Application for Empath

[innermonologues]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: LA
Contact: Plurk: Bubblykins
Age: 26
Current Characters: Shinou thegreatpain and Atsushi Kinugawa hurricanechef


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Squall Leonhart
Age: 17
Canon: Final Fantasy VIII
Canon Point: End of Disc 2 after he becomes commander of the school

Background:

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Squall_Leonhart

Personality:

Squall says it best when he says he's an unfriendly introverted guy. He closes himself off from others purposely because he doesn't want to get close to other people. He's continuously reminding himself that getting close to people will only hurt so he puts up layers and walls to shut others out.

This all started at a young age when Squall was brought to an orphanage with a girl he thought of as his sister. His father was away and his mother died in childbirth with complications. He focused all of his attention on his sister Ellone to the point where other kids in the orphanage would get jealous because Squall was hogging her. Then one day Ellone disappeared without Squall. She didn't say a thing to him or anyone else. That's when he started shutting others out. It only hurt to rely on others and it only hurt to care about them. The only person he can trust is himself, or at least that's what he continues to tell himself.

A lot of people see him as a difficult person to deal with because he doesn't say much. When asked questions he says the minimum that will get his point across. The shorter the answer the shorter he has to deal with the socializing. He'd much rather stand in a room while others converse while he leans against the wall or stands there off to the side. Sometimes his short answers can come off as mean or rude which gives people the impression he wants people to have of him. He doesn't sugarcoat his words and keeps to the facts which puts some people off.

He doesn't like it when people come to him with problems. He doesn't want them relying on him because he doesn't rely on them. So when an instructor in his school had a problem and tried to get him to help her he basically told her she'd have an easier time getting an answer from a wall because that's basically the same answer she'd be getting out of him. Others have tried to get him to help too, like a girl named Rinoa. She calls him a big meanie countless times because when he talked to her she feels like he doesn't care about anything but the mission he is on, which was a little true.

He's a serious person who always follows what he's told, but there's one person who can always get under his skin, Seifer Almasy. Seifer is always picking fights with Squall and messing with him, and Squall always falls for it. He makes Squall's skin boil at times. At the beginning of the game before you even get to play, Seifer and Squall are seen fighting and Seifer gives him that scar you see on his face. Squall gives him one in return. When he wakes up from the battle with Seifer he wakes up in the infirmary with Doctor Kadowaki, the school's doctor, hovering over him. She asks him why Squall doesn't just ignore him. Does he think it's cool to fight like that? Squall simply answers her by saying he can't back down from a fight. Seifer seems to be the only one who can really get his blood pumping and showing some emotion, even if that emotion is anger. It must be why the two of them are rivals, and even though they're rivals it doesn't mean they hate each other. In the beginning Squall really trusts Seifer and opens up to him about some of his feelings more than anyone else.

On top of being a quiet person, Squall can be a pretty sassy and sarcastic guy as well. Sometimes his one liners can come off that way, but it's mostly seen in his head where he does most of his talking. He keeps to his mind a lot, thinking of situations and criticizing what others are doing. Usually people are left wondering what he's thinking about because that's all he does. He never speaks his mind and when he does it leaves the people he's around a little confused. For example when he's forced into a situation where he has to deal with the fact that someone he knows might be dead, he pretty much has a breakdown inside of his head. He gives a whole mental speech in his head about not wanting to be talked about in the past tense like everyone else was doing in the room for this person who might be dead. They were saying things like "he wasn't that bad of a person" and " he was one of us". Then his thoughts went to if he were to die. Would everyone talk about him like that too? Just thinking about that upset him enough to shout out with a loud "I won't have it!" before he storms out of the room. The rest of the party was left confused.

It's important to note that this is how he presents himself to be, but it's not exactly how he really is inside. Yes he can be mean, and he keeps to himself. He also pushes people away because he's self-conscious about having them around. He's afraid of what people think of him so shutting them out is easier to deal with. He also has some pretty good qualities that many find admirable. He's a serious guy who always follows the orders he is given. He's strong and smart and loyal to his comrades. He helped protect some lower classmen when their school was under attack, and when he was given the title Commander despite not wanting to be put in a leadership role, he made sure everyone knew what to do. He made sure the kids were safe and everyone was on track with the orders that were given to keep Garden safe.

He even tries to help out a Dollet soldier while he was taking his SeeD exam, when enemy soldiers from Galbadia were taking over the Dollet-Dukedom. Cadets were training to be SeeDs and their exam was to keep them out of Dollet. Squall's squad went ahead and followed some Galbadian soldiers up a pathway, and when they neared the top, the Dollet soldier appeared out of nowhere in pain and was being attacked by a monster. In Squall's party, he's the only one who lunged out ahead to try and save the guy.

Even if he pushes people away, he still does things to contradict this way of thinking. Back on the day of his SeeD exam when he had to meet his Instructor, a new girl bumped into him in the hallway. She was completely lost and still didn't know her way around the school. She asks him if he wouldn't mind showing her around and the game gives Squall the opportunity to either ignore her or be nice and help. If you choose to help her, Squall takes her to the front of the school where the directory is and tells her where everything is, even though he was supposed to be heading off to start his exam. Later on when he passes the exam and they're having a big congratulatory party for the new SeeDs, the same girl comes up to him and talks about a festival for the Garden (their school) that is coming up. She asks Squall if he'd like to help out and he has the option to help out again. Also during the game, the party has to split up into two groups because of an evil sorceress named Ultimecia was trying to get rid of all the SeeDs in the world. The best way to do that is to get rid of the Garden schools. There are three of them, and one has already been blown up. Three party members go to the place where the bombs are coming from to try and stop it, while Squall and his party go back to his Garden to warn the students and try to stop his school from exploding as well. The mission took a while and in this world they have no way of getting in contact with each other because phones and radios don't work. Squall and his party got the school moving and turned it into a ship and later on they found the other party members safe from harm. If Rinoa was in Squall's party during the mission, she talks to Squall alone and mentions that he really looked worried about his friends that they just found. In his head he even agrees that they were friends and states that of course he was concerned because they were his responsibility, but even she saw through that. Despite him pushing people away so much he still gains many friends and worries about them.

As stated before, Squall follows orders and rules very well. The Garden has many rules that they enforce to all the cadets and SeeDs who go there. Among these rules are no fighting on school ground, no magic in the school, weapons are for combat purposes only so showing them off is a big no no, and just general rules to keep the school running in order. He always follows these rules so he is one of the students that never get into trouble. Many times in the game a party member named Zell will ask Squall to let him check out Squall's Gunblade ( his weapon ) and each time he asks Squall, he is met with silence or a flat out no.

He's responsible and when his actions lead him one way he takes responsibility for them. Despite him hating being put in a leadership position, it's one of the big reasons he's perfect for that role. He doesn't slack off and takes it very seriously. He knows what needs to be done and makes sure those he is commanding know as well.

There is a point in the game though where Squall questions himself and what they were doing. He wonders if he should continue following his orders or if there was something more he should be doing. He never used to think like this and just went as he was told, but then him and his team were sent to a place called Timber on a mission where he met Rinoa Heartilly. She questions everything he does and makes comments about how mean and awful he is. She is the reason he starts wondering if he should continuing to follow orders. He wonders what else he could even do if he weren't there being a SeeD. She shakes his whole routine up and becomes a very important person in his life despite all of his walls.


Abilities: Squall was raised in a millitary school, so he's rather strong. He knows hand to hand combat, and his weapon of choice is his Gunblade. The Gunblade is basically a sword that has a trigger function that makes the impact of the blade much stronger when he pulls the trigger. On top of that, in their world, there are summons known as GF's or Guardian Force. If a person from their world is deemed worthy enough by one of these GF's they will allow them to use their power and summon them, also giving them the ability to use magic. Unfortunately the more that a GF is used, the more memories the person using it loses because the GF junctions to the part of the brain dealing with memories.

Alignment: Sosyne

After looking at all of the different Alignments, Squall seems to best suit the alignment of Sosyne. By nature he is unusually calm for many things he is thrown into. He has gone through many different painful things in life, and instead of acting out on them, he just continues in a calm manner. He doesn't let anything distract him from his missions. Although he isn't always fully calm either though. When something becomes rather frustrating to him he gets angry and irritated and its hard to talk to him when he's like that.

Other: If allowed to, Squall will come with his Gunblade.


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Remember that we ask for samples that show 1) core character portrayal and 2) some use of emotions, such as environmental effect. You can also use the same sample source for both, just make sure to directly link or quote the emotion portion. We highly encourage using the Test Drive, and you can use prompts from the Test Drives, Intro Logs, and the Task board if you need them. Refer to the main application page for links and more suggestions.

General Sample: TDM from January
Emotion Sample: Winter wonderland


Questions: Would Squall be able to use his GF in this game?