rubycitymods | APPLICATIONS

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applications

APPLICATIONS

APPLICATIONS

✗ Applications are processed weekly, every weekend. The cut-off time for the submission of applications is 11:59PST on Saturday.
✗ Before applying, please read the FAQ and Rules pages.
✗ Please submit your application with the journal you plan to use if you have one made already. If not, another journal is fine, but we prefer your intended journal so it makes for an easier time in granting access to the mod journal and the contacts page.
✗ For very long applications, we would ask you to please separate them into various comments so that they will not take up too much of the page.
✗ Please title your application as { [CANON/CANON OC/OC]CHARACTER NAME || Series Title || reserve/no reserve || X of X } in the subect header
✗ IMPORTANT: Our application form was edited on September 07, 2015. Please use the revised form.
✗ If you are looking for an example of what an application should be like, please refer to the application here for an example of a canon character application, and here for an original character application.

✗ Canon Application

<BIG><BIG>PLAYER</BIG></BIG>
Name:
Age: If you would prefer not to be specific, just let us know that you're over 18!
Personal Journal:
E-mail:
AIM/etc:
 
<BIG><BIG>CHARACTER</BIG></BIG>
Name: First, Last (Western order)
Canon: Name only.
Age: Real / Apparent, if applicable
Timeline: At which point of the canon were they taken from?
Items with character at canon point: Tell us what your character has with them at the point you have pulled them from - this includes any animal companions.
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: This is only to be used if are already playing another character from the canon you are applying for. For example, if you are apping Mario and you already play Princess Peach in the game, how will you handle their interactions without playercesting? Depending on your answer, you may be refused the character you are apping for.
 
Personality: We are expecting at least THREE well-written paragraphs minimum, with references to canon examples of your character’s personality where available. Please provide us with insight to your character and their behaviour, their likes, dislikes and fears, as well as your understanding of them. We would also like to see details of your character's strengths and weaknesses, which may include physical, psychological and emotional.
 
Background: Here is where we would like to see information about your character's history and their place within their canon. This can be written if you wish, or you can link to any wikis and relevant resources.
 
Abilities: Is your character an accomplished carpenter? Can they shoot laser beams from their eyes or travel through time? If they possess any abilities, learned or otherwise, they need to go in this section.
 
Network/Actionspam Sample: This is the format that will be used in rubycity_rp and must be in action form (brackets). We are looking for a minimum of 6 to 10 lines that give us an idea of how your character speaks/acts. This sample may be linked, either from a musebox, different game or our test drive, provided that the linked example was written within the last six months.
 
Prose Log Sample: This is the format that will be used in rubycity_logs and must be a minimum length of 250 words. This sample must be in prose format (paragraphs, no brackets) and should show character reactions/introspection. It does not need to be in game's setting, but it must demonstrate your character as you are apping them. This sample may be linked, either from a musebox, different game or our test drive, provided that the linked example was written within the last six months.

✗ Canon OC Application

<BIG><BIG>CHARACTER</BIG></BIG>
Character Name: First, Last (Western order)
Canon: Name only
Age: Real / Apparent, if applicable
Timeline: At which point in the canon were they taken from?
Items with character at canon point: Tell us what your character has with them at the point you have pulled them from - this includes any animal companions.
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: This is only to be used if are already playing another character from the canon you are applying for. For example, if you are apping Mario and you already play Princess Peach in the game, how will you handle their interactions without playercesting? Depending on your answer, you may be refused the character you are apping for.

Personality: We are expecting at least THREE well-written paragraphs minimum, with references to canon examples of your character’s personality if available. Please provide us with insight to your character and their behaviour, their likes, dislikes and fears, as well as your understanding of them. We would also like to see details of your character's strengths and weaknesses, which may include physical, psychological and emotional.

History: Three well-written paragraphs minimum, detail our your characters’ history.

Abilities: Is your character an accomplished carpenter? Can they shoot laser beams from their eyes or travel through time? If they possess any abilities, learned or otherwise, they need to go in this section.

Relationships to Canon Characters: If any, if not applicable please put N/A.

Network/Actionspam Sample: This is the format that will be used in rubycity_rp and must be in action form (brackets). We are looking for a minimum of 6 to 10 lines that give us an idea of how your character speaks/acts. This sample may be linked, either from a musebox, different game or our test drive, provided that the linked example was written within the last six months.
 
Prose Log Sample: This is the format that will be used in rubycity_logs and must be a minimum length of 250 words. This sample must be in prose format (paragraphs, no brackets) and should show character reactions/introspection. It does not need to be in game's setting, but it must demonstrate your character as you are apping them. This sample may be linked, either from a musebox, different game or our test drive, provided that the linked example was written within the last six months.

✗ OC Application

<BIG><BIG>CHARACTER</BIG></BIG>
Name: First, Last. (Western order)
Age: Real / Apparent, if applicable
Appearance: The sorts of things included in this section should be the character’s height, build, clothing style, hair, accessories. As well as their general posture and mannerisms as well, like quirks or vocal tics.
Chosen PB: First come, first serve. Please check the taken PB page. You are also welcome to use your own or commissioned art, or icons that do not depict your characters face but facets of their personality as well.
Items with character at canon point: Tell us what your character has with them at the point you have pulled them from - this includes any animal companions.

Personality: This should be self explanatory. However, when discussing personality please include why they have particular personality traits, how this effects their lives and interactions. Please provide us with insight to your character and their behaviour, their likes, dislikes and fears, as well as your understanding of them. We would also like to see details of your character's strengths and weaknesses, which may include physical, psychological and emotional. The minimum will be three well-written paragraphs, but you should be able to write more.

World Information: Please go as in depth as you can about the world. There is no wiki or website for us to reference, and we need to know as much as we can about the place your character comes from so that we can understand the character when reviewing the application.

History: Your characters’ history in their world. Be sure to be detailed. This section should be a minimum of three paragraphs.

A note for CR AU applications
Ruby City does allow previous game history/CR to be brought over on a case by case basis. If you want to include this in your application please add additional sections for PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT and PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY beneath the Personality and Background/History sections.

In these additional sections we would like to see a brief outline of your character's previous game history and how it potentially impacted on and altered their canon personality.

✧ N A V I G A T I O N ✧

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Strengths/Weaknesses:

Strengths
-Physical strength, endurance, agility, instincts/intuition and above all Sephiroth's incalculable power/strength in his own (conscious) willpower are capable enough to be classed as superhuman, (almost) god-like. A balance of natural gift (his altered genetic makeup), lifelong training (as a Mako-enhanced super SOLDIER) and his evolution into a higher being (merging with Jenova). Demi-god is a fairly accurate label, considering he was (mostly) human to start with.

-Wildcard. It could be a strength or a weakness but in terms of others' controlling his intentions/reactions it's very much a strength, and he sees it as one as well! Due to Sephiroth's compounding psycho/pathological issues it's very hard in general to know how he would react to any particular situation/circumstance. He's near-impossible to read both physically and psychically. Even if anyone could get past/be let in past his metaphysical defenses they'd be likely deafened/blinded by the strength of his willpower/consciousness - that is, unless they'd been willingly invited in.

-Strength of Will. Though touched on in other sections already, it's worthwhile to add here that he puts 110% (plus some) into whatever pursuit he takes up, and will never give up on something he's put his mind to. In fact, talking him down from doing anything he thinks is the 'right' thing to do isn't suggested.

Weaknesses
- Sephiroth is a very driven, focused man and as such, nothing tends to divert him from a goal once he has it in his sights; this can be a weakness as it can lead to narrow-mindedness especially if said goal was more power/elevation above his current position amongst others. Megalomania all the way! Coupled with his over-inflated ego, he can be made to spill his plans prematurely especially if he thinks he's already victorious.

-Holes in/missing/shattered memories: As highlighted in the On The Way to a Smile (OTWTAS) novella: Case of Lifestream; in order to prevent dissipation into the Lifestream after Meteor, Sephiroth decided to make his memories of Cloud the core of his being (similarly to how he had made his core out of Jenova the first time he was killed) so that he could continue to function as a separate entity outside of the Planet's system. As a consequence, almost all other memories about his past, even his own appearance, became part of the Planet's weapon against Meteor and so were lost. A necessary sacrifice of inconsequential memories.

-(See Personality) Emotionally under-developed, though he would probably class it as post-developed - not being human anymore he has no need for human emotions/feelings/considerations. This extends into severe anti-socialism, he wouldn't naturally engage with others unless it was necessary in order for him to gather intel/knowledge, if they were in his way or if he needs to take revenge on them. He has a particular distaste for failure, especially when it's his own.

-Some powerful, nature-based Holy magic would be his kryptonite - though bear in mind it would have to be suitably powerful. Sephiroth is an invading alien entity/parasite evolved into something near-God like. By adding/merging with Jenova (the 'Dark' harbinger'), 'Black' Materia and then later 'darkening hearts' through Geostigma he's aligned himself firmly on the darker side of the spectrum.

Abilities:

-Sephiroth is most known as an expert swordsman, and while he specializes in combat with his legendary Masamune - it's not by any means the only way that he can fight. He uses just-as-lethal hand-to-hand techniques when in close enough (ref: Advent Children final fight w/Cloud) and could most likely handle spears/pole-arms with relative ease. Sephiroth was a master at Materia fusion/usage and could still cast powerful magic if given the means (I don't intend for him to arrive at Ruby City with any Materia, but there are other ways to cast magic.) - after all, he was arguably the only one on the Planet powerful enough to actually be able to summon meteor with the Black Materia. From which he retains his Limit Break: Supernova (link)

-Physical Manifestations. Sephiroth can manifest his signature weapon - Masamune, and one large black feathered wing on his right side; at will and can also be dismissed to nothing as easily. Whilst manifested, they are as real as any other part of him.

-Telekinesis, triggered without much more than a thought. Though movement of objects is unfocused and geared more toward moving large objects in reaction to a situation (he'd be more likely to throw a table across a room than pick a spoon up from it). It's unknown if this is simply lack of experience with this power or if it's more reflexive and/or is just an extension of his strong willpower which could be refined if he worked at it. This ability extends into levitation; Sephiroth's flight more a delicate balance of telekinesis for balance and levitation which gives the appearance of flying.

-Jenova infection/tainting. If Sephiroth wanted to he can turn himself into the source of/spread a contagion. Once Jenova cells are 'activated' in a person their sole purpose is to overrun that persons base genetic structure and take it over - tainting them forever as a part of Jenova's whole (See: Reunion). This is what resulted in Sephiroth in the first place; direct infusion at the correct foetal stage. In adults, Jenova cells alone aren't able to do very much at all unless somehow charged with energy (for example, with Mako) or if specifically targeted/influenced by Sephiroth's power over them for a particular reason. In minors, it's easier for the Jenova cells to infiltrate into the genetic structure - in both cases, the natural body fighting the cells can produce Geostigma as a symptom. As highlighted in many of the OTWTAS Novellas (and below in Psychic ability part), successful contraction of these cells/Geostigma depends also on the individuals' state of mind (their 'darkened heart'). Whilst it's worth noting that Jenova has never been specifically referred to as airborne as a contagion in canon, it has been (black) water-based.

