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Gaia name: Rustig
Character Origin: Original
Character Type: Student
School Year: First Year
Persona User: Yes
Alignment: Neutral Good
Character Name: Watanabe Eiji (渡辺 永次)
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Birthday: May 3rd, 1996
Nationality: Japanese
Family:
Father: Watanabe Eiichi
Mother: Watanabe Megumi
Older Sister: Watanabe Eiko
Older Sister: Watanabe Hotaru
Physical Description: TBC
Personality:
Eiji tries very hard fit in, especially among people older than him - and in most cases, he does so rather well. He has a strong desire to be thought of - by himself as much as other people - as being mature, intelligent and self-reliant, and as a result has a tendency to get into dubious situations purely to demonstrate his capability. Eiji is a very sociable person, owing in part to his desire to want to seem "in-the-know". He's smart enough to realise that being friendly and staying on people's good sides tends to be a more positive experience for everyone than being a stuck-up jerk - he may occasionally have trouble "laughing off" jokes, but all-in-all he's very amiable.
Eiji's home-life is strained: he has placed a great weight on his academic ability, but given his limited experience and mediocre practical abilities at helping out around the farm, he is sometimes made fun of by his older siblings: this resulted in Eiji internalising a need to appear intelligent, and a vast fear of being shown up for not knowing something.
Favourite Food: Gyuudon
Favourite Drink: BOSS Coffee au Lait (Canned Coffee)
Favourite Colour: Yellow and orange
Hobbies: Browsing the internet, reading
Dislikes:
- Being caught out on not knowing something - especially during the times where he's trying to downplay the fact that he doesn't know.
- Chemistry class - he's awful at it, and everything he learns doesn't ever seem to stick.
- Chores - he feels incompetent and incapable when asked to do work out on the farm, or domestic duties.
History: Eiji is the youngest child, and only son, of the Watanabe family, who have been Inaba natives for several generations. They are somewhat well-known in the town, as they own the farmland on the outskirts of the town's residential area; the Watanabe's large farmhouse is the last building one will see when leaving Inaba through one of the main roads. The family still tends to the farmland, sowing crops on virtually the only arable land for miles.
As the youngest child, Eiji was pampered and doted on, especially by his two older sisters, Eiko and Hotaru, who were seven and ten respectively when Eiji was born. They considered him to be a kind of "personal project" for themselves: they aimed to make him the best he could be. In a way, they succeeded: when Eiji started attending school, he demonstrated exceptional literacy and arithmetic skills, which only got better as he progressed through the academic system. His sisters, by that time, had begun to naturally become disinterested in their pet project, instead focusing on themselves as they went through adolescent phases.
For a good number of years, Eiji was incapable of helping out on the Watanabe farm: his parents Eiichi and Megumi relied on the two daughters to help them, and so it was some time before Eiji was introduced to the family trade and domestic duties: this may account for one of the primary contributing factors to Eiji's repressed traits -- he's hopeless at farming, cooking, washing, or any kind of domestic activity. His sisters' often treat him unkindly for it - perhaps out of a sense of feeling cheated from having given Eiji so much when he was younger and him supposedly shirking his duties - which has led to Eiji becoming somewhat resentful of the family trade as a whole. This is made worse by the fact that he feels as though there is an unspoken agreement that, as the only male in his generation, he will inevitably be expected to take over the farm when he gets older, rather than doing what he really wants to do -- to go to college to study. Of course, due to his nature, he finds it impossible to broach the topic with his parents, and wouldn't dare let on that he's anything but satisfied with living and working on the farm, as untrue as it may be.
Shadow: Eiji's Shadow is a paranormal-phenomena-enthusiast acting as the host for "Eiji's Unexplainable Mysteries!" on the Midnight Channel -- he resembles Eiji, aside from the fact that he is dressed in a coat and hat made out of tinfoil. Shadow Eiji is the incarnation of Eiji's doubt and lack of practical knowledge: Eiji is aware that he doesn't know everything, but he's far too ashamed to admit it. He will frequently goad the Investigation Team for trying to get closer to the truth, to try to understand something that is ultimately (supposedly) unexplainable and mysterious. When Eiji's Shadow is defeated, Eiji will accept that there is a lot that he doesn't know and hasn't experienced, and that it's okay for him not to know something - he will consign himself to getting out and actually experiencing the world rather than hiding behind a facade of intellect.
Dungeon: Crop Circle: Eiji's dungeon is a colossal series of crop circles inside a cornfield under an eerie red-and-black sky. Each of the five levels in the dungeon is a ring of the overall Crop Circle: the Investigation Team start at the outermost level (Circle Alpha) and proceed through Circles Beta, Gamma, and Delta, until they get to Circle Omega, where Shadow Eiji resides. Progressing through the levels requires the characters to proceed around the ring until they find a gap in the crop that leads deeper inside. The Shadows in the area are referred to by Eiji as being "aliens", "mythical beasts", "shadowy spirits", "ghosts" and the like. The basis for Eiji's dungeon is his family's farm field: elements of the dungeon bear slight similarities to the real-life location to the extent that residents of Inaba may recognise some of them, but by and large the location is a hyperexaggerated version of the the farm. (Note: The theme song for the dungeon could very well be "Fern of the Planet Sigma[/url"] by Susumu Hirasawa.
