Understand the secrets and have some fun

[these_balls]

APPLICATIONS!
Currently: Closed!
Route 29 has closed as of May 30th. For the continuation of the game, please visit victory_road!

Applications will be normally checked during the weekend following the first and third Sunday of each month unless otherwise stated, and we will allow one application per person during one application cycle. Remember, the most characters one player can have at a time is currently set at five.

Applications received after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday of the first and third weekend of each month will be checked the following app weekend unless otherwise stated.

We now ask that potential applicants post their application in comments rather than linking. If their application contains explicit references to 'hard' spoilers (character death, unforeseen plot twists, big reveals, he was evil all along etc), players should put the application in their own journal or their character's journal and link it, making sure to mention the presence of spoilers within. For further clarification on our spoilers policy and whether or not your application needs to be linked, please check this page. Thank you for your cooperation!

The comment character limit on dreamwidth is 16,000 characters so apps no longer need to be split into multiple comments; however this is at players' discretion.

Please use the form below and post your application in comments rather than linking if you can. If you have any questions, feel free to ask either of the mods. You can reach us through emails, IMs, or PMs.

A reminder for those waiting to hear back, please don't be worried if we skip yours while going through them. It only means we needed a little more time to research!

Helpful links!
Taken: 1|2|3 / Reserves
Please do not app a character from either of these unless you reserved them!
Starter Pokémon!
A compiled list of the starter pokémon to choose from offered in Route 29!
Word Count Tool!
Word count! It has other pointless stats too.
Navigation


<u><b>Player</u></b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Personal Journal:</b> <user name=""> <b>E-mail:</b> <b>AIM/Plurk/Etc.:</b> <b>Timezone:</b> <b>Current Characters in Route:</b> <b><u>Character</u></b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Series:</b> <b>Timeline:</b> <b>Canon Resource Links:</b> Here we would have the links to wikis and other information sites. If none of those seem to provide enough information, feel free to add more about the character here. However, please do not use this section as a full history section unless your canon is ridiculously obscure. General rule of thumb: if there are a good amount of descriptive resources, please just link them and use this section to add in what may have been left out, as opposed to writing an entire history section. <b>Personality:</b> Give us at minimum 2-3 full paragraphs of how you understand your character's personality. Talk about basic characteristics, any major developments over the course of their canon, their motives, their social behavior, and anything else you can think of that shows off your knowledge of this character. <b>Strengths/Weaknesses:</b> Try to cover the good points of what they can do, their life skills (not necessarily powers, but things they're just good at). Go into their biggest fears and what they just can’t do. <b><u>Pokémon Information</u></b> <b>Affiliation:</b> What career path will your character be taking? Breeder, Trainer? Or maybe even down the dark path of becoming a member of Team Rocket? Note: All Rocket members start as grunts. (For right now, only those three positions are available, whether your character chooses to follow their assigned path or not.) <b>Starter:</b> What starter pokémon do you want your character to have? Please use the list linked above to choose from. Certain pokémon have an orange star next to their names; if you choose one of these starters (Deino, Zorua, Litwick, Pikachu, Scyther, Dratini, Bagon, Gible, Axew, Ralts, Riolu, Beldum, Larvitar, Eevee, or Beldum) you must provide reasoning. You do not need to explain your reasoning for pokémon other than those listed above. <b>Password:</b> This is where you'll put the passwords from the Rules and the F.A.Q. There are two words, to assure you've read both. <b><u>Samples</u></b> <b>First Person Sample:</b> The sample must take place in Route_29's setting. Eight sentences is the minimum. This is a PokéConnect post--one that will be on the character's journal, broadcast to the network. Although it is short, it needs to show how your character would communicate with others, as well as be descriptive enough to express the character's voice without sounding too generic. <b>Third Person Sample:</b> The sample must take place in Route_29's setting. The minimum is 300 words. Please note that what we are looking for is an inner working into the character’s thoughts and actions, and how the character responds to the setting, not something that could be taken as an excerpt fanfic. You may use other characters to bounce your characters actions off of, but everything should still be mostly from their point of view.

Comments

Dante Alighieri | Dante's Inferno | Non-Reserved | 1/2

[redenzione]

Player
Name: San
Personal Journal: fanfictionming
E-mail: mingrps@gmail.com
AIM/MSN:
Timezone: GMT+8
Current Characters in Route: Rude, strongestoftheturks

Character
Name: Dante Alighieri
Series: Dante's Inferno (Video Game)
Timeline: Post-ending
Canon Resource Links: Here.

Mary | Ib | Reserved

[fabricatedheart]

Linking due to spoilers!

Dr Kato | Astro Boy 2003 | Not reserved | Reapp

[artfuldestruction]

Player
Name: Typhie
Personal Journal: typhie
E-mail: typhlogirl@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: typhlogirl
Timezone: GMT +10 (North-East Australia)
Current Characters in Route: N/A

Character
Name: Dr Kato
Series: Astro Boy (2003 series)
Timeline: After neatly escaping the doomed energy plant in Vol 3, Chapter 3.
Canon Resource Links: Oh. goodness, well! Due to the obscurity of both him and his canon, the best I can give you is this, which at least proves he exists. Kato's character design is actually based on an Osamu Tezuka character called Rainbow Parakeet, but the similarities end with their appearances, as RP is a thief and Kato is a scientist/terrorist who enjoys blowing things (and people) up for his art. He was specifically created for the 2003 reboot of the Astro Boy anime, meant to be a nod to Tezuka's past works while being a villainous presence.

Basically, Dr Kato used to work for the Ministry of Science before being fired for only having an interest in producing weapons, rather than peaceful advancements in robotics, and secretly making explosives on the government's time. He then proved that the Ministry was completely right in letting his batshit ass go, because he promptly tried to destroy a train carrying 900 people by inserting a Speed-style device that would blow up if the thing went at less than 700 km/hr. Fortunately, he was thwarted by Astro Boy.

Following this, he was employed by an anti-robot organization who enabled his love of Blowing Shit Up. His final act in the series was to arm an energy plant on the moon to blow, which could have potentially knocked the Earth out of it's orbit. Again, he didn't succeed thanks to Our Hero, but he escaped the energy plant anyway, never to be seen in the series again.

His role in the manga and anime clash a bit, as his ending in the anime is slightly different (no energy plant, and he ends up arrested) so I'll just be taking pieces from both for his characterization. My ending of choice is the one from the manga, but since his arrest causes him to reveal another aspect of his personality, I'll work that into the appropriate section.

If you'd like me to expand on this section at all, I'm happy to!

Personality: Dr Kato is, in a word, an artist.

Producing works that are both terrifying and destructive, he's a highly intelligent man with a serious flair for the dramatic. His mantra is that destruction is the purest form of art, making him the purest form of artist. The universe creates and then it destroys, as he says, and Kato is out there happily creating the most destructive forces possible.

As an artist he started out more on the 'creation' side of the coin; with painting and sculpting. However, he soon gave that up in favour of joining the Ministry of Science, where he could indulge what really fired his creative juices; destruction.

His speciality is explosives; mechanical bombs and all manner of things that make a loud bang and ruin everything in the immediate vicinity. He's so obsessed with his depraved artform that he manages to get himself fired from his job at the Ministry of Science purely through being devoted to nothing but the research and development of weapons. Oh, and that whole 'making bombs when he was supposed to not be making bombs' thing.

After the ministry let him go, he promptly decided that that was really quite rude of them, so to stick it to his old boss he armed the train carrying him and 900 other people to either explode or crash into a metropolis. Because they'd underestimated him, and he wanted them to bear witness to how powerful he was. The fact that so many people (thousands, really) could have been injured or killed during that little stunt was of absolutely no concern to Kato. If anything, it only sweetened the deal; what is art without people to admire it? The more victims, the greater the impact of the piece!

He didn't succeed, of course, but that didn't seem to hold much concern for him other than mild annoyance. Ignoring the insults of the Police Chief holding him captive, he promptly escapes (by pulling an exploding tablet out of his mask that activated in a glass of water) to try again. He may have lost the battle today, but the war is far from over.

His 'art' is constantly evolving, but he prefers to stick to his tried and true method of basic bomb design. It works, so why change it? Despite his dramatic personality, Kato is a logical thinker at heart. His design is quite sadistic in it's practicality; the bomb can be removed, but it will still explode, so either way, Kato gets his masterpiece. In both major incidents in his canon (the train and the energy plant), both bombs have to be hurled into the air so they can explode safely.

Kato has no issue working for a superior; if you're willing to give him his art supplies he'll happy use whatever you like as a canvas. He tends to be respectful and almost subservient (he's seen pouring wine for the leader of the anti-robot organization) when you're enabling him, but will happily stab you in the back once the gravy train stops. He has to be the one to walk away, however, otherwise he can get quite bitter and nasty (trying to blow up that train with his ex-boss on it purely because they snubbed him, much?), despite hiding it under his usual guise of smug indifference.

He also has no problem taking command when things appear to be going pear-shaped; when his boss is getting flustered because a laser attack isn't working, Kato quickly orders the attack to continue, before departing to fix the problem himself, quickly coming up with a solution. He's a very quick thinker and his solutions tend to work, they just also tend to get foiled by infuriating little robots who may or may not be called Astro.

The only moment in which his calm demeanour slips is when he's being arrested in the anime. At that point, the game is over; he's lost. Badly. When the officers come to take him away, he yells and struggles, demanding they get off him. He's so infuriated that he accidently knocks his mask off with his flailing. (And no, it's not concealing anything interesting about his appearence! It's more a technological device than anything he's hiding behind.) It's all a reaction to the fact that, simply, he's been outwitted and defeated. Kato doesn't take serious defeat like that lightly; most of the time he's happy to shrug and move on, planning his next piece, but in that situation he was, frankly, shit out of luck. Said shit-out-of-luckness caused him to snap, revealing that he is quite the sore loser.

In summary, Dr Kato is a dramatic, pretentious, dangerous and psychopathic scientist with no regard for life, either human or robot. He is a brilliant engineer and strategist, who views everything as merely a game to be won. There is no end to his brutal style of art; only the development of his next magnificent masterpiece. Try not to be caught in the blast.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

+ Highly intelligent - He's a scientist of calibre worthy of the Ministry of Science, along with being a genius engineer and innovative inventor. In a world with easy space travel, robots and flying cars. Need I say more?
+ Efficient - When it comes to his activities that don't have Astro furiously standing in the way to cockblock him at the last minute, Kato is very, very efficient. All of his plans are developed down to the last minute detail, and are seen to go off without a hitch even when complicated circumstances are involved. It's not so much that Astro outsmarts him, he just has the distinct advantage of being robotic, and is thus able to rip the bombs off their targets and fly them away to explode safety. Which is cheating, really!
+ Thrives under pressure - In the situation where an attack against a ship is failing due to a force-field, Kato promptly takes command and both keeps his boss from panicking, and takes care of the problem of that bothersome force-field. With a strategically placed bomb, of course.