-Psychic ability: Illusion projecting, mind control, mind reading, telepathy or otherwise 'forcing his will' upon other (especially) weaker-minded/psychically open individuals. Sephiroth's willpower can extend to making people perceive things that aren't real and in extreme cases he can control them directly. This extends also into mind reading and telepathy. Those 'infected' with Jenova cells are most susceptible, but weak-minded individuals or those with a negative perception of their own identity (or depression) may also be vulnerable to less extreme interference. By the same token, any attempt to tap into his mind psychically would be met with a solid wall.

-Improved regeneration & self-preservation. Due to the Reunion being a base instinct of Jenova cells, Sephiroth's self-preservation is hardwired into his DNA as a priority. To the point where other abilities, or even his focus/consciousness would be dampened and/or shut down if there were a serious issue threatening his life. This extends into a natural lessening of certain so-called 'human' needs, such as needing to eat, sleep etc - excepting if he were in need of the energy for rejuvenation purposes. He regenerates from wounds/injuries at a faster-than-human rate by default but this can be sped up/slowed down at will.

-Reunion. Although it might not be particularly playable within Ruby City, it's worth a note here. If Sephiroth dies, his cells and spirit do not. Jenova cells have an innate ability to force themselves to reunite and once this is achieved enough to anchor his spirit again Sephiroth can force it to happen at an increased rate. He's enough of a psychic will to influence any help he can get with this goal. Note: this takes a lot of time and/or energy to perform, in canon it took 5 years to re-grow for himself a body and that was with the Planets energy lingering at the Northern Crater - he intended to use a huge surge of the Planet's own energy to 'finish it off' as well (ie, the impact of Meteor) - though reconstructing for himself a not-so-omnipotent, 'human' form such as his current one might not take as much time/effort.

First Person:

(Sample Taken from recent event at Animus)

"The game starts tonight! Remember to check under the bed for monsters. Have fun! ♥"

[He remembers your last game, Ruana. He imagines you must have a heart-shaped stamp you use lovingly on every note you leave for everyone. He'd quickly set fire to that note and left it's ashes on the bed stand. He's not to be goaded by you.

Monsters hm, he wonders what twist there will be this time. Monsters generally aren't a problem for him on a night to night basis so Sephiroth isn't too concerned. The fact that these are bound to be different monsters is more exciting than terrifying; though that odd notion for him to stay away from his Dormitory tonight raises a few hairs on the back of his neck. He usually monster hunts of an evening regardless, with little thought to the reasons he's driven to do so.

Clearly they are all to be forced from their beds tonight.

Logically then, the dormitory levels, which do not usually harbour much threat on a usual night should be for Sephiroth's attention tonight. At least so that he can get some idea of the nature of this game. There are Hallways, doorways to dodge in, out and around corners of should the need arise so strategically, there are worse floors to stick to. He patrols systematically, the glinting green of his Fire Materia in Masamune's hilt.]

Third Person:

(Sample Taken from intro-post written for Entrance Way)

He'd failed. Again.

Every time, a variation of the same maneuver, seemed to guarantee his defeat. A chain of 13 unstoppable, unblock-able attacks that he'd not even been able to move to dodge. The damage to his vessel, which he had willed into being from the Lifestream itself, was irreparable and if he continued to force his will over his creation then he himself could be forced back into the Lifestream with its death. Better to let go, and preserve the core of his being, retaining that sense of self outside of the system of the Planet. Especially since he'd worked so hard to recover so much. His black-feathered wing was wrapped around and he dissolved away from the feet up in a thick flurry of smoking feathers.

Sephiroth landed from a few feet in the air, with a similar flurry of black feathers preceding his arrival, leather-clad knees and then face first into freshly mown grass. Then there was utter stillness, any moment then he expected the attack of the Lifestream, as it had on every one of his defeats. He imagined the way it would flow around and through him, ripping his entire being apart. Or it would try, Sephiroth had already guaranteed his future; this was retreat into the Lifestream, not a banishment.

There was something about the wet smell of the grass though, that brought him around to consciousness. The thick aroma of Spring assaulted his senses the moment he pushed up from the ground and back up onto his knees. A leather-gloved hand ran back through one side of his long silver hair, freeing a few loose blades of grass and the last small black feathers before they smokily dissolved away into the air. Green eyes expanded to their fullest and delicate silver eyebrows raised as Sephiroth took in his new surroundings; well he wasn't expecting to end up here that's for sure. Where ever here was.

He had skid a little down this particular Hill but other than that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. That feeling of his energy hemorrhaging from every pore of his being that he'd experienced just moments before, gone. Sephiroth still felt a little dazed but he wasn't sure anymore if that was due to that retreat he'd induced (and had clearly gone wrong!) or if it was simply the warm, bright sunlight from this pleasant Spring day burning his eyes due to the contrast with the polluted Midgar skies.

His polluted Midgar sky. On His Planet.

Where Am I? He thought as he hauled himself steadily to his feet. Still taking in the view looking down towards the mansion and idly brushing the odd blade of grass from leather-ed arms where it hadn't just fallen away when he'd stood up. It was then that his thoughts were caught by the very action of brushing down his leather attire. This felt different. No, that wasn't it. After a couple of pats down his front and stretching of arms out in front, it came to him. It was the very fact that he was feeling at all. He had mostly forgotten what it felt like, how constrained it felt, to have a physical form to call his own again. His consciousness bound to all the intricate fibers of the same.

