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Player Name: Rakel E-mail: ashenpaw at gmail dot com Preferred Contact: PM via Dreamwidth Timezone: PST/GMT-8/-7 Current Characters in Victory Road: N/A
In looking over these pages, I want to note that this seems to be sourcing back to the anime, particularly past season one, and I'm referencing the manga for this application. Side materials by different authors focused on Annie that I'm not referencing include:
From first introduction, Annie Leonhart appears to be a reserved young woman who is an accomplished soldier, making top ranks in her graduating class. Over the course of the series, we learn how she has come to craft a facade of indifference to keep her peers at a distance in order to focus on the demands of her mission within the Walls. We also see how this facade slips, and how Annie is unable to remain isolated from the people and events around her. We see that she is a young woman who experiences a range of emotions, from pleasure and sadness to surprise and anger. We see her act on the behalf of her peers even while endangering herself as a consequence. We see her actively engage the people around her in conversation while at other times we see her ignore their attempts to bait her into reacting. We see her making logical arguments from her point of view, only to make illogical decisions based on her emotional ties to her peers. We see her react emotionally and viscerally to the people and events around her. Her basic desire to connect with other people overrides the instructions of her father and her own self-preservation instincts, ultimately leading to her exposure as an infiltrating agent within the Human Empire.
When examining Annie’s personality, it’s important to take into consideration her life circumstances and her relationship with the world we find her in. Annie is a foreign spy seeking to navigate the military and social structure of the Human Empire. To complete the mission she’s on, she has to be able to succeed at passing within that society without outing herself before her end objective is achieved. In order for her to succeed at this, she must build a metaphorical wall between herself and others. As a consequence, Annie wants others to believe the superficial presentation of her as a cold, aloof, and disinterested young woman is the entirety of her personality. By keeping herself apart from others, she aimed to minimize the potential bonds she’d make with her peers. It allows her to focus on achieving what she must in order to proceed with her mission. It’s also a mask that slips over time, a defense mechanism that fails.
While Annie doesn’t attempt to be all that socially outgoing, she also doesn’t seek to isolate herself away. Annie remains aware of her situation and surroundings even while not directly engaging, and she keeps tabs on the people around her. Annie also makes deliberate choices to engage her peers in conversation, both in posing questions of her own and responding to questions or statements directed her way. As part of her role as an infiltrating agent, Annie pays keen attention to the comings and goings of those around her. She moves through her peers and her surroundings, observing and taking in details, information, and social interplay the whole time. She takes information in, disseminates it, and then redistributes that information only on demand or when it’s important to do so. Her biggest tools are logic, patience, knowledge of her own capabilities, and the element of surprise. That said, she most often uses logic as a tool when bluntly interfacing with her peers, and most fails to use logic as a tool when making emotion-based decisions such as the ones that spare the lives of those same people.
Perhaps the most striking example of Annie’s use of logical argument, along with her valuing the opinions of at least a few of her peers, can be seen when she’s approached by Armin in the Stohess District. While Armin repeatedly tries to convince her to assist in sneaking Eren outside of Wall Sina, she refuses to take the bait. Each point Armin brings up, Annie refutes, asking for more information as his claims are ones that aren’t sensible given the structure of the world in the Walls. Armin’s continuing pleas for her to help only prompts her to ask, “Do I… Do I really look like such a good person to you?” His response at that point is what convinces Annie to go along with his plan in spite of her all but walking away beforehand:
“... A good person, huh... Well, I... I don't really like this way of putting it. Because, you know, I feel like these words are simply what people use to call those who are convenient to them. And no one can be convenient to all. You may be useful to some people, but at the same time a bad person to others… That's why, Annie, if you don't help us now, to me, you will turn into a bad person.”
The value of his temporary good regard is enough to change Annie’s mind in spite of the logical inconsistencies with his arguments. This is further driven home when she’s confronted with the accusation of being the Female Titan, where she says, “Armin... aren't you lucky that I was such a good person... to you.” She’s built connections with her peers in spite of herself, and goes against her own better interests in order to better help them when she can - by following them into an ambush, or in sparing their lives on the battlefield.
Looking closely at canon, we can even see Annie’s peers calling her out on who she is beyond her defense mechanisms. Eren believes she's a shitty liar about the things that matter to her (like her father's martial arts training), Hitch believes she's afraid to interact with others, Armin believes she's kind at heart (in the sense that she actually cares about people around her). Her own actions over the course of canon back up these opinions from her peers. For example, someone entirely aloof and uncaring about those around her would not be the person moving to help another unasked at a danger to herself, yet Annie does this in Trost for Connie. Her actions are surprising enough that Reiner actually expresses gratitude that she's alright. We see her horrified in the aftermath of Trost and apologising to the dead, pleased with Eren's enthusiasm over her father's techniques, crying when she fails to capture Eren as a Titan, and when she fails to get away. We've seen her dry, subtle wit, particularly with Eren, who doesn’t seem to pick up on when she’s playing with words and meanings during hand-to-hand combat. We’ve seen her annoyed by Jean’s mouthing off. We’ve seen her provoke Mikasa verbally after Mikasa challenges her to a fight. We’ve seen Annie break down in tears. We’ve seen her break into a manic smile when she's backed into a corner and knows it. Annie sabotages her own ability to complete her mission because she can’t be the person who, per her father’s advice, can “treat the whole world as your enemy.”
What about Annie and her relationship with fighting? She’s a gifted fighter who doesn’t choose to pick fights, and doesn’t choose to create conflict or challenge people. The only exception to this rule is Eren, as her relationship with Eren evolves to where she’s instructing him in how to improve in his fighting abilities and guiding the development of his strength. She occasionally chooses to respond when she’s challenged, but she isn’t the initiator. Annie tends to act in self-protection, not strong arming her way through events (brute strength isn’t her forte), but applying her knowledge and skills to pull through. The only time we see Annie being proactive and bringing a fight to people instead of letting them bring it to her deals with her first appearance in canon as the Female Titan. Even then, she doesn’t go out of her way to hunt down every soldier she comes across, instead limiting her attention to those who are directly challenging her, and efficiently dealing with any who aren’t her peers. Her peers, pointedly, she lets live, Armin being the most blatant example, but not the only one. She’s a focused fighter: deliberate in action, and not a conflict loving junkie. For her to get riled up, she needs to have some investment in what’s being said, or have someone get under her skin on a subject that’s close to her heart (or goals).
