OOC || Application
Name: Rae
LJ: aircrash
E-Mail: inheritdark [at] gmail [dot] com
IM: lend me your power
Characters played at Discedo: Chie Satonaka [skullcracking] and Mello [shut_up_near]
Character's Name: Junpei Iori
Series: Persona 3 (FES, specifically)
Timeline: The Dark Hour after the evening of 1 December 2009 (BEFORE the full moon on 2 December).
Canon Resource Link: Persona 3 @ Wikipedia; Junpei @ MegamiTensei Wiki
Personality: At first glance, Junpei seems nothing more than your average bro; in another place and time, he’d probably be right at home in a frat, hosting keggers, attempting (with a high level of fail) to pick up any pretty girl in sight with pathetic pick-up lines, cracking jokes and generally acting like your average borderline-idiot teenager ...
Well, except Junpei’s father’s an alcoholic, and they don’t exactly get along, and as a result, Junpei’s got about zero tolerance for alcohol and alcohol-related activities, so keggers are definitely out. Oops. Strike that one off the list - actually, better just start over.
Junpei seems pretty superficial and, compared to everyone else on the SEES team, bafflingly ordinary - he’s not a star boxer or a badass hobo punk or heir to a successful corporation. He’s not even leadership material, and he especially resents the game’s Protagonist (Minato Arisato) for being something Junpei acutely knows he’s not - special. Junpei suffers from pretty low self-esteem, and he typically copes with it in one of two ways: clowning around, and talking himself up to everyone else. He wants to be a hero, which was his main reason for joining SEES in the first place, but he knows he’ll never have that extra edge - superior physical strength, street smarts, Wild Card ability - whatever it is that makes a hero a hero. At best, he’s stuck in a support role - the sidekick, second banana, and it irks him. Junpei holds something of of an irrational grudge against Minato for most of the game, and this causes him to act on occasion in ways that can be best described as “jerkish.”
Despite this, he’s not a bad person. Junpei may be terribly unmotivated when it comes to things like schoolwork (he’s a notorious slacker, often bragging about how little he cares for studying and how unimportant school is compared to things like fighting Shadows), but he does genuinely want to help people and save the world - partly because he gets to be a hero in the process, but also partly because it’s saving the world, it’s a good thing to do, and really, who wouldn’t?
Strega wouldn’t. Strega’s another group of Persona-users in Iwatodai, and it’s through interaction with Strega - one member in particular - that Junpei experiences a large part of his in-game character development.
The three members of Strega all came into their powers by artificial means (hooray human experimentation). They carry out contact killings and other such nefarious deeds during the Dark Hour - convenient, because those who do not possess the power of Persona are Transmogrified during that time (a status something like suspended animation), so Strega is basically untraceable and free to do - whatever, really. The members of SEES find themselves at odds with the trio of antagonists throughout the game’s events, not only for obvious reasons (Strega does bad things and SEES is a bunch of do-gooders), but also because SEES’ M.O. is ending the Dark Hour’s existence, which would put a huge damper on Strega’s livelihood.
Junpei is the first to have any real interaction with any of Strega’s members, albeit unknowingly. While meandering around town during summer vacation, he encounters Chidori Yoshino as she’s sketching. Initially, he’s intrigued by her outfit and her sketches, and a little taken aback by her oddly blunt demeanor (the first thing she says to him is “Get out of my way”), so the next time they meet, he introduces himself and attempt to chat her up, only to be interrupted by alarm at seeing her hand injured. The wound doesn’t faze Chidori in the slightest (it’s self-inflicted) and she dismisses Junpei’s concern as “weird” and leaves, but not before inviting him in a roundabout way to find her there again sometime. He does, of course, and when she poses a question to him - “What do you do to feel alive?” - he responds in typical Junpei manner by blabbing a thinly veiled account of SEES activities during the Dark Hour, claiming that he gets to be a hero then, and that’s when he feels best about himself.
Chidori, of course, knows about the Dark Hour and Persona, and encourages Junpei to talk more about it; he ends up telling her he’s the leader of the group of “chosen ones.” (Not the smartest move ever for Junpei - it’s easy to see here why Yukari Takeba tends to call him “Stupei.”) The next night, during the full moon, Chidori abducts Junpei and orders him to call SEES off from battling the Arcana Shadow that night. Junpei’s forced to admit he’s not really in charge, and questions Chidori on whether her interest in him was only an act. They’re interrupted by SEES’ return, and Chidori is apprehended and admitted to a hospital run by the Kirijo Group, where she’s kept under close observation for questioning about Strega’s activities.
During the next several months, while Chidori’s kept in the hospital, Junpei visits her fairly frequently - to chat, to check up on her, to worry over her self-injury habits, even to bring her a new sketchbook when she’s used up the one she had with her. Contrary to his previous behavior (let’s not even revisit Operation Babe Hunt), it becomes quite clear that Junpei is, in fact, capable of treating a girl with respect and decency, and not merely as a sexual object. Unlike with just about every other female character in-game, the most Junpei comments on Chidori’s physical attractiveness is to say she has beautiful hands. Hands. It’s a pretty glaring indication of how intense his feelings for Chidori are, to be sure.
Chidori’s feelings for Junpei grow pretty strongly, too, only it scares her (she Does Not Want attachment), so she turns frosty toward him once again and rejoins Strega after the other two members break her out of the hospital where she’s been kept since her capture. She calls out SEES to meet her on the doorstep of Tartarus, attacks Junpei when he attempts to plead reason with her, and loses the ensuing battle to the SEES party. Junpei, undeterred, pleads with her again to be reasonable and leave Strega when the other two members arrive; Takaya shoots Junpei square in the chest with his revolver, and Junpei keels over, assumed to be as good as dead.
Junpei would be dead then, too, if not for Chidori’s intervention. Using her Persona’s Spring of Life skill, Chidori completely revives Junpei and heals his wounds, but at a hefty cost - her own life. Chidori dies in Junpei’s arms after professing her love for him, and this provides the impetus for Junpei’s resolution. Takaya mocks Junpei as Chidori dies, calling her death “meaningless,” and Junpei summons his Persona with a great amount of emotionally-fueled power, thus transforming her Persona from Hermes into Trismegistus.
Junpei is (understandably) devastated by Chidori’s death, and he spends the next week grieving the loss. The rest of the SEES team groups together in an attempt to cheer him up, and presents Junpei with Chidori’s sketchbook. Inside the sketchbook are pages of sketched portraits of Junpei himself, and Junpei takes this as a message to strengthen his resolve to put the life Chidori gave him to good use and end the Dark Hour once and for all. He even apologizes to Minato for his previous jealousy-fueled jerkish antics. Truly, as a result of these events, Junpei is a changed man - a little more mature, a lot more focused, ready and willing to face the obstacles ahead.
What your character can offer: Like the other members of SEES, Junpei is able to summon a Persona - Trismegistus, of the Magician Arcanum. Trismegistus sports a decent skill set of fire attacks, physical attacks, and a buffing spell or two; he’s weak to wind-based attacks but blocks fire attacks entirely, and has also inherited the HP recovery skill Spring of Life (from Chidori, after her death).
Junpei’s also not entirely helpless without his Persona; he’s reasonably passable in hand-to-hand combat as well. His main weapon is a two-handed sword (how he ever picked up that skill is anyone’s guess) that he wields most often like a baseball bat (another weapon he’s able to use in Tartarus, in fact) with - well, let’s not say expert accuracy, as he tends to overswing and fall to the ground about as often as his hits actually connect with the intended target. But at least the enthusiasm’s there, right? Basically, if there’s something stick-like available, Junpei can use it for bludgeoning with moderately decent competence. To his credit, Junpei can also take a hit fairly well, too.
Outside of his Persona and battle-related abilities, Junpei can also offer a healthy sense of humor, general jovial attitude, and all the dumb pick-up lines you can stand to hear.
What items will they be bringing with them? He’ll be wearing his winter uniform, and since he’ll be coming straight from battle, he’ll have his spiked bat and his Evoker, but no other armor or accessories because I am a big meanie like that.