+/- Apathetic - There's very little that Dr Kato truly cares about, which can be both a negative and positive trait, depending on how you look at it

- No sense of empathy - Kato does not have any fucks to give for other people's lives. He actually prefers it when high numbers of people die in his escapades.
- Impulsive - Who the hell gets a Doctorate in science and/or engineering and then decides to become a painter?
- Selfish - Unless it benefits him in some way, chances are Kato won't be the one you want to ask if you need help. He even states that he's unwilling to sacrifice himself for anyone, so generousity isn't exactly his strong point. Really, his idea of being generous is allowing you to be a part of one of his latest masterpieces. Feel honoured!
- Misanthropic - Astro asks Kato at one point why he wants to destroy human property. He's human, isn't he? Kato promptly says that that is why he wants to destroy human propertly; because humans are such flawed creatures who only care about protecting themselves. His opinion of humanity is condescending; he finds other humans 'adorable' in their stupidity, and tends to be amused by notions of ~friendship between them and robots. After all, it's a moronic idea thought up by some humans; of course it isn't going to work. Why on earth would you endeavour to befriend a contraption you designed to be your slave?

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Deino
Justification: During Kato's first time in Route he had a Hydreigon that caused him no end of grief and tended to completely ignore whatever orders he gave it - I'd like him to be stuck with a Deino as his starter as a reminder of that first Hydreigon and all of the nightmares it caused him, because....well, I'm an awful mun who likes to torment her characters NO BUT REALLY it will cause him angst and annoyance and give him quite a lot to bitch about!

There's also the fact that the Deino line is known for their violently destructive nature, and Kato has somewhat of an obsession with destruction (if that wasn't obvious, uh).
Password: Ginger Snaps

Samples
First Person Sample: [[The feed opens to show a masked gentleman leaning into the camera, smiling slightly. He appears to be in a laboratory of sorts, with all sorts of mechanical implements around him. In front of him, on a metal operating table, is an unconscious Voltorb.

Running his gloved fingers across the Pokemon, the man begins to speak.]]

Despite how primitive your technology is, I must admit I'm fascinated by this robot. The construction is exquisite; I can't find any sort of screw or seam. It's a perfect sphere.

[[Leaving the pokemon for a moment, the man moves along the table and picks up a small, pen-sized device with a rotating saw at the end.]]

Of course, while the design is innovative, it also presents me with a few problems. Much as I'd love to learn about your technology in theory, I much prefer to investigate myself.

[[With the press of a button, the saw activates with a high-pitched whine, and the man brings it over the Voltorb, that smug smile continuing to linger on his face as he lowers it.]]

So let's see what I'll find.

Third Person Sample: The room was small, but it was dark; just how Kato liked it. The sparseness wasn't appreciated, but what could he expect? He could improve on that later, once he'd gotten his bearings. This was an odd chain of events, and mildly disappointing; he'd so wanted to watch the Tokogawa energy plant go up. It must have been magnificent.

Sighing slightly, he took one look at the uniform he was supposed to wear before laughing softly and tossing it in the corner, out of the way. No one would be telling him what he could and could not wear. Besides, he was a scientist; he had to wear his coat! The uniform was dull and uninspired, anyway.

Simply not good enough for a man of his artistic integrity.

Straightening his clothes, Kato seated himself at the small desk and leant back in the chair, linking his fingers together on his lap and crossing his legs neatly. The robot following him around was certainly an interesting specimen, despite the incredibly basic design; it seemed to be a conductor of some sort. It was presently located on his bed, sparking gently and blinking at him, appearing to be wanting some sort of order. He didn't do overly well with robots, but he could tolerate the clearly pathetic ones like this odd little ball.

He'd take it apart for investigation later; he did so enjoy playing with the things. Perhaps, with the right modifications, he could produce something....a little more explosive.

After all, a change of scenery was no reason why he couldn't continue his art. If anything, it just provided a beautiful blank canvas.

Chuckling to himself, Kato slid his fingers along the desk, before drumming them against the metal gently, his gloves dampening the sound. Oh yes, this was certainly not a negative set of circumstances.

He'd have another masterpiece under his belt yet.

Ellone | Final Fantasy VIII | Reserved 1/2

[connects]

Player
Name: Laurant
Personal Journal: laurant
E-mail: frayfrancesca@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: nyamomask
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: Chieri Sono (radiantnova)

Character
Name: Ellone
Series: Final Fantasy VIII
Timeline: post-game
Canon Resource Links: wikia

Tsubasa Hanekawa | Monogatari Series | No Reserve

[stressed]

Player

Name: Becca
Personal Journal: shoma
E-mail: melodicbluebird@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: seizon senryaku
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: n/a

Character

Name: Tsubasa Hanekawa
Series: Monogatari Series
Timeline: After Tsubasa Cat but before Tsubasa Song
Canon Resource Links: I | II

Reaver | Fable | Not Reserved

[istheindustry]

Linked for spoilers for Fable II and Fable III!

I understand that this is late getting in this round; if it's not considered until next round, that is perfectly fine! o/

Madara Uchiha | Naruto | Reserved

[maddyragequits]

Player
Name: TK/Taka-Kat/Bitty
Personal Journal: echizenakira
E-mail: yohjikudo@hotmail.com
AIM/MSN: maximilianknight
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: none

Character
Name: Madara Uchiha
Series: Naruto / Naruto Shippuden
Timeline:Chapter 621-624 (flashbacks)
Canon Resource Links: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Madara_Uchiha

Personality: From a very young age, Madara was thrust into this war-torn world. Being mostly nomadic, the money earned even through wars was not much for a whole clan, and as such he learned to not be picky at whatever he ate. Hunting was another activity the adults of the clan did, and he too tried to provide for his own, although most times he ended up giving much of the food to his brother until he ate his fill. Madara will go to any extent to protect him, wishing him to live long in a world he hopes to be peaceful. This was because Izuna is his only sibling left out of a family of five boys, the other three having been killed in combat against the Senju, the only clan capable of holding their own against the Uchiha.

He bears a heavy dislike of the current unending wars, wishing to put an end to this world where children are sent to their deaths. This is what pushed him to take up as extensive a training as he did, and even without having awakened their clan's bloodline limit, an ocular ability that allows them to predict the enemy's movements, he was already much feared in the enemy's ranks.

Madara was the best of the younger ones among his clan, and has always had a fixation on training, which is shown to have only gotten beyond a driving force as he got older, but it started even before his time with his friend Hashirama, one who could push him to aim higher, a mindset that stuck with him even beyond the point at which he's played.

This brings us to Hashirama. He does care greatly for this one comrade and others he could befriend, pressing him on when he refuses to open up about what makes his comrade depressed and trusting the other enough to show him his techniques in spars which go on for quite a while, with the two almost evenly matched. He greatly treasures the bond he has formed with his friend in this world of semi-constant bloodshed, their views being the same on how wars should be stopped. People, they both agree, have to be open and show each other their true feelings deep inside to become allies.

Madara's view for an ideal future is that if one wishes to be seen as leader, they must hold fast onto their ideals and overcome their weaknesses, which is what he has done and attempts to lead by example. He knows strength is recognized, and as strangely hypocritical as it may be, still takes lives on the battlefield all while wishing wars would stop. in the world of adults, he is aware children have little chance of having their words taken seriously.

In this way, though he claims that Hashirama's idea of building a settlement with a school where children would be properly taught and could grow up without being sent to violent battlefields is 'stupid', he still does agree, wishing to watch over his little brother in this setting. Even in this war-laced world, Madara still finds time to play simple games, enjoying taking the time to try and have skipping stones reach the other side, something that also holds a symbolic meaning for him. Getting to the other side also means finding a way, and paving the road to peace.


Strengths/Weaknesses:
S- He is excellent at throwing stones. Not just stones mind you, any manners of things most likely. Even as a child, he could win in combat against many (any?) adults of any other clan he was going up against, which says much about his shinobi prowess.

-His reaction time is split-second and his reflexes nearly unmatched. If one were to look up resilience in the dictionary, there would most likely be Madara's portrait under its description. There was only ever one person that could win against him either at hand-to-hand or weapons sparring.

-One of his strongest traits is mental toughness. From fighting in wars where, a fact he is well aware of, they can die at any moment. Having seen many die, killed by his own blade, he is still holding on and searching for a way to peace, convinced that this is the only way to stop wars.

-His fear of failure provides him with the determination to get stronger no matter the efforts and price in order to protect those dear to him.

-Due to surprising self-control, Madara never falls victim to his temper in battle, and will not hesitate to speak his mind. People he can trust, he will go as far as to berate.


S/W- Both a strength and weakness is the bond he has with his last remaining little brother, who he wants to protect at any cost. He does believe he is strong, however, when thinking of how he failed to save his three other siblings, this seems to crumble far too easily, bringing out his intense protective side and making him sharpen his own skills.

W- -Madara holds much love for his clan and even more for his brother. Since his three other siblings were killed by the Senju clan, however, they are the only ones whom he will never forgive regardless of what they may say or do. His hatred for them runs stronger than even logic could dictate.

-His own self-proclaimed weakness is that he's sensitive, often hiding it behind a temper that is not held under any check. He flies off the handle at any given moment for the smallest of things, appearing to have no notion of patience or understanding.

-He apparently gets his concentration broken, although this may have been an excuse, when anyone stands behind him. What is a certain fact, however, is that he was unable to do his business and pee when Hashirama went and stood behind him on purpose to see if it was really true. And it was.

-Madara's greatest fear is failure. His entire demeanor changes once he mentions he was unable to protect his brothers, stating he was 'not that great' even after saying he could win over his friend with complete conviction moments before.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Charmander
Password: Ginger Snaps (I thought it'd be ginger ale, but no >3)

Samples
First Person Sample:
[There is some static, or at least it sounds as such, and then coughing and spluttering. Moments later Madara appears on the screen, soaked throughout. Not even the heavy water, however, seems to be able to tame that wild black spikey hair of his.]
Good thing this is waterproof, cause I'm not! This darn river's stupidly cold!

[He seems to realize then that the device was mistakenly turned on as he struggled with it, and he peers into it.] Oh, uh... [He regains composure and gains an annoyed look, eyebrows creasing deeply.] Okay, if any of you out there make any reference to this, I'm tossin you in this river, hear me!?

[His charmander scurries up on his shoulder, looking like it fears for dear life, disliking all that water around them very much.] W-whoa hey! Stop! [The panicked action makes him drop the pokegear again, and he ends up dunked underwater by his pokemon, thus beginning their new struggle...]

Third Person Sample:
There is a light noise as the boy rouses from sleep, shifting as the drowsiness of sleep fades. Even before he opens his eyes, things around him feel strange. There is no coppery-like taste of blood in the air around him, additionally he can feel a pillow against his cheek and a warm, thick blanket keeping his own body heat in.

Strange. The only heat that should be nearby would be his brother, curled up with him under the thin blanket they share. He can count on his fingers the number of times his younger sibling has woken before him, so this makes him instantly suspicious.

He should be more cautious, seeing as he has been moved in his sleep and is certainly nowhere he may recognize, but the worry is too great.

"Izuna?" he calls out tentatively, opening his eyes with only slight difficulty. There is no answer, and the ceiling he sees is definitely unfamiliar, as is the room he briefly studies as he slowly turns his head in search of a visual clue that may tell him where his brother is. "Izuna...?" he calls out again, sitting up with haste as the mounting panic reaches a higher point. He calls out again, this time slightly louder. "Izun-AAAaaah!"

"Chaaaar!"
A large, red, lizard-like creature was looking up at him from the floor. His first thought, aside from "What the hell is that!?" was that he has never seen such an animal before. He is quite certain the top of its round head would reach the middle of his chest if he stood in front of it. The shock of this strange room and the encounter with this creature has him retreating to the other side of the bed, against the wall. Slowly, cautiously, he peers over the edge of the discarded, bunched up blanket. The critter is, of course, still there.

"...chaaaaaar?" the pokemon cocks its head, apparently curious, and perhaps faintly amused by its trainer's reaction.
The boy studies it with a large frown. His brother is not here, he is somewhere he has never seen before with a weird lizard-like creature that can, so far, only say one thing. Studying it further now that he has overcome the surprise of the encounter, his eyes widen once he spots the flame at the tip of its tail. Not only does the orange critter seem unaffected by it burning, it additionally appears far too happy, and by this point makes an attempt to climb into the bed.

A light noise alerts him to a backpack at the foot of his bed, hanging open and nearly spilling its contents upon the floor. There is a blink before he reaches out to take the small red thing on top of the pile, seeing as the faint beeping is coming from the device. Once he has it in hand, he flips it open.
It has apparently scanned the nearby pokemon, and quickly states a blurb of information.
"Charmander. Fire-type pokémon. Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail."

Madara blinks at this, the image on the small screen similar to the lizard now pulling its weight onto the bed. "Char... mander?" he repeats.
"Chaaaar!" it echoes, as if recognizing its name.
It is not long before the device states its opening message.

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!"
The boy does recognize the name he heard earlier. Pokémon. He looks over to the orange critter, noticing how intelligent it is since it is visibly conscious to keep its tail away from highly flammable objects as it moves. As the device states what seems to be Madara's new purpose, he snorts at it. "That's gotta be the weirdest dream ever." Because what else could it be, as real as it feels? That message also said Happy Birthday, but he knew it was not soon at all.

However, despite his words a light sigh leaves him. As much as he wants to believe it, this isn't a dream and he can verify it. He bites his thumb lightly... and then harder. This pain is real, and he knows when to leave it alone, now reaching out for what appears to be an instruction manual, when--

He has never seen this woman, but strangely enough his mind associates her as mother. She hands him a pair of brand-new sneakers and almost as an afterthought adds something about a B button to run. This brings a quite common thought: "What?"
Before he can even ask, however, she quickly urges him to get out of his pajamas already, that it's the start of his big adventure and he can't be late! With that, then, he brings himself to the dresser to pick something better than those lame pajamas, if that exists.

Stray thoughts go to Izuna, his clan, the war, and as he searches the dresser, Madara wonders just how he ended up in this strange reality.

Link | Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Reserved (Re-app)

[warriorofwinds]

I am an ally of Justice!

Celestia Ludenberg | Dangan Ronpa | Reserved

[badbeat]

Major spoilers for Chapter 3 of Dangan Ronpa.

Ramza Beoulve | Final Fantasy Tactics | Reserved | 1/2

[throw_stone]

Player
Name: Kururu
Personal Journal: kururu
E-mail: firion2j [at] gmail [dot] com
AIM/MSN: Vinciolol @ AIM
Timezone: Australian Eastern Standard Time
Current Characters in Route: Laguna Loire, and Oerba Dia Vanille.

Character
Name: Ramza Beoulve/Lugria. Currently he is using the name Lugria, but...
Series: Final Fantasy Tactics.
Timeline: At the end of Chapter One.
Canon Resource Links: Let's all go to the Final Fantasy Wiki!
As a note, I will be going by the War of the Lions translation/extra events, if that ever comes up due to canon updates or canonmates.

Kyouko Kirigiri | Dangan Ronpa | Reserved

[nostabbing]

Cut for major spoilers for the entirety of Dangan Ronpa!

Inui Sadaharu | Prince of Tennis | No Reserve

[data_breeder]

Player
Name: Izumi
Personal Journal: izumichan31
E-mail: pandajunkay@yahoo.com
AIM/MSN: anmfrkm
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: N/A

Character
Name: Inui Sadaharu
Series: Prince of Tennis
Timeline: After the Finals
Canon Resource Links:
http://princeoftennis.wikia.com/wiki/Inui_Sadaharu
http://fet.fudomine.org/index.php?inui
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince_of_Tennis

Personality:
Inui is a highly intelligent player, who uses “Data Tennis.” He constantly collects and analyzes data while in and outside of the tennis court in order to determine statistics, weaknesses, and other factors, and he is able to calculate the probability of certain shots being made during matches.

He is very hardworking. This is proven during the time between the Prefectuals and the Kantou arcs. He was dropped from the regulars due to his loss to both Ryoma and Kaidoh. While he wasn't a regular, he helped manage the team providing training menus and overall gathering data on his teammates as he practiced. He himself took on a training regiment 2.25 times more difficult than Kaidoh who was already training three times harder than his teammates.

Aside from that, Inui does have his downsides. One of his most noticeable traits is his need to brew horrible tasting vegetable juices called Inui Juice. He uses them as punishments for players who fail the training menus and even in friendly games like bowling or billiards. The drinks usually cause th drinker to pass out. At first it seems that only he and Fuji are the only players unaffected by them, but even they eventually fall victim to the juices as Inui continues to make them stronger.

While he collects data pertaining to tennis, Inui also collects personal pieces of data as well, such as favorite things, personal habits, and where they have been. He can be seen spying on others at various times during the series not only just from his own team but other's as well. He also uses his data outside of tennis to try and cheat at games (bowling and billiards), but he usually fails.

Also, let it be known that under most circustances, Inui's eyes are almost never shown from behind his glasses.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
++ Gathering Data: Inui is able to mentally simulate the course of the match. Not only can he quickly calculate the probability of a shot, he shows a sharp understanding of player psychology and is able to observe even the slightest movements. [[In Route_29 he will probably be using his data to figure out how to breed the most effective pokémon for battles... or something like that...]]

++ Athletic ability: Inui is a highly athletic person he trains daily. Walking/running places would be no issue for him.

++ Reliable: He is reliable in that he makes precise training menus for teammates.

++ Highly intelligent: Inui is constantly collecting information and analyzing things.

-- Inui Juice: Inui has been known to fall victim to his own juice recipes. He's been told that he shouldn't make something that even he can't handle, but he does anyway.

-- Gathering data: He has difficulty gathering data from players with abnormal abilities or players who hide their abilities. He can't predict changes during a game itself. He lost against both Ryoma and Tezuka after they showed their true strength and used techniques he hadn't seen before.

-- Inui at times tries to get out of punishments he can't take. This is seen when he tries to get out of punishment during a volleyball game (he tries to get hit in the face with the ball so he wouldn't be conscious for the penalty), leaving his partner to face the punishment alone.

-- His eyesight: Inui's eyesight is not very good. He needs glasses in order to see.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder (but also a bit of a trainer as well)
Starter: Oddish "Kaoru"
Password: Ginger Snaps

Samples
First Person Sample:
[The screen turns on and the first thing visible is a pair of glasses. The eyes behind the glasses aren't visible. His eyebrows furrow slightly in a bit of confusion.]

This is... interesting. I won't pretend that I quite understand what's going on right now, but I'll try and figure it out. It seems quite illogical that I'm here in this place.

While I've played the pokémon games before, I'm sure this will be a different experience entirely.

[The screen moves and settles on Kaoru the Oddish.]

I think I'll just have to have a look around, explore and play along with this for a while. Now to get somewhere where I can by a good notebook or three. There's quite a lot to figure out about this place.

Third Person Sample:
Inui sat just on the outskirts of New Bark town. Everything about this seemed rather illogical. Maybe he shouldn't have tried that new vegetable juice he'd made before bed.

He'd woken up to a rather loud alarm clock that didn't sound like his in a bed that wasn't his own. In a room that wasn't his own. At first he thought he was dreaming. That seemed like it would be the only explanation except the pinch he gave himself hurt quite a bit.

He got dressed. The clothing wasn't his but they seemed like they were there specifically for him, folded neatly on the dresser. After dressing he headed downstairs to be greeted by a woman who seemed to think she was his mother.

She'd said a few words. Something about him going on a journey before she'd handed him a backpack and pushed him out of the door. He hadn't even had a chance to ask what was going on or where he was.

There was a beeping sound from his pocket. He reached inside and pulled out a device that looked familiar.

"Welcome to the world of pokémon, young trainer!" It speaks in a mechanical voice. "Are you ready? Your very own pokémon story is about to unfold..."

He didn't have to here anything more than that. Everything made only a little bit more sense since he knew he'd seen all of this from somewhere before. He'd played it in a game.

So here he was sitting by the sign that stated that this was route 29. It seemed to be the only way out of here. Inui placed the bag he'd been given on his lap and shuffled through it before pulling out a pokéball.

He tilted his head before pressing the button on it. A stream of light came from the ball to reveal an Oddish. He watched it for a moment and it hopped around him. Well that was nice. He had a vegetable for a pokémon partner. Not that he planned on using the creature for a drink or anything. He wasn't that bad at his ingredient choices for his juices.

He stood and looked down at the pokémon. He adjusted his glasses on his face.

"Well Kaoru," he said, the name slipping from his lips without much thought to it. It was the name of his kohai and now the name he was giving to the pokémon. "I suppose it won't help us to stick around here for much longer. Let's get going shall we."

Inui looked ahead. Through Route 29 it would be.

Leon Kuwata | Dangan Ronpa | Reserve

[struck_out]

Spoiler-filled application covering Dangan Ronpa 1, Dangan Ronpa IF and Dangan Ronpa the manga.

Master Xehanort | Kingdom Hearts | No Reserve

[capax_infiniti]

Player
Name: Mii
Personal Journal: miishal
E-mail: miishal at yahoo
AIM/MSN: miishal
Timezone: GMT+9
Current Characters in Route: n/a

Character
Name: (Master) Xehanort
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Timeline: At the end of KH3D when he Gary Oaks on out
Canon Resource Links: Wiki link (I'm so sorry for what you are about to read)

Rin Okumura | Ao no Exorcist | Reserve (re-app)

[pinnedbangs]

Player
Name: Cyndi
Personal Journal: seaduckies
E-mail: jasperluvslancelot@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: seaknowsall
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: reapp time!

Character
Name: Rin Okumura
Series: Blue Exorcist
Timeline: the end of chapter 44, after Rin and Godaiin have settled down for class
Canon Resource Links: Here’s a link! It’s special~.

Walter | Shin Megami Tensei IV | Not Reserved

[beholdmydemons]

Player
Name: Holo
Personal Journal: hologramblue
E-mail: 059delta149@gmail.com
AIM: hologramblue
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: digitalorunknown

Character
Name: Walter
Series: Shin Megami Tensei IV
Timeline: After defeating Xi Wangmu
Canon Resource Links: On the SMT Wiki

Yasuhiro Hagakure | Dangan Ronpa | Reserved

[crystalballer]

Linked for major Dangan Ronpa spoilers!

Byakuya Togami | Dangan Ronpa | Reserved

[shslasshat]

Linked for spoilers through the end of Dangan Ronpa

Norman Jayden | Heavy Rain | {Re-App}

[triptoprofiling]

Player
Name: Switch
Personal Journal: rhizomatic
E-mail: deka[dot]gadget@gmail[dot]com
AIM/MSN: positronicswitch
Timezone: USA EST
Current Characters in Route: N/A.

