accio_rp Application
PLAYER
Name: Fetchie
Journal: made_in_wonder
Contact: gibberditz39@yahoo.com; fetchie88 @ aim
Current Characters: None~
CHARACTER
Name: Ken Ichijouji
Canon: Digimon Adventure 02
OU/AU: OU
Gender: Male
Age: 11 (pull point can be moved ahead to age him up if need be)
Birthday: September 4 (fanon)
History: Digimon Wikia - Ken Ichijouji (Note: this encyclopedia uses terms from the English dub. I'm using Japanese, but the plot's the same); post-drama CD (three months post-canon)
Personality: Ken is a constant, conscious work in progress. All his life, he’s observed and interpreted his surroundings, trying to find his place within them and live up to the person he’d like to be. For the longest time, this person was his older brother Osamu - Ken denied himself in an attempt to be a “perfect human” like he’d mistakenly believed his brother to be. Nowadays he’s realized the importance of accepting and liking himself, and is trying his hardest to discover exactly who “Ken Ichijouji” is.
As a result, he’s introspective: every new piece of information or detail Ken tries to relate back to his own situation, and he obsesses over his own behavior. Though he possesses incredible attention to detail, he tends to lose sight of the big picture, or only grasps said big picture once a detail alludes to it. (For example, he doesn’t notice spring has come in the drama CD until he sees a cat sunning itself in the new warmth.) He also thought for the longest time that erasing the physical proof of the mistakes he’s made would set things right. Accepting that such a “reset” is impossible, and learning to live with the consequences and guilt, has been one of his biggest challenges.
Earnest and serious, he’s also easy to rile: confronting Ken with his own weakness is a great way to get him mad, and if he thinks you have information he wants he’ll have no choice but to put up with you. Ken’s no genius anymore, but he wants to understand why things happen the way they happen. If an answer doesn’t satisfy him, he’ll keep prying for the truth. That things sometimes happen for no reason - and that it’s okay for something to have “no use” - has never crossed his mind. (Combined with his attention to detail, this obsession with usefulness and worth has made him quite the pessimist. Ken tends to draw the most negative general conclusion possible from disappointing specifics: because of his attention to detail, every molehill can seem like a mountain.)
Ken is also determined to do the right thing. He wants to be a good son, cherishing his parents’ love for him, and when given a purpose in life he’s unstoppable. Even his guilt over being the Kaiser takes on a noble tinge: because he’s the one who committed a terrible error, he’s also the one who needs to set things right. Ken simply won’t leave any issue alone until he’s satisfied with the results, and thrives on being able to make a difference. He just needs to work on telling his allies what he’s up to a bit more.
His social skills in general need improving. On the flip side of his stubbornness, Ken becomes avoidant in situations that make him uncomfortable. When placed in new situations he’ll either blank out, try to leave as quickly as possible, or both. He also has a bad habit of not finishing his sentences, or of finishing a deduction aloud that, without an explanation, seems like a non sequitur. New opinions and points of view may still surprise him, as he’s so used to only the thoughts within his own head, but he’s come to admire the traits in his friends that he doesn’t possess.
Though he needs to spend less time picking everything apart, Ken has come a long way, and truly makes a wonderful friend. His defining trait in canon is “Kindness”: though his worldview is self-centered, he cares a lot about others and feels terrible when he makes his family worried or sad. He’s thoughtful and considerate even in battle, though ruthless to his enemies, and has proven surprisingly good with younger children. (His partner Wormmon receives the most special attention: Ken treasures Wormmon like family). Ken’s a worrier, but it’s because he cares.
Most importantly, he’s embraced that he’s only human. Ken can’t get over being the Digimon Kaiser; that’s not something one can ever put behind oneself. But he can live accepting that he made a mistake, cherishing himself in spite of his flaws, and focusing on what he can do in the present instead of the errors he can’t erase in the past. This acceptance of his own weakness and determination to live in the present day drives him now - he even admits he never believed acknowledging weakness could feel relieving -- and he’s focused on keeping his life that way.
Abilities: Nothing supernatural on his own, save a "sensitivity" to the powers of darkness left over from the Dark Seed implanted in his neck. If someone was performing the Dark Arts near Ken, he'd get a prickling in his neck or a headache - the stronger the spell the worse the pain. (He'd be especially susceptible to Dementors, too - "darkness" in Digimon is associated with depression and other negative emotions.)
Best/Worst Subject: Though Ken's a solid, methodical student all around, his worst subject would be Potions. The work wouldn't necessarily be difficult, but Snape's classroom demeanor would make him nervous and/or angry, depending what the Potions master was up to that day. Ken's results would suffer from this distraction.
Requested House: Gryffindor or Ravenclaw
Anything Else?
I'd like to bring Ken's partner Digimon, Wormmon, along. A writeup of his abilities can be found here. His personality writeup can be found below:
Wormmon's priorities couldn't be more clear: Ken, Ken, and Ken. Though timid, Wormmon acknowledges and then presses against the barriers that Ken erects around himself, seeking to show "Ken-chan" at all times that he considers his partner worthy of love, attention, and admiration. When he can tell Ken is uncomfortable with something, he'll push gently by asking questions, but monitors how hard Ken is pushing himself. He likes Ken just the way he is, which balances nicely with Ken's constant struggle for self-improvement.
Though Wormmon always has Ken's best interests at heart, he also cherishes being the "person" to whom his partner is closest. He loves that Ken's relationship with his parents is improving and points out on a regular basis how much more fun everything is with friends, but can get possessive if he believes someone is interested in Ken. He also isn't the boldest or most outgoing Digimon, but he does know just what to say - and when and how to say it - to help Ken work through his issues.
Mentoring aside, Ken and Wormmon have what can seem like a brotherly relationship at times, with Wormmon the younger brother always eager and admiring of the elder, while the older one tries his hardest to cherish and protect the younger, though he may not always know how. Ken opens up around Wormmon much more easily than around anyone else, and truly cherishes the second chance he's gotten to set things right with his partner. Wormmon, for his part, is equally happy to help Ken grow into the person he's always believed his partner can become, so all things considered, he's proud and satisfied.
[[Note: Because he's distinct enough to be apped separately, Wormmon did not end up accompanying Ken to Hogwarts.]]
SAMPLES
1. First person introspective sample
"Magic". That's what they'd called it. They said I wasn't a normal person after all. They said that I'm special, that I can do magic.
Strange, isn't it? There was a time when those would have been the most wonderful words I could hear - when they were the most important words ever said. "You're not a normal human being." "You're a special existence." Words that would raise me above the ordinary boy I had been, that could transform me into the genius I wished I could become. But the words always came from outside, never from within.
Yes, I was always listening to others. I never once listened to myself. And now, when the outside voices finally tell me what I thought I wanted to hear - I don't need them any more.
I'll practice, though. I'll learn this magic. And I'll keep searching, so we can all go home. That's "what I can do now". For my parents, for Wormmon. And for myself.
3. Prose sample
"Ken-chan, come down!" Wormmon skittered across the field as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, eyes turned worriedly towards the sky. "It's dangerous! I'll Digivolve, okay? So you don't have to learn this!"
"It's all right, Wormmon," Ken reassured him, though his palms were sweating against the slick wood of his broom, hovering thirty feet in the air. "This is something students have to practice."
"Ken-chan!"
With an apologetic glance at the ground below (should he have brought Wormmon with him, after all?), Ken pointed his broom upwards and shot further up into the sky. Wind streamed through his hair, and he bit back a cry. A little further - a little further - first-years weren't allowed their own brooms, but if he could just master this, maybe over Christmas vacation he could borrow someone else's. He could fly out to the Wizarding village he heard older students could visit, he could interview people unaffiliated with the school. Maybe someone would know more about the spell that'd pulled them there. Maybe he could learn what might undo it....
Wormmon yelled from the ground below, and Ken looked down - then held tightly to his broom. He'd gotten so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed how close he'd come to the Forbidden Forest.
If anybody saw him out here, he had a feeling all his plans would come to nothing, very soon.