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Applications Two
APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED!
The next application opening date is Friday 16th January, 7pm EST.
The next application processing date is Friday 23rd January, 7pm EST.
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In order to apply for a canon character, please fill out the information below and post it in a comment in this entry. For an OC, please apply using the OC information. Please do not link to applications, all applications must be posted here. Please do not delete your applications; if you do not want it to be seen, you can request for it to be screened after a decision is made.
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Applications are open on a monthly cycle, where they will be opened on the second Friday of every month for a week, and then processed on the third Friday of the month, before being closed again.
We now have a test drive community athaventest which is continuously open. Posts there may be used in lieu of a sample in the application. You may also link posts, logs, or threads from other games and memes in lieu of samples, though we ask that they be no more than one year old. As of November 22nd 2014, samples cannot be "where am I" intro posts. The reason for this is that we often find it hard to gauge characterization from those, as most people when immediately in a new surrounding are confused or frightened.
While we encourage players who have dropped to re-join us, we do not encourage the continual rapid dropping and re-apping of the same character in a short time period. You are welcome to request specific housing, and all attempts will be made to accommodate that request, but it may not always be possible.
To see what we are looking for:
Canon Characters:
Sample Application (Faith Lehane)
Sample Application (Iroh)
Original Characters:
Sample Application (Mors)
Sample Application (Vera de Barr)
Sample Application (Malkus Iverwelling)
Previous Game History:
Sample Application (Abel Nightroad/Mayfield RPG)
Sample Application (Bolin/Discedo)
The old application post can be found here if you would like to look through past accepted applications.
Applications will be open on the following dates (from 7pm EST):
12th-19th December
16th-23rd January
Applications will be processed on the following dates (at 7pm EST):
19th December
23rd January
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hajime saitou | hakuouki | reserved
Contact Info:
Other Characters Played: n/a
Preferred Apartment: none
Character Name: Hajime Saitou
Canon: Hakuouki
Canon Point: End of chapter 4 in his own route, directly after the battle of Toba-Fushimi. (All of the canon reference links I have point at the anime/Hijikata's route, but the only major divergence in Saitou's route at this point is that he, instead of Hijikata, fights Kazama at Toba-Fushimi and becomes a rasetsu.)
Background/History: Wikipedia, Saitou on the series wiki. I apologize in advance that the series wiki for Hakuouki kind of sucks.
Personality: Saitou is a man of few words, and the words he does say tend to be carefully chosen and only what's necessary. He's extremely taciturn and not inclined to small talk; even most of his friends don't know a lot about his past, because he rarely talks about himself. Most of the time, if he opens his mouth, the next thing to come out is strictly business - and he is all about business. Saitou comes across as the most duty-oriented of the Shinsengumi captains; he's fastidious, works hard, and places the Shinsengumi before everything else.
This stems from the fact that the Shinsengumi is the most important thing in the world to Saitou, the only place he feels like he can live and be accepted as a warrior among warriors. There's a great mutual respect between the members that they don't get from anyone else, because of the classism issues in feudal Japan (the other shogunate forces and their enemies alike make more than a few comments about the Shinsengumi being mere peasants and farmers, or uncultured thugs, and their nickname "the Wolves of Mibu" is definitely intended to be derogatory), and so being part of the organization is the single most important thing to him. Chizuru's narration notes at one point that the Shinsengumi isn't a part of his life, as it is for some of the other men; it is his life, and so it comes before everything, including his own personal welfare.
In fact, he doesn't seem to have much regard for his personal welfare at all. He constantly pushes himself to his physical and mental limits, with never a word of complaint. Heisuke at one point tells Chizuru to keep an eye on Saitou, as he thinks that Saitou could easily work himself to death without even noticing. When Chizuru sneaks off by herself to try and find her father's research notes on furies in Saitou's route, he immediately asks her if Sannan put her up to it, and when Chizuru explains that she did it because she was worried about him and she wanted to find some way to make his transformation easier on him, he seems genuinely surprised, even confused at the idea that she'd go out of the way just to look out for his welfare.
His devotion to the organization extends beyond working himself too hard, and also to working himself in ways that others might balk at. Saitou acts as an internal spy at one point; under orders from Hijikata he leaves the organization with Itou when a faction splits off, spies on Itou's intentions, and returns to warn the Shinsengumi before Itou moves against them. He plays the role so well that even his friends don't pick up on the fact that he was spying until his return, and although he takes a lot of crap from the rank and file when he returns - many people assume he's just an opportunist who was willing to betray his new master when he realized which way the wind was blowing - he accepts their disdain without complaint, and although Chizuru says he should tell them what really happened, he says he would prefer to be a target of hatred in order to protect the reputation and honor of those who ordered him to do such a thing in the first place. In one of the few moments when he's seen speaking about his own past and feelings, he mentions that as far as he's concerned, if he's not a samurai, he doesn't exist, and because of the gratitude he feels to the Shinsengumi for being the one place he can be treated as a samurai, he will accept any order. He does tell Ibuki that he makes the final decision on whether to follow those orders, he does not accept them blindly, and he would prefer to avoid taking lives when it's an option - but his trust in Hijikata and Kondou's judgment in giving those orders is strong enough that we seldom see him even bring up objections, let alone act on them. Ultimately, what might be more important about Saitou's decisions regarding following distasteful orders isn't so much the fact that he decides whether to carry them out, but the fact that he takes responsibility for the things he does - he doesn't use "I was just following orders" as an excuse and he doesn't see it as a way to continue to claim innocence. He understands the weight of the things he does and he willingly accepts it and owns his decisions; in this way, he says that his life is still his own, and doesn't belong to anyone else.
Although it's easy for him to come across as cold and uncaring, being as focused and taciturn as he is, there are moments that make it clear that there is more compassion in him than meets the eye. Although he's willing to kill a comrade if ordered, and he has an amazing pokerface, he doesn't like it, and the fact that he's able to go through with such a thing says far more about just how deeply committed he is to his duty than it does about a lack of attachment to his companions. Reimeiroku establishes that he's the preferred kenjutsu instructor among the lower ranks, because he's much more patient than Okita and Shinpachi (and doesn't get reprimanded for going so hard on them that he injures them!). He looks out for Chizuru, in his own subtle way, and in several scenes he's the one to patiently lay out the conclusions everyone else has already drawn for her benefit, because she doesn't have the experience and knowledge to make them herself; although he attributes his efforts on her behalf to simply following orders, he does become clearly (and romantically) attached to her in his story route, even if he's incredibly closed-mouthed and slow to express it. His smiles and jokes are rare, but they do show up from time to time, and are usually a good sign that he has accepted anyone who gets one as a friend. (Some of his jokes are pretty bad attempts, to the point where it takes everyone a minute and some discussion to figure out that he's trying to make a joke in the drama CD, but hey, he tried.) Although he usually comes across as the sensible one who knows exactly what's up, he can have moments of absolute cluelessness (especially when it comes to understanding Hijikata's poetry; he's so sensible and practical that the arts seem to be completely beyond his grasp).
Overall, Saitou is a serious, focused man who doesn't say much, makes his words count, and can come across as a pretty cold and frightening person, to the point where one glare and a hand moved towards his sword can scare even his friends. But there's a softer (and slightly socially inept) side that occasionally shines through, and everything he does, he does for the comrades and the organization that gave him a purpose and direction for his life.
Abilities/Powers: As a result of drinking ochimizu and becoming a rasetsu, Saitou's combat abilities have been greatly enhanced. He is much stronger and faster than is humanly possible, and he heals from even the most severe wounds at tremendous speed - to take down a rasetsu, one generally needs to decapitate them or pierce them directly in the heart in one hit, because most wounds will close within seconds. This healing factor does not cure diseases, however; it only works against physical damage to the body.
