Application for gargleblasted
OOC:
Name: Cherry
Are you over 16?: Affirmative.
Personal LJ: cherryfox
Email: nightcrossed@gmail.com
Timezone: US Eastern
Other contact: Myscherry (AIM)
Characters already in the game: Arietta the Wild
How did you find us?: Xan. Dear_Mun. And a replica. =/
IC:
Character name: Asch the Bloody
Fandom: Tales of the Abyss
Timeline: Around the time he was being shishkabobbed by Oracle Soldiers.
Age: 17, (probably technically closer to 18 around that time, but 17 is the officially given age.)
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:
Like Luke, Asch relies heavily on strike artes; both of them learned the Albert style (focuses on strength rather than speed) from Van and the first time ended up mirroring one another blow-for-blow. Their fighting style incorporates a lot of strikes that try to knock opponents off-balance and send them flying. His weapon is a Maestro Sword (he uses the Sword of Lorelei for a while near the end). Asch also has a number of fonic artes at his disposal, something that Luke never manages to learn. These include the likes of "Explosion", "Thunder Blade", "Icicle Rain", and "Stalagmite". His Mystic Arte is "Rending Saber" which summons rays of light to jolt an opponent up in the air, giving Asch time to stab his sword into the ground, forming a fonic glyph that further damages the opponent with more controlled rays of light.
Also like Luke (and Asch would totally be pissed by this point at being compared to the dreck so much), Asch is capable of creating hyperresonance, which is an ability that can create or destroy matter. The unique thing about Asch and Luke is that they can create it alone, as it usually requires two seventh fonists (or two objects, at the very least - see the pseudo-hyperresonance created by replicated land reacting with islands that already existed in the same space) to perform. With their powers combined it's possible for them to create a second-order hyperresonance - this only really happened after Asch kicked the bucket and his "soul/power" went into Luke, though.
Having a replica allows for a few cool tricks, thanks to Sync and Dist aligning their fon slots. Asch is able to tap into Luke's mind and communicate with him "telepathically"; he can also force his way in further and attempt to take control of Luke's limbs or see through his eyes. Theoretically the opposite is also possible, although Luke seems to struggle with starting the link on his own. Side effects generally include mega-migraines, although we see this less with Asch than we do with Luke - possibly because Luke is ALL seventh fonons (all of this business relies heavily on seventh fonons), and also possibly because Asch just sucks it up and hides it behind his usual "rawr rawr" face. There's additionally the option of forcing the opposing redhead out of the other's brain once in - so it can either work as a reliable (albeit somewhat one-sided) communications link if they cooperate or result in a power struggle and lots of headaches if they don't. They are also able to receive messages from Lorelei, who is the aggregate sentience of the seventh fonon - more on that later.
As far as non-combat skills go, Asch is a good cook. While I'm at it, Asch hates octopi and carrots, but likes chicken. (It might be useful information some day, who knows?) As a child spent a lot of time studying, so he's probably quite familiar with Auldrant geography and moving around. He's not very social, so it's difficult to say what his other talents are.
How would they use their abilities?:
Asch is all for protecting those important to him and saving the world as long as no one pisses him off in the process. He tends to bite off his nose to spite his face in some situations, but all in all he's willing to lend a hand for the greater good of the whole. He'd definitely want to find a way to bring back Auldrant, in any case, since he spent much of his childhood hoping to mold Kimlasca into a great and peaceful country. Can't see him causing too much trouble.
Appearance:
Asch and Luke have the same build, height, weight, and facial structure thanks to being perfect isofons. Though from a gamer's perspective (and the party's perspective) it's quite easy to tell them apart, there are instances where one is mistaken for the other. Asch stands at 171 cm (about 5 and a half feet) and weighs 68 kgs (about 150 lbs), making him somewhat on the short side. He has long red hair that darkens near the ends to a burgandy color (inversely Luke's got highlights) which he slicks back out of his face and green eyes beneath eyebrows that are nearly always drawn together in a frown. Asch wears his Maestro Robe at pretty much all times and carries a Maestro Sword at his left side. The uniform is in shades of black and gray with a red heart-like insignia printed on the front and reverse of his robes and lighter gray ones on his gauntlets and boots. Underneath the robes (tabard) there's another layer of clothes (a doublet?) with a belt and buckles to hold the robes and the rest of the ensemble in place. Basically every inch of him's covered and protected except for his face.
