Sample Character Application

NOTE: The following sample application was kindly donated to VRM staff by the player of Fuuka Yamagishi from Persona 3. It has been very slightly edited and personal information has been redacted.

Introduction

1a. Basic Info: To keep track of our players, we need to know some information about you. Please give us your name or a common handle, your age, and your e-mail address. You must be 18 or older to play on Velvet Room MUSH. Make sure the email in this section matches the email in your account.

I go by (redacted)! Currently (redacted), and my email address is (redacted).

1b. Past Alts: If you have played any prominent characters at any other MUSHes or similar games, please list who you play/played and where. This doesn't need to be a complete list, just enough to give us an idea of who you are. If you have any characters at Velvet Room MUSH already, please list them.

I play (redacted) among others at (redacted), and (redacted) among others at (redacted).

Profile

2. Please give us the +finger profile of the character that you're applying for, if they haven't been made before. If you want changes to an existing +finger, please let us know that too. Also included are the fields for +info, which revolve around your Persona.

• Name: Please give us the @name you'd like on the game. We want given and family in that order, where appropriate.
• Pronouns: Whatever pronouns are appropriate for your character.
• Arcana: The Arcana that primarily represents your character and their journey. You can browse your options at Tarot.
• Persona: Your character's (primary and/or starter) Persona.
• School OR Workplace: If your character is a student, list the school they attend. If your character has a job, list the place where they work. If neither of these apply, list N/A.
• Grade OR Job: If your character is a student, list what grade they're in. If your character has a job, list what that job is. If neither of these apply, list N/A.
• Residence: The place where your character currently lives. Please be specific here if possible; we want to see (for example) 'Shibuya, Tokyo' rather than just 'Tokyo.'
• Source: The game your character sources from and whether they're a feature or original character. Format like: Persona 2 (FC), Persona 3 (OC). If your OC uses multiple games as a source, you can instead use Velvet Room MUSH (OC).
• Quote: One or two lines that the character might say. This can be as simple as you like. It can even be a victory quote!
• Profile: Give us a paragraph about your character. It should cover who they are, anything particularly notable about them (skills, rumors, accomplishments), and any generally-known elements of their history. Try to keep this brief.
• Persona Description: A basic, one-to-two sentence description of what your Persona looks like, if applicable.
• Persona Info: A basic, one-to-two sentence blurb about your Persona's story.

• Name: Fuuka Yamagishi
• Pronouns: She/Her
• Arcana: Priestess
• Persona: Lucia
• School OR Workplace: Gekkoukan High School
• Grade OR Job: Second Year
• Residence: Iwatodai City, Tokyo
• Source: Persona 3 (FC)
• Quote: "Analysis complete!"
• Profile: Fuuka Yamagishi is a quiet but friendly student at Gekkoukan High School and a member of the school's Art Club - as well as the significantly-less advertised SEES, where she guides and connects her friends and teammates through their battles with the supernatural using her Persona. Though she can be shy and reserved in her dealings with people her true strength comes out in times of danger, where she is able to calmly analyze the situation and relay information to her team even amidst the chaos of battle. She has a love for machines of all kinds, using and repairing them, and is even a capable hacker... but also feels embarrassed about this, causing her to downplay this love out of fearing that it isn't feminine enough. Though she used to have a reputation for being fairly sickly, her health has improved since joining SEES - though there are now those who call her 'the ghost girl', due to the stories that arose as a result of her extended disappearance.
• Persona Description: Lucia takes the form of a woman in a pink dress with long blonde hair, her throat and eyes covered by bandages. In place of her lower body is a watery sphere encased by gold protective braces secured to her dress giving it the appearance of an eye, which encompasses her user and those in her immediate vicinity.
• Persona Info: A saint who lived in the time of the Roman Empire and was martyred when a suitor, declined due to her vow of chastity, accused her of Christianity. Though her eyes were gouged out it is said her vision was miraculously restored, thus leading her to become revered as the patron saint of the blind.

Background Information

3a. History: Tell us about your character's background. Where did they come from and how did they end up where they are now? What schools have they attended or jobs have they worked, and where? What influences shaped who they are today? What traumas have they suffered, or obstacles are they still struggling to overcome? These questions are for inspiration; you don't need to limit yourself to them.

Fuuka Yamagishi was born on December 22nd, 1995, and her arrival was celebrated - as it should be. They were happy, in those days. She would end up spending most of her free time at her father's side, watching him at his workbench as he partook in his hobby of building and repairing audio equipment. As she grew older, she even began to help him - fetching tools, acting as a sounding board for new ideas, or assembling smaller parts that her tiny child fingers were better suited for. It was this experience that instilled in her a love of working with machines that she still carries with her to this day.

She was still a quiet child back then, but she was happier - more open with sharing her interests with others, more inclined to make friends. And then came the day that would affect everyone who lived in the Iwatodai area, in one shape or another. September 10th, 2002 - the calamity on Port Island would bring in a lot of doctors from surrounding regions. This would be the first time in a while Fuuka's parents would meet so many of their relatives, all relatively successful doctors in various fields, in person all at the same time... and as a result, Fuuka's mother and father couldn't help but start comparing herself to them.

Fuuka was an intelligent child - she understood that something terrible had happened, and that a lot of people died. She did not understand, however, the effect it had on her parents.

In the wake of this, still reeling from the tragedy, they had become dissatisfied with their position, both salary workers after failing to make it in medical school. Seeing how much more well-off the rest of the family was compared to them made them self-conscious of their more tame livelihood - and these feelings in turn gradually engendered in them an inferiority complex that drove them to pursue success and progress even at the expense of family connections, ashamed at being unable to measure up to the rest of the family. They became distant toward each other, her father's workbench which once supported creation now gathering dust - and Fuuka was caught helplessly in the middle, their own complexes pushed onto her as they became more and more demanding. She was constantly told to Do More, to Be Better, and nothing was good enough. Her grades became all that mattered to them. If it wasn't about schoolwork, they weren't interested in hearing it. Even mealtimes weren't exempt. Dinner-time conversations would inevitably focus on school and her post-graduation plans, with an urge toward pushing her toward medicine - and at any other time, she could barely get them to look at her.

Fuuka drew inward - she was already more inclined to keep to herself, but the pressure her parents put on her and the emphasis they put on education caused to have less time for the friends she had made during her early school life. It led to her becoming more critical of herself, more conscious of the ways her hobbies reflected on her. She grew apart from her friends - and losing that connection caused her to retreat into her laptop. She had already become quite proficient with hardware, but in that time she began to master the ins and outs of computer systems, as well. How to access them and find what she wanted, methods for analyzing data... though, fearing reprisal, she never put these talents to real use. She began to interact with people online more than in person.

Still, due in part to the perfectionism forced onto her, Fuuka's grades were exceptional, and in 2011 she was welcomed into Gekkoukan High School. This school presented some new opportunities for her - with the school encouraging students to join cultural clubs she joined the Art Club with her parents' reluctant acceptance. For the first time in a while, she made friends outside of people on the internet. ...But, not everyone was as happy to see her succeed.

On the surface, she seemed perfect - too perfect, an honor student standing on a pedestal over everyone else. To Natsuki Moriyama, however, it was like looking in a mirror. On the surface their positions couldn't be more different, but she could see it - how they both came from the same sort of troubled home, and the pressure it put them both under. She hated what she saw, the way it made her feel about herself and her own similar situation, but it also meant she knew what buttons to push to get the desired reactions, and she pushed her friends to do the same.

Over time, the targeted campaign of bullying began to take its toll on Fuuka. With her already strained home life, the combined stress started to affect her appetite. Already someone prone to bouts of anemia, the resulting after effects on her health lead to her gaining a reputation for seeming sickly - more than once, causing her to end up in the hospital. It was during one of these visits in her second year that it would be discovered that Fuuka had the Potential, though it would be later before she learned of this herself.

But despite this, despite how much every act upset her - Fuuka never held any ill will against them. Partially out of kindness, partially out of a reduced feeling of self-worth, and partially out of a feeling that it wouldn't help anyway, she couldn't bring herself to hate them - weathering their barbs even though they made her miserable. She even found it in herself to worry over *Natsuki*, for her tendency to hang out late at night in the shady part of the city... which only made things worse.

Ultimately, in her second year, this would culminate in an ill-fated prank... which will be described in the next section, as this brings us to the present, and to the awakening of her Persona..

Following this, she would join SEES - and with them find a place where she belongs and feels like she can help. Her health improves, too, with her greatest burdens off of her shoulders - and gradually, so too will her confidence.

3b. Awakening: If you didn't cover your character's Awakening in history, please cover it here, including a note as to what kind of Persona awakening they had--Persona-game vs. Evoker potential, etc. If you want your character to Awaken on-grid, please note that here, and what support you'd like from staff for that purpose.

