Application for Beautiful Dreamer
Mar. 30th, 2023 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darknesshotpotPlayer
Name & Pronouns: Matatabi, they/them.
Age: Over 18.
Contact Details:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
matatabibito
Canon Info
Canon Name: Sakaguchi Ango.
Canon Age: There's some magical reincarnation garbage going on, so he's chronologicaly 48 but looks like a typical 20-something anime bishounen.
Canon: Bungou to Alchemist (game and anime). But since he's loosely based on a real writer, I'm throwing in some characterization from his essays/novels, too.
Character Summary:
In canon, Ango is a cynical novelist who was one of the founding members of the "decadent" literary movement in post-WWII Japan. He and all of his dead novelist buddies are magically summoned into a dumb gacha game/anime where the spirits of classic literature's most dysfunctional writers are made to fight monsters (when they're not slacking off or arguing with each other). It's basically Fate/Grand Order, but you collect middle-aged amphetamine addicts with arts degrees.Anime was a mistake. Despite his tough guy looks and claims of being "Japan's greatest delinquent," Ango becomes the Team Mom of the crew.
In Ango's main story arc, he's trapped inside one of his own books. He takes on the role of a mountain bandit who becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman (who may or may not actually be the spirit of a demonic sakura tree). Under her control, he begins to lose his identity. In order to feed her insatiable desire for wealth and social prestige, he robs and kills until violence loses all meaning. The only way to break free from the book is to kill the demoness... but Ango, who in his real life had lost several of his closest friends to illness and suicide, can't let go of the one person who still "loves" him. Only when the reborn spirits of his friends break into the book is Ango able to remember his own ideals: before one can fly, one must first fall. Ango was always a bold outcast who broke social conventions, said exactly what he thought, spoke out against nationalism in the middle of a world war, and forged his own path through life even though it meant walking that path alone.
After beating his own inner demon (literally), Ango can often be found in the kitchen, cooking up bizarre culinary experiments for his friends and anyone else who happens to wander by. His love for food is a running joke, inspired by the time when IRL historical Ango did a whole lot of drugs, went into chaos mode, and ordered 100 curries from a restaurant.
Apart from updating his backstory from the 1940s to 2023, I hardly have to change anything at all!
AU Info
AU Name: Sakaguchi Ango.
Age: Let's say 37.
Suitability: NA.
AU History:
Ango is the youngest child of a large, dysfunctional family. His father was a politician, but his campaigns ran up serious debts so the family struggled financially and Ango had to make do with the hand-me-downs of his older siblings. While Ango was a bright student who dreamed of becoming a writer, he constantly clashed with authority figures. In high school, he proclaimed himself to be the "greatest delinquent in Japan," but in reality, he was just a prankster who cut class to go off and daydream.
Feeling directionless after graduation, Ango flirted with the idea of becoming a Buddhist monk - what could be more shocking and rebellious than rejecting the world entirely? He shaved his head and threw himself into Zen meditation, only to grow restless a few weeks into his newfound spiritual vocation. The head monk at the local temple, perhaps sympathizing with his turmoil, helped him apply for a scholarship to a Buddhist university in Tokyo. Ango studied philosophy, but he soon returned to his love for writing.
After gaining a foothold with his short stories, Ango became a successful novelist. Several of his works were adapted for TV and film - his best-known work, "Under the Cherry Trees," won several awards on the international film circuit. He was invited to speak at conferences, his op-eds ran in magazines, he dated a few C-list celebrities, and he rubbed elbows with the literary elite... but still, Ango was restless. His natural disdain for authority put him at odds with the rigid, hierarchical world of publishing. He struggled to meet deadlines, often procrastinating for months and then working himself to the point of collapse. He became known less for his writing and more for his Twitter hot takes and occasional drunken fistfights with other novelists. Fistfights aside, Ango was close friends with several of his fellow writers and artists, so they formed a tight-knit group of outcasts and reprobates that met frequently in a Tokyo basement bar.
Plagued by recurring nightmares, Ango began to suffer from severe insomnia, but he hid his exhaustion from his friends and attempted to self-medicate. He was the big brother of the crew, the devil-may-care rebel, the fighter who never backed down. He wasn't the kind of guy who'd be laid low by some bad dreams. But the dreams only grew worse, and his waking life continued to fall apart. When the Nightmare wasn't taunting him with visions of his past failures, it tempted him with promises of an easy, happy life if only he'd throw his old self away. The comforts he'd always shunned - stability, approval, respectability, love - could be his, if only "Sakaguchi Ango" were to disappear.
