[ prismatica ] application

[nineroutes]

▶ PLAYER
HANDLE: sarah
CONTACT: diamondfusion
OVER 18? yep.
CHARACTERS IN-GAME: none

▶ CHARACTER
NAME: Tenn Kujo
CANON: IDOLiSH7
CANON POINT: End of Part 3, Chapter 20.
AGE: 19
BACKGROUND:

⟡ Tenn Kujo was born Tenn Nanase, as half of a pair of twins. While he was a perfectly healthy child from birth, his brother was not so lucky, suffering from a chronic respiratory disease that left him bedridden or in the hospital for days on end.
⟡ His parents ran a showclub/theatre, and were too busy to take care of Riku, so it fell to Tenn to assume the role of Riku's primary caretaker, and also keeping him entertained by singing and performing the songs from the performers in the theatre.
⟡ Sometime during middle school, in a backdrop of mounting hospital costs from Riku's treatments and the dwindling business of the family theatre, Tenn met Kujo, a man who came to scout Tenn as an idol, having recognised his potential to be something more, someone to surpass even the most legendary idol, Zero.
⟡ Kujo asked Tenn to make a decision - leave with him, train under him to be an idol, and Kujo would shoulder all of the Nanase family debt and allow them to continue to take Riku to the hospital for the treatment he desperately needed.
⟡ It wasn't a difficult decision. So even when Riku held his hand tightly, begged him not to leave, Tenn Nanase left without a word and abandoned his family to become Tenn Kujo.
⟡ Kujo kept Tenn under lock and key, whisking him overseas to study and train until he was ready to debut as an idol, with absolutely no contact whatsoever with Riku or his biological family.
⟡ Fast forward to age 16, and Kujo arranged for Tenn to be sent back to Japan, to debut under Yaotome Productions' new three-man idol group, TRIGGER, as their centre.
⟡ After a rocky introduction that nearly broke the group before it started, Tenn, Ryuu and Gaku debut and end up taking the idol world by storm, sweeping awards and dominating the scene to be considered one of the most successful idol groups around.
⟡ The last person that Tenn expects to run into is Riku, who is now centre of newly debuted group IDOLiSH7, who end up being set up as TRIGGER's rivals over the course of the game.
⟡ In Part 3 of the story, malicious forces in the industry start smearing TRIGGER's name, branding them with a staged scandal and cutting them off from most of their work by any means necessary (there was a kidnapping involved, even).
⟡ Forced to go indie when Yaotome Productions releases TRIGGER from their contracts to avoid selling them to a rival agency, TRIGGER are determined to climb back up to the top and reclaim their rightful thrones as top idols.

PERSONALITY:

First of all, this is canon, I had to use it. On a more serious note, however:

Ask his fans, anyone who's watched him on TV or read his interviews, and Tenn Kujo is an angel. Ask anyone who has actually seen him behind the scenes, and Tenn Kujo might actually be the devil.

On the stage, he's warm and sweet, the kind of idol that tailors his behaviours for the fans to seek out that elusive personal connection, turning up the fanservice with the other members of TRIGGER; the kind of idol that performs perfectly 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Endlessly charismatic, Tenn has an irreplaceable presence that keeps his fans coming back, keeps their eyes glued onto him and the focus on his stage. Every single move that Tenn makes in public is to maximise his appeal as an idol, to endear him to his fans, to show to the world what they expect and what they want to see in one pretty package so that they will never regret investing their time and interest in him. As long as eyes are on him, Tenn will play the part of the perfect idol.

Off-stage, when he's not being watched, his personality could not come off more different - he comes off as cold and harsh, keeping people at arm's length. He's the only person in the series who continues to refer to the other characters save for his unitmates with their full names, a sign of emotional distance. Even if he has benevolent intentions, he's straightfoward and blunt and doesn't mince his words, coming across as (unintentionally) callous or cruel due to his sharp tongue and backhanded compliments. His calculated pragmatism and almost-clinical way of approaching problems and how to solve them means that despite his very real concern, he can come off as insensitive and emotionless - for instance, his opinion that Riku should quit being an idol entirely in the interests of his health.

The divide in his personality is stark enough to throw people off guard if they're not expecting it, since it's the complete opposite of how people would expect for Tenn to act, given his angelic face and general image. It's also stark enough to cause people (like Gaku) to accuse him of being two-faced and insincere, even if it's not a malicious deception. It's merely matter-of-fact separation between his professional image and his personal life.

As a perfectionist who is hard on who he works with (he's claimed that he doesn't work with second rates) and even harder on himself, Tenn is the embodiment of a professional who demands the best of his partners and holds himself to even more punishing, demanding standards. To Tenn, who stakes his identity on being TRIGGER's centre, the most important aspect of being an idol is to never disappoint your fans. The fans are after dream-like entertainment, after all, and if that is something that he can't provide, then there is absolutely no point in standing on the stage. He's driven, hardworking and independent, always striving to perform at his peak in order to never disappoint the people who are relying on him to be the perfect, picturesque Tenn Kujo, the idol of the century who will one day eventually surpass the legendary idol Zero.

Stubborn to a fault, Tenn also has a habit of hiding things from others. Tenn is often unwilling to admit his true feelings, and even if by some miracle someone manages to wrangle or provoke something out of him, it's kind of expected that he will drop information in the most oblique fashion, or in a way that obscures the truth. Technically, he's not lying when he says that Kujo taught him to be a true entertainer, but hell if he'll ever admit to Riku the true reason why he decided to leave with Kujo. This also manifests physically - he's fond of disguising himself when he's out in public, wearing sunglasses or a mask when he’s about to show some emotion, so that others won't see his face, so that the fans or people he cares about won't worry about him.

Despite his appearances, however, Tenn is an incredibly selfless and giving person, sometimes to an unhealthy extent. He's endlessly devoted to his fans, who he treasures and prizes above all else. He puts the needs and the feelings of the fans above his own, claiming that to disappoint or worry them is unforgivable, because it would be taking advantage of their love, to the extent that he broke out of the hospital to stand on stage with TRIGGER for a concert even though he had been hospitalised for overwork, and refusing to collapse until after the very last song and all the fans had left. He would give his everything for the people that he cares about, and his emotions run incredibly deep, despite the wall that he uses to hold them back, to keep his emotions from interfering with his work. He cares deeply for the other members of TRIGGER, and has come to see them as true friends instead of merely business partners. Despite being estranged from his family and from Riku, he still shows concern for Riku's health (... even if sometimes it backfires spectacularly) from afar.

POWERS/ABILITIES:

Canon idol stats as above. Tenn has no supernatural abilities or anything resembling that, but he's a pretty skilled idol with the potential to become a legend. That said, he does have an insane sweet tooth (enough to eat three people under the table at a dessert buffet) and a talent for breaking out of the hospital every so often even while hospitalised for exhaustion.

INVENTORY:
⟡ Cellphone
⟡ Fake glasses
⟡ Heavenly Visitor outfit
⟡ Digital camera (with photos of Riku)

MOONBLESSING: Cordis

▶ SAMPLES

link #1
link #2