empatheias "i can't spell this game's name from memory" application

[purrtagonist]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Styx
Contact: email: classycatburglar at gmail; plurk: rogueclass; pm this journal
Age: 21+
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Akira Kurusu
Age: 16
Canon: Persona 5
Canon Point: 12/24; after defeating Yaldabaoth's four archangels, but before challenging Yaldabaoth themselves. All Confidants maxed non-romantically.

Background: His wiki page is pretty in depth

Personality:

In the Persona series, the Fool Arcana represents individuals with a multi-faceted personality and endless potential. Akira is one such individual, and although his nature as a silent protagonist means some of his personality traits are left up to interpretation, Persona 5 still manages to give him a very solid character throughout the course of the game.

First and foremost, Akira is a goodhearted kid who is more than willing to go out of his way to help the weak or those in need. The game events are catalyzed, after all, by his decision to stop a drunk man from assaulting a woman, even though this choice eventually leads to his arrest on assault charges and his expulsion from school. Although the consequences of his interference are harsh and unjust, Akira doesn't regret his actions. How could he, when in his mind it is never wrong to stand up for those who are suffering? Akira is the sort of person who is led by his heart, by his own internal definition of "justice." As such, he acts on what he truly believes is right, regardless of how society may perceive him afterwards.

Unfortunately, society as a whole isn't kind to the do-gooders of the world. Akira's brush with the law has left a bitter taste in his mouth and imparted on him the knowledge that those with power cannot always be trusted. As such, he harbors a deep distrust towards adults and authority figures. He remains polite to them, but it's a very distant politeness and he does it mostly out of necessity. It's why people's first impressions of him tend to be one of politeness and quiet sincerity! He wears this mask for society as a whole so he remains unassuming and out of the spotlight, which is just where he needs to be after the debacle with his assault charge. He isn't about to give the shitty adults of society yet another reason to screw him over. . . not if he can help it. But despite the unassuming facade, Akira has a lot of rebelliousness, defiance and contempt brimming right underneath the surface. And there really isn't anything in the world that makes him angrier than an adult authority figure abusing their position of power and using it to keep others down.

And that low key anger, the tired bitterness towards society that arose from the unjust way his case was handled, boils over when his Persona awakens during his first confrontation with Kamoshida's shadow. That's the point when Akira starts to let flashes of that defiance show from underneath his unassuming exterior. Although he maintains a distance politeness with most adults, those who have completely lost his respect (such as Kamoshida) don't have the luxury of dealing with his quieter facade. Akira harbors a lot of sass in that skinny li'l body of his, and he'll gladly let it fly in an act of defiance towards those he doesn't think deserve respect. This also sort of segues into another key personality trait: his boldness! Akira is the kind of person who speaks his mind, although not necessarily in a blunt and offensive way. He's thoughtful about his choice of words when he needs to be, and harsh with them when he doesn't. Examples of this include his taunting of Kamoshida during his palace, the way he yells at a heckler during one of Yoshida's campaign speeches, and how there are multiple times in the game where he calls people out for being assholes. Akira is at his best when he's being completely honest, with both himself and others. It's that honesty, that ability to call people out on their shit and show small sparks of rebelliousness to awful authority figures, that help him feel free.

Akira may be constantly buzzing with low key anger at the system, but one of the most important things about this anger is the fact that he doesn't let it get to him. He isn't the kind of person who lashes out as a result of that anger (unless he's deliberately being cheeky as a show of defiance, of course). In fact, Akira radiates an incredible calmness that many characters comment on throughout the course of the game. When others are panicking or losing their cool, Akira is always the first one to tell them to chill. When someone fusses due to worry and uncertainty, Akira is always the first one to place a hand on their shoulder and encourage them to take a deep breath and think things through. When it comes to the rumors surrounding him at school, Akira is shown brushing them off with a shrug of his shoulders. When Ann, Ryuji and Akira go to an expensive buffet to celebrate their victory over Kamoshida and are treated awfully by the rich adults around them, Akira comments quietly that the feeling they all get from being shunned and looked down upon is always how it feels for him. He is a misfit, and he realizes this fact. He is simply at a point in his life where he knows he can't let what others think hold him down. Society will think of him what it will, but as long as Akira can be himself and make decisions in line with his own heart, then he's okay. Especially because, even though he's a bit of a misfit, he's managed find a place where he can truly belong with the Phantom Thieves.

And the Phantom Thieves are certainly one of the most important forces in Akira's life. Ryuji Sakamoto, in his Confidant with Akira, comments that he'd rather let go of the bad incidents of his past and focus on being free in the future. The player may choose to have Akira respond to this statement with understanding. Akira can understand Ryuji's feelings on the matter because he, in turn, feels free when he is with the Phantom Thieves. In a lot of ways, Joker isn't just a manifestation of his will of rebellion and his desire to reform society, but an opportunity for him to truly let go of his masks and act in accordance with his true self. As Joker, not only can he take actions to protect the weak and give courage to the suffering, but he can let loose and allow his flashier phantom thief side take over for a bit. Akira definitely allows his theatrical, reckless side to shine more as Joker. . . evident by the way he jumps through a stained glass window in the first ten minutes of the game. As Joker, he can display his confidence, his assertiveness, and his boldness without having to hide between a more socially acceptable "quiet exterior." It's liberating!