He sunk his consciousness inward, as if for further verification. Like a wildfire which started within his chest, at a single thought all of the Power that Mother had bestowed upon him was awakened and ready in an instant. As he would have expected it to be, as empowered as he deserved to be. It felt even more complete than he had in a long time, though now perfectly contained within one physical being rather than swarming around inside the life of the Planet infecting humans. Sephiroth's mouth curled into a smirk as he came to this realization and opened his eyes again.

This had been his goal.

Sorry for the lateness. It's been a hell of a weekend. I understand if I gotta wait.

NAME
Name:Matt
Age:30
Personal Journal:willallowit
E-mail:tazrael@gmail.com
AIM/MSN/etc:MattB345

CHARACTER
Name: Cloud Strife
Canon: Final Fantasy 7
Age: 21
Timeline: The infiltration of Corneo’s mansion
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: N/A

Personality:

Cloud is at once a simple and complex character. On the surface he place gruff and proud. He will make fun of those he thinks are weak or incompetent and considers himself to be an authority on most things, particularly combat. In the early time he spends with AVALANCHE, he makes it clear that he doesn’t care about their goals and is simply working for them for the money, and only because Tifa asked him to do so.

In spite of his bravado, Cloud doesn’t like seeing innocents get hurt. He particularly disproves of situations where women put themselves in danger, like in the Corneo mansion incident when Tifa and Aerith were both planning to go in for different reasons. This likely links back to his failure to protect Tifa as a child and the promise he made to come to her rescue, even if he doesn’t quite remember how things occurred during the Nibelheim incident anymore. As he goes through the game and makes new friends, he seeks to protect and help them as well. Cloud talks big, but he would never leave someone behind.

The truth of Cloud is that he is massively insecure with himself. He wanted to be a SOLDIER, he promised he would, and he failed. His current personality is a mix of the memories he has of Zack and his own idea of what a SOLDIER would act like. When confronted with the gaps or inconsistencies in his memory he tends to change the subject, go blank for a few seconds while his mind reshuffles, or in the worst cases passes out. Deep down he has a massive fear of letting people down and being unable to protect them when the time comes.

Edited 2013-07-01 03:15 (UTC)

Background: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_Strife

Strengths/Weaknesses: Cloud is stronger and more durable than an average human, on par with a high ranking SOLDIER, and has memories and knowledge of military procedures, particularly those of ShinRa. However, this is tied to the procedure which shattered his mind. He has very weak mental defenses because his own sense of self is not what he pretends it is, now being made up of his memories, his memory of Zack, and the bits of JENOVA in his blood.

Abilities: Despite how true or not Cloud’s claims of being a member of SOLDIER are, his sword skills are top notch and at least help support his claim. I’ll leave it to the mods to select which limit breaks he has available if it’s an issue, but at the least he should have Braver and Cross Slash.

First Person: http://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/963059.html?thread=611490291#cmt611490291

Third Person: This didn’t make any sense. He was walking through the door into Corneo’s mansion and then he woke up on a train. Tifa was here but…there was something different to her. She didn’t have the same look in her eyes that she had when he saw her in the bar the other day. Now there was a look in her eyes that was both colder and yet more matronly; as if she had seen things that had shaken her foundation.

And who was the woman in the suit she was talking to? A Turk by the look of it, but Cloud didn’t recognize her. Maybe she was a newbie? He had just fought his way past one of them with Aerith yesterday. What could Tifa possibly have to do with them? She didn’t look scared, or being forced to work with her…

{Why are you so worried? Is it so bad that she can protect herself?}

Why was he worried? This was a strange place, and Tifa had been giving him odd looks since they ran into each other. What was she hiding? Whatever secrets this place was hiding, he’d drag them out into the light.

PLAYER
Name: Sura
Age: 16 years old
Personal Journal: N/A
E-mail: sunnyrainstorm.day@gmail.com
AIM/MSN/etc: Plurk — suradalala || AIM — sunny_rainstorm

CHARACTER
Name: Avenger
Canon: Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
Age:

In this case, he physically looks to be around 16 years old.
Timeline: Post-end of the visual novel.
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this? N/A

Personality:
Many years ago, there was once a simple boy who was born to a poor family consisting of his mother, his father and his younger sister. They were not wealthy but they were happy, having enough food to not starve and a warm place to sleep. He worked hard in the forest and mountains with his father from the crack of dawn to the beginning of the evening, to support them by bringing home the fruits of their labors, and he was someone who never minded lending a hand to others, admired by both his friends and family. True, life in the village was static, unchanging and too boring for this boy's tastes but he was certain even that feeling of dissatisfaction with following in his father's footsteps, and his grandfather's footsteps, would fade away given enough time. Content to live out the tedious days of his life peacefully and uneventfully until his death, how on earth could anybody have been prepared for what came next?

Ripped brutally away from his home, and forced to undergo a practically endless cycle of being cursed, beaten, tortured, and branded as the container of all the evil in the world and being punished for it day after day after day, without relief; the result of this horror was understandable. The poor boy lost his mind, and his dignity, and his sanity in one fall swoop. He progressed through the stages of utter shock to anger and then to fervent hatred, madly cursing the humans, cursing the world, and cursing himself as well. But eventually he resigned himself to his role and rotted away at the peak of a mountain like he was supposed to.

