Poly App

<b>[character abilities]:</b>  He is a talented ballet dancer, showing unusual elegance and flexibility, which he incorporates into a particular dance-battle style of close combat. The more unique powers available to him are:

A forbidden spell used through his sword to shatter his heart (figurative and literal hearts being the same thing). In this state, his heart becomes gemstone shards, each representing a different emotion, while he is left as an emotionless shell.
His sword http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/AmiMercury/vlcsnap-51468.png  also splits into a pair of swans when broken, and, provided that his heart is whole, he can call them back together to form the blade at any time. He does not seem to carry his sword with them, but rather summon it by thought when he needs it. However, the sword does not demonstrate any particular abilities during combat; no energy related attacks or other special properties. For the most part, its primary use is as an ordinary blade.
He can use large streams or pools of cherry blossoms as platforms for jumping and flying. The petals seem to be generated from nothing, but gather quickly and support him in the air.  http://i56.tinypic.com/rko2o7.png

<b>[character personality]:</b>Siegfried's character is largely defined by his position as a prince, at least on the surface. His personality initially seems very closely matched to that of many storybook heroes, with his courage, wit, and unfading resolve. As the protagonist of <i>The Prince and the Raven,</i> he was described as the Prince who Loved Everyone, totally devoted to his people. He was dedicated to the defeat of his greatest enemy, a monstrous Raven, and set all his power in the battle. Ultimately, he was willing to chase the Raven out from their home in the story into reality and seal it with his own heart. He essentially made himself an emotionless doll, but the Raven was stopped, if only for a time. His determination was such that he declared his intent to fragment his heart as many times as needed until he could win against the Raven, which would have condemned himself and others to a cycle of tragedy. It was his duty as a prince, something that was of the utmost value to him, that drove him to such lengths. However, that does not mean he wished to be permanently lost to the battle. It was his desire to regain his heart, in the honest hope of victory, that became Princess Tutu's pendant and gave her the power to restore him in turn.

Siegfried's first inclination upon having his heart returned would have been to follow it, as the saying advises. His real nature immediately came to light, and he took up his role as the brave prince of the story once again. That inherent nobility was indeed natural to him, and he acted that way almost out of reflex. At the same time, that prince was not entirely him anymore. His own expectations were to return to the story and lead his people, but living up to those expectations were another matter. Even he directly acknowledged that his time in reality changed him, as the Prince who Loved Everyone found one person he wanted to love most of all, Rue, and took her back into the story to be his princess. She would be the only person he could share his true self with. Despite lacking a heart for most of the time that he was out of the story, the friends he made in reality are probably more genuine than any he had in his own world. In fact, given the intense, distant respect that fairytale royalty receives, he would miss the chance to truly develop ordinary friendships regardless of his restoration. The brightness of his world would have a noticeable absence of substance for him, and though he may not have minded any of that before, his unawareness of his own identity as a character would have made such a relatively shallow lifestyle the norm for him in the past. Having had a taste of something more, he might wish for a chance to have gotten to know it better. Indeed, though he is driven to behave as a prince, he may on occasion reach for certain frivolities that do not quite match his status.

However, that is not to say that he is uncomfortable with himself. He has an advantage against all these uncertainties in his princely nature, despite how easy it would be for some to miss seeing it. Regardless of how often he might question his actions, he never questions himself. He might miss some of the opportunities offered outside the story, such as a wider variety of close friendships, but he never regrets his role. He is truly excited to be himself again, whatever hardships he might face in going about it, and he accepts who he is. He never hesitates if he believes something to be right, though worries about whether he met royal responsibilities properly might follow. In this respect, he still keeps something of a decidedly unreal strength about himself, and it is quite deeply rooted in him, never wavering. This is one of the few elements of the prince that is really shown, for though he almost loses hope briefly in the battle with the Raven, it is only to prolong the conflict, and not to utterly admit defeat. Once Duck inspires him to keep fighting, he does so with a flare of intensity unique to those charismatic heroes we look at from afar.

Perhaps the most intense struggle that Siegfried faced outside of the story was his exposure to the Raven's blood. When his heart was in the process of being restored, the piece that held his love was drenched in the blood of the Raven, which slowly spread throughout the rest of his heart, poisoning it and turning him into the dark Raven Prince. He was returned to normal with Rue's declaration of love for him, and one might look at that love as a kind of seal, which patched up those weakness that the Raven's blood ripped into. That blood, however, was not removed from him, and it still flows and waits for a time when it can once again pry into the prince's heart. The acts he carried out while controlled by the blood caused him pain and shamed him, making the threat of it reasserting itself a very dangerous one for him. Without Rue to stand beside him, it is possible that the blood could find a foothold again, but it is something he hopes he has left long behind him.