Natsuki and her friends hatched a plan. They convinced Fuuka to come with them to the gym - and when she came to meet them, they shoved her into one of the storage rooms and locked the door from the outside. It was, to them, just supposed to be a prank. They would leave her there overnight, and if one of the school janitors hadn't let her out, come by to unlock the door. None of them could've known, after all, that the school transforms at night - or of the otherworldly eyes that their act had drawn to them. One by one they would be drawn to the school gates, only to be discovered unconscious the next morning.

Fuuka, for her part, was terrified. She had no idea when someone would come looking for her - or if someone would. Her phone was still with her bag in her locker. Though she called out for help, no one came, and in the end she was left with only the darkness and her thoughts. It was perhaps her darkest moment - and then she found herself in a deeper darkness. When she could see again, she was somewhere else entirely. Somewhere strange and alien, a subtle sense of dread pervading it. In that moment, she thought that she had died, and as she contemplated that, one desperate thought filled her mind as she faced the possibility of her own death. 'I don't want to die.' That thought, felt strongly throughout her entire being, crystallized something within her - and while it would not awaken right away, it helped her as she began to move through what she would later learn was Tartarus. Guiding her, allowing her to sense danger and move away from it. She would walk for ten days worth of Dark Hours within Tartarus - approximately ten hours, though the fuzziness of time in that Hour made it difficult to tell time exactly - before eventually running into other people.

This is when she would meet SEES, and taking the Evoker she had been given in hand, would soon after face her first Shadows alongside them - the Emperor and the Empress. That desire to live crystallized within her would allow her to sense exactly what the Evoker was meant for - and without hesitation, she would for the first time summon forth Lucia.

Ideally, I would like to play out this fight on screen! I think showing the fight with the Emperor and the Empress would be good. To that end, I would need someone to build and run them for SEES to fight.

3c. Previous Timeline: Please tell us -- briefly -- how things were different for your character in the previous timeline, if applicable. (See: The Two Timelines for details.) It's okay if things were more or less the same and/or they were a normal person who died unremarkably. (Note that some events from the games have changed on Velvet Room MUSH, so we want a general sense of their life over the past ten years rather than a recap of Innocent Sin's plot.) If they had a wish for the new timeline, please discuss that in question 9b.

Fuuka's life, in the other timeline, plays out largely the same. She grows up learning technology at her father's side, and then watches as her parents grow distant. She recedes into herself until she makes it into Gekkoukan High, where Art Club offers her some semblance of friendship... but at the same time, she finds herself in Natsuki Moriyama's crosshairs. Things proceed in a fairly mundane fashion - at least until the end of the world.

However, I'm not set on that, so I'd be glad to readjust things relating to Innocent Sin Timeline to match up with the rest of the cast and better fit in there.

Personality

4a. Personality: Tell us about your character's personality. How do they interact with others, what are their goals, what drives them? If they belong to a certain group or faction, why is that? Don't limit yourself to these questions, but instead give us a comprehensive look at who your character is and why they make the choices they do.

On her face, Fuuka is a quiet, reserved, unassuming, shy but kind girl. And, this is certainly true - she's able to find it in herself to worry about, forgive, and ultimately befriend someone that had caused her much grief. Underneath the surface, however, there's a part of her that can only feel that way due to a deep, underlying desire to feel wanted, to be useful in some tangible way. It's this desire that leads her to support SEES to her fullest - but it's also that same desire that causes her to sometimes force herself to do something outside of her field of interest without preparing herself first, like trying to cook for her team without doing the proper studying. When she does find a place for herself, she can be protective of it. Though this can push her to succeed where she's failed, this can also cause her to push herself too hard.

For as much as Fuuka tries to put on a positive front, she's also something of a pessimist at heart, often going into things with a mindset already anticipating failure. And when things do go wrong as she believes they will, whether a social interaction or anything else, this can often lead to her despairing or panicking, whether or not it was her fault, and talking down to herself. The negative thoughts tend to stick with her and drag her down, causing her to make the situation worse through inaction because she's already convinced that nothing will help. Still, it isn't all bad - it's partially her job to prepare for the worst, and thinking of all the ways the situation could go wrong means at times she can be ready to mitigate the consequences. She just needs people who can encourage her to see that and help her use those feelings for good - and this, in turn, will begin to help improve her confidence even off the battlefield.

She is also someone who worries about how others perceive her, afraid that she'll be judged for her lack of femininity for preferring working with machines, among other things. This leads her to put on a front for the sake of others, hiding her own wants and needs in favor of fitting in.

Through all this, there's strