[@Zero Hex]

"Okay so, considering you haven't actually responded to much of anything, and [b]I'm trying to work with you here[/b] seeing I've pointed out a myriad of shortcomings and heavy disadvantages my character is subjected to as well as provided justification for powers you thought lacked ground to stand on based on thematic, story, personality and even real life examples of similar skills:" 

Let's get one thing straight, you're not trying to work with me nor is this some type of debate. I reviewed your char, and re-reviewed it after hearing your rebuttal before giving my final verdict. With that said, I'm not going to go back and forward with you on this matter. Either do as I instructed or don't bother getting accepted at all, it's simple as that. This is non-negotiable. 

"How do you suggest balancing out a man whose thing is being a skilled actual swordsman with the low key powerset of "can sword real good despite being unable to powerblast", without being immediately rendered moot by the people summoning reiryoku-stealing, crushing bodies of water, creating poisonous clouds and a poison-on-touch armor, summoning and controlling magical shadows etc, all of them armed with a magical weapon as well, often with a higher level of proficiency in other skills to boot over my extremely overspecialized guy. Should I just scrap it and just have a samey powerset? Let go of an actual gimmick in favor of regular lieutenant levels of power?" 

I thought the point of making an underpowered char was to be underpowered? You chose to make your character that way so you can't get mad cause of the competition you have to face because of it. If I put a new game on the hardest difficulty without having any experience beforehand then I must endure the end result, same thing with your char. This isn't Burger King. Either your char is going to be strong or he isn't, you can't have the best of both worlds...or maybe you can? Awhile ago for a story I made, I created the most underpowered naruto character that turned out pretty well. He wasn't naturally strong nor could he really compete with anyone except for those no named npcs. Despite that, he managed to beat some of the strongest people with very unorthodoxed tactics(And I'm the type of person who won't even hesitate to kill my main char in order to make it realistic). What I'm saying is that you can make anything work if you're creative enough but if you can't think of anything other than similar stuff then maybe you should broaden your horizons a little more. Also, like I mentioned, you can always ask me or one of the gms for help and we can try to provide some innovative stuff for you char.

Now I'm going to catch some zzzz's cause I have a Final in the morning.