TV 'Show': Eiji's Unexplainable Mysteries!
Combat: Eiji's Persona specialises in buffs, debuffs, and status-changes: all the skills it learns are either physical or status-changing.
Persona Name: Kuebiko
Persona Abilities: Bash, Dia, Tentarafoo
Arcana: V, Hierophant
Elemental Strength and Weakness: Strong: Elec; Weak: Fire
Mythology and Description: Kuebiko is a Shinto kami that takes the guise of a scarecrow. He is incapable of moving from where he stands, but it is said that he has complete awareness of what happens in Japan. Kuebiko's knowledge represents Eiji's need to demonstrate that he's intelligent and smart -- a "know-it-all", and the fact that his face is made up of Japanese characters is a further hint at a juvenile desire to show off his academic ability; the fact that Kuebiko cannot move symbolises Eiji's limited worldly experience in the things he claims to know so much about. Kuebiko further symbolises Eiji's firm roots in the town that he was born in (the scarecrow being a prime motif of the Watanabe family's fields).
Font Color: Orange
 Rustig · Wed Dec 07, 2011 @ 04:03pm · 0 Comments |
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Sonoda Hikozaemon (Ars Moriendi) |
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 Username: Rustig
Name: Sonoda Hikozaemon, Hiko for short (園田 彦左衛門)
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Sexuality: Homosexual
Appearance: [x] Hiko can cut something of an imposing figure due to his height, weight, and body-type combined - in a Western lexicon, he could be accurately called a "bruiser". His build is made up with more fat than muscle, and even has the beginnings of a gut, helped in part by the fact that he has an overwhelming fondness for large, freshly-made home-cooked meals, and not much fondness at all for exercise. Hiko keeps his hair cut quite short, and only keeps his facial hair for a few days before shaving - it's not uncommon to see him with the beginnings of a tuft of hair on his chin and his sideburns growing out one day and then finding them both gone the next. Hiko's outfit usually involves him wearing a Varsity jacket, and on one of the sleeves, there's an armband indicating he's a member of the wrestling team. Under the jacket is a plain white dress-shirt (if it's a schoolday) or a dark purple, black or pinkish vest. He wears black trousers (if it's a schoolday) or black combat trousers/cargo pants/cargo shorts (for summer). Other items of note are two band-aids - one on the curve of his jawline immediately under his right ear, and the other just above te point where jawline becomes chin, both placed so that they go from underside of neck/throat, over the curve, and onto the face (as though they're pointing to the centre of the face). Hiko and his family are well-known for adopting an "any excuse for a kimono" approach to dressing for even casual get-togethers. While in battle, Hiko wears his arm out of his left sleeve, with the left-hand portion of his clothing left to hang off, to expose his koi tattoo to summon his Persona.
Height & weight: 6'1, 220lbs
Arcana: VI, The Lovers
Piercings, tattoos, unusual marks, ect: A large, elaborate Koi tattoo design that covers the upper part of his left arm, left shoulderblade, and all the way down the left side of his back.
Theme song: Everclear - Local God (Regular) & Sususmu Hirasawa - Niwashi KING (Battle Theme)
Occupation: Graduate
Personality Hikozaemon can be quite adequately be compared to a bull. Like a bull, his large physique helps lend an imposing sense of forcefulness to his character. At school, this often manifests as a kind of popular-bad-guy image, inasmuch as he smokes, drinks, and generally counts only the other "popular" kids as friends -- but only because the more timid "unpopular" kids seem to be too afraid to talk to him. Like a bull, his supposedly-dominating appearance is rarely anything more than a projection on the part of the observer, as Hiko is usually very warm, friendly, open-hearted and amiable; he's always keen to make new friends and show them a good time, and can often be relied upon to be the one who gets up on the karaoke platform and bellows the night away in a drunken blaze of off-key, off-rhythm "singing". Like a bull, he can be slow to get moving, but once he does, he's practically unstoppable - in terms of motivation, when Hikozaemon decides he wants something, he goes for it. Oftentimes, if this results in a conflict of interest between Hiko and his friends, he experiences a great degree of uncertainty and dissonance about what he should do. Like a bull, if he is somehow made sufficiently angry, he'll possess no qualms about mauling the source of said anger, and like a bull, that mauling will be severe.
Unlike a bull, however, Hikozaemon loves beef stew.
 Strengths: Friendly, fun-loving, protective attitude towards friends, thick-skinned, reliable.
Weaknesses: Brash, comes across as impolite or flippant, can't sit still, impatient, doesn't speak to others about his problems, quite often pursues what he wants to do rather than what he should do.
Main Weapon: Oversize Iron Tessen
Equipment: Doesn't carry much on his person except "essentials" like his cellphone, mp3 player, and so on.
Likes: Food with beef in it, arcade machines, alcohol (especially cloudy sake), parapara, funk and dance music, samurai legends, ghost stories.
Dislikes: Food with egg in it, being told he can't do something, melon, bullying.
Fears: Ghosts: while he loves hearing ghost stories, he's always paralysed with fear while hearing them, and will feel sufficiently on edge for a good few minutes afterwards, too. He freaks out at being restrained, handcuffed, grabbed, or anything similar.
Family: Sonoda Hijiri (Father, alive)
Sonoda Asahina (Mother, alive)
Sonoda Hikimoru (older brother, 24, alive, lives away from the family)
Sonoda Hikaru (older brother, 22, alive, lives away from the family)
Sonoda Hibari (younger brother, 16, alive)
Also very close with his uncles, aunts, and cousins.)
Persona: Bacchus, Nature's Revelling Prince. Bacchus is the Roman equivalent of the greek Dionysus. Bacchus' primary associations are that of wine and revelry, and indeed was celebrated with the Bacchanalia, a frenzied festival said to have been fueled by drinking. Bacchus was also associated with sexuality, agriculture, and the theatric arts.
Persona abilities: [Dia, Magna, Sonic Punch] [STR Earth, Strike || WK Ice, Water]
Summon artifact: Koi Tattoo.
Character history: Hikozaemon was lucky enough to have been born into a large, supportive family. At every point in his life, his family have been there for him, and, in fact, Hikozaemon is closer to his family members than many of his school-friends. It is this filial warmness that helped Hikozaemon develop into the kind of person that he is - a big-hearted, friendly guy with a huge fondness for having a blast with others. While attending Tsukuyomi high school, his grades were very good, to the extent that he has a fair choice of universities to attend after school. He has decided, however, to take a gap year out from academics: the move surprised his family, as he didn't mention it prior to making the decision, and indeed, he hasn't seemed to make his intentions known regarding what subjects he will be undertaking at university.
Misc facts:Hikozaemon is one of those people who listens to ghost stories with rapt attention and instantly believes it, regardless of source.
From time to time, rumours arise that the Sonoda family are yakuza. Often brought up are the facts that several members of the family have Koi tattoos, many of them are interested in wrestling (a sport the yakuza are heavily involved in), and seem to be strongly interconnected as a family.
The Sonoda family own a sake bar in Yuan Shi named "Botan Dōrō", "The Peony Lantern", named after a well-known, if not entirely family-friendly, ghost story.
_________________________________________________________
THE SONODA FAMILY
 SONODA HIBARI
Location: --- || Date: ---
Interaction: ---
The youngest Sonoda sibling at sixteen years old, Hibari is still a student at Tsukuyomi High School, soon to move into his senior year. Hibari is very intelligent -- his exam scores are higher than the rest of his brothers' - and very ambitious. He also happens to be a little socially awkward: despite the fact that he does well in class, people tend to simply regard him as being "the smart kid" and leaving it at that, and so he tends not to have as many friends as the rest of his family did. Hibari is more timid than his older brothers, and only occasionally becomes involved in the impromptu drunken karaoke that seems to be their main feature, leading some to suspect that perhaps Hibari is the black sheep of the family.
According to hearsay...
Hibari has been involved in a number of fights in school, which would be insignificant were it not for the fact that in every one, he gets his older brothers to assist in the beatdown. Angering one Sonoda angers all Sonoda.
Hibari has already been earmarked as the Valedictorian for his year.
Hibari is not actually Sonoda Hijiri's son -- he was the result of an affair between Hijiri's brother, Hiraaki, and Sonoda Asahina, Hijiri's wife.
Hibari is the mastermind behind all of the Sonoda family's financial ventures.
Hibari is a vampire, and the Botan Doro is a front for exsanguination practices -- the family lead people into the back rooms to drain them of their blood in order to sustain their own life energies.
 SONODA HIKARU
Location: --- || Date: ---
Interaction: ---
The second-eldest Sonoda sibling. Hikaru is twenty-two years old, and seems to have trouble with the concept of settling. He works at a construction company as a labourer, but often helps out at the Botan Doro (his family's bar) as a bartender, and also performs a myriad of other casual jobs whenever he needs the money or when his friends really need a hand. He has moved house three times within the past two years, had four apparently commited relationships in the past one year, and has a rather whimsical attitude to what he wants to do at any point in life -- this head-in-the-clouds outlook has led to him owning a pet iguana, building his own jacuzzi in his apartment, buying a set of turntables and being absent one kidney. He is currently romantically involved with Yamada Reiko, one of the bartenders in the Botan Doro.
According to hearsay...
Hikaru is actually the "kyodai" of the newest generation of Sonoda yakuza -- he is the "leader" of the other three Sonoda siblings.
Hikaru's alter-ego is DJ Maitreya, a popular DJ that plays at various locations throughout Onegashima -- including "Okiku's Well", which belongs to Hikaru's brother, Hikimoru.
Hikaru has a daughter from one of his previous romantic entanglements: he urged the mother to get an abortion, threatening to leave her if she didn't.
Hikaru murdered Ichirou Katou, the businessman who died in the Botan Doro last year. Apparently Katou threatened to run the bar out of business with a new venture project opening in the same street -- some people claim to know witnesses who saw Hikaru running into the back rooms with his hands covered in blood.
 SONODA HIKIMORU
Location: --- || Date: ---
Interaction: ---
The eldest Sonoda sibling, Hikimoru is a very successful twenty-four year-old club owner, the proprietor of "Okiku's Well" in the Tai Shing district. He opts to take a more hands-on approach, however, and is frequently found fraternising with patrons in the club itself, opting to leave most of the boring parts of decisionmaking to others. Being something of a social butterfly, he flits between various societal groups, and can often be found socialising with other business owners in order to help promote his club while maintaining a (presumed) friendship with them, leading some to conclude that Hikimoru is two-faced and ultimately selfish.
According to hearsay...
Okiku's Well is just a front for illegal underground operations -- including people trafficking. The club has a disproportionate number of chinese immigrants working there.
Hikimoru did not actually graduate from school, and only got the rights to Okiku's Well by killing his uncle and putting a claim to it.
Hikomoru is part of a band (in)famous throughout Onegashima -- Nobody's Children, named after one of the city's juvenile correctional facilities.
Rustig · Wed Dec 07, 2011 @ 03:59pm · 0 Comments |
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Naganori Junko, Eliot Sachiko, Sasaki Susumu |
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H E L L O , my name is Naganori Junko (長法 純子), but you call me Junko.
I was born a driven baby girl.
I was born seventeen years ago on December 20th. Time F L I E S , no?
People C L A I M that I am… pushy, I suppose... but is that such a bad thing? The best thing that ever happened to me was that I was pushed out of my comfort zone a little, and I became one of Inaba's best. Sure, I might be a little judgmental, I might be a tad bossy, and I might be just a bit stubborn, but... hell, if I don't help people become all they can be, who will? People nowadays just want to sit around watching TV all the time - why don't you work to become the person on TV, huh?
People never look very deep, though, do they? All they see is the fact that I'm just a little active in helping them grow, they never see who I really am. I don't mean that I'm hiding something -- I mean that they never see the reverse, the flipside of what my personality entails. They never see how much I really, genuinely care about the people I'm close to. They ignore the fact that I'm the one that cheers my friends on the loudest, that I'm always there to help my family whenever they need it, and that I'm willing to support people if they swear to do their best. Sometimes it might be tough love, sure... but it's love, nonetheless. One thing is for sure - you can never say I don't care.
But enough of that of T H A T, let me spin you a tale… I was never a messed up kid. My parents didn't die when I was young, leaving me to fend for myself. I wasn't a child genius. I wasn't born into a famous family. I'm just normal, you see? I'm just like everyone else -- and that's what makes me special. I didn't need to be part of a priveliged family, nor did I need to be exceptionally talented to get to become the person I am today - I started out just the same as we all do, and I applied myself to get what I wanted. I pushed myself to become the way that I am today.
My childhood was good; mundane, I suppose you could say. My mom and dad are good, kind people, and they provided the best environment they could for me to grow up in. That's how I know I'm normal, see - no childhood trauma, no abusive parents... a good upbringing, all in all. I remember being happy back then; I'm still happy now. My parents have always been supportive, no matter what.
The past few years have been very good. I've been working harder than ever, and I've been rewarded for it. I've frequently been in the top 5% of my classes, I'm one of the best members of the track team, I've got a lot of friends, and my college prospects are looking good... my life's been good, more or less.
I have to learn how to P A Y the bills somehow, so I'm 3rd Year Student, and I work part-time at Junes as a cashier.
By the way, I L O V E gifts;; Really, anything that people put a lot of thought into for me makes me happy, but in particular, I like drawing, jogging around the Samegawa river, sports in general, puzzle games, and festivals, so anything related to those things would be especially appreciated.
But keep these A W A Y from me; People who constantly make excuses, those whiny "sensitive" types, angsty loners, cats, and cinnamon-flavoured food, to name but a few.
I know it's S I L L Y, but I can't help but look in their direction every once in a while.. ...no. No, I don't want to talk about her just now.
Which R E M I N D S me, I am homosexual.
Oh, by the W A Y ... Kayleen Elliot..I don't understand him. He's smart, he's fairly popular, he's got a lot of self-confidence, and he really applies himself... he's just like me. By all rights, I should take to him immediately, but... why does he unsettle me? Why is it that he gets better grades than me? Why do people seem to respect him more than me even though he's even more egotistical than I am? Why do I get so angry when I think about him?
In order to D E F E N D myself, I use the power of Judgment
My S T O R Y is being written by Rustig
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H E L L O , my name is Sasaki Susumu (佐左木 進), but you call me Susumu.
I was born a liberal baby boy.
I was born nineteen years ago on June 16th. Time F L I E S , no?
People C L A I M that I am… nice, mostly! I'm hesistant to say I'm necessarily a good guy, but I can get along with folks easily enough - I'm a big advocate of the idea that if you don't like what someone's doing, you oughta just leave them alone and not try to mold them into what you think they should be like. I try to be upfront with people... sure, I lie sometimes, I play with people's perceptions of me just to get what I want, but who doesn't? Who can honestly say they don't intentionally manipulate people, huh? At least I admit it.
Sometimes, people start talking s**t, saying I'm two-faced or something, but that just ain't true - the only reason they see two sides to me is because they impose their own assumptions and restrictions on their idea of me, and they think of it as a betrayal when I don't match up to their expectations. Sometimes people spread s**t about me and say I'm not what I appear to be... who is? We're all in a TV show, playing the characters we want other people to see, right? We're just bigging ourselves up to appear more interesting to other people, that's all.
But enough of that of T H A T, let me spin you a tale… I've had an average life, I guess. I was an only child, my mom and dad raised me pretty well, I suppose, I got good grades in school... okay, I got great grades in school, but it's not that hard provided you apply yourself some. You don't always have to study hard to get ahead. Anyway, I graduated two years ago, and I worked part time at the Elliot's electronics store before getting a job here at Junes in the electronics department, which I love... And that's where I am now.
... What, you want more? There isn't much more to say. I've not done anything that anyone would consider amazing -- I've got a blog, if you're actually interested in what I get up to -- but just now I'm just working on crafting the kind of life that I ideally want. If there's one persistent lie in society it's that you have to have accomplished all these amazing things in order to lead a fulfulling life... Bullshit. I'm perfectly content with what I have.
...Okay, maybe not exactly. But that's the same with everyone, right? Sure, there's a lot of stuff I want... more money, a better job, a boyfriend, more stuff to do in town... but just because I don't go hangliding or deep-sea diving every weekend doesn't mean my life doesn't have purpose. It doesn't make me boring or mundane. I'm just as interesting as anyone else is... I mean, if I had the opportunity to make my life really interesting, then I'd totally take it, but... that really only ever happens movies and videogames.
I have to learn how to P A Y the bills somehow, so I'm working in the Electronics department of Junes..
By the way, I L O V E gifts;; I'm kind'a considered the tech-geek, to some extent, but really, I just love gadgets and stuff - I can jailbreak an iPod, unlock a SIM card, download perfect copies of movies, get encrypted TV channels for free... I always appreciate electronic stuff like that; guess that's why I work where I do, haha! ... Oh, come on, don't give me that look! I'm just one person - it's not like what I do ever causes significant damage to anybody! Ugh, anyway, moving on... to some extent, I like videogames, too, but I'm not really a hardcore gamer; just the occasional couple of matches in Street Fighter is enough for me. I guess anime is cool, too? Okay, so maybe my interests and hobbies aren't as intense as anyone else's, but I enjoy them, so that's all that matters.
But keep these A W A Y from me; ugh, outdoorsy stuff like hiking, and camping, and fishing! What's the appeal, seriously?! You get dirty and smelly doing it, and that's just plain nasty. I don't like food with egg or fish in it, either. Other stuff... uhm... I guess, with respect to people, I dislike judgmental folks? You know, those kind of people who tell you you're living your life wrong, stuff like that... People who feel the need to tell me how their world-view thinks my world-view is somehow bad just really get my goat. What hypocrites.
I know it's S I L L Y, but I can't help but look in their direction every once in a while.. that guy, you know, the one who moved here last year... yeah, he works in Junes too, the one with the crazy weird magic tricks... oh come on, so what if he's sixteen? It's not even illegal, and he's really mature for his age...
Which R E M I N D S me, I am homosexual.
Oh, by the W A Y ... between you and me, I can get you pretty much whatever you want outta the electronics department for much, much cheaper than the retail price... what? yeah, of course I can do that, I practically run this department... yeah, maybe if you just do me a favour and... what? ... no, no, you listen to me a second here. I'm serious. No, you shut your god-damn ******** mouth about it - if you tell so much as one person, I will ******** your s**t up. Get the ******** outta here before I call security and tell them you're shoplifting.
In order to D E F E N D myself, I use the power of Magician.
My S T O R Y is being written by Rustig
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H E L L O , my name is Sachiko Elliot, but you call me Sachiko.
I was born a bivalent baby girl.
I was born forty years ago on July 29th. Time F L I E S , no?
People C L A I M that I am… one of two things - a deadbeat wallflower, based on my past with having a husband walk out on me with my children and leave me a hollow wreck, or a resolute go-getter, based on my present with my current husband, partly owning a shop, and taking care of a son who excels in everything he does. Neither of these is true, but I can't exactly say which perception of me is the most true. They hide different, contrasting sides of my personality.
One part of me is strong, independent, and ruthless. This side of me can cope with any situation, will do anything to get what she wants, and will stop at nothing to ensure the safety and sanctity of herself and her son. This side of me will fight to the end, and regardless of what gets broken and who gets hurt, she will have her way. She can suspend her morals and her conscience long enough to bring about her desired results... which are inevitably picked up by the other side of myself.
The other side is fatalistic, uncertain and resigned to a life of failure. This side of me just wants to give in, to accept the ultimate futility of trying to struggle in the face of the future, to find someone to whom she can tell all her horrible secrets and past misdeeds... to admit defeat. She wishes to ask for forgiveness, to individually regret each and every mistake she has made, and to watch the replays of her many past indiscretions upon the TV screen of her memories over and over again.
But neither side is really me. Each is a mask for the other - the severe Sachiko hides away how miserable and deplorable the merciful Sachiko is, calling her nothing more than a false emotional pity-hook; the merciful Sachiko keeps hidden the ruthless and vindictive Sachiko, believing her to be a manufactured veneer of bravado. But they are masks, and the real me - the real Sachiko - is something else entirely... or is she? Was there ever a me that wasn't one of these masks? Which one of them is my real self?
But enough of that of T H A T, let me spin you a tale… I was truly happy, once, long ago, when I was married to a wonderful man with whom I had three equally wonderful children. Nothing lasts forever, though, and due to "a change in circumstances", my husband left, taking the children away from me. I was broken: four continents in the world of my heart had simply disappeared overnight, and I became nothing more than a watery abyss. Over time, I began to manifest two very different natures; the implacable storm, and the gentle sea.
Eventually, new "islands" began to appear for me - solid land that I could focus my attention on. A new husband. A new son. A new job. These three things helped me get back to some kind of equilibrium... to some extent. I was no longer the person I was in my first marriage. Instead of two bowls of water, one half-full, one half-empty, I became the flow of water between the bowls - never quite belonging to one side or the other.
I experienced many years of happiness and sadness - a mixture and synthesis of good and bad memories. To say that one emotion overshadowed the other would be incorrect, as they were there, perhaps not in entirely equal amounts, but in equilibriated amounts. Recently, however, things have leapt up: not in terms of which side of the scale of myself they fall upon, but in the intensity with which I feel both sides. The Junes store that recently opened has begun to spell doom for the business I have helped to nurture. My son, Kayleen, whom I have brought up to fight hard and do his best, is beginning to distance himself from me. My husband is lying in hospital after he was attacked at the shop we own, and the police aren't following up on the information I've provided, allowing the culprit to remain at large.
Regardless, for better or for worse, I have to do something.
I have to learn how to P A Y the bills somehow, so I'm working at my shop...and I'm working at Junes. I'm in the backstore; you might not see me very often..
By the way, I L O V E gifts;; Despite what one might think, I love calm, relaxing environments... the stillness gives me time to think. Candles, incense, potpourri and flowers can help with that, so I appreciate them. I love when people try to get past my outer shell and into my psyche, futile though it may seem, so often I gratefully accept any gift given to me earnestly.
But keep these A W A Y from me; drugs, of any kind, including cigarettes and alcohol. I don't believe anyone could be shallow enough that they have to augment their own personalities just for kicks. I don't appreciate people threatening me or the people closest to me. I don't like when people assume they know me, or how I think, or what I'm "really" like, and I especially don't like gossips who believe they have the inside scoop on what I'm about, especially with regards to my son or my husband.
I know it's S I L L Y, but I can't help but look in their direction every once in a while.. ... I don't think I want to go into that just now.
Which R E M I N D S me, I am heterosexual.
Oh, by the W A Y ... I worry for my son, Kayleen. He seems to be distancing himself, or at least pushing me away, ever since his father was attacked. I wonder, how could I bring us closer together? Or should I let him go, and allow him to become the very best he can be, free of all ties, loose ends and potential hurdles...?
In order to D E F E N D myself, I use the power of High Priestess
My S T O R Y is being written by Rustig
Rustig · Wed Dec 07, 2011 @ 03:58pm · 0 Comments |
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Matsuoka Shigeo (Casting Shadows) |
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Gaia name: Rustig
Character Name: Matsuoka Shigeo (松岡 重夫)
Character Origin: Original
Character Type: Original
Alignment: Good
Persona User: Yes
Weapons / Fighting style: Katana/Iaijutsu. Shigeo must not be found to be wielding weapons or fighting, as it would have serious reprecussions regarding his release from the reform school. If he is expecting to be in a fight, he will carry a katana inside its scabbard, and will take off and wrap his jacket around it to further hide it. Shigeo feels that, by using a weapon with connotations of honor, respect and clear-headedness, he will be able to temper his innate lust for destruction.
Physical Description: Shigeo is built tall and lanky; he is not muscular, but living in an institution where physical exercise was a big part of everyday life helped refine his body somewhat. His hair is somewhat shaggy and rebellious, and is naturally dark brown. Clothes-wise, Shigeo displays something of a sartorical sense - as with many of Yasogami High's students, he is wont to customise his gear with a pedantic eye, making sure that his uniform is within regulations, but still tailored to meet his artistic whims. His everyday clothing is similarly put together with an eye to aesthetics.
He possesses various piercings, including three spikes in each ear, and two rings on his right eyebrow.
Personality: To appreciate what Shigeo is like now, one has to consider what Shigeo was like as a middle-schooler, prior to being sent to a Juvenile Reform school. He was brash, loud, aggressive, undermining, violent, lazy, and rude. He had a cruel word for everyone, and was highly eager to give it to them.
Since his return, he has become a totally different person - he is much less domineering and aggressive in his relationships with others, he has become more laid back, and he communicates without a hint of anger. He speaks less, listens more, and is now open to considering other people's feelings. For some members of Inaba who knew him prior to his reform, this is a miracle of stern discipline and applied social schemes; others see it as a deceptive mask behind which he hides his true self -- that of an angry and irresponsible young man.
Shigeo's return to the town has caused the beginnings of an unstoppable perceptual shift in the young man -- he was certain that, upon seeing the progress he made, everyone would welcome him back with open arms, but the fact that many people still regard him with the distrust associated with his former self has caused Shigeo to question his assumptions about people's impressions of him, about the worth of continuing to behave well... and about the veracity of people's claims that he may be hiding his broken, irreperable and callous "true self" behind a veneer of calmness.
History: Until the tail-end of 2nd Year, Shigeo resided at the Okina City Juvenile Training School, a reform school for juvenile delinquents, after some serious incidents he purportrated during his last year in middle school, including assault, grevious bodily harm, vandalism and arson, ostensibly as part of his involvement in one of many of Inaba's "biker gangs". His reappearance in Inaba half a year ago is the result of his apparent reform, and indeed, many of his habits seem to have disappeared -- no longer is Shigeo the violent, loudspoken youth he had once been, and instead he acts like a (more or less) normal high-school senior...
...but still, the way that some of the townsfolk of Inaba treat him, it's as though he's the same criminal he always was. They cast scornful glances at his piercings, wonder openly about the fights he must have gotten into to get the bruises that occasionally appear on his arms and face, and gossip about arbitrary unfortunate phenomena that might have been his fault. Matters are not helped by the fact that the biker gangs are once again becoming more popular, and when various unexplained events begin happening in the town, many of the rumours seem to feature Shigeo as a protagonist. But he denies it all - he denies that there is any truth to "once a criminal, always a criminal", he denies that "violence begets violence," and he denies that some of the molten, hot remnants of his previous self are beginning to burn through the cracks in the otherwise pristine mask of his reformed personality.
Persona Name: The Ursitory
Persona Abilities: [Rebellion, Power Charge, Mind Charge, Bash, Tarukaja, Garula, Agilao] -- Shigeo's approach to battle is to keep his anger bottled up until the moment when he can deal damage to the enemy, then strike hard and fast. He only gains access to single-target damage attacks.
Arcana: X, Wheel of Fortune
Elemental Strength and Weakness: Nul: Wind. Wk: Elec, Fire
Mythology and Description: The Ursitory are three spirits who, according to Romany legend, appear to deliver a prophecy about a newborn's destiny.
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Progression
Dungeon: Disorderly Prison
Shigeo's Dungeon manifests itself as a dungeon loosely based on the Okina City Juvenile Reform Facility, where the "Shadows" are repeatedly referred to (by a tannoy system) as "rioting inmates", and by Shadow Shigeo as being "fellow gang-members". Each layer of the prison is referred to as a "Prison Block", with each layer being comprised of a series of four paths, arranged in a square-shape. Each path is flanked by prison cells, most of which contain Shadows, but one of them will contain a wall with a tunnel burrowed into it that can be used to access the next Prison Block (the tunnel is the doorway that links each layer). There are five layers - Prison Blocks A to E - and then a final room - General Population - in the center of the last block, where Shadow Shigeo resides.
Shadow Shigeo
Shadow Shigeo manifests as Shigeo wearing an unkempt, scruffy suit, with an unbuttoned shirt that prominently displays a set of Yakuza-style tattoos, and boasting about his many and varied victories against the other gangs of Inaba. He will infer that he and his "gang" (the Shadows of the Dungeon) want to "execute" the New Investigation Team for intruding on his turf, and slowly becomes more and more irate as the group get closer to the center of the dungeon. He makes references to social schemes that address the problem of youth violence, stating that it is society's own fault in the first place that he was made this way, and that his culture at large is full of social hypocracy. Rather than being a manifestation of society's opinion of himself, Shigeo eventually realises that Shadow Shigeo is a manifestation of his own anger that he (badly) represses by ignoring and denying its existence.
Shadow Shigeo -- Battle
When denied, Shadow Shigeo transforms into a colossal stone head (named Nous) - shaped like Shigeo's head, which surrounded by three entities in the guise of prison guards - one comprised of twigs, branches, roots and earth (Nature), one comprised of steel, brass, cogs and wires (Nurture), and a third one comprised of a swirling green light (Numinous). All three are tending to the head, which the Scanner will tell the party is highly explosive, and that judging by the timer, it looks as though the three entities are attempting to cause an explosion.
Once the battle starts, a counter starts up on Nous' eyes that counts down from ten minutes; when the timer hits zero, Nous will cast Explosion, causing fatal Almighty damage to every person on the field.
Nature will continually cast Diarama, and is weak to Agi.
Nurture will alternate between casting Tarukaja, Rakukaja and Sukukaja, and is weak to Zio.
Numinous will cast Garu, Bufu, Zio, or Agi, and his weakness changes every time he uses Paradigm Shift (but has the predictable pattern of always shifting from Agi -> Bufu -> Garu -> Zio).
Nous will not cast anything aside from Outburst when the timer hits zero, however, attacking it causes him to cast Minor Explosion as an immediate response, that deals significant Almighty damage to everyone on the field (including Nature, Nurture, and Numinous; and, if they are down, may cause them to be dizzy and set them up for an All-Out Attack.
When one of the entities is Down, the clock speed slows. Two slows it down further, and three stops it completely until one of them gets back up. Naturally, an All-Out Attack will cause all enemies to stand back up, resulting in the timer staying up longer.
The trick to defeating Shadow Shigeo is to either deal enough damage to destroy Nature, Nurture and Numinous - killing Nous results in an explosion that kills everyone. The easiest way to do this is to keep the three entities Down as much as possible, to allow the team enough time to deal significant damage by exploiting weaknesses and to stop the clock from counting down. Multi-target offensive spells could well end up killing the party (as attacking Nous results in him using Minor Explosion).
Special Interactions if Characters Present in Investigation Team:
Masane: Shadow Shigeo will frequently mention how he's unafraid of Masane, and that he'll quite happily "bump her off" there and then; he will point out the irony of a similarly-violent gang-member trying to help a poorly-reformed Shigeo, eager to mention that she could well be doing it to drag him back into the lifestyle that she so obviously enjoys.
Kazushi: Shadow Shigeo will state that Kazushi would be more than welcome to join his gang, as his selfish and self-serving nature is very similar to the shadows' motivations.
Takei: Shadow Shigeo will debase Takei as much as possible for being a hypocrite, himself incapable of controlling his own anger, yet trying to pull Shigeo out of his.
Nagataka: Shadow Shigeo will point out that Nagataka is no better than him just for being continually calm, and, in fact, his passive nature does as much damage to him that Shigeo's angry nature does to himself.
Shigeo's Shadows
[Fool] Hysteric Hellquin - (Expression of the fundamental nature of Shigeo's journey - that is, his attempted conquest of his own anger).
[Magician] Lying Mask - (Expression of society's assumption that Shigeo's reformed self is in fact a lie, and that his true self is somewhere behind it.)
[Priestess] Heat-Wind Geisha - (Expression of anger towards Shigeo's reform advisor, who he now believes has failed him.)
[Empress] Brooding Womb - (Expression of the neglected, bottled-up anger that Shigeo experiences, slowly being nurtured by his experiences on returning to Inaba))
[Emperor] Rainy Father - (Expression of Shigeo's fear/hatred of his father)
[Hierophant] Closed Doors - (Expression of social norms, avoiding talking about what goes on "behind closed doors" despite it being obvious.)
[Lovers] Shameful Schism (Expression of Shigeo's anger at not being able to be even a little angry, as it may demonstrate how his reform was anything but.)
[Chariot] Red Laurels - (Expression of Shigeo's idea that he has already "overcome" his former self and does not need to redress the issue.)
[Justice] Vengeful Spiral - (Expression of the desire to fight against the people who leap to conclusions about him/ wrong him, who only do so because they have wronged him in the past, causing a recursive spiral of blame. Vengeance over Justice).
[Fortune] Shadow Shigeo/The Ursitory (Expression of wanting to pin blame on factors other than himself for his problems - nature, nurture, and numinous reversed; circumstances, genetics and sheer luck are what made him become who he was. (Boss Shadow))
[Strength] Genetic Beast - (Expression of the fact that his "personal demons" seem to be untamable due to the fact that he was born with them, that genetic/biological factors will always trump his own psychological attempts to master them).
[Hanged Man] Livid Martyr - (Expression of the hypocritical hatred of people who would judge him, yet simultaneously wallowing in these expectations.)
[Death] Prison Killer - (Expression of Shigeo's contradictory yet equilibriated perceptions of society - going to the Okina City Juvenile Reform school taught him that "the more things change, the more things stay the same". Gangs are present in prison as much as they are outside.)
[Temperance] Sulphourous Coil - (Expression of the overbearing nature of his aggression, anger that poisons all other social interaction and brings them out of an alchemic balance.)
[Devil] Tempting Cult Figurehead - (Expression of temptation to return to his former gang-centered lifestyle as a way to feel powerful and in control again, despite it doing the opposite).
[Tower] Inverted Tower - (Expression of Shigeo's former hatred towards "society" and "the system", intent on ripping it in two, only to have his assumptions about society knocked down.)
[Star] Bile Homunculus - (Expression of Shigeo's (unachievable) desire to be completely free from anger.)
[Moon] Miserable Secret - (Expression of desire not to reveal the source of his problems directly, instead wishing someone would find them out without him needing to state them.)
[Sun] Open Secret - (Expression of the fact that his former self is a well-known fact, but remains unspoken - a truth in plain sight.)
[Judgment] Trial By Fire And Thunder - (Expression of the sheer, white-hot hatred that Shigeo carries within him, and that he should be punished in the way that he punishes others).
[World] Victim/Aggressor - (Expression of the culmination of Shigeo's actions, that violence begets violence and inexorably he will inflict great violence upon someone to allow the cycle to continue).
Rustig · Wed Dec 07, 2011 @ 03:56pm · 0 Comments |
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