application » WARFORGED
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crimsonprideAPPLICATION
NAME: Kiki
CONTACT: killiana AT gmail DOT com
PERSONAL JOURNAL:diciassette
OTHER CHARACTERS: N/A
CHARACTER NAME: Asch the Bloody (Birth Name: Luke fon Fabre)
CHARACTER SERIES: Tales of the Abyss
SPECIES: Human
AGE: 17
CANON POINT: Post-canon, post-Exsilium
CLASS/ABILITIES: Paladin; however, Asch will keep his canon powers.
Asch is a swordsman, first and foremost. He fights with a brutal, forceful style that, despite appearing rather wild and uncontrolled, has been carefully honed to best suit Asch's strength and natural skill. Though not slow, very agile opponents can prove themselves to be annoyances. He knows several special melee skills (called Base Artes) that allow him to quickly deal physical and elemental damage to his opponents.
In addition to normal swordplay, Asch is able to use Fonic Artes (special skills similar to magic spells) in combat, though his skill is moderate. His focus on swordplay means he stands second--at best--to those who specialize in the use of such Artes. Fonic Artes require focus and preparation to use, and being struck is enough to disrupt said focus. In the middle of battle one needs space in order to cast, and Asch's front-line style of fighting means that these artes don't see much use once a battle has started. On the other hand, these Fonic Artes are much more powerful than Base Artes, so they do still have their uses.
He also has access to Arcane Artes, Field of Fonon changes, and a single Mystic Arte. Arcane Artes are beefed up versions or combinations of his Fonic and Base Artes. His Field of Fonon changes occur when he uses certain artes near collections of fonons, which occur when Fonic Artes are used nearby. FOF changes are more powerful or elementally altered Base and Fonic Artes. They are harder to pull off, but generally not too 'expensive' in terms of the energy required to cast them. (NOTE: I imagine FoF charges will be replaced with something similar to the Holy Power mechanic.)
His Mystic Arte, Rending Saber, is his world's version of a Overdrive or Limit Break. It's very powerful, but difficult to pull off; it can typically only be used in the most dire of situations. When cast, a barrage of blade of light thrust up from the ground to stab the hell out of anyone within a ten foot radius.
Asch, like Luke, is capable of causing and controlling a hyperresonance by himself. A hyperresonance is a powerful skill that allows its user or users to tear apart and reassemble any sort of matter on a fonic (molecular) level. They're incredibly destructive, difficult to control, and usually require two people to create. Asch is one of the only people capable of causing a hyperresonance completely on his own, and he is also capable of controlling and directing it through sheer force of will. Fortunately for the rest of the world, Asch knows better than to use this power recklessly. Similarly, because he and Luke are perfect isofons (that is, they could technically be considered to be the same entity), Asch is able to communicate with Luke even across great distances, similar to telepathy.
Finally, though Asch fights right-handed, he was actually born left-handed. He was taught how to use his right hand for the sake of manners, and now does so out of habit. However his left hand is still naturally dominant, making him somewhat ambidextrous.
HISTORY: A summary of the game and the page on Asch himself.
Asch was born as Luke fon Fabre, the only child of his parents and the heir (by his engagement to Natalia) to the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. He was also prophesized to bring his kingdom to 'unprecedented prosperity', though this prophecy also foretells his death at a mining town called Akzeriuth. Wishing to save Luke from his fate, Van kidnapped him, had him cloned, and sent the replacement back to Luke's family in his place. The replica became known as Luke, and the original Luke took on the moniker of 'Asch the Bloody' and joined Van's God Generals.
Throughout the game, Asch serves as what can best be described as an antagonistic ally. He eventually comes to oppose Van's plan to replicate, murder, and replace the vast majority of the world's population, much as the main party does, but prefers to work alone. He is first seen helping seize control of Jade's warship, kidnapping Ion, and imprisoning Luke, Tear, and Jade. From there on he is encountered several more times alongside the other God Generals, furthering Van's plans. It's not until Luke arrives at Akzeriuth to destroy it (as Asch was originally foretold to do) that he openly defies Van and extends a hand to the party: he helps rescue them from the town's destruction, and then teams up with them (minus Luke and Tear) in order to investigate Van's actions and come up with a way to stop him.
From there Asch largely acts independent of the party, though not on his own: he employs the assistance of Noire and her Dark Wings, as well as a pilot named Ginji, in order to further his goals. His path does intersect with the party's several times as well, such as when he stops Luke and Natalia's execution, assists in the elimination of the miasma, joins them in a search for medicine for his ailing mother, and even points them in the right direction once or twice. By the end of the game, Asch's antagonistic attitude towards the main party has softened somewhat. Though he still acts independently of the team, he is no longer outright antagonistic towards them. He and Luke's party both eventually arrive in Eldrant, a flying fortress created by Van.
Once inside Eldrant, Asch and Luke promptly stumble into the same trap. Once there, the two of them have one last battle (which Asch loses) to determine which of them is the 'real' Luke. Asch stays behind after his loss both to buy the main party time to defeat Van, and to hold open the door to the trap so that Luke can escape.
Asch kills a large group of Oracle Knights while still inside the trap, but is ultimately killed by his injuries.
-----
After his death in canon, Asch was drawn into the base of a moon on a planet called earth. There, he and other other-worldly visitors called transports were tasked with assisting an organization called the Initiative against the United Earth government. When Asch arrived the Initiative's home base, a city called Exsilium, had recently been destroyed in a nuclear attack. Thus the missions assigned to him for the next several months were supposed to be largely focused on undoing that damage via time travel, though Asch wasn't present long enough to be assigned such an important mission. What he did instead was help fight off zombies his first month there, and help thwart a Transport-run mutiny the month after.
However, Asch was among the first to be sent down to earth following the city's initial restoration. In the meantime, his time in Exsilium allowed him to meet and speak with several people from his world--namely Luke, Tear, Jade, and Dist. Though Asch spoke with all of them to an extent, it was his relationship with Luke that changed and influenced him the most. While he was on positive terms with several other people from other worlds, he was never close enough to consider them friends.
Eventually, the Initiative regained their home and struck a critical blow against the United Earth. However, shortly after that the Transporter--that is, the machine that the Initiative used to draw new people to their worlds and subsequently send them back through time--began to malfunction. It's breakdown caused time to behave strangely, days to repeat over and over, and Transports to pop in and out of Exsilium. Asch and the other Transports were given a choice: remain in Exsilum forever, go to another world, or return to their own.
Asch and Luke returned to Auldrant--just slightly earlier than when they had left. Having already experienced the events inside Eldrant, Asch and Luke were able to avoid the trap the ended up getting Asch killed. From there the two of them defeated Van together and stayed behind on the (rapidly crashing) Eldrant just long enough to thoroughly kick the remainder of his plan to pieces.
This time, both of them survived. The were able to pull themselves out of the wreckage of Eldrant long enough to swim back to the shore and hope that someone was there waiting for them.
PERSONALITY: Asch is only seventeen, and yet he is already an angry, embittered young man, something reflected in nearly everything he does. He has little tolerance for the shortcomings and failures of others, and even less for those perceived in himself (and by extension, Luke). He often and almost violently pushes away those that try to get close to him. Such violence is present in his other interactions as well. He doesn't like to let problems sit and stew, and prefers to deal with them quickly and harshly to get them out of his way. This is Asch in summary, though like many people he is a bit more complicated than he appears to be on the surface (of course, this makes him no less of an angry, embittered jerk in the long run).
For one, it should be noted that for all that he'll often push people, yell at them, insult them, and generally act short-tempered and impatient, Asch actually doesn't have that short a fuse, nor is he very impatient. When he chooses he does not have difficulty waiting, and can tell when waiting is necessary. It's important to note that simple inaction won't get on his nerves unless it's also wasting time. Careful planning doesn't exactly come naturally to him, but he displays a high degree of competence in that area for one his age. On the other hand, when Asch sees that there is no reason to move slowly or wait, he will start to push hard to see whatever process he's taking part in sped up. He doesn't think too highly of people that can sit idle when there's work to be done. He holds everything to standards that can be almost unfairly high.