Her position among the top ten graduates of her class is also a measure of her dedication and capability, where her drive is specifically directed at qualifying for joining the Military Police. Annie applies her energy into the the point graded training categories (Logistics Progression, Horse Riding, Strategy Courses, and Craftmanship), earning fourth place in the top ten of the 104th Southern Trainees Corp. By the time she graduated, Annie's training in the military was a primary influence on her initial reactions in new situations. While she is always aware of her ultimate mission, she's spent years being trained to respond as a soldier to the events and occurrences within the Walls. Keeping in mind that as her instructor stated, "Solidarity doesn't come easily to her," teamwork is a skill she had to learn and develop to be functional within the military's structure. She demonstrates an ability to work intuitively with her fellow soldiers, moves forward cooperatively with the group, and behaves as expected or beyond expectation within that group. For example, when Mikasa first rallies the former Trainees to rush the Trost Headquarters to attempt to refill their gas tanks, Jean follows Mikasa's speech with a much more pointed one to get everyone moving, and Annie is among the first to go into motion.
In conclusion, Annie is a dedicated, hard working, generally reserved person who has held herself at a distance from her peers in order to work toward completing her mission within the Walls of the Human Empire. She's a complicated person who cares about people in the world around her in spite of the efforts she makes to stay aloof and separate from her peers. She's a trained fighter with an instinct and appreciation for the skills her father gave her who doesn't seek out or instigate fights on her own. Overall, Annie is a young woman who reflects what we know of her circumstances, and who has been influenced and reacts to the situation and people she's lived with since her infiltration of a foreign society at age eleven.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer. Starter: Absol. Password: Atomic Fireball.
Player Name: Amanda E-mail: n/a Preferred Contact:ravenclawed Timezone: PST Current Characters in Victory Road: None
Character Name: Hope Estheim Series: Final Fantasy XIII Timeline:End of Lightning Returns Canon Resource Links:Here
Personality: Hope was really your typical 14 year old teenager who was thrown into a situation that no one can really imagine as all he did was hang out with friends, go to school, and visit a festival to have some fun with his mother (along with being angry over his father breaking yet another promise). He was a very naive, sensitive, and insecure child, whose insecurities tended to stem from relying on his mother for protection and confiding in her, but also being rather distant from his father, who tended to break his promises after Hope had idolized him a lot during his childhood. He can be emotional when his emotions get the best of him, although he tries his best to keep his feelings to himself.
Hope was also your "typical" adolescent that grew up in a place that lacked any sort of physical conflict or warfare. He didn't really know how the world worked, given his age, and so he tended to either hide behind others, clinging to them for support (namely Vanille and Lightning) or he would rather run from a battle. He also tended to run from his problems as well, especially ones that he knew he couldn't change, like when his mother was killed during the Purge. He blamed Snow despite knowing that it really wasn't Snow's fault his mother died, although he did have a slight hand in it.
It was Vanille who provided the emotional support for Hope, in the beginning, helping him try and deal with the horrors he was facing, such as being hunted down like an animal because he was unwillingly turned into a l'Cie, specifically by a Pulse fal'Cie. This meant he was an enemy of Cocoon and he was viewed by the Cocoon residents with horror and terror. But it was when he chose to follow Lightning, viewing her as a sort of surrogate older sibling/mother figure, that he began to grow as an individual. He matured and learned to deal with his emotions better and he also becomes an efficient fighter, able to take care of himself or hold off until his friends arrived. He opened up more, taking comfort in the new friends he has made in the other l'Cie despite how different they were from each other. All of them were older than him, all of them essentially adults. But he became just as essential as the rest of them. He learned to not be so angry at Snow for what happened to his mother, soon regarding him like the goofy older brother. Fang was very much like an older sister to him, for perhaps the same reasons Lightning was as well. Sazh was easily the resident dad of the group, something Hope needed since he couldn't be with his actual father during his run.
Going to Gran Pulse allowed him to learn to also ask for help when he needed it, as shown when his brand had grown a bit further and he collapsed. He had come to believe he was a burden to the group and had become distressed, but the others showed him that they would never leave him behind. His Eidolon, Alexander, showed up then and he learned to control it. It was here he learned that when they (the l'Cie) have reached their lowest point, the Eidolons reach out to bring them out of that slump, opening them up to change and growth.
Hope is also a smart individual, observant and insightful. He sees the situations as they happen and decides what to do for their next step, such as taking the plane to Pulse when the others weren't sure they should go down there or, again, figuring out just why the Eidolons appear at random times for each of them. It's also from this intuition that he realizes that he can't just rely on others, clinging to them like he had been or want to just go back to his old life. He realizes that he needs to think on his own, act on his own, make his own choices for his future, his fate, and no one else's. It's with this new found maturity that Hope finds it in him to reconcile with his father, allowing them to rekindle their distant relationship. Hope ends up being one of the more positive people in the group by the end of the game, living up to his namesake as he gives hope to others, to push them to keep going and defy their fates as Pulse l'Cie.
In XIII-2, as the majority of his development happened in the first game, his personality is only further shown to have grown as Hope becomes the director of the Academy, an intelligent and charismatic leader that eventually becomes the hope for humanity when the timeline collapses. His personality doesn't change much when he is an adult aside from the added maturity as he reveals he still has his moments of doubts and vulnerability due to his time as a l'Cie and the actions he had taken during that time. He wants to atone for those sins and that is why he works so hard to bring humanity to their feet without the machinations of the fal'Cie. It's also fairly clear that despite his doubts and emotional vulnerability, he shows a certain emotional distance from others as it's clear that when he jumps to 400AF, no one is left to keep him in his current time as all his friends and family are dead, gone, or jumping around the timeline. It's very likely that despite his hopes to see everyone again, there's a doubt and fear that he never will or that they may not stay long because it's been happening. Nonetheless, Hope does his best and he is a very well regarded individual throughout the Academy and even throughout time.
In Lightning Returns, he retains much of his adult personality although Bhunivelze had taken his emotions away, Hope often citing that the memories he has still feel as those he is watching them through someone else's eyes. Regardless of his lack of his emotion, his devotion to Lightning and saving the souls of what remained of humanity is obvious despite this disconnect his had up to and after Lightning inevitably saves his heart and soul from Bhunivelze, connecting him back to his former self.
Hope started out as your typical emotional teenager, yet in the end, he grows and matures into something more. He learns that he can't just keep his emotions to himself, blame others for things he can't control and, most of all, that he needs to think for himself. That he has friends and family to count on, to ask for help, and to also know that he is his own person. l'Cie or not, Hope Estheim wasn't named Hope for no reason. He gives hope to his friends and ultimately helps end the fal'Cie rule on Cocoon, freeing the people and allowing them to live under their own control.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Minccino Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples RP Sample:Empatheias Intro Thread and Here. I think the first link is just shy of one month, but it's the most recent I have aside from the Victory Road TDM, so I'll link both!
Victory Road Sample: It was all just a bit too much, even for one Hope Estheim. Having someone call themselves "mom", despite very clearly not being his mother, still being in his 14 year old body, not at all being reborn in the new world that he and his friends were destined to go, to maybe live a quieter life, healing his damaged heart from God's touch and all that he had suffered these past thousand years. To be home, again. And, to top it off, he was left here on his own to go on some new journey to... catch little monsters like the one who was following behind him as he walked through the forest? He was, in no uncertain terms, far too old for this crap.
Hope abruptly stopped and kicked viciously at a rock in his path, watching it soar and ignoring his now sore into the bushes. He also let out a scream, one the nearly sent Minccino, his Pokemon, scrambling away. But once it saw Hope go to his knees, breathless and struggling to keep it together, it approached its trainer and laid a tiny paw on his thigh with a soft sound. The boy looked at the creature and sighed heavily, brows furrowed and lips pursed to keep from crying and breaking down completely. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't... mean to scare you."
He gripped his pants at the knees, taking a breath. His eyes shot open when his companion suddenly crawled up his arm and perched itself right on his head. It was so absurd, Hope couldn't help but be distracted by his current thoughts, eyes looking up as Minccino stared down at his trainer with a smile and a chirp. "What... are you doing?"
The big ears, the head tilt, Hope had to admit that it was adorable. He would have to find out the gender soon enough and maybe... maybe more about this world. His thoughts slowly circled back but after letting out his frustrations, however brief, he did feel somewhat better. The fact that he could feel again, cycle through his emotions again, it was frustrating as it was satisfying. To be in control again.
"Alright... you can stay up there." Hope said, standing up once more and brushing off his clothes. He scrubbed at his face and took another breath. "I guess this place will have to do as the new world. I'll learn more about this place... and my place in it. Will you help me?"
Minccino nodded with a cry and wriggled a bit on his head, eliciting a chuckle at the odd sensation. Hope may be the only one here, but he's had to learn the world on his own once before. He could do again and maybe, this time, he'll meet his friends along the way.
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Player Name: Wolfeh E-mail: na Preferred Contact:AllintheBones Timezone: EST Current Characters in Victory Road: Mabel Pines, Chise Hatori, Noctis Lucis Caelum
Character Name: Shoto Todoroki Series: My Hero Academia Timeline: End of Season Two Canon Resource Links:Here
Personality: Prior to becoming friends with the members of the Deku Squad, Shoto is a very cold and aloof young man that is hell bent on doing everything he can to piss his father off. He doesn't want to make friends with anyone in his class, he doesn't care about having an open personality that others would be drawn to necessarily; he's just determined to prove that he can get through the three year hero course at U.A. without having to us the full extent of his abilities. He's well aware that he's the product of a Quirk marriage and basically his father's great creation to try and surpass All Might and he hates it. From a very young age he's been constantly training, kept away from his three older siblings with only his mother for social interactions and once she was out of the picture after a rather horrific incident Shoto shut down even more. It's as if he expects everyone to look at him the way that his father does and has preemptively prepared himself for that coming to U.A.
He comes off as extremely arrogant because of how confident he is with his abilities and doesn't hesitate to take charge in training situations, dishing out orders/suggestions on what to do in various situations since he's extremely good at analyzing and reacting. (Though not nearly to the same level that Izuku is.) While he's nowhere near as violent and cruel as Bakugo can be, Shoto definitely comes off as one of those guys you just want to give a wide berth to and avoid pissing off if you can because he'd probably end up icing you to a wall or something like that. He's also fiercely determined to succeed and won't settle for anything less than first place. (We find out later that he got second in the U.A. entrance exams and was extremely bitter about it which is what caused another student who had gotten in on recommendation not to go with U.A. in the end. Way to be, Shoto.)
Underneath this exterior of a hardass without any consideration for those around him (which is coincidentally a lot like how his father is despite Shoto's best efforts to not be like his father) is a young man that is struggling with himself. The incident with his mother when he was young and the subsequent loss of her in his life (she had a mental breakdown and little Shoto startled her and she ended up pouring hot water on his face because she thought he was his father for that brief instant and was then committed to a hospital by Shoto's father because she "Hurt his greatest creation") made Shoto put up a lot of walls and lock away a lot of memories to avoid feeling any further pain. He never blamed his mother for what happened, laying on the blame on his father since he was the one that made her snap, but he couldn't handle the burden of all of it on his own. He's been struggling for a long time to come to terms with what he's gone through and is going through and the easiest way for him to do that was to block a lot of it out. (Yay coping!...)
After his fight with Izuku in the sports festival, however, Shoto has changed for the better. He's accepted both sides of himself, Fire and Ice, and knows that he can't be the hero he wants to be without both halves. It's allowed him to accept what happened to himself more and show more of who he actually is to his classmates which is a kind hearted young man that does actually give a damn about the people around him. He's not only in tune with what's going on action wise around him but usually very in tune with the people around him as well and frets, in his own way, about those he considers his friends. (He doesn't hesitate to go to Izuku and Tenya's aid when they're being attacked by the hero killer Stain and even gives Tenya a pep talk during it.) He doesn't hesitate to start working alongside his peers more and more and starts to trust more in their abilities rather than assuming they can't stand with him on equal footing. (During his final exam with Yaoyorozu he initially takes charge and doesn't listen to her only to realize that she had a plan all along and that it was what they needed to do in order to win.)
Now that he's loosened up more it's become more obvious that Shoto really is just as normal a teen as the others in his class. (If you ignore the fact that they all have super powers.) While he's extremely book smart, always scoring high in exams and retaining knowledge really well, Shoto can be a little..lacking in the street smarts, sometimes missing obvious things or stating things that are just ridiculously outrageous. (Like when he comments that maybe he's cursed to hurt people's hands because both Izuku and Tenya get hand injuries during events that he's involved in. And he's extremely serious about it.) He starts to spend time with his classmates more, especially the Deku Squad, and, outside of school, he goes to visit his mother regularly in the hospital which starts the healing process there for both of them. He's much more at peace now with everything that's happened to him, prepared to continue on his path to become a hero...just with the friends and family he chooses at his side this time.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Alolan Vulpix Password: Atomic Fireball
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Player Name: Wolfy E-mail: wolfyttwisted@gmail.com Preferred Contact: Plurk- wolfyttwisted Discord- Quesadilla Wizard #7332 Timezone:central (rpobably???) Current Characters in Victory Road: none
Character Name: Henry Townshend Series: Silent Hill 4: The Room Timeline: The end of the game, having earned the Escape ending Canon Resource Links:http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Henry_Townshend
Personality:
If you were to walk past Henry, it would probably take you one or two more passes to actually notice him. He’s a dusty wallflower who’d sooner be part of the furniture than participate in conversation. Mr. Townshend comes in two volumes: a near undecipherable murmur and a startling howl. The poor boy’s not 100% sure how to interact verbally and has problems judging where his inside and outside voice would best fit. His conversations rarely have ‘uhms’ or ‘ah’s’ in them. He’s to-the-point and would probably come off as rude if he didn’t mumble and break eye-contact so much. He prefers to simply stand back and take everything in and let others state what’s going on. Henry quietly expresses himself through his photographs and scrapbook projects. He journals as well.
He is an artist—a photographer. That photo of some random bicycle leaning against a wall? You probably wouldn’t understand it, but he found something pretty special about it and wanted to remember it. There’s a lot going on in that shaggy head of his, but you probably wouldn’t know it. With his eye for detail, he appears to space out, his mouth forming a grim, emotionless line. On the rare occasion he does decide to participate in conversation, his words often become non sequiturs. They made perfect sense a minute ago, he swears! Urf. Never mind. He’ll just be over here…way over here. He’s not slow, just distracted.
Henry is a sensitive soul. He cares about the well-being of others and is quite protective of them. He doesn’t seem to have any problems shoving himself between a lady he’s only until just recently seen in passing and a strange black globby head protruding from his ceiling. This also extends to random prostitutes in subways. He feels great sorrow when witnessing death, but does not recoil from it. It’s not hard to get along with Henry. Even if he believes something totally different than you, he’ll smile his awkward, vacant smile and go along with it. Sadly, his quite nature tends to paint him as that creeper guy over there going 8I.
Over the course of the game, he is encouraged to become more outgoing. It’s amazing what a shut-in will do once he’s no longer given the option of leaving his own apartment via freaky mysteriously appearing chains. He even makes a friend along the way—the woman next door who ends up being pulled into the same monster and murder filled misadventure.! Everybody go awwwwwww. When he’s not sight seeing and taking pictures, Henry likes reading old books he’s collected over the years, watching television, and having a good smoke. He likes those artsy films where nobody speaks any English or dubbed films. He doesn’t have a problem with the voices and mouths not matching up because what’s most important is the story. What he smokes is anybody’s guess. Jesus, that stare of his…
He dresses simply and comfortably. The man owns a washing machine and uses it, but probably not as much as he should. He seems to do a pretty good job of keeping himself clean at least. Henry’s a little too lazy to shave though with his perpetual 5-o-clock shadow and all.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Honedge Password: Atomic Fireball
This was most definitely not room 302. There were too many people here. There were too many creatures here. There were too many colors here. As he sat on the edge of the Miltank Smoothie Shop’s porch with his knees around his ears, he wondered if this was what Dorothy felt like when the door to that weird Technicolor world swung open. Only instead of escaping a tornado, it had been a grey and brown hellworld full of monkey men, mosquito dogs, and that horrible laughing man.
He almost wished it had been a tornado.
Henry cupped his hand around his mouth and coughed. This was all so crazy. It was almost silly! As bad as he wanted to stretch his legs out and laugh at the absurdity of it all, he couldn’t do anything but huddle there and suck on his Koffing brand cigarette and try not to look at that weird clam thing he’d been given. It was supposed to be his friend. Henry already had a friend--he hoped. He hoped wherever Eileen was, it was somewhere delightfully weird and colorful and not floating belly-up in that flooded prison or strapped to a cross. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for another friend just yet.
No matter how long he watched the passing people or the clouds overhead, he could feel the Shellder’s beady little eyes boring into him. The thing didn’t even have any legs. He had to carry it wherever he went and hadn’t exactly figured out how Poke’balls worked. An hour oozed by. Henry couln’t take it anymore. Slowly he turned his head and squinted over his shoulder at the little bivalve pokemon.
SNAP! The creature’s shell clapped shut.
Henry sighed out a tiny almost purplish cloud and ran his fingers through his hair. What was he supposed to do? No matter how many times he said, “Eileen?” into his ‘Gear, she never said anything back. He didn’t see her among the throng of equally confused people. He’d been prompted on something about badges and given a backpack.
He snuffed his cigarette out though it was only half-spent and put it back into the pack. CONSERVE, CONSERVE, CONSERVE howled his survival instincts. As he stuffed the carton back into his new bag, he caught the Shellder peeking at him again. As soon as they made eye-contact, the thing’s shell snapped shut.
“Now that’s not fair.” he murmured. A tiny frown tugged at the corners of his mouth as he shouldered the backpack and reached down to pick up his new ball and chain. “You still have your own room.”
Player Name: Faye E-mail: red.headed.rapunzel@gmail.com Preferred Contact: Plurk - crossthesky Timezone: Arizona Current Characters in Victory Road: Lust, Korra, Handsome Jack
Character Name: Rose Quartz Series: Steven Universe Timeline: Steven's birth Canon Resource Links:Wiki Link
Personality: Rose Quartz is an emotional, empathatic woman with depths that rarely show on her surface. Presenting a whimsical and carefree face to the world, it's easy to dismiss Rose as an overgrown flower child with naive ideals. She constantly extolls the beauty and value of every living thing and teaches respect for all life - even those of her enemies. That seemingly pacifist nature was born out of something very different. As a Gem, and an elite ruling class Gem originally, Rose was born into a society where class meant everything. A gem's life - their purpose, their status, their role in society - is entirely defined by what gem they are. There are no deviations. Her life was simple and pampered and without obligation or worry. Something Rose was content with...until she saw more of life than that led by a Diamond.
On Earth, exposed to the lives of worker Gems and the reality of what Gem expansion was doing to planets, Rose found something in her changing. She showed empathy for the native creatures of Earth, the fact that what her people was doing to them would destroy them caused her distress and emotional pain. Her luxurious life, the society that she oversaw and maintained, existed at the expense of whole other planets. Her distress was so great she went as far as to rebel against her own people in her effort to help Earth, eventually faking her own death and sacrificing her life on Homeworld to protect the planet that had resonated so deeply with her.
Her passion and devotion to life and willingness to sacrifice for it is repeated again, when Rose gives up her own self to give birth to her half-human son. Even knowing full well she couldn't exist beyond Steven's birth, his life, his chance to exist, was more important to her.
Even with this depth of emotion...Rose isn't human, and lived on Earth in varying degrees apart from humans for thousands of years. While she knew humans, many of them, every implication is that her relationships were fleeting and shallow. What we see of her human relationships, from just within the last decades, she has little grasp of how humans function or think or feel. She can come off as distant or dismissive of serious human subjects or feelings, or downright stupid, simply out of a lack of understanding. She often fails to understand basic human priorities, having little grasp of human biology and psychology or human daily life. But she WANTS to understand. She is unfailingly curious, possessing a childlike sense of wonder. Few things bring her more joy than learning or observing something entirely new. Her first venture beyond the life of a Diamond awakened a deep desire for experience within her, and she is always TRYING to understand those things beyond her grasp. Even when she can't figure those things out...she finds a joy in the journey of trying anyhow.
Despite all of this...Rose is not so pure and through-and-through wholesome as she appears. She has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and a rigid devotion to those ideals that allows her to justify a variety of actions. She will lie, manipulate the truth, hide things, and use others when she deems it for the greater good. She believes she's able to make those decisions, that she knows best, and her judgement is the best judgement. The Bismuth incident is a perfect example of this - she trapped a fellow Crystal Gem over essentially a difference of ideals, and lied to everyone about it, feeling only her judgement was needed.
She can be very capricious, warming and cooling to people and things rapidly. As energetic as she is, driven by a desire to learn and live life, she easily grows bored and restless. Her need for new experiences and new discoveries can lead to her moving on too quickly, hurting others, and not thinking of the greater consequences of her actions. That last point is a very large failing of Rose's. Between focusing on the immediate good - as she perceives it - to the exclusion of other factors and her own habit of getting very caught up in what she wants, she can end up just not thinking about other people. It can lead to a carelessness with other people and their feelings - including the people she loves.
Even so, Rose's heart is always in the right place. It just sometimes takes very odd routes to get there.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer! Starter: Minior Password: Atomic Fireball
[That sure is a very large, very pink woman filling the gear screen. Entirely filling, she's holding it rather close to her face as she beams into it with an expression of pure wonder. Say hello to your newest trainer: Rose Quartz.]
This is all so strange! I wasn't expecting this at all!
[Rose isn't entirely sure what she had been expecting. It wasn't the sort of thing a mind, even one like hers, could really conceive of. Mostly she'd had a general idea of...warm pink nothingness. A swirling emptiness, which didn't make any sense, because emptiness and nothingess weren't things that could actually be experienced.]
[Waking up in a cute little human house with a cute little human woman named Mom - what a funny name for a human! - was about as difficult to conceive. But here she was. And beyond the strangeness of finding herself here, still existing and entirely herself...she's entirely human! Her body feels so different, so solid! She can feel the weight of herself! And all parts of her! There's so much inside now, all sorts of things that are her filling her organic shell! How could it be? How can any of this be?]
[It's wonderful!]
[Finally pulling the gear back some, Rose smiles brightly. A red trainer's cap is perched atop her mountain of pink hair. While there's a great deal she doesn't know, she does know that this little communication device will let her talk to the people who live here. Wherever 'here' is.]
Er... [She squints at the open manual in her other hand.] Hello, Pokemon and Trainers! It's so wonderful to meet you all! I'm Rose Quartz. What is this place? I don't even understand how I got to this place, but I'm so happy to be here.
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Player Name: Tai E-mail: hellotaifoot@gmail.com Preferred Contact: PM to sunspotted or plurk to cocksandtaiwan Timezone: PST Current Characters in Victory Road: None
Character Name: Marco Bott Series: Attack on Titan Timeline: After leading Titans away from Jean Canon Resource Links:Marco on the AOT wikia.
Personality: From the first moment we’re introduced to Marco, it’s clear that he’s an optimistic person. Somewhat sheltered from the horror of the Titans, his desire, when asked by Pixis why he joined the trainees, is to serve the King in the Military Police division. It’s a position that’s hard to reach - only the top ten trainees in any class can join that division, so he has both lofty goals and what he insists is an honest reason - to protect the King and others behind Wall Sina. It’s an optimism that his instructor can’t quite shake from him, not even when told the King doesn’t want “his lousy life and limbs”.
This optimism is quite a defining trait for him. He’s never really shown losing it, with exception to when it seemed like he and others were going to end up dead because of a Titan attack they could not escape from. He’s also shown as being kindly honest - not that he can’t lie, but that he simply chooses not to, finding it helps him and others to tell the truth.
His optimism also makes him somewhat idealistic at first - not desiring to join the Military Police out of a desire to be safe, like a few others state, but out of a desire to protect the King. He’s never shown really being shaken of this idealism, believing that there’s a good side to everyone, a skill or contribution that they have to offer.
He’s also strongly supportive - a friendly individual labeled with natural leadership talents. He’s often shown keeping the peace amongst the other trainees - whether it’s keeping his best friend Jean on a more level-headed keel, or trying to keep the other trainees from bothering Eren when they find out that he’d seen a Titan previously. He’s shown giving advice to Jean when Jean doubts his own potential as a leader, and undoubtedly gave similar advice to others during training. He’s also shown aiding others in doing chores, though they all shared in this duty equally.
He’s also a very good observer - this talent lets him watch others to learn from them, and also to observe things about the trainees that the others miss. This ability ultimately costs him his life, due to hearing and listening in to Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt, three undercover Titan shifters in his class, during the attack on Trost.
While he’s never shown as having any especially stand-out skill areas, his ability to keep the peace and his kind but honest nature, while keeping good scores and skills above the general average trainee, lands him in the seventh spot of the sought-after top ten, and also gets him command of trainee squad nineteen. His level-headed nature meant that a lot of his classmates looked towards him for leadership, and Marco realizes that he is not a bad leader - but also that he has many other classmates that are better suited for the position of leadership. It’s this level-headed nature that lets him realize where his weak spots are, and to account for them.
In his own way, he’s also protective of the other trainees because of his supportive nature - their deaths obviously shake him up during the Titan attack on Trost, to the point where he seems to lose hope until Mikasa Ackerman and Jean Kirschtein rally them. He also protects his friends by staying calm - especially those who play ‘bait’ to the Titans during the trap the trainees set. He also sets his life on the line to save his friend, Jean, from being eaten by Titans when Jean’s 3DMG malfunctions.
It’s obvious that Marco is sheltered from the true horror of the Titans - he comes from a town called Jinae on the southern side of Wall Rose, well away from both Titan attacks, and his goal during training, to protect the people and the King, is also indicative of this. He’s teased about his goal, since many people either want to protect their homes, destroy Titans, or live a safe life.
Despite all his leadership ability and skills, he’s shown hesitating many times during the attack on Trost - often times not moving until someone else has taken the initiative. This is one of his cited weaknesses, and he’s well aware of it - even though he still ends up freezing up. His level-headed nature means that he can keep his cool once he calms himself down, but he’s still, as they say, internally freaking out - he even faints after coming face-to-muzzle with a Titan, but only after the danger has passed.
He also doesn’t go out of his way to be everyone’s best friend - while he’s undoubtedly polite to most people, he’s closer to those he gets along with, like Jean, or Armin (whom he did gear maintenance with). He also knows his limits in those ways - to not stretch himself thin trying to be everyone’s counselor.
In general, Marco is a level-headed and kind person, with the ability to lead others - but this isn’t necessarily where he’s suited best. His lack of initiative for it often means that he’s better suited in a support position - a second in command. His ability to keep calm and his bits of bravery, along with his protective nature make him a good soldier.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Alolan Vulpix with a Timid nature - Viola. Password: Atomic Fireball
Personality: From his first appearance, a few things are verifiably true about Noel. One, he seems to have a thing about falling or diving from great heights. Two, he doesn't totally get what's going on, but he is Here To Help, and thus is going to do what he can. Three, he is desperate to change the future.
Throughout XIII-2, we come to know Noel as a diligent and determined youth who has a confident, cocky streak. He has a cheerful side brought out by his traveling companions, Serah and Mog, and he has had a very lonely life. I'm going to try to explain his personality without going too deep into the story (as you already have a background link!), but the two are really linked beyond separation. Noel grew up at the edge of time and at the end of the world. He was, in his time, the last human left alive on the planet. This means from a young age, he was used to losing people. He was used to watching people go out and never come back. For that reason, he develops quick, strong attachments to people. While he doesn't know Serah for as long as a lot of the other characters in the XIII series, he comes to rely on her companionship, not just for their quest, but because she becomes someone he cares deeply about. The same can be said of Mog, of Hope, and even of Snow. Their relationship might be intensely complicated, but Noel still considers him a friend, in the loosest of terms.
Being raised in this time period, Noel has strong beliefs and convictions about the nature of life, friendship, and survival. In his first meeting with Serah, he tells her: "don't ever lay down and wait to die!" Where he comes from, trying to survive is never a question. He strongly values the ability to defend himself, and fostering the will to live in others. Where Caius wants to free Yeul from torment by eliminating the complication of time, Noel specifically wants to "be with her in the future." Having that, having "a future," is at the very core of everything he wants. He wants a world in which there is a future -- a world that doesn't end with him. He wants this to the point of being unafraid of changing the timeline, and states that even if he ceases to exist, creating a better future will have been worth it, because his world is too lonely. As a Guardian (in training), he's driven by this intense desire to make things better. To protect people. And indeed, he becomes very protective of his friends. In terms of living in a post-apocalypse, it's a survival mechanism: if he protects his friends, they will live -- and they'll also be people he can rely on.
Among other things, Noel can be described as being extremely straightforward. He doesn't beat around the bush, probably because of his lack of socialization (and, maybe, because in his time, there's really no time for subtlety). If he dislikes you, he'll tell you to your face, and he will tell you in no uncertain terms why. That being said, there are layers to that straightforward tendency, and he'll keep quite a bit of emotional response to himself (often under the guise of "personal stuff" or changing the subject). Speaking of emotional, while he can normally remain calm and collected, he does have a bit of an emotional side, too. Hard not to, when you become so attached to everyone you know. Noel takes things very personally, specifically his ability (or lack thereof) to protect the people he cares about. He blames himself for Yeul's death, and for Serah's at the end of XIII-2. This will become very, very important in just a moment.
Things change quite a bit between XIII-2 and Lightning Returns -- which makes sense, because 500 years have passed and a ton of Just Crazy Shit hath gone down. To bring story back into things for a second, Noel has inadvertently caused the end of the world as it was (although technically, it was all Caius's fault, he just forced Noel's hand, literally, but no one ever acknowledges this in canon because Noel's guilt complex is the size of a small galaxy) by way of destroying the goddess in charge of life, death, and the flow of time. People are no longer born, and people no longer die naturally. They also no longer age, which creates some incredibly creepy 500-year-old kids (and babies!). Anyway, because he killed Caius, who was blessed with the heart of the goddess, Noel logic pretty much follows as such: "I had my hand on the knife that killed Caius, therefore I killed the goddess, therefore I caused all of this and every death that's happened since it started is my fault." Yeah. Remember that guilt thing I was talking about? He cranks the volume up to 11 on that.
