Gargleblasted Application
OOC:
Name: G
Are you over 16?: Yeeeeees.
Personal LJ: I don’t really have one.
Email: fearthefish20@hotmail.com
Timezone: mountain
Other contact: AIM: chees4g
Characters already in the game: Flynn and Barry
How did you find us?: Aaaaaaaki.
IC:
Character name: Hope Estheim
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII
Timeline: After the end of Chapter 11
Age: 14
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Hope is a l’Cie, which means that in order to complete the focus he’s been given by the fal’Cie, he can use the power of magic. This includes the spells Blizzard, Fire, Thunder, Water, Aero and Quake. I’m assuming the names are pretty self explanatory. He can also use healing magic, and use buff magic to increase his party’s physical strength and defence. Using the crystal in his left wrist, he can summon the Eidolon Alexander. Alexander is a massive metal humanoid figure that pummels its enemies with physical attacks. It can also activate its Gestalt mode to turn into a fortress that attacks the enemy with lasers and earthquakes. As for non-magical abilities, he fights with a yellow boomerang called the airwing. He also has limited experience in piloting one of the flying machines used by PSICOM in Cocoon.
How would they use their abilities?: Hope’s magical abilities are mainly suited for combat, so he would use them for self-defence or the defence of his friends, or if someone mad him mad enough that he seriously wanted to hurt them, which would not happen often, if at all. His buff spells on the other hand, he would use to help his friends that were in a fight. He would also use his healing powers on anyone he thought was hurt. Also, since he is very weak physically, he would use magic more often than his boomerangs in a fight.
However, since l’Cie are generally regarded with fear and hatred on Cocoon, Hope would assume the same principle applies on this ship and try to keep his abilities hidden initially. When he finds out that other people on the ship have magic he will most likely be more forthcoming with his abilities. Also, because a wide open space is required for Alexander, he would not summon him on the Thor.
Appearance: Hope is a rather thin boy, standing exactly 5 feet tall with fluffy silvery-blonde hair and green eyes. His attire consists of green shoes with black soles and laces, deep green shorts that end just below the knee, a black under-shirt with a yellow T-shirt with a popped collar worn over top. The shirt has an orange piece of cloth that’s sewed onto the shirt along the neckline and hangs loose about the shirt and comes down to a little bit above the middle of his back. He wears a green neckerchief with black markings around his neck, and black gloves with white palms on his hands. He wears a yellow bandana around his left wrist, which covers his l’Cie brand
Background/Personality:
In order to understand the story of Final Fantasy 13, I need to take a paragraph or two to define the terms, otherwise I’ll get completely off topic if I try to explain them as they come up in the main background. First, let’s explain the world the game takes place in. There are actually two worlds that exist side-by-side: Pulse and Cocoon. Cocoon can best be described as a giant metal sphere that floats above Pulse, or Gran Pulse as the natives call it. On the inside of the sphere, Cocoon is very much a thriving world with sprawling cities, artificial beaches and forests. Gran Pulse is a planet that looks very much like Earth, but is filled with monsters the sort you would expect to find in Final Fantasy.
Cocoon is an artificial utopia made by creatures known as fal’Cie, which are mechanical creatures of varying shapes and sizes and abilities. Fal’Cie exist on both Cocoon and Pulse, and each performs a specific role. These roles include artificial weather manipulation, food distribution, and communicating with the Sanctum, which is the governing body of Cocoon. When the fal’Cie need something accomplished that they cannot, they select humans and place a brand somewhere on their bodies to symbolize this. These humans are known as l’Cie, and each of them has the ability to use magic and gain the ability to summon powerful creatures called Eidolon’s. Each l’Cie is given a task to complete called a Focus, which must be interpreted through visions given by the fal’Cie. The brand serves as a timer. If the l’Cie does not complete his or her focus before the brand reaches its mature state, the l’Cie then becomes a monstrous zombie like creature called a Cie’th. However, if a l’Cie does complete his or her focus, they are given the reward of eternal life through an everlasting sleep in crystal stasis. Needless to say, people don’t exactly rejoice when they become l’Cie. Also, for the sake of the game, I’ll be permanently freezing the progression of Hope’s brand.
