cerealia app;;

[unwaverings]

Applicant Info

◎ Name: Jena
◎ Journal: simplicities
◎ Contact: dyingmoon@plurk, xglassxpuppetx@aim
◎ Current Character(s): n/a

Character Info

◎ Character's Name: Sorey
◎ Character's Canon: Tales of Zestiria
◎ Character's Age: 17
◎ Canon Point: After viewing the final Memory of the Earth
◎ Background/History: Due to the lack of English material online for the game, I've written a history here.
◎ Is the character a hacker and/or do they have a sixth-sense? He sort of has a sixth-sense in that he can see/hear/interact with Seraphim when normal humans cannot. He can also see Hellion and malevolence in general, the latter of which he can also "feel" the weight of in his chest.

◎ Personality:
"You've got such a happy look on your face, even in a time like this."
"Is that ... weird? No matter what kind of time it is, I'll always be me."
Sorey tends to be a laid back, optimistic kind of person. He's incredibly honest with his personality, and it shows from the moment a person meets him. Someone can immediately tell the kind of person he is and what he's about, because of his transparency in what he feels and believes. He doesn't put too much thought into how he should act or treat others, because it comes naturally to him — caring about the people around him and showing how he feels are just deeply ingrained parts of his character.

"I'll make my dream a reality with my own hands. That goes for both me and Alisha."
His dreams, and the dreams of others, take a very important place in his mind. His dreams are what ultimately drive him, and he's constantly keeping them in mind when making decisions. When he becomes the Shepherd, he uses his dreams as his reasoning for it — to see the world and its ruins, and to build a world in which Seraphim and humans can live together like they once did in the past. The latter is his biggest dream, and an important part of his sacrifice in the ending — he's willing to cut himself off from the world for an incredible period of time in the hopes that the distance between Seraphim and humans can decrease. He'll do whatever it takes to achieve his dreams, and the topic of one's dreams comes up multiple times for him. Though they're not something to take lightly, nor are they something people can just hand to you. When he's bribed with priority access to exploring ruins, he refuses, and states that he'll make his dreams come true on his own.

Not only are his own dreams important to him, but he also holds the dreams of others in very high regard. He takes into consideration what others have a passion for, and does what he can to assist them as well. Alisha's drive to protect her city and do what she can, as well as her passion for Seraphim and the lore surrounding them, is what drives Sorey to agree to allowing her to make a contract with him and become his Disciple. It would further both of her dreams, and it's important to him that she be able to achieve them and not be held back. On the other hand, he refuses to allow Mikleo to make a contract with Lailah not long before he agrees to Alisha's, on the grounds that making a contract with her wouldn't further his dreams. He believes that such an important, life-changing decision (which would also put Mikleo in danger and get him involved) shouldn't be made if it doesn't further his life's dreams. It isn't until later that he finally realizes that it would indeed help Mikleo in his dreams — because he and Sorey share them — and he allows Mikleo to pursue the contract.

His sheltered upbringing affects his personality as well. Growing up around only Seraphim, in a small secluded village, ends up making him rather naive. He starts off not even understanding how to introduce himself to a new person. His lack of knowledge about the world is slowly filled in throughout the story, as he's introduced to how human society works, and the true state of the world. However, unless someone immediately pings him with ill will, he defaults to having quite a bit of trust in them, more than any normal person might. When he first meets Alisha, he has no knowledge of her motives, or even her name for a good amount of time, though he's still quick to take her into his home and provide her with help. Along with that, it can sometimes even be difficult for him to understand a joke is a joke, going along with things when they were meant to be a degrading joke. Despite being cut off from the world as he grew up, he still has knowledge of how to take care of himself — sewing, cooking, hunting, and other natural things that one should know to be self-sufficient.

One very important thing did come out of his secluded childhood, though — Mikleo. Mikleo is, without a doubt, the most important person in the world to him, and other members of the party sometimes express jealousy over their close relationship. Mikleo is practically like his other half, and it's difficult for him to be without him. When they have their argument early on in the game and Mikleo leaves for a while, it's clear that Sorey doesn't enjoy things the same with him gone — Lailah is very much able to tell he's not having as much fun exploring the ruins without Mikleo by his side. Even when he's trying to ignore his absence and be stubbornly unhappy with him, Sorey can't help but accidentally bring Mikleo up in conversation.

Their relationship is built on trust and a healthy rivalry, and Sorey's adventurous nature stems from their childhood. They've grown up exploring ruins together — and doing virtually everything together — and they've often turned it into a competition while doing so. Even when they first leave Izuchi, after Sorey finds out Mikleo did research on the outside world on his own, he thinks it's unfair. They'll sometimes have small debates over artifacts they find, or historical figures, adding to their competitive nature a bit, but never pushing it into an unhealthy territory. They know each other like the back of their hands, and notice things about each other before anyone else can. They take care of each other, and are, above all else, equals.