Surprisingly, it turns out that having 500 years to stew in your own guilt is not exactly healthy, and Noel has become much more broody and aggressive as a result. He still values life as a major principle (and becomes very hostile to some folks who are killing random people in his name; he has his own cult following, it's a long story) but when you combine valuing life and feeling like every death is your responsibility, there's only so much you can take. He's become kind of numb to it, basically: his guilt meter has filled to the top, and there's no room to add any more. So he turns to aggression and desperation. Normally, he's not usually the kind of guy who puts a lot of faith in prophecies and gods (or he wasn't, in XIII-2), but in LR, he's manipulated into it by being shown a prophecy he desperately, desperately wants to be true. It drives him to kill -- specifically, to try to kill Lightning, as is foretold in the prophecy. In the end, he's unable to go through with it, which is good because it was all fake (thanks Lumina, very cool of you). Lightning helps him let go of both his desperate want for the prophecy (of reuniting with his cherished Yeul), and his guilt. After their fight, he resolves to atone for his part in the world's ending by helping the people who are still alive, and becomes sort of a vigilante crime fighter (no capes).
By the final day, the time point I'm grabbing him from, he's become a vast, complicated combination of who he was in LR and in XIII-2. His heart is a little lighter than it was at the start of LR, but also heavier than in XIII-2. His relationships, especially with Snow and Hope (they had sort of an alliance during the 500 years between games, but it ended, uh, poorly), and Lightning of course, have become a lot more complicated. He's more aggressive than he used to be, but he no longer feels like he has to cling to his guilt. Lightning helped him restore his faith, not just in humanity, but in himself, and while he doesn't let go of all of his guilt, it no longer stands in the way of him moving forward or growing as a person.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer! Starter: Poochyena Password: atomic fireball
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
Player Name: Mala E-mail: when.all.your.dreams.come.true, gmail Preferred Contact:Malathyne | discord: Malathyne#3688 Timezone: CST Current Characters in Victory Road: n/a
Original Character Background: Link is the quintessential silent protagonist, and on top of that, there are variations on canon (such as the manga vs the games). In addition, while there are some traits that are core for every iteration of Link, there's plenty of room for differing interpretations of his personality. For my portrayal of Link, I draw almost entirely from the games (including his appearance in Twilight Princess), and here are the reasons for the approach I take to him:
The major theme I play with Link in games is centered on a feeling of not belonging anywhere. In TP, the Hero's Shade lingers on as a spirit instead of passing on due to regrets of not passing on his skills... and that he was never remembered as a hero. While this is past the canon point I'm pulling Link from, it's relevant to my interpretation. Personally, I don't think it's the fame or glory the Hero's Shade is missing, or even just plain old recognition — It's what that means for him when placed in the context of the rest of his experiences.
From childhood, Link never felt like he belonged — Among the Kokiri, he was the only one without a fairy, and picked on for that fact. Then, when his body was aged to an adult, his friends didn't recognize him, and he learned he was actually a Hylian, further proving that he didn't belong in the forest. But where he grew up isolated him from other Hylians, as he didn't know their culture and stood out with his Kokiri clothing and fairy.
Then you add in the fact that, because he was sent back to the Child Timeline at the end of OoT, no one knew of what he had done — and, more importantly, what he had gone through. The people he had made friends with had no memory of the things that happened in the other timeline, so those friendships didn't exist for them. These things would all be isolating enough, but then in Termina, similar issues crop up as Link has to reset the same three days again and again, with only Tatl remembering everything that transpired with him.
For the Hero's Shade, this means that by not being remembered as a hero, he shouldered the burden of his experiences alone, leading to him keeping to himself, initially just emotionally, but then eventually in relation to his skills, as well. It's not about his accomplishments being lost to history, because let's be honest, the story of the Hero of Time echoes throughout the rest of the series. It's about his suffering being lost to those around him when he was alive, and the effect that had on him as a person.
So let's take these issues all the way back to when he's still young, in the earliest stages of these problems — aka, my canon point. He doesn't yet have a grasp on how much these feelings will stay with him for the rest of his life. Right now, because of everything he's been through, he's a kid who had to grow up way too fast, and has forgotten by and large how to be a kid. Since the different iterations of Link are often spiritually similar simply by nature of their connection, as well as the thematic parallels between them, I take inspiration from Breath of the Wild's take on his silent protagonist role. All of that pressure, all of that isolation, and a lack of the opportunity to socialize and grow up in a non-traumatic way result in Link having a difficulty in expressing how he feels, adding to the impression that he's odd for his age. In my portrayal, his experiences have made him very mature and serious for being so young, and while he still has a very childish outlook on many things (such as a black and white view on morality, since his adventures did little to encourage a deeper understanding of such a complex subject), and is still capable of acting like a kid, these behaviors look out of place compared to his usual demeanor.
I do borrow one trait from the Majora's Mask manga, which is shown towards the beginning — Link dislikes being treated as a kid and looked down upon by adults. Given how the Kokiri react to adults (based on how they react to adult Link, who they don't recognize as their old friend), and given everything he's been through and the skills he developed through those adventures, I believe that's an entirely justified reaction for him to have, so I adopt it into my canon. Link's experiences put him in a situation where he isn't exactly a kid any more, but he isn't an adult, either... and he also doesn't really fit the "teenager" mold — He has a unique relationship with his age, and it's just one more thing that showcases (and exacerbates) his feeling of other-ness among other people.
Personality: The first thing that people notice about Link is how incredibly quiet he is. He'll speak when spoken to and answer questions, but he just doesn't talk much. He's the kind of person who only talks when he has something important to say, and then, when he does, he speaks concisely. Often times, part of the first impression that Link leaves with people is just how serious and mature he is for a kid his age. While he does have his carefree side, this usually manifests in a go-with-the-flow kind of attitude, happy to engage in friendly competition and go exploring, but just as happy to laze around (and take naps). The kind of abundant energy that people normally associate with ten-year-olds seems to almost be muted with him.