Perhaps oddly, he gives himself the same treatment. Asch is not someone that expects the best from everyone else but then tries to dismiss his own shortcomings; if anything else he holds himself to even higher standards than he does others, expecting nothing short of the best from himself and bristling badly when he cannot obtain it. He pushes himself to new heights so that he will not be deemed by either himself or others as weak or useless. While he will deny he fears being replaced as he was when he was ten, part of his motivation comes from the desire to make himself too useful and too skilled to be easily pushed aside in favor of another. This is reflected in his determination. Once his mind is set to a goal--any goal--he is relentless in its pursuit. Though it has served him well in the past, his simple stubbornness is often as much of a flaw as a weakness.
In spite of his rough, oftentimes shouty nature, Asch knows how to practice self-restraint. When he wants to (or more likely needs to) he can be almost charming. For ten years Asch was trained and raised with the knowledge that he would be the leader of a nation one day, and while he's spent the past seven years being a soldier he still remembers those lessons. Sheer intimidation may seem to come naturally to him, but it's not always his first course of action; sometimes it's excluded altogether. He's good at it, but knows it's not always the best, wisest, or even easiest course of action. Behaving calmly is often more than enough to get civilians to act the way he wants them to, and while he can't often bring himself to be nice or falsely sympathetic to people he cares nothing for, he knows how to be blunt and honest without being harsh or hurtful.
As for caring... well, Asch does a good deal more of that than he lets on. Natalia, Ion, the people of Baticul, and even Guy to an extent--these are all people Asch has some degree of personal concern for. Even the strangers that inhabit the world aren't beneath his notice. He's far from kind, but he does what he can to look after them. He's not about to start rescuing people from muggers, but isn't he just going to let someone destroy the vast majority of the population in hope of a better future. He would have made an excellent king had he not been kidnapped, for thoughts of the lives and welfare of those in 'his' country guide his actions and goals. As children he and Natalia promised that together they would improve the lives of their people, and for all that Asch will tell anyone he considers himself unbound from the vows, promises, and responsibilities of his stolen station in life, his promise to Natalia has not been forgotten. Helping the people of Kimlasca is his primary motivation in everything he does. It's why he defied Van, why he chose to help Luke and his friends, and why he still moves forward in life.
He is also capable of displaying other forms of kindness even towards those that are not Kimlascan, though it'll be his own unique brand of caring. He may force someone injured to sit down so they won't pass out, but as he does so he'll be calling them an idiot for trying to stand in the first place. He might make someone to stay behind so that they don't get hurt, but he'll inform them that they need to stay because he doesn't want them to get in the way. There is a good person in there, but said good person is buried deeply under layers of prickly hostility.
Of course, all that anger up there didn't come out of nowhere. There are quite a few people Asch dislikes, and at the top of that list is Luke fon Fabre--or at least the replica that now carries that name. When Asch was kidnapped seven years ago the 'current' Luke was created and took Asch's place. No one, not even his family, ever noticed the difference. Luke didn't choose to be created, but Asch hated him with a passion despite this. Luke is not only a replacement, he was also (as far as Asch is concerned) a very bad one. Whiny, ineffectual, unworthy of one day becoming Kimlasca's king, and largely just a useless burden. The high standards Asch holds himself apply to Luke as well, and the (technically) younger redhead simply fails to stack up. Though Asch has (mostly) moved beyond the desire to deal grievous harm to his replica would by lying if he claimed to hate him, Asch cuts him no slack and doesn't hesitate to insult, berate, or point out the other teenager's flaws.
Despite whatever animosity he may feel towards Luke and his family for not noticing, this does not seem to extend towards two other major players in his childhood: Guy Cecil, his close friend, and Natalia, princess of Kimlasca and his (former) fiancee. With Guy it's a little hard to tell. He doesn't act overly friendly towards him, since he is aware that his father massacred Guy's family and that Guy subsequently only joined the fon Fabre household so that it would be easier to get revenge. Despite this, he puts up with more from Guy than he does for most others, not showing any outward irritation in response to Guy's suspicious quips, nor to his outright proclamation of a preference for Luke over Asch.