Character
Name: Norman Jayden
Series: Heavy Rain
Timeline: Post-Case Closed/"Good Ending"
Canon Resource Links:
☂ Canon Wiki page
☂ Canon Wikia page
☂ Character Wiki

Personality:
Norman is a dedicated fellow towards his line of work. The best way to describe the agent is that he is an eager beaver; Eager to serve, eager to get the job done… There are no cutting corners for this guy. It really makes him come off blander than tofu. Like that kid back in middle-school science class who would get anxious at the thought of not turning in a homework assignment on time. Don’t even think about putting those pop-rocks inside the paper-mâché volcano. It really shows that Norman understands what is at stake. With only less than 72-hours to save an 8-year boy from drowning from a well filling up with rainwater, it’s difficult to spare even a second for useless chatter. The odds are really stacked up against him even from get-go from this investigation when he first steps into the murder site of Jeremy Bowles only to find Lt. Blake and his army of officers mindlessly bopping around, obstructing important clues. It becomes a precursor of what’s to come with his relationship to the Philadelphia Police Department, particularly his “partnership” with Blake.

For the most part, Norman is a friendly guy. He’s quiet, almost shy to an extent, not the type who would elicit a casual conversation with others. When he tries to it just comes off as forced and awkward, along the lines of “So…how ‘bout them Yankees?” kind of conversation. The only reason he doesn’t overstep the anti-social borderline is with his understanding of people. It comes along with the nifty psychology degree under his belt. In some extreme circumstances though like dealing with a dangerous (and deadly) person such as Mad Jack he can go from a sympathetic, good-cop to a bat-shit crazy motherfucker in just a flip of a switch.

Norman is the kind of person who likes to “make rational decisions whenever possible”. He would rather approach a situation with as much information beforehand rather than ‘act first, think later’, especially when a human life is at stake. For him there is no warranted reason to kill off someone unless they pose a serious threat to your life. There will always be some sort of route to finagle your way out of a situation without having to pull the trigger. Yes, even if that means in a situation where a person pulls out a holy-cross even after the fact they deliberately threaten your partner with a bullet to the head (or if someone decides to make you into human toothpaste by tossing you into a car crusher but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).

His quiet demeanor can be broken given the situation. If your name is Carter Blake, then that’s probably half of the time. Even in the most intense situations, he tries to keep a cool head. Being calm and collected means he can walk away with his life in tact or another person for that matter. But let’s go back to Blake since this guy is at the epicenter of all of Norman’s frustrations:

Blake is the personified manifestation of what not to do when you are in the business of law enforcement. He has a complete disregard for the rules and regulations and could give two shits if you’re right when he is obviously in the wrong. Couple that with Cpt. Perry’s complete lack of interest towards finding the actual Origami Killer. All he needs is a name, a body and some story that paints a guilty picture on their face and he can sleep peacefully with himself. The two complete polar opposite personalities Norman has to do deal with along with being under a serious time crunch to find Shaun Mars drive him up the wall. It’s one thing to deal with inter-office politics, they can be pushed to the side but it’s another thing when it starts to spillover into your actual job. So much so that it brings the absolute worst out of Norman temper-wise. He will lash his frustration out either by yelling or making a snide remark. If things escalate then he is not afraid to get physical. Either way, Norman will not accept any kind of bullshit from anyone. He does have a quiet-side to him yes but he is not a person who will sit idly from the sidelines and not do anything. Especially if he sees something wrong going down. He will call it exactly how he sees it.

Like most archetypal heroic law enforcement characters, his commitment to his job becomes his weakness. In this instance, it is his overindulgence with ARI. The two of them are inseparable. There would hardly be a time where you find Norman not carrying his ARI with him unless it was a dire emergency situation (ie getting the shit kicked out of him and have your cool crime fighting glasses taken away). The story seems to give the impression that Norman has a ‘drug-problem’ but there is a whole lot more to it. Even though this is not explicitly highlighted in the story, it is shown that Triptocaine helps ease the side-effects from ARI. The more he uses ARI, the worse the side-effects becomes, the more he needs the Triptocaine, the worse he feels without the drugs to ease his pain. It becomes a very vicious, painful cycle where there is no win/win situation for Norman.

It may seem like he is starting to get a grip on his ‘need’ for Triptocaine but it all stems from his overuse of ARI in the first place. No matter what, that grey matter in his skull will feel like a melty pile of goo inside every time he needs to check his database or check an area for particular clues/evidence. It’s your typical case of a person who has become over-dependent on technology but that technology is coming right around to bit him in the ass.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
☑ FBI: Norman's background is in law enforcement. That entails that he has formal hand-to-hand combat training as well as how to handle a firearm. His specialty however is with constructing psychological profiles. As mentioned before, this is more for narrowing down when it comes to finding a criminal who is on the loose. This means though he prefers using his words to get out of a situation rather than his weapon to quickly take-out someone.

☑ Determined: Norman is the kind who hates to cut corners to find the truth. He has a hard time taking things at face-value. He always has to analyze, deconstruct and question things. This all being stemmed from the fact that there are human lives at stake, in his case, protecting a boy from nearly drowning to death.

☒ Still human: Norman can put a fight but compared to the other inhabitants he might encounter on route (or just someone else who is physically stronger and/or more experienced with weapons for that matter) chances are he is not going to win the fight with his bare fists alone.

☒ 'Be careful not to over indulge in you-know-what, sir. It can be dangerous': As mentioned before, his constant use of ARI and Triptocaine make a huge mark on Norman's health. He will have moments of 'withdrawals' where he will experience shaky hands, headaches, cold sweats...He will look like a hot mess. In even worse cases, those symptoms will be ramped up to a point where his skin starts to go pale, nose starts to bleed and his body will feel so weak, he can pass out at any given moment. It places him in a very vulnerable situation being that there is not much he can do to pacify the symptoms other than to take Triptocaine or find some other way to take his mind off the physical pain. The only way however he can immediately get rid of those symptoms is to take Triptocaine. So if he is in a situation where he has to defend himself and his symptoms has gotten to a point where he can't think straight, Norman is going to have a really hard time getting out of that sticky situation.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer.
Starter: Requesting for his original starter, which evolved to a Watchog during his first go here.
Password: Ginger Snaps taste like poop

Samples
First Person Sample:
[The camera turns on and Norman finds himself staring at his own reflection on the lens of the PokeGear. The look on his face reads like a he's been hiding under a rock the way his eyes squint with the sun beaming on his eyes. Nothing a pair of cool sunglasses can handle!]

So I'm not going to make a long spiel about this but...

[Norman proceeds to pull from his jacket a picture of a grey tie with red stripes. The size of the tie itself looks ridiculously small as if it can fit a small dog.]

I'm looking for this tie. If it doesn't look familiar to you then just stop the video here but if it does, let me know. And in case if you're wondering, no-- I can't buy another one. This one's special.

There you go; a small grey tie with red stripes, take a good look at it. Pause the video if you have to. If you've seen it lying around somewhere then let me know. Thanks.

Third Person Sample:
Norman has made some very difficult choices in his past but every time...every single time...

He can never make a clear cut decision at the vending machine.

Sure, first he's craving for peanuts but there's never just the peanuts. No, life has got to throw a monkey wrench his way with all they different types of peanut bags: Salted peanuts, roasted peanuts, honey roasted peanuts, honey roasted peanuts with the little chocolate candies in them. When it is 2PM and you are running on four cups of black coffee, everything looks delicious to you.

The question of the day for Agent Norman Jayden is how nutty is he feeling?

He stands by the vending machine with his hands folded together in front of his face. The money was already inside the machine, all he has to do is punch in the code...

All of this concentration has left Norman in his own world, not noticing his Watchog companion padding along to his side. And like any good furry companion, he makes this hard decision for his master.

F 44 = Oddish Mint Gum

Slow to the trigger yet again. Norman looks utterly defeated when he comes to the realization that his lunch will consist of four sticks of gum. 'Christ' he thought. 'Why is gum just as expensive as peanuts? I'll never get this economy.'

And not a single nut was lost that day.

Sakura Oogami | Dangan Ronpa | Reserved

[notsodelicateflower]

Linked for spoilers!

Haruka Nanase | Free! Iwatobi Swim Club | Reserve

[blue_distance]

I heard through the grapevine that Free! might not have enough canon to app? I am also using the novel High Speed! as additional canon (it happens five years before Free! and details a lot of earlier background stuff as well as giving most of the characters stronger narrative voices), but if you want to reject this on the grounds that only 8/12 episodes are out I'd be fine with that and just re-app in a cycle or two. If it helps any, I'd most likely drop him in here at the mid-canonpoint (end of episode 6 of 12) and then canon-update him after the anime finishes.

Player
Name: Ruin
Plurk: Ruingaraf
Skype: Ruingaraf
Timezone: Eastern
Current Characters in Route: none

Character
Name: Nanase Haruka (prefers to be called Nanase-kun but also accepts Haru)
Series: Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, with additional canon from the light novel High☆Speed! and related material like drama CDs.
Timeline: After returning home from the beachfront training camp. (between EP 6 and 7)
Canon Resource Links:
http://mangahelpers.com/forum/showthread.php/2992276-High-Speed!-(Free!)-by-K%C5%8Dji-%C5%8Cji (Summary of High Speed!, I can link the full translation I read if you want, though.)
http://free-anime.wikia.com/wiki/Haruka_Nanase (Haru's profile on the Free! Wiki)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Free!_-_Iwatobi_Swim_Club_episodes (Free! Episode summaries)
http://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/?p=6473 (Free! Drama CD #1 full translation)

Personality:

Haru is, at his best, a quiet and reserved young man who's a child prodigy at swimming as well as reasonably good in school. At his worst, he is an anti-social and water-obsessed eccentric with poor social skills.

Water seems to mean something special to Haru, something beyond a substance to be interacted with. Both the anime and the light novel open with his monologue about how the water is alive, and that to swim properly, one must quietly accept the water and let it accept you, so that both of you mutually exist in peace and do not fight the other. Additionally, he states that he goal in swimming is neither winning nor losing, or even time, but the idea of being “free” (a double reference, since Free is also a swimming event that is usually performed in the front crawl, Haru's specialty). The idea of freedom in the water is something of almost spiritual importance to him, referring to many things, including the silence, solitude, and sense of peace under the surface, the isolation from everyone and everything else other than his own physical exertion, and the lack of expectations or obligations placed upon him. Unfortunately, as High Speed references, this is a little more than just a sports protagonist quirk-- it's a coping mechanism for his social issues.

On land Haru deals with problems by ignoring them and not caring, and in water he runs away— leaves his problems, fear of other people’s expectations, and requirements of human interaction at the poolside. This sets part of a larger pattern with Haru that shows the weaker side of his character-- when conflict or anything he dislikes comes up, he retreats into himself beyond a wall of stoicism, by literally walking away, or by swimming to escape from his problems. When his opinion comes into a group discussion, he nearly always has nothing to contribute and opts to go with the flow (water pun intentional), sometimes even if he has strong feelings of his own, as in the case with the class project around the cherry tree. Once he does finally speak up, it tends to be in such an unreasonable and stubborn manner that it causes others to think of him as insensitive and cruel, even though he's usually more perceptive than he lets on about others' feelings. Because he generally lets his best friend, Makoto, speak for him, he's not really getting any better in the social department, either. The overall cycle tends to be something like Haru doesn't interact with people, until he's forced to. Then, he gets stressed and ends up either lashing out or saying something harshly blunt to make things awkward and potentially painful. After that he becomes further stressed by his inability to communicate and retreats, either to solitude or (most likely) to a pool, because the water is soothing and he can leave his problems back on land. This is the cycle that's become Haru's life.

When interacting with closer friends, like the swim club, Haru tends to stay off to the side more, but occasionally offers contributions in the form of blunt comments or semi-obvious statements. As the group's resident Straight Shooter, it tends to be his role to provide the comically serious foil, although he's not completely without a sense of humor (just mostly, and what little remains is so dry that it's hard to tell if he's being serious or not).

Although it rarely appears so, especially with his propensity to take Makoto for granted, Haru does genuinely care for the friends he has in his own aloof way. It isn't necessarily that he doesn't care, more that he does so from a distance and rarely feels such things need to be said out loud, or for that matter, acknowledged in any way. And so, as more recent episodes have shown, he is not entirely immune to Go Team speeches, and they are in fact one of the few things that can snap him out of his confused and lethargic depressive funks.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

+ Swimming It's not an exaggeration to say that Haru was a child prodigy at swimming, and even though he's seventeen now, he still has three more years until he's “normal” (the age of legal independence in Japan being 20). In the first episode, his closet is filled with old swimming trophies, and as of Episode 7, he was shown to be neck and neck with Rin, another prodigy swimmer aiming to enter the Olympics and hailing from one of the world's best swimming schools. In the beach training camp, the entire club swam distances of several miles each day in the ocean, which is no small feat. (This is probably a good place to ask-- because Haru can swim such great distances relatively easily, and even farther when pushing himself, would he be able to reasonably find Water Pokemon that would only normally be found by Surfing? If not that's cool, it's a curiosity question more than anything else.)

+ Art Haru is on several occasions shown to be a talented artist, both in drawing and other mediums, to the point that the art club aggressively tried to recruit him because of the poster he made advertising the swim team. Going out on a headcanon limb, I'm also going to apply this to him having very pretty (almost girly) handwriting and a good sense of color.

+ Cooking Because he's lived alone for some length of time, Haru is a pretty competent cook, although fish is his specialty (since it tends to be all he eats when left alone).

+ Intelligence It's remarked in High Speed! that schoolwork seems to be easy for Haru, implying that he's naturally bright to some degree. This is counterbalanced by Haru's apathetic attitude and his recent tendency to ditch school due to lack of interest now that he lives apart from his parents (and thus suffers no consequences for it).

+ Loyalty / Kind Intentions Once someone manages the arduous task of becoming Haru's friend in the first place, he will go to surprising lengths for them. While he is exceedingly poor at being emotionally supportive, he is the sort of friend who will show up at your door in total silence with appropriate clothes and some brushes if you said you were painting your room tomorrow. Or, in the case of High Speed!, diving into a flooded river to retrieve a scarf when he's delirious with fever and literally almost dying because Aki was upset. However, his best intentions have been known to backfire horribly because of...

- Emotional coherency / Social skills As addressed above, Haru's social skills are awful, and most of the time he doesn't even understand himself (becoming extremely confused in High Speed! by his feelings of friendly rivalry for Rin) let alone other people with a less... unique... worldview than himself. As such he becomes very uncomfortable with conversations that expect him to answer, particularly emotional conversations or sensitive topics where the other person is liable to burst into tears if he says the wrong thing. Basically, the majority of Haru's social interactions are a confused daze inside his head where he takes helpless stabs in the dark at what to say, even if they don't appear that way outwardly due to his stoicism.

- Stubbornness Haru isn't just stubborn as a quirk, he is destructively stubborn to the point that it tends to burn bridges between himself and other people. If Haru doesn't want to do something, he digs his heels in and refuses to do it to an amazingly ridiculous level, so that even his closest friends are unlikely to be able to change his mind. Unfortunately, this doesn't just apply to things he feels strongly about, either, it can sometimes crop up on completely irrelevant things such as what he wants to eat for lunch (always mackerel). Ultimately, this means he's generally bad in groups because if he vocally disagrees with the majority vote, there is no hope of making him go along with everybody else.

- Apathy It's not that he's lazy, it's that Haru simply doesn't care about most things, to an infuriating degree. And because he's so stubborn, it can be difficult to convince him to care about something once he has decided it's not worthy of his interest.

- Hyper-focusing On the flip side, if Haru has an objective in mind, there is no dissuading him or talking him out of it. Much like his stubbornness, all that really can be done is to get out of his way and pray that he doesn't seriously hurt himself in the process of whatever it is he wants to do. Since he is so apathetic most of the time, it's possible that once he does finally care about something, he throws his whole self into it. Alternately, he might just not be Haru if he wasn't being difficult somehow.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer (Swimmer)
Starter: Staryu. Partially because, like Haru, it's mostly silent and can be hard for other people to understand. And partially because Starmie is the Water Pokemon with the highest Base Speed.
Password: Ginger Snaps

Samples
First Person Sample:

[A young man of high school age comes into focus on the feed. His gaze is intense and blue, but words seem to take him a minute. When they come, they're flat and harsh.]

Oi. Does anybody know where I can find a pool? [A beat, and he tilts his head to the side a bit, considering.] Or ocean. Lakes and rivers are also acceptable.

[Because clearly, the first concern one should have after being transported to a strange new world is finding a body of water, not asking when or how you got here, or why the starfish monster with the glowing jewel has attached all of its appendages firmly to your school bag, visible in the background of the video. Obviously, the water is more important.]

[Seemingly forgetting that the feed is still running, Haru throws off his shirt and drops his pants to reveal... a swimsuit. After a moment he looks back at it, stares for a moment, like he's thinking about adding something--]

Please respond.

[And with that completely unnecessary addition, he clicks the Gear off.]


Third Person Sample:

It's shockingly new, all of it, so much that it proved a struggle for Haru to process all of it. The words 'WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF POKEMON' stared back at him in a loud font off of the booklet he'd found in his backpack. The backpack that, coincidentally, looked like his school backpack but didn't appear to contain any of his possessions. It did appear to contain some basic living supplies and another swimsuit, but nothing offered any explanation aside from those words.

He had a headache. Maybe that was a sign that all of this was some kind of head trauma hallucination? But he'd never make an beginner's mistake like running headfirst into the pool wall. Besides, he'd been sleeping, and in his own bed to boot. It didn't explain how he'd gotten here at all. And beyond that, he knew what fever delusions were like, and these weren't it. Everything was too solid, made too much sense.

Abruptly, he wanted to swim. He ignored it, flipping through the pamphlet with a scowl.

The word 'Pokemon' rang the bell of some long-distant memory, like a game older kids at school had played years ago. He'd only ever had the Gameboy Advance system, so Haru had to conclude it had been for an earlier platform. Still. Pokemon. And that yellow rat, maybe--

Maybe this was a theme park. Or maybe he actually had been transported to some magical land where background music played constantly. Out of nowhere, a wave of homesickness crashed over him, and he squelched it immediately-- there wasn't much in Iwatobi for him, anyway, and nothing was going to be gained out of the scenario by crying about it.

There was no arguing with the facts, at any rate, and the facts seemed to place him in some place where
people trained monsters to battle each other. As ridiculous as it sounded (like some kind of terrible after-school anime, something in the back of his mind decided), that was his life at the moment. It seemed pointless to speculate at the nature of how he'd gotten here when he very clearly was here, for that matter. Haru had the feeling that the 'how' and 'why' would have been anyone else's biggest questions, but to be entirely honest, he wasn't all that interested.

The best thing to do seemed to be to follow the path that had been laid out for him, flowing along with no resistance. Perhaps if he did that, he'd find whatever answers were to be had along the way. Or, if he didn't, that was fine too.

serah farron | FFXIII-2 | reserved

[searched]

Player
Name: Maddie
Personal Journal: faceplants
E-mail: maderedere@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: AIM: fail nought
Timezone: GMT+10
Current Characters in Route: N/A

Character
Name: Serah Farron
Series: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Timeline: End game
Canon Resource Links: This pretty much has everything you need to know!

Personality: Before the whole l’Cie business started, way back in XIII, Serah was just a normal teenage girl, attending school and living in the beach city of Bodhum. Three years later, she’s instead living in the Pulse colony of New Bodhum, can use magic, teaches children and misses her fiancé and older sister fiercely.

As a teenager, because Lightning was a soldier in the Guardian Corp and consequently away from home a lot, Serah learned to be independent. Their parents died when they were both still young, so it had always only been the two of them. During this time, Serah was very studious and excelled in school, more than smart enough to attend university in Eden. She had a special interest in history, which is basically the reason behind her becoming a l’Cie.

In XIII, Serah is the type of person who is quite mature and brave for her age, and she’s occasionally known to express wisdom beyond her years, like when she’s talking to Vanille. She’s not the type to be overwhelmingly selfish, since she knows Lightning supports the both of them with her job. And Serah, above everything else, cares about her sister a lot: she’s the only family Serah has left.

Unlike Lightning, though, Serah is very sociable and friendly; she makes friends easily. So it was pretty inevitable that she would meet Snow, the leader of NORA, and fall for him. She was lonely, maybe, and she’d found someone who understood and adored her. At her core, Serah’s a bit of a romantic, and that’s a part of her that’s not as mature as the rest: it’s the part of her that refuses to accept Lightning’s disapproval of Snow.

She’s also naïve in the respect that she doesn’t fully understand the world around her; she’s not completely world-wise in XIII. While Serah is independent and has been for a while, she has a certain naïve curiosity that ends up being to her detriment. The prime example of this is her choosing to explore the Pulse Vestige, despite knowing the dangers. The consequence? Becoming a l’Cie. Serah was terrified of becoming a monster, of becoming an enemy to the people she loved. So her choice was to push them away instead and try to deal with it alone.

It wasn’t about trust or love—it was about fear at what she’d become and fear that she might hurt Snow or Lightning. What she ended up underestimating were Snow’s feelings for her, but Serah tried to be brave enough to face it alone. This bravery allowed her to defy her Focus (well, along with some divine intervention) and turn to crystal regardless.

In XIII-2, three years have passed since Serah awoke from her crystal sleep, and the world is greatly changed. Instead of reuniting with her sister at the end of XIII, Lightning ended up in Valhalla, and Serah was the only one who remembered that she wasn’t in the crystal pillar with Fang and Vanille.

Living in New Bodhum with NORA, Serah was able to go on with a semblance of normal life. But, especially after Snow left, she felt lonely and abandoned, and put on a brave face to deal with this. She first appears in XIII-2 crying and freaking out over the meteorite crash, screaming out for Lightning to help her. But this impression doesn’t last long: Serah shows that she’s more than capable of being tough and defending herself, and her decision to travel with Noel is part of this.

She’s a very kind and caring person, as demonstrated by showing concern for Noel despite knowing nothing about him in the beginning. But throughout the journey, she offers him advice and encouragement, being the morale booster of the group. Serah’s very resilient in that respect; she’s not completely in Stepford Smiler territory like Vanille, but she can shrug off her own negative feelings to keep moving forward.

Serah can also be intimidating when angered, especially to the children of New Bodhum. This earns her the nickname of “Meanie Miss Farron”. She’s said to resemble Lightning when she’s looking angry or serious—so, even though she’s the friendlier of the two, she definitely has inherited some of the Farron traits. But, most of all, her bravery has carried over into XIII-2. Despite not knowing what lies ahead, Serah keeps going forward to find her sister; even after she finds out Snow is a l’Cie again and he disappears right in front of her. She still wants to save Cocoon and change the future, no matter what.

Even while knowing that her visions could kill her and that she’d die if she changed the future, Serah still pressed forward. She viewed the new future they’d created with a smile, despite knowing what would happen.

Vanille sums up Serah in a good way. “Even if there was nothing waiting for her, Serah was brave enough to face it.”

Strengths/Weaknesses:

Intelligence: Serah is pretty intelligent (despite certain Live Trigger options) as she was confirmed to be a straight-A student in school, and has become a teacher in the three short years since Cocoon’s fall. Her favourite subject was history.