Now here is where our story begins.... almost. First a history lesson is in order. Many centuries ago, the people of Gran Pulse attacked Cocoon in what was called the War of Transgression. Even though Cocoons outer shell was cracked, the forces of Cocoon were victorious in repelling the armies of Pulse. Ever since then, the people of Cocoon have been taught that Pulse is hell on earth, and that people from Pulse want nothing more than Cocoons destruction. In order to repair the damage, the fal’Cie of Cocoon ventured down to Pulse and gathered raw materials. These included buildings that were called called Vestiges.
Now, we fast forward to the current date, where PSICOM, the branch of the Cocoon military that deals with Pulse threats, discovers that one of the Vestiges that had originally been sealed all this time is now open. Inside they make a truly terrifying discovery: a Pulse fal’Cie. In order to calm the panic that might arise in Cocoon’s populace, the Sanctum passes legislation for an act called the Purge. This assumes that all Cocoon civilians in the city of Bohdum, where the fal’Cie was discovered, must be immediately deported to Pulse.
This doesn’t just include permanent residents, but even tourists who were simply visiting Bohdum on vacation. This is where Hope finally comes in. He and his mother, Nora Estheim, were on vacation to see Bohdum’s annual fireworks festival which took place on the same night the fal’Cie was discovered. As such, they were ordered onto the Purge train with the rest of Bohdum’s populace. However, once the trains reached a remote part of Cocoon, the civilians were unloaded and mercilessly fired on by the military.
Fortunately, before the group Hope and his mother were part of was attacked, they were rescued by NORA, a civilian paramilitary organization led by Snow Villiers. NORA saw the injustice of the Purge, and took it upon themselves to save as many people as possible. Many of the “deportees” volunteered to help Snow and NORA fight against PSICOM, Hope’s mother being one of them. Unfortunately, PSICOM’s military might was too great, and Hope watched from the sidelines as his mother died. Not only that, but he also watched as Snow survived the onslaught and joke with his friends as he commandeered a PSICOM flying machine to breach the Pulse Vestige, which PSICOM had transported into the area to destroy. His reason temporarily overcome by hatred for the man, and encouraged by Vanille, a young deportee who attempted to comfort Hope in his loss, Hope stole another machine and followed Snow into the Vestige.
Once inside, Hope and Vanille eventually found Snow, who revealed that he had entered the Vestige to rescue his fiancé, Serah Farron. He also revealed that Serah was a Pulse l’Cie and was being imprisoned by the fal’Cie. His rage driven even further by Snow’s cheerful willingness to help someone Hope had been told since childhood was an enemy of Cocoon, Hope and Vanille followed Snow further into the Vestige. However, because the Vestige was crawling with monsters, Hope never found the opportunity to tell Snow about his mother. Eventually, they not only found Serah, but a second group of deportees who had infiltrated the Vestige. This group consisted of Lightning, Serah’s older sister and former member of Bohdum’s security regimen, and Sazh Katzroy, a civilian airship pilot who had followed Lightning for his own reasons. Serah said one thing to the group: protect Cocoon. Then she turned into crystal, her Focus apparently completed.
The group followed Lightning into the deepest reaches of the Vestige, to where the fal’Cie lay. Lightning reasoned that if they were able to destroy the fal’Cie, Serah would be returned to normal. This was not the case however, as just before the fal’Cie was destroyed, it cursed the entire group with l’Cie brands. Immediately after, the group was given a vision: a monstrous creature called Ragnarok destroying Cocoon. The group managed to somehow survive PSICOM’s assault on the vestige and was now on the run from the military. Hope was the most emotionally distraught of the group. By all rights, he shouldn’t have even been on the Purge train. Now, not only was his mother dead, but he was an enemy of Cocoon and hunted by the military. Worse yet, even if he managed to evade the military, he had two fates: become a Cie’th, or become crystal.
Eventually the group became seperated. Snow was captured by the military, Lightning sought to topple the government that chased them down, and Sazh and Vanille opted to keep evading the military. Hope stuck with Lightning in the hope that she would be able to toughen him up. Over time, the two became close, and Hope began to look up to Lightning as a surrogate big sister. Among many other things, Lightning taught Hope to focus on a goal and push all else aside. Hope then revealed to Lightning about what happened to his mother, and his plan to get revenge against Snow. A plan he called Operation Nora.
Eventually, Hope and Lightning make their way to Hope’s hometown of Palumpolum on their way to the Sanctum. Initially ambushed by PSICOM troops, the two are then rescued by Snow and a mysterious female l’Cie named Fang. Even though she knows Hope wants to kill Snow, Lightning sees no other option and leaves Hope with him as she and Fang head off to cut a path through the PSICOM troops, telling them to rendezvous at Hope’s house. As they travel towards his house, Hope finally reveals to Snow that his mother died because of Snow’s call for volunteers. Using l’Cie magic to blast Snow off a ledge, Hope prepares to plunge a knife into Snow’s hands as he clings for dear life. However, in that instant, Hope is knocked off the ledge by an attack from a PSICOM airship. Without thinking twice, Snow leaps after him and shields the boy with his own body. Snow then explains to the shocked Hope that just before she died, Nora told Snow to keep Hope safe. Since Snow blamed himself for Nora’s death far more than he let on, he promises to protect Hope even though he wants Snow dead. Seeing Snow in a new light, Hope reveals that he knew revenge wouldn’t bring his mother back, he just saw revenge as a goal to survive for. From that moment forward, Hope and Snow became friends.
Eventually, the four meet up again and head to Hope’s house and meet his father Bartholomew Estheim. Hope tries to get them to leave quickly, but Bartholomew insists that this is Hope’s home. Snow then reveals that the branch of the military he was picked up by, called the Cavalry, is led by a man called Cid Raines who feels that the fal’Cie are manipulating humans and wants to help Lightning’s group stop them. Touched by the father he previously thought was uncaring, Hope nevertheless says they need to leave as the military would come eventually. Before the Cavalry picks them up, Bartholomew insists that Hope follow his own path, and not worry about his Focus.
Onboard Raines’ flagship, the l’Cie witness a newscast that tells them two things: that Sazh and Vanille had been captured by PSICOM and will be publicly executed onboard the Sanctum airship Palamecia; and that Primarch Galenth Dysley is also onboard. Dysley is the head of the Sanctum, and leader of all of Cocoon. Lightning reasons that if they were to capture him, they could get him to publicly announce that the fal’Cie are pulling Cocoon’s strings. So with that, the l’Cie mount a rescue mission and are reunited with Sazh and Vanille.
The group then storms the Palamecia’s bridge and confronts Dysley. He then reveals himself as the fal’Cie Barthandelus. He also reveals the groups Focus to them: one of them must become the creature Ragnarok and destroy Cocoon. Not only that, but he wants them to fulfill it, and that he had been orchestrating every battle they had faced to end in their favour. It turns out that the fal’Cie and humans were both created by a being known as the Maker. After the Maker created humans, it abandoned its creations and the humans waged war against each other. In order to bring the Maker back and bring everlasting peace, the fal’Cie need to sacrifice millions of human lives: the entire population of Cocoon. However, the Cocoon fal’Cie are unable destroy that which they’ve created, which is why they need a Pulse l’Cie to accomplish the task for them.
Though initially disheartened by this news, it’s Hope that breaks the group out of its funk. He takes the advice his father gave him to heart and tells the group that, right or wrong, as long as he makes his own decisions he has nothing to regret. Inspired by Hope’s words, the group vows to fight against their Focus, and protect Cocoon.
Personality wise, Hope is one of the most dynamic characters in the game. From the start he is whiny, pessimistic, and cowardly. Understandable, since before the Purge he was a perfectly normal boy with perfectly normal worries and concerns. When he first faces the fal’Cie in the Pulse Vestige, his first action is to run away. He also lashes out at Snow periodically, though he never gathers the courage to tell him about his mother until Palumpolum. His pessimism is shown when he tells Lightning that Hope is his name, but it’s not who he is, and when he angrily lashes out at Snow by saying, “The only hope a l’Cie has is a quick death!” He also seems to require a maternal figure, initially attaching himself to Vanille, and then to Lightning.