Natalia, on the other hand, is someone that Asch seems to genuinely like. He was extremely fond of her when he was a child and such feelings have never really faded. He'll still speak fondly of Natalia and display his own (admittedly prickly) brand of kindness towards the woman, and she is the only person he will go out of his way to see made happy. Still, he keeps his distance. He can't just go back to Baticul (as far as he concerned), and refuses to let himself entertain the possibility that he could ever call the place home again. He outwardly stands by the affirmation that the promise he and Natalia made to improve their nation and the world is no longer binding. However, it's shown numerous times that he does still intend to hold to that promise, and he hasn't forgotten how important that it was to both of them.
While Asch was only in Exsilium for several months, two major changes occurred to him while he was there.
First, Asch learned that he had been in Exsilium before. He just couldn't remember it, something he was told was annoyingly common. He also learned that the previous Asch apparently had... friends? Several friends? It was a puzzling concept with Asch, though he immediately set himself to reconnecting with as many of them as possible (and ultimately only managed to track down two of them: Shintaro and Ene). Though Asch never quite wrapped his head around the idea, he has come to accept that's just part of who he is. Thus, he's now a little more open to the idea of branching out to speak and communicate with strangers than he was before. He's still a far cry from social, but he's still not quite the aggressively lone operative he used to be, either.
Second, his relationship with Luke has improved drastically. It would still be a stretch to say that Asch actually likes Luke--but not much of one. The more important part is that Asch has finally allowed himself to respect Luke. Just a little, but respect none the less. He has a begrudging admiration for Luke's ability to adapt and refusal to give up, and that's been more than enough to make Asch more tolerate of his replica. He's still rather prone to being grumpy and snappy, however, so the relationship has a while to go. Luke also gave him the iPod that the previous Asch owned, so that was nice.
FIRST PERSON SAMPLE: A thread with Tear and a Mutiny Announcement.
----- (Additional Sample; originally written for Exsilium)
[ LOCKED to: Roommates ]
I don't know which one of you keeps leaving the cereal out on the counter [but he bets he can make a good guess, Luke] but cut it out. I'm not here to clean up after you. I'll just throw it out if you keep this up. [No, he won't, because that's wasteful, but hopefully it'll make his point.]
[ OPEN ]
If anyone was thinking of going near the old two-story clothing store near the Outlands, don't. Part of the second floor collapsed the other day, and the ground floor itself is about to collapse in the basement. If there was anything you wanted from it, most of the clothing inside was already moved to the store near the theatre.
And no, there wasn't anything inside inside. Plenty of people already checked, so don't go doing something stupid because you're after a shiny bauble.
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
A. The Frienemy Asch knows a thing or two about getting dragged into fights he didn't ask for, but the most important rule is this one: allies from home always trump the jerks that dragged you into the fight in the first place. Even though Asch has found he has a remarkable amount of tolerance for the 'jerks' he's now allied with, they're still not more important to the people from home.
Especially not when that person was Ginji--stupid (though still smarter than Asch), curious, honest, reliable Ginji--and especially not when he was clearly injured. It only takes Asch a second to recognize him, and less than a second after that to decide on a course of action. He promptly abandons his current target of a particularly annoying druid and opts to haul ass across the battlefield instead. The route is neither easy nor direct, and he ends up being forced to circle around behind Ginji in order to get close. He is aware, well aware, that getting caught helping Ginji could get him killed. He should worry about that, but ultimately he cares more about the fact that it could get Ginji killed.
A (simple and probably easily seen through) plan occurs to him as he realizes he's being forced to circle around behind Ginji, however. There's a high rate of failure, but not quite so high as approaching Ginji head on and offering him a hand. So instead of doing that, he reaches around Ginji, wrapping one arm around his chest and clapping his free hand over his mouth. Without warning or explanation, he hefts Ginji up and begins to haul him backwards, away from the thick of battle.
"Don't fight." Maybe it's enough to make anyone nearby think the two of them really are enemies. What Asch is really hoping is that it'll clue Ginji in that it's Asch that's just grabbed him.
