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applications.
NOTE
Applications are currently OPEN.
Player cap: 21/30
Players are allowed one character in the game to start, and may app a second character after being active for at least two consecutive months with their first. Please check the taken list to make sure the character is available before applying.
APPLICATION
PLAYER INFORMATION
Name: player name
Preferred pronoun(s):
Contact: plurk, discord, pm (default)
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: western order (firstname lastname)
Canon: wiki link appreciated if available!
Canon point: include any notable injuries/abnormal state of being
Age: both actual age and apparent age if there is a discrepancy
Personality: Please answer the following questions:
» What traits do your character admire in a person?
» What do they dislike most about themself?
» What discrepancies are there between their inner self (who they feel they are) and their outer self (how they present themselves to others)?
» Who are two influential people in their life (can be positive or negative)?
» What do they get excited about?
» What is something they are very bad at?
» What is one thing they would tell their younger self if they had the chance?
» How do they want to be remembered?
Powers/abilities: either link to a wiki page or write out as succinctly as possible. may include magical powers, species-specific abilities, mundane skills, etc as you see fit. please note that all characters will be nerfed upon arrival, but can regain powers through bonus activity.
Inventory: characters may arrive with the clothing and items (including weapons) on their immediate person, excluding anything alive. for characters with hammerspace, please choose up to five items. anything magical will be nerfed upon arrival, but can be regained through bonus activity.
Sentimental item: please choose one small (i.e. portable) item the character did not have on them at their canonpoint and which belongs to a different character from their canon. briefly explain the character's feelings towards the item and/or its owner.
Gemstone: please choose one primary color and one secondary color, and optionally describe the gemstone in terms of pattern, size, amount of polish, etc. it should be no larger than the palm of one's hand.
Lost memory #1: briefly describe a memory that the character will lose, which may be an event, a person, a concept, etc and does not have to be a major memory. explain the effect this loss will have on the character's beliefs, personality, etc.
Lost memory #2: same as above.
Altered memory: briefly describe a memory that will be altered, both the original memory and what's changed in it. explain the effect this alteration will have on the character's beliefs, personality, etc.
Sample: samples must be within the last 12 months, with a minimum of five comments from your character.
Please use the subject header "PLAYER | CHARACTER | CANON" and post the app in the comments below.
Also, for your copypasting convenience:
Batty | Shinjiro Aragaki | Persona 3
Name: Batty
Preferred pronoun(s): she/her
Contact:
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Shinjiro Aragaki
Canon: Persona 3
Canon point: Post-death
Age: 18
Personality: Please answer the following questions:
cw: depression, self-harm, suicidality throughout this section
» What traits do your character admire in a person?
Forthrightness and conviction. Shinjiro does not consider himself as someone who has any business being especially judgmental; people do shitty things for their own reasons, and he is no exception. Yet, the kind of person he respects the most is the sort that makes no illusions about who they are and what they stand for, whatever it is that might be, and does not back down from those principles.
» What do they dislike most about themself?
Shinjiro dislikes and resents himself so thoroughly he would be hard-pressed to pinpoint what he dislikes most, but ultimately it comes down to the simple fact that he can never seem to accomplish anything meaningful, and often causes more harm than good when he tries. Hunting down Shadows with Castor to protect people by Akihiko's side blew up in his face, and yet he was unable not only to find a workable solution to the problem, but also unable to fully and completely sever his ties with Akihiko, unable to make himself disappear without causing further harm to his friends. At the end of his life, he finds some peace in being able to finally give Ken Amada closure in the death of his mother; in Achates, with that memory altered, even that was a failure. He cannot forgive himself for his failures, and so he consistently seeks his own self-destruction, desperate for the punishment he feels he deserves.
» What discrepancies are there between their inner self (who they feel they are) and their outer self (how they present themselves to others)?
Shinjiro tries to give off the impression of a thug, intimidating and unapproachable—someone you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley. He speaks coarsely and has the height to loom, and his default expressions range from crabby to downright frightening.
The juvenile delinquent street punk facade is often thin at best, however, readily crumbling upon scrutiny–much to his own chagrin. In truth, Shinjiro is a very kind and gentle person. In one radio drama, he goes out of his way to return someone's lost geta and fix it for them with his own handkerchief. He expresses concern for the troubles of his old friends Mitsuru and Akihiko, tells the protagonist to be careful with his health, and in additional content in the female protagonist route (in Persona 3 Portable) even teaches Fuuka to cook and fusses about nutrition. In both routes, “hidden recordings” at the dorm reveal that Shinjiro is particularly attached to team dog Koromaru, who he hand-makes dog food for and shows a great deal of affection--something which he appears to be embarrassed by when the others find out, as it detracts from his tough-guy image. Even while dying, he tries to give Ken a last bit of closure, telling him it’s alright if he can’t let go of his hatred right away as he’s only a kid with a lot of time left, and to try to turn his anger into strength so he can live for his own sake.
