⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Raaj
Contact: raaj #1680 on Discord
Age: 29
Current Characters: NOBODY gosh I feel like I've been out of this game forever :(


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Aerith Gainsborough
Age: 22
Canon: Final Fantasy VII
Canon Point: just. got. shish-kabobbed. aka immediately post-death.

Background: Link

Personality: Optimism and kindness are Aerith's defining traits. Throughout her life, Aerith endured seven years of captivity and fifteen more of being tracked, four years of writing to a lost love without knowing why he disappeared, multiple kidnapping attempts, even her sudden murder; at the end of everything, she is still smiling and encouraging others to endure until they find their happiness. Though this extends to nearly all without reservation, she is shown having a particular soft spot for and ease with children; two were shown in the game planning to tend to her beloved flowers for her while she's away.

Of course, both her optimism and kindness aren't flawless. Aerith lived a genuinely hard life, and one way she found to deal with it was lying those problems away. She hid her Cetra heritage from her boyfriend and adoptive mother because she wanted to be "normal", and after Zack's death she lied about the nature of their relationship and her feelings for him to smother her grief. When confronted with something unexpected, she would run away and refuse to show her face until she can fake a smile, as she did when the group happened to run into Zack's parents: she walked out of the house abruptly and stayed turned away in a corner until Cloud found her, then told him she really didn't mind about not hearing from Zack. However, though she lied to others about his importance, she continued to wear the pink dress and ribbon that came from him. It's not too different from how she kept her birth mother's materia in her hair every day. Aerith wasn't able to make many deep relationships in life, so she strongly cherishes each one she has. Even some of the stranger ones: she cried when Tseng, the man who'd tried all through her life to bring her back to the laboratory she hated, was gravely wounded by Sephiroth's blade. At the same time she acknowledged him as the enemy of her and her friends, she admitted that there weren't many people she could claim knew her as well as he did.

That was all due to her heritage as a Cetra. Being the last of her race made an incalculable impact on the course of her life. As hard as she once tried to hide it, afraid and tired of being pursued for abilities she barely understood, toward the end of her life she was able to discover what being a Cetra was truly about and became much more confident as one. She might still keep mum about it at times out of the habit of not wanting to draw attention, but the confusion and fear that used to surround her thoughts about it are gone now.

Her kindness is heartfelt, but Aerith sometimes makes social slips that hurt feelings. Like Tifa, she took an interest in Cloud, and unlike Tifa, she was bolder about her interest. Though she reassured the other woman when they both met that she and Cloud hardly knew each other, she also occasionally flirted with him right in front of her friend. She also angered Barret when she meant to comfort him by sweeping the problem under the rug — he wasn't in the mood for her fun and games, and she's not always patient with people.

However, her caring nature still dominates over any awkwardness she causes. Tifa and Aerith became fast friends in spite of any jealousy and she encouraged Barret shortly after his outburst when he needed it.

Aerith's cheerful nature comes with playfulness and teasing; she's a bit mischievous, and just as she can lie about serious matters, she can easily fib or pull people's legs with a joke. ("You know, Mister. He always said that just once, he'd like to dress up as a girl.") It's a great way to keep your spirits up, and occasionally a way to misdirect people's attention, both useful things growing up in a city like Midgar.

As strong as her optimism is, she could have also been a fit for Thras. Despite her heritage, she was the most normal of the party when it came to fighting technique; however, she was stubborn about not being sheltered from the action, claiming "I'm used to it". As much as she got scared and panicked at moments, she also stubbornly confronted those fears. She's even been reckless at times, and threw AVALANCHE for a loop when she furtively ran away to save the Planet as a Cetra--one event in the chain that led to her murder, sadly enough, but also to the salvation of the world.

...Still, while she's happy as a Cetra to have a better understanding of the Planet, joining the Lifestream just isn't the way she wanted to do it. So being alive again will be fun for her, and something to make the most of...once she squares away the brainbreak of being yanked away from it just after dying. Maybe she'll just skip dealing with the brainbreak for a while.

(Note: I have been in the game before with Aerith, and this app is by and large a reuse of this one, since her canon point is only slightly changed.)

Abilities: She has limit breaks! She also has abilities from being a Cetra! Namely, she is capable of speaking to and hearing the Planet because of her spiritual nature. In Empatheias, this will translate into her being sensitive to the flow of emotions within the land, though she would have to cultivate a sensitivity to the world first.

Alignment: Due to her optimistic nature, Peromei seems the best fit.

Other: Just a small note that while I'm reapping Aerith, due to it having been a while and changing up the canon point a little, she'll be reset and not know anything about Emp.


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
A sampling from the last time I played her!

Questions:

All entries before this were imported from LJ. It is an arid desert devoid of userpics but full of carefully preserved threads. :|b

[ There's a fib of a Feather under the shade of the barracks after noon; she's got the sundress on, but Aerith is undoubtedly not new. She knows where she is, and after she gets past the jolt of terror that strikes when that last painful blow is remembered, she knows why she is there. She's plenty upset, and she's also angry and tense as she returns to house #41, keeping near the side of the street and under the cover of buildings for the brisk walk. She'll stop if a friend calls to her, but otherwise make a quick excuse and keep going; she really, really wants to go back to what's become her home here.

After stopping in at the house and checking in with her housemates--and letting herself have a good cry to help get it out--she goes and makes a journal post from her bedroom.

She takes a big, deep breath, first. ]

I'm back... this is Aerith. I hope no one [ else ] was worried, but it's... better now. I'm back. I'm not hurt.

...Is it...normal to see nothing when you die? Like you just stop... I'm sorry, ignore that. What a stupid thing to talk about!

[ ...It doesn't help to keep thinking about it right now. As she handles any responses that come, Aerith goes and does something extremely mundane and calming for her. She checks on all the flowers, at home, at the flower shop, and at the memorial garden, with the wolf Daisy close by her side. He's being more protective than usual right now. ]

[ooc: going on hiatus for the next week, so Aerith's getting kidnapped! ...A bit in the past since there's other things she should've tagged too. I'm still continuing current threads.]

[The post starts innocently enough, Aerith humming with the sound of a bag swinging from side to side. But.] ...Oh, you're kidding me!

My turn? Somehow I thought today wasn't a good day for groceries... You'll at least let me get them home, right? No? Too bad!

[And she takes off running--but it's only a few seconds before the journal catches the fainter sound of her crying out when she's seized. Between the library and the headquarters for the SOS Brigade is a bag with milk and eggs, spilled and cracked.]

[It's morning... Aerith might blink a bit more than usual and seem a bit confused at times, thinking of the dream she just had, but otherwise she looks awake. Probably, in fact, looks more awake than she ought to be and is trying to overcompensate for sleepiness. Her hair is, for a change, held back by a simple blue elastic band.

There's a reason for that.] Good morning, Luceti! How'd we all sleep? I'm sure it'll get better soon, Shifts only last so long.

Anyway, I have a Lost and Found request. It's not the most important, but if anyone sees a pink ribbon and a green marble lying around, they're mine. I'd really like to have them back. They're... good-luck charms. [Well, that was the best explanation she had for being so attached to a marble she'd had since childhood.] For a reward, let's say a free order of flowers. I'll cover the expense.

...Right. That about covers it! Thanks for listening.

[Anyone can find them, or things like them--her description wasn't that detailed, after all. She'll be out looking for them in the grass at the northern edge of the village before her shift at the flower shop, carrying her staff just in case and looking very bothered. She'd been sad about the loss the night before, but it hadn't seemed as important in the face of avoiding prowling beasties. But then she'd slept and dreamed of losing those things again, with a sense that they were a lot more significant than she remembered... and she'd lost one other thing, too.

Maybe if she had them back, she'd feel safer.]

[Video - Locked to Cloud - Normal filter - 50%]

[This starts in the hallway, with Aerith moving from her and Zack's apartment to Cloud and Tifa's as she records. Of course, since Cloud is gone...the filter is bad. (Lifting a note from Noel's example!) Bold is unfiltered/public. Italic is easily hackable, as even normally, the filter is only 50% unhackable. Without hacking, the visual wavers in and out with the audio.]

Oh, Clouuuud~ I bet you don't know what today is. Any guesses?

[She pauses for a moment or two, to give him time for a response, but when nothing comes she moues.]

Are you busy again? I haven't seen you at all the past few days! But today, we're going to spend some time together, because--

It's~ my~ birthday~ and it's a surprise party! The surprise is I didn't warn you earlier. Honestly, I hadn't decided about celebrating it yet. Since things are strange here--with time-- But I think it is something to celebrate! Because I've learned a lot since my last birthday, so I really am another year older and wiser. Aren't I so mature now? You should be impressed. [She winks at the journal.] Sooo mature, in fact, that I'm about to go in your room [she announces, as she creaks open the door] and the only way you're getting me out is--

... Huh? --Oh, I must have mixed up rooms. You didn't see anything! [She moves further down the hallway, opening another door.] Right, this is Tifa's room, so it's...door #3!

[But when the third door is opened, the mischief and anticipation leaves Aerith's expression, replaced by blank confusion. There's silence for a long stretch before she finally says:] Oh. You... but, you-- [She fumbles with the journal, keeping her face turned away from it as she turns the broadcast off.]

[Voice - Filtered to Tifa - 50%]

Tifa? Are you okay?

[Voice - Filtered to Zack - 50%]

... Cloud's back... home. [There's a long pause, like she'd say something else, but she finally just gives a shaky smile and turns the journal off again.]

[Action]

[Aerith is going to drown her sorrows in hot chocolate at Good Spirits a little later. No, she won't cry in her cup or anything like that, but her face seems rather blank for someone usually smiling.]

[It's rather late in the evening to be out in the snow, but so Aerith is. Behind ch. 4, out in the forest, she's cleared the fresh-fallen snow from a small patch of earth and is now kneeling down in it, talking to Faeren.]

Wasn't it strange back then? Everyone changed so suddenly! ...Were you...a little nervous? Hm... But...people seem to be treating the forest and plants all right. Better than they do back home.

...Did I talk to you last time? No, you don't need to tell me. I'm sure I did. You don't have a voice, but still, it's less quiet when I'm talking to you.

[...and so on. In general, Aerith is just naturally chatty with spirits anyway. She'll be doing this spirit-talking for a while into the early night, roaming around the perimeter of the village to see if she can get in touch with Nala... The cold and still-falling snowflakes don't seem to deter her. This is more important.]

[Unlike her intro, this post is much more cheerful: Aerith's smartly dressed in her pink dress and ribbon, she's in a warm apartment, and she's smiling at the journal.]

Hello! How is everyone? Hmm, let's see... My name's Aerith Gainsborough. I came here... oh, on the 12th, and I'm from Gaia, if any of you know of that planet. I worked as a flower girl, and I guess I was taking care of the flower shop last time I was here, so I'll start doing that again.

Speaking of last time--I don't remember it. Not yet, anyway. I'm going to keep trying. In the meantime, you'll have to excuse me if I don't recognize you! Go ahead and jog my memory, if you want. I wouldn't want to miss anything important, and that especially means people.

That's all for now, I think. I just wanted to say hi.

[Beat.]

...I hope that recorded, I'd feel silly talking to an off journal--oh, right, turn it off!

[Action]

[Aerith's not going too far today, but there is grocery shopping to be done, so she'll be around the plaza and at the store; after she does that and puts those away, she'll be going around community building #4 to see who aaaalll the neighbors are.]

"Get the Ancient", "don't let her escape", blah blah blah... I did get away! Most times. And you people just never learned when to give up.

[...after a few false starts in the morning, thinking she was about to be kidnapped for the umpteenth time in her life, someone's irritable enough to mutter under her breath at her hallucinations. You might catch her at this in the flower shop as she works, the grocery store picking up food, walking around in building 7. Though she does sneak a peek around her every so often, because it'd be bad to let her guard down over imaginary kidnappers and then get in trouble with the real kidnappers in Luceti, and she is trying not to be weird around other people. (Trying.)

She will make a more proper post in the afternoon.]

[Voice]

How long have people been hearing things? Most experiments last about a week... They're just memories, right?

...Anyway... [There's a pause for a short while, like she's lost for a topic, before her voice picks up.] I should get started using that fabric from the store. See, I was thinking it'd be nice to have something for the flower shop, you know... maybe a little wagon. I've got the materials: wood, wheels, stuff to hold them together, decorations. But what I really need is someone to help me put it all together. Someone with some previous experience in wagon-building. Who could I ask...?

...Oh, Zaaaack~? [Like he didn't already see it coming.]

(ooc: fixed!)