However, spending time with Lightning improves his maturity considerably. After telling her that he could never risk his life the way she has, she responds with the words, “It’s not a question of can or can’t.” Hope takes these words to heart, and forces himself to face danger even though he may be terrified. It’s not until leaving Palumpolum that Hope fully matures and gets over his mother’s death. He begins to see Snow as a kind of older brother, and even jokes around with him and smiles.
Hope is also a very kind hearted soul, which he demonstrates when he tries to help an injured child in Palumpolum even though she’s terrified of him. At one point, he even tells his friends to go on without him as he doesn’t want to see them get hurt because of his own weakness. Among the people of the Thor, Hope would initially be depressed due to losing his father in addition to his mother in the world’s destruction. This would be furthered by wondering if fighting against their Focus was all for naught. Eventually though, he would come to terms with this and be grateful for being alive. He would be friendly to all he met unless they prove to be unfriendly, and joke with a sarcastic sense of humour, even in the face of danger.
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?: Yes. The program is called Flaming Ferret and people can get money by doing jobs, offering their services for sale, or mooching off of friends.
1st person sample:
[ACCIDENTAL VOICE]
[The feed comes on and you hear the voice of a young man muttering to himself under his breath. His voice sounds like he’s been crying, and it is also drenched with puberty.]
No... this can’t be happening! It can’t! The world’s gone!? Just like that!? There’s gotta be some mistake! Dad...
Is everything we did for nothing!? Did Barthandelus win!? Did one of us become....
NO! No, that can’t be possible! There has to be some kind of explanation. Here, maybe this’ll say what happened.
[You hear Hope hastily flip through his paper work, then silence. When you hear his voice again, he is no longer muttering, but yelling angrily.]
THE SPANISH INQUISITION!? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?
3rd person sample:
Hope sat down in the seat of the machine. For this month he had signed on as a worker in the ship’s warehouse. In order to move the inventory on and off of shelves, the crew used large bipedal robots. That was what attracted Hope to the job in the first place. He had piloted similar devices on two separate occasions on his journey with Lightning.
His thought ventured to Lightning. She hadn’t arrived here yet, and that terrified him more than any of the monsters he had fought against. Was she okay? Was she hurt or lost somewhere? Was she...
Hope shook his head violently. If Light had ever caught him thinking like that about her, she’d probably whack him across the head. Lightning was the toughest girl Hope knew. Heck, she was tougher than any men he knew too come to think of it. If he survived the end of the world, she certainly had as well. So there was no sense worrying about her. The only thing he could do was to stay strong and make her proud when she did arrive.
So with that in mind, he gripped the controls and powered on the machine he was sitting in.
“Alright,” he said to the machine. He knew it couldn’t hear him, but he liked talking to it all the same. “Next stop, toilet paper!”
He manoeuvred the machine in the direction the toilet paper was stored. He was doing pretty good! Maybe he could even accomplish his task without crashing this one. His heart sank as he rounded a corner of shelves to walk down the aisle and nicked the shelf. He watched in horror as the shelf wobbled and a box of banana peels spilled its contents all over the floor.
“Why would we keep those here!?” Hope asked no one in disbelief. Then something caught his attention. His robot was still moving forwards. “Whoa! HEY! STOOOOP!!!!”
Unfortunately, yelling at the machine didn’t seem to work as it marched happily into the mess of peels on the floor. The contraption slipped and fell sideways into a shelf, knocking Hope off. As he rubbed his sore butt, he flinched as he heard a loud crash signifying that shelf falling and hitting the shelf behind it in the next aisle over. And another. And another. And another.
“Maybe I should call in sick,” Hope remarked as a cacophony of crashes and bewildered yelling rose throughout the warehouse.
Questions?: Hope you enjoyed the teal deer. Ha ha! “Hope”
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes dears.