"His feelings are straightforward and just. That's why I'm concerned."
Sorey's most prominent trait is probably how intensely caring he is. He's always giving others priority, and he tries to do absolutely everything in his power to help them. As such, he tends to be rather perceptive to how others are feeling, and he's very considerate of them and what they might want. When he's talking to Alisha, while she's with him in Izuchi, about the state of the world, he eventually cuts the conversation off, because he doesn't want to force her to talk about anything she doesn't want to.

His desire to help and consideration of others, as well as his optimism, can combine together to be inspiring to the people around him. When he finds out that Edna's brother has become a dragon, and hears that the only way to save him is to kill him, he's quick to give an inspiring speech about how a better way to save him has to exist somewhere in the world. He genuinely wants to help her, and despite her hatred of humans, she's quick to decide that she likes him, and joins him on his journey. The other members of the party are also consistently in awe of the kind of person he is.

However, his caring attitude towards others goes so far that he'll put up with things or harm himself in order to keep others happy and safe — he's extremely selfless. He tends to take things on by himself in order to keep everyone around him safe and worry-free. He originally doesn't want Mikleo to come along and contract with Lailah not just because of his dreams, but because he doesn't want Mikleo to get involved and share Sorey's fate. He doesn't like others putting themselves in harm's way, and prefers to try and take care of things himself so that they don't have to. When he began to go blind in one eye thanks to his contract with Alisha, he kept it a secret so that he wouldn't worry anyone, even from Mikleo. And during the Fire Temple's trial, when he's told to burn the face of himself or his Fire Seraphim, he very nearly burns his own face. Lailah has to stop him herself. If he has the choice of letting someone else get hurt or taking the pain himself, he'll always choose himself. Thanks to the support of his friends, he slowly becomes aware of how important it is that he not take things on alone, however.

Sorey can be stubborn in his beliefs. He's very set in his ideals and morals, which makes him consistent, but can occasionally spark an issue, like when he and Mikleo had their argument. He remained stubborn about not letting Mikleo contract with Lailah for a while, trying to cut off the conversation every time it had the chance of mentioning Mikleo and how he could help them. Even when they came across a bow that could be used as Mikleo's Shinki, so that they could perform Armitization together, he was quick to dismiss it and walk away. However, Sorey listens to reason, and his stubbornness isn't too extreme.

He also tends to have a one-track mind, and can be a little reckless. When he's focused on getting something done, he'll try and push through things in order to achieve it, or ignore everything else for it. This can be detrimental to his health, and he's done it ever since he was a child. In the past, he would get so absorbed in reading historical books and such, that he'd forget to eat, and it'd fall to Mikleo to find ways to feed him. He also ignores his own needs in order to continue with their current goals in the story, such as when he first woke up after having Mikleo become one of his Seraphim. He still needed rest, and even stumbled a little after getting out of bed, but he was too determined to see his tasks through immediately. He likes to get things done, and doesn't want to wait for them, especially when it concerns other people. And his recklessness can sometimes get him into dangerous situations, such as when he immediately tries to take on the Lord of Calamity when he appears on the battlefield, against Lailah's warnings. He just wants to be able to save everyone.

"Sorey's job is to save. My job is to kill, right?"
Sorey hates turning to killing people, and prefers to find different solutions to saving others. He even uses a ceremonial sword as his main weapon, as it doesn't have a sharp blade — it's enough for self defense, and that's all he feels he needs. During the war, when he's forced to participate and help Highland win, rather than killing enemy soldiers, he instead tries to scare them away with his powers. He brings rocks out of the earth, and creates blasts up from the ground, but none of it is done to harm people — he keeps his beliefs even in the middle of war. But one of his biggest developments throughout the game is his ability to accept death as a form of saving someone, as long as there is no other way. When he first meets Zaveid, Zaveid kills a Hellion instead of letting Sorey purify it, saying that death is a viable option for saving people — and Sorey is not happy with this at all. He continues to reject killing others as a form of salvation when Edna suggests that the only way to save her now-dragon brother is to kill him, and he responds with there having to be some other way.

His dislike of killing contrasts with Zaveid and Rose throughout the game, as both of them are capable of it, but he slowly realizes that there is sometimes no other way, even if he's unhappy with it. When they're fighting the medusa-turned Photon, they realize that purifying her is no longer possible, and that's when he finally tries to steel himself and land the killing blow on her. He's stopped by Rose, as she doesn't want him to get his hands dirty with it, but the fact that he was able to accept that and push himself to kill her is rather big. He's always trying to do what's right, and upon realizing that something he's strongly against is the only way to fix the situation, he's able to be strong and go through with it. Even in the ending of the game, the pain is visible on his face as he kills Heldalf, remarking that he couldn't find any other way to save him.

"So this is the Shepherd ..."
"... No, that's not it."
"This is just ... Sorey."
An important thing to note about Sorey is the nature of his personality — the way he acts is constantly being noticed by others — his determination, selflessness, care towards others. It's commented that Lailah's found herself a good Shepherd. And while he is the kind of ideal someone would think of when they think of a Shepherd — a title that's thought of as a sort of hero who'll save people from harsh times — he's also not this way because he's the Shepherd. People expect him to be this way, but he's kind and loving because it's who he is. His attitude towards others has nothing to do with what's expected of him — Sorey is just a good person.

Finally, he has an exceptional resolve to keep fighting and see things through to the end. He's determined, and he'll put himself in harm's way countless times to see his goals through. When Sorey and the rest of the party are fighting against Tiamat, a large dragon boss near the end of the game (and dragons are widely known as powerful creatures that are impossible to win against), they inspire everyone else around them by their determination to keep fighting, even if the odds are heavily stacked against them. No matter how difficult it is or how much he's knocked down, Sorey won't give up. He's just that kind of person.

◎ Powers/Abilities: Here is a list of his in-game artes, which are basically just a bunch of sword attacks with different elemental attributes. More importantly, he has the abilities of the Shepherd.

He can fuse with Seraphim in an act called Armitization, taking on a new form and gaining the ability to control their element as well as a special weapon known as a Shinki. Normal humans should not be able to see him in his armitized form, instead seeing him as his normal self. The Seraphim with which he can fuse and their elements and weapons are: Mikleo/water/bow, Lailah/fire/sword, Edna/earth/gauntlets, Dezel/Zaveid/wind/sword wings.

And finally, he can basically act as in-between for humans and Seraphim to speak to each other, as well as of course his ability to interact with Seraphim and see/"feel" malevolence.
◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory: His ceremonial sword, and the Celestial Record (a book).

CEREALIA-Specific

◎ Element: Fire.
◎ Sense: Sight. His ability to see Seraphim while most other humans can't is constantly important, and he partially loses his sight at one point thanks to making Alisha his disciple so that she can see them herself.
◎ Seven Character Traits: ( caring, passionate, resolute ) | ( selfless, naive, reckless ) + adventurous

Samples

◎ First-Person Sample: Here.

◎ Third-Person Sample:
The Gardens are one of the few places here he's able to feel at peace. As amazing as all the technology here is — and he fully believes it is — he can't quite get used to it yet. Coming from a world that's covered in nature, without flashing lights or advanced technology, it's a little difficult for him to take everything in at once. So he's taken to strolling through the Gardens often, to help him ease into living here — even if they aren't really that close to the kind of things he'd see at home.

But all these new and interesting sights keep one thing at the back of his mind, constantly nagging at him — Mikleo. Sorey never liked exploring new places without him, and he can recall how lonely it felt exploring the ruins in Lady Lake with just Lailah. Even if he has other people around him, it's just not the same unless Mikleo is with him. He'd been with him his whole life, after all — it's like a weird void has opened up. But if he's upset about it, he doesn't show it; he'll answer to anyone who speaks to him with the same lighthearted smiles and optimism as he always does. He wouldn't want to worry any of the new people he's met here, because he's sure they all have their own personal problems they're wrestling with. It wouldn't do them any good to be exposed to more sadness.

Deep in thought, he nearly trips over an overgrown vine from one of the plants off to the side. It cuts his train of thought short, as he has to instead focus on not falling over, but he catches himself just fine and regains his bearings, looking a little embarrassed.

"Aah, maybe I should pay a little more attention, haha ..."

And his eyes wander along the vine to the odd plant that it's attached to — a large, thick, colorful flower that catches his eye — and he's suddenly perking up with excitement at the interesting sight before him, moving in a little closer to look at it (but not too close — he's learned from experience already that that's not a good idea here).

"Whoa ... I've never seen anything like this before! It looks beautiful! Right, Mi—"

He cuts himself off when he realizes what he's saying, his smile dropping for a moment, before he switches it to a look of embarrassment. And he looks back at the incredible flower before him, quiet for a moment, before speaking softly to himself.

"If only Mikleo were here to see this."

But he'll just have to show him when he arrives here someday, right?

◎ Is your character retaining any previous game memories? nope!