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[ application: original characters ]
IMPORTANT! We are officially in endgame until August 31, 2020. Applications are on a rolling basis. There is a small "block" period from the 1st through the 4th of every month to allow a bulk of apps to be submitted, and then applications can be submitted at any time during the month. Notices will be sent out all at once after the first "block" period, and then between 24 hours to the end of the weekend depending on how many and our schedule. Applications are guaranteed to be processed during the weekends.
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
The following would not be allowed:
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Clean copy and paste form here:
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
- Pure OC. These are the typical kind of OC that everyone is familiar with. They are characters that are the player's own creation with their own world that is also of the player's design. There is zero relation to any pre-existing canon.
- MMO OC. MMOs, or Massively Multiplayer Online games, particularly those with a lot of roleplay and character build-up, have existing world building and lore that they have to follow. These characters are created by the player and can have their own story, but they have to follow the rules of the game lore. We consider "main hero" characters as those who are one of many in a great group that influenced the storyline, rather than the singular Great Hero character. This is to help multiple MMO OCs from the same game to have stories that mesh well together. In the sake of fairness to current FFXIV OC players and consistency with previous mod teams' decisions, we do not currently allow FFXIV Warriors of Light.
- Blank Slate Canon Protagonists. For our criteria, these types of characters are those which you control throughout the game and essentially make the player the main character. They may have a name and a couple of personality traits, but everything else is up to the player to interpret. Examples of these are most of the main characters from Dragon Age, Skyrim, Pokémon, etc. Important: Please note that this category ONLY pertains to the protagonists of canons. This does not allow side characters or other support NPCs as they have set stories and personalities. This section has nothing to do with how much headcanon is used and is only about the purpose and design of the protagonist character.
The following would not be allowed:
- Fanon/AU OCs. Characters that are based off pre-existing canons or an alternate version of the canon. We would not allow these OCs not because we are against them on principle, but it could cause unwanted confusion and complications with current existing casts. This type of OC would have needed to be allowed from the very beginning so players would know what they were getting into.
- Game Native OCs. Currently the game is not ready for such a type of character, as it would introduce other complications and worldbuilding that the interested player would have to be aware of. In addition, it would require more close connection with us the mods than we are currently ready for.
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
- Read the Rules and the Game Information.
- RETURNING PLAYERS! You only need to submit any old application. Does not matter how long ago, as long as it was accepted and you have good standing (ie, not banned), it will be valid.
- Suggestion: Find some character sheets that have questions directly related to character building. These will help flesh out your application and give some guidelines as to how to write about your character.
- Feel free to use the most recent test drive both for practice as well as to use for samples. IMPORTANT! If you submit threads as samples, you must submit the application with that character journal. This is the only way we can ensure that the samples are from you and not someone else.
- Linked samples must have been made within the past year.
- You may apply for up to two characters per cycle.
- Do not plagiarize. If we find that the information provided was directly taken by either another player or some other source material, the application will be rejected immediately. If we find this after processing the application, we will revoke the application and have you removed from the game with potential ban.
- Reusing your own applications from other games is allowed. We only ask any original written samples to conform to our game. That is, we don't want to read samples that are set specifically for another game's premise. Note: this does not apply to threads linked from other games used as samples.
- If you are rejected, you cannot reapply for the same character for two weeks. However, you can apply for a different character in that same period.
- Those accepted must fill out all of the required entries within a week to be considered part of the game. Otherwise, we will consider it a revocation of the application.
- Fill out the form and comment to this entry! All applications must be posted directly to this entry; no linked-in applications allowed.
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
- Sun Wukong (RWBY)
- Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
- Goro Akechi (Persona 5)
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
- Test Drive. You can utilize our test drive to cover both requirements of the sample. So long as there is enough character portrayal and a scene with an emotional reaction, be it within the prompt or done during the thread, then it can be used for both.
- Link out + Written. You can link to threads/entries from other games, memes, or museboxes to show character portrayal, and then write an additional short scene for the emotion portion of the sample.
- Original Sample. You can write a complete sample that shows both character portrayal and a scene involving emotion use. This can be one sample or two separate samples. If you opt to write an original sample, you are welcome to use any prompts from any of our Test Drives, Intro Logs, Task Board, and even past events. You are also free to change things up and are not restricted to any of these prompts. They are just here to help offer ideas.
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Yuki'to Blaire | Final Fantasy XIV (WoL OC) 1/??
Player: Ami
Contact: amidonuttyjoy @ yahoo, MechaPony @ Plurk, RainbowDonut #5538 @ Discord
Age: 31
Current Characters: None
Character: Yuki'to Blaire
Age: 18
OC Type: MMO OC
Point Taken: The moment Zenos dies.
World Building: An overview of Eorzea, the city-states and its features. Your standard high fantasy world with monsters, magic and sprinklings of machinery.
Backstory:
The Keepers of the Moon Miqo'te are a matriarchal society. Among many women born who would become leaders, scholars, strategists and diplomats were few men who would aid in continuing family lines similar to lions in modern Earth. Yuki'to was the second son of Yuki, a rather conservative woman who desired girls. While she cherished her first son, Yuki'a, who would ensure the Blaire line would proceed, Yuki'to was deemed superfluous and was treated as such.
Upon reaching adulthood, Yuki'to left (well, fled) to pursue adventure, entering the desert city of Ul'dah. Not long into odd jobs for whoever is willing to spare coin, he encounters an odd crystal on the ground after saving a lalafell woman in grave danger. Here he meets Hydaelyn the Mothercrystal, prime deity of the world, who bids him to find other Crystals of Light. He awakens to an odd power called The Echo, granted to all chosen by Hydaelyn known as the Warriors of Light.
While seeking the other Crystals, he meets a group of adventurers called the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, some of which also possess The Echo. He joins the group to better understand his blessing, all while aiding them in quelling conflicts within the world by stopping the beast tribes from summoning their violent gods. With the aid of other Warriors of Light and the Scions, Yuki'to defeats the first three to rise: Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda.
The Scions learn that the Garlean Empire, hailing from distant Garlemald, is driving the beast tribes to summon their gods to enslave them and prevent future summonings. They fail to understand that you can't enslave a god, and the last civilization that tried caused the apocalypse. But the Imperials dug up the dead civilization's weapon meant to capture the gods and proceed while presuming they'll do the job better. That weapon is simply known as Ultima.
An immortal race known as the Ascians, existing presumably since the beginning of time, have a hand in the plot, desiring despair and disaster to help resurrect their broken god Zodiark, brother of Hydaelyn. Helping the Imperials helps sow chaos, and a sleeper agent among the Scions sells the hideout's location. The Imperials kidnap and murder a great number of the Scions, and Yuki'to sets out to rescue the survivors to strangely great success.
The Scions unite the nations of Ul'dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa to finally take down the Imperials encroaching upon Eorzea, their home. Many Imperial structures are captured and dismantled in the operation, and as a final act, Yuki'to assists in taking down their Ultima Weapon. With the Imperials presumably retreating to Garlemald, Eorzea celebrates a temporary peace. To help keep said peace, Yuki'to takes down new beast tribe gods that have arisen in the wake of the Garlean conflict: Leviathan falls, but upon learning that Ramuh can be reasoned with, he is then tested to see if man can be trusted rather than feared. The battle is won, and for a further time, the land is at peace.
The three city-states plea to the Scions to speak with the fourth, Ishgard, who has abandoned the alliance and shut themselves off for centuries. Along the way to the frozen north, Yuki'to encounters a woman known as Lady Iceheart, who takes the goddess Shiva into herself, and they do battle. After, she warns Yuki'to that Ishgard's troubles run far deeper than can be expected. Yuki'to follows her warning to the resting place of a great wyrm known as Midgardsormr, who fell during a great conflict involving the Garlean Empire. Here, the remains spring to life and silence Yuki'to's connection with Hydaelyn. Only by seeing the truth of Ishgard's long-standing Dragonsong War will he be someone worthy of the gift once more.
Ishgard is under attack by a swarm of dragons, led by Lady Iceheart. The attack is stopped, but the reason for such an assault appears to be unclear. The relieved Ishgard begins to perk their ears to the idea of rejoining the Eorzean Alliance, as their numbers have dwindled to fang and claw.
A feast is had in celebration, but is dashed by the sudden assassination plot against the Ul'dahn sultana by poisoning, all set up to incriminate Yuki'to and throw the festivities into a frenzy. In a panic, the Scions flee and are separated, save for three: Yuki'to, Tataru, and Alphinaud. The three flee for Ishgard, still currently neutral in the eyes of the alliance.
Here, he meets the Magitek Mercenaries, a guild of mingled Garlean deserters and adventurers with a similar cause: To build, to explore, and to grow. In his direst time of need, Yuki'to had stumbled upon a group that would quickly become his family.
While under the protection of Ishgard and eased by the shelter of the Mercenaries, Yuki'to learns of the city's troubles: A centuries-long war between the Ishgardians and the dragons have raged. While most of the citizens presume it to be a simple battle between man and beast, and those that turn to the dragons are in turn 'heretics', the truth is more complicated: The first lords of Ishgard, after establishing an alliance with the dragons, murdered the she-dragon Ratatoskr and feasted upon her to gain her power. The alliance shattered to greed, and the Ishgardians actually battle against the forces of the she-dragon's mourning, ever-embittered brother Nidhogg.
2/??
With the help of magic siphoned from the stolen eyes of the now-dead Nidhogg, the archbishop becomes the god-king, along with his knights of the round. He issues a challenge to the Warriors of Light: If they wish to refuse his rule, he will in turn show them his blade. The Warriors answer, and dethrone both god-king and his round table. As the archbishop succumbs to his wounds, Nidhogg's eyes are retrieved by Ishgard's Azure Dragoon Estinien, with the hope of destroying them. They instead gain a mind of their own, taking Estinien's body, and Nidhogg is reborn. The maddened dragon sets off to continue his vengeance. Helpless, the Warriors set off back to Ishgard to spread word of the truth behind the war.
With the truth of the war widespread, the people are worried, broken. When an attempt at a renewed dragon/human alliance is stopped by a possessed Estinien crashing the party, the answer is clear: Whatever the cost, Nidhogg's shade must be stopped. The Warriors set out and challenge him at Ishgard's doorstep, defeating him and removing the eyes from the struggling Estinien. The eyes are cast off into the abyss, presumably never to be seen again. Presumably.
The Dragonsong War ended, Ishgard can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yuki'to, relieved, finally begins to relax as well. He'd helped end a war. Even Estinien, despite being locked deeply within Nidhogg's rage, was recovering.
But a Warrior of Light got no vacation. Not when Alphinaud's twin sister is carried in, wounded by a poisoned arrow set by the archer of an unknown group of adventurers. Yuki'to staunchly agrees to aid the worried brother into finding the attackers and getting some answers.
A group of warriors have arrived, able to take down the beast tribe gods just as swiftly as Yuki'to, but upon investigating their origins, they are met with confrontation. They are known as the Warriors of Darkness, and seek to sow chaos as the ascians do. The reason being is that, when Hydaelyn cast away and broke Zodiark at the beginning of time, the world was broken into 13 copies of itself. The Warriors of Darkness hail from one such mirrored world, where their home is threatened by a loss of balance: Because the Light is stronger than ever, the world is threatened to be swallowed up in it, leaving nothing but pristine emptiness. To sow darkness in Yuki'to's world - the original of the 13 - would perhaps counteract the death of their own.
After a grueling battle, Hydaelyn finally intervenes, revealing that she had no power to stop what was happening because of Zodiark's growing power. But, through the deeds of Yuki'to and his friends, she can take in the light that drowns the other world, and in turn restore balance. Relieved at last, the Warriors of Darkness ask to be sent home. Hydaelyn sets off with them to fix her mistake. Though the battles between them were fierce, they were battles of misunderstanding. It's thanks to the Warriors of Darkness that Yuki'to decides to try thinking more clearly in the future, rather than let revenge decide the fate of an individual. Alphinaud's sister recovered from the arrow and the Warriors of Darkness set on a course of peace, maybe now- NOW- Yuki'to will find a break--
The refugees from Ala Mhigo, a kingdom lost to occupation by the Garlean Empire some fifteen years go, are growing restless. Why save Ishgard? Why unite? Why have they done nothing to take back their beloved city? Led by a man only known as 'The Griffin', many of the refugees have begun to stir up trouble for the city-states, hoping that this will FINALLY get them going on saving their beloved home at last.
A tight, uncomfortable ball in his stomach, Yuki'to sets out. Ishgardians were tough sorts and he still didn't know what he knew of their politics and their traditions. Now he had to learn a whole new one from scratch, and with his comrades' numbers so low, he had to be more effective in his campaign for Ala Mhigo, not just for the Ala Mhigans, but for his friends as well. He couldn't fail. He needed to find The Griffin and have him see reason. They needed to come together and figure things out.
The Griffin, of course, is not a man to be reasoned with. Confronted, he revealed his plan: He would rile up the city-states, all while making the kingdom of Garlemald think war has been declared upon them, giving them the opportunity to strike back full force and end what amounted to a bureaucratic ceasefire. Lastly, he would grant the Ala Mhigan refugees a force to be reckoned with: Using Nidhogg's eyes, bestowed upon him by one of the Ascians, he would end his own life and give birth to a brand new primal... a beast god that could eradicate all who would stand in the way of Ala Mhigan freedom.
One Scion stepped forward in response. Despite pleas from his comrades to reconsider, Papalymo Totolymo offered up all of his aether to form a binding spell around the sphere that would birth the vengeful god. His sacrifice would buy the group time... but how much remained to be seen. Shaken- he was losing all of his friends- Yuki'to turned to the ones that remained for a solution. Was there anything strong enough to take on whatever lived within that sphere?
There was but one: Omega Weapon, an ancient construct used to defeat otherworldly threats. Though the Scions successfully reach the control center of Omega and activate it in time to meet the furious god Shinryu in combat, freshly burst from his magical bonds, the two enter a stalemate and fall somewhere beyond the bounds of the city-states' territory.
They both fell into Garlean-occupied territory. That only left one option: Find them before the Empire does. But according to one of the Scions, Lyse, there is a group of people that fight to free Ala Mhigo as they have for many years: The Ala Mhigan Resistance. They and their leader, Kemp, can offer insight into the foreign lands and lend their aid. The reception is a little welcome, but a little frosty as well: The Resistance's numbers are thin, and the city-states only offer a small group of adventurers. But after some discussion, they lend what help they can. Yuki'to, the Scions and the other Warriors of Light in turn begin their campaign to clear the Garleans from the area.
It's clear the Garlean invasion had long since taken its toll: The people aren't the slightest bit interested in joining the cause of the Resistance, and instead shun Yuki'to and the others for even trying. Too many have insisted they were the ones to save Ala Mhigo. Too many have died. But Yuki'to's frustration only grew: He grew up keeping his head down and letting anyone do whatever they wanted with him. These people needed to stand up for themselves if they wanted to end all of this! What's worse, some Ala Mhigans have sworn loyalty to the Empire and its viceroy, Zenos yae Galvus, calling themselves the Skulls. This would be just as complex and perplexing as Ishgard. Yuki'to, though intimidated, remains staunch. He and his friends would see this through.
...Until, while out on a scouting mission, Yuki'to and the others spot smoke rising from the Resistance's hideout. They race back to see the Skulls, many Garleans and Zenos yae Galvus himself striking down the people without mercy. Yuki'to bears witness to what Zenos is capable of, his expression unchanging as the Warrior of Light is struck down without the large, imposing man breaking a sweat. As Yuki'to struggles to remain conscious, Zenos and his party simply depart, having made their point: Ishgard and its dragons had -nothing- on them. To see Yuki'to struck down so utterly shocks even the Scions... what the hells WAS Zenos?!
They needed help. Zenos needed his forces weakened. Yuki'to and the Warriors of Light make up their minds: Perhaps if they saw to freeing Doma from the clutches of their viceroy, a cruel woman by the name of Yotsuyu, they could gain the numbers they so desperately need while removing a major foothold for the Garleans. After escorting the wounded survivors to safety, the group sets off for the continent of Othard. They would free Doma and gain a foothold right on Ala Mhigo's doorstep.
Along the way, Yuki'to meets a bevvy of spirited individuals: The downtrodden people of Othard, living quietly in small villages who gradually add their strength to the cause; the xaela au ra, a warring race of tribal folk who welcome the opportunity to take the battle to the Garlean eyesore; the ananta, a snake-like beast race desiring to live without fear of Imperial rule, and lastly, he meets a young samurai named Hien, who as it turns out is the son of the previous king of Doma before Yotsuyu's rule. Not a bad roster.
With the increased numbers at their backs, the Warriors of Light take to Doma Castle and clear it of Yotuyu and her people. Despite her fierce opposition, the team seeks her out and puts an end to her rule. But it isn't without the cost of lives, and even the castle itself: To prevent escape, Hien permitted the flooding of the castle, for a castle is simply a "thing"... a "thing" that can be rebuilt even better under his rule. Though at first the reception is frosty, for the castle represented much of their history, the Domans breathe their first sigh of relief in twenty years. With proof that they can reclaim the land after so long, all of Doma offers their strength and wisdom to the cause of freeing Ala Mhigo. Yuki'to is more determined than ever. He has such powerful, clever and determined friends... this was nothing like Ishgard, a land that demanded he always look over his shoulder.
Zenos yae Galvus, however, had other plans. With full forces pounding at the gates of the city, Zenos welcomes the Warriors of Light to his domicile, and invites them upstairs to the menagerie. Here, he reveals he has been keeping Shinryu bound tight, a creature of pure, beautiful ferocity that he intends to use for himself.
But he gives Yuki'to a choice: Kill Shinryu, if he must. But it would prove that words and peace mean nothing when ferocity and savagery have been what led to the heroes' success thus far. Thinking only of the deaths of so many of his friends, the fear of the Domans, the sheer stink of oppression, Yuki'to doesn't shrink to Zenos' bluff. He declares he will destroy Shinryu, just as he has all the other primals summoned thus far. Zenos answers by freeing Shinryu, and merging with the beast. Powered by fury, powered by his own bloodlust, Zenos will simply squash all opposition. None of them have given him the fight he desired in his psychopathic heart, so it's better simply to burn it all.
Gathering the other Warriors one last time, Yuki'to and the others take to battling Shinryu with his full strength. The battle is fierce and arduous, but they face the wall of bloodthirstiness with a determination to match. With Shinryu defeated, Zenos reemerges.
Zenos laughs. He was finally given the fight he desired. Thanking the Warriors for finally giving him the feeling he wanted, he turned his katana upon himself, ending his own life much to the dismay and fury from the Resistance and the Scions. They would not question him, or give him the end he deserved. But Yuki'to is relieved... maybe they didn't get any answers from him, but he would not darken Ala Mhigo any longer. With the sound of horns over the city rooftops, Othard rejoices, for the city-state of Ala Mhigo is finally free.
3/3
(cw: parental emotional abuse)
Yuki'to began life as a very meek boy who kept to himself as much as absolutely possible, born the second son in a family that only desired one. He wasn't permitted to speak too loudly, go outside and play with the other children, nor perform any duties a growing child needed to do that meant having him outside where he would be seen by the public. In his mind was cultivated the mindset that he was something to be ashamed of, and must remain hidden. Despite instinctual tendencies to seek, romp and hunt, Yuki'to stayed inside most days, and spent nights lying on that slipshod bed of his questioning his decisions and actions for the day. Mothers knew best, right? If he could find out where he went wrong and just fix it, then maybe she'd smile at him, thank him, love him like she loved her first son Yuki'a. His childhood years were spent struggling for her affection, fighting to grow up into a child who did things right. Stuck inside for most of his days, he took to examining the appliances and tools lying around the house, figuring out how they worked and how he may make them better. Perhaps in this way, if he couldn't make himself better, he could at least make everything around his mother better so she won't be so short and angry all the time. It would be years before he'd realize that this wasn't how parents treated their children. It would be years before he'd realize his situation wasn't normal, and in turn he developed a desire to be like everyone else with their normal lives, gradually diminishing his desire to make his mother happy.
His relationship with his brother was nothing short of non-existent. It had to be. Whenever Yuki'to lashed out, frustrated and sad over the unequal treatment, he was punished and any progress he'd made to make himself better and 'normal' was dashed back to square one. So rather than fight it, as instinct would have willed someone like him to, Yuki'to chose instead to bow to it, and made fewer and fewer efforts to even be in the same room as his sibling.
Alas, what emerged was a meek child becoming a rather meek, introverted young adult. Words were few from him, as opportunities to express himself were few. As he relied on actions to voice himself, Yuki'to developed a tendency to gesticulate and gesture over offering spoken word to a conversation. This unfortunately makes him an odd duck in many social groups, and it's worse when you add a nervousness around women. When the only female role model in your life is a woman who resented your existence, you tend to live wondering if they're all just waiting for the chance to scoff and yell at you. He bears no ill will to them. Hells, he bears no ill will to his mother. He simply fears her, and in turn, works to avoid eye contact. It even went so far as to have him outright flee at the very sight of someone talking in his direction, but in recent years among many lady Warriors of Light and Scions, as well as lady Magitek Mercenaries, he has learned to live with standing in the same room without suffering panic attacks, but his heart will still race and he will still be nervous. His desire to be like everyone else powers him every day to take those baby steps in the right direction.
But he's terrified of failure. He swore to himself never to make mistakes again. As Yuki'to grew up, he nurtured and developed a sense of doing what was right. He would prevent another person becoming just like him. He wanted to protect people. He wanted to keep them safe. This drove Yuki'to to give nothing short of 110% in his actions when it comes to stepping forward and helping someone, or battling for someone's sake despite any core-deep fears. In this way, one could say this makes him rather heroic. Fortunately, while at first he performed for the dream of a compliment at the end, some sign that he finally did good for once, his time spent with the Scions have inferred that not being thanked doesn't mean he is hated. This thankfully ended the small panics he felt when his acts were followed by silence or an awe he didn't understand. In this he also fears loneliness, and being on his own again if he can help it. He enjoys having friends, companionship far too much to regress. Friends and companionship were what everyone else had, and damn it, he'll have it, too!