Of course, the freedom he has with the Phantom Thieves doesn't only display itself in the Metaverse and through his actions as Joker. Akira tends feel more at ease around those he trusts and cares about, and will drop the politeness in order to joke around teasingly with them. His sense of humor ranges from dryly sarcastic to airily joking, proving that his sass isn't just a means of him showing defiance. When Makoto comments that some students see her as a robot, the player is given the option to reply to her confession with "beep boop." When Ryuji comments that the new track coach is a mini-Kamoshida, Akira can either highlight this paralell by saying "So he's an asshole?" or "So he's short?" Akira's jokes with his friends are all lighthearted and in good humor, of course. It's another way for him to shrug off the chains of society's expectations of him and just be comfortably himself.

But not all of his interactions with his friends are so light and shallow, and Akira's desire to help others doesn't only consist of dramatic actions such as stealing the hearts of criminals and stopping drunk men from assaulting women. Akira's a good listener, and is always more than willing to lend an ear to a friend who needs to vent. He offers advice and tends to show empathy and understanding to others when he does so. Many characters admit to finding it very easy to rely on him, and express the desire for him to rely on them in return if he should ever need to do so. He always encourages his Confidants to follow their hearts and do what it is they want to do deep down, likely because that's the kind person he is.

And truly, it's Akira's connections with others-- the Phantom Thieves, and his various Confidants-- that he values above all else in the world. As the Leader of the Phantom Thieves, he is more than willing to put his life on the line to protect his friends. At the end of the game, he willingly turns himself into the police so the rest of the thieves aren't arrested. He avoids selling out both his fellow thieves and his Confidants to Sae even though she threatens him with the death penalty as punishment. Hell, he is even willing to partake in a grand and dangerous ruse to fake his death in order to help the group escape from Akechi's clutches. He's a bit self-sacrificial that way, but honestly?

Once Akira decides to do something, there is nothing in the world that can change his mind and make him back down.

Abilities:

THIEVERY: Well, Akira is a phantom thief, so it follows naturally that he has all the skills of one! He's capable of crafting infiltration tools (thanks to Morgana's assistance), picking locks, sneaking around and parkouring all over the place. He's pretty athletic and well-built and totally works out in order to maintain that physique. Also, he's pretty well practiced with a firearm and a dagger.

PERSONAS: As the main protagonist of Persona 5, Akira has the ability of the Wild Card, which means he can summon multiple different Persona instead of just one. He can also fuse them together (via. . . execution. . .) in the Velvet Room and resummon old ones from the Persona Compendium. At his canonpoint, he is capable of carrying up to twelve (12) Personas at once. But due to Empatheias's restrictions, he'll arrived with the following five (5) Personas equipped at his canonpoint: Arsene (Fool), Cybele (Priestess), Kohryu (Hierophant), Ongyo-Ki (Hermit), and Lucifer (Star). I did a write up for these Personas and their abilities over here. Every Persona's skill build is based on their default skills, save for Arsene, whose build is based on the skills he has in the tutorial portion of the game.

CONFIDANTS: Unlike in previous games, Akira doesn't maintain social links with people! Instead, he has Confidants. While Confidants work similarly to social links in that they help power up his fused Personas and unlock stronger ones the stronger his bonds with others are, Confidants aren't just simply "social relationships." They're more specific than that. Confidants are relationships forged by two people who share the same goal or aesthetics, which is why all of Akira's Confidants in game are created when he makes deals with other people. Without the Velvet Room, Akira won't be able to really reap the Persona fusion benefits of Confidants, BUT it will be a fun way to track significant CR!

THIRD EYE: Akira also has another strange ability: the Third Eye. This is described as a thief's sixth sense in game, his ability to see that which hides in darkness. When activated, Akira is capable of seeing things such as footprints or highlighted objects that help him solve puzzles and navigate his way through dungeons. BASICALLY, the Third Eye is like a super sixth clue-seeking sense that would probably be more useful on a detective than a thief. And yet, here we are!1

Alignment: Sosyne. As stated in the personality section, Akira harbors a lot of low-key anger at society in general, and yet manages to remain composed and even use that composure to calm others. He's like. . . the dichotomy of anger vs. calm personified, really.

Other: He'll be arriving with a couple of items: his (fake) dagger, his (model) handgun, his cell phone (with the MetaNav app), his probation journal and a pen, and the clothes on his back!


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample: Test Drive

Emotion Sample: Test Drive Top Level. Also here and here if that's not enough.


Questions: So, via the Meta Nav app one his phone, Akira has the ablity to access the Metaverse, which is a world based on the cognition of people and reflects their desires in a symbolic way. I'd like for Akira to be able to access the Metaverse in Verens via his Meta Nav (IF HE CAN FIND A WAY TO KEEP HIS CELL PHONE CHARGED. . .) because I think it could be a fun player plot down the line! Where people can design "Palaces" for their characters and have their CR poke around in their desires as kind of a way to show off characterization and such. MY QUESTION IS: is this okay? Would it be possible for Akira and co. to access the Metaverse in Verens? Thanks in advance for the answer!