him through frosted glass.

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an
attack," he replied. Ah, true enough. That explained why he couldn't
feel his legs anymore. He'd used up all his energy to destroy those
figures in white. ...Why? Ah, that was right. "Go, find Kairi." Huh. Even the sound was fading now.
The edges of his vision were growing dark, and his own voice sounded
alien to him. "Oh, almost forgot... Sorry for what I did to her."

Was that his regret? Was that why he was here to help this boy?

"You can tell her yourself when we find her," the boy insisted, and he
just shook his head, his whole body heavy now.

"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it." He gave a weak
laugh. Haven't got one.

The boy's brow furrowed in a way that was oh so nostalgic. "Axel..." There went the sound again. "What
were you trying to do?"

"I wanted to see him," he replied honestly. "He made me feel...like I had a heart after all..." Damn his
blurry vision and damn the fading sound! He was sure this was
important! "And you...you make me feel...the same as he did."

A quick shake of his head. Eugh--okay, enough with this sappy crap.
He was dying, for crying out loud, and he still had that regret
to take care of. Summoning the last of his dwindling energy, he
lifted a hand with some effort, and spread his fingers. A whorl of
dark power pulsed amid the roiling greens and blues of the strange and
silent room, and a portal shimmered into existence. ...Huh. That was
interesting. Could he do that? Guess it was too late to really
wonder now.

"Kairi's in the castle dungeon," he
said with some effort. "Now go."

The boy with the brown hair crinkled his brow again, and he had to
look away. Something about those big blue eyes just...hurt.

     'How long do you think you'll last if you
make an enemy of the Organization?'
     'It's not like anyone would be sad without me.'
     'That's not true... I...would be sad.'*

     'Let's meet again, kid. In the next
life, okay?'

He closed his eyes, a smile on his face as the image of a blond head
nodding shot across his mind as the darkness closed in.

And then it all went black.

And then there was goo. ...Lots of goo. And that was about when he
decided that nothing really made sense anymore, and maybe it
was just better to start from scratch.

     '...In the next life, okay?'
     'Yeah. I'll...be waiting.'
     'Dummy...just because you've got a
shot at a next life...'

[*For any of you familiar with Kingdom Hearts and this
particular scene, you might notice that my dialogue here doesn't match
the dialogue from the game--there's actually a major
mistranslation in the English adaptation of the game. When Roxas
snaps at Axel that, "No one would miss me," it really comes across as
a slap in the face, but the actual dialogue is as it was written
above--he claims that no one would 'be sad'...which actually plays out
in a much more benign and almost facetious manner. Obviously, since
the Organization is so hung up on the Nobodies having no hearts and
thus no feelings, clearly no one would 'be sad' if Roxas left. The
prose that follows gives clear indication that Roxas meant no harm and
wasn't trying to sound like a jerk and hurt Axel the way he clearly
did anyway.]

JOURNAL SAMPLE: Hm, so this is like a...what, a magic notebook?
I guess that makes about as much sense as anything else around here,
giant trees and pods of goo and all that. You can all really see
this, huh?

Hello, out there!

Anybody know where I can get some ice cream? I've just got the
darndest craving.

ASPIRATIONS: Well, honestly bringing Axel here is a bit of wish
fulfillment in and of itself--the "see you in the next life" scene in
the game broke my heart, and every time I play through the game and
Axel dies I find myself hoping he and Roxas get their next life
somewhere. Heh, dorky, I know. That said, I hope to interact with
the game's Roxas a lot (I was so sad to see Naminé dropped!),
though of course I know Axel won't know him at first. It's
canon that Roxas forgets about Axel, so doing it the other way around,
too, should prove interesting. I haven't read through many of Roxas's
entries to see if he remembers Axel at all (or Sora, for that
matter--if Sora ever remembered him, that would be amazing and
awkward), but it's been a long time since I've played with a KH cast,
so I would love to have Axel and Roxas get to learn how to be pals all
over again.

Other than that, I love plot. And Axel is a great facilitator
of plot. He's sneaky and always has his own agenda in mind, so it
would be awesome if I had the opportunity to play up his manipulative
ninja side to figure some stuff out. I'm also torn between wanting
Axel to apply to be an Adventurer (since his job was something like
that in the Organization) or just having him be like, "man, screw
work" and bum food and sweet-talk his way into sleeping on peoples'
couches or something. He's very versatile, so I suppose that would
depend on his reception.

Lastly, I'd really just like Axel to get to live without being
burdened by the "I don't have a heart" spiel the Organization was
always on about. I think that it would eventually be kind of cool to
have him remember that Nobodies aren't supposed to have hearts,
but I always kind of thought the heart was more a state of mind than
anything else. The Organization didn't believe they had
hearts, and thus they didn't act like they did...but without
that dark mantra to live by, Axel has a lot of personality and I think
it would be interesting to see how he fares sans the weight of that
knowledge on his shoulders.

Hi, Kari!

Thank you for your patience. After reviewing your application, we have decided to request a re-written dream. We feel that as it stands now, Axel's reveals too much information about his past right off the bat. If you need help, you are free to look at past applications for examples or ask a mod or helpstaffer for clarification. You are welcome to submit a re-written dream to this e-mail address.

Thank you,
Shurimon (Edensphere helpstaff, Sky/Bridge/Will/Derrick)

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