This is because Link is not as truly young as he looks, and he's endured a lot of hardship. Due to being an outcast among his peers growing up, he was picked on; all of the Kokiri had fairies, and he didn't, and so it was claimed that he wasn't really one of them. This planted a seed of loneliness in him, and the feeling that he has to work to earn kindness and friendship — to prove himself worthy. This also means he highly values the friends he does make, and rewards their friendship with unwavering loyalty. He deeply treasures his friends, showing this in his steadfastness and willingness to come running to help them whenever they need it. All he needs is that kindness and companionship; for that, he's willing to do anything.
But the difficulties in his life didn't end when he left the forest. At the age of ten, the weight of the world fell on his shoulders. Not only this, but he was locked in a stasis until he was physically seventeen so he could wield the Master Sword, and he was expected to behave as an adult. In that time, the kingdom had been covered in darkness, as the only person who could wield the sword that would stop it — Link — wasn't there. Hyrule's people suffered under the prevailing evil, and it was because he wasn't there to end it sooner, and it's up to him to save them all. As if that wasn't enough pressure on such a young mind, the adventures he struggled through to set things right forced him to grow up in a big hurry. He had to mature and leave his childhood behind far, far too early.
But his success in saving Hyrule didn't resolve his personal struggles. While he was returned to the happy, bright timeline of his youth in an attempt to grant him the rest of his childhood, it quickly became evident it wasn't that easy to give him a happy ending. In reality, this deepened his feelings of isolation, as, of course, no one in that timeline knew what happened. This meant he remembered hardships no one else did... and friendships, too. While he wouldn't wish for the friends he made to suffer like they did in the darker timeline, it meant that, for them, those friendships never existed. When his guardian fairy left, too, he truly had no one who understood what he'd been through. And, of course, these feelings persisted through his adventures in Termina, where he had to repeatedly travel back in time to save this new land and these new friends, putting him in the same situation again and again. He was a hero, but he was still an outcast everywhere he turned.
The effect all of this has on Link's personality is apparent not only in his maturity, but in the difficulty he has with expressing himself. When he has troubling thoughts, or even thoughtful insights, he struggles in sharing them with other people; he just hasn't had the experience in doing so, or even much opportunity to. He keeps a lot of things on the inside not because he's secretive, but simply because he doesn't know how to let them out.
Most of the time, when Link speaks up, it's to ask questions. He wants to understand what's around him — people, events, history, ideals, you name it. Despite everything he's gone through, there's a lot he doesn't know about life and the world around him — even the intricities of good and evil. His understanding of morality is very black and white, betraying his youth despite how serious he is. But even though he's had to grow up fast, his curiousity has never been stifled. This desire to learn helps connect him to his surroundings and those in it in a way that's much easier for him to grasp. Knowing things means he'll be better suited for whatever problems come up, which means he'll do a better job helping people.
And helping people is one of his key motivations. Link just genuinely wants to help, no matter the cost to himself — It's the root of his good nature. It's why he never turns down someone who is in need, even when he's tired to the bone, even when it's going to put him through more hardship. This is what wins over everyone, from the Kokiri he grew up with, to the people whose pots he breaks, to the people who are scared and distrustful because of how the world had treated them. He goes out of his way to help people, and, being naturally empathetic, he always makes sure to listen to them. He follows through, and he almost never asks for anything in return. Perhaps most importantly, it's all done sincerely. He doesn't know any other way to live. When he looks around and sees someone suffering... If there is the chance that he can bring them happiness and alleviate their pain, how can he say no?
But this isn't just one of his greatest strengths. Link is most often a doormat in social situations. He doesn't speak up when something hurts or troubles him, so he gets steamrolled, even by well-intentioned people. This means he doesn't stand up for himself when someone speaks badly about him, too, even if it happens to his face. He'd much rather avoid that conflict, feeling as though it wouldn't do any good, based on his experiences with his childhood bully. He prefers to put his head down and do the work that prove himself, even if the people hurting him never see or acknowledge his efforts.
This reaction showcases Link's reliable nature, though. He is a very hard worker, and not one known for giving up, even when facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Over the course of his adventures, he has learned that if he cannot do something, he simply needs to step back, re-evaluate, perhaps leave and learn some new tricks, and come back again. Adaptability and planning are both things he has come to be adept at handling. He's good at looking at a problem, weighing his options, what he can and can't do, and figuring out ways to work around what he lacks. He is always keenly aware of what's riding on him, and what's going to happen if he doesn't follow through. Given the stakes, failure has never been an option for him. His work ethic often serves as a coping mechanism for this pressure. He has to believe that there's a way forward, even if it's hard, even if it takes time. And he's always willing to put in that effort and put himself on the line. This is such a deep, lasting trait in him that he lingers on after his death as a spirit, unwilling to give up in fulfilling what he feels needs to be done: passing on his knowledge, so that his suffering continues to have meaning after he's gone.
Which brings us down to what Link is best known for, which is, of course, his bravery. It's his trademark, as showcased by the Triforce of Courage. Link is not the type of hero who makes flashy displays, and his type of courage follows suit. He is courageous in the quiet way that he continues to try, again and again, even if it means he's going to suffer, even if it means he'll receive nothing in return. It must be done, or else everyone else will suffer, too — and Link would do anything to protect those who can't protect themselves.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Honedge (female) Password: Atomic Fireball
[The blonde boy recording this video starts it apropos of nothing, no introduction, just a wide blue eyes set in a serious young face and solemn words.]
The ones the goddesses are singing.
Does anyone know their names?
[No one ever said that when the goddesses spoke to the Hylians that it would be with words. And it's true that not everyone here is a Hylian — That's obvious. But that doesn't mean they're not still chosen ones. They are, because they were all brought here, to this land full of strange new creatures. Link thinks that's why they can all hear the music, too. It has to mean something, right? Songs always do. That's why Link has been trying to learn how to play them. He's even been writing them down as he goes. But... He doesn't know their names. He doesn't know how to refer to them individually. But maybe the other chosen ones know.]
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon! Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.
Now that you've been accepted... [○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must! [○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: Here. [○] Join the following communities: victory_road, the_plateau, and ohmyarceus. Only Team Rocket personnel should join silph_co, but we ask that all Victory Road members subscribe to it. Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places. [○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted. [○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms! [○] You can also find our mod plurk at victoryroad; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!
We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!
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indigo_league) wrote2016-05-03 09:48 pm
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