But Ango never does anything the easy way. Declaring himself to be the "greatest delinquent in the world," he awakened as "Dreamer Decadence." Armed with a pair of glass knives and a flashy new outfit, he managed to dispel the Nightmare. Ango woke up in the real world with a Sandglass in his hand... and dozens of missed calls and frantic text messages on his phone. He learned that during the night, one of his closest friends had taken his own life. Consumed by his own sleepless anxiety, Ango had failed to notice his best friend's suffering... and he'd awakened too late to save him.
Ango was always publicly skeptical of the Dreamer Union: as far as he was concerned, the organization exploited idealistic young people and used them to deal with society's mental health issues. People didn't need magical girls in a dream world to blast away their troubles with a Love-Love Sparkle Moe Beam, they needed a real world where they could express themselves freely and live without judgement. But Ango was a Dreamer now... and his rent was past due, his deadlines were piling up, and he was down to his last pack of instant ramen. He needed a job - the kind of job that would hire a homeless thirty-something with a philosophy degree and no practical work experience. So, he packed his meager possessions into a few bags and boarded the next train to Yumemigaoka.
AU Personality:
Ango is a contrarian who follows his own idiosyncratic philosophy of "decadence" - in essence, he believes that only by abandoning social conventions and embracing desire can one live an authentic, meaningful life. Conformity, morality and hierarchy stifle the human spirit. Only the outcasts who have been cast out of society can ever known true freedom. Only those who have been through hell can claw their way back to heaven. But really, Ango's idea of "decadence" depends entirely on what mood he's in. Adding dark chocolate to curry noodles is a decadent rebellion against culinary orthodoxy! Sleeping past noon on a weekday is freedom! Let chaos reign!
Surprisingly, Ango is also drawn to Zen Buddhism. The idea of having nothing, wanting nothing and holding onto no preconceived ideas appeals to him. It also provides a convenient philosophical rationalization for why he's always broke.
Ango hates pretentious, over-educated academics while somehow completely failing to realize that he is a pretentious, over-educated academic. Underneath his sunglasses and leather jacket, he's a huge nerd. He reads poetry, studies dead languages, quotes classic literature, and loves modern art. He sees beauty in the practical, the vulgar and the mundane. Ango refers to himself not as a writer but as a "rakugosha" - an old-fashioned comedian who spins stories in front of an audience. He thinks of life itself as a performance, but the pressure of constantly performing wears on him. He's worked so hard to build a "tough guy" persona that he struggles to confide in others. He's ashamed of his lifelong battles with depression and anxiety, his failure to earn his family's approval, his string of broken relationships, and his inability to protect his best friend. When he does talk about his problems, he tends to be flippant and dismissive.
Even though Ango can barely take care of himself, he's at his best when he's caring for others. He's thoughtful, sympathetic, and listens without judging. He sees himself as a "big brother" figure and has a huge soft spot for troubled kids. He loves to cook, so he'll try to boost morale with a hot meal or a pocket full of homemade snacks.
Other AU Changes:
He claims that he studied at a secret ninja school in the mountains, but he was actually in rehab. Canon tones down historical Ango's substance abuse and mental health issues a lot, but I'll tone them down even more because jesus fucking christ, dude.
Dreamer Info
Dreamer Title: Dreamer Decadence.
Appearance:
He has a ninja theme inspired by the hero anime of his youth! (Also, one of his in-game sprites is a ninja.) Ango's not the yume kawaii type so his look is more yume kakkoii.Is that a thing? It should be a thing.
Archetype: Novice (but he'll likely be a Striker later on).
Power Considerations:
Since Ango is a writer, his power set will be based around creating and dispelling illusions! I'm also going for a ninja anime theme, so his weapons are a pair of glass kunai daggers and he casts his magic using ninja hand seals that he totally didn't just make up right now. Ango favors martial arts and close-range physical attacks over magic - he's seen a lot of ninja movies, and he was the prefectural judo champion back in middle school, so he's pretty good in a fight.
RP Sample: TDM
Other Notes:
Name & Pronouns: Matatabi, they/them.
Age: Over 18.
Contact Details:
Canon Info
Canon Name: Sakaguchi Ango.
Canon Age: There's some magical reincarnation garbage going on, so he's chronologicaly 48 but looks like a typical 20-something anime bishounen.
Canon: Bungou to Alchemist (game and anime). But since he's loosely based on a real writer, I'm throwing in some characterization from his essays/novels, too.
Character Summary:
In canon, Ango is a cynical novelist who was one of the founding members of the "decadent" literary movement in post-WWII Japan. He and all of his dead novelist buddies are magically summoned into a dumb gacha game/anime where the spirits of classic literature's most dysfunctional writers are made to fight monsters (when they're not slacking off or arguing with each other). It's basically Fate/Grand Order, but you collect middle-aged amphetamine addicts with arts degrees.
In Ango's main story arc, he's trapped inside one of his own books. He takes on the role of a mountain bandit who becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman (who may or may not actually be the spirit of a demonic sakura tree). Under her control, he begins to lose his identity. In order to feed her insatiable desire for wealth and social prestige, he robs and kills until violence loses all meaning. The only way to break free from the book is to kill the demoness... but Ango, who in his real life had lost several of his closest friends to illness and suicide, can't let go of the one person who still "loves" him. Only when the reborn spirits of his friends break into the book is Ango able to remember his own ideals: before one can fly, one must first fall. Ango was always a bold outcast who broke social conventions, said exactly what he thought, spoke out against nationalism in the middle of a world war, and forged his own path through life even though it meant walking that path alone.
After beating his own inner demon (literally), Ango can often be found in the kitchen, cooking up bizarre culinary experiments for his friends and anyone else who happens to wander by. His love for food is a running joke, inspired by the time when IRL historical Ango did a whole lot of drugs, went into chaos mode, and ordered 100 curries from a restaurant.
Apart from updating his backstory from the 1940s to 2023, I hardly have to change anything at all!
AU Name: Sakaguchi Ango.
Age: Let's say 37.
Suitability: NA.
AU History:
Ango is the youngest child of a large, dysfunctional family. His father was a politician, but his campaigns ran up serious debts so the family struggled financially and Ango had to make do with the hand-me-downs of his older siblings. While Ango was a bright student who dreamed of becoming a writer, he constantly clashed with authority figures. In high school, he proclaimed himself to be the "greatest delinquent in Japan," but in reality, he was just a prankster who cut class to go off and daydream.
Feeling directionless after graduation, Ango flirted with the idea of becoming a Buddhist monk - what could be more shocking and rebellious than rejecting the world entirely? He shaved his head and threw himself into Zen meditation, only to grow restless a few weeks into his newfound spiritual vocation. The head monk at the local temple, perhaps sympathizing with his turmoil, helped him apply for a scholarship to a Buddhist university in Tokyo. Ango studied philosophy, but he soon returned to his love for writing.
After gaining a foothold with his short stories, Ango became a successful novelist. Several of his works were adapted for TV and film - his best-known work, "Under the Cherry Trees," won several awards on the international film circuit. He was invited to speak at conferences, his op-eds ran in magazines, he dated a few C-list celebrities, and he rubbed elbows with the literary elite... but still, Ango was restless. His natural disdain for authority put him at odds with the rigid, hierarchical world of publishing. He struggled to meet deadlines, often procrastinating for months and then working himself to the point of collapse. He became known less for his writing and more for his Twitter hot takes and occasional drunken fistfights with other novelists. Fistfights aside, Ango was close friends with several of his fellow writers and artists, so they formed a tight-knit group of outcasts and reprobates that met frequently in a Tokyo basement bar.
Plagued by recurring nightmares, Ango began to suffer from severe insomnia, but he hid his exhaustion from his friends and attempted to self-medicate. He was the big brother of the crew, the devil-may-care rebel, the fighter who never backed down. He wasn't the kind of guy who'd be laid low by some bad dreams. But the dreams only grew worse, and his waking life continued to fall apart. When the Nightmare wasn't taunting him with visions of his past failures, it tempted him with promises of an easy, happy life if only he'd throw his old self away. The comforts he'd always shunned - stability, approval, respectability, love - could be his, if only "Sakaguchi Ango" were to disappear.
But Ango never does anything the easy way. Declaring himself to be the "greatest delinquent in the world," he awakened as "Dreamer Decadence." Armed with a pair of glass knives and a flashy new outfit, he managed to dispel the Nightmare. Ango woke up in the real world with a Sandglass in his hand... and dozens of missed calls and frantic text messages on his phone. He learned that during the night, one of his closest friends had taken his own life. Consumed by his own sleepless anxiety, Ango had failed to notice his best friend's suffering... and he'd awakened too late to save him.
Ango was always publicly skeptical of the Dreamer Union: as far as he was concerned, the organization exploited idealistic young people and used them to deal with society's mental health issues. People didn't need magical girls in a dream world to blast away their troubles with a Love-Love Sparkle Moe Beam, they needed a real world where they could express themselves freely and live without judgement. But Ango was a Dreamer now... and his rent was past due, his deadlines were piling up, and he was down to his last pack of instant ramen. He needed a job - the kind of job that would hire a homeless thirty-something with a philosophy degree and no practical work experience. So, he packed his meager possessions into a few bags and boarded the next train to Yumemigaoka.
