thevelvetkey application
Player Info:
Nickname: Hustino
Age: 24
Personal LJ: el_hustino
Method of Contact: AIM: elhustino; hustino [at] gmail [dot] com.
Characters Played: Etna
Character Info:
Name: Keiichi Maebara
Age: 16
Canon: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Pull Point: Post Good End
Background Info:
History:
General Higurashi Wiki page.
Character page.
Matsuribayashi-hen page.
Personality:
Keiichi’s personality can be broken down into four different aspects, each of which becomes more or less apparent based on the situations he’s in.
Perverted. Being a 16-year-old boy, Keiichi has an overactive libido and, as a result, readily has perverted thoughts and fantasies. He also has a habit of going out of his way to talk to cute girls, though his confidence in regards to flirting or teasing waxes and wanes depending on the situation: if he knows a girl well and can anticipate her reaction to something, he will flirt with her confidently; conversely, if a girl initiates something with him or reacts in a way he doesn’t expect, he will often be left scrambling for something to say or thinking of a way to respond. He really enjoys playful flirting with his friends and likes having someone who he can switch roles from confident flirter to awkward flirtee, like with his relationship with Rena Ryuguu in canon. Although he is proud to say he is a pervert and claims it’s only natural, he’s honestly a pretty tame one--even if his habit of monologuing his fantasies has a habit of making others think otherwise.
Honorable. While he may be comfortable being a pervert, checking out girls, and flirting with girls, he respects boundaries (for example, he tends to get to know someone to gauge what he can say) both physically and verbally. He often uses his flirting or goofy perversion to help relax others or cheer them up, because playing the role of a buttmonkey is a good way for him to get people to smile, which is important to him. He also has zero tolerance in regards to bullying of any kind or sexual assault: in canon, he defends the young Satoko Hojo from her physically and emotionally abusive uncle and beats up three greaser thugs at once to protect Mion Sonozaki. Despite his flirtation and perversion, Keiichi actually holds nearly all his relationships with girls as platonic.
Charismatic. Keiichi is known as the Magician of Words for his ability to spout motivational speeches off the top of his head, ranging from things about doing what’s right for the sake of it to encouraging a guy embarrassed about being a perverted to feel okay about himself. He saved Satoko Hojo’s life in canon by motivating every single person in the entire town of Hinamizawa to stand up for this girl, despite her being the daughter of the two most hated (although also several years dead) people in town. He is capable of accomplishing great things using nothing but words, hence the title Magician of Words.
Empathetic. Although he has the standard stubborn and oblivious teenage boy syndrome (blind that the girl that picks on him loves him and things like that), Keiichi generally has a high sense of empathy. He’s able to pick up on things others miss, able to get to the emotional root of an issue quickly, and is able to pick up on the emotions and feelings others try to hide. This is an enormous part of why he is as charismatic as he is and why he is so skilled at talking to others: he is able to think of things to say and the exact words to say it so that others can genuinely feel what he is saying and get across that he feels what others feel.
Indomitable. To top everything off, Keiichi has an indomitable will. He will neither bend nor budge regardless of the pressure put on him concerning matters of his morals or the safety of others; in canon, he withstands torture and the mutilation of his fingernails at the hands of (who he thought was) Mion suffering from an illness in hopes of outlasting the torture to get through to her.
In summary, Keiichi is in actuality a very, very intelligent person strongly in touch with his and others’ emotions with an incredibly strong adherence to his morals who, due to the cause of his emotional breakdown and his guilt, prefers to mask his real person with a persona of a charismatic, doofy, buttmonkey of a hyperactive pervert. The incident with his breakdown and hurting a young girl forced him to mature mentally and emotionally very, very quickly.
Game Specific:
Arcana: The Fool
Justification: Just as the main characters in the Persona series are given The Fool as their primary arcana, Keiichi deserves this particular one for the same reasons they do. In Higurashi, Keiichi is the positive influence and the key to new possibilities (specifically described as such by Rika Furude/Frederica Bernkastel) to the story and mystery, just as the Persona Protagonists are in their respective games. His presence represents the beginning of the resolution to the tragedies and the mystery plaguing the tiny village of Hinamizawa. Out of all the characters, Keiichi is the one to change the most drastically, mature the most, and show the most potential in the various different worlds: at the beginning, he is weak, immature, and suspicious of others and jumps to violence and rash actions in attempt to solve the problems and protect others; in the end, he is strong, mature, has an absolute and unbreakable faith in his friends, and does everything in his power to solve the many problems and dangers through non-violent means.
Keiichi in early canon fits the reverse Fool to a T (he wasted his potential, made choices that doomed his timeline, impulsiveness when trying to solve problems, etc), while end-canon Keiichi is the positive side of The Fool one hundred percent, being the catalyst representing the most positive influence in the series and showing his immense potential as a person and negotiator.
Samples:
First Person Sample:
[ VIDEO ]
Alright! So, I've got the hang of this now. I think. Not too bad for someone who just learned to squeeze a magic demon out of my head a week ago! I have been wondering something, though.
Instead of fighting these monsters, can't we just find a way to get everyone to move off the island? If there's no way for them to be hurt, then there's no reason to have to fight these demons and put people in danger.
Third Person Sample: Thread from Testrun Box.
Nickname: Hustino
Age: 24
Personal LJ: el_hustino
Method of Contact: AIM: elhustino; hustino [at] gmail [dot] com.
Characters Played: Etna
Character Info:
Name: Keiichi Maebara
Age: 16
Canon: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Pull Point: Post Good End
Background Info:
History:
General Higurashi Wiki page.
Character page.
Matsuribayashi-hen page.
Personality:
Keiichi’s personality can be broken down into four different aspects, each of which becomes more or less apparent based on the situations he’s in.
Perverted. Being a 16-year-old boy, Keiichi has an overactive libido and, as a result, readily has perverted thoughts and fantasies. He also has a habit of going out of his way to talk to cute girls, though his confidence in regards to flirting or teasing waxes and wanes depending on the situation: if he knows a girl well and can anticipate her reaction to something, he will flirt with her confidently; conversely, if a girl initiates something with him or reacts in a way he doesn’t expect, he will often be left scrambling for something to say or thinking of a way to respond. He really enjoys playful flirting with his friends and likes having someone who he can switch roles from confident flirter to awkward flirtee, like with his relationship with Rena Ryuguu in canon. Although he is proud to say he is a pervert and claims it’s only natural, he’s honestly a pretty tame one--even if his habit of monologuing his fantasies has a habit of making others think otherwise.
Honorable. While he may be comfortable being a pervert, checking out girls, and flirting with girls, he respects boundaries (for example, he tends to get to know someone to gauge what he can say) both physically and verbally. He often uses his flirting or goofy perversion to help relax others or cheer them up, because playing the role of a buttmonkey is a good way for him to get people to smile, which is important to him. He also has zero tolerance in regards to bullying of any kind or sexual assault: in canon, he defends the young Satoko Hojo from her physically and emotionally abusive uncle and beats up three greaser thugs at once to protect Mion Sonozaki. Despite his flirtation and perversion, Keiichi actually holds nearly all his relationships with girls as platonic.
Charismatic. Keiichi is known as the Magician of Words for his ability to spout motivational speeches off the top of his head, ranging from things about doing what’s right for the sake of it to encouraging a guy embarrassed about being a perverted to feel okay about himself. He saved Satoko Hojo’s life in canon by motivating every single person in the entire town of Hinamizawa to stand up for this girl, despite her being the daughter of the two most hated (although also several years dead) people in town. He is capable of accomplishing great things using nothing but words, hence the title Magician of Words.
Empathetic. Although he has the standard stubborn and oblivious teenage boy syndrome (blind that the girl that picks on him loves him and things like that), Keiichi generally has a high sense of empathy. He’s able to pick up on things others miss, able to get to the emotional root of an issue quickly, and is able to pick up on the emotions and feelings others try to hide. This is an enormous part of why he is as charismatic as he is and why he is so skilled at talking to others: he is able to think of things to say and the exact words to say it so that others can genuinely feel what he is saying and get across that he feels what others feel.
Indomitable. To top everything off, Keiichi has an indomitable will. He will neither bend nor budge regardless of the pressure put on him concerning matters of his morals or the safety of others; in canon, he withstands torture and the mutilation of his fingernails at the hands of (who he thought was) Mion suffering from an illness in hopes of outlasting the torture to get through to her.
In summary, Keiichi is in actuality a very, very intelligent person strongly in touch with his and others’ emotions with an incredibly strong adherence to his morals who, due to the cause of his emotional breakdown and his guilt, prefers to mask his real person with a persona of a charismatic, doofy, buttmonkey of a hyperactive pervert. The incident with his breakdown and hurting a young girl forced him to mature mentally and emotionally very, very quickly.
Game Specific:
Arcana: The Fool
Justification: Just as the main characters in the Persona series are given The Fool as their primary arcana, Keiichi deserves this particular one for the same reasons they do. In Higurashi, Keiichi is the positive influence and the key to new possibilities (specifically described as such by Rika Furude/Frederica Bernkastel) to the story and mystery, just as the Persona Protagonists are in their respective games. His presence represents the beginning of the resolution to the tragedies and the mystery plaguing the tiny village of Hinamizawa. Out of all the characters, Keiichi is the one to change the most drastically, mature the most, and show the most potential in the various different worlds: at the beginning, he is weak, immature, and suspicious of others and jumps to violence and rash actions in attempt to solve the problems and protect others; in the end, he is strong, mature, has an absolute and unbreakable faith in his friends, and does everything in his power to solve the many problems and dangers through non-violent means.
Keiichi in early canon fits the reverse Fool to a T (he wasted his potential, made choices that doomed his timeline, impulsiveness when trying to solve problems, etc), while end-canon Keiichi is the positive side of The Fool one hundred percent, being the catalyst representing the most positive influence in the series and showing his immense potential as a person and negotiator.
Samples:
First Person Sample:
[ VIDEO ]
Alright! So, I've got the hang of this now. I think. Not too bad for someone who just learned to squeeze a magic demon out of my head a week ago! I have been wondering something, though.
Instead of fighting these monsters, can't we just find a way to get everyone to move off the island? If there's no way for them to be hurt, then there's no reason to have to fight these demons and put people in danger.
Third Person Sample: Thread from Testrun Box.