Here's a reference picture: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/SSG-Sunny/Tales%20of%20the%20Abyss/b6654c2f.jpg
Background/Personality:
(A/N: We're going to start off with "Luke". Don't get confuzzled, since we're still talking about Asch. I'm also going to try to leave out as much techno-babble as possible so we won't be here all night, but...)
Luke was born in Baticul, the capital of the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to Crimson Herzog fon Fabre and Suzanne fon Fabre. From a very young age he lived with the knowledge that he was the tertiary heir to the throne of Kimlasca, and that one day he'd marry his betrothed and become king. Luke was pretty satisfied with all this - he cared about Princess Natalia (his cousin) and helped her learn even as he was learning about Kimlasca himself, and he was already building up ideals about his future kingdom, hoping to create a country where there wouldn't be any war or suffering or poverty. He took his position in the world very seriously.
Sure, there were some lingering issues - his dad didn't spend much time with him and treated him coldly (unbeknownst to Luke, it was prophesied that he was going to die in "the miner's town"); his best friend and servant, Guy Cecil (read: Gailardia Galan Gardios), secretly planned on exacting revenge on House Fabre by killing him; and he had to learn to use his right hand (he's naturally left-handed) because it was proper etiquette. All relatively minor setbacks. He was more-or-less happy, his future seemed bright, and he was reassured of how important he was. Not only that, but the commandant of the Oracle Knights, Dorian General Van Grants, was personally giving him sword training. All-in-all a comfy life.
Then it all went to hell. B|
One day Luke's beloved Master kidnaps and transports him away to Choral Castle - the Fabres' crumbling vacation home that was abandoned long ago during the war. Luke is locked in a cell until preparations are complete and then is dragged out and strapped onto a machine - a replication machine. Van apologizes, explaining that he does indeed require the young boy's power, that the world needs his power. It's around this time that Luke finds out about his ability to perform hyperresonance and that he's the "Chosen One" mentioned in the Score (a prophecy the world abides by). The whole process is excruciatingly painful, but some time later, there's a second "Luke" - a perfect isofon (read: a perfect copy).
The replica Luke gets shipped back to the Fabre household; they are none the wiser for the swap and simply grateful that the young heir was returned to them. Luke, however, won't have any of this prisoner business. He escapes (after being relocated to Daath, I assume - it's mentioned in the manga that "being able to escape from below the cathedral at his age is already quite impressive") and travels through woods and monster-infested wilderness, stows away on a ship, and even suffers the guards mocking him - all to return to the family who loves him. ...only to find that they've accepted the replica. Despite the copy's crying and stumbling, they believe it's all the result of "amnesia" due to the trauma he experienced while missing. Luke is crestfallen - the boy's pride takes a direct hit, and Van is right there, giving Luke some crap about how much he needs him and has no purpose without him even though his family is satisfied with a mere replacement, and how he's sorry for showing Luke such a hard lesson. Luke gives in to Van's words, follows him back to Daath, and enrolls in the Oracle Knights. He climbs the ranks to become a Locrian Colonel within the Order of Lorelei, and later comes to command the Special Ops unit of the six God-Generals, accepting a new name and a new place - Asch the Bloody, the charred remains of the sacred flame.
It's important to note that everything about Asch hinges on two major things. The first, as mentioned, is his pride. Asch is prone to extreme stubbornness and will not budge if someone takes a stab at his ego - this is a big reason he never stays with the party for long, despite them working towards the same ends. The second, as also kinda-sorta mentioned, is the promise he made to Natalia. Though he treats her gruffly when they are finally reunited for a short while, it's later noted that Asch spoke about her often. He seems willing enough to reminisce with her so long as she doesn't insist he's still the same Luke - the identity that was stolen from him that he repeatedly insists "died inside him" seven years ago. It's implied that he still loves her (and this is really obvious in, say, the drama CDs where he trips over his tongue when she's around and they get kind of mushy/fluffy).
