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snowblindmods) wrote2015-04-06 10:43 pm
snowblindmods) wrote2015-04-06 10:43 pm
Application
| Application | |||
Applications are closed permanently. Thank you to everyone who has applied over the years! Before applying for a character, make sure you've read the rules and FAQ. You should also refer to the application guide to see what we're looking for in our applications. You may apply for one character per application cycle and three characters total. Please put your character's name and canon in the subject line of your application comment. Applications must be posted directly to this post and cannot be links. We will screen your application if you request it of us after we review it. Application challenges are allowed, but someone who did not place a reserve challenge cannot challenge a reserved application. Once reservations expire, an application challenge can only be placed before we process the character application of the applicant you would like to challenge. In the event of us nearing our application cap and having more applications than slots, we will attempt to choose the most well-written applications. First-time applicants will be processed first, then applications for second characters, and finally applications for third characters. We may allow more applications to be submitted than we have slots for in the name of greater selection. We will clarify in our response if an application is not being allowed into the game because of the cap or because of issues with the application not meeting the standards of the game. Original Character Application | |||
archer | fate/stay night | not reserved
Name: Rift
Age: 28
Contact Info:
Other Characters: N/A
Character Information
Name: Archer (EMIYA)
Canon: Fate/Stay Night
Age: Undetermined, appears to be in his late 20s early 30s
Gender: Male
Canon Point: Post Unlimited Blade Works
Background Link: Here
Inventory:
Archer will arrive with nothing but his clothing, since his weaponry and items are all things he magically creates and thus wouldn't have on his person. His outfit is known as Red Plain Mystic Code, because... uh... apparently outfits need names in the Type Moon universe? I don't know. Anyways, the outfit consists of black body armor created of some fictional futuristic material, though canon has never really specified what this material does or why it's so special. He also wears a red cloak, which is actually some sort of holy shroud... but like the rest of his outfit, canon has never really specified what the special properties of his shroud are, if any.
Personality:
The key to understanding Archer's personality is examining his past and who he used to be: Shirou Emiya, the main protagonist of Fate/Stay Night. Shirou's aspirtation throughout his life was to become a hero; a champion of justice that would save those around him. Although this goal sounds healthy enough on the surface, in truth it was fueled by Shirou's traumatic past and his inherent lack of self-worth. The only survivor of the Great Fire, a catastrophic and killed hundreds, Shirou became detached from his own sense of self... his survivor's guilt eventually manifested in him placing others above himself and devaluing his own life. Still, through his warped sense of obligation, Shirou was eventually able to become a hero that would save those around him.
Although Fate/Stay Night presents three versions of Shirou's story, showing different possible results of his heroic ideals, Archer is a version of Shirou from the future... One who has obtained what he'd hoped to become throughout his life, but has found only emptiness at the end of that path. While Archer fought all his life to protect and save those around him, he ultimately found himself unsatisfied with his own accomplishments. He devoted everything to saving others, and his reward for that was being betrayed by those he protected... And even after his life had ended, he found himself bound to exist as a Counter Guardian, a spirit pressed into the service of the world itself to protect it from threats.
The role of a Counter Guardian is one who does whatever it takes to protect the world, even if the methods are dirty and his hands must be stained in the process. So Archer, a person who had always tried to protect everyone around him, found himself bound to a cruel perversion of his ideals - though his actions would save lives, he would also need to take them in order to do so. Killing 100 people in order to save 101, constantly making the utilitarian choice no matter how cruel. For obvious enough reasons, this began to corrupt his views, turning him into a jaded and cynical version of his former self. Whereas he once saw his ideals as something to be strived for, now they seemed like nothing but a cruel joke... the result of idiotic naivety and nothing more.
This is the Archer that appears at the beginning of Fate/Stay Night, miraculously summoned into the Fifth Grail War and given a chance to correct the mistakes of his past. Although his actions vary based on differences in his circumstances, his initial goal is simple: he wishes to kill his younger self, Shirou Emiya, in order to prevent himself from ever becoming a Counter Guardian, thereby creating a paradox that will hopefully wipe out his own existence. A mercy killing of sorts, that will spare his younger self from ever becoming him.
It speaks volumes of Archer's character that his main goal in life (or post-life) is a grandiose double suicide of sorts. Archer is a man who's become so cynical about life that he cared about nothing more than ending his own existence... or at least, that is the case initially. Being thrust back into his own past, during a time where he was perhaps most hopeful about the world, slowly begins to change his outlook on things. Facing his former self fills him with nothing but rage and self-loathing, as the person he can least accept is his younger self. Yet at the same time, seeing Shirou Emiya fight in the Fifth Grail War also reminds him of the things he'd since forgotten... the youthful idealism that had since been replaced with nothing but weary cynicism. He's a man of numerous contradictions, simultaneously hating his younger self and being moved by him. Despite all the meticulous planning he puts into killing himself, in the end he finds himself unable to do... in a fight between older and younger self, younger prevails, if only because Archer cannot actually bring himself to kill Shirou.
Though his interaction with Shirou is perhaps the most fundamental part of what shapes his development through canon, his interactions with other figures from his own past are undoubtedly crucial in reminding him of the value in his own life and ideals. At the beginning of canon, Archer's memory is hazy - his own past is unfamiliar to him, as its something he's long forgotten during his timeless service as a Counter Guardian. But as he begins to remember and see familiar faces again, he comes to care for them the same way he had in the past. He clearly holds fond memories of them all, particularly his Master, Rin Tohsaka. Though he prioritizes killing Shirou above serving her, he nonetheless does his best to engineer events so that she'll be protected and in a favorable position when all is said and done. He also strikes an uneasy kinship with Saber, his own former Servant, perhaps due to whatever residual connection he still feels to her through his own memory.
By the end of Unlimited Blade Works, Archer has finally faced himself (both literally and figuratively), and found the answer he was searching for. He remembers what he cared about in the past - what motivated him to fight so hard to protect the world in the first place. This gives him renewed determination to continue that fight, even if it means returning to the grim duties of a Counter Guardian. In doing so, he demonstrates that he has become the hero he always dreamed of... even with a few stumbles along the way.
Archer's behavior throughout canon also reflects the same contradictory nature of the rest of his actions. At first glance, he is brash and arrogant, dismissive of those around them. He has a sharp tongue, often cutting down others with a quip or insult. Yet at his core, he is still the same person as Shirou Emiya... one who fundamentally cares about those around him. Despite the harshness of his behavior, he does look after others, offering guidance and advice... even to the person he's traveled through time just to kill. He has a dark sense of humor, but his jokes tend to simply serve to mask what he is truly thinking or feeling.
In essence, Archer is a man who gave everything he had towards the pursuit of a single ideal... and in prioritizing that ideal over all else, forgot everything else that was important to him. In the end, left only with that singular ideal and nothing else, he found that pursuit hollow, and his own life meaningless. It's only through remembering everything else that was important in his life that he finds the strength to rededicate himself to what he once cared about, finding meaning in it once more.
Flavor Abilities: In canon Archer has inhumanly good vision, allowing him to see things from impossibly far distances away. In game I'd like this to just manifest as him having slightly higher than average sight, akin to 20/10 vision. Otherwise he'll probably be good with a bow or a pair of short swords, but nothing beyond human capabilities.
Suitability:
Despite being very grumpy and snarky about it, Archer is essentially a hero who wants to help and save the people around him. He's basically lived his entire life following very utilitarian ideals regarding heroism, and will likely act the same in this setting... albeit with a sprinkle of renewed idealism thanks to his canon point. His life up until this point has already been being dragged from hellish battlefield to hellish battlefield in order to save lives through whatever means necessary, so the game setting shouldn't be anything he's unequipped or unprepared to handle.
Although he's somewhat stoic and stand offish, he's more than capable and willing to converse with others in order to gather information or just to check up on them. He'll take a somewhat grand standing and condescending approach to offering help to others, but his inherent do gooder nature will make it hard for him to actually ignore or neglect someone in serious distress or danger.
He'll also need to adapt to being returned to being a normal human, though that likely won't be too much of a shock for him - among the Servants in Fate/Stay Night he's already notable as a hero who started out as a rather below average person, but rose to his level of skill and power through sheer hard work and endurance. Having to work within the confines of human ability, without any magical amplification or blessings, will probably be a welcome change of pace for him.
archer | fate/stay night | not reserved
Since none of the above use the game setting, here's an additional:
---
When he awoke, there was nothing but darkness. Though that alone was hardly reason for concern in a place like this, it still took Archer a few moments to realize why.
"Tsk..."
He couldn't help but chide himself as reached upward, trying to find any means to escape whatever container he'd been placed in. He already had a good idea what kind of contraption he'd been sleeping in, but he still wanted to confirm it for himself. At least the bag offered no resistance to being unzipped, letting him free himself quite easily.
"Of course," he grumbled as he sat up, regaining some of his bearings as he confirmed what he'd thought. "A body bag."
So then what was this place supposed to be... a morgue? Grim as it may have been, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that. As a Counter Guardian, death wasn't something he'd ever been allowed... but still, actually crawling out from a grave was a new experience for him. Still, some thing's never changed - even here death wouldn't serve as an escape.
At least his belongings were nearby, folded rather neatly as if they'd been set there to greet him upon his return. It would have almost been a touching gesture, if the entire situation wasn't so unerringly morbid.
So he'd died. That thought really didn't bother him much... no, what bothered him more was how he'd died. His memories were still a little scattered, probably thanks to how he'd ended up here, but he still clearly remembered why. He'd thrown himself in the path of inescapable danger in a desperate gamble to save someone, so of course this was the end result.
While sacrificing his own life for someone else was admirable enough, it still bothered him that he had. After he'd spent so much time chiding the boy, Shirou, and looking down on his way of life, he still ended up acting much the same as him. Even as he found that entire way of living contemptible, he couldn't resist doing the same foolish things. People really couldn't change, could they? Try though he might to sever it, the bond between himself and that boy was still stronger than he liked.
But dwelling upon it would get him nowhere. He'd already begun to dress himself as he let those thoughts roll around in his mind, gnawing at him. What bothered him more, the fact that he'd died, or the fact he'd died in the same way he would have? ...unquestionably, it was the latter. Somehow, still being similar to Shirou Emiya bothered him more than death itself.
That thought at least earned him another laugh as he finished collecting his belongings, sparing a glance at his device along the way. "PLEASE LEAVE NOW"... at least they were asking politely. Though the thought of deliberately ignoring the instruction crossed his mind, he ultimately decided to do as he was asked. Though he always had been the type to be needlessly contentious, this hardly seemed like the right situation for it.
ACCEPTED
A standard two-story house with an attic. The first floor has a kitchen, living room, and dining room, while the second floor has two bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom receives cold running water. There's an odd door in the attic--open it up and you can actually climb up onto the roof, although it's very slippery and covered in snow as would be expected. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY NINE, TRAVELLING EAST." has been carved into the hallway wall, and "ALPHONSE ELRIC AND TADASHI HAMADA, DAY TEN, TRAVELLING EAST" is written nearby
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