Bravery: She’s also brave, as noted above; specific examples are when she defies her Focus despite her fear of becoming a monster, and leaving the security of New Bodhum to find Lightning and, later, change the future – despite all the consequences that came with it. She’s a tough person in general, in a different way to her sister; while outwardly she can be sensitive and cry and seem scared, when the going gets tough, she stands her ground and pushes forward.

Independence: Since Lightning enlisted in the Guardian Corps while Serah was still young and subsequently worked a lot to support the both of them, Serah learned quickly to fend for herself while Lightning was away.

Cooking: kind of random, but it’s noted that while Lightning is better at housework, Serah is the better cook of the two.

Weaknesses:

Insecurity: And despite her bravery, Serah can sometimes be overwhelmed by the situation, such as when she calls out for Lightning’s aid in the beginning of XIII-2. She sometimes needs a push into the action; instead of trying to find Lightning herself, she allowed Snow to go, and waited around for them to come back. It’s only when Noel challenges her that she considers leaving.

Relying on others too much: And despite the fact that Serah’s learned to be independent, there are still many instances where she’s shown relying on other people to save her. This is actually something she feels guilty about, as she expresses a desire to want to be the one to save Snow and Lightning this time, when they’ve worked so hard in the past looking after her.

Sensitivity: She’s also sometimes not forthright enough with her feelings; in a lot of situations she can stand up for herself, but there are occasions where she doesn’t. In XIII when she’s trying to tell Lightning she’s a l’Cie, in XIII-2 when Snow is leaving, again when she is reunited with him and he says “the wedding is on hold”, without realising that comment has upset her. At the end of the day, Serah is still a young girl, and sometimes these feelings get the better of her—even in XIII-2, when she has become a warrior in her own right.

Temper!?: Well, she got the title of Meanie Miss Farron from somewhere. She’s described as one of those teachers who can be “really scary if you do something wrong”.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer!
Starter: Starly
Password: Ginger Snaps!

Samples

Okay. So… I think I’ve figured out how this works. [ Suddenly! A face and some pink hair is onscreen. She offers a warm, albeit shaky, smile. ] Hello? Can you hear me?

My name’s Serah. Serah Farron. I’ve been here for almost a day already and … to be honest, I’m still a little confused.

[ A tiny, slightly self-conscious laugh. ] I’m in… New Bark Town, right? And I’ve got this cute little… what did they call it… Pokemon with me. I think it’s called a Starly.

[ As if on cue, the as of yet unnamed Starly chirps happily, momentarily invading the video. Eventually, Serah manages to calm it enough that it contents itself with being held in her arms. ] Sorry about that! Um… but anyway… what I really wanted to know, I guess… is everyone else in the same boat as me? Kind of confused? I don’t know… what I’m supposed to do now. So I'd appreciate any information anyone has. Really, anything at all is fine. Thank you.

[ She gives the journal another small smile, the shakiness more apparent now, and the recording ends. ]

Third Person Sample:

New Bark Town was a quaint little place. It seemed cheery; homely, even. It almost reminded her of New Bodhum – almost. Of course, there were a lot of things off about it as well. Such as the random music, the strange creatures, the professor claiming she was a “Pokemon trainer”…

Serah doesn’t really know what to think. She’s no stranger to weird situations, not anymore. After travelling with Noel for so long, she’d thought that she’d almost become accustomed to weird, but this place was an entirely new curveball for her. She hadn’t known what else to do other than attempt a polite as possible and not at all frenzied broadcast to anyone else who might be in the area. She didn’t want to scare off anyone who might actually be able to provide an explanation.

She wasn’t supposed to be here. Everything was still a blur, but… not enough of a blur that she didn’t realise what had happened. She and Noel had succeeded, they’d changed the future. And the price – the price… well. She’d paid it. Like she’d known she would.

Is this… a dream? She looked at her surroundings uncertainly. Maybe a dream… I’ll never wake up from. It’s definitely… not the kind I was expecting.

She’d walked uncertain paths before; she’d stepped into the unknown despite her fears. If she could do it once, then she could do it again. After all, she’d already come to the end of her journey, and she was content with what she had achieved. There was no harm in exploring this place, even if it wasn’t real.

I can do this. With her newfound companion safely tucked away in its pokeball, Serah looked up again at the sign reading “Route 29”. Then she nodded to herself, putting one foot forward, then another.

Latvia → Axis Powers Hetalia → Reserved

[timidnature]

Player
Name: Muri
Personal Journal: zettaimuri
E-mail: muripurei@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: n/a
Timezone: GMT
Current Characters in Route: n/a

Character
Name: Latvia ‣ Raivis Galante
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Timeline: Present Day
Canon Resource Links:
Character page @ Kitawiki
Latvia @ Wikipedia

Personality:

First impressions of Latvia are usually that he’s a bit of a cry-baby. Coupled with his short stature and quiet nature, he appears much younger than he actually is. Despite appearances he can display a great deal of maturity and tolerance towards others.

Latvia is not one to go out of his way to start fights and to most people he will show some degree of respect. He often speaks politely out of a slightly submissive personality however it also serves as a way to distance himself from people. Due to many unfortunate incidents in his past he’s developed issues with trust, as well as a low self-esteem and difficulty supressing his emotions.

It’s very difficult to break down the barriers that Latvia has set up around himself, in doing so he’s likely to close himself off more. In order to earn his trust patience is the key, and eventually he’ll open up. His speech patterns are a good indicator of how close he is to someone, as he slowly becomes more and more colloquial. It may take time but if Latvia comes to trust someone he proves to be extremely loyal. Keep in mind that trust and fondness are not the same, he can come to trust someone he finds annoying and still express a great deal of concern for their well-being.

As is the case with Sealand, who Latvia is shown fussing over despite the fact he really wouldn't consider them the best of friends. To Latvia, Sealand was someone who was a little out of his depth and his first reaction was to try and put him back in his place (As had been the case with Latvia himself previously). Throughout his life Latvia had been pushed around and under the control of various different nations and to say he had been unaffected by that would be inaccurate. He had normally taken the role of subordinate so there was certainly a desire to act as the dominant party for once. Upon his next meeting with Sealand he stated that he should be considered like a big brother and tried to warn Sealand about the difficulties of being a nation but ended up dwelling on the hardships he had faced himself. In the end he got upset that he was the one that needed comforting.

As mentioned previously, Latvia suffers from a low self-esteem. While he certainly doesn't hate himself he doesn't exactly have much confidence in himself either. Compared to others he feels slightly overshadowed. He was never as determined as Lithuania and not as intelligent as Estonia and certainly not as powerful as Russia. Even though Latvia still holds some resentment towards Russia, when living under his control he was always very eager to please him. It wasn't for Russia’s sake, but rather for Latvia to draw attention to himself and prove that he was useful. Unfortunately most of these attempts ended up backfiring on him which only made Russia bully him more.

Latvia is certainly a pessimist and tends to think more about what could go wrong rather than what could go right. There’s good reason for this though, as his luck tends to be on the bad side. Most of the time it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, such as standing under a falling ceiling or petting one of the hungrier sheep in the field. It isn't always coincidence though and sometimes he gets into trouble because of something that he’s said or done.

Most people seem to have a filter between what goes on in their brain and what comes out of their mouth. Latvia doesn't really have that. He has a tendency to say exactly what he’s thinking and even when he’s trying to be nice to someone, something rude might slip out. It’s never his intention to offend people, while he can be extremely passive aggressive he would never deliberately insult someone. That kind of pure honesty can make him appear quite blunt or inconsiderate and he’s usually a vocal complainer. Because he doesn't think things through before speaking or acting he has a habit of doing things that are prohibited.

As well as being open about his thoughts he’s very open about his emotions as well. Latvia is the type to wear his heart on his sleeve and it’s easy to tell what he’s feeling by the expression on his face. This is likely what gives people the impression that he’s a bit of a cry-baby. A lot of the time he’s quite anxious about things and easily upset. One notable trait of his is that he frequently shakes (to the point where Russia tried to forcibly stop it with less than stellar consequences). These tremors can range from a slight quiver to a very noticeable quaking. Occasionally he may even shake out of excitement or anger rather than fear. His shaking was most prominent during his time living with Russia and in modern times the tremors have become less frequent as Latvia becomes better adjusted.

Latvia may be easily scared but he is by no means a coward. He’s vocal about his feelings but that doesn't mean he’ll be paralysed by them. While he much prefers to avoid conflict, if needed he can fight back with much vigour. Physically he’s quite weak but it takes a lot to knock him down and keep him down. That willingness to stand-up for what he considers important, no matter how much he might cry and complain, paints Latvia as quite a courageous individual underneath his shy exterior.

When backed into a corner he shows a remarkable genius and can do things that seem impossible. For example, when pushed to make something by Russia, Latvia was able to craft it skilfully despite having no previous experience. However, lately he’s become quite lazy and would prefer not to work hard if he can help it, unless gently encouraged with kind words and promise of reward. On multiple occasions Latvia has expressed a want to rely on other people instead.

In many instances Latvia comes across as a lonely individual. The want to rely on people, despite being wary about trusting them probably stems from the fact that even though he’s normally surrounded by others he still feels quite distant emotionally. He’s frequently expressed a desire for siblings and friends, a topic that Lithuania and Estonia seem keen to avoid. Despite that the three get lumped in together as the Baltic States they’re not all that close. He gets upset if this fact is brought up.

Having grown accustomed to feeling alone most of his hobbies are solitary. Latvia loves books and if there’s a library nearby it’s likely that he’ll be there. Poetry and romance are his favourite although he seems to laugh at romance novels (almost bitterly) for being unrealistic. He still loves using them as a form of escapism. He enjoys non-fiction as well as fiction and displays a broad knowledge of various cultures and histories. While he couldn't give a detailed history of a country’s socio-political history (unless it was one he shared a lot of history with) he could still talk about all sorts of interesting factoids. Latvia would probably be the kind of person to drink his troubles away if he could actually get drunk. He cites his limit as forty cups but when asked about it he claims he doesn't know what getting drunk actually is.

Despite his introversions Latvia is a rather outspoken individual. The confidence he lacks in himself he makes up for with confidence in his culture and his people. Ultimately what he wants is a sense of comfort and security and a friend he can count on.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

● Sturdy... For someone with such a small body Latvia is incredibly tough. He can withstand injuries that would kill or seriously harm a regular person and boasts a high pain tolerance. This also counts on a mental level. While it's true that he's had a difficult past and he has come out a little worse for wear he still keeps moving forward despite that.

● Knowledgeable From the desktop mascots he displays a great deal of knowledge about other countries and cultures, and he's good at talking about it in a way that's easy to understand.

● Determined If there's something that must be done Latvia will find a way to do it no matter what it takes. Even though he's become quite lax as of late he can pull off things that seem impossible when backed into a corner.

● Tolerant While occasionally childish he displays a great deal of understanding and patience. And if he allows himself to open up to someone he's an incredibly loyal companion. Even to those he's not fond of, he's fairly respectful and only voices his dislike to their face if there's a degree of familiarity with them.


✖ ...But not that sturdy At times he can be a bit of a pushover. He can say no but still go along with whatever he's being pressured into anyway. Normally it's by people much bigger or more powerful than he is but he's still defiant where it counts.

✖ Unfortunate Whether through negligence or bad luck he has a knack for getting into trouble. Because of this Latvia tends to assume the worst and has developed a bit of a pessimistic view of the world.

✖ Distant Latvia can sometimes find it hard to trust people and it takes a while for him to truly open up. Unless he initiates it he really hates physical contact. That's not to say that he isn't pleasant to be around on first meeting but he isn't as quick to warm up as some others are.

✖ Blunt He isn't exactly the most tactful of people, whether he means to or not. Even when he's trying to be sympathetic he may still come out with the wrong thing. There's no point in counting the number of faux pas he's made, you wouldn't be able to keep track.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Mareep
Password: Ginger Snaps

Samples
First Person Sample:

[The video feed clicks on showing what looks to be the lower half of someone’s face, after a few moments of mumbling and shaking camera movement it zooms out to reveal a young boy who’s clearly holding the device at arms length with a slightly troubled expression on his face]

Hello, my name is Latvia and I’ve lost a small sheep that’s been following me for the past few days. I was wondering if anyone happens to have seen it. It wandered away from me just outside of Violet city.
She likes to chew on things and responds to the name of Marija. I’m sorry to be a bother but there are some dangerous creatures out there and I’m worried.
Um… hang on.

[After some more shaking the camera is put down and broadcasts the image of the PokéCentre ceiling while a faint scribbling is heard in the background. Eventually the camera is directed to a small sketch in a notebook. If it wasn’t for the long tail, it would look just like a normal sheep]

If it helps at all here’s a drawing of what she looks like. If you know where she is, or if you’ve found her please contact me as soon as you can so I can arrange where to collect her.

Thank-you very much.

Third Person Sample:

Latvia had never been a perfect vision of physical fitness but he liked to think that he at least had the stamina. But nearly five days straight of walking was enough to wear anyone out and it felt like he was only able to keep himself upright through sheer determination. His little Mareep companion had become tired from walking far before he did and was resting safely inside her Pokéball. In a way Latvia couldn't help but feel a little jealous, he would love to be kept in a safe space while someone else carried him to and from wherever they needed to go.

Wasn't that just public transportation? Why hadn't they established a bus route yet? With a heavy sigh Latvia stopped in his tracks and finally felt the light pain prickling at his feet. According to the map, this was the right way but the dirt path he’d been following had long since trailed off and in front of him was a small ledge. It wasn't too big, even with Latvia’s short stature he was sure he could climb it but just looking at it made him twice as exhausted. He studied his map and then looked back to the ledge in hopes that it might have lowered itself over the past minute.

No such luck but if he could clear it, it would cut a god few hours off his journey and he could be in the next town by evening. The prospect of a good meal and a warm bed seemed to give him the burst of motivation he needed to get moving again. Latvia put the map away, shook the stiffness from his hands and took the few winding steps back he needed to jump up and pull himself over. It was simple enough in theory but when he took the running start and hauled himself up he only managed to get about halfway before every ounce of strength left his body.

He already has his top half hunched over the ledge and his legs kicking uselessly under it but somehow the idea of pulling the rest of himself up just seemed near impossible. No matter how much he willed himself to crawl forward his body wouldn't budge. Eventually Latvia resigned himself to exhaustion and fell from the ledge, landing roughly on his back. Somehow the impact re-energized him and he managed to get back to his feet, brushing the dirt and leave from his clothes.

Looks like he was taking the long way round…

Souji Seta || Persona 4 || Not...reserved? Reserved? IDK anymore. 1/2

[the_tv_is_a_lie]

Player
Name: Taka
Personal Journal: kajimatakeshi
E-mail: genjitsutomoe@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: yagamitsuyoshi
Timezone: GMT +8.
Current Characters in Route: None!

Character
Name: Seta Souji
Series: Persona 4
Timeline: Post-game
Canon Resource Links: The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, his fate was sealed.
Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope.

Personality: Something to get out of the way here before we get to everything else: as the game depicts him as a silent protagonist, Souji doesn’t talk all that often – but that’s mainly because he wants to listen first and contemplate what’s going through his friends’ heads before saying something, so it counts. He picks his friends carefully, and works to forge close, lasting bonds with them. To say he's introverted is quite fitting for who he is, actually – he doesn’t go out and spend time with big groups (the Investigation Team is another matter entirely, mind). He also tends to get worn out after a long time of socializing, too, often leading to him sitting at home in his room with a book, or doing part-time jobs. Despite a mild tendency toward being something of a hermit by nature, Souji has an easy enough time of sitting down and having a chat with just about anybody; he’s shown to have been studying at another school before moving to Inaba, possibly indicating that he’s known people like the ones he met at that rural town. However, he would rather have a small circle of close friends – such as the ones he picks out over the course of P4’s plot – than a laundry list of names to sift through. Even just a few powerful bonds always count for more than a long list of mere acquaintances, after all.

His wits are nothing to scoff at, either. Souji often pays attention and learns quickly from what he experiences, easily filing away what info he finds, and working it into what he knows, constantly looking to figure out how everything connects. Though he may put them aside for a while, if he finds that there are loose ends, odd details, things that just don't fit, he’ll try to keep them in mind and do his best to figure them out too. One could probably argue that he was born to be a detective, given the clues he comes across and pulls together, not just in his search for the victims, but in his search for the truth behind the murders and the person, or people, responsible for them.

Souji, in all honesty, just can’t stand to see the people he knows and cares about wrestling with and suffering from unresolved personal issues. Take, for example, Souji’s Social Link (his relationship) with his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima – he was willing to talk to him over even the most menial of things, let his uncle warm up to him… and it eventually allowed Souji to help him get the closure he needed to get over his wife’s death, long after it had happened. Another would be the S-Link with Nanako, showing much of the same care for her that he did for his uncle, which eventually led to her treating him as her big brother, even addressing him as such. The boy just wants to see them smile, and this proves it. He empathizes with them so easily, one can’t help but feel any secrets they may give will be kept safe with him. On the other hand, this empathy tends to bite him in the rear when it comes to situations where those same people’s feelings are involved. Chances are, if it’s not anything related to a murder case or something of similar importance, he’ll likely let himself be pushed into something embarrassing, such as the cross-dressing pageant in October, or something…uh, ‘life-threatening’ isn’t the best word for this, but it comes quite close, during the school camping trip that summer. The kid can’t catch a break when it comes to getting out of a bad situation in his social life, it seems – even so, it shows that he would rather suffer than be a source of conflict within his little circle of companions.

Souji has a general feel for leadership, and is quick to take charge, as displayed when the Investigation Team needed a leader, and is quick to form an opinion of something – still subject to change, especially when it comes to finding out new info which gives him reason to reconsider his opinions and decisions, but it’s there. Even so, he’s still very much a relaxed, easy-going sort of person. Rather than pushing his own idea of fun on somebody else, he’d rather do what makes them happy. The closest example I can think of is making Nanako cheer up with various little "magic tricks" while at home, or perhaps the times he’d be called up by a friend to to meet up and hang out. It’s what makes them happy, then why not? It’s not like going would cause him any harm. On the other hand, when the situation is important enough, he stops letting himself be pushed around and draws the line, and makes sure everyone knows it. The incident with Namatame near the beginning of December shows this the most; when the others wouldn’t listen, he raised his voice and ordered them to calm down and snap out of it, and they came back to their senses, to see that he was right. Their inability to see the bigger picture, twice over, and then being ready to do something they'd have all regretted, was more than he was willing to take, and for that, he would most certainly put his foot down.

He’s also got a sense of humor. A relatively subtle one, but it’s a sense of humor nonetheless. Some of the things he says can get the most…amusing of reactions. Just to start, here’s an excerpt from what went on after they rescued Chie:

Yosuke: “He’s the only one who didn’t have to face his Shadow.”
Chie: “I guess I can understand…you seem like a very open person.”
Souji: “So you want me to bare it all?”
Chie: “W-What!?”
Yosuke: “Don’t do it, we’ll get arrested again!”

As one can tell, he can really figure out how to get a reaction out of people, especially once he gets to know them.

That being said, he’s more than willing to defend his friends and family, whatever the cost. Should they face a problem they can’t handle alone, he’ll help with it, be it with a troublesome school subject, or a threatening Shadow – or even both, in Nanako's case. For these reasons, the other members of the Investigation Team trust in him wholeheartedly, seeing him as an inspiration for themselves to keep working to do what's right, and the person to turn to for help when the situation gets ugly.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Interestingly, the non-combat-related use of his Persona-switching is in his ability to deal with others socially, lending to a rather "chameleon-type" personality. It isn't that he has multiple personalities or anything; it's that he can usually figure out pretty quickly what stance and attitude someone is taking in a given situation. Thus, he can adjust his own to respond accordingly, getting along, even making friends, easily, with people of almost any personality type. As such, he also tends to be very sensitive to how other people feel at any given point, and in understanding them easily, can usually figure out how to bring their flagging spirits back up. It's implied that he was always like this, even before attaining the potential to summon Personas as such, as the ability to summon doesn't alter someone's personality or mind, exactly -- more like, the ability to summon is simply something that's unlocked within a person, and the extent of that ability, and what form it takes, what Personas are available, etc., are the result drawn from their personality.

Another noteworthy thing about Souji is his adaptability to changing situations, and organizational skills. During his time in Inaba, he maintained an uncanny balance in his schedule for whatever he chose to do to make the most out of his stay. As a student, he catches high marks on exams, and often knows the answer to whatever question is posed to him, thanks to his study habits, and knowing when to concentrate on homework, and when he won't be able to and should do something else instead. In his time outside of school, he managed to accomplish many things, including holding several part-time jobs on a regular basis and helping several friends through difficult personal issues (and several people that weren't friends yet, but surely were afterwards!) When something unexpected comes up, he finds a way to fit it into his plans, and takes it in stride -- a friend calling him up to spend time together is usually a fine alternative to whatever else he might have had planned to do; he'll just make time for the other thing later, without batting an eye. This calm, collected way of dealing with the unexpected is one of the qualities that won him the confidence of his friends, and led to them putting him in a leadership position, in their investigation into the strange murders that were taking place in their small town. Having a good memory for details, a mind that wants to tie up loose ends and be logical in fitting the facts together, and a desire to understand what's going on, certainly never hurt this matter, and only reinforced the appropriateness of him taking the lead in their little team.

And it doesn't compare, on the coolness scale, to summoning a representation of his own will, and certainly doesn't count as a superpower of any kind, but Souji has proven himself to be a decent cook, capable in the kitchen with a stove, as he prepares lunches some evenings to take to school the next day. He's also had opportunities in the game to join the Drama and Music (band and orchestra, not choir) clubs after school, so one can infer that acting is in his list of skills as well, especially with his ability to easily enough adjust how he comes off to others, and that he's handled instruments before, and is able to at least read sheet music.

He’s not without his emotional flaws, however. Souji was, at one point, driven by anger; along with his friends, and sought to get revenge on someone for what they had done to his young cousin Nanako, who Souji had grown very close to. It wasn’t until it boiled down to throwing them into the TV world, a move which would surely have lead to that person's death, that he realized just what he was getting so carried away with, and snapped out of it to yell at everyone to calm down and be rational about what they were up to. There are times that his mouth has gotten him into trouble, as well, like with Ai, who he nearly drove off with a bit of too-blunt honesty, and the aforementioned pageant he got shoved into. Also as previously mentioned, he’s very reluctant to hurt others’ feelings. He has a considerable amount of trouble speaking his mind, whenever doing so would cause others some hurt feelings. For better or for worse, this is a byproduct of his sensitivity to others' moods. Many of the options given in-game imply this, but a particularly painful example (from his perspective, anyway) is the ‘Mystery Food X’ incident, while out on a school camping trip. Unable to be honest with Yukiko and Chie while out shopping, not wanting to offend them, he refrains from offering any criticism on their ideas of what to buy to make "curry" on said camping trip for dinner, though the combination of their ideas for ingredients is quite plainly horrific. Afraid of causing them further grief after Yosuke's extraordinarily poor reaction to taste-testing the abominable results of their cooking attempt, he has no choice but to try to eat the ‘food’ they made, and is instantly knocked out cold from it.

