OOC ∞ thefarshore Application

[usedperishsong]

Player Information

Name: Mari
Contact: ghoulfriend
Age: 29
Other Characters: Hibiki Shikyoin

Character Information

Name: Kanade Amou
Canon: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Canon Point: Post-death, original universe (season 1, episode 1)
Age: 17
History: Symphogear wiki
Personality:
You know those characters who are just so likable, so full of presence, and so important to the other characters' lives that you can tell the show is going to kill them off?

That's Kanade. She lasts all of fifteen minutes into the first episode of Symphogear, having been established as a positive, energetic, informal, and supportive partner for shy swordswoman Tsubasa. As befits a mentor, she's wise beyond her years (if cryptic about it), charismatic, and supportive; she teases Tsubasa but clearly also wants to look after her. She's cheerful and laid-back, but also gives everything her all. This example inspires many of the main characters moving forward.

Despite being a positive influence, Kanade has plenty of issues. When she decides she wants something badly enough, she's single-minded to the point almost of insanity. She can't sit still, has no filter on what she says, doesn't respect authority, and snaps when she gets angry. Because Kanade lost her "everyday life" when monsters called Noise killed her family, she'll go into a blind rage if innocents are being kept from living their own normal lives. Despite urging others to "never give up on life", she makes choices that shorten her own lifespan. Kanade lives burning the candle at both ends: it flares up quickly, powerfully, and brightly - but dies out fast.

Despite seeming to wear her emotions on her sleeve, Kanade also has difficulty stating her feelings directly. She chooses instead to joke, bluster, and wisecrack, only dropping her "don't sweat the small stuff" attitude when she senses defeatism or a threat. Even in normal situations, she speaks vaguely, crowding her dialogue with "filler" words ("kinda", "really") and cryptic metaphors.

She also, out of a desire to be a good mentor figure to Tsubasa, hides her own weakness. Her supportive nature is genuine, but it comes at the expense of feeling like she can't show Tsubasa any pettiness or fear. Any god Kanade partners with may be surprised to find themselves occasionally blighted and will have a heck of a time getting her to talk about it, especially if she feels protective towards them.

Fortunately for Kanade, she's also wiser than her reckless actions would indicate. Once Kanade discovers that she can inspire other people through her singing, she sees that there's another side to her fighting: she's saving people. She debuts as a singer because of how much that notion appeals to her, and really loves performing for others. When she does become a mentor figure, it's deliberately, wanting to be the person that clingy Tsubasa needs her to be.

This deliberateness is Kanade's core: although she seems to be living sloppily, she knows exactly who she is and has made her peace with it. If she's living on borrowed time, she's going to make the most of that time and not worry about stuff she doesn't have to. She's going to live for something bigger than herself. And she's going to try to leave the world a little brighter and more motivated for her having been there, even if she can't express that feeling directly so she does it through song instead.

Being not only dead but amnesiac, too, will be a journey of self-rediscovery.

Abilities:
Kanade has the ability to activate the relic Gungnir and transform it into battle armor (her "Symphogear") by singing a certain song. If Kanade sings this song - and continues singing for the duration of her fight, with the Symphogear "resonating" and creating her backup music - the armor gives her the following advantages:

☆ Superior defense, speed, strength, and jumping prowess

☆ An extremely versatile weapon, the "Armed Gear". The gauntlets on her armor detach and combine to make a large spear. This spear is useful for general impaling (and sideswiping), and can also be used for the following special attacks:

★ "Last∞Meteor": The spear spins, creating a tornado that then is whipped by Kanade down onto the foe - or punctures it.
★ "Stardust∞Foton": Leaping into the air, Kanade throws the spear; it multiplies into an arsenal of smaller spears and rains down upon the foe (not unlike a meteor shower).

☆ If spun two-handed by Kanade in front of herself, the spear also serves as a shield, deflecting range attacks.

☆ All Symphogears have an ability called the "Superb Song", which release a tremendous amount of energy at the expense of backlashing on the user. This is also activated by singing a specific song. Kanade's Superb Song is basically a gigantic shockwave.

When not activated, Gungnir takes the form of a pendant on a necklace. While I'd like her to arrive wearing the pendant, Kanade will not have access to her Symphogear until she regains her memory of the activation song. She also suffers backlash just from using the Symphogear unless she uses a drug called LiNKER. Kanade will not arrive with any LiNKER on her, but the possibility exists for one of her castmates to canon update to having the knowledge of how to make more.

Strengths: Optimistic, supportive, self-accepting, friendly, chill
Weaknesses: Reckless, poor communicator, violent, forceful, troll

God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: The first season of Symphogear is about the fallout from Kanade's sacrifice - she's the kind of mentor figure without whose death the plot doesn't start. She's therefore already defined by being "the dead one". Even when she was alive, she had a complicated relationship to life and death - being willing to sacrifice herself for her goals while also encouraging others to make the most of their own lives - so even without memories, her figuring out what to do after her own death should be interesting. Her aggressive nature also makes her well-suited to turn into a weapon.
Cause Of Death: Sang her Superb Song to save Hibiki Tachibana; the backlash made her literally disintegrate. Her god will see her singing a song in an unrecognizable language in a devastated concert arena, holding up a large spear, and then collapsing. A girl with blue hair will run towards her and take her in her arms, sobbing, but all Kanade will do is crack jokes about the situation - her last words are "Did you know? When you really sing with all you've got - you get, like, really hungry". She'll shed a single tear, close her eyes, and fall apart in the girl's arms as the girl screams her name.
Vessel: Giant red floofy bird (of prey, but with a rather Kanade-bang-like crest on its head). Big enough for her god to comfortably ride.
Name Location: Back shoulderblade, where one wing would be
Power: By crowing, Kanade can give her god an energy boost when they're in earshot. This boost is extremely effective at amplifying their own god powers but wears off after a few minutes, much like Kanade's use of LiNKER in canon.

Writing Sample

Sample: Test Drive Meme; also a previous TDM

Other

Anything Else?: Randomize her placement, please!