AU Personality:
Ango is a contrarian who follows his own idiosyncratic philosophy of "decadence" - in essence, he believes that only by abandoning social conventions and embracing desire can one live an authentic, meaningful life. Conformity, morality and hierarchy stifle the human spirit. Only the outcasts who have been cast out of society can ever known true freedom. Only those who have been through hell can claw their way back to heaven. But really, Ango's idea of "decadence" depends entirely on what mood he's in. Adding dark chocolate to curry noodles is a decadent rebellion against culinary orthodoxy! Sleeping past noon on a weekday is freedom! Let chaos reign!
Surprisingly, Ango is also drawn to Zen Buddhism. The idea of having nothing, wanting nothing and holding onto no preconceived ideas appeals to him. It also provides a convenient philosophical rationalization for why he's always broke.
Ango hates pretentious, over-educated academics while somehow completely failing to realize that he is a pretentious, over-educated academic. Underneath his sunglasses and leather jacket, he's a huge nerd. He reads poetry, studies dead languages, quotes classic literature, and loves modern art. He sees beauty in the practical, the vulgar and the mundane. Ango refers to himself not as a writer but as a "rakugosha" - an old-fashioned comedian who spins stories in front of an audience. He thinks of life itself as a performance, but the pressure of constantly performing wears on him. He's worked so hard to build a "tough guy" persona that he struggles to confide in others. He's ashamed of his lifelong battles with depression and anxiety, his failure to earn his family's approval, his string of broken relationships, and his inability to protect his best friend. When he does talk about his problems, he tends to be flippant and dismissive.
Even though Ango can barely take care of himself, he's at his best when he's caring for others. He's thoughtful, sympathetic, and listens without judging. He sees himself as a "big brother" figure and has a huge soft spot for troubled kids. He loves to cook, so he'll try to boost morale with a hot meal or a pocket full of homemade snacks.
Likes:
Dislikes:
- Cooking. His specialty is "darkness hot pot," a mysterious concoction created by mixing together everything in the kitchen. It's usually pretty good, except for the times when it's really, really bad.
- True crime documentaries, especially the sleazy ones that air on late night TV. He also loves low-budget samurai dramas, detective shows, ninja movies, and 90s shounen anime.
- Dogs and cats, but he can't even care for himself so he's never had a pet. He has a potted plant, but only after forgetting to water it for half a year did he realize that it was plastic.
Dislikes:
- Cleaning. He's a slob who lives in a nest of garbage. He claims that one day, the empty ramen cups and dirty socks and dead roaches will decompose and return to the great circle of life.
- The taste of alcohol, but he still ends up drinking too much when he's around other people.
- Knowing that some of his short stories have made it into the high school contemporary literature curriculum. As far as Ango is concerned, any book that you have to read in school is automatically garbage.
Other AU Changes:
Dreamer Info
Dreamer Title: Dreamer Decadence.
Appearance:
He has a ninja theme inspired by the hero anime of his youth! (Also, one of his in-game sprites is a ninja.) Ango's not the yume kawaii type so his look is more yume kakkoii.
Archetype: Novice (but he'll likely be a Striker later on).
Power Considerations:
Since Ango is a writer, his power set will be based around creating and dispelling illusions! I'm also going for a ninja anime theme, so his weapons are a pair of glass kunai daggers and he casts his magic using ninja hand seals that he totally didn't just make up right now. Ango favors martial arts and close-range physical attacks over magic - he's seen a lot of ninja movies, and he was the prefectural judo champion back in middle school, so he's pretty good in a fight.
Potential Powers:
- Shadow Clone: Ango creates shadow copies of himself or his weapons that can attack or take damage in his place. When destroyed, they poof into sakura petals. At D rank, he can make one copy of himself and up to three copies of an inanimate object.
- Mist Illusion: At D rank, Ango creates a mist that can be used to hide an attack or cover a retreat. Shadows move within the mist, giving the impression that the target is surrounded. At higher levels, he can create a whole imaginary landscape within an area.
- Super Strength: Pretty self-explanatory: enhanced punching, stabbing and judo throwing abilities. As long as something isn't totally incorporeal, he can punch it in whatever passes for its face.
- Shapeshifting: Ango can shapeshift into other people, creatures or objects. Can combine with the shadow clone technique for shenanigans. The quality of the illusion depends on rank - at D rank, he'd be able to copy someone's appearance relatively well, but not their voice, mannerisms or abilities.
- Disillusionment: Ango gains enhanced perception abilities, giving him a chance to see through darkness, fog, or enemy illusion magic. Accuracy/distance improves with rank.
RP Sample: TDM
Other Notes:
