Application for Mask or Menace.

[spaceforged]

〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Samuel
AGE: 33
JOURNAL: starflare
IM / EMAIL: sam#4924
PLURK: skyheron
RETURNING: Nope, I’m brand new!

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Takashi Shirogane
CHARACTER AGE: 25
SERIES: Voltron - Legendary Defender
CHRONOLOGY: Season 2 - Episode 13 Blackout - Just as the Black Lion urges him to thrust his bayard into the key slot.
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: I’d like him housed with Keith if both get in but, I’m open to having more than just Keith as a roommate!

BACKGROUND: Voltron: Legendary Defender Series summary.


Over 10,000 years ago the universe was made peaceful by the efforts of five pilots of incredible mechanized lions. Unfortunately, the original Black Paladin Zarkon became corrupted by a rift between realities and began what would be the subjugation of the entire universe. The remaining pilots did their best to fight him but in the end, the lions were sent away to prevent them from falling into Zarkon’s hands. 10,000 years later events are set in motion to give rise to a new set of Paladins of Voltron.

We know nothing of Shiro’s early life. Documented history for Shiro begins with entering the Galaxy Garrison, a hub of military power and space exploration. Shiro became their top pilot and a recruiter. Along the way, he fell in love with his flight partner Adam and recruited Keith a teenager with the potential to be a top pilot. But his career was on a time limit. Shiro suffered from an unnamed terminal disease that was robbing him of his health. His choices led him to break from his relationship and be part of a special mission, Operation Kerberos.

Kerberos was meant to be a mission to the moon of Pluto. Instead, an alien race known as the Galra kidnapped Shiro and his crew, Sam and Matt Holt. The team was separated and Shiro was forced to injure Matt to protect him from being put in a Gladiator arena. He took his place and excelled earning respect and a title, Champion. Unfortunately, his prowess was noticed and he was used as a test subject for Haggar the right hand of Emperor Zarkon. His right arm was replaced with a prosthetic before Ulaz, a member of the resistance force the Blades of Marmora, helped him escape. Ulaz urged him to go back to Earth and reach the Blue Lion before the Empire.

He crash-landed outside the Garrison. They ignored his warnings and quarantined him. His old friend Keith busted him out with the help of Hunk, Lance, and Pidge. Keith led them deep into the desert to a mysterious force that called to him, the Blue Lion of Voltron. The activated Lion flies up into space and the team choose to lead the Galra away from Earth. The Lion takes them to Arus where Princess Allura and her Advisor Coran have been sleeping within the Castle of Lions in stasis for over 10,000 years. With the help of Princess Allura, they retrieve four of the lions and activate the Black Lion hidden away within the castle ship. Together the five become the new Paladins of Voltron and with a little bit of a struggle, form Voltron and defeat the Galra ship.

The Paladins take time to learn how to work as a team, meet the local people, and repair the castle ship. Lance is injured when an explosion that destroys the castle’s engine crystal. Shiro stays behind to keep an eye on him and comes face to face with the commander of the Galra ship, Sendak. Shiro is defeated and taken prisoner but later rescued by the rest of the team. The ship is restored and the team leaves Planet Arus. After dealing with pirates they head to the planet Balmera and free them from Galra rule. They decide to copy the captured Sendak’s memories to gather intelligence. Shiro volunteers to keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, the Galra’s efforts to take over the ship corrupted key systems including an ai copy of King Alfor, Allura’s father.

Shiro is taunted by Sendak (we’ll never know if he hallucinated it or the ship corruption enabled it) about his fears of being a monster. He panics and ejects Sendak into space. He and the rest of the team come together to fix the ship. As the team recovers from their ordeal they look through what memories they did get from Sendak. Pidge finds a possible hidden base within the data and the Paladins plus Princess Allura investigate it. After taking control of the base the team discovers the information they need is on the docked fleet ship. Shiro and Allura sneak aboard the ship. Shiro’s arm that allows them to access the database also gives them away. Allura lets herself be captured to allow Shiro to escape. The team mounts a rescue mission directly into the heart of the Galra Empire.

Zarkon was waiting for them and mentally seizes control of the Black Lion revealing he was its original Paladin. Shiro is ejected into space and makes his way back to the Lion. Haggar intervenes and injures him but Allura and Hunk come to his aid. In turn, he saves Keith from a fight with Zarkon. As the team beat a hasty retreat, Haggar strikes their escape portal distorting it. Shiro and Keith are ripped from the Castle ship and crash land on an unknown planet. A wounded Shiro slowly makes his way to higher ground but is waylaid by giant lizards. Keith saves him using the Black Lion. As they wait to be rescued Shiro tells Keith he wants him to lead Voltron should anything happen to him. While inside a healing pod Shiro recalls how he escaped and upon waking sets Pidge to dig into the software of his arm. They discover a location code and investigate. Ulaz reveals himself and a hidden Marmora outpost but the Galra Empire has begun tracking the Black Lion.

The team is forced to fight again and when they’re nearly defeated, Ulaz sacrifices himself. Shiro reasons they shouldn’t go to the Blade headquarters without discovering how they’re being tracked. Later they pick up a distress signal coded into living spores. It turns out to be an Olkari distress signal. They aid them and gain a powerful ally in the fight against Zarkon. But Zarkon begins plaguing their every step. No matter where they portal to, Zarkon shows up. It puts heavy stress on the portal generating tech and Shiro discovers any time the Black Lion is near Zarkon he has to fight him for control. They manage to portal away at last but a discussion about how they’re being tracked leads to more questions. Shiro decides they should strike back against the Galra. Keith and Allura decide to go out away from the ship in case they’re the way Zarkon is tracking the ship.

Shiro orders them to return and takes the rest of the team to help the people of Tarjeer. The Galra hit while they’re assisting the Tarjeerans. Keith and Allura return, and the team form Voltron and take out the Galra. Keith had called to Red across a great distance proving that Zarkon has been tracking the Black Lion. The team decided to go to a space mall to seek out replacement pieces for the portal tech. Shiro stays behind to work on his bond with the Black Lion. The lion reveals its past history with Zarkon to Shiro but it puts him in direct confrontation with Zarkon. They do battle within the Lion’s consciousness and the Lion chooses Shiro who sees the Lion as a friend, not a tool. Once the team returns Shiro sets the team on course for the Blade of Marmora headquarters.

The Blades only permit two to come unarmed to their base. Shiro takes Keith and politely chews him out for losing his head before. He reminds him that if anything happens to him Keith will be their leader. In Blade headquarters, Keith is pinned down and accused of theft of one of their blades. Its Keith’s blade but a shocked Shiro has never seen it before. Keith demands to know where it came from and agrees to the Blade Trial of Marmora. For quite a long time Keith takes on Blade after Blade while Shiro is forced to watch. Keith’s will power is so strong he is thrust into a mental realm and the Red Lion comes to his defense. Shiro breaks away from his guards and rushes to his defense. He protects Keith and almost comes to blows with the Marmora but Keith surrenders his blade and awakens it. The only way a blade can awaken is if the owner has galra blood. They return to the castle and the Marmora put forth a plan to defeat Zarkon once and for all.

Pidge, Shiro, and Lance are sent off to break a genius engineer Slav out of Galra imprisonment. Keith and Hunk to collect material for an even larger portal device. Both teams converge when Allura calls for help and defeat a revived monster on Balmera. At last, comes the day of the plan. Shiro lures Zarkon to a set location and Keith volunteers to take over for a spy that doesn’t check-in. Shiro provides him cover and plays distraction outside. It’s touch and go but the plan works. Zarkon’s ship is forced through a giant portal and the team form Voltron. Zarkon comes out to battle them directly. Haggar attempts to defeat them for her emperor with a dark ritual but Allura stalls Zarkon long enough for the Paladins to recover. Zarkon attacks Voltron and at Shiro through the connection to the Black Lion. He overloads Shiro and Voltron breaks apart. But Shiro rises again and takes back the Black bayard that no longer belongs to Zarkon.

They form Voltron one more time and strike a deadly blow, but Zarkon gets in his own attack on Shiro himself. The Black Lion urges him to use his reclaimed bayard so it could save him.

PERSONALITY:

This personality section covers both seasons with some examples past the canon pull point.

“The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader, and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That’s why Shiro will pilot the Black Lion.” - Allura, Episode 1, season 1.

There’s no better description of Shiro. He is a natural leader. Within the first few minutes of meeting his future team, they are planning a mission to uncover the energy source in the desert and carrying it out. He’s straight forward and serious, telling people exactly what he feels is the best course of action. For example, he doesn’t sugarcoat the alien threat to Earth. But he isn’t without kindness. On countless occasions, he has talked to Keith after Keith has had an angry outburst. When Katie (Pidge) was worried about her family he shared in her frustrations and grief but kept the secret of her identity. All of his team are also his family, the most important people in his world. He believes in them and gives them the support they need to succeed and be everything he can see they could be.

To be a good leader more than belief is necessary. Over the course of both seasons, Shiro has displayed a number of these requirements. He listens to the input of other people and takes their skills into account. He only ever serves as a guide, keeping the team on course and binding them into one fighting force. In turn, they look to him to accurately judge their capabilities and come up with plans that make the most of them. Even that wouldn’t be enough if he didn’t have the self-discipline to keep his own emotions in check. No matter what’s going on, he can still focus on the goals ahead of him.

Yet, Shiro isn’t without his own problems. He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder a condition that can fracture or shatter control when the person affected is faced with a stimulus that is similar to the source of trauma. It can be words, surroundings and even smells. As is common with PTSD he has flashbacks that sometimes slowed him down or made him pause. He usually takes these in stride. But the most notable instances are Sendak’s psychological warfare while Sendak is in stasis and when Shiro faces off against Haggar. In both cases, he starts to lose control and blindly lashes out. Clearly, in a panic in both cases, he attempts to remove the source of trauma. He ejected Sendak from the ship to get rid of him. This is another common symptom of PTSD. While in the grips of a PTSD attack, choices are made based on emotion and are very irrational. I promise to treat this subject very carefully. But unless certain stimuli come up Shiro will power through any moments and focus on what needs to be done.

“Just remember, patience yields focus.” - Shiro to Keith in Episode 1.

The advice Shiro gives Keith is something he himself embodies. He’s extremely patient. Lance’s goofball moments and talk of girls is only contained when Shiro feels like they’re getting off track. He calmly settles any spats, insecurities, and freak-outs had by the people around him. Time and time again he’s calmed the group down so they can focus. When the group all got into arguments about what to do when the Galra attacked Arus he quieted the team and turned everyone’s focus on Allura who knew the lions best. When Allura is captured later in the first season he accepts his own failure and locks eyes on fixing what went wrong. Behavior like this is why his Lion trusts him to pilot it.

Shiro's patience does have a limit. When someone like Slav has a number of seemingly ridiculous excuses not to continue moving during a mission. He loses his temper. Twice. His military background and straight forward way of looking at the world makes him less sensitive towards tightly wound individuals. But he isn't without a sense of humor. He joined in on a squishy asteroid fight, laughed at fart jokes, and had his own silly opinion about laser sounds. Sometimes his jokes fall flat, like when he remarked to Keith he was fine but his wound was getting bigger all the time. Not funny, Shiro.

“Okay, enough with the bad sound effects. Besides, it’s more like — blam, blam, blam!” - Shiro, Season 1, Episode 7: his remark about laser sounds.

In closing, Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane despite his flaws continues to be the strong individual worthy of leading his team. He can adapt and form strategic plans on the fly, making him a deadly foe to face off against. His kindness and ability to connect with others helps him be a force that guides others to forge them into one and to succeed at their own individual hurdles. He plays to his strengths, helps others develop theirs, and will push himself to the limit when he’s needed. As a friend, ally, or as a leader, he will always be able to inflame the spirit of others and continue towards his chosen goals.

POWER:

Paladin of Voltron - Paladins of Voltron are psychically bound to their Lions. Shiro is no different. As there’s a precedent for Paladins of Voltron, this power slot will be taken up by the Black Lion (downsized to the size of a normal lion) instead of the massive lion he would usually be piloting, his Paladin armor - comlink, barrier shield in the left gauntlet, jet pack and bayard. The Bayard is the weapons of the Paladins of Voltron - Shiro’s has only been seen to shape into a bladed throwable weapon. The armor itself is good for combat or space.

Galran Tech Prosthetic - The alien race known as the Galra experimented on Shiro replacing his arm with a mechanical prosthetic. It grants him beyond human strength. He could toss around large beasts with it fairly easily. The hand can be charged with energy at will. Shiro has sealed metal doors together and even carved his way into a space battle cruiser’s hull. Frequently he uses it like a super-heated sword. There is no known physical drawbacks to using it. However, there are some costs to having it attached to him. His arm allows him to activate and access Galra technology but gives away who is accessing the information. It also leaves him vulnerable to dark magic since it was made from such arts. I’d reason that it is harder for one to take control of him without being aware of the meld of tech and magic that forms the weapon.

Call Of The Wild - Shiro’s non-canon power I’m basing on his ability to adapt to changing circumstances and his resilience as an individual. For 12 hours a day, Shiro can take one of three forms - wolf, panther, and hawk. If you need me to break down why these three, I can. While any of the three he is subject to having to learn how to use each form. This means walking, flying, even getting used to the senses. Changing shape and learning how to use each form effectively will take a while to learn. His clothes don’t change with him so it will be best to partly strip before shape-changing.

Each form will only be as strong or as big as a normal wolf, panther, or hawk. If you want me to limit his time in a shape or limit how many times he can shapeshift a day, I propose 2-3 hours per form.

〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:

[There's a click as the video turns on and the faint recording light reflects on the visor of a helmet beside a calm looking man. He pushes it out of the way with his metal right hand and nods to the screen.] Hello, I've heard I've been here before. Sorry to anyone who knew me, I came back without those memories. I don't foresee them coming back.

[He leans back in his seat it makes the scar across the bridge of his nose stand out. His hair is cut short except for a shock of white in the front. He glances to the side briefly and back into at the viewers. He's used to speaking for an audience.] But that's not why I turned this on. ...just how much do we know about the base we all arrive at? That's where we come in and I'd like to learn all I can about it. Making technology to traverse realities...that's risky.

[He pauses an glances down where he saw them put the tattoo. He already can be tracked by his Galra tech arm. Not here, obviously, but the marker exists. If they can be tracked by these tattoos. His hand clenches at his side but his voice stays measured.] And what about these tattoos? Are they tracking us through them? I know what they said. But, I want to confirm it. I want to fully understand the present situation.

I'd appreciate anything, even if it's just pointing me where public records are. Thank you.

[And that's the end of that.]

LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: Tdm

FINAL NOTES: Shiro isn't coming in with anything that isn't listed. Just some injuries that can heal in time.