erku application

[photog]

Player Info:
Name: Jay
Over 18?: Yes
Contact: Please PM this journal.

Character Info
Name: Prompto Argentum
Canon: Final Fantasy XV
Canon Point: A little while following the events of Chapter 13, where Noctis enters the crystal and begins his decade long slumber. The world has begun its descent into the Long Night, a perpetual state of darkness that can only be purged by the return of the True King. As such, Prompto has begun the chain of events that lead him to who he becomes by the pickup of Chapter 14.
Age: 20

Background: wiki link

Personality:

From the first impression, Prompto gives off the energetic happiness of a happy-go-lucky extrovert, a mood maker who is unabashedly himself, constantly. And if that's the feeling that other people get after meeting him, he's happy to have positively made an impact on anyone.

Although that first layer of his personality keeps this hyperactive, comedic and light-hearted guy constantly in the forefront of everyone's minds around him, there's a lot to Prompto that might get missed on the first glance. It's not that he's putting on an intentionally created facade either: the sunshine that he exudes is sincere and natural, but it is important to understand that there are reasons for the way he is, and a lot of them stem from a few characteristic flaws that denote deeper issues that he's constantly working through.

He's constantly trying to make people feel better around him when they're upset or need a pick-me-up, and it's tied to his urgent need for validation from others. Prompto is, as he describes himself, a "mess of hangups," and believes that he's nowhere near as competent or useful as the people around him. He often times lacks faith in himself or his abilities, all things that should've been actualized or reaffirmed by the support of those around him, but lingers in the back of his mind and rears its ugly head from time to time. As such, he exhibits a strong case of impostor syndrome, where he doubts his role or invalidates his own achievements because he doesn't feel as if he truly belongs or fits in with anyone.

The culmination of those feelings is primarily egged on by two major things in his life: his obesity as a child, as well as the truth of how he was born. As a child, Prompto is overweight, and too afraid to approach Noctis, yet shows signs of longing for friendship from him. It isn't until he begins a strict running regimen and diet that he feels confident enough in his own skin, even going through great lengths to hide the fact about who he was before meeting Noctis again in high school. That social anxiety of shame manifests itself as a major fear of not fitting in and shows how far he'll go to obtain an idolized state of the world, one where he feels he'll fit in. It shines through on a lot of the things he does, intentionally or not, and often times he doesn't consider the other side of the viewpoint at all, instead, trapping himself in a cycle of constantly trying to make himself be someone worthy of love and validation.

The other major influencing piece that compounds his fear of fitting in is the fact that he wasn't born of conventional means. He was created to be a clone of his father, Verstael Besithia, an Imperial mad scientist, who had begun experiments to perfect an army by instilling bodies with daemons (monsters). These guards, referred to ironically as MT's, have one use in life, and even though Prompto was stolen from the facility where he was created, he keeps his origins a secret from everybody around him. Unwanted, a failed prototype of sorts, he finds himself a lot more lonely and isolated because at the core of it, he's really not like other people. It propels him even farther to prove to himself, and to others, that he's worthy of being his own person with his own feelings and identity.

So what does a city boy with a particularly difficult and neglected childhood have in common with the prince he becomes fast and fierce friends with? Honestly, not much- they're like night and day in some aspects, but the way Prompto carries himself around Noctis always puts him in a position where he tries to be the best person he can be. Throughout the course of FFXV, Noctis and his friends constantly try to show him that he means a lot to them, and as he opens up more to the prince about his insecurities, the more they start to work through them together.

Aside from the struggles related to his birth and his childhood, it's shown that Prompto, while resilient, is a deeply anxious person and scares easily. He's constantly thrown into things that push him out of his comfort zone, like getting kidnapped by a naga or being swarmed around with bugs. And he complains deeply about all of those things, even in a weirdly sort of upbeat way. He's often jumpy and easy to scare, and has been known to talk himself into deeper holes, but he constantly strives and does his best to power through anything thrown at his way.

Outside of that, Prompto is a self-described technophile. He loves learning about new things, new advancements, and is always hip on the latest trends. That includes, unfortunately, a life-long obsession with pop culture, memes, music, and all things media. When he's not sassing the group with cultural references, he's always taking pictures on his camera (the most important thing he owns) and showing them off proudly. He's great with guns and gun components, and probably has a texting speed that's terrifying to think about it.

Above all else, Prompto is still a great friend to those he meets. He jokes with them constantly and is the subject or the instigator of in-group banter. The relationship he has with them is a source of inspiration, even if he fears he's not as skilled or impacting as they are: he's not fated to greatness like Noctis, he's not battle hardened like Gladio, and he's not strategically brilliant like Ignis. He's just himself; a commoner with a distaste for formality and bureaucracy, who wants to be of value to those around him. He tries his best, and he might fall behind every now and then, but seriously- there's nothing he can't bounce back from. And if he does get knocked on his ass, there's always a good picture of the sky that he'll walk away with, and an equally good story to tell.

Powers:

Aside from the fact that he's an excellent shooter (photos and bullets), he's a pretty average 20 year old without any particularly magical or otherwise supernatural abilities. The only thing that might be particularly special is his ability to utilize Noctis' Armiger as long as he's nearby. For a breakdown of all his in-game mechanics and abilities, please see the following wiki page.

Inventory:

📱 cell phone, complete with his crippling addiction to the mobile game King's Knight
📷 a camera, with 2-3 spare SD cards for expanded memory
🔫 his gun, the Lion Heart
👗 Crownsguard uniform

Samples:

10+ log comments with McGillis, Erku TDM
6+ log comments with Lance, Erku TDM