[ooc] App!
PLAYER INFORMATION-
Name/Nickname: Ten
AIM/E-mail/Contact: AIM: ninja octopii, E-mail: yesihatespring@gmail.com
LJ: tenshinoakuma
CHARACTER INFORMATION-
Canon Character and Series: Atsuro Kihara, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
In-Game Name: Atsuro Kihara
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Position & Ship: Radio Ops, Fiertia
Appearance: Atsuro is fairly ordinary in appearance, being of average height, average build with brown eyes and brown-black hair. He's more often found with a cheerful grin than a frown, although his cat-like eyes can startle, at least initially. But a friendly laugh and a smile is quick to put people at ease; he has a casual demeanor, emphasized by his casual clothing: a shirt with a brightly coloured jacket over it, slacks, and a paperboy hat that looks like it's eating his eyebrows.
Additonally, you're 100% guaranteed to find Atsuro carrying a canvas shoulderbag containing his modified portable radio and journal. He'll never go outside without his radio and journal (regardless of whether he'll actually have time to use them), a habit from being a radio and Network junkie, to the point they're almost a security blanket.
Personality: Atsuro can be described as an ordinary guy who just happens to be a bit of a nerd. Friendly and cheerful and an all-around nice guy to hang out with, it can be difficult to believe Atsuro will suffer withdrawal symptoms within a day or two of being unable to access the Network. He's quite the problem solver, and when given a journal or radio related problem, he will often automatically start thinking aloud, leaving the ordinary buried in a pile of jargon they don't understand. But that's a-ok; when asked, Atsuro is perfectly willing (and perfectly capable) of explaining what he means in layman's terms.
Perhaps the most apt description of Atsuro, however, would be that he's a social hermit. When left to his own devices, he is quite content to dive into the depths of the Network or listen to the radio for extended periods of time, rarely resurfacing until either an obligation (such as attending classes) pulls him away or someone offers an invitation to hang out. And while Atsuro tends to default to Network or radio-based interaction when alone, he won't say no to meetings 'IRL'. He's quite happy to spend time with his friends and genuinely enjoys opportunities to catch up, but it's not something Atsuro will initiate.
However, as a result of having the majority of his childhood social life being listening to the radio and interaction through the Network, where friendships tend to come and go more quickly than 'real life' friendships, Atsuro has an easy-come-easy-go view on friends. His generally cheerful demeanor allows him to make friends easily, but should he ever fall out of touch with them, Atsuro is unlikely to contact them. Despite this, Atsuro values his friendships and remembers every single one he's made, and when he finally regains contact with a long lost friend, he'll treat them with the same friendliness and loyalty as he used to, even when the friend has changed since their last meeting. He extends a sense of protectiveness over his friends, keeping information from them if it'll make them worry, or teasing them in an attempt to keep their mind off their problems. He'll try to keep his chin up and smile in a bad situation, while still voicing his (sometimes less than optimistic) thoughts as he tries to come up with a solution to the problem. But... at the same time, Atsuro isn't stable enough to be a pillar of strength on his own; he needs someone else to confide in for his own worries.
Abilities/Weapons: Atsuro's greatest asset is his mind. His observations skills are incredibly sharp for his age, and combined with his good memory and ability to logically think things through, he's can detect fallacies and call would-be con artists out on it. He's a problem solver, constantly thinking and making theories or drawing possible conclusions when given little information in order to come up with potential solutions. As Atsuro is generally well read on current news (though often with a technological bent), he also has a certain amount of foresight that others his age aren't likely to have. On top of all this, Atsuro is excellent with radios and difference engines (often modifying his own) and is quite an avid hacker.
How well can your character hack?: Atsuro has grown up around radios (and later, difference engines) due to his parents' work. Having little else to occupy himself with, he spent most of his youth tapping into private radio signals and poking his nose into other peoples' encrypted journal entries. He enjoys the challenge and is always eager to learn more ways to hack and encrypt. Additionally, he became Gin Ichimaru's apprentice -- at least, in regards to radio and journal technology -- a little less than two years ago. And while Gin wasn't the most straightforward of teachers, he shared some of his hacking tips and tricks with Atsuro.
As a result of all these things, Atsuro is able hack medium difficulty posts with ease. Posts with a hard to hack encryption are difficult and will take some time, but are still doable.
Weaknesses: Ultimately Atsuro is a follower, not a leader. He tends to be delegated to the sidekick role at best and can be bullied into doing minor tasks. And while he might complain a bit -- and be a little incredulous if it's a non-tech related request -- he'll do it anyway. Because of this tendency to follow, he can be easily manipulated if convinced he's changing a bad situation into a better one, especially if the manipulator in question is someone he admires or respects. Even if Atsuro has doubts about the legitimacy of it, if the people he's loyal to decide to go down a bad path, he'll follow after them.
Partially because of his sharp and observant mind, Atsuro will often think of worst case scenarios. Unfortunately, Atsuro also tends to think aloud, so if he's in the company of others, he'll usually end up gracing them with these pessimistic thoughts. Additionally, for all his logic and observations, Atsuro can be remarkably dense regarding the people he admires. He may start to gain a kind of hero worship for these people, explaining away their faults and making it difficult to break the rose coloured glasses he views them in. And with friends he hasn't seen for a while, he'll initially regard them in the same manner as he remembered them, even when they've changed for the worse.
As with anyone who spends most of their spare time sitting in front of radios and journals, Atsuro possesses little fighting capability. He may be a little stronger than you'd expect from a nerdlinger, but he's not much better than a high school student. He's been in a couple of brawls, but if there's no one to save, Atsuro will often pick flight over fight.
History: Atsuro is the only child of a pair of engineers whose projects focused on radio technology. Atsuro lived with his parents in a small house in Colvus and his childhood toys were radios. Seeing his interest in the technology, his parents taught him the basics of how to use radios. Atsuro quickly picked up the more advanced applications mostly using his own brains, though he had some help from his parents on the rare occasion they weren't busy. Atsuro preferred the company of his toys over the company of other children, and this persisted even as he attended school. Being a bit of a square and awkward at face to face social interaction, his early school years consisted of running errands for bigger kids and giving them the answers to their schoolwork. Outside of school, Atsuro listened to the various public radio broadcasts and later learnt to tap private radio discussions and ship signals.
In his middle years of schooling, another student saw how Atsuro was being bullied and drove the bullies off, saving Atsuro from becoming their gopher for another few years. Thankful for the help, Atsuro quickly became friends with his rescuer, and started coming out of his introverted shell. Now that he had an actual friend, Atsuro was better able to pick up social skills from his rescuer -- learning these skills as quickly as he'd learnt to use a radio -- and became comfortable in social situations.
However, shortly after, Atsuro changed schools, right before his parents received an offer to work in Melior to help with the development of difference engines due to their work with radios. Atsuro's parents didn't want to stay in Melior all that time, so they worked on a fly-in-fly-out basis, deeming Atsuro old enough to look after himself while they were gone. When the first journals came out to the general public, his parents gave Atsuro one with a few details regarding its function, and soon he was spending most of his spare time on the Network. Atsuro loved the network, where -- in his eyes -- everyone was treated as equals. Anonymynity meant that no one knew any of his details unless he revealed them, so as far as Atsuro was concerned, on the Network, everyone was on equal ground. Despite his new infatuation with the Network, Atsuro didn't return to his old, reclusive and introverted self, managing to make a few different friends at his new school.
A little less than two years ago, he encountered a man passing through Colvus who was a better journal hacker than he. Atsuro didn't know anyone who was better at using journals than himself in Colvus -- aside from his parents, who were distant at best -- and having a newfound respect for the stranger, Atsuro asked him to be his teacher. Expecting the answer to be no, he was surprised when the stranger accepted. Atsuro found his name to be Gin Ichimaru, and while Gin didn't stay in Colvus for long, he continued to teach Atsuro through the Network. Gin's teaching methods could be called inconsistent, but Atsuro preferred to describe them as interesting and challenging. They could be anything from taunts outside an encrypted message to advice given straight to completely unapologetic absences. In Atsuro's eyes, Gin was a genius. Who knew how genius' minds worked? If finding some information every now and again was all Gin wanted from him -- though, sometimes figuring out what Gin actually wanted was difficult; he could be pretty vague at times -- Atsuro didn't mind that. Half the time, it was a new hacking challenge for Atsuro anyway, and there was no way he'd back down from one of those.
It was through one such vague request after Atsuro had finished his schooling that lead him to the Fiertia. He wasn't entirely sure if the Fiertia was where he was supposed to be, but he didn't want a job working the crops or restaurants as was the norm in Colvus. He'd really like a job where he could work with radios or difference engines, and it seemed like the Fiertia were hiring radio ops. It sounded perfect, and after organising for someone to look after the house in Colvus, Atsuro applied for the position on board the Fiertia.
SAMPLES-
Third Person (roleplay):
I'm going to Boston in the fall.
Those were the first words Atsuro saw when he turned on his journal after his last day of school. The message was sudden and out of the blue. He'd talked to this guy a few times, and met him once or twice in person, but the message seemed... odd. Usually there would be some sort of formal greeting; the guy worked in some kind of mechanically geared company and liked to keep up appearances. Besides, this was the first Atsuro had even heard of Boston. Maybe it was a small town somewhere in the outskirts of Reial? Atsuro wasted no time in responding to the private message. Why? Where is Boston, anyway?
While he waited for a response, Atsuro made a cursory search through the Network for information, but turned up nothing. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for it later. When he received the response, he frowned a little after he finished reading it. A friend of mine was investigating it before they disappeared. The notes they left behind says it's in the Badlands. Apparently it's the center of a huge Ivonian cover-up.
Atsuro had a bad feeling about this. If this guy's friend had disappeared -- possibly killed -- there was a good chance the same would happen to him as well. What kind of secret did Boston hold that was big enough to cause investigators to dissapear? Why didn't anyone else know about it? Maybe it was holding some new military weapon that was under development? If that was true, Vohemar would be in big trouble. Still... he didn't know enough about it to be sure.
He quickly typed back, Good luck! As an afterthought, he added, Be careful. They'll probably use force if it really is a cover-up.
Thanks. I'll let you know if anything turns up.
Atsuro never heard from him again.
First Person (journal):
[Private][Voice]
Whoa... I expected a lot of radio equipment, but these are way bigger than the ones at home! I guess it makes sense that they need bigger stuff for ships... [some shuffling around] Oh wow, they even have transmitters for longwave broadcasts! Doesn't look like they use it much, though.
Hmm... I wonder if I can pick up other signals with this kind of equipment. Guess I'll have to try it out!
[/Private]
Name/Nickname: Ten
AIM/E-mail/Contact: AIM: ninja octopii, E-mail: yesihatespring@gmail.com
LJ: tenshinoakuma
CHARACTER INFORMATION-
Canon Character and Series: Atsuro Kihara, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
In-Game Name: Atsuro Kihara
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Position & Ship: Radio Ops, Fiertia
Appearance: Atsuro is fairly ordinary in appearance, being of average height, average build with brown eyes and brown-black hair. He's more often found with a cheerful grin than a frown, although his cat-like eyes can startle, at least initially. But a friendly laugh and a smile is quick to put people at ease; he has a casual demeanor, emphasized by his casual clothing: a shirt with a brightly coloured jacket over it, slacks, and a paperboy hat that looks like it's eating his eyebrows.
Additonally, you're 100% guaranteed to find Atsuro carrying a canvas shoulderbag containing his modified portable radio and journal. He'll never go outside without his radio and journal (regardless of whether he'll actually have time to use them), a habit from being a radio and Network junkie, to the point they're almost a security blanket.
Personality: Atsuro can be described as an ordinary guy who just happens to be a bit of a nerd. Friendly and cheerful and an all-around nice guy to hang out with, it can be difficult to believe Atsuro will suffer withdrawal symptoms within a day or two of being unable to access the Network. He's quite the problem solver, and when given a journal or radio related problem, he will often automatically start thinking aloud, leaving the ordinary buried in a pile of jargon they don't understand. But that's a-ok; when asked, Atsuro is perfectly willing (and perfectly capable) of explaining what he means in layman's terms.
Perhaps the most apt description of Atsuro, however, would be that he's a social hermit. When left to his own devices, he is quite content to dive into the depths of the Network or listen to the radio for extended periods of time, rarely resurfacing until either an obligation (such as attending classes) pulls him away or someone offers an invitation to hang out. And while Atsuro tends to default to Network or radio-based interaction when alone, he won't say no to meetings 'IRL'. He's quite happy to spend time with his friends and genuinely enjoys opportunities to catch up, but it's not something Atsuro will initiate.
However, as a result of having the majority of his childhood social life being listening to the radio and interaction through the Network, where friendships tend to come and go more quickly than 'real life' friendships, Atsuro has an easy-come-easy-go view on friends. His generally cheerful demeanor allows him to make friends easily, but should he ever fall out of touch with them, Atsuro is unlikely to contact them. Despite this, Atsuro values his friendships and remembers every single one he's made, and when he finally regains contact with a long lost friend, he'll treat them with the same friendliness and loyalty as he used to, even when the friend has changed since their last meeting. He extends a sense of protectiveness over his friends, keeping information from them if it'll make them worry, or teasing them in an attempt to keep their mind off their problems. He'll try to keep his chin up and smile in a bad situation, while still voicing his (sometimes less than optimistic) thoughts as he tries to come up with a solution to the problem. But... at the same time, Atsuro isn't stable enough to be a pillar of strength on his own; he needs someone else to confide in for his own worries.
Abilities/Weapons: Atsuro's greatest asset is his mind. His observations skills are incredibly sharp for his age, and combined with his good memory and ability to logically think things through, he's can detect fallacies and call would-be con artists out on it. He's a problem solver, constantly thinking and making theories or drawing possible conclusions when given little information in order to come up with potential solutions. As Atsuro is generally well read on current news (though often with a technological bent), he also has a certain amount of foresight that others his age aren't likely to have. On top of all this, Atsuro is excellent with radios and difference engines (often modifying his own) and is quite an avid hacker.
How well can your character hack?: Atsuro has grown up around radios (and later, difference engines) due to his parents' work. Having little else to occupy himself with, he spent most of his youth tapping into private radio signals and poking his nose into other peoples' encrypted journal entries. He enjoys the challenge and is always eager to learn more ways to hack and encrypt. Additionally, he became Gin Ichimaru's apprentice -- at least, in regards to radio and journal technology -- a little less than two years ago. And while Gin wasn't the most straightforward of teachers, he shared some of his hacking tips and tricks with Atsuro.
As a result of all these things, Atsuro is able hack medium difficulty posts with ease. Posts with a hard to hack encryption are difficult and will take some time, but are still doable.
Weaknesses: Ultimately Atsuro is a follower, not a leader. He tends to be delegated to the sidekick role at best and can be bullied into doing minor tasks. And while he might complain a bit -- and be a little incredulous if it's a non-tech related request -- he'll do it anyway. Because of this tendency to follow, he can be easily manipulated if convinced he's changing a bad situation into a better one, especially if the manipulator in question is someone he admires or respects. Even if Atsuro has doubts about the legitimacy of it, if the people he's loyal to decide to go down a bad path, he'll follow after them.
Partially because of his sharp and observant mind, Atsuro will often think of worst case scenarios. Unfortunately, Atsuro also tends to think aloud, so if he's in the company of others, he'll usually end up gracing them with these pessimistic thoughts. Additionally, for all his logic and observations, Atsuro can be remarkably dense regarding the people he admires. He may start to gain a kind of hero worship for these people, explaining away their faults and making it difficult to break the rose coloured glasses he views them in. And with friends he hasn't seen for a while, he'll initially regard them in the same manner as he remembered them, even when they've changed for the worse.
As with anyone who spends most of their spare time sitting in front of radios and journals, Atsuro possesses little fighting capability. He may be a little stronger than you'd expect from a nerdlinger, but he's not much better than a high school student. He's been in a couple of brawls, but if there's no one to save, Atsuro will often pick flight over fight.
History: Atsuro is the only child of a pair of engineers whose projects focused on radio technology. Atsuro lived with his parents in a small house in Colvus and his childhood toys were radios. Seeing his interest in the technology, his parents taught him the basics of how to use radios. Atsuro quickly picked up the more advanced applications mostly using his own brains, though he had some help from his parents on the rare occasion they weren't busy. Atsuro preferred the company of his toys over the company of other children, and this persisted even as he attended school. Being a bit of a square and awkward at face to face social interaction, his early school years consisted of running errands for bigger kids and giving them the answers to their schoolwork. Outside of school, Atsuro listened to the various public radio broadcasts and later learnt to tap private radio discussions and ship signals.
In his middle years of schooling, another student saw how Atsuro was being bullied and drove the bullies off, saving Atsuro from becoming their gopher for another few years. Thankful for the help, Atsuro quickly became friends with his rescuer, and started coming out of his introverted shell. Now that he had an actual friend, Atsuro was better able to pick up social skills from his rescuer -- learning these skills as quickly as he'd learnt to use a radio -- and became comfortable in social situations.
However, shortly after, Atsuro changed schools, right before his parents received an offer to work in Melior to help with the development of difference engines due to their work with radios. Atsuro's parents didn't want to stay in Melior all that time, so they worked on a fly-in-fly-out basis, deeming Atsuro old enough to look after himself while they were gone. When the first journals came out to the general public, his parents gave Atsuro one with a few details regarding its function, and soon he was spending most of his spare time on the Network. Atsuro loved the network, where -- in his eyes -- everyone was treated as equals. Anonymynity meant that no one knew any of his details unless he revealed them, so as far as Atsuro was concerned, on the Network, everyone was on equal ground. Despite his new infatuation with the Network, Atsuro didn't return to his old, reclusive and introverted self, managing to make a few different friends at his new school.
A little less than two years ago, he encountered a man passing through Colvus who was a better journal hacker than he. Atsuro didn't know anyone who was better at using journals than himself in Colvus -- aside from his parents, who were distant at best -- and having a newfound respect for the stranger, Atsuro asked him to be his teacher. Expecting the answer to be no, he was surprised when the stranger accepted. Atsuro found his name to be Gin Ichimaru, and while Gin didn't stay in Colvus for long, he continued to teach Atsuro through the Network. Gin's teaching methods could be called inconsistent, but Atsuro preferred to describe them as interesting and challenging. They could be anything from taunts outside an encrypted message to advice given straight to completely unapologetic absences. In Atsuro's eyes, Gin was a genius. Who knew how genius' minds worked? If finding some information every now and again was all Gin wanted from him -- though, sometimes figuring out what Gin actually wanted was difficult; he could be pretty vague at times -- Atsuro didn't mind that. Half the time, it was a new hacking challenge for Atsuro anyway, and there was no way he'd back down from one of those.
It was through one such vague request after Atsuro had finished his schooling that lead him to the Fiertia. He wasn't entirely sure if the Fiertia was where he was supposed to be, but he didn't want a job working the crops or restaurants as was the norm in Colvus. He'd really like a job where he could work with radios or difference engines, and it seemed like the Fiertia were hiring radio ops. It sounded perfect, and after organising for someone to look after the house in Colvus, Atsuro applied for the position on board the Fiertia.
SAMPLES-
Third Person (roleplay):
I'm going to Boston in the fall.
Those were the first words Atsuro saw when he turned on his journal after his last day of school. The message was sudden and out of the blue. He'd talked to this guy a few times, and met him once or twice in person, but the message seemed... odd. Usually there would be some sort of formal greeting; the guy worked in some kind of mechanically geared company and liked to keep up appearances. Besides, this was the first Atsuro had even heard of Boston. Maybe it was a small town somewhere in the outskirts of Reial? Atsuro wasted no time in responding to the private message. Why? Where is Boston, anyway?
While he waited for a response, Atsuro made a cursory search through the Network for information, but turned up nothing. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for it later. When he received the response, he frowned a little after he finished reading it. A friend of mine was investigating it before they disappeared. The notes they left behind says it's in the Badlands. Apparently it's the center of a huge Ivonian cover-up.
Atsuro had a bad feeling about this. If this guy's friend had disappeared -- possibly killed -- there was a good chance the same would happen to him as well. What kind of secret did Boston hold that was big enough to cause investigators to dissapear? Why didn't anyone else know about it? Maybe it was holding some new military weapon that was under development? If that was true, Vohemar would be in big trouble. Still... he didn't know enough about it to be sure.
He quickly typed back, Good luck! As an afterthought, he added, Be careful. They'll probably use force if it really is a cover-up.
Thanks. I'll let you know if anything turns up.
Atsuro never heard from him again.
First Person (journal):
[Private][Voice]
Whoa... I expected a lot of radio equipment, but these are way bigger than the ones at home! I guess it makes sense that they need bigger stuff for ships... [some shuffling around] Oh wow, they even have transmitters for longwave broadcasts! Doesn't look like they use it much, though.
Hmm... I wonder if I can pick up other signals with this kind of equipment. Guess I'll have to try it out!
[/Private]