~~This evokes the Humans Are Bastards trope hard.~~

So when he was given a second existence as a Servant in the Holy Grail War, it's natural that Avenger was the antithesis of all the good in humanity entombed in flesh. He's quite lazy, perverted in regards to the ladies and laid back, preferring to take things easy and not bother with hard work, and has no sense of justice to speak of. Avenger is cunning, yes and he has no trouble adapting his plans on the fly but don't expect him to usually bother with long term schemes or complex agendas. He runs with what he's got and that's about it.

He'll shamelessly omit information if it's not asked for and needlessly drag out a situation on a desire for the novelty of it should it strike his fancy. If given the choice, he'll always select the easiest way, or even try to worm his way out of the situation altogether and he honestly doesn't care if other people see him in a poor light due to that. Avenger couldn't care less about what anybody else thinks of him. Having led a poor excuse for a life filled to the brim with physical and emotional torment, fear, despair, and betrayal by everybody he loved as a boy, and solitude has left deep, bitter scars that no amount of time or killing the humans he hates could heal in their entirety. His manner of speech is rough and uncultured, causing him to come off as rather rude and uncomfortable to speak with, and his manners are all but nonexistent.

Avenger prefers to behave selfishly. Outwardly, he's immature and whiny. If he's unhappy with the situation, it's guaranteed he'll let the people around him know via complaints or declarations of annoyance. There's an obvious casualness and disregard for social norms to him, considering he leaves his chest bare and never wears anything to cover himself up with but his tattered, red mantle and headband.

He is cynical, relentlessly mocking towards others, and bitingly sarcastic. He's also one of those people who is so... completely broken down with misery, hatred, pain and all the generally super terrible things that happened to him that he came out the other side of brokenness with mildly high levels of functionality, and a disinterest in bothering to distinguish between good and evil. His moral compass is seriously awry to put it lightly. He holds the belief that people should be true to themselves and do what they believe is right, regardless of how morally acceptable it is. Avenger wholeheartedly accepts everyone, no matter how horrible, just as they are and acknowledges carrying the burden of the wicked desires of humans as fine. He loves the world for it is worth hating to him, and tolerates and forgives humanity for their repulsiveness, divorced from his hatred of them, and this forgiveness validates their cruelty. ~~Evil unwilling jesus died for our sins.~~

And while he is pretty much the weakest servant ever summoned by the grail, he's still pretty abrasive, bloodthisty and homicidal despite being utterly weak. He kills indiscriminately and pointlessly, when given the chance to, and Avenger really enjoys doing it as evidenced by the torn up corpses he leaves behind after the fact. In a fight, he attacks like a wild beast, giving it his all to make a fast, cruel kill. This is a twist of irony, considering that in the light of day Avenger is capable of assuming the shape and identity of Shirou Emiya ~~resident protagonist of a very sexist eroge game~~, living out life with Shirou's friends and quietly enjoying it, the boy who is his absolute opposite in every way, being selfless, thoughtful, and hard-working. Or perhaps it's better to say that Shirou is a great deal like Avenger was before his village turned on him and senselessly ruined his life, and that's maybe why he pulls a Grand Theft Me on him.

So it's not so much that Avenger is actually a irredeemably fucking awful person at heart, as it is his prior sense of self as a kind, good-natured person who loved the world is thoroughly forgotten, hammered down, and destroyed by becoming what those who cursed him as a demon childishly wanted him to be; the source and embodiment of what evil truly lies deep in the darkness of humanity's heart. Serving as the basis for mankind's idea of evil leaves no room for warm emotions or even a flimsy sense of self-identity. That's the role he had accepted for himself. It's the role humanity's selfish desires forced him to be, yet he's demonstrated that he can be caring and concerned for people and their emotional well-being under certain conditions and be selfless and aspire to be a "hero of justice" in a certain sense of the word, although that could actually simply be a flaw caused by a certain protagonist's emotions. He too has the desire to "save others" though his definition of salvation is a tad different from that of a human's definition.

When he lived, he was a helpless sacrifice, forcibly made into the representation of what they childishly yearned for him to be, and yet it was by being loathed by everyone and by losing his very sense of self to absolve his village of any guilt in committing sins, a hero was born from the ravaged shell of Angra Mainyu.

Background:
You are you, Angra Mainyu. You may forget this right away, but I will remember it to the end.

Strengths:
▶ PAIN TOLERANCE — With a backstory like his, it's no surprise that Avenger has a ridiculously high threshold for pain, no matter what's being done to him. When he gets injured or hurt, he'll yelp and whine but that's largely for show. Even major injuries can be endured or outright ignored if he doesn't feel like being a baby about it. Being in constant pain was a norm for his existence, so it doesn't slow him down greatly.
▶ LOYALTY — As horribly unbalanced and generally evil he is, Avenger is a loyal person who will refuse to turn on a Master he chooses to serve no matter what. His interpretation of personal loyalty is very different from the norm (he really doesn't see how killing you is being disloyal, honestly) but he means it when he gives his word. (How he means to keep his word is another thing altogether.)
▶ CUNNING — Avenger is noted to be cunning and can devise reasonably intelligent plans that will result in the desired outcome regardless of what happens to him or who finds out about it. (See: several of the events in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia.) He's bright enough, and offer some genuinely deep thoughts when prompted, but tends to not bother with thinking too deeply on many things.
▶ AGILITY — His coordination and speed are inhuman, given that he's still able to do a lot of the crazy parkour and anime-eque flashiness that tends to accompany the fighting style prevalent in the series with a reasonable degree of success even when he's the canonly weakest of all Servants that's ever been summoned in a Grail War.

Weaknesses:
▶ THIRD-RATE — He is the weakest of all Servants in pretty much every other parameter, and relies on his agility to hold his own. Avenger also is absolutely horrible at offensive attacking, and dies easily if taken unawares. His skills are third-rate as are his weapons, and his trump cards are practically useless if not used in coordination with Bazett's support, and even then can be negated.
▶ LAZINESS — Without the Grail, he's just an average person. He is no more intelligent than your normal villager, rude, crude, and is quite lazy and unmotivated. He has no personal goals nor any inclination to find one outside of granting the wishes' of other people. Given a chance, he'd take the easy way out of everything instead of working hard to reach his goals.
▶ INSANITY — As stated in the personality section, Avenger is a broken, insane fabrication of a person who was degraded in every possible way, had his dignity stripped from him, and had his humanity as well as his personhood taken from him, had been betrayed by everything he knew, and had his name expelled from Avesta, destroying all records of it. He wasn't treated as a human being, denied all agency and rights as himself and was forced into becoming a Heroic Spirit. From the moment he was summoned by the Einzbern family as their Servant, he had no way out or any way of escaping the situations he was placed in. He was brutally tortured and imprisoned in stone by his own village, he was imprisoned in the Grail by his death, and he was imprisoned in a hellish world by bearing his curses. His morals are screwed terribly and he is basically mankind's collective scapegoat. To make a vast understatement; this is incredibly unhealthy, and has done his mentality no favors.
▶ DEPENDANCE — His existence as a Servant is dependent upon the supply of mana from the Master he has formed a contract with. If the flow of mana is severed or the Master killed, he wouldn't be able to stay in the world for very long or take a physical form. Over time or if he uses his Noble Phantasm, the mana depletes.
▶ HATRED — Avenger hates all things. Hatred is the state he constantly exists in, so his spiteful hatred can be used against him like any other emotion and he falls prey to his anger easily. He's not exactly what you can call an emotional person, but he's violable and does react to what he feels. Along with a tendency to ignore the consequences that could result from doing something stupid or harmful, this can bite him in the ass. The Servant act overconfident and pay the price, as witnessed in his combat against Saber.
▶ BLOODLUST — His twisted idea of amusement is pointless murder whenever he allowed to do it and get away with it, and he regards it as his 'job.' Needless to say, this generates conflict with others.

Abilities:
▶ NOBLE PHANTASM — Possesses the ability to use his Noble Phantasm—Verg Avesta (False Copy of the Inscribed Natural Word)—to inscribe his wounds upon the target and reflect back all pain of their attack back upon the attacker. However this is a rather useless skill since he has to take the attack in the first place, and needs to be alive and conscious for it to work. And until Avenger is healed, the opponent's pain will never disappear. And the book itself is a copy of the Book of Zoroaster, Avesta is a support-type book Noble Phantasm that records events accurately and correctly out of its own volition. Avenger's narration describes it as more or less being on the level of an automatic typewriter that is useless in a fight due to it being unable to harm anyone, while its only advantage is that it is able to put indescribable emotions one isn't aware of into words.
▶ SERVANT — His status as an Heroic Spirit. Possesses the ability to shift into spirit form, the ability to form a pact with a human, and all the usual Servant benefits.
▶ COMBAT — Possesses high defensive combat skills (by defensive combat, this means he can hold back as many opponents as he wants in a stalemate without neither side gaining the upper hand for a long, long time) his style being basically while he can't win a fight, he can't lose either if he plays it defensively.
▶ HOLY GRAIL — Not sure if this counts as a power or not, but he is great keeping people alive when they're on the verge of death. SO HE CAN FULFILL WISHES AND ALL THAT, if the wish made is within his power to make reality. (This cannot happen in-game due to the fact that his connection with the Grail is severed by the transport out of his dimension.) He's basically the will of the Holy Grail and the unwilling source of its taint when his village's wish for him to be the incarnation of all evil was granted by his absorption into the Grail. He was also granted the power to use the Third Sorcery after becoming Angra Mainyu.
▶ ASSIMILATION — Avenger can copy the personalities and appearances of others as exterior "shells", like he has done with Shirou and Irisevel. (Assuming they have had some kind of contact with the Grail beforehand.)
▶ ANGRA MAINYU — His identity as Angra Mainyu; All the World's Evil. It is a curse placed upon him by his village that forces one to be the representation of all evil and changes their alignment toward killing people and hating everything relentlessly. Angra Mainyu is the living embodiment of humanity's sins and selfish desires and wrongdoings, and Avenger is supposed to be the antithesis of everything that is good and just.
▶ WEAPONRY — Possesses a set of twin fang-like daggers named Tawrich and Zarich, capable of using them to lock his opponent's weapons or in melee, but they're unreliable (they can break) and terribly designed weapons in general. His skill with using them to fight is average.

First Person:
[ The view, when the feed steadies, is of the darkened streets spread out before the camera from somewhere impressively high up in the city, and judging from the way he handles the device, the person toying with the pocketwatch camera has no real idea of how to work it beyond turning the feed on and pressing the buttons; the video keeps flickering on and off erratically from the video option to the voice function to text and back again to video.

Or maybe he's just messing around with it for kicks. It's hard to tell.

Whose who aren't deterred by the rapid changes may catch glimpses of ragged, red cloth and dark hazel eyes. Since this is a purely video recording, the aura of palpable darkness and corruption that rolls off him isn't noticeable ~~thankfully~~. Then the pocketwatch is set down on the ground and aside from the occasional noises of rustling, like fabric shifting and footsteps, Avenger is silent and isn't visible in the feed. The viewers instead get treated to the sight of the starry night sky, a blanket of stars spiraling across the fading black in the meantime. The watery light at the edges of the horizon indicates dawn is fast approaching.

Apparently he's got a little bored with the technology and wanders off to toe and peer over the edge of the building he's on. Eventually, a snatch of his voice drifts back to the recording. ]

—... isn't Fuyuki City?

[ It sounds like he's talking to himself more than anything. Soon, a hand reaches down and unintentionally covers up the camera as he picks up the pocketwatch again. Guess Avenger thinks it's worth another attempt. The feed cuts off, leaving only the sound still recording as he fiddles with it aimlessly, his brow furrowing slightly. ]

Alright... uh, wait. Okay, if I—

[ A few moments pass before there's a bit of a clatter and then we have the video recording back! And casually seated on the edge of one of the buildings, we have the newcomer to this fair city. Unruly black hair, an obstinate facial expression, and more noticeable of all, almost every inch of dark skin inscribed with savage glyphs. He has a very important question to ask; ]

Hey, somebody tell me what the date is?

[ Avenger, it's too fucking early for this, goddamn. ]

Third Person:
This isn't the void, ■■ thought in bewilderment.

It's the first intellectual thought he's had in a long time—or maybe it was seconds ago. It was... hard to tell, really. Such a concept like time had creased mattering to him ages ago.

When the train finally lurched to a stop at its destination, and Avenger had ~~been kicked off~~ disembarked, stumbling slightly on the stairs of the train, into the depilated station, he already had a throbbing headache from the sudden onrush of overwhelming clatter and noise that assaulted him in unwanted greeting. His temples ached in protest of the clamor. Re-adjusting to possessing physical senses would take a little bit, much less the entire ordeal of having a physical form again. Ignoring the mutters and gawking of the insignificant humans hanging around the station, soon he'd exited the station and was wandering aimlessly through the foggy streets.

Avenger walked slowly and dazedly stared (it wasn't Fuyuki City, no chance in hell. he knew that city like the back of his tattooed hands and this wasn't it) at the unfamiliar buildings that surrounded him, the old-fashioned streets and attempted to figure out what was going on. He grimaced. Let's start with the most pressing issue; how in the void was this personality still existing?

Hadn't the previous Self ended after all?

He remembered it clearly now, returning to that empty place outside of the world. His own end. Back to the original existence. Nihility. Fucking nothingness. The Self had known of death. Not that had mattered. His wish had been fulfilled, he had done what he couldn't before. What could compare to that?

His tired legs eventually took him to a worn, stone bench in some forgotten corner where he sat down and rubbed his face. Had another magus Summoned him to grant their wish? Another Grail War? What kind of magus was downright stupid enough to do that? ~~The answer is almost all of them.~~ And if they were that idiotic, what sort of assholes would drag him to a dreary place like this without asking his permission first? Frankly, it rang out as implausible to him. The Servant was a one-time only mistake and upon becoming nothingness, shouldn't be possibly be feasibly brought back with the same copied intellect again. There was no chance this illusion could revived, since the Holy Grail was destroyed and the Wars that had accompanied it finished for good.

Yet, it was seemingly exactly what had happened and Avenger stood, alone and lost, in this foreign city as proof. The strength to pull off something on that scale was more than a little scary to consider.

Even if it wasn't magi at work, there was definitively unsavory scheming underfoot here that he didn't want to bother with. Ugh...

And finally; okay, if he was existing here, fine. He had no problem with that. Many things could be accomplished as long as there is life, even a mere semblance of it. Avenger had completed his duties, and fulfilled his obligation to Bazett, and hence had no reason to not dawdle here for awhile. Didn't have any goals that would be delayed by this ridiculous occurrence. Why quibble needlessly over the details? It was pleasant to able to breath, move and consciously think here, in this place.

Well then, that begs the question of where was here?

His stomach growled loudly. Avenger put a hand over his bare stomach, flushing for a second at the unfamiliar sensation.

... Amendment to that first question: where was here, and did it have any food places where he could get a hamburger? Physical incarnation, strings probably attached or not, warranted a celebration for himself in his mind.

PLAYER
Name: Nyx
Age: 22
Personal Journal:

badgal
E-mail: Available upon request.
AIM/MSN/etc: gilded chrysanth [AIM];

missbiondetta

CHARACTER
Name: Manaka Sajou
NOTE: Both "Sajyou" and "Sajou" are acceptable ways to write her surname, but I'm using "Sajou," as that's the spelling that appears on the tombstone in the OVA.
Canon: Fate/Prototype
Age: Appears to be 10 - 12, but is actually 18 - 20
Timeline: After Misaya's death
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this? Fate/Prototype and mainline Fate/ canon take place in entirely different universes, linked by the common thread of the Holy Grail War and magi. For a character like Claudia, who neither has any real connection to the Holy Grail War nor is a magus, she has no more reason to interact with Manaka than she does any other character. Likewise, Manaka would have no interest in Claudia.

Personality:
Perhaps more than anything else, Manaka is defined by her love for Saber. Of course, Manaka is the only one who would call it love; while she certainly thinks of it as such, to anyone else, the word obsession would be more appropriate. Her desire to be reunited with him and fulfill his wish (in the form of raising the Beast and killing countless people, obviously) drives all of her thoughts and actions. In her eyes, Saber is the only person that matters, and she would sacrifice the entire world for him without hesitation. When she died by his hand at the end of the Fourth War, she said she was sad only because she wouldn't be able to see his face any longer.

Manaka is described as being "innocently monstrous," and she truly doesn't seem to see her behavior as being wrong, even when it involves the brutal slaughter of dozens of people (or more). This is because she doesn't see most people as being people; she is a special person, because of her connection to the Root and her unprecedented talent, while most everyone else is just...ordinary. Most of them don't have anything to offer her besides, at best, making an entertaining toy or plaything. At worst, they have no value beyond being used as a sacrifice to the Grail (which they should be thankful for, because their death had more value than anything they would have accomplished in life).

Despite her apparent innocence, however, she actually has a deep understanding of the darker side of human nature. This is because she was confined inside the Grail—something that, in Fate/Prototype's universe, is filled with all of humanity's evil wishes—for eight years. She understands greed, hatred, jealousy, and the myriad of other emotions that prompt humans to wish for cruel-hearted things, and considers them to simply be part of human nature, not to be denied or hidden. In her mind, anyone who lacks these things is an incomplete person.

—But those incomplete people are exactly what she likes. She fell in love with Saber because of his innocent, "fairytale prince" nature, but she was also the one to corrupt and destroy that idealism by showing him the true nature of the Grail. Watching someone's innocence crumble away, giving rise to dark emotions for the first time, and thereby completing them—what greater kindness could she do for them? What greater display of love than making them whole? Again, in her warped innocence, she sees nothing wrong with this.

Though Manaka has retained both the outward appearance and behavior of a child, she is an adult. This isn't something she goes out of her way to remind people of—but she doesn't go out of her way to keep her speech and commentary age-appropriate, either. It isn't uncommon for her to slip into strangely gory or sexual metaphors, regardless of their appropriateness in the conversation. This is especially common when talking about Saber, but by no means are other subjects immune. That she maintains her bright, child-like demeanor as she says them only makes them more jarring.

But for all her child-like innocence and professed love for Saber, Manaka is at her core an extremely self-centered person. It's true that she holds no malice for other people, even as she tears them apart and forces them to throw themselves to their death inside the Grail, but at the same time, she lacks the ability to empathize with and understand their feelings. In fact, she has no desire to understand them and sees no reason why she should. She is so assured of the correctness of her own worldview that she would never stop to consider another person's. In her mind, her goals and desires are the only ones that matter.

Background: Wiki link

Strengths/Weaknesses:
Manaka is extremely talented magically, and physically she is both surprisingly capable and difficult to kill. Her lack of empathy for other people means she is rarely affected mentally by just about anything. It's hard to make her upset, angry, or afraid.

Of course, Manaka is also crazy. Her view of reality is both completely warped and completely fixed, and will not change even when she is presented with evidence that contradicts her worldview. Her fixation on Saber is a particularly bad example of such, made even worse by the fact that it drives most of her actions. Her complete confidence in both her rightness and her untouchability means she may overlook threats to herself.

Abilities:

...To be serious, canon is pretty vague. It's just known that Manaka is a "genius magus" with an "unprecedented" composition of magic circuits. This may or may not (but probably doesn't, alas) have something to do with the fact that, while she has very few magic circuits, their actual output is off the charts.

In addition to magecraft, she is connected to the Root—something that is essentially the center of the universe and all creation. Again, there is no information on whether or not this grants her any kind of ability ~~other than the ability to be a terrible person~~. She is also said to have forced other people to throw themselves into the Grail while still conscious, but it's not really said how, so it could have been with force or it could have been with some kind of hypnotic suggestion, who knows.

The most concrete ability she is shown to have is that when she is near the Holy Grail, she is able to manipulate its contents (the "mud" inside it) to create tentacles capable of tearing people apart. Additional Grail-related abilities include her being the Master of the Servant Class Beast, being able to place the Grail's corruption inside of people, and being capable of manipulating the Grail to re-summon six Servants from the previous War.

Manaka is also described as being something like a "half-zombie," which means the Grail revived her after Saber impaled her and threw her into it. She doesn't age, doesn't need to eat or sleep, and has a never-healing chest wound that extends all the way out her back. She is also more difficult to kill, like a cockroach.

Also, apparently she is capable of easily deflecting a grown man's attempts to hit her, so there's that.

First Person: dear_mun post and thread; old test drive thread

Third Person:
She sang.

Around her, there was pain and death, screams and sobs, but Manaka sang, her lips parted in a wide smile. The whole atmosphere felt dirty, the air sticky with some filth beyond the dirt and blood that soiled the cavern's floor, but she was still immaculate, everything about her fair and bright. She formed a perfect contrast with the girl beside her, Manaka's pale fingers knotting in her dark hair as she dragged her, screaming and filthy with tears streaming down her cheeks, to the edge of the cauldron.

The cauldron—the chalice of the Holy Grail—stretched endlessly before them, a boiling sea of black darker and thicker than any pitch. Manaka released the girl from her grip, watching her hit the red and stony ground like a limp doll. She lay there like so much debris, hardly different from the mangled lumps of flesh that littered the floor around the mouth of the Grail.

"You should hurry up," Manaka said, her voice as bright as her smile. "It's hungry. If you don't jump in on your own, you'll wind up like that." She didn't gesture with her hands, but instead inclined her head toward the remnants of bodies that had been reduced to so much meat. "It'll end the same for you either way, but melting away sounds so much nicer, don't you think?"

tra la la pretty irrelevant lyrics here

i am so late to this party

this world is a callous and merciless place

Shoutpole

"Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honor...as SOLDIER!"

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rubycity_ooc,

rubycity_rp and

rubycity_logs with your character journal!

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