NAME: Kiki
CONTACT: killiana AT gmail DOT com
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
diciassetteOTHER CHARACTERS: N/A
CHARACTER NAME: Asch the Bloody (Birth Name: Luke fon Fabre)
CHARACTER SERIES: Tales of the Abyss
SPECIES: Human
AGE: 17
CANON POINT: Post-canon, post-Exsilium
CLASS/ABILITIES: Paladin; however, Asch will keep his canon powers.
Asch is a swordsman, first and foremost. He fights with a brutal, forceful style that, despite appearing rather wild and uncontrolled, has been carefully honed to best suit Asch's strength and natural skill. Though not slow, very agile opponents can prove themselves to be annoyances. He knows several special melee skills (called Base Artes) that allow him to quickly deal physical and elemental damage to his opponents.
In addition to normal swordplay, Asch is able to use Fonic Artes (special skills similar to magic spells) in combat, though his skill is moderate. His focus on swordplay means he stands second--at best--to those who specialize in the use of such Artes. Fonic Artes require focus and preparation to use, and being struck is enough to disrupt said focus. In the middle of battle one needs space in order to cast, and Asch's front-line style of fighting means that these artes don't see much use once a battle has started. On the other hand, these Fonic Artes are much more powerful than Base Artes, so they do still have their uses.
He also has access to Arcane Artes, Field of Fonon changes, and a single Mystic Arte. Arcane Artes are beefed up versions or combinations of his Fonic and Base Artes. His Field of Fonon changes occur when he uses certain artes near collections of fonons, which occur when Fonic Artes are used nearby. FOF changes are more powerful or elementally altered Base and Fonic Artes. They are harder to pull off, but generally not too 'expensive' in terms of the energy required to cast them. (NOTE: I imagine FoF charges will be replaced with something similar to the Holy Power mechanic.)
His Mystic Arte, Rending Saber, is his world's version of a Overdrive or Limit Break. It's very powerful, but difficult to pull off; it can typically only be used in the most dire of situations. When cast, a barrage of blade of light thrust up from the ground to stab the hell out of anyone within a ten foot radius.
Asch, like Luke, is capable of causing and controlling a hyperresonance by himself. A hyperresonance is a powerful skill that allows its user or users to tear apart and reassemble any sort of matter on a fonic (molecular) level. They're incredibly destructive, difficult to control, and usually require two people to create. Asch is one of the only people capable of causing a hyperresonance completely on his own, and he is also capable of controlling and directing it through sheer force of will. Fortunately for the rest of the world, Asch knows better than to use this power recklessly. Similarly, because he and Luke are perfect isofons (that is, they could technically be considered to be the same entity), Asch is able to communicate with Luke even across great distances, similar to telepathy.
Finally, though Asch fights right-handed, he was actually born left-handed. He was taught how to use his right hand for the sake of manners, and now does so out of habit. However his left hand is still naturally dominant, making him somewhat ambidextrous.
HISTORY: A summary of the game and the page on Asch himself.
Asch was born as Luke fon Fabre, the only child of his parents and the heir (by his engagement to Natalia) to the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. He was also prophesized to bring his kingdom to 'unprecedented prosperity', though this prophecy also foretells his death at a mining town called Akzeriuth. Wishing to save Luke from his fate, Van kidnapped him, had him cloned, and sent the replacement back to Luke's family in his place. The replica became known as Luke, and the original Luke took on the moniker of 'Asch the Bloody' and joined Van's God Generals.
Throughout the game, Asch serves as what can best be described as an antagonistic ally. He eventually comes to oppose Van's plan to replicate, murder, and replace the vast majority of the world's population, much as the main party does, but prefers to work alone. He is first seen helping seize control of Jade's warship, kidnapping Ion, and imprisoning Luke, Tear, and Jade. From there on he is encountered several more times alongside the other God Generals, furthering Van's plans. It's not until Luke arrives at Akzeriuth to destroy it (as Asch was originally foretold to do) that he openly defies Van and extends a hand to the party: he helps rescue them from the town's destruction, and then teams up with them (minus Luke and Tear) in order to investigate Van's actions and come up with a way to stop him.