Van, meanwhile, does a great job of manipulating Asch. When Legretta expresses concern that Asch may find out about plans that will cause many people in the Outer Lands to die, Van agrees that Asch is indeed still "too delicate", and they send Sync to keep tabs on him. Asch comes to hate replicas (which is no surprise), but he doesn't necessarily place the blame on Van - he places it on the replica. On Luke. Asch continues his role as a God-General, assisting in hijacking the landship Tartarus [in the anime anyway] because he's still chomping at the bit to get his hands on Luke and make him suffer for taking his place away from him. He also helps them kidnap Fon Master Ion. There's some reasoning behind Asch's attachment to Van - Asch lost everything and despite what Van did, Van still needs him (he doesn't believe that anyone else does). He might not believe in a replica world which is part of Van's vision (the revelation of Van's true intentions is actually what causes Asch to start working as a double-agent opposing him), but he does want to abolish the Score that limits the world's free will. Basically Asch needs to be needed and he needs to be accepted, and despite how crazy Van's plan is, Van's feeding him those two things. (And if you'll notice, Van pretty much rejects the replica Luke later on in favor of Asch.) So he sort of goes along with it. But not forever and not completely. Even after Asch starts working against Van, he still tries to make it look like he's loyal (this works for a little while) - it's easier to get stuff done and allows him resources he wouldn't have access to otherwise.
So yeah, let's try to breeze through all the "stuff" Asch does. (Yes, he does do stuff!)
He helps with taking control over the Tartarus [in the anime; in the game he attacked Luke on the way to Kaitzur] - it's an opportunity for him to take a crack at the dreck, and he does so. Of course, Asch isn't able to kill him, but he does manage to insult him somewhat before Luke gets knocked unconscious and is captured.
Then there's Choral Castle. Asch wanted his and Luke's fon slots aligned so that Asch could control him. He has Sync, Dist, and Arietta cooperate with him. Asch seems to have a pretty good idea of what it is that people want, and he bargains with that - and they go along with it, even though it's not something Van wanted done. With Dist, he just wants an opportunity to continue his fomicry research and eventually best Jade, with Arietta it's a chance to steal back Ion and get revenge for her Mommy's death, and with Sync, well, who knows. We guess Sync thought it would be "interesting". So Asch gets the job done, his fellow God-Generals start experimenting on Luke, and voila(!) fon slots aligned. It doesn't work out so well for the others, but Asch is somewhat satisfied for the time being. Only somewhat, though.
More stuff happens and Luke and co. return to Baticul and begin making plans to go out and save Akzeriuth - all according to Van's plans, really. Luke finds out more about his own powers of hyperresonance from Van who wants his help with clearing out the miasma in Akzeriuth. I'll take a sec. to say (since I haven't and this is where Luke finds out) that the reason Asch and Luke can do the whole hyperresonance thing is because their fonon frequency is the same as the seventh fonon. They are the Scions of Lorelei's power (a godlike entity comprised entirely of seventh fonons) and basically Lorelei wants to be freed and for them to do the whole "save the world" deal. Lorelei can contact both of them "telepathically", and after their fon slots are aligned, Asch can contact Luke.
Anyway, before anyone leaves for Akzeriuth, the Dark Wings (a bandit group that starts working for Asch for $$) kidnap Fon Master Ion. The Luke group sneaks out of Baticul through the abandoned factory while Van goes by ocean as a decoy. When they emerge outdoors it's right as Asch and Sync are escorting Ion onto another landship. Luke plays hero and charges after them, only to come face to face with Asch. Literally. Luke is obviously shocked, and the encounter makes him physically sick, but Asch is none the worse for wear, makes some insulting remark about him being a ladies' man (yeah, dreck, what are you doing with Natalia? B\), and leaps back onto the ship to make his getaway.
Asch later gets an opportunity to experiment with his control over Luke via the aligned fon slots and starts contacting him (and tries to control his body on one occasion), and the Luke group gets Ion back at the Zao Ruins, in part thanks to Asch telling them where he was taken.
So Akzeriuth. The miasma coming from the mines is making everyone sick - Luke and Ion go deep into the mines with Van to carry out his not-at-all sinister plan.
Asch also arrives in Akzeriuth after learning of Van's plot, rescues Tear from the Oracle Soldiers, and tells her (and as a result, Jade) what's really going on. They rush into the mines in an attempt to stop Luke (Asch has been head-yelling at him repeatedly to not do it), but it's too late. Van tricks him into using his power on the Passage Ring, saying it'll neutralize the poisonous miasma, and it breaks. The ground starts giving out, Van calls two griffins to save him and Asch ("he can't risk losing Asch" because then the Score would have been fulfilled), Asch is zipped away despite struggle, and then everything goes KABOOM! Tear saves the party with a hymn, and they fall down into the Qliphoth under the land.
Afterwards, Asch somehow breaks free and hightails it down to Yulia City (presumably via Aramis Spring). It's kind of nice to be privy to this sort of information about the world, huh? He tells Luke he's a replica at this point and they get into a fight. Asch is pissed about Akzeriuth, Luke's still in denial, so FIGHT! [Depending on your level] Asch wipes the floor with Luke who is knocked unconscious yet again.
Asch does something with their fon slots so that Luke's consciousness is inside of him while he's out cold, meaning Luke is able to see everything through Asch's eyes. Then Asch and company talk with Governor Teodoro about returning to the Outer Lands. They use the remnants of the destroyed Sephiroth to accomplish this, leaving Tear, Mieu and Luke's body behind. The party heads on off to the fomicry lab at Belkend and discovers that Van has some sort of preservation plan in the works. Guy ends up running off to go check on Luke, much to Asch's chagrin. And so they (sans Guy now) continue on to Ortion Cavern and discover the replication facility there. Asch proves himself more tech-savvy than his counterpart and manages to show off in front of Natalia a few times in the process, but what they learn about replicas begins to gnaw at him, and he starts to worry. While the rearranged party doesn't get too comfy with one another, Anise comments that Asch isn't so mean after all. And yada. In the end Asch leaves them to go about his own business and shoves Luke out of his head and into his own body. INSERT LUKE'S IMPORTANT HAIRCUT. And Luke's group eventually comes together again and gets back in the action.
While Asch angsts over a lot of things and has a short fuse which can lead to him saying and doing some pretty dumb things, he's not a bad person. His heart's in the right place, at least, though it takes a fair amount of coaxing to get him to loosen up - and even then it doesn't always work. Throughout much of the game Asch is flat-out mean to Luke even though they have the same goals and end up cooperating numerous times to get the job done (one time at the oasis he pushed Luke even though he was standing nowhere close to him and wasn't even in the way). Luke gets pretty mad that Asch treats him like trash and calls him a defective replica. Asch, however, is under the impression that Luke's just a part of himself and though he wants to feel like the dominant one, he gets really pissy when Luke calls himself inferior because a) Luke stole everything from him and b) if Luke's part of Asch, he shouldn't settle for being inferior and where's his sense of pride? Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. This cycle goes on for a long time.
The group starts lowering the Outer Lands so that they won't collapse like what happened with Akzeriuth - thus preventing many deaths. To do this they have Tear activate the Passage Rings and Luke carve in directions using hyperresonance to overwrite what Van's been doing all this time. A few important plot twists occur, notably when Grand Maestro Mohs reveals that Natalia isn't the real princess. Luke and Natalia get captured and are asked to drink poison - the reasons being Akzeriuth and Natalia's false claim to the crown. Asch and the others, along with a ton of citizens, intervene and allow the party their escape. Later in Sheridan Asch meets up with Natalia and tells her that it doesn't matter if she's a princess or not - they were both serious about the promise they made, and she should still work to do whatever she can for her country.
There's still the problem with the planet's core vibrating, however, and they end up using the Tartarus and a custom-made fon machine to neutralize the vibration. This'll stop the land from sinking over time. Asch helps (and fails some) with this too, by having the Dark Wings and Ginji transport scientists around and also by chasing after Spinoza who ended up revealing the whole thing to Van anyway after he got away from Asch.
After finding out that the miasma has entered her body and may be poisoning her brother as well, Tear leaves with Asch to confront Van at Ortion Cavern. Van reveals his plan to replicate the entire world, and Asch takes a crack at him, but doesn't win. It takes Asch a while to recuperate, and time's of the essence, so he tells Luke he has to kill Van. Finally Luke and co. head off to the Absorption Gate to take out Van, Van falls into the core, and Luke (with Asch's help at the opposing gate, the Radiation Gate), uses hyperresonance to finish the job of controlling the Passage Rings. At this time Lorelei tells Asch and Luke that he's sending them the key, that "one who would cease glory" is trying to imprison it, and that they must free it. So Asch obtains the Sword of Lorelei. Luke, however, fails to receive the other half of the key.
A month passes, but things aren't all peaches and cream for Asch. He learns that the core's vibration has gotten stronger and that some other disturbing things have happened - Dist broke out of jail and Van's sword went missing, so he heads off to Yulia City to talk with Teodoro about it and leaves just before Luke arrives there himself.
Basically Van and the other God-Generals aren't dead, which equals lots more running around and trying to save the world. Van sets up a bunch of replica facilities, Mohs goes crazy, and Asch continues his quest to find the Jewel of Lorelei that the dreck failed to receive. (Seriously. They look everywhere for it.) Thanks to all the replication business, the core's vibration is going crazy again and miasma starts seeping up out of the ground. Anyway, the group starts talking about how one might theoretically be able to create a hyperresonance big enough to wipe it out completely - at the cost of thousands of lives. Impossible, right? Well, Asch (and Luke, but Asch acts first) gets crazy ideas and decides he'll do it.
So Asch goes ahead to the Tower of Rem with the Dark Wings and Ginji (his pilot) in tow. He wants to use the Sword of Lorelei and the replicas that have gathered at the Tower (Mohs lied to them about making a place for them on Eldrant - a replica of Hod Island that Van has created) to clear out the miasma, which is in a word: suicidal. Luke interferes, Jade grabs Asch, and Luke takes his place because Luke's an idiot; he says that Asch is the original so he should live. Only it's not working because the Jewel of Lorelei's been hanging out inside him all this time. Asch ends up breaking free and runs back to help him. They clear away the miasma and could have both died, but they don't. Because they're too stupid to die, and the game's not over yet. And guess what? ASCH LEAVES AGAIN. And also Luke's fonons are separating and he finds out he's going to die.
Things finally lead to them getting ready to take on Eldrant and Van. Luke tricks Asch into meeting him in the Fabre Manor and reunites him with his parents. Duke Fabre explains to Asch why he was always so distant, that he was scared to love a son destined to die, and they all share a moment. Asch probably needed all that, but he gets mad at Luke anyway and says he refuses to go back to living in the manor. Off he goes.
Luke also makes attempts to try to give Asch the Jewel, saying it's his job to defeat Van and that they'll help him, but Asch refuses this, too. Asch hates how Luke has no pride in himself, so while he would have probably worked alongside the party, it had to be on his terms, and Luke handing over the responsibility to Asch because he feels inferior wasn't something Asch was okay with. Yeah, fickle man.
Mushroom Road is an important side quest for Asch. In case you missed the memo, Suzanne (his mom) has always been very weak and sickly, and Luke's crew finds out that she needs medicine made from a special mushroom. Asch also finds out about this, and he rushes to Mushroom Road for the ingredient ahead of them (because he loves Mom, too! :|). Anyway, Luke agrees to stay behind at the road entrance in case there's trouble (Asch can contact him, but not vice versa), and Asch joins the party on a fun romp through a giant forest of 'shrooms to look for the one that'll make Mom well again. Asch actually gets a title from this, which is almost unheard of, which just goes to show how important some people are to him, even though stuff happened and they're currently... estranged.
So back to the main plot. Ginji and Asch and also Noelle and Luke-tachi fight their way into Eldrant to face off against Van. Noting here that Asch forced the Dark Wings to get off the plane and would have told Ginji to stay behind, too, except Ginji insisted he needed a pilot. After arriving, Asch tells Ginji that he did a good job and to get out of there. He runs off and Luke-tachi find Ginji who all but begs them to go after Asch. I cannot for the life of me pinpoint how Asch commands such loyalty from these associates of his, but they seem to care about him nonetheless. Luke goes after him and ends up falling into the same trap as Asch. Rather than cooperating with the replica, Asch challenges Luke to another fight, saying it may be their last opportunity to prove who the "real Luke" is. Asch is under the impression he's going to die during the Big Bang anyway (it happens between a replica and an original, where they fuse into one being; he didn't stick around for the entire explanation), and is still sensitive to all that happened - feeling like he lost everything and having his replica claim to not deserve to be alive, even though he unintentionally took Asch's place, just makes his blood boil. So Asch eggs him on and they fight, despite Luke's protests. Luke insists he's not just some part of Asch, but his own person, and he WINS. Asch hands over the incomplete Key of Lorelei and says he'll fight off the Oracle Soldiers while Luke disposes of Van. Luke tells him he has to live or else he and Natalia will be sad, but Asch kind of shrugs him off.
Facing the soldiers, Asch says their opponent is "Luke fon Fabre", and takes out a sizable portion of their numbers, only he gets distracted for a moment (a pain in his chest that he believes is a symptom of the Big Bang) and gets stabbed straight through. Three times. So he dies alone, sending a final message to Luke that he's leaving the rest to him, and then Luke feels something warm flowing into him and knows that Asch is dead. They later claim this warmth "is Asch", and the extra boost of power allows Luke to form a second-order hyperresonance and complete the key. So the others go on to fight Van and free Lorelei from inside him using Tear's Grand Fonic Hymn and the Key of Lorelei. Following a moving series of goodbyes, Luke stays behind to send Lorelei up to the fonbelt surrounding the planet. He descends into the crumbling Eldrant, catches Asch's corpse, gets a "congrats" from Lorelei and fades into oblivion. Roll credits. The rest is kind of open to interpretation, but one of them Luke comes back two years later on the eve of the original Luke's coming of age ceremony.
Why should that character be in this game: For OCs only.
Why do you want to continue their history here: For characters from other games only.
Have you read up on how the game works?: FlamingFerret plug-in. Beginning cash, getting a job, commissions, or being a lazy bum and leeching off others.
1st person sample:
I still can't believe I lost to the dreck "Luke", but I guess I should be more surprised I'm even alive right now after what happened back on Eldrant. I was too careless. If that hadn't happened, then maybe-- ...tch!
It doesn't matter. I need to find out if anyone else from Auldrant is here on the ship. I'm not stupid enough to believe that I can find a way back on my own - assuming that's even an option right now. The rest can wait a while longer.
Dammit! If I'd known something like this was going to happen, I would have planned ahead when I still had a decent opportunity! This is pathetic. I don't have the luxury of time right now...!
3rd person sample:
Asch's chest ached even as he made his way purposefully down one of the S.S. Thor's corridors. It was a long shot, but maybe some of the others had survived, too. Natalia...? Guy...? Even seeing "Luke" again was almost fine with him. Almost. In those last moments inside Eldrant, Asch had realized that he really, really didn't want to die, and he really didn't want to die alone. He had wanted to stick around and see what kind of country Kimlasca-Lanvaldear could become, even if he had little to do with the result.
Just what had happened anyway? He had left the rest up to the replica, and now these disgusting creatures were asking him to fill out forms because he was some kind of refugee. Because, so it was said, Auldrant had been destroyed.
Asch had accepted his loss against the replica, and he'd accepted that "Luke" was his own person, but this?! How could he have been so stupid as to trust the dreck to get the job done? The more he thought about it, the more shame he felt. If he had confronted Van himself, maybe none of this would have happened in the first place.
'That defective piece of...!' But even as Asch thought this, he knew it wasn't all Luke's fault. He'd made some poor decisions himself, and here he was, stuck in an unfamiliar place with no connections whatsoever and little clue about what was really going on.
Asch scowled, looking down at the Guide in his hands. He didn't want to ask for help. He really didn't, but what other choice did he have?
Questions?: No.
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: I did.