Because of his transformation into a rasetsu, however, he has a few potentially crippling weaknesses. Rasetsu are nocturnal; trying to operate as normal during that time can be tiring and even painful for them, though it's not so severe that a stubborn person can't power through it. His healing factor can be negated by weapons made from pure silver or by weapons that are specifically super-effective against demons; although being shot is normally a minor inconvenience for a rasetsu, a silver bullet can take them down as easily as if they were still human.
Rasetsu are affected by a powerful thirst for blood; if ignored for long enough, it will drive them insane, and they're shown to have occasional spells where the bloodlust hits them harder than usual and they're just overtaken by pain for a while (which Heisuke describes as being so bad you want to die just to make it stop). In these cases they can just wait it out and it'll subside, but it can take a while, and it's...not fun. (Drinking blood will make the pain end immediately.) And finally, the rasetsu healing factor actually works by drawing on a person's natural energy and lifespan - every wound they recover from is taking time off of their life, and if they burn through everything they have, they simply crumble to ash on the spot.
In less supernatural areas, Saitou is a master of iai, a style of swordsmanship that focuses on drawing and striking in a single (very fast) motion; he is left-handed, and does not adjust to a right-handed stance, making his style shunned in formal dojo practice but highly formidable in real combat, as swordsmen of his time are completely unaccustomed to fighting against it. He's noted for being one of the best swordsmen in the Shinsengumi (which is known for having a lot of very good swordsmen), and is also considered the best instructor for the lower ranks who are still learning swordsmanship, as he's an extremely patient teacher. He's done internal spy work for the organization, and is good enough to fool even his friends about his intentions when necessary. He also has a liver of steel and is a pretty decent cook.
Items/Weapons: His swords (katana and wakizashi, which I assume count as two items here and not as one). That'll be it!
Sample Entry:
A wild musebox thread appears!
And just to cover my bases, a network thread from EV.
Sample Entry Two:
Rain was no unusual sight in Kyoto during the summer, and no excuse for the day's usual work to go unfinished. Those assigned to the day's patrols still went out, albeit with more grumbling than usual. Those assigned to tasks around the compound still carried them out, albeit with more running from building to building.
Some had already finished the duties assigned to them, however, and most of those were staying inside - where, by all rights, Saitou should be, rather than out in the courtyard. There wasn't any sense in staying out for too long and catching cold, but when one wanted a moment alone and a break from the chaos inside (more of it than usual, given the circumstances), the rain didn't seem like such a bother - at least, not as long as he kept it brief, and after a long moment of standing in the rain and a few deep breaths, he turned to head inside again, feeling suitably rejuvenated.
But something on the ground caught his eye and he froze mid-motion, kneeling to examine the offending object.
A small book with a plain brown cover.
What on earth was the vice-commander's poetry book doing out in the rain?
He leaned forward, hastily reaching down to snatch it from the puddle it had landed in and tuck it into his sash, shielding it from the rain with his body. It might already be ruined, after being out on a day like this for who even knew how long...
His hand crept to the cover. There was only one way to tell if the book had been ruined, of course. He should take a look inside so he could make the proper report to Hijikata -
Don't ever bring up this question again. Forget everything about the haiku you read in this book, alright?
He'd been expressly ordered not to read it. But...if he didn't intend to read anything, and only opened it to make sure the ink on the pages hadn't smeared? Technically, that wasn't him reading it...even if it did come with the risk of his gaze perhaps falling on a few pages that might not be ruined, maybe -
- no, he couldn't do that. Hijikata wasn't the kind of man to be swayed by those kinds of semantics. If Saitou so much as opened the cover of that book, Hijikata would take it as a betrayal of his trust.
He finally straightened up and rose to his feet, the book still clutched against him. He'd take it straight back, and apologize to the vice-commander for whatever had put it there in the first place, and apologize again for being unable to reassure him of whether the contents were undamaged, and that would be the end of it.
Re: hajime saitou | hakuouki | reserved
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