Application to prismatica

[anti_altruisms]

▶ PLAYER
HANDLE: RW
CONTACT: arrdubz
OVER 18? Yep!
CHARACTERS IN-GAME: Xigbar (madannoshashu)

▶ CHARACTER
NAME: Archer (EMIYA)
CANON: Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel
CANON POINT: After his death in Heaven's Feel.
AGE: Really damn old, probably hundreds if not thousands of years. Looks like he's in his late-20's to early 30's.
BACKGROUND: Wiki!

PERSONALITY:

- Deadpan Snarker: On the surface, Archer has a very laid-back, indifferent sort of demeanor. He has a dry sense of humor, a tendency to be sarcastic, and he isn't always particularly respectful, especially if he's given a reason not to be. Though this usually just comes across as indifference or snark, some of his commentary is absolutely meant to be insulting. He dunks on Shirou as often as he can, for example, telling him his ideals are fake and worthless.

- Ruthless, Cynical Bastard: In that vein, it is worth noting that Archer has little patience for idealism or altruistic tendencies in those around him. In addition, he doesn't hesitate to call others out on (what he considers to be) their stupidity, and he doesn't sugar coat (what he believes to be) bad decisions. His particular dislike of idealism in any shape or form, too, largely comes from personal experience, and it drives him to employ methods and tactics (particularly in battle) that many would consider underhanded and ruthless.

- I (Really, Really) Hate Myself: Though this isn't touched on as much in Heaven's Feel, the truth is, Archer truly, deeply despises himself for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, while he did achieve his goals of becoming a hero of justice in his lifetime, it did not turn out well for him at all. In order to attain enough power to achieve a miracle, he sold his afterlife to Alaya -- the counterbalancing force of the world which ensures that humanity does not destroy itself. After he was executed for a crime he didn't commit, he was forced to repeatedly clean up the messes humans made over and over and over again...to the point of nearly driving him mad. He wanted to save everyone, and yet all he could do was stain his hands with blood and execute them.

- Jaded, Bitter Idealist: As such, the ideals that shaped his life as a young man have officially been shattered and rejected. Having fought to clean up humanity's messes in more battles than he can count or remember, Archer effectively despises himself along with the beliefs that gave rise to someone like him. He is the epitome of the jaded, bitter idealist -- someone who believed and hoped he could somehow save everyone, only to be hit repeatedly with the harsh reality that doing so is impossible. As a result, he sometimes engages in self-destructive behaviors, the best example of which is the attempt he made to murder his past self in the Unlimited Bladeworks Route.

- Emotionally Repressed: Given that he has effectively been used as a murder machine for hundreds if not thousands of years, to say that Archer is emotionally repressed is an understatement. Though he can be sarcastic and snarky, make jokes, and connect with most people on a fairly superficial level, anything deeper than the superficial is much harder for him. He has difficulty with intimacy and anything that involves actual closeness with another human being. This is also compounded by the fact that he suffered a terrible trauma as a child and never fully learned how to enjoy life and care about himself. It's why he generally holds people at arms' length and very deliberately avoids talking about how he feels, his name, or his history. He does not like himself, does not like talking about himself, and on top of that, he doesn't like being in a place of vulnerability -- which is what most intimate/close situations represent to him. He is self-aware, of course, and knows that he's got A Lot of Baggage, but the very cyclical nature of his existence (trapped in a role that he hates), makes him think he simply cannot change or do any better.

- Self-Sacrificing: In spite of all that, though, some part of the young man he once was still remains. Shirou Emiya's greatest wish was to become a Hero of Justice -- one who would be able to save everyone. Over the course of many long years, Archer has become jaded and bitter over the path he chose and no longer holds this ideal as his standard. However, for the right cause or the right person, Archer will crawl over broken glass, take a bullet, and even die for the greater good or something (or someone) who means a lot to him, which is exactly what he does in Heaven's Feel. Despite his plans to kill his past self (which he does try to do in the Unlimited Bladeworks Route), he sets all of those aside upon encountering the Shadow. He identifies it as a threat that must be dealt with and that it is unfeasible for him to try and carry out his selfish plans. As such, he serves as Rin's Servant with distinction and even takes a blow that is meant for her, which leaves him fatally wounded in the process. He also sets aside his personal ill will towards Shirou (who loses his arm in the same fight) by having his left arm transplanted onto the boy so he will continue to live.

He is a man who looks towards the greater good even if it means paying a personal price.

POWERS/ABILITIES: Archer is a Servant, which means he has a variety of abilities that stretch far beyond the limits of an ordinary human. In life he was a mage, and though he does not receive the blessings most Heroic Spirits do because of their fame and renown, he has perfected other techniques to make up for what he lacks.

- Enhanced Strength/Speed/Durability: As a Servant, Archer is capable of superhuman feats of strength. He can also cover great distances in a short amount of time and survive wounds that would kill and ordinary human.

- Spirit Form/Mana Consumption: As a Servant, Archer is capable of de-materializing and taking spirit form. This is not only to conceal his presence from others, but also to preserve his mana. Though he is still visible to other Servants, he cannot be detected by those without magical ability. In addition, given that Servants are spirits who need magic in order to maintain themselves in the physical world, Archer is very attuned to the presence of magic in others around him. In the absence of a Master, he can find nourishment in one of three ways -- by drinking blood, soul-sucking, or sex. Given that he personally finds preying on people to be distasteful, he is highly unlikely to ever resort to the first or second options. Moonlacing will likely be the way he sustains himself in the game.

- Experienced Combatant (Eye of the Mind): Even though Archer is technically weaker than most other Servants because he lacks the benefits of being a famed, historical/legendary figure, he can still go toe-to-toe with opponents that are stronger than he is because of his vast amount of experience in combat. As a human being, he pushed himself to and past his limits, and as a Heroic Spirit, he has fought in wars in past, present, and future eras. He is very adaptable on the battlefield, as he can not only dual wield with his favored swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, but he is also an exceptional marksman with his bow. Because of this, he has developed the Eye of the Mind ability, which is not so much a special power as it is "combat logic" -- being able to read his opponents movements in advance so he can successfully counter them, even if they are stronger or faster than he is.

- Archer Class Abilities (Clairvoyance & Independent Action): Though he defies certain conventions of the class, Archer's classification as an Archer grants him certain capabilities. Aside from being able to fire multiple arrows in rapid succession, magical or otherwise, he has the ability of Clairvoyance, also called the "Eagle Eye". This allows him to not only sight moving targets and fire upon them accurately from a long range (four kilometers), but it also allows him to scout from the high places with unnerving accuracy (he says he can count the tiles on a bridge from a distant building, for example). The Archer class also grants him the ability of Independent Action, which allows him to act without a Master (for two days in canon, though this will be stretched a little upon his arrival in the game).

- Archer's Bow (Broken Phantasm): While Archer does not have a true Noble Phantasm of his own in the typical sense, he is capable of duplicating the Noble Phantasms (i.e. weapons) of other Heroic Spirits and firing them from his bow. This ability is showcased during Saber's battle with Berserker as well as Archer's battle with Caster. Said replica is destroyed after it is fired and releases a great amount of energy, equal to an A-Rank Noble Phantasm.

- Reality Marble (Unlimited Blade Works): In life, the only magic Archer was capable of was Projection (creating simple objects from magic) and Reinforcement (understanding the stucture of an object and being able to magically strengthen or deconstruct it). Unlimited Blade Works is the perfection of these two magics as it allows him to replicate any weapon that he sees and store it in his Reality Marble, which is, in short, a temporary projection of the user's inner world. Archer can summon swords and fire them as projectiles, or he can use the Reality Marble itself and create a world that effectively looks like a wasteland of cogs and machinery with blades stuck in the ground. It should be noted that Archer is also capable of creating shields such as Rho Aias (a magical barrier capable of defending against Noble Phantasms), but it puts a much higher drain on his mana. There are also some limits to what he can and cannot create. For example, he cannot read weapons such as Gilgamesh's Ea, and he has himself stated that attempting to re-create holy swords like Excalibur are projections likely to end in his own destruction. The Reality Marble itself is also exceptionally difficult to maintain, cannot be used for long periods of time, and only draws people into it within a set, limited radius.

INVENTORY: Just his clothes.

MOONBLESSING: Sanguis

▶ SAMPLES

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