Name: G
Are you over 16?: Yeeeeees.
Personal LJ: I don’t really have one.
Email: fearthefish20@hotmail.com
Timezone: mountain
Other contact: AIM: chees4g
Characters already in the game: Flynn and Barry
How did you find us?: Aaaaaaaki.
IC:
Character name: Hope Estheim
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII
Timeline: After the end of Chapter 11
Age: 14
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Hope is a l’Cie, which means that in order to complete the focus he’s been given by the fal’Cie, he can use the power of magic. This includes the spells Blizzard, Fire, Thunder, Water, Aero and Quake. I’m assuming the names are pretty self explanatory. He can also use healing magic, and use buff magic to increase his party’s physical strength and defence. Using the crystal in his left wrist, he can summon the Eidolon Alexander. Alexander is a massive metal humanoid figure that pummels its enemies with physical attacks. It can also activate its Gestalt mode to turn into a fortress that attacks the enemy with lasers and earthquakes. As for non-magical abilities, he fights with a yellow boomerang called the airwing. He also has limited experience in piloting one of the flying machines used by PSICOM in Cocoon.
How would they use their abilities?: Hope’s magical abilities are mainly suited for combat, so he would use them for self-defence or the defence of his friends, or if someone mad him mad enough that he seriously wanted to hurt them, which would not happen often, if at all. His buff spells on the other hand, he would use to help his friends that were in a fight. He would also use his healing powers on anyone he thought was hurt. Also, since he is very weak physically, he would use magic more often than his boomerangs in a fight.
However, since l’Cie are generally regarded with fear and hatred on Cocoon, Hope would assume the same principle applies on this ship and try to keep his abilities hidden initially. When he finds out that other people on the ship have magic he will most likely be more forthcoming with his abilities. Also, because a wide open space is required for Alexander, he would not summon him on the Thor.
Appearance: Hope is a rather thin boy, standing exactly 5 feet tall with fluffy silvery-blonde hair and green eyes. His attire consists of green shoes with black soles and laces, deep green shorts that end just below the knee, a black under-shirt with a yellow T-shirt with a popped collar worn over top. The shirt has an orange piece of cloth that’s sewed onto the shirt along the neckline and hangs loose about the shirt and comes down to a little bit above the middle of his back. He wears a green neckerchief with black markings around his neck, and black gloves with white palms on his hands. He wears a yellow bandana around his left wrist, which covers his l’Cie brand
Background/Personality:
In order to understand the story of Final Fantasy 13, I need to take a paragraph or two to define the terms, otherwise I’ll get completely off topic if I try to explain them as they come up in the main background. First, let’s explain the world the game takes place in. There are actually two worlds that exist side-by-side: Pulse and Cocoon. Cocoon can best be described as a giant metal sphere that floats above Pulse, or Gran Pulse as the natives call it. On the inside of the sphere, Cocoon is very much a thriving world with sprawling cities, artificial beaches and forests. Gran Pulse is a planet that looks very much like Earth, but is filled with monsters the sort you would expect to find in Final Fantasy.
Cocoon is an artificial utopia made by creatures known as fal’Cie, which are mechanical creatures of varying shapes and sizes and abilities. Fal’Cie exist on both Cocoon and Pulse, and each performs a specific role. These roles include artificial weather manipulation, food distribution, and communicating with the Sanctum, which is the governing body of Cocoon. When the fal’Cie need something accomplished that they cannot, they select humans and place a brand somewhere on their bodies to symbolize this. These humans are known as l’Cie, and each of them has the ability to use magic and gain the ability to summon powerful creatures called Eidolon’s. Each l’Cie is given a task to complete called a Focus, which must be interpreted through visions given by the fal’Cie. The brand serves as a timer. If the l’Cie does not complete his or her focus before the brand reaches its mature state, the l’Cie then becomes a monstrous zombie like creature called a Cie’th. However, if a l’Cie does complete his or her focus, they are given the reward of eternal life through an everlasting sleep in crystal stasis. Needless to say, people don’t exactly rejoice when they become l’Cie. Also, for the sake of the game, I’ll be permanently freezing the progression of Hope’s brand.
Now here is where our story begins.... almost. First a history lesson is in order. Many centuries ago, the people of Gran Pulse attacked Cocoon in what was called the War of Transgression. Even though Cocoons outer shell was cracked, the forces of Cocoon were victorious in repelling the armies of Pulse. Ever since then, the people of Cocoon have been taught that Pulse is hell on earth, and that people from Pulse want nothing more than Cocoons destruction. In order to repair the damage, the fal’Cie of Cocoon ventured down to Pulse and gathered raw materials. These included buildings that were called called Vestiges.
Now, we fast forward to the current date, where PSICOM, the branch of the Cocoon military that deals with Pulse threats, discovers that one of the Vestiges that had originally been sealed all this time is now open. Inside they make a truly terrifying discovery: a Pulse fal’Cie. In order to calm the panic that might arise in Cocoon’s populace, the Sanctum passes legislation for an act called the Purge. This assumes that all Cocoon civilians in the city of Bohdum, where the fal’Cie was discovered, must be immediately deported to Pulse.
This doesn’t just include permanent residents, but even tourists who were simply visiting Bohdum on vacation. This is where Hope finally comes in. He and his mother, Nora Estheim, were on vacation to see Bohdum’s annual fireworks festival which took place on the same night the fal’Cie was discovered. As such, they were ordered onto the Purge train with the rest of Bohdum’s populace. However, once the trains reached a remote part of Cocoon, the civilians were unloaded and mercilessly fired on by the military.
Fortunately, before the group Hope and his mother were part of was attacked, they were rescued by NORA, a civilian paramilitary organization led by Snow Villiers. NORA saw the injustice of the Purge, and took it upon themselves to save as many people as possible. Many of the “deportees” volunteered to help Snow and NORA fight against PSICOM, Hope’s mother being one of them. Unfortunately, PSICOM’s military might was too great, and Hope watched from the sidelines as his mother died. Not only that, but he also watched as Snow survived the onslaught and joke with his friends as he commandeered a PSICOM flying machine to breach the Pulse Vestige, which PSICOM had transported into the area to destroy. His reason temporarily overcome by hatred for the man, and encouraged by Vanille, a young deportee who attempted to comfort Hope in his loss, Hope stole another machine and followed Snow into the Vestige.
Once inside, Hope and Vanille eventually found Snow, who revealed that he had entered the Vestige to rescue his fiancé, Serah Farron. He also revealed that Serah was a Pulse l’Cie and was being imprisoned by the fal’Cie. His rage driven even further by Snow’s cheerful willingness to help someone Hope had been told since childhood was an enemy of Cocoon, Hope and Vanille followed Snow further into the Vestige. However, because the Vestige was crawling with monsters, Hope never found the opportunity to tell Snow about his mother. Eventually, they not only found Serah, but a second group of deportees who had infiltrated the Vestige. This group consisted of Lightning, Serah’s older sister and former member of Bohdum’s security regimen, and Sazh Katzroy, a civilian airship pilot who had followed Lightning for his own reasons. Serah said one thing to the group: protect Cocoon. Then she turned into crystal, her Focus apparently completed.
The group followed Lightning into the deepest reaches of the Vestige, to where the fal’Cie lay. Lightning reasoned that if they were able to destroy the fal’Cie, Serah would be returned to normal. This was not the case however, as just before the fal’Cie was destroyed, it cursed the entire group with l’Cie brands. Immediately after, the group was given a vision: a monstrous creature called Ragnarok destroying Cocoon. The group managed to somehow survive PSICOM’s assault on the vestige and was now on the run from the military. Hope was the most emotionally distraught of the group. By all rights, he shouldn’t have even been on the Purge train. Now, not only was his mother dead, but he was an enemy of Cocoon and hunted by the military. Worse yet, even if he managed to evade the military, he had two fates: become a Cie’th, or become crystal.