LJ: aircrash
E-Mail: inheritdark [at] gmail [dot] com
IM: lend me your power
Characters played at Discedo: Chie Satonaka [skullcracking] and Mello [shut_up_near]
Character's Name: Junpei Iori
Series: Persona 3 (FES, specifically)
Timeline: The Dark Hour after the evening of 1 December 2009 (BEFORE the full moon on 2 December).
Canon Resource Link: Persona 3 @ Wikipedia; Junpei @ MegamiTensei Wiki
Personality: At first glance, Junpei seems nothing more than your average bro; in another place and time, he’d probably be right at home in a frat, hosting keggers, attempting (with a high level of fail) to pick up any pretty girl in sight with pathetic pick-up lines, cracking jokes and generally acting like your average borderline-idiot teenager ...
Well, except Junpei’s father’s an alcoholic, and they don’t exactly get along, and as a result, Junpei’s got about zero tolerance for alcohol and alcohol-related activities, so keggers are definitely out. Oops. Strike that one off the list - actually, better just start over.
Junpei seems pretty superficial and, compared to everyone else on the SEES team, bafflingly ordinary - he’s not a star boxer or a badass hobo punk or heir to a successful corporation. He’s not even leadership material, and he especially resents the game’s Protagonist (Minato Arisato) for being something Junpei acutely knows he’s not - special. Junpei suffers from pretty low self-esteem, and he typically copes with it in one of two ways: clowning around, and talking himself up to everyone else. He wants to be a hero, which was his main reason for joining SEES in the first place, but he knows he’ll never have that extra edge - superior physical strength, street smarts, Wild Card ability - whatever it is that makes a hero a hero. At best, he’s stuck in a support role - the sidekick, second banana, and it irks him. Junpei holds something of of an irrational grudge against Minato for most of the game, and this causes him to act on occasion in ways that can be best described as “jerkish.”
Despite this, he’s not a bad person. Junpei may be terribly unmotivated when it comes to things like schoolwork (he’s a notorious slacker, often bragging about how little he cares for studying and how unimportant school is compared to things like fighting Shadows), but he does genuinely want to help people and save the world - partly because he gets to be a hero in the process, but also partly because it’s saving the world, it’s a good thing to do, and really, who wouldn’t?
Strega wouldn’t. Strega’s another group of Persona-users in Iwatodai, and it’s through interaction with Strega - one member in particular - that Junpei experiences a large part of his in-game character development.
The three members of Strega all came into their powers by artificial means (hooray human experimentation). They carry out contact killings and other such nefarious deeds during the Dark Hour - convenient, because those who do not possess the power of Persona are Transmogrified during that time (a status something like suspended animation), so Strega is basically untraceable and free to do - whatever, really. The members of SEES find themselves at odds with the trio of antagonists throughout the game’s events, not only for obvious reasons (Strega does bad things and SEES is a bunch of do-gooders), but also because SEES’ M.O. is ending the Dark Hour’s existence, which would put a huge damper on Strega’s livelihood.
Junpei is the first to have any real interaction with any of Strega’s members, albeit unknowingly. While meandering around town during summer vacation, he encounters Chidori Yoshino as she’s sketching. Initially, he’s intrigued by her outfit and her sketches, and a little taken aback by her oddly blunt demeanor (the first thing she says to him is “Get out of my way”), so the next time they meet, he introduces himself and attempt to chat her up, only to be interrupted by alarm at seeing her hand injured. The wound doesn’t faze Chidori in the slightest (it’s self-inflicted) and she dismisses Junpei’s concern as “weird” and leaves, but not before inviting him in a roundabout way to find her there again sometime. He does, of course, and when she poses a question to him - “What do you do to feel alive?” - he responds in typical Junpei manner by blabbing a thinly veiled account of SEES activities during the Dark Hour, claiming that he gets to be a hero then, and that’s when he feels best about himself.
Chidori, of course, knows about the Dark Hour and Persona, and encourages Junpei to talk more about it; he ends up telling her he’s the leader of the group of “chosen ones.” (Not the smartest move ever for Junpei - it’s easy to see here why Yukari Takeba tends to call him “Stupei.”) The next night, during the full moon, Chidori abducts Junpei and orders him to call SEES off from battling the Arcana Shadow that night. Junpei’s forced to admit he’s not really in charge, and questions Chidori on whether her interest in him was only an act. They’re interrupted by SEES’ return, and Chidori is apprehended and admitted to a hospital run by the Kirijo Group, where she’s kept under close observation for questioning about Strega’s activities.
During the next several months, while Chidori’s kept in the hospital, Junpei visits her fairly frequently - to chat, to check up on her, to worry over her self-injury habits, even to bring her a new sketchbook when she’s used up the one she had with her. Contrary to his previous behavior (let’s not even revisit Operation Babe Hunt), it becomes quite clear that Junpei is, in fact, capable of treating a girl with respect and decency, and not merely as a sexual object. Unlike with just about every other female character in-game, the most Junpei comments on Chidori’s physical attractiveness is to say she has beautiful hands. Hands. It’s a pretty glaring indication of how intense his feelings for Chidori are, to be sure.
Chidori’s feelings for Junpei grow pretty strongly, too, only it scares her (she Does Not Want attachment), so she turns frosty toward him once again and rejoins Strega after the other two members break her out of the hospital where she’s been kept since her capture. She calls out SEES to meet her on the doorstep of Tartarus, attacks Junpei when he attempts to plead reason with her, and loses the ensuing battle to the SEES party. Junpei, undeterred, pleads with her again to be reasonable and leave Strega when the other two members arrive; Takaya shoots Junpei square in the chest with his revolver, and Junpei keels over, assumed to be as good as dead.
Junpei would be dead then, too, if not for Chidori’s intervention. Using her Persona’s Spring of Life skill, Chidori completely revives Junpei and heals his wounds, but at a hefty cost - her own life. Chidori dies in Junpei’s arms after professing her love for him, and this provides the impetus for Junpei’s resolution. Takaya mocks Junpei as Chidori dies, calling her death “meaningless,” and Junpei summons his Persona with a great amount of emotionally-fueled power, thus transforming her Persona from Hermes into Trismegistus.
Junpei is (understandably) devastated by Chidori’s death, and he spends the next week grieving the loss. The rest of the SEES team groups together in an attempt to cheer him up, and presents Junpei with Chidori’s sketchbook. Inside the sketchbook are pages of sketched portraits of Junpei himself, and Junpei takes this as a message to strengthen his resolve to put the life Chidori gave him to good use and end the Dark Hour once and for all. He even apologizes to Minato for his previous jealousy-fueled jerkish antics. Truly, as a result of these events, Junpei is a changed man - a little more mature, a lot more focused, ready and willing to face the obstacles ahead.
What your character can offer: Like the other members of SEES, Junpei is able to summon a Persona - Trismegistus, of the Magician Arcanum. Trismegistus sports a decent skill set of fire attacks, physical attacks, and a buffing spell or two; he’s weak to wind-based attacks but blocks fire attacks entirely, and has also inherited the HP recovery skill Spring of Life (from Chidori, after her death).
Junpei’s also not entirely helpless without his Persona; he’s reasonably passable in hand-to-hand combat as well. His main weapon is a two-handed sword (how he ever picked up that skill is anyone’s guess) that he wields most often like a baseball bat (another weapon he’s able to use in Tartarus, in fact) with - well, let’s not say expert accuracy, as he tends to overswing and fall to the ground about as often as his hits actually connect with the intended target. But at least the enthusiasm’s there, right? Basically, if there’s something stick-like available, Junpei can use it for bludgeoning with moderately decent competence. To his credit, Junpei can also take a hit fairly well, too.
Outside of his Persona and battle-related abilities, Junpei can also offer a healthy sense of humor, general jovial attitude, and all the dumb pick-up lines you can stand to hear.
What items will they be bringing with them? He’ll be wearing his winter uniform, and since he’ll be coming straight from battle, he’ll have his spiked bat and his Evoker, but no other armor or accessories because I am a big meanie like that.