application

[shitaidorobo]

OOC

Name: Batty
Age: 34
Contact: goodluckmodes
Invite Link: On the mod's plurk

IC

Character Name: 'Hikaru Indo'
Canon: The Summer Hikaru Died
Canon Point: End of Episode 11
Character Age: Several centuries which he's implied not to be Consciously Aware of in a linear sense the way he is while inhabiting Hikaru's body, which was 16 at death.

History:
https://the-summer-hikaru-died.fandom.com/wiki/%22Hikaru%22/History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_Hikaru_Died

Division: Research and Archives 'Hikaru' isn't especially suited to any kind of combat, especially since he would essentially be an ordinary teenage boy upon entry into the game. He also doesn't have any of the specialized knowledge or skills that would be useful for a division like Science and Engineering or Medical. However, he does spend a significant amount of time in canon investigating his own origins and history alongside Yoshiki, and the two of them were pretty good at it. He would take these experiences into working for the Research and Archives division to learn more about the Song and whatever else was necessary on each planet.

Edict: Tarnished Az-Mehet. This is the Edict for those who hide, and 'Hikaru' is essentially hiding in plain sight, living among all his old friends and family as though he is not a monster wearing a dead boy's skin, with the truth only known to a single person. He spends most of the story terrified discovery will spell the end of the existence he has carved out for himself, and also afraid of being rejected if his true nature becomes too much.

Powers:
- True form that can spill out from Hikaru's body and/or can be shown to others at will.
- Repair of injuries/damage to Hikaru's body
- Ability to see and hear spirits
- Ability to consume spirits/crush them inside of him
- Ability to affect weaker spirits with some degree of compulsion (e.g. demanding one to come at him instead of Yoshiki)
- Ability to "meddle" with a human mind by looking into their eyes. In canon, depending on the strength of the mind, this can break the person's mind to such an extent that it kills them, or they may escape with a spiritual injury such as Asako, who survived but could no longer hear out of her left ear. In theorem, if he regains this, he will only be able to use it to its full capacity on NPCs; any use of this power on PCs will only be with express prior OOC permission and will not cause death.

As the Ascendants deemed your character worthy of being on this exploration voyage, what qualities did they observe in your character that they found appropriate for the mission?

Likely the primary qualities the Ascendants flagged in 'Hikaru' as most useful for the voyage to find the Song are his boundless curiosity and enthusiasm for new experiences. 'Hikaru' as an entity is utterly delighted with conscious existence in general, and despite having access to all of the original Hikaru's memories, is constantly seeking out having all those experiences firsthand as well as making his own memories – such as asking Yoshiki to take him to see the ocean sometime. He's excited about every single thing he gets to do as a conscious being, even the seemingly mundane or even boring; 'Hikaru' notes at one point that unlike the original Hikaru, he actually finds homework a lot of fun to do, even if he doesn't always understand it. He spends a lot of effort getting one of the local stray cats to come near him just so he can pet it, as well, despite the fact that it seems to instinctively sense something Existentially Off about him and reacts with hostility. Given that his primary motivation beyond seeing to Yoshiki's well-being seems to be to simply enjoy living to the fullest, a mission that focuses on discovery and exploration would be ideal for someone of his temperament.

What is your character's best quality, what is their worst, and how do these two qualities affect each other?

Arguably the best and worst quality 'Hikaru' has is tied together in his loyalty. When the original Hikaru died on the mountain, he made a wish that he didn't want anyone to be sad, and for his best friend Yoshiki not to be left alone. The entity of the mountain granted this wish, and as such "became" Hikaru, gaining a conscious existence within the boy's human body, and though he was aware of himself as something separate from the boy who had died, he immediately shaped himself and his priorities around Yoshiki's well-being and happiness. Over the course of canon, he consistently prioritizes Yoshiki's needs and well-being above all else. This initially manifests in more selfish contexts, as he acts possessive and tries to monopolize Yoshiki's time and kills an old woman who realizes his secret and nearly kills one of Yoshiki's classmates for the same, as they could be a threat to him and Yoshiki continuing to hang out together.

Once he realizes this upsets Yoshiki, though, he shifts his attitude, doing whatever is necessary to remain at his side and not be rejected by him. Yet as time goes on and the entity inside Hikaru gains more and more self-awareness, his attachment to Yoshiki becomes something more nuanced and mature; he begins to develop a deeper appreciation for the grief Yoshiki holds for the original Hikaru, and what it costs of him to remain by the side of the shade who took his place, knowing he is unable to properly mourn while everyone around him thinks Hikaru is still alive. He also comes to take on a desire to protect the things important to Yoshiki, such as the town and the people within it, all of which culminates in his eventual decision that it would be in everyone's best interest for him to give up the conscious existence he enjoys so deeply to return to the mountain – despite the fact that he doesn't even know (as he admits in the episode after his canonpoint) whether or not he can leave Hikaru's body anymore or doing so would actually solve any of the troubles plaguing the town. His devotion is quite single-minded, due to Hikaru's wish being the basis of his current existence, and his genuine desire for Yoshiki's happiness is at a constant push-pull against the fact that despite existing for hundreds of years, he has only really been "alive" for about a year, which is not a lot of time to develop understanding and empathy when his nature is fundamentally alien to humanity in a variety of ways. Disconnected from Yoshiki and everything he knew in Kubitachi, 'Hikaru' will likely need to find himself new anchors for his decisions and priorities, but they will still be heavily influenced by whatever he believes Yoshiki would want him to do.

Your character's Edict appears in front of them, and agrees to grant them one wish: what does your character wish for?

As a wish-granting entity who was believed to have caused a great calamity as a consequence of granting an inappropriate wish (several generations ago, a man from the Indo family tried to resurrect his dead wife), 'Hikaru' would be somewhat ill at ease about making a wish himself for anything specific or actionable. He would instead make a wish in the abstract, for the same thing that informed his intention to return to the mountain – for Yoshiki to be able to come to terms with his grief over Hikaru's death and move on to live a happy, fulfilled life with people surrounding him, just as the original Hikaru had wanted for him as he lay dying. However, if the Edict were instead able to perceive the greatest wish of his heart without him having to actively request it, the wish would be for his nature not to be so destructive and dangerous, such that his presence didn't draw impurities to him like a lightning rod and he didn't instinctively reach out to draw souls into himself. Essentially, he would wish that he could remain by Yoshiki's side where he'd found a sense of belonging without being a potential risk to him, and without causing him and the people around him any further pain.

The Theorem has broken down, and is drifting toward a black hole. There is very little hope of outside rescue. What does your character do?

This would largely depend on whether there was any hope for survival, for instance via fixing the ship or evacuation. If there was, he would focus on that! Specifically in the latter case, he'd work to get everyone aboard whatever equivalent of space life rafts were available, even if it turned out there wasn't enough for him to join them. Alternatively, if there were any possibility of crashing the Theorem into something else to avoid the black hole, he would do so regardless of whether or not it meant everyone would be stranded, because at least they would be alive – something he's learned is incredibly important to humanity. He'd be willing to sacrifice himself if necessary to accomplish this. If there was no hope of repair or evacuation, however, he would simply accept his impending death, and try to spend his last moments enjoying something and having fun. He would try to find some experience he's never had before as the last one of his existence and would encourage everyone around him to do the same. Or if there was no such thing, depending on the extent of damage to the ship, he might try to arrange a sort of final farewell party for them all to die in the midst of.

Writing Samples:
TDM thread with Noctis