It's worth noting, however, that the way Shinjiro presents himself outwardly is more in line with who he feels he is than these hints toward his true nature. He does not see himself as a good or kind person, and he feels others would be better off not trusting or relying on him, even as he cannot bring himself to fully sever all his ties – showing up for Akihiko again and again despite himself and returning to SEES for Ken's sake despite having resisted doing so for two years.
» Who are two influential people in their life (can be positive or negative)?
Akihiko Sanada - his oldest, dearest friend, his mirror image and other half, the closest thing he has to family. Akihiko was always the one between them with dreams and ambition, and before his life fell apart, Shinjiro was content to simply follow along and watch his back. Akihiko's passion and conviction were a driving force, as Shinjiro allowed himself to be guided by the promise between them as kids to always do what they felt was right, and ultimately that became the same instrument to drive a wedge between them. Akihiko's insistence on Shinjiro simply moving on from the past clashed with his own strongly-held views that it would not be right to carry on as though what happened didn't matter, and this would remain a bone of contention between the two of them for the next two years. Even so, in his own way, Shinjiro distanced himself largely because he wanted to spare his old friend the pain of grieving him; he never managed to sever his ties entirely, which is why he would make himself available to meet him and offer information even as he professed wanting nothing more to do with the Dark Hour, Personas, or SEES, but he hoped the distance would serve to dull the pain of eventually losing him. The promise between them is core to why Shinjiro can't bring himself to walk away from the path he's chosen for himself, and on some level what he wants most of all from Akihiko is for the other teen to understand that.
Ken Amada - The boy whose life he ruined alongside his own in a single moment. Shinjiro is haunted by causing Ken's mother's death, and even moreso about the coverup explaining it away as the work of a drunk driver, leaving him getting away scot free. In the absence of anyone to hold him accountable or punish him for what he caused, he has spent much of the past two years self-flagellating instead, unable to come to terms with his guilt. Ken's entrance into SEES becomes the impetus for Shinjiro to finally agree to return as well; the way he sees it, his life belongs to the boy entirely, and watching his back is his bare minimum obligation in the interim until it expires. At the same time, though, he wants Ken to have a better, happier future, one in which he is able to move forward past what Shinjiro has done to him. Despite being willing to allow Ken to kill him in revenge without complaint, he goes out of his way to warn the boy that it might weigh on him in the future, and his ultimate dying words are entirely for the sake of the boy's well-being.
» What do they get excited about?
Cooking and dogs. Even in the depths of his depression, Shinjiro still manages to hold enthusiasm for his cooking hobby, enough so that he actively watches radio programs about new recipes and keeps up with cooking magazines with enough regularity that he is seen with a copy of the newest issue, which one of his teammates notes not having herself despite her own interests. He also shows an incredible amount of affection for the SEES team dog, Koromaru, to the point where he regularly hand-makes food for him using ingredients purchased with his own money, even as he tries to keep the fact that he can cook at all a secret from everyone else.
» What is something they are very bad at?
Coping with stress and especially guilt, which he handles almost entirely via avoidance. After the incident on October 4th, his first reaction is to leave the dorm and cut ties with SEES. He begins skipping school and living on the streets, entering into shady bargains with a group known for violence, in order to secure suppressant drugs for his Persona, so he can simply remove himself as a threat. At the same time, he doesn't want to cause pain with his death, so he withdraws socially, hoping he can die quietly and privately and nobody would have to mourn him. Yet even after he acquiesces to return to SEES for Ken's sake (after rebuffing 2 years of Akihiko's efforts to this end), he largely rejects forming connections and keeps his distance from everyone. He continues to keep secrets, such as his deals with Strega for suppressant drugs, or the fact that they are essentially his chosen vehicle of suicide. When Akihiko finds out about the drugs, he allows the other to escalate to physical confrontation rather than be upfront about what's going on with him.
His storyline is centered on his inability to forgive himself and move on. He is convinced that causing a person's death, even accidentally, is something that can never be taken back or forgotten, something that he does not have the right to forgive himself for. He no longer believes he is a good person, to the point where he rejects any compliments to that effect, and his former classmate Mitsuru notes that he's uncomfortable when people "make a fuss" about him. He is unable to let himself off the hook for the consequences of his actions, despite the fact that his intentions were righteous to begin with. He is traumatized and suicidal because of it, no longer seeing any value or potential future good in himself.
» What is one thing they would tell their younger self if they had the chance?
