[well] application

[toteninsel]

Character info

Character name: Ariane Yeong
Canon: Signalis
Canon point & release date: Post memory ending, released November 2022
History: History. Since this describes the events of the game more than Ariane's backstory, some supplemental history is below:

Ariane was born on the planet Leng, on the outskirts of her home solar system. In this solar system, there are two main political bodies: the Eusan Empire, and the Eusan Nation, who are locked in a long-term war throughout the course of the game. Ariane is a citizen of the Eusan Nation (also called the Nation) and spends her early childhood living with her mother in a remote radio outpost on the planet Rotfront, which is also under the Nation's control.

The Nation has an oppressive, fascistic control over its citizens, and Ariane's upbringing with her single mother is not traditional. Accordingly, at some point in her childhood, her aunt suggests Ariane move in with her and go to a traditional National school in one of Rotfront's cities. Ariane subsequently moves to the city, and begins attending Mandelbrot Polytechnische Oberschule.

At school, Ariane has a hard time socializing with her classmates and adapting to city life. She is bullied, and is interested in literature, art and music more than is considered appropriate or permissible by the Nation. Her two friends are Isa and Erika Itou, who also may have some anti-Nation sympathies, as their family is from Vineta and their parents own a bookstore in which they sell contraband material.

Overall, Ariane dislikes living in the city, describing the experience as being characterized by "fake smiles" and "whispers." Upon graduating from school and fulfilling her customary military service, Ariane has the choice between being sent to work at the S-23 Sierpinski mining facility or finding other employment. Ariane, who wants badly to leave Rotfront, chooses to enlist in the Penrose program, in which she and a Replika engineer will be launched into deep space in order to find exoplanets for the Nation to colonize.

Ariane sets off into deep space with the Replika LSTR-512, also called Elster. While at first the two keep their distance, over time, they fall deeply in love. On the ship, time is measured in "cycles," each lasting about a day. After 3,000 cycles, after the two have fallen romantically in love, Elster and Ariane receive the news that, because they have not found any new planets, their mission is considered a failure. However, their trip is a one-way trip, and their ship will be left to float into space until it breaks down, crash-lands, or both. The Nation jingoistically recommends that Ariane and Elster kill themselves, in order to spare themselves suffering.

Ariane and Elster try to survive together as long as possible, but they also make a promise that Elster will kill Ariane when she begins to suffer too much. In order to prolong her life, Ariane begins sleeping in their ship's cryogenic preservation unit. The ship begins to break down, reactor coolant begins to leak, and Ariane develops severe cancer and radiation sickness as a result. Tragically, however, Elster falls ill too, and before she can fulfill her promise to Ariane, Elster dies while Ariane is still locked in cryo.

According to decrypted game files, Ariane spends the next several centuries in cryogenic suspension. In this state, she is semi-conscious, half-awake and half-asleep and in extreme pain. During this time, Ariane's latent psychic abilities begin to multiply, and Ariane lashes out with her bioresonance, summoning subsequent Elster units (who were made from neural copies of LSTR-512, "Ariane's" original LSTR) to her chamber so they can fulfill the promise and end her suffering. Meanwhile, through that same bioresonance, Ariane transforms the mining colony S-23 Sierpinski into a hellish, glitching, flesh-infused zombie apocalypse nightmare, which deteriorates further with each LSTR unit she summons. There is some suggestion that Ariane makes contact with an ancient, unknowable eldritch being as a result of her bioresonant abilities and extended near-death state, but this is not fully explained and I won't rely on it for her characterization.

Eventually, over the course of the game and after hundreds of repeat attempts, Elster is able to make her way to the cryo chamber on the Penrose and fulfill the promise set out from the beginning, and Ariane dies.

Since this version of Ariane comes from the "memory" ending, she is coming from a cycle in which Elster failed to keep her promise because Ariane did not recognize her.

Powers (no more than 150 words): Ariane is bioresonant. This gives her the ability to create vivid hallucinations, "see" things outside of a traditional human field of vision, and some minor telekinesis.

Personality

What is your character most afraid of? How are they defined by this fear? (100-300 words)
Ariane is afraid of pain, both physical and emotional.

Ariane's early childhood upbringing was unconventional, and to her, it probably seemed idyllic. She grew up in a remote mountain outpost with a mother who loved her very much, and who encouraged the development of Ariane's unique personality and interests, and in particular, her love for art and stories. The bullying she experienced upon moving to the city, by contrast, was a rude awakening for her, and hurt her deeply. This experience has made Ariane want to avoid the judgment, ridicule and laughter of others at all costs, even if she has to sign up for a deep-space exploration program to make that happen. Ariane chooses to isolate herself rather than take another chance with a society that she believes has failed her, and it's grounded in a very youthful, knee-jerk fear of rejection and others' dislike.

Later, when Ariane's sickness becomes both severe and seemingly unending, Ariane is driven by similar avoidant tendencies. She'll do anything to make the physical pain stop, just as she'd do anything not to be bullied again. This time, however, her actions have much more devastating consequences, although in her current state, it's unclear if she can comprehend those consequences. That's something she'll have to learn to face in Well.

What is your character's greatest desire? How are they defined by this desire? (100-300 words)
The flipside to Ariane's fear of pain, specifically emotional pain, is her need to be loved.

It's a desire she has a hard time recognizing, at first: in a hidden diary entry, we learn that Ariane never dreamed she could fall as deeply in love as she did with Elster. But once she does, it's some of Ariane's happiest moments, to the point where her cramped spaceship starts to feel like home, by virtue of Elster being there. Ariane's desire for love, and her desire to be with her beloved at times override her (very human) fear of pain. When Ariane gets the news that she's on a one-way trip, and that the Nation has essentially sent her out into space to die, she refuses to give up on life that easily. She holds on as long as she can, so she can be with Elster just one more day, and one more after that, and one more after that. As the last line of one of Signalis' endings says: "please, just let me stay by your side a little longer."

Ariane's desire for and belief in love also means she holds her loved ones in very high esteem. She calls out to Elster over and over again, begging Elster to "remember our promise," because she genuinely believes that Elster can help her. For hundreds of years, and even while in severe pain, that conviction doesn't waver.

How will not having memories change your character? What core personality traits, if any, will change? How? (200-300 words)
Ariane is missing a substantial swath of memories, and with it, a few key personality traits, for better and for worse.

Ariane won't remember falling in love with Elster - instead, she'll know Elster as her roommate and co-worker, a person that Ariane generally tries to avoid. This means she'll be more cynical of people, and she'll also be more surprised at anyone in Well who tries to show her kindness, much less acceptance. Ariane will be more on guard around others, less likely to reveal aspects of her personality (love of art, etc) that she's been punished for in the past.

On the other hand, Ariane won't remember some significantly traumatic experiences, either. She has no memories of falling ill, or being trapped in cryogenic suspension for centuries. This will make Ariane a more grounded, "normal" person, rather than someone who stared into the abyss and had the abyss stare back. She'll be a little less dramatic about the nature of the self, identity, love, and time. You know. Normal stuff! As she regains memories, and as she finds out about Well's time loops, all of those more eerie tendencies will probably start to creep back in, though.

Thread samples:
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Memories

You have 10 memory points. How will you use them?
Major memory: 2 points.
Ariane will remember signing up to work for the Penrose program, and the routine of her first 225 cycles (days) aboard the ship. Her time on the ship is fairly monotonous: she pilots it, paints and journals in her free time, and otherwise avoids talking to the Elster unit on board.

Major memory: 2 points.
Ariane will remember transferring to school on urban Rotfront, and her day-to-day routine there. In particular, it is characterized by a strict and conformist educational program, and Ariane does not get along with most of her classmates or teachers. She is bullied often and viciously.

Relationship core: 3 points.
Ariane will remember that she made a promise to someone, that the person she made a promise to is incredibly important, and that Ariane must work to fulfill it at all costs. Aside from monotonous day-to-day experiences aboard the Penrose, this is all Ariane will remember of Elster, her beloved.

Skill: 2 points.
Ariane will remember that she is bioresonant, which means she has supernatural abilities related to psychic powers (as described above). Ariane will not remember how to consciously control these abilities, however, so they will only flare up in times of great emotional stress.

Skill: 1 point.
Ariane is a skilled painter, preferring landscapes especially.

Player info

Name: floral
Pronouns: she/they
Age: 25
Contact: moonlanding
Permissions: Permissions

Link to invite: Invite
Character in game: n/a; dropping Nona as of the end of cycle 1