From there Asch largely acts independent of the party, though not on his own: he employs the assistance of Noire and her Dark Wings, as well as a pilot named Ginji, in order to further his goals. His path does intersect with the party's several times as well, such as when he stops Luke and Natalia's execution, assists in the elimination of the miasma, joins them in a search for medicine for his ailing mother, and even points them in the right direction once or twice. By the end of the game, Asch's antagonistic attitude towards the main party has softened somewhat. Though he still acts independently of the team, he is no longer outright antagonistic towards them. He and Luke's party both eventually arrive in Eldrant, a flying fortress created by Van.
Once inside Eldrant, Asch and Luke promptly stumble into the same trap. Once there, the two of them have one last battle (which Asch loses) to determine which of them is the 'real' Luke. Asch stays behind after his loss both to buy the main party time to defeat Van, and to hold open the door to the trap so that Luke can escape.
Asch kills a large group of Oracle Knights while still inside the trap, but is ultimately killed by his injuries.
-----
After his death in canon, Asch was drawn into the base of a moon on a planet called earth. There, he and other other-worldly visitors called transports were tasked with assisting an organization called the Initiative against the United Earth government. When Asch arrived the Initiative's home base, a city called Exsilium, had recently been destroyed in a nuclear attack. Thus the missions assigned to him for the next several months were supposed to be largely focused on undoing that damage via time travel, though Asch wasn't present long enough to be assigned such an important mission. What he did instead was help fight off zombies his first month there, and help thwart a Transport-run mutiny the month after.
However, Asch was among the first to be sent down to earth following the city's initial restoration. In the meantime, his time in Exsilium allowed him to meet and speak with several people from his world--namely Luke, Tear, Jade, and Dist. Though Asch spoke with all of them to an extent, it was his relationship with Luke that changed and influenced him the most. While he was on positive terms with several other people from other worlds, he was never close enough to consider them friends.
Eventually, the Initiative regained their home and struck a critical blow against the United Earth. However, shortly after that the Transporter--that is, the machine that the Initiative used to draw new people to their worlds and subsequently send them back through time--began to malfunction. It's breakdown caused time to behave strangely, days to repeat over and over, and Transports to pop in and out of Exsilium. Asch and the other Transports were given a choice: remain in Exsilum forever, go to another world, or return to their own.
Asch and Luke returned to Auldrant--just slightly earlier than when they had left. Having already experienced the events inside Eldrant, Asch and Luke were able to avoid the trap the ended up getting Asch killed. From there the two of them defeated Van together and stayed behind on the (rapidly crashing) Eldrant just long enough to thoroughly kick the remainder of his plan to pieces.
This time, both of them survived. The were able to pull themselves out of the wreckage of Eldrant long enough to swim back to the shore and hope that someone was there waiting for them.
PERSONALITY: Asch is only seventeen, and yet he is already an angry, embittered young man, something reflected in nearly everything he does. He has little tolerance for the shortcomings and failures of others, and even less for those perceived in himself (and by extension, Luke). He often and almost violently pushes away those that try to get close to him. Such violence is present in his other interactions as well. He doesn't like to let problems sit and stew, and prefers to deal with them quickly and harshly to get them out of his way. This is Asch in summary, though like many people he is a bit more complicated than he appears to be on the surface (of course, this makes him no less of an angry, embittered jerk in the long run).
For one, it should be noted that for all that he'll often push people, yell at them, insult them, and generally act short-tempered and impatient, Asch actually doesn't have that short a fuse, nor is he very impatient. When he chooses he does not have difficulty waiting, and can tell when waiting is necessary. It's important to note that simple inaction won't get on his nerves unless it's also wasting time. Careful planning doesn't exactly come naturally to him, but he displays a high degree of competence in that area for one his age. On the other hand, when Asch sees that there is no reason to move slowly or wait, he will start to push hard to see whatever process he's taking part in sped up. He doesn't think too highly of people that can sit idle when there's work to be done. He holds everything to standards that can be almost unfairly high.
Perhaps oddly, he gives himself the same treatment. Asch is not someone that expects the best from everyone else but then tries to dismiss his own shortcomings; if anything else he holds himself to even higher standards than he does others, expecting nothing short of the best from himself and bristling badly when he cannot obtain it. He pushes himself to new heights so that he will not be deemed by either himself or others as weak or useless. While he will deny he fears being replaced as he was when he was ten, part of his motivation comes from the desire to make himself too useful and too skilled to be easily pushed aside in favor of another. This is reflected in his determination. Once his mind is set to a goal--any goal--he is relentless in its pursuit. Though it has served him well in the past, his simple stubbornness is often as much of a flaw as a weakness.
In spite of his rough, oftentimes shouty nature, Asch knows how to practice self-restraint. When he wants to (or more likely needs to) he can be almost charming. For ten years Asch was trained and raised with the knowledge that he would be the leader of a nation one day, and while he's spent the past seven years being a soldier he still remembers those lessons. Sheer intimidation may seem to come naturally to him, but it's not always his first course of action; sometimes it's excluded altogether. He's good at it, but knows it's not always the best, wisest, or even easiest course of action. Behaving calmly is often more than enough to get civilians to act the way he wants them to, and while he can't often bring himself to be nice or falsely sympathetic to people he cares nothing for, he knows how to be blunt and honest without being harsh or hurtful.
As for caring... well, Asch does a good deal more of that than he lets on. Natalia, Ion, the people of Baticul, and even Guy to an extent--these are all people Asch has some degree of personal concern for. Even the strangers that inhabit the world aren't beneath his notice. He's far from kind, but he does what he can to look after them. He's not about to start rescuing people from muggers, but isn't he just going to let someone destroy the vast majority of the population in hope of a better future. He would have made an excellent king had he not been kidnapped, for thoughts of the lives and welfare of those in 'his' country guide his actions and goals. As children he and Natalia promised that together they would improve the lives of their people, and for all that Asch will tell anyone he considers himself unbound from the vows, promises, and responsibilities of his stolen station in life, his promise to Natalia has not been forgotten. Helping the people of Kimlasca is his primary motivation in everything he does. It's why he defied Van, why he chose to help Luke and his friends, and why he still moves forward in life.
He is also capable of displaying other forms of kindness even towards those that are not Kimlascan, though it'll be his own unique brand of caring. He may force someone injured to sit down so they won't pass out, but as he does so he'll be calling them an idiot for trying to stand in the first place. He might make someone to stay behind so that they don't get hurt, but he'll inform them that they need to stay because he doesn't want them to get in the way. There is a good person in there, but said good person is buried deeply under layers of prickly hostility.
Of course, all that anger up there didn't come out of nowhere. There are quite a few people Asch dislikes, and at the top of that list is Luke fon Fabre--or at least the replica that now carries that name. When Asch was kidnapped seven years ago the 'current' Luke was created and took Asch's place. No one, not even his family, ever noticed the difference. Luke didn't choose to be created, but Asch hated him with a passion despite this. Luke is not only a replacement, he was also (as far as Asch is concerned) a very bad one. Whiny, ineffectual, unworthy of one day becoming Kimlasca's king, and largely just a useless burden. The high standards Asch holds himself apply to Luke as well, and the (technically) younger redhead simply fails to stack up. Though Asch has (mostly) moved beyond the desire to deal grievous harm to his replica would by lying if he claimed to hate him, Asch cuts him no slack and doesn't hesitate to insult, berate, or point out the other teenager's flaws.
Despite whatever animosity he may feel towards Luke and his family for not noticing, this does not seem to extend towards two other major players in his childhood: Guy Cecil, his close friend, and Natalia, princess of Kimlasca and his (former) fiancee. With Guy it's a little hard to tell. He doesn't act overly friendly towards him, since he is aware that his father massacred Guy's family and that Guy subsequently only joined the fon Fabre household so that it would be easier to get revenge. Despite this, he puts up with more from Guy than he does for most others, not showing any outward irritation in response to Guy's suspicious quips, nor to his outright proclamation of a preference for Luke over Asch.
Natalia, on the other hand, is someone that Asch seems to genuinely like. He was extremely fond of her when he was a child and such feelings have never really faded. He'll still speak fondly of Natalia and display his own (admittedly prickly) brand of kindness towards the woman, and she is the only person he will go out of his way to see made happy. Still, he keeps his distance. He can't just go back to Baticul (as far as he concerned), and refuses to let himself entertain the possibility that he could ever call the place home again. He outwardly stands by the affirmation that the promise he and Natalia made to improve their nation and the world is no longer binding. However, it's shown numerous times that he does still intend to hold to that promise, and he hasn't forgotten how important that it was to both of them.
While Asch was only in Exsilium for several months, two major changes occurred to him while he was there.
First, Asch learned that he had been in Exsilium before. He just couldn't remember it, something he was told was annoyingly common. He also learned that the previous Asch apparently had... friends? Several friends? It was a puzzling concept with Asch, though he immediately set himself to reconnecting with as many of them as possible (and ultimately only managed to track down two of them: Shintaro and Ene). Though Asch never quite wrapped his head around the idea, he has come to accept that's just part of who he is. Thus, he's now a little more open to the idea of branching out to speak and communicate with strangers than he was before. He's still a far cry from social, but he's still not quite the aggressively lone operative he used to be, either.
Second, his relationship with Luke has improved drastically. It would still be a stretch to say that Asch actually likes Luke--but not much of one. The more important part is that Asch has finally allowed himself to respect Luke. Just a little, but respect none the less. He has a begrudging admiration for Luke's ability to adapt and refusal to give up, and that's been more than enough to make Asch more tolerate of his replica. He's still rather prone to being grumpy and snappy, however, so the relationship has a while to go. Luke also gave him the iPod that the previous Asch owned, so that was nice.
FIRST PERSON SAMPLE: A thread with Tear and a Mutiny Announcement.
----- (Additional Sample; originally written for Exsilium)
[ LOCKED to: Roommates ]
I don't know which one of you keeps leaving the cereal out on the counter [but he bets he can make a good guess, Luke] but cut it out. I'm not here to clean up after you. I'll just throw it out if you keep this up. [No, he won't, because that's wasteful, but hopefully it'll make his point.]
[ OPEN ]
If anyone was thinking of going near the old two-story clothing store near the Outlands, don't. Part of the second floor collapsed the other day, and the ground floor itself is about to collapse in the basement. If there was anything you wanted from it, most of the clothing inside was already moved to the store near the theatre.
And no, there wasn't anything inside inside. Plenty of people already checked, so don't go doing something stupid because you're after a shiny bauble.
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
A. The Frienemy Asch knows a thing or two about getting dragged into fights he didn't ask for, but the most important rule is this one: allies from home always trump the jerks that dragged you into the fight in the first place. Even though Asch has found he has a remarkable amount of tolerance for the 'jerks' he's now allied with, they're still not more important to the people from home.
Especially not when that person was Ginji--stupid (though still smarter than Asch), curious, honest, reliable Ginji--and especially not when he was clearly injured. It only takes Asch a second to recognize him, and less than a second after that to decide on a course of action. He promptly abandons his current target of a particularly annoying druid and opts to haul ass across the battlefield instead. The route is neither easy nor direct, and he ends up being forced to circle around behind Ginji in order to get close. He is aware, well aware, that getting caught helping Ginji could get him killed. He should worry about that, but ultimately he cares more about the fact that it could get Ginji killed.
A (simple and probably easily seen through) plan occurs to him as he realizes he's being forced to circle around behind Ginji, however. There's a high rate of failure, but not quite so high as approaching Ginji head on and offering him a hand. So instead of doing that, he reaches around Ginji, wrapping one arm around his chest and clapping his free hand over his mouth. Without warning or explanation, he hefts Ginji up and begins to haul him backwards, away from the thick of battle.
"Don't fight." Maybe it's enough to make anyone nearby think the two of them really are enemies. What Asch is really hoping is that it'll clue Ginji in that it's Asch that's just grabbed him.