While Shinjiro would probably want to tell his younger self not to join SEES, he knows that said younger self would absolutely not listen to him without the life experiences he's had, so instead he would somewhat cryptically tell him that there would be a kid whose back he would need to watch in the future, and when the time comes, he should consider finding that kid to be a higher priority than anything else, no matter how he feels about himself at that time. Shinjiro wouldn't offer the context, since it would be meaningless to his younger self, but of all the regrets he has, probably the deepest is that he didn't realize Ken fully intended to kill himself after he got his revenge; he'd want better for the kid than that, even if he can't see a better future for himself, so he'd want to try to see to it that Ken found friends and a support structure before he became as consumed with revenge as he had been.
» How do they want to be remembered?
The short answer: he doesn't. Shinjiro's actions all tell the story of a young man who wanted nothing more than to quietly fade away out of people's lives, unmourned and forgotten. Despite actively propelling himself toward an inevitable death, it's notable that he does not simply take his own life immediately after the incident that caused Ken's mother's death – that kind of thing would end up on the news, and could cause additional problems for the few people in his life if they were to be connected with him in an investigation. Easier and less painful, in his opinion, to slowly, gradually disappear as a poor orphan in the cold unforgiving streets. When that fails, though, he still has no true desire to be remembered as such beyond as a means for Ken to get his life back under control; he tells the boy that he need not let go of his hatred right away, so long as he could use it to fuel his motivation to move forward. Even his closest friend is not given any parting words for his own sake – only a final request to watch out for Ken.
Powers/abilities:
A Persona in the Persona series is the manifestation of a person's soul which can be summoned for purposes such as combat and reconnaissance.
Shinjiro's Persona is Castor. Castor is essentially a tank-type persona, which passively regenerates damage taken every turn and reflects up to half of the physical attacks aimed at it. With the exception of Evil Smile, which can instill fear in enemies, all of Castor's attacks deal physical damage to enemies.
It's also worth noting that Shinjiro has lost control of Castor before. There is not a known in-universe explanation for this, nor does it occur again throughout the period Shinjiro is a playable character in P3. I'm flexible with regard to however the mod would like to handle this!
Shinjiro is also decently skilled at hand-to-hand fighting, easily taking down some thugs that were threatening Minato, Yukari, and Junpei early in the game, as well as implied to have had many sparring matches with his best friend, champion boxer Akihiko. Finally, he's known to be excellent at cooking and other domestic tasks, fixing a broken geta with a spare handkerchief in supplementary material.
Inventory:
Red coat + beanie, SEES armband and evoker (false pistol for Persona summoning)
Sentimental item:
The doll he stole for Akihiko's sister Miki when they were children. Akihiko made him return it when he found out it was stolen, so the doll represents Akihiko's strong sense of justice and insistence on doing the right thing even when it would be easier not to.
Gemstone:
Garnet; a deep red with bands of white and gray. It's largely weathered and rough to the touch. A large crack runs through the center of it.
Lost memory #1: His promise with Mitsuru and Akihiko to graduate together. This is one of the lingering ties to his old life before everything fell apart and the hope of a better future, and without it, he'll feel less conflicted about his determination to seek death and remove himself as a danger to those around him.
Lost memory #2: The dinner party where he cooked for SEES and they all had a nice time together shortly before his death. The group was celebrating out of relief that Minato had recovered from his illness – one of the only times Shinjiro, who mostly held himself apart, allowed himself to participate and bond with the others even in a small way. In combination with the other lost memory and the altered one below, losing that moment of connection would not only strengthen his sense of grim determination to see through the path he chose for himself, but hamper any sense of doubt that he might just hurt everyone more with his death when that's the opposite of what he wants.
Altered memory: Oct 4, 2009. He will remember the confrontation with Takaya in that alleyway turning out differently; instead of being aware that he died, he will instead think that he killed Takaya himself in order to protect Ken. The bullet wounds will be remembered as injuries received in the struggle, but he will think he was the one to walk away from that alley. The impact of this change is twofold – not only will he lose the sense of finality and closure he had upon his death, the sense that "this is how it should be", but he will also be forced to grapple with the notion of actually ending a life intentionally with his own hands. The distinction between himself and a murderer will no longer be academic, or a question of guilt or morality; in his memory, he will have actively made the choice to save Ken's life by taking another, and will need to reckon with that weight. Further, without the knowledge that he is in fact dead, he will continue to attempt to hide that he was actively dying in a manner that was entirely self-inflicted, which could lead to interesting conflicts with those of his castmates who know the truth by now.
Sample:
Thread from The City with Tsurumaru Kuninaga, October 2023
Thread from The City with Akihiko Sanada, November 2023
TDM toplevel
ACCEPTED
Shinjiro losing control of Castor will be up to you! Whether you want to play it conditionally, or his control slipping as time goes on, or have it be random, whatever's most fun for you to play.
Please complete the following to be accepted into the main community:
» Join
» Comment to the taken page
» Report your character's current demons if they've recruited any
» Reply to this comment with your character's journal once you have done all of the above
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