SYNODIPORIA APP

[returnofme]

P L A Y E R;
NAME: bii
AGE: 34
PLAYER JOURNAL: biichan
TIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT: obiisama
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Thorne, Maria, Chie, formerly Byerly

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Luke Skywalker
CANON: Star Wars
POINT IN CANON: immediately post Return of the Jedi
AGE: Unknown since he's a pre-Moebius veteran, but he was about 22 or 23 at the time of his canon point. Probably mid-twenties
APPEARANCE: back in black
CANON HISTORY: Wookiee link
CANON PERSONALITY: What is there to say about Luke Skywalker that hasn't been said before, mostly by Joseph Campbell? Luke is pretty much the ur-example of the young male protagonist on his Hero's Journey. There are dozens of young men who fit in his mold—but Luke is that archetype in its purest form.

Luke starts out his journey with a certain degree of naivete. One can't say he's completely naive—he did grow up on rough and tumble Tatooine—but unlike his long-lost twin, Leia, who spent her adolescence in the Galactic Senate, Luke was given a chance to be a teenager. In the first half of ANH he exhibits his teenagerdom very well, first as the puppy-ish 'Wormie' in the deleted Tosche Station scene, then with his adolescent sulking at the table when being forbidden to go to said Tosche Station later on in the movie. Although Luke swiftly grows out of such things so that by the time ESB rolls around, his early whining is noticable. (To be fair to Luke, however, many of the things he'd whined about were understandable, even if it wasn't a good look for him. Uncle Owen had just reneged on his promise to let Luke go off to the Academy yet again immediately beforehand.)

At the start of the trilogy, Luke longs for adventure, without really knowing the cost. By the end of the first trilogy he knows it very well, having lost his Aunt and Uncle, as well as old Ben, his last connection to his father. Even after his early naivete burns away, however, Luke's still the very model of a pure-hearted, friendly young hero. He's loyal to a fault, running away from his Jedi Training in order to rescue his friends and telling Ben that he can't become a Jedi because Uncle Owen needs him. He's surprisingly egalitarian, telling Threepio not to call him 'Master'—just Luke. (Or maybe not so surprisingly considering my headcanons, but more about that later.) And despite all he's been through, there's a deep well of hope in Luke, enough for him to brave the Emperor in order to get his father's freedom from the Dark Side—and to win it.

This is not to say that Luke is perfect. Far from it. He's stubborn, very much so, stubborn and impulsive. Underneath that friendly exterior, there's also a great deal of anger and frustration. When we meet Luke, he's still very much the hothead and that persists even into ESB in part, which is why Luke fails in the cave test. Over time, Luke learns to master his anger and by the time RotJ comes around he's got a much slower burning fuse, but it still crops up from time to time.

He gets that from his father. Luke gets a lot of things from his father, like his force sensitivity and his skill at piloting. People who knew Anakin even a little bit remark on how Luke takes after him. And maybe because of this, Luke grew up longing for the father he never knew. Obi-Wan plays upon this to try to convince Luke to come with him and become a Jedi. Later, it's what drives him to attempt to rescue his father from the Dark Side of the Force and to keep trying, even though Vader insists it's too late for him. And that's the thing about Luke. He'll believe in you. He'll believe in you even if you can't believe in yourself. That's what allows him to rescue his father.

By the end of the Star Wars original trilogy, Luke has grown up from the callow youth he started out as. He's confident in himself and what he can do and he's saved the person he truly wanted to save. He has his sister. He has his friends. He has the Force. And really, that's all he needs.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: See veteran section!
VETERAN?: I'll be doing Luke as a veteran of the three backstory Jaunts (Moebius, the Spark, and Belljar), although if it's all right with the rest of you guys, I'd rather he didn't vanish with the Belljar crew but instead ended up walking through a portal into an odyssey.

Luke was an Investigator for all three of those backstory Jaunts. He doesn't remember much of Moebius yet. He's not sure how much he wants to.

During the Spark, he was opposed to siding with the anti-technology radicals that crashed the Spark into the planet. While he was somewhat dubious about Spark society, he was even more dubious about the plan to live on an only partially terraformed planet without sufficient technology for the effort. Farmboy he might be, but moisture farming requires a certain level of tech to be feasible. Remember those vaporators he was supposed to check?