And, as good as he is at cooking, he's not particularly skilled with all that many other trades. Folding paper cranes is one thing; it was one of the odd jobs available to him for extra money after school. But he's still pretty much a beginner when it comes to activities such as arts and crafts, or mechanical or electrical repair. Unless it's plainly obvious and simple to fix, like putting the chain back on, on a bike, if it slips off, he may have a bit of trouble with it. He's probably not much of a genius when it comes to computers, nor is he fantastic at carpentry or hunting (though he's gone fishing plenty, at the bank of the little river that ran through Inaba....) or much of anything else yet, really. He could learn if he put his mind to it, surely, but he hasn't yet gotten much of those other skills under his belt yet.

Alfred Ashford | Resident Evil | Not Reserved

[twinsanity]

Okay, the app technically contains hard spoilers, but at the same time this particular installment of canon is literally thirteen years old and as such spoilers pertaining to the Ashfords are kind of on par with "it was his sled." As such, I don't see a reason to cut it, though if this is disagreed with I have no problem with it being screened afterwards and/or reposting with the thing cut.


Player
Name: Dal
Personal Journal: dalicious
E-mail: daletchica[at]yahoo[dot]com
AIM/MSN: AIM: AsylumBred
Timezone: EDT (GMT -4:00)
Current Characters in Route:
Kiyotaka Ishimaru (ardent)
Solf J Kimblee (explosivecombat)
Reaver (istheindustry)

Character
Name: Alfred Ashford
Series: Resident Evil
Timeline: Pre-Code: Veronica - before the bombing of Rockfort Island, but well after "Alexia's" return.
Canon Resource Links: Alfred Ashford at the Resident Evil wiki.

Personality:
To one simply hearing about the Ashford family for the first time, they seem to have wandered straight out of some sort of fairy tale: it’s a story about a set of twins, a boy and a girl, raised in a faraway castle by their wealthy father. The "younger" sister, Alexia, was a genius, a prodigy; beautiful and intelligent, she was doted on by her family and her tutors alike. Her brother, Alfred, was not quite as naturally gifted; however, his family loved him no less, and in time he showed proficiency with weapons and skill in combat, and he vowed to protect his sister for the rest of their lives. They grew up surrounded by toys and music boxes, and a carousel of their very own; it was incredibly easy to forget the fact that their "castle" was actually concealed in a giant bioweapons lab built in a mineshaft in Antarctica, and they were raised with no human contact outside of their father, each other, and the scientists who were both studying them and teaching them how to conduct horrific human experimentation in their spare time.

...it's a bit of a twisted fairy tale, all right? Maybe the Brothers Grimm wrote it while under the influence.

Needless to say, the product of such an upbringing can't really be expected to be too stable, and Alfred certainly doesn't disappoint in that regard; the result of human cloning, biogenetically engineered with the intention of creating a child that would be superior to most normally conceived human beings, Alfred has several advantages that come with that territory - he was more or less a child prodigy. However, Alfred has never been mentally stable; just for starters, he’s always been aware that he’s the weaker, "inferior" twin when compared to his sister, Alexia (who possesses intelligence levels that make her literally clairvoyant, according to Word of God), and this knowledge manifests in the form of a massive inferiority complex – he simply "knows" that he'll never be as good as his sister, and when he speaks of the future, he never discusses anything he might want. Rather, everything is based around what others want of him; according to him, he wants to restore the Ashford family name to its former glory (despite showing literally no interest in the scientific fields that the Ashfords are known for in the first place, and seeming far more interested in weaponry and perhaps joining the military one day), and he wants to ensure his sister’s success and happiness (which he indicates he'll do by having no will of his own – he repeatedly explicitly refers to himself as Alexia’s "servant," not her brother, and he also repeatedly mentions how subservient he'll be to her and how he'll carry out her every whim, should she ask him to).

However, that isn't to say that he's a complete blank slate with no mind of his own – he certainly has opinions, and he’s not afraid to make them known. He isn't a very sociable person overall; even during the most civil of interactions, he's prone to expressions that are bordering on sneering, or at the very least making it very plain that he is, indeed, judging your lifestyle and everything about it – and from the look of it, he disapproves. His upper lip is often curled, giving him an air of general annoyance, and the look in his eyes often distant and preoccupied, as though he's thinking about something far more important than the person he's talking to. He's very blunt, and on good days, his tone is very authoritative and in-control, if a bit overly dramatic; on...less-than-good days, he's incredibly immature, prone to snapping out childish insults and generally flailing everywhere when he doesn't get his way. Either way, however, he'll tell people what he's thinking to their faces, with no fear of consequences – in fact, everything he does tends to have that air that only the truly privileged are capable of, the self-assured knowledge that everything he says and does will be met with nothing but praise (whether given genuinely or through fear of consequences otherwise), and the confidence that he can get away with literally anything.

One might be willing to dismiss all of that as bravado; after all, when faced with an actual opponent, Alfred doesn't often stay and fight – he prefers to attack from a distance, using a sniper rifle or small explosive devices from a safe location and running if he's spotted or his target gets too close. Hell, he uses a kick-killer on his shoulder, and the sniper rifle has a laser sight on it; at first glance, he really doesn't seem like he's that strong, and he's just using his family's influence to get what he wants. The general sense of fearlessness and confidence aren't entirely without merit, however; the Ashford family specializes in bioweaponry in the form of inhuman monsters known as B.O.W.s, and several lines of dialogue in both Code: Veronica and Darkside Chronicles imply that not only has Alfred trained some of these creatures to act as bodyguards and a security system of sorts, but he legitimately plays with the damn things in his spare time. These creatures are massive, and most of them can only be killed with rocket launchers or other large explosives - the sort of things that you can only "play with" or "train" by shooting them in the face repeatedly until they learn to listen and obey, and if they manage to get ahold of you before that, then...well, may God have mercy, because you aren't getting away otherwise. So whatever one may think of him, Alfred definitely isn't all talk.

He still does have vulnerabilities despite all that flagrant disregard for his own safety, however; as was mentioned above, he's always been extremely unstable. Outside of the abovementioned inferiority complex when it comes to people he likes, he has many, many severe psychological issues centering around themes of loss, abandonment and isolation. He’s a compulsive hoarder, for one thing; he keeps most of his childhood toys (and his sister's childhood toys) in a shared space above their bedrooms, he keeps the rest of their toys in their bedrooms, and he doesn't ever seem to throw anything out if it had half a shred of sentimental value. He also has blatantly refused to remodel anything, as their bedrooms have remained the exact same in design since they were children - and this is really just the tip of the iceberg, but before that, some explanation:

The source of the abandonment/loss issues can be traced back to when he was between the ages of ten and twelve, when he found out about the origins of both his sister and himself. Believing that they were only being used for personal gain by Alexander and feeling immensely betrayed at having been lied to by a man he had been raised to think of as his father, he assisted Alexia in subjecting him to physical torture and horrific scientific experimentation; a short time afterwards, he lost his sister when she decided to experiment further on her own body, requiring her to be put in cryogenic stasis for fifteen years to allow the viruses she was working with to mature slowly instead of immediately taking over her body. The family butler, who had also served as one of the twins' caretakers, tried to remain close to Alfred out of loyalty to the family, but soon found himself fearing for everyone involved due to Alfred's declining mental state; eventually, he left as well, something Alfred interpreted as yet another betrayal. Following these experiences, he became fearful of becoming close to others, as everyone he was close to either stabbed him in the back or had to "go away" for reasons that were beyond his control.

The crippling loneliness that followed the loss of his family broke him mentally; he became prone to severe hallucinations, believing that Alexia was still with him despite the fact that that couldn't possibly be the case. He often "saw" her nearby, or "heard" her in the other rooms; he also spoke to her frequently, addressing her and holding what amounted to lengthy conversations with the walls, fully believing she was there and answering him. Complicating the matter further, Alfred also tended to experience prolonged periods of dissociation; originally a defense mechanism that he adopted to help him cope with difficult situations, the dissociative periods became more and more pronounced over time, to the point where he had difficulty establishing whether he or "Alexia" was in control of his actions, because he didn't feel in control of either. He began playing both roles eventually, adopting Alexia as an alternate persona that he could retreat into whenever he needed confidence, bravery or skill that he didn't believe himself to possess; eventually, he took to purchasing dresses and corsets in styles that he thought she would like, donning makeup and wigs to make the illusion more complete, immersing himself utterly in the role to the point where he believed he was her if he was in a strong enough dissociative state.

As "Alexia," Alfred’s demeanor changes entirely. He consistently refers to himself as a female when the Alexia-persona is active; her personality itself is based on what he remembers of his sister – it's cold and calculating, as Alexia has always been, even as a child (though there's an obvious soft spot for her brother and her family); she doesn't tolerate failure, becoming snappish and cold when she feels disappointed or let down. She's often very distant toward people she doesn't like or trust, and she's very no-nonsense in how she conducts her business. She's less prone to fits of immaturity than Alfred is, and she generally doesn't laugh unless she's feeling as though she's won whatever fight she was engaged in (something that Alfred remembered just a bit inaccurately, if Code: Veronica is anything to judge by, as every third sound out of her mouth is a Noblewoman's Laugh). Alfred is also able to mimic a female voice very well and he passes as the opposite sex very easily, so he’s actually able to present as a different person entirely – in fact, in-game at least three characters don’t realize that Alfred and "Alexia" are the same person until they manage to dishevel him to the point that it upsets his delusion, and he gets incredibly upset at being forced out of the dissociative state instead of coming out of it naturally.

It’s also worth stating that when "Alexia" is active, Alfred is far calmer and much more confident, and he’s able to focus far better than he can normally. He becomes much bolder in flat-out attacking – he doesn't bother with the hiding-in-a-safe-location business, instead confronting challenges and adversaries straight-on. His aim is far more accurate with his weapons, and he no longer requires the kick-killer on his right shoulder.

Whichever personality is active at the moment, however, there’s one thing that’s very consistent between Alfred and "Alexia" – and that would be the sadism. Since Alfred assumed command of Rockfort Island, he’s created a special "training facility" where he pits human beings against various B.O.W.s; he tends to taunt people he's locked in there via loudspeaker, watching them from an undisclosed location and mocking them mercilessly, and expressing disappointment when they manage to not get themselves killed. "Alexia" is also very openly mocking, though she expresses direct pleasure at trying to kill the individuals in question herself rather than watching them die from a distance. In actuality, both siblings have been like this since they were children, maiming insects and animals just to watch them die and expressing no remorse over torturing their father and performing experiments on him that turned him into the B.O.W. known as Nosferatu.

At his current canon point, however, Alfred is mostly calm. A bit oversensitive to questions about exactly whom he’s speaking to when he's alone, and a bit too eager to lash out at anyone who thinks he needs help, but for the most part? He's content.

After all, he has his sister, if only in his mind. And together, they can continue living out their fucked-up fairytale for as long as he wants them to.