Another matter that presents Siegfried with a challenge comes down to all the time spent without a heart. There was not exactly a sudden rush of renewed emotions once his heart was completed; after all, its restored state is as it should be, and so it is most natural for him, with names for his feelings and memories of himself. However, the individual heart shards did not fit so cleanly, often calling him painfully up from nothingness. He had no self-awareness. The only thing left to him that could drive his own will was his desire to protect others, but he spared no thought for his own well-being and did not even seem able to feel the pain of injuries he received in rescues. He would jump out of buildings to save falling birds, unable to recognize that it would hurt him. At the same time, he was alert enough to see dangers when they were presented, but he did not disregard them them for his own sake. He did not comprehend his own sake, nor did he have any feelings at all. Each fragment of his heart struck him deeply upon its return, giving him enough of a heart to make him realize it was wounded. Given the suddenness of the shift, it is unlikely that he faces no emotional repercussions from the restoration of his heart. But people, himself included, may not be able to notice them at first. One could say that he would be more susceptible to his emotions, rather than the feelings themselves being drastically intensified, he would be more perceptive of even small feelings. Often, the consequences of this are minor, such as snapping at someone when he might not have normally. He is quick to steady himself when he notices, but not by deliberately wrestling with the feeling. Instead, he does his best to take them in stride. He does not take any feelings for granted, and carefully takes all of himself into consideration at every possible chance, working to use his heart for his own happiness, and the happiness of people he can fully care about again.

What most people will see in Siegfried is the figure of a noble prince, and those who get to know him well will find him more cheerful than expected, if not more relaxed. He actually tends to be a gentleman in the extreme, never failing to be polite, and he doesn't realize how some people might find that strange. It stems in part from his style as a leader; he often worked to be as welcome a presence in the lives of his people as possible, and he maintains the warmth of a beloved ruler as a matter of course, even if he isn't in charge of the people he happens to be with. It's far from impossible to damage this calmness, particularly not given his unusual emotional situation, but it takes a great deal to significantly upset him for his own sake. He rarely dwells on personal problems, but he will spend as much attention as possible on helping others.

<b>[point in timeline you're picking your character from]:</b> Post-series

<b>[journal post]:</b>

This place... I have been exploring, and yet I am...  still unsure of what is going on. And so, I must ask...

[A hesitant pause. And then, for all the politeness of the request, it comes across very much as a regal demand.]

I would be most grateful if someone would tell me where this is. Indeed, if such information is not forthcoming, I will have to uncover it myself.

[There is, admittedly, a hint of threat, and more than a hint of heroic resolve.]

This tastes of some foul magic, and I must return I home as quickly as possible... I truly have no wish to harm anyone, but  being trapped is not something I will accept. I fought too long to return in the past, and now, my people surely wait for me again... and my Princess...

[His voice trickled off into melancholy droplets, but it only takes a moment for him to revive in full force.]

...But they will not wait for long. I swear it.

<b>[third person / log sample]:</b>

The prince bent nearer to the flowerbed, allowing his fingers to stray appreciatively over the rose's petals, cautious of the thorns. A grand smile stretched across his face as he straightened to stride back down the garden path, his cape fluttering in rhythm with his light steps. It was a fine day; the world's dusting of sugary sunlight was made all the sweeter for him by a trilling undercurrent the warmth sent spiraling through his veins. On the surface, and indeed, for most of his own awareness, the freshness of the air was nothing more than that, but still easily enough to please. It went further for him, however; to feel was such a simple thing, familiar and hardly shocking, yet each sensation seemed to stir something that had fallen dormant in his blood. A richness, perhaps, or some internal warmth that the sun reinvigorated.

He allowed his eyelids to drift shut, a reflection of the path in his memory guiding him on his way back to the palace. A instinctual grace inspired him to take a short leap, and he landed with a neat turn, sweeping a pointed toe in a wide arc before himself to pivot back in the direction he intended to go. The day was lovely, yes, but he had duties to attend to first. Later, however, a proper stroll with his princess would almost certainly be in order. The thought strengthened his poise as he paced up the stairs from the courtyard, rejoining the structure of crystalline marble from which he ruled his domain. Each noble he passed was greeted with a cordial wave, except one. Rue stopped as he caught her hand briefly, and his smile took on a secretive note, a strangely youthful delight.

“I am sorry, my princess, but for the moment, I must deal with matters at court... You understand.” He sighed. She was the only person who ever heard his true sighs, and neither of them minded. It was mutual, in fact; something that he privately enjoyed, something that was new to him. “But once I've finished, you should join me for the evening...”

She merely nodded, and allowed him to lift her hand against his lips softly before unwinding his fingers and moving on down the hallway somewhat reluctantly. He had to admit that it was something he savored now, this love. So long ago, it had been ancient enmity that drove him to shatter his heart, and what held him together now was something he could only call precious. His story had begun <i>once upon a time</i>, when he was the prince who loved everyone, but the story had ended, leaving him with a life in its stead. There was still doubt in him of whether that was for good or for ill, but it would not do to dwell on such things when he had a princess and his people both to care for.