Finally, during Belljar, Luke was one of the group who refused to give up hope of completing the Jaunt. He was actually with the Travelers when they were immediately stranded in Liminal Space, but within an hour or so wandered off and hasn't been seen since. This, as noted above, is because he's been on an odyssey, the events of which he has only the vaguest of memories of—although he thinks part of it might have been on a space station.

(As far as pre-established CR goes, I've talked to Matt and Gail and have determined that one of his closest friends among pre-Moebius Travelers was Joscelin and that he and Riddick just really Don't Get Each Other At All. Oh and if Blue goes ahead with Pearl's app, we've decided they were also friends.)

ABILITIES: Luke is a Jedi, like his father before him, which means he's strong in the Force. The Force is the mystical energy that binds the universe together, like duct tape. Because the Jedi are sensitive to the Force, they're able to use it for a variety of purposes. Common Jedi skills include precognition, telekinesis, empathy, the Jedi Mind Trick (“These are not the droids you're looking for.”) and enhancement of their physical capabilities, allowing them to do all those cool flips and shit. On the more mundane side of things, Luke is also mechanically gifted (although probably not to his father's making droids at age nine levels) and the best pilot to come out of Tatooine since... well, since his father.
INVENTORY: A snazzy black outfit, a cloak to go over it, a multitool in his pockets somewhere, and his lightsaber (green) clipped to his belt. That's it. Jedi aren't big on physical possessions and also most of his stuff got set on fire by stormtroopers when he was nineteen.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? I have certain headcanons regarding what Beru and Owen told Luke about his father, before the big whopper about the whole Navigator On A Spice Freighter one. They are as follows: that Luke does know that his father and grandmother he never met were slaves in Mos Espa; that he knows his father won himself freedom, but that he was told that the men whom Anakin left with were pilots from the Core Worlds; that his grandmother was freed by Owen's father and married him; and that when they were attacked by Sand People and Shmi died, that his father cames as soon as he heard; that his mother came with his father and she was a beautiful woman from a core world named Padme (whose surname they don't recall); and that his parents died together when he was a baby in a 'deep space accident.' I also headcanon that Obi-wan/Ben never told Beru and Lars that Anakin had become Darth Vader, letting them think he'd just been killed with the rest of the Jedi, which would still certainly be enough for Owen to try to protect Luke with the Navigator on the Spice Freighter Lie. Finally, I'm one of the people who headcanon that Skywalker, Darklighter, and other Nounverber names are ones commonly adopted by Tatooine slaves. ANYWAY, although these are my working headcanons, I am perfectly content to drop any and all them if my fellow mods ask me to.

(Also, I am PERFECTLY fine if people want to fourth wall Luke. Star Wars is a super famous canon and Syn's current cast is currently allowing fourth-walling. I don't plan to wreck their fun.)

M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION:
FOOL – This one speaks to more as Luke as he was in A New Hope and less to Luke as he is now, but because at the start of the original trilogy it was his strongest Arcana, I feel like I ought to put it on the list. An immature, pure-hearted day-dreamer that acted on impulse? That's ANH Luke all over. Putting Luke with Fool would honor his beginnings—and that's not a bad thing at all.
MAGICIAN – Luke at the end of Return of the Jedi is at the height of his personal power. That moment when he tells Jabba not to underestimate his powers has self-confidence written all over it. Throughout the entire movie, he moves with conviction, with focus, and with determination. He knows what he's there to do.
STRENGTH – Some of Luke's greatest strengths (ha) are his kindness and compassion. It's what allowed him to ultimately rescue his father from the Dark Side. Perseverance, too, is part of his make-up. He keeps trying. And although he didn't have much patience at the start of the trilogy, by the end he's learned a fair measure of it.
HERMIT – If Fool speaks to Luke as he was and Magician to who he is now, Hermit speaks to Luke as he will become, the Last Jedi who pulled a disappearing act on the entire galaxy—the man who followed in the footsteps of Yoda and Obi-Wan. But even now, Luke has learned the value of looking inward and finding understanding within himself.
HANGED MAN – Like Fool, Hanged Man is an Arcanum that speaks to Luke during an earlier part of his journey, in this case during the Empire Strikes Back. During the climax of the film, Luke even visually evoked the card, suspended as he was in Cloud City. At that moment, rather than betray his ideals and join the dark side, Luke chooses to accept what seems to be the moment of his death and let go, sacrificing himself to keep from falling to the dark side.
DEATH – More than anything, Death speaks to Luke's role as a Jedi. With Yoda, Obi-wan, and Anakin/Vader gone, he's the last Jedi left in the galaxy. The end of their order—but also, someone with the potential to start the Jedi anew. For the Jedi, Luke is the end of the cycle... and the one to change it.

(Sadly, I cannot ask for the Arcanum that I feel is the most perfect match for Luke. This is because I already have Chie as a member of Sun's team and I'm trying not to double up on Arcana. This is also why I'm not putting Priestess on the list. What can I say? Luke's a good fit for a lot of Arcana.)
VETO: nah, I trust myself and my fellow mods

S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Monday top-level from the Airlocked Mock Trial
PROSE SAMPLE: From the test drive

Comments

[returnofme]

S K I L L • E Q U I V A L E N C I E S

ASTRONAVIGATING & PILOTING
The ability to pilot and navigate advanced spaceships. No advanced spaceship is included with this skill.

CYBERNETICS
Luke arrived with a robot hand.

SENSORY CONDITIONING
The ability to duplicate the sensory abilities of the Conditioned. This includes shutting off pain, sight, or hearing when they’re inconvenient, or detecting the approach of someone unseen by changes in air pressure; the ability to detect all but the most superb liars through body language, tone, and eye contact, and the kinesthetic knowledge of whether or not one is physically capable of jumping a gap, or exactly how much force is needed to kick down a door without injury.

SOMATIC CONDITIONING
The ability to duplicate the physical abilities of the Conditioned. This includes superb balance and reflexes, the ability to use one’s muscles to their fullest extent, conscious control of breathing, and even the ability to suppress or encourage the release of adrenaline within the body.

TECHNICAL MAINTENANCE AND UP-KEEPING (FAR FUTURE)
Fueling, repairing, and generally keeping a variety of far-future equipment running. If any piece of far-future tech is damaged or depowered, this is the skill necessary to get it working again. Diagnosing problems or making advanced systems compatible with more primitive systems will require this skill as well. (Even though Luke is from a long time ago, the tech of his world still counts.)


P S Y C H I C • S K I L L S:

FILTER INTRUSION
The ability to access privately broadcast data on the telepathic network. Even if a message is filtered to a specific group of people, you may listen in (or actively participate).

PSYCHIC BRIDGE
Once per week, for one minute per psychic skill you possess, broadcast telepathically across the Jaunt/Walkabout Divide.

PSYCHIC DETECTION I
Detect the location or absence of any Traveler you name within a quarter mile, whether Investigator or Infiltrator.

SENSORY EAVESDROPPING
The ability to tap into another Traveler’s sensory impressions (with permission).

SENSORY LIVESTREAMING
The ability to project your sensory impressions across the telepathic network


L I M N A L • S K I L L S

PORTAL CREATION (STATIONARY)
The ability to create a portal entering or exiting Liminal Space at any time, not only at the beginning or end of a Jaunt.


J A U N T • S K I L L S

INFOGLASSSES (THE SPARK)
These might appear to be normal glasses, or they might be weirdly shaped or colored future-goggles, at the player’s option. However, they provide display and monitor systems for computers, televisions, and other multimedia devices, have wi-fi access and provide their own hotspot, and can compare any object they see to a massive photographic database to provide information on almost anything you see. Luke's infoglasses are a pair of goggles.


A R C A N A • S K I L L S

HANGED MAN'S FAVOUR
Recieved upon his return from his odyssey. Comes with a sweet tattoo of the antenna he dangled from underneath Cloud City because of course it does.

INSIGHT
Once per month, perceive one secret one target is concealing. If the target you name is concealing multiple secrets of comparable importance, you have no control over which is revealed to you.