His talent with machines didn't go unnoticed. His eventual acceptance under the tutelage of Stephanivien as a newfound machinist became the pinnacle of Yuki'to's changes for the better, granting him further individuality as well as inner and outer strength: Yuki'to could finally begin to fight back and not feel that he HAD to for acceptance, aiding the helpless or those in a sticky situation; deep meditations amid the sound of hissing pistons could help him fight his fears and center his power, clearing his mind and sharpening it like a blade, a little keener each time; finally, the small number of machinists he wound up training with granted him with that foreign yet comforting feeling of kinship. He had a family with the others in the Skysteel Manufactory. Because of this, he is rather protective of their memories, their names and their faces. It is unwise to insult his tutor or his comrades when you're in Yuki'to's earshot.
Overall, he's a silent protagonist to a fault. He's shy, a reluctant recluse, and a man who works to take care of himself. At his core, he feels that if he can solve the problems of others- which he performs in spades as a Warrior of Light- he can in turn solve his own problems and make people more comfortable with him. Then maybe he can grow more comfortable with himself.
Abilities:
On a mundane scale, Yuki'to is a member of the miqo'te race, and are born trackers and hunters. He's flexible, agile and capable of viewing things in low light. Before anyone asks, he cannot purr. He's an okay cook, but tends to focus on small meals he can carry from job to job rather than a lavish meal for friends. Hope you guys like kickin' rad sandwiches.
On a job scale, Yuki'to is a Machinist, packed with a variety of gunslinging abilities, as well as calling upon turrets powered by an aetheric converter strapped to his belt that feeds from his own magic. Because of his job class, he is able to draw up and read blueprints as well as perform repairs on many types of machinery. He also has a fondness for building, making alterations on his turrets. He dreams of building his own flying machine.
As one of many gifted individuals known as the Warriors of Light, Yuki'to possesses the Echo. A mysterious power, Yuki'to is not only capable of understanding any language, but is able to view glimpses of the past when his soul resonates with another person. The latter happens seemingly randomly, striking him and filling his mind when he least expects it.
Alignment: Thras. Fear and courage are Yuki'to's greatest struggles in balance, thanks to his childhood and his own insecurities that were born from it. I see many great opportunities for him to develop in discovering that his emotional actions- while not entirely consequential in his own world- have such great impact here that he absolutely HAS to learn to center himself and be a better person.
Other: None.
General Sample: Anima Echoed intro toplevel.
Emotion Sample:
He thought he was doing well enough, making friends and working himself toward a relative level of comfort that matched the way he felt in Eorzea. He'd even smiled and waved to strangers, and they did the same without much thought. How he wished he could be like them, so comfortable in their own-
"KITTY!" The ears and the tail could never afford him privacy on the worst of days, however. When a stranger decided they wanted to give a miqo'te a little hug, rather than politely ask or yell at them to remove themselves, he... screamed.
He screamed and ran, shocking his surprise hugger as he took off in the opposite direction as fast as his legs could carry him. His tail was high, puffed to a scraggly black mess, but his eyes were wild. Flight over fight, Yuki'to scrambled until he could scramble no more, taking him to the edge of town before he needed to stop and sink to the grass to catch his breath. Hunkered low, this conqueror of dragons, mad Garleans and otherworldly monsters jittered and shook with his hands to his ears. Flowers that had sprouted to welcome the sunshine from someone else's overwhelming happiness had curled into their buds and shuddered as if someone took their stems and shook them; some of the windows in buildings he'd passed had hairline cracks in their windows, and some small manners of creature, the squirrels and the birds, had curled into little balls and waited for some unseen hawk to pass.
But Yuki'to took some breaths as he felt his face prickle and burn. How embarrassing... he didn't even know who it was that did that. He grit his teeth as he slowly lowered his hands from his ears, face an impressive shade of red. From where his boots were planted in the grass and slowly outward, the flowers that had tightened and shivered slowly opened, now bright red instead of their usual hues. The miqo'te took every breath at a time and fought to settle himself down again, try everything again, and maybe find that person to apologize. Maybe he hadn't messed things up.
He would make this right.
Without realizing, as he slowly stood and cast his eyes around him, a thick golden drop beaded to life and plunked into the crystal tucked beneath his shirt.
Questions: None.
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