App for scorched

[frostedheavens]

Out of Character Information

player name: Silver
player journal: saratogaroad
playing here: N/A
where did you find us? Through speaking with other players on Plurk.
are you 16 years of age or older?: Yep!

In Character Information

character name: Toushiro Hitsugaya
Fandom: Bleach
Timeline: Chapter 493.
character's age: Physically appears to be somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen, but is actually probably somewhere between seventy and eighty. And yes, he's counting the years.

powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Canon:

- Zanjutsu, or mad sword skills, is something that Toushiro excels at. While a lot of other Captain-class fighters tend to immediately rely on Shikai or Bankai just for the extra power they can gain with the switch, Toushiro sticks to pure swordwork unless things are too tough to handle with that alone. He manages pretty well with this set up, too, able to hold his own against even an Espada without needing to switch until she caught him off-guard. Something that's amusing to note, however, is that his sword is bigger than he is. Make of that what you will.

- Following on the heels of the aforementioned Zanjutsu, as a Captain, Toushiro has both Shikai and Bankai at his disposal. Known as the "released forms" of a Zanpakuto, Shikai and Bankai can both grant massive amounts of power to the shinigami using them. Toushiro's is no exception, and he's quite proficient in using his Shikai. It isn't a flashy one, but it allows him to use abilities that grant him control over the water all around him, including in the atmosphere due to the ability that Hyourinmaru, his sword, has in manipulating water all around him. It can be used to form icicles, waves of ice, and even giant pillars of the stuff that will crush whoever they surround. That last one tends to work only in Bankai, however, and in comparison to his Shikai, Toushiro's Bankai is a bit rough around the edges. While it hasn't been shown in full use at the time I'm taking him from, it used to be that he could only use it for a certain amount of time before it would shatter and cause him harm. He has said that he can't really control the abilities he can use while in his Bankai because of just how powerful and immature they are, and this is true. Because of this, he doesn't like using his Bankai all that much, using it only when things are just too hard to deal with otherwise.

- An immense and cold reiatsu, or spiritual energy, also ties into his abilities. While Hyourinmaru is the strongest Ice element Zanpakuto, Toushiro isn't anything to sneeze at himself. Reiatsu, and the amount of it that a person has, is tied to a lot when you're a shinigami. Everything from needing to eat to just how many attacks you can use before passing out, this pretty much qualifies as "mana" to the Bleach Canon, and Toushiro has a lot of this stuff. He goes through it quickly if he's not careful, but still.

- Kidou skillz. If Reiatsu qualifies as mana, Kidou qualify as "spells", coming under three seperate classes. Hadou(offense), Bakudo(defense, such as seals, barriers, and ropes made of energy used to bind), and healing. All three are wildly different, but they all share a single similarity: if the user isn't powerful and skilled enough to use them, the spell will just not work. Due to his immense power, Toushiro is more than proficient at Kidou, and while not a master like Momo or Nanao, he is shown to be able to cast both Bakudo and Hadou up into the higher levels without an incantation to stabilize it. Also, he's never shown using healing kidou (granted neither is anyone but someone from the 4th Division), so it's my guess that he wouldn't be all that good at that discipline. Enough where he could probably stall bleeding for a bit, but nowhere near where he wouldn't need to seek medical treatment after a bad fight.

- Houhou, or the various methods to get from Location A to Location B without having to catch a bullet train. Houhou literally translates to "Agility", and that's an apt description, being that being well studied in this skill lets shinigami move in the air as well as we can move on the ground...just with less things to bang into. Due to his training and small size, Toushiro is actually pretty amazing at getting around like this, and while he's not a master like Yoroichi or Byakuya, his skill in Shunpo (flashstep) is pretty good, too. While a lot of other people use it to just get around and some will even get winded even after a small one because it's really just moving too fast to be seen and not an actual teleportation or whatever, Toushiro can get around a small city with this and not be out of breath. He's also been known to use it to dodge enemy attacks and then counterattack, which is also where his size comes in handy. It's easier to move something smaller and lighter, after all.

-Hakuda, or hand to hand combat. Toushiro is...actually kind of terrible at using this. That's not to say he didn't pass the class with flying colors, because he most certainly did, but he's never shown to actually use this except for one unfortunate incident with Hinamori. If the circumstances are right, he can possibly topple a man twice his weight, but he'd much rather use his sword or other abilities than rely on this. Ice is just much easier to work with, after all.

-Brraaaiiins, or being one of the smartest shinigami in a very long time. He was able to
graduate from the Academy with flying colors in all his classes in just one year instead of the normal six, which is something only one other person in canon has done(that other person was Gin Ichimaru, by the way). He's called a child prodigy, and this shows in the fact that he is a master tactition, quickly thinking on his feet and analysing the abilities of every opponent he runs into before countering them easily. He is also one the first to realize that there's something wrong with how Rukia's execution keeps getting pushed up, though he doesn't quite realize that it's a lot bigger than he first thought until he's right in the middle of it. His ability to detect danger is also quite well trained, and while he's not constantly two steps ahead of his enemies like Aizen, he's certainly not flagging behind all the time. Shunsui, a Captain with over 2000 years of skill under his belt, has also stated that due to his genius, it's more than possible that Toushiro will surpass even him.

-Leadership skills, or being the youngest Captain ever, and one of the best. Toushiro's work ethic is almost something out of legends, and it's pretty much thanks to him that the 10th Division is doing more than limping through the days. He does enough paperwork that a forest must be felled for each day he works, and he's more than capable of leading one of the rowdiest squads in the history of Soul Society, and leading them well through dangerous missions into the World of the Living. Are there others with more experience? Yes. Plenty. But this doesn't change the fact that Toushiro is damn good at his job despite his young age.

No additional abilities.

Bringing with him: The uniform, shoes, tabi, and haori he's wearing, his sword, the chain he uses to keep it slung across his back, and his scarf.

canon history: In which there is much blood loss and unhealthy bottling of emotions.

personality:
From first glance, Hitsu is aloof, icy, and cold. He doesn't seem to care much about anything at all other than getting his job done, and it's highly likely most people would just leave it at that, not really willing to deal with the kid who's trying his best to be the most emotionally stunted tree stump in the forest and actually doing a damn good job at it. But once you get past that first icy glare, he's actually got a lot more emotion than you'd think. He has the visible emotional range of a cardboard teaspoon, sure, but once you get to know him, all that falls away to an expressive face, hands that tell, and a kid who's just trying too hard to find a little acceptance and grow up too fast.

Growing up too fast is really the simplest way to put it. He's not the youngest member of the 13 Court Guard Squads, Yachiru Kusajishi having him beat there, but he's not the most well adjusted either. This is because of one reason: his own talent and spirit energy. It is all this spiritual energy that practically forces him to leave the simple child's life he'd been living with his Grandmother behind and go to the Shinigami Academy or risk being the cause of her death. Needless to say, he went because he loved his Granny and wouldn't be the cause of any of her suffering, and it's not like he had any reason to stay. His sister, who was his only friend there, had already gone to the Academy in the years prior and all the other children would never be around him in what I can really only call a Rudolph Syndrome. This didn't change in the Academy, with people pretty much always rejecting him for either his odd coloring or immense spiritual power, so he spent his year there alone and studying instead of making friends. Not the best idea for a kid so young. (Though if you count the movies as canon, he had one friend and then had to duel that friend to the death so...yeah. >> that didn't go so well in non-canon material, either.)

This lack of friends leads to something else: a closed off heart. Toushiro would need time to count all his allies of circumstance or otherwise, but friends he trusts? He can count those on one hand and have fingers left over. In his abilities section, I mention that Toushiro is a child prodigy. And he is, but this is a double edged sword, as it put him both leagues above and below his peers. In comparison to other children in his age range, he's just too advanced for them and is therefore kind of intimdating to approach even if they get past his odd looks. In comparison to most of his fellow shinigami, he's too young, treated like a child despite his numerous accomplishments. While there's nothing ill intended or inherently wrong with this treatment, since, hey, he is still a child in Soul Society terms, he absolutely hates being treated like a child. In his mind, making Captain makes him an adult and commands some measure of respect, if only for the rank that he achieved in such a short period of time, so being treated as a child really really really really gets under his skin. Because of this, he's also quite terrible about asking for help, thinking that he needs to do everything on his own instead of with others, so that's been a problem before. He does, however, let one or two things slide, and this is shown in the fact that there are only two people who he lets get away with treating him like a kid: Juushiro Ukitake, who's got some 2000 years as a Captain on Toushiro and he means well and won't quit with it no matter what Toushiro says or does, so Toushiro has pretty much no choice but to let it slide, and Momo. Yes, it comes back to Momo again. Momo gets away with just about everything, even the nicknames that Toushiro hates. Granted, she still gets a reprimand, but it's never as harsh as the others who call him by anything than his title or surname.

You may wonder why I'm bringing up Momo so often, and that's a valid question. The answer? Toushiro is devoted to her. Despite being the younger of the pair, he is very protective of her, going so far as to threaten another older Captain with death if he hurt Momo, but this devotion also leads to his normally rational judgement being clouded whenever she gets is involved. Both times he flew off the handle are both times she had been badly wounded and his attitude practically flips 180 degrees. All his cool-headed rational thought processes just go to shit and he becomes reckless, taking the first opening he sees even if it ends up being a trap. He is willing to risk the Captaincy and all the respect he worked so hard for to avenge the damage wrought upon his sister by her former Captain, and he hates Aizen for what he's done. Pure loathing kind of hatred, the kind where if looks could kill, Aizen would have been in the 10th circle of hell as of two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the best intentions lead to the worst kind of trouble and this never works in his favor, because both times he attacks Aizen, it leads to disaster. The first time, after Momo has been stabbed and left for dead, he ends up needing emergency medical treatment. The second time? Aizen ends up tricking them all and he stabs Momo by mistake. She survives, but in his anger, Toushiro ends up getting himself cut down (yes, again) and Momo barely survives. This leads into his guilt issues.

Or perhaps Guilt Issues is the more appropriate way of saying that, capital letters included. Despite most likely knowing that there was no way he could have prevented it given Aizen's skills, he carries the guilt of stabbing Hinamori even months afterwards. He always thinks there's more he could have done about that and it haunts him, causing him to throw himself into training so he can "protect Hinamori better.". Whether their relationship has been patched up or not still hasn't been shown, either, so that would add to the guilt in the worst possible way. No, I don't really know how he's still functional, either. Probably because he forces everything into a little bottle of emotions that he hides behind the idea of not caring even though he actually really does care.

This is what brings up my next point. Despite his cold and mature exterior, Toushiro does care about his subordinates and those he counts as friends. He really cares, though he is absolutely terrible at showing it. This is a guy who's willing to pretty much ignore things that would get other Captains snapping or quoting protocols, so long as no harm is coming from it. For example, despite having double the workload that day, he still lets his lieutenant sleep after a rather emotionally trying event and doesn't even say anything like "you owe me". He just brushes it off like it didn't happen, which is his way of showing he cares. He may have the visible emotional range of a cardboard slab, going from annoyed to linefacing and back again, but under that wall of ice is a damn smart and caring kid.

On that note, Hitsu's generally a man with a plan. Not "the" man with the plan, though; that title belongs to one of the older, more experienced Captains, but he's still very good at thinking clearly and rationally and patiently outwitting his opponent be they Arrancar, Hollow, or even another Shinigami. He doesn't have the years behind him that give him the kind of experience he needs to be street smart, but he's a master tactition and he knows enough theory and practice to hold his own against even the strongest of opponents without terrible trouble, and the fact that he can keep his head in many situations is also to his credit. He knows his limits, knows that his powers are immature, and he accepts this. He trains like mad, too, always trying to gain more control over his abilities all while leading a division pretty much single-handedly most days. He's a workaholic, sure, but that really just stems from his focus to do the job right so he doesn't have to do it all over again. That focus is also what helps him read people and know what they need, be it an incredibly sarcastic sense of humor carrying some teasing or some kind words hidden behind dry wit and a blunt exterior.

And I do mean blunt. Toushiro wastes little time on sweet sympathy, choosing instead to bolster the resolve of his comrades by saying what they need to hear in a manner that is not unkind, but not kind either. He's the pragmatic sort, choosing not to waste words if he can say what needs to be said in a couple short sentences or looks because there really are better things to do than chat when there's Hollows to be fought or paperwork to be filed. On the negative, because of that pragmatism and the walls he put up so as to not be hurt if someone left him again, he rarely tells anyone how he's feeling. I mentioned he bottled everything up, and he does. Or did. We still haven't really been shown how he acts now that the timeskip is over, but with history's tendency to repeat itself, I doubt anything has really changed in that matter. A snow leopard can't change it's spots, after all.

tl;dr: A boy with the emotional range of a tree stump trying too hard to be an adult, with a heart that he's trying to shield from being hurt again. Not that it's working because under all that ice, he does still have a heart, and hearts bleed.

why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Being that he's spent just about his entire life fighting and killing monsters, not to mention the fact that he's been dead for that same entire time, I'd say he's appropriate for the setting.

Network Post Sample:
A post from his last game

Third Person Sample:
Panicking is the last thing on his mind, really. The nightmares were bad--blood everywhere and Hinamori dying in his arms and it's all his fault--but he's shoved those images away for now, though he knows he won't sleep at all tonight. If he makes it back to town, at any rate. He's heard the stories, been warned a thousand times: stay away from the mist at all costs.
It's too late for that now, though. He's come too far. He has one thing that he needs to do, one thing only, and that's keep Hinamori safe. Now that she is here and Aizen is here and subject to the whims of this world, there's really only one thing he can rely on. It's more than likely more myth than truth, but even the grandest of stories had to have started somewhere. A single desire granted by something at the edge of the mist. Beyond where most anyone can travel before they die, but he can't let that stop him. He has to get there and make this world send Aizen back to theirs. Keep him away from the others. From Hinamori.

The others didn't understand. Not really. Captain Ukitake had tried his hardest, and there was some sympathy there, but none of them could understand why he had to do this. That was why he ignored the Forge's staticked transmissions coming in and out of focus, his comrades yelling for him to return before he met his end in the mists. Even Hyourinmaru had tried to talk him out of this, tried to talk him into fighting Aizen despite knowing how it would end, but the old dragon had long since gone silent. Toushiro felt more than a little betrayed at that, wondering if he'd been abandoned by his oldest ally as well, but he tried not to think about it. He had to focus on walking. He had to focus on getting to the other side of the fog and not on why he couldn't sense anything around him. Not on why his vision was swimming with exhaustion and making him see things that weren't there.

Or maybe they were there. Maybe he'd reached the end of the Mist and had made it home. The misty forest of Anatole had given way to his childhood home, and Hinamori's laughter washed over him from where she sat on the front step, waving him to come forward. He was home, she was safe, there was nothing to fear anymore. That's what his senses were telling him as he stepped forward to join her, never once feeling like something was wrong.

He never felt himself fall to the ground in the forests, either, too wrapped up in a dream of what might have been.

Anything else? Nope!