Application: Deerington

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Fushi
Canon: To Your Eternity
Canon Point: Chapter 19

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Over his heart
Current Health/Status: Healthy
Apparent Age: early to mid teens in his default human form
Actual Age: unknown
Species: unknown immortal shapeshifter

History: http://fumetsunoanatae.wikia.com/wiki/Fushi
Hometown/World: no name given, but has countries roughly analogous to medieval Europe and Japan.

Personality:
Fushi is an immortal being, apparently artificially created, who started off as a featureless non-sentient sphere before taking on the forms of the first things he came into contact with: a rock, moss, a wolf, and finally a young boy who lived in a snowfield. Only recently introduced to sentience, Fushi's grasp of language is a little shaky, though he's a quick learner, and his grasp of many of the finer points of morality and humanity is similarly still in development.

Fushi is naturally curious and well-meaning, with a seemingly natural consideration for other life. He dislikes killing in general, but at this point is somewhere between human and animal in personality: he'll attack living creatures to defend people he's attached to, or kill those who threaten his existence, but has only recently been taught that stealing someone's food is wrong and that if given food, he should say 'thank you' instead of, say, slapping it out of their hand and eating it off the ground like a dog.

Should he become attached to someone, Fushi will begin following them around -- again, much like a dog, defending them from threats. Unlike a simple animal, however, Fushi is a remarkably quick learner; he already understands more human speech than he can actually speak, though with help from his friends, he's learning how to communicate more effectively. As he switches most often between his human and wolf forms, he tends to let the wolf's instincts guide and drive him towards simple objectives, like food or nearby creatures.

Though he may be a little hard to communicate with verbally, however, Fushi is generally cooperative and a good listener; he'll back off if asked and does attempt to abide by the rules he's taught. If Fushi comes to understand that someone needs help, he'll try to do so to the best of his ability -- and by the way, he hasn't yet learned to be discreet with the use of his shapeshifting or when to hide it from others. Rather, Fushi moves instinctively through the world, changing forms when convenient and not particularly bothering to take care of any of his forms because... well, he automatically regenerates if they're injured or killed.

In other words, Fushi is in many respects like an animal who's learning to be human, or perhaps a child learning how to become an adult. Someone explain hygiene to him.

Personal Moral Codes:
As he's pretty new to sentience, Fushi doesn't have a complex moral code. Those he's acquired so far include:
- Don't hurt people unnecessarily
- Help allies
- Attack enemies ferociously, particularly if defending others
- Attempt to follow societal rules
- Attempt to lend assistance if asked
- Say 'thank you' if given something

Insecurities/Personal Demons: Although Fushi is too inexperienced at this point to have many of either, those he naturally develops and has to deal with as the series continues include:

His immortality: Fushi is constantly meeting new people and making new connections... but they inevitably die, leaving him as the sole survivor, forced to move on. He does not understand the reason why he alone has to be immortal.

Survivor guilt: Fushi has something left of those he's survived in the use of their forms (see abilities), but over time he begins to be targeted by monsters similar to himself and begins to avoid people so that he can no longer be hurt by their inevitable loss or feel that he's endangering them simply by being present. In addition, because he can only transform into someone when they're dead, it's objectively true that he benefits from their death. He does not yet know how to deal with this.

People he was unable to save: While it hasn't yet started to get to him yet, losing multiple people over time begins to weigh on Fushi -- despite his immortality, the only person he can ever seem to save is himself, due to his regenerative abilities. Since he can't heal others, however... see survivor's guilt.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses:
Immortality
Fushi is immortal. His chosen form at any one time may die, but his body will regenerate from any death and becomes faster at doing so each time he dies. He can recover from even grievous injuries at an extremely accelerated pace.

Shapeshifting
Fushi can take the shape of any living creature who makes some kind of emotional impact on him and subsequently dies. He cannot take the form of people, animals, etc. who are currently alive; they must be dead in order for him to be able to transform into them, at which point he appears to also possess their skills (such as archery, climbing ability, etc.) while inhabiting their form. While Fushi did once take the form of inanimate objects, he no longer does so, apparently preferring to remain capable of conscious thought. He can indirectly tell if someone close to him is dead by attempting to transform into them; if successful... well, they're dead.

Current Available Forms:
Nameless Boy: A boy of around 14 or 15, Fushi's default form. An ice fisher who understands how to live in the cold.
Johan the Wolf: A white wolf.
March: A preteen girl, good at climbing but little else.
Spirit Bear: A massive, muscular bear. Its head is about the size of an adult human, and it's capable of killing an ordinary human with a single blow.

Fushi appears to be able to use human speech even when taking on the form of an animal that doesn't have compatible vocal chords, such as in wolf form.

Intelligence
Fushi learns very quickly and is constantly observing the things around him.

Replication
Fushi also has the ability to replicate inanimate objects that have made some kind of emotional impact on him. For example, when someone cut him with a kitchen knife, Fushi was able to produce an exact copy of that knife. He is also able to replicate food he has eaten. Fushi has the potential to purposefully copy inanimate objects for reproduction, but he's still developing his control over this ability. Current items he can replicate:
- Fruit, a few different foods
- Spear, knife, unlit torch
- Noodles with sleeping draught in the broth

Near Death Communication
Fushi seems to be able to see/understand the feelings of those about to die and become a part of him as one of his transformations. Before they die, they see a vision of their ideal life before remembering that they were mortally wounded. At this point, they may be able to convey their feelings to Fushi and be heard, though only by him.

Weaknesses
- Fushi is a little fuzzy on the concept of death and does not fear it as a permanent cessation of being
- While he has pretty rad powers in canon, he does not understand how to fully utilize them; in many instances he simply tries to brute force his way through like a kid, rather than thinking strategically about how to use his forms
- Fushi is relatively gullible and also doesn't understand self-care
- He needs to basically learn human interaction and rules from the ground up. It's a work in progress!

Ability/Power/Magic Warping:
- Fushi can still regenerate injuries quickly, but no longer near-instantaneously
- He no longer revives automatically when he dies, and instead must be subject to the same death process as everyone else
- Since PCs do not permanently die in-game, leave his shapeshifting intact with a permissions post, but have him lose the form once the character revives

Inventory:
Nothing

Writing Samples:
https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/2779.html?thread=135131#cmt135131

Fushi pushed his way through the chalk-outlined door, and into the room beyond. There was a banquet table inside, piled high with fruits, fishes, and meat. His mouth watered unnoticed until the thin line of drool dangling from one corner of his mouth snapped off and struck the floor.

He had no use for the paintings, and did not understand him. The man at the table, however...

Fushi's lips curled back from his teeth in a reflexive imitation of the wolf's snarl. Nevertheless, when the creature didn't move, Fushi cautiously moved closer. The smell of the food was intoxicating to the boy's nose, and without the benefit of a lifetime of reinforced caution, any hesitation he might have otherwise felt evaporated as soon as his fingers closed on a ripe peach.

He took great bites, only half-chewing as he devoured first a fruit, then a hunk of roast meat. Sweet and savory, delicious as he swallowed it all down.

Only when the man's fingers began to move did he look up, and then not in alarm, but in questioning stare.

"Thank you," Fushi croaked, as he'd been taught.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Tetra
Player Age: 18+
Player Contact: Tetradecimal

Other Characters In Game:
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Fushi: Tetra
Permissions for Character: https://youreternity.dreamwidth.org/516.html
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yes

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?:
Melancholy, mystery, uncovering past wrongs (Fatal Frame, Hellraiser, The Devil's Backbone)

Manifestations of psychological guilt (Silent Hill 2)

Survival action horror (Resident Evil 4)

Philosophical beautiful mindtrips (Annihilation)

Monsters that are metaphors for character fears, societal dysfunction, etc. (Silent Hill, It Follows, Kairo, The Shining)

Whackadoodle Junji Ito horror

Space horror, deep sea horror, cool monsters (Alien)

Isolation and paranoia (The Thing)

Isolation and survival horror (The Mist)

Horror eventually accepted as 'the way things are', secondary to character drama (The Green Mile, From a Buick 8)

Virus medical mystery horror (The Andromeda Strain)

Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: No
Additional Information: