application — EXPIATION 👁️

[kiseijuu]

Player: Jhey
Contact: horreur / discord - hagfishs / PM
Age: 30+
Current Characters: N/A

Character Name: Shinichi Izumi
Character Canon: Parasyte: The Maxim
Canon Point: episode "The Stranger", after his parents have left for a trip and Shinichi is home alone.
Age: 17

Crime: Murder. Although not eagerly, Shinichi has helped take part in fatally battling alien entities that have taken over human hosts. It has raised many upsetting questions — is it "murder" if what he's killing is no longer human, but technically has a human body? The concept has haunted him for months now, and so to be accused of such a crime will strike him very hard; "murderer" as an identity already weighs heavily on his soul. It also leads into fears of his worst nightmare, such as how he may be subtly changing to think more like one of the alien parasites, and how someday "killing things" may also involve developing an appetite for humans.

Background: Given that I'm pulling Shinichi from an earlier canonpoint, I've written up the important parts of his background up until that point, since the wiki glosses over earlier development in favour of later ones. (content warnings: parasitic entities, body horror, humans being killed and eaten by aliens, themes of identity & autonomy loss.)

• Shinichi Izumi was an average high school student living in present-day Japan. His life was the picture of normality until one night, an unknown species fell from the skies in the form of spore-like eggs. From these little pods emerged small worm-like beings who began to follow the instinct to make their way to the brains of humans and take over them.

• One such "worm" found itself at Shinichi's windowsill while the young man was sleeping. When its attempts to infiltrate Shinichi's brain were thwarted (thanks to Shinichi wearing earbuds), the parasitic creature desperately began burrowing into the boy's right arm and making its way upwards. By this point, Shinichi had woken up from the intrusion and, in a moment of panic, wrapped his earbud cord around his arm, cutting off the blood supply and succeeding in preventing the thing from going further. This meant that the creature "failed" in its mission to take over its new host's brain and instead reached maturation in Shinichi's right arm, thus "eating" and replacing it from the elbow down. Centered in Shinichi's right hand, it named itself "Migi", meaning "right".

• Suddenly thrust into a bizarre nightmare that seemed straight out of some science fiction story, Shinichi soon discovered that the horrors were only growing in number. He quickly learned that this creature was not alone, and over the next weeks, encountered more of these parasites who began to show up around the city. Their appetites seemed to be for whatever species of host body they had overtaken, which meant that the majority were feeding on humans and leaving behind messy remains that prompted Tokyo to dub them the "Mincemeat Murders", thinking it the work of a serial killer. (Shinichi's parasite had no need to feed on humans, since it had only taken over his hand and therefore simply fed on the nutrients from its host's bloodstream).

• Meanwhile, Shinichi alone knew the true explanation for the horrific occurrences. His guilt led him to want to turn himself into the authorities and offer his knowledge of the parasites, but he was quickly put in his place by his own hand, who threatened to remove Shinichi's ability to see, hear, or speak, should it have to. After all, its own survival was most important, and Migi would not allow anything to jeopardize that. Meanwhile, the intellectual parasite continued to develop and learn, perpetually curious about humans and its own kind alike, wanting to understand exactly what it was and why it was here.

• Other parasites invading the city began to see Shinichi's and Migi's existence (a human retaining his own mind and sharing his body with a parasite) as a suspicious anomaly to be exterminated. However, Migi proved a force to be reckoned with, and he and Shinichi were actually able to defend themselves against rival parasites more easily, as they could use having two working minds as an advantage. Not that the soft-hearted Shinichi wanted to do any crime-fighting or alien-hunting, but the desperate drive to protect other humans fueled him along the very gruesome ride.

• After several months of continuing to hide his secret and protect those around him, there came a time when another parasite looked into Shinichi's eyes and informed him that "although it's minimal, you're no longer pure." Disturbed and upset by this, Shinichi asked Migi what it could mean, and the parasite admitted that he wasn't sure, but it was possible that Shinichi could be undergoing changes both physiologically and psychologically, as a result of Migi being connected to him. Although it weighed heavily on Shinichi's mind, he was unable to confide in anyone about it — including his parents, who soon decided to take a trip out to the countryside. While initially worried for their safety, Shinichi relaxed a little when Migi informed him that the probability of his kind being out in rural areas was considerably low. While they were gone, Shinichi continued to quietly look after humankind back home, and protect whomever he could protect.

Personality:

Growing up, Shinichi Izumi was perhaps the definition of A Very Good Boy. In fact, his parents frequently remarked that he was too well-behaved and worried over their son often, but Shinichi was happy being a "boring" high schooler. He had always been on the shy and soft-spoken side, never one to want much attention, preferring his status as a socially awkward wallflower. His sensitivity showed itself in other ways as well: he always had a weak constitution for things like horror, violence, confrontation, and insects.

However, it is Shinichi's altruism that has truly defined him as a person. Despite being someone whom others may easily peg as cowardly or "weak", if a situation involved someone else being hurt or in trouble, Shinichi would interfere without a second thought to his own safety. This has led him to literally step into the line of fire, whether it be protecting a classmate being targeted by bullies and ending up beaten up himself, or literally moving into traffic to protect a child. He recognises that such acts can be foolhardy, but at the same time his protective nature and strong sense of altruism are not traits he's ever thought to challenge.

Because Shinichi is absolutely led by his heart, and that's what has always felt natural to him.

When Shinichi was quite literally invaded by an alien, nearly every aspect of the boy's personality was challenged. Suddenly he was now sharing his life and body with a cold, "insect-like" being without emotions, concerned solely with its own self-preservation and capable of extreme violence — violence that Shinichi found himself unwillingly exposed to, as he had to rely on and even help Migi deal with the other parasites in order to protect humankind. For Shinichi, who had never hurt a fly, bloodying his hands was a deep horror in him. Not to mention the nightmares involved with being hunted by monstrous parasitic organisms hiding in the brains of humans. That paranoia, the weight of having to hide this dark secret from everyone around him, and the guilt of not telling people about his situation and helping protect humanity on a larger scale, has led to a great deal of psychological turmoil that he has not remotely begun to process or even address. He now perpetually carries it with him, often making him anxious and depressive, prone to deep worrying and fretfulness.

As time wore on, Shinichi began to experience subtle, insidious shifts — evidence that Migi's presence within was affecting the host. This ranged from small incidents such as Shinichi no longer fearing things like insects to intensely concerning times, like Shinichi seeming to lose himself and threaten to eat people who were being cruel to others.... Another parasite even noted that Shinichi was "no longer pure". And so, a dark new fear began to blossom: that he would develop an appetite for humans, and lose his precious humanity to Migi. After all, their situation held a great deal of unknowns; even Migi didn't know what might happen in their odd case, where a parasite and its host retained their individual minds in the same body.

However, despite the moments of merging with Migi, there does remain a generally clear divide between them most of the time. If Shinichi is the emotional heart, Migi is the logical head. Perhaps the most accurate representation of them was when a girl with psychic abilities looked into Shinichi's eyes and was terrified to detect the image of a large, alien eyeball slowly opening itself wider. Migi may not have successfully taken over Shinichi's brain, but deep down, the alien is there inside the human's mind.

Personality-wise, Migi is highly curious and inquisitive to the behaviours and life of other species. He won't hesitate to act to satisfy this scientific curiosity, often putting Shinichi in the most awkward of situations. He may seem approachable: being almost childlike in his curiosity, speaking politely and formally, and even hosting a sense of humour that pops up from time to time. Yet underlying this is a frightening side to his perception in that he fully lacks human emotions and sees things from a purely tactical perspective; his purpose is to keep himself alive, and that means keeping Shinichi alive — at any cost. Particularly, the concept of "altruism" (which is Shinichi's defining trait) baffles him. He also possesses intelligence beyond that of human capacity and is constantly adjusting to life and researching things, learning as much as he possibly can not only about the human world but also his own existence.

Abilities: All of the following are abilities that Migi is capable of — extending to Shinichi, given that the alien literally is his right arm / hand, physiologically and anatomically. However, Shinichi can't control these abilities himself.

• transformation: Migi has the ability to change his form into basically any organic shape, to stretch himself out like rubber, to duplicate himself, and to forge Shinichi's arm and hand into whatever is needed. This includes shapeshifting into bladed weaponry (these "blades" are a staple of his species and while not organic by human standards, may be so for the parasites), tentacle-like appendages, or claws — but most of the time, Migi is in a tamed state. This may be an eye or two anywhere on Shinichi's hand, a mouth popping up in his palm, Migi manipulating his fingers into eyestalks so that he can look around, or stretching himself out into thin tendrils that peek out of Shinichi's clothing.

• misc. inhuman capabilities: Migi is capable of moving inhumanly swiftly, and of pulling Shinichi around with sheer force. He also possesses the ability to heal Shinichi, to enter other parts of his body, and to actually detach from him, leaving Shinichi without everything from the right elbow down. (However, he must return to his host within a matter of minutes, or else he will die. When he is detached, he is also significantly weaker both physically and mentally.)

Migi is able to sense the "brainwaves" of other parasites from great distances, and seems to have the ability to sense other species as well: whether they are human or not, their distance, strength, and to some extent their emotional state and whether they pose a threat to him — similar to how an animal would. While his abilities may seem quite aggressive, they are essentially centered around the simple need for survival. He has access to all of Shinichi's internal state as well, capable of detecting any changes within it.

It should also be noted that despite being quite formidable, Migi is certainly not indestructible. If faced against a powerful enough opponent, it's very feasible he could get injured. Fire is also particularly a weakness for him, and can cause instability in his cells — too much exposure can actually kill him. Cold water / cold things in general may be used as a deterrent, and causes him pain and discomfort. He generally has a difficult time with extreme changes in temperature. He also must rest / "sleep", and during these times, Shinichi regains complete control over his right hand, which becomes a normal, non-powered human hand again. Certain game events might also render the parasite in a weakened state.

• extensive knowledge: Notably in anatomy. While this is enhanced via studying and research, a gift for anatomical understanding is just a general feature of his species. It's something inborn, so that they're able to invade, overtake, and work a host body as needed. His inhuman intelligence also belongs in this category, as it's not necessarily a skill so much as a feature of his species; they are capable of obtaining, processing, and retaining information extremely quickly (for example, Migi learned the entire Japanese language in one day.)

Inventory: school uniform + pea coat + backpack (with a few misc. items such as a notebook, writing tools, and Shinichi's Anatomy textbook which Migi likes to have on-hand)

Samples:
— 01 (a meme thread that involves a great deal of the psychological turmoils within Shinichi / things that are a huge part of his character that will also come into play in this particular game setting.)
— 02 (a TDM thread, chosen because it shows a bit of Migi's Voice and personality / manner of reasoning / etc.)

Questions: N/A