Eventually the group became seperated. Snow was captured by the military, Lightning sought to topple the government that chased them down, and Sazh and Vanille opted to keep evading the military. Hope stuck with Lightning in the hope that she would be able to toughen him up. Over time, the two became close, and Hope began to look up to Lightning as a surrogate big sister. Among many other things, Lightning taught Hope to focus on a goal and push all else aside. Hope then revealed to Lightning about what happened to his mother, and his plan to get revenge against Snow. A plan he called Operation Nora.
Eventually, Hope and Lightning make their way to Hope’s hometown of Palumpolum on their way to the Sanctum. Initially ambushed by PSICOM troops, the two are then rescued by Snow and a mysterious female l’Cie named Fang. Even though she knows Hope wants to kill Snow, Lightning sees no other option and leaves Hope with him as she and Fang head off to cut a path through the PSICOM troops, telling them to rendezvous at Hope’s house. As they travel towards his house, Hope finally reveals to Snow that his mother died because of Snow’s call for volunteers. Using l’Cie magic to blast Snow off a ledge, Hope prepares to plunge a knife into Snow’s hands as he clings for dear life. However, in that instant, Hope is knocked off the ledge by an attack from a PSICOM airship. Without thinking twice, Snow leaps after him and shields the boy with his own body. Snow then explains to the shocked Hope that just before she died, Nora told Snow to keep Hope safe. Since Snow blamed himself for Nora’s death far more than he let on, he promises to protect Hope even though he wants Snow dead. Seeing Snow in a new light, Hope reveals that he knew revenge wouldn’t bring his mother back, he just saw revenge as a goal to survive for. From that moment forward, Hope and Snow became friends.
Eventually, the four meet up again and head to Hope’s house and meet his father Bartholomew Estheim. Hope tries to get them to leave quickly, but Bartholomew insists that this is Hope’s home. Snow then reveals that the branch of the military he was picked up by, called the Cavalry, is led by a man called Cid Raines who feels that the fal’Cie are manipulating humans and wants to help Lightning’s group stop them. Touched by the father he previously thought was uncaring, Hope nevertheless says they need to leave as the military would come eventually. Before the Cavalry picks them up, Bartholomew insists that Hope follow his own path, and not worry about his Focus.
Onboard Raines’ flagship, the l’Cie witness a newscast that tells them two things: that Sazh and Vanille had been captured by PSICOM and will be publicly executed onboard the Sanctum airship Palamecia; and that Primarch Galenth Dysley is also onboard. Dysley is the head of the Sanctum, and leader of all of Cocoon. Lightning reasons that if they were to capture him, they could get him to publicly announce that the fal’Cie are pulling Cocoon’s strings. So with that, the l’Cie mount a rescue mission and are reunited with Sazh and Vanille.
The group then storms the Palamecia’s bridge and confronts Dysley. He then reveals himself as the fal’Cie Barthandelus. He also reveals the groups Focus to them: one of them must become the creature Ragnarok and destroy Cocoon. Not only that, but he wants them to fulfill it, and that he had been orchestrating every battle they had faced to end in their favour. It turns out that the fal’Cie and humans were both created by a being known as the Maker. After the Maker created humans, it abandoned its creations and the humans waged war against each other. In order to bring the Maker back and bring everlasting peace, the fal’Cie need to sacrifice millions of human lives: the entire population of Cocoon. However, the Cocoon fal’Cie are unable destroy that which they’ve created, which is why they need a Pulse l’Cie to accomplish the task for them.
Though initially disheartened by this news, it’s Hope that breaks the group out of its funk. He takes the advice his father gave him to heart and tells the group that, right or wrong, as long as he makes his own decisions he has nothing to regret. Inspired by Hope’s words, the group vows to fight against their Focus, and protect Cocoon.
Personality wise, Hope is one of the most dynamic characters in the game. From the start he is whiny, pessimistic, and cowardly. Understandable, since before the Purge he was a perfectly normal boy with perfectly normal worries and concerns. When he first faces the fal’Cie in the Pulse Vestige, his first action is to run away. He also lashes out at Snow periodically, though he never gathers the courage to tell him about his mother until Palumpolum. His pessimism is shown when he tells Lightning that Hope is his name, but it’s not who he is, and when he angrily lashes out at Snow by saying, “The only hope a l’Cie has is a quick death!” He also seems to require a maternal figure, initially attaching himself to Vanille, and then to Lightning.
However, spending time with Lightning improves his maturity considerably. After telling her that he could never risk his life the way she has, she responds with the words, “It’s not a question of can or can’t.” Hope takes these words to heart, and forces himself to face danger even though he may be terrified. It’s not until leaving Palumpolum that Hope fully matures and gets over his mother’s death. He begins to see Snow as a kind of older brother, and even jokes around with him and smiles.
Hope is also a very kind hearted soul, which he demonstrates when he tries to help an injured child in Palumpolum even though she’s terrified of him. At one point, he even tells his friends to go on without him as he doesn’t want to see them get hurt because of his own weakness. Among the people of the Thor, Hope would initially be depressed due to losing his father in addition to his mother in the world’s destruction. This would be furthered by wondering if fighting against their Focus was all for naught. Eventually though, he would come to terms with this and be grateful for being alive. He would be friendly to all he met unless they prove to be unfriendly, and joke with a sarcastic sense of humour, even in the face of danger.
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?: Yes. The program is called Flaming Ferret and people can get money by doing jobs, offering their services for sale, or mooching off of friends.
1st person sample:
[ACCIDENTAL VOICE]
[The feed comes on and you hear the voice of a young man muttering to himself under his breath. His voice sounds like he’s been crying, and it is also drenched with puberty.]
No... this can’t be happening! It can’t! The world’s gone!? Just like that!? There’s gotta be some mistake! Dad...
Is everything we did for nothing!? Did Barthandelus win!? Did one of us become....
NO! No, that can’t be possible! There has to be some kind of explanation. Here, maybe this’ll say what happened.
[You hear Hope hastily flip through his paper work, then silence. When you hear his voice again, he is no longer muttering, but yelling angrily.]
THE SPANISH INQUISITION!? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?
3rd person sample:
Hope sat down in the seat of the machine. For this month he had signed on as a worker in the ship’s warehouse. In order to move the inventory on and off of shelves, the crew used large bipedal robots. That was what attracted Hope to the job in the first place. He had piloted similar devices on two separate occasions on his journey with Lightning.
His thought ventured to Lightning. She hadn’t arrived here yet, and that terrified him more than any of the monsters he had fought against. Was she okay? Was she hurt or lost somewhere? Was she...
Hope shook his head violently. If Light had ever caught him thinking like that about her, she’d probably whack him across the head. Lightning was the toughest girl Hope knew. Heck, she was tougher than any men he knew too come to think of it. If he survived the end of the world, she certainly had as well. So there was no sense worrying about her. The only thing he could do was to stay strong and make her proud when she did arrive.
So with that in mind, he gripped the controls and powered on the machine he was sitting in.
“Alright,” he said to the machine. He knew it couldn’t hear him, but he liked talking to it all the same. “Next stop, toilet paper!”
He manoeuvred the machine in the direction the toilet paper was stored. He was doing pretty good! Maybe he could even accomplish his task without crashing this one. His heart sank as he rounded a corner of shelves to walk down the aisle and nicked the shelf. He watched in horror as the shelf wobbled and a box of banana peels spilled its contents all over the floor.
“Why would we keep those here!?” Hope asked no one in disbelief. Then something caught his attention. His robot was still moving forwards. “Whoa! HEY! STOOOOP!!!!”
Unfortunately, yelling at the machine didn’t seem to work as it marched happily into the mess of peels on the floor. The contraption slipped and fell sideways into a shelf, knocking Hope off. As he rubbed his sore butt, he flinched as he heard a loud crash signifying that shelf falling and hitting the shelf behind it in the next aisle over. And another. And another. And another.
“Maybe I should call in sick,” Hope remarked as a cacophony of crashes and bewildered yelling rose throughout the warehouse.
Questions?: Hope you enjoyed the teal deer. Ha ha! “Hope”
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes dears.