application @ forestcovered

[dorka]

( PLAYER INFORMATION )

Name: AnNika
Contact: yeastofeden
Are you over 17?: ye
Characters in Forest Covered: ne

( CHARACTER INFORMATION )

Name/Work Name: Makoto Tachibana | Shoko
Canon: Free!
Canon Point: Post S1 – after clearing everything up with Rin
AU/CRAU: CRAU from havenrpg
Age: 17
History: Wikia | Threadtracker from Haven
Personality: Right off the bat, when we first meet Makoto in the very start of the story, it's apparent to us that Makoto is a gentle giant. He worries about all of his friends, and expresses kindness towards everyone, even to small stray cats on his way to Haru's house. While Makoto doesn't go through the same dramatic character development in the series that many of the others do, Makoto acts as a constant in the series. His good nature, especially for Haru, is a base for his friends, and because of this he fills the role of a protective friend very well; someone who's there to make sure those who matter to him are alright. He's generally patient, and if not patient, accepting of others for whoever they are.

Makoto, being the watchful sort, is typically very observant. In the case of Haru, he comes off as able to read Haru's mind. While for Haru the excuse is simply that they've known each other so long Makoto just knows what's going on with Haru, his watchful eye is not exclusive to him alone. While visiting Haru's house for dinner, Makoto notices Gou (their will-be team manager) looking at the trophy they had won with her brother some years before and brings it up it up to her. Later, while on a camping trip with the entire team, Makoto notices Rei is feeling off in regards to his swimming, and Makoto approaches Rei to help allay his concerns and fear. Because Makoto so often seems to know what's going on in other people's heads, it makes him respond in certain ways, either saying what's on their mind (such as Haru watching the ocean intently and commenting "I hope the ocean warms up soon so you can go swimming in it"), or stepping in to protect those thoughts. While Rei struggled trying to figure out which stroke he could do for the swim team, Rei and Haru are seen to the side simply staring at butterflies and talking. When Nagisa brings it up to Makoto and Gou, Makoto explains that Nagisa was better off leaving them alone. He knew that the moment the two of them were sharing was important.

Makoto cares about his team mates very much, and wants to make sure that they're okay. Sometimes, his care and worry is a little beyond himself. After nearly drowning in a tropical storm off the coast, Makoto's first concern before anything else is asking if Rei was okay. Even when Haru tries to convince Makoto that he needed to be more worried about himself (who had nearly died), Makoto is insistent to express his worries for Rei and Nagisa. Even after worry about Rei and Nagisa, he feels terrible about putting Haru in a position where he needed to save Makoto, in which Haru could have just as easily been hurt in his stead.

Makoto isn't, by any means, perfect at determining what other people are thinking, or how they might feel about something. Even in the case of Haru, who he so often will narrate the thoughts of, Makoto has been wrong. When Nagisa proposes a swim team, he thinks initially that Haru won't agree to it; of course, the quiet young man does agree despite Makoto's prediction. Later, when hoping to convince Haru to join the relay, Makoto expresses the same doubts that Haru would want to swim in a relay, he is pleasantly surprised when Haru finally agrees to it.

Makoto's default is a quiet expression or gentle smile, but don't be fooled!! Makoto can be just as animated as Nagisa when he feels like it. Generally his animation is correlated with frustration or confusion. He's often exasperated with Haru, such as when Haru decides to make mackerel for breakfast when they were already running a little late for class. He rarely raises his voice in anger, unless it's tied in with Haru randomly stripping. When trying to deduce where Makoto recognized Goro Sasabe, he squints noticeably and even jumps in surprise when he realizes it.

Makoto is the captain of the swim team, and unsurprisingly has a few traits that make him good for a position of leadership. The other members of the team respect Makoto, likely because he's not someone who would impose upon them as a leader, but also naturally provides good guidance. He's kindly and level-headed when he discusses the tournament with his team, and patient. Makoto isn't the sort, however, to jump to a leadership position, as seen when Nagisa volunteers him for the position. His first instinct is to offer Haru instead, as Haru was the faster swimmer. Makoto can even be very serious when needed, urging Haru to beat Rin in their heat together. Makoto supports his friends and his team no matter what.

Makoto isn't one to get into confrontation, attributed to his gentle nature. In fact, he's probably pretty weak in a debate simply because he doesn't like to argue. However, he had mediated in a few arguments thanks to being judicial and fair on most matters. When his two siblings are bickering over a piece of food that Ran had stolen from Ren, Makoto intervenes to call them out, and then proceeds to give each of them a little of his food to keep them from fighting. Makoto doesn't appear to put his own interests before others. Despite his fear of the ocean, Makoto understands it's in the best interest for the team to do the training program presented by Gou. However, when push comes to shove, such as when Rin is being a huge buttstain jerk about Haru, Makoto steps forward to lay down some harsh truths.

Makoto is very easily frightened, which we find out almost immediately in episode one. He's afraid of the dark, he doesn't like ghosts, has a legitimate fear of the ocean, and is pretty easily spooked by most things, if there's any level of creepy involved. He screams like a girl, and jumps at even the slightest sound. Consequently, he IS going to have a little trouble with EV's dark setting, initially preferring to cower behind friends or otherwise. Makoto doesn't like expressing his fears, either. When Nagisa calls him out on being afraid of the dark, he gets a little louder and bemoans and accuses Nagisa of frightening him on purpose. For a more intense fear, such as the ocean, Makoto is much more quiet and reserved, trying not to bother others with his anxiety. Haru is about the only person he'll open up to quickly, in that regard, but as he grows to know someone he opens up more, as he does with Rei and Nagisa.

Fearful as he is, Makoto's can be incredibly brave as well, especially for his friends. When Makoto wakes up during their training camp to find Rei had vanished, and was in ocean during the storm, Makoto leaps into the water without a second thought. Unfortunately, just as he had found Rei, he found himself petrified and couldn't succeed. He blames himself for his failure to save Rei, and while talking to Haru, notes that it's because of his friends that he was able to overcome his fear of the ocean so long as they were there with him. It's also mentioned that Makoto, when he was younger, was afraid of all water, but had grown to not only accept the fear, but fight against it so that he could swim with Haru. It's suggested that at the end of the series, while swimming the relay, Makoto is finally able to find peace in the water. As such, Makoto does not like to revel in his fears or his failures, and while EV will pose a great challenge for him, he will most likely press on bravely.

Makoto has a habit of pulling strings in an attempt to make things and situations work out in the favour of his friends. In episode one, when Haru insists on not going back to their old swim club, Makoto carefully lays out the bait "You know, there's a pool there." In fact, Makoto has used the bait "pool" on Haru a couple times in the series to get him to do things, that in the end were for Haru's benefit. Makoto also goes out of his way to contact Rin, and let him know that Iwatobi (their school) would be opening up a swim club, and that he should join Samezuka's club in turn. Makoto does this in hopes to reunite Rin with his friends, and get Rin to do something Makoto knows he loves.

Also, Makoto is secretly team mom. He kind of nannies the team, and to Haru can come off as occasionally nagging, and is really everything a mother should be. He reassures his friends when they need it, too, and when Haru is sick, Makoto is prepared with tissues for his ailing friend. He even corrects a teacher for calling Haru a girl. (Trivia, all the boys have girl's names.) When everyone was worried about where Haru had gone after losing to Rin in the 100m freestyle, he tells everyone it was probably best to just head home. He doesn't, however, follow his own advice, and stays at Haru's house the entire evening, even falling asleep in the entry way while waiting for Haru.


Debt: A promise to get Haru home safely
Suitability: So you walk out of the asshole of the universe and a witch goes “hey you can have whatever you want if you work for me.” Naturally, being the selfless person that he is, he might wish a little bigger and try to save EVERYBODY he knew when he was in Haven, and obviously that’s too big of a wish to have just ONE average guy working for you – so he’d cut back to save his best friend at least. He’ll go so far to pledge himself for life if it means Haru would always be safe. Haven’s made him a little desperate. But I think at the same time, he’d understand that so long as he worked for the witch, he’d be saving himself and Haru at the same time. So that begs the question, is the witch playing mako, or has MAKO PLAYED THE WITCH?!?! – no srsly tho, he just wants haru safe

As a worker, I’m sure he’d probably have TOO much fun just being able to go about his day safely, have more to eat than he can physically handle, and sleep in a bed so warm night scares are a thing of the past. At worst he’d feel sad and alone, but ultimately glad to know that somewhere out there his best friend is okay.

Previous Game Info: If you’re unfamiliar with havenrpg, maybe you know a thing or two about Uzumaki by Junji Ito, that one hella creepy, psychological thriller manga with tons of spirals and gruesome shit. As a horror game, there were often monsters lurking around, events with ghosts, slaughter, where a lot of his friends died and so did he. Additionally, you can’t write in Haven, not that he had time to leisurely read a book. He stayed there for about a year.

Haven had a lot of events that didn’t always leave Makoto in good shape, and for about the first six months of his stay in haven he was a MESS, dealing with fear, depression, and a few battle scars he’d gotten along the way. Compare Haven to his actual canon, and there’s really nothing more opposite. I have here a threadtracker that lists all of the threads (besides the last three months, gomen!), some of the events that Makoto went through, and even a few blurbs for each month that describe the different stages Makoto went through. Just for cross reference, but I’ll summarize here also!

As you might imagine, Makoto started out scared shitless of literally everything for about two months. February rolls around and shit gets real when he watched Rin die trying to protect him, and then ultimately wasted Rin’s effort and died shortly after. The death messed him up pretty bad, turning him from a comically fearful boy to something much darker and more reserved. As he became accustomed to the reality, Makoto eventually became determined to become stronger and was taken on by Korra, from Legend of Korra, as a fighting student. The mild Makoto started to learn to fight so that he wouldn’t let his friends down again, and so he could be the one to protect them. Makoto still feels indebt to Rin from this moment.

The events that followed involved a few poorly concealed lies about a new scar on his chest (thanks pyramid head), as well as a second death, that made Makoto relook his views on empathy. Before Makoto was more reserved about his problems, and so while he was dealing with a mild depression, and with this reservation, he focused his worries on the friends around him rather than himself. But a few talks with Haru and Korra get him wishing he were more open with people about his problem. It takes a few months to break the habit – in a respect, some of it was still hard to talk about. As a result of this, Makoto is much more personal in every way, a sadder and more struggling part of him like he shows with Watanuki from xxxHolic. He wants to be someone who can tackle anyone’s problems, even his own, so that everyone can feel good about themselves, even in dire times as these.

The last of a chain of events, the characters in Haven are sucked into a maze and made to kill each other if they want to escape. So what does Makoto do?! Die. Pitifully. But this is an important moment, where Makoto has a permanent change that makes him a little more different than canon, rather than make previous traits more bold. As seen here, the maze is closed off from all air sources to encourage a bit more desperation. Makoto died from suffocation, but afterwards his mind is still conscious although his body has effectively died, and during this Haru struggles to bring him with despite this. Haru flops over, Haru dies also of suffocation.

So two things happen that change him permanently in the July event. One, and this was a long time coming, Makoto admits that he’s absolutely in love with Haru and agonizes over his friend’s death – he can’t imagine a life without him. Two, and this happens after everyone is brought back to life, Makoto has a bit of a morality flip, where he was once considered probably ‘white’ would stand as ‘gray’ in regards to death and killing. He would fight and he would kill if it meant saving his friends, but he wouldn’t do it if there was no reason to – there’s even a whole post here where he talks about it, and ultimately decides he would only do it to save someone he cares about.

One other thing happens after this event, and it’s more so a tie in of all his past lessons. After struggling for MONTHS to be brave and strong, Makoto has become absolutely resolute to protect his friends. Where Makoto was once very unlike himself – depressed, quiet, reserved, and hurting – he’d finally made that mental leap to be as strong as it took to make sure everyone was alright. With this new found courage, he even managed to coordinate a trip through the normally SUPER dangerous tunnels into the much nicer Haven North for a bit. It’s about here that Makoto starts acting like himself again. He’s still very troubled by the last six months, but he’s finally put aside the past in order to preserver into the future.

Not too long after confessing his feelings to Haru, the group is removed and separated, leaving Makoto in a prison with a number of his friends, including Teppei from Kuroko no Basuke, Watanuki, Rose from Homestuck, and a few others. This ends up being THE test to see if Makoto actually did find his resolve. But after watching a series of sacrifices over a few days that took the lives of Teppei and Haru, Makoto was emotionally weak, especially after Haru’s sacrifice. A little encouragement from a friend might have gotten him moving a little quicker when the riots were being planned, but Watanuki had every intention of staying, and so Makoto chose to wait for Haru. But when the time came, and Haru arrived in the middle of the riots, Makoto was up like a rocket, thrilled but also anxious. Using the fighting that he’d learned from Korra, he battled his way out with Haru and they climbed the fence together, into a desert wasteland to meet up with the friends they had been separated from. So, did Makoto find his resolve? In many ways, yes, so long as he has a reason to fight he can go on. But with Haru and Teppei to move him along, and Watanuki idle, it was harder to motivate himself. Like his incident with the ocean, he needs other people with him to be brave.

At this point, what happens to Makoto isn’t in the threadtracker, so I apologize for that. The events that came didn’t do as much shaping of Makoto as previous ones, but more so proving how far he had come. Makoto was able to go outside easily when the city had flooded, and sat down and talked with people, trying to hash out what could be happening in Haven. He wanted to be a forward thinker like his friends, Korra, Rose, and Sonia from Dangan Ronpa, and fight against Yao, the corporation that has them trapped. He wasn’t always great at it, although during a later event, when the ground under their houses caved in. Literally FILLED with a sense of victory, Makoto even tries to run around and save people during the collapse.

At the end of his stay in Haven, though, things are a little shakier. Teppei was killed in a fireworks explosion, and Watanuki had left, leaving him with a heavy feeling that he would never get out, and a painful reminder that he had been in Haven for too long. It would be from about here that he’ll be taken out of Haven!

SO, despite everything that Makoto has been through, he’s not SO unbelievably different. While during the six months of depression, Makoto was having a VERY difficult time, and was VERY unlike himself, after he was able to work through that, he reverted back to his usual self. He smiles regularly, he wants nothing more that to help people feel good, and he wants to be courageous. Granted, that doesn’t mean he still won’t fly sky high if a ghost popping out of no where, but rather he’s not about to go weak in the knees if shit goes down.

His major changes are his relationship with Haru, whom he had been dating for about three months in Haven. I realize that our Haru on reserve is also the Haru I played with at Haven, but I want to at least touch face with this because I know how past relationship things like this can be weird and concerning regarding CRAU. A-ANYWAY, in regards to Haru, the two have talked about it before on a few occasions, and I think that even if Haru didn’t remember their relationship, Makoto would handle it in a sane fashion that things are either continued with a few bumps if the mun was okay with it, or if they were against it, that Makoto would be able to move on and still think of Haru as his best friend. They’d been close for so long back home, that no matter how Haru felt about him, even if they weren’t totally on equal footing, he would always be Makoto’s best and dearest friend, hands down.

As for being morally gray, I think this is much less likely to show up in the setting unless personally addressed, but it is what it is. Makoto is seriously not afraid to fight or kill if it means that he can save someone he cares about, or even himself, because he has watched his friends die and he has failed to protect himself all too many times. Understanding that even when death is not permanent, it can separate and pull apart important bonds for too long, and the pain of dying is too extreme to take lightly. Reluctance is inevitable, but when push comes to shove, Makoto values life first.

I’ve already mentioned a few names as far as close CR goes, and I have a nice little CR chart detailing most of it (missing a few names I think, and a little out of date). Watanuki, Teppei, and Korra were ultimately his closest cross-canonmate friends. Korra was his strong and tough friend who showed him strength, and Makoto repaid her in compassion. Watanuki is one of the first people he really hit it off with in Haven, and very quickly showed his deeper layers in a short time. Teppei was someone that he very closely related to personally but also by personality, and they often played basketball together to kill time – he warmed up to Teppei very quickly, despite meeting him much later than the other two.

Fortunately, Makoto is used to meeting people who don’t remember him, having seen Rin leave Haven a couple of times, and also his friend Nanami from Dangan Ronpa go a couple of times, meaning that he would act normally around people even if they did not remember the relationship they used to have.

Inventory: I’m hoping it’s okay that he bring the stuff he acquired while in haven too? If not, arrival items would be all that he’d brin
Arrival in haven: A fish bowl, his team uniform, and a towel (+ on his person: winter uniform, analogue
Acquired over time: Stone shield (created: Toph), Slingshot (idea: Haru), Bow (trip to north), work out pants (gift: Wan), orca figurine (gift: Korra), orca plush (gift: Korra)

Abilities, Strengths, and Weaknesses: For the beginning of his stay, he’ll probably be remarkably fragile, but over the course of time, he’ll eventually get back his strength back. When he’s at full strength, Makoto is a very powerful swimmer, and enjoys physical activities like jogging.

Normally from canon Makoto would just be a very athletic student, strong and capable. HOWEVER, after being taught by Korra, Makoto fights like a waterbender: fluid, self-defense techniques that he has used before. He's able to fight if his life depends on it, and can hold himself against humans and monsters alike.

He’s still very easily frightened by small things, all though I’ve mentioned that he’s grown a little braver in Haven. He’s still prone to bouts of extreme sadness and reservation, but ultimately has opened up more than usual.

( SAMPLE )

Characterization Sample:
Makoto, or Shoko as he now is, stands in front of the pinboard and stares for a moment. He gets that this is how he’s supposed to introduce himself, but it feels weird. Wouldn’t it just be easier to use the communicators like before? His mouth turns down, looking over the posts while thinking and… It doesn’t really matter how he communicates with these people. No matter where you go, people are people, and he can’t help but smile again. Some are just looking for friends, some are looking for help, and others just a post it to post it. Before adding his own message, he takes the time to read some of the messages.

There’s another thing. Reading. He hasn’t done this in so long it’s hard to imagine it. The year he spent in Haven with barely a word. He could try to read the Chinese or English textbooks at the library, but it was hard for a lot of reasons. These notes give him joy. He feels like he’s finally found a bit of respite after so long. He wishes Haru were with him to see it.

Dodging his head around, he mumbles. “Ah, but where’s a pencil? Uh… OH! Here we are!” A pencil sits fortunately dropped on the floor, he scampers for it, picks it up, heads back to the board, and stares for a moment, thinking. Tapping the pencil end on his lip, he tries to remember how he did it when he first arrived in Haven, but it was much different than it is now. Maybe just a simple introduction is alright?

Hello! (*＾▽＾)／ My name’s Shoko, and I just arrived here. I’m a second year at Iwatobi High School in Japan and from Earth, and I just came here from somewhere else before that. Has this happened to anyone else before? I wish I could say it was weird, but I’m less surprised than I should be anyway.

If anyone has job recommendations, I’d really love that! Since it sounds like I’ll be here for a while, I’d like to try out a few before settling down. Looking forward to working with everyone.

Also, I guess names aren’t very helpful here, right? I’m looking for some friends possibly. They’re from Iwatobi and Samezuka; if you guys are here, your backstroke is, too.

That looks… okay. He doublechecks the note for anything he left out. While he would have liked to ask if others had come from Haven, he knew how hard it was to remember a place like that. Besides, Haven wasn’t a place he wished he remembered. Pinning the message to the board, he overlooks it with a sense of pride, then glances around in surprise. “Oh, I should probably start helping already. Uh, H-hey! Excuse me, are you looking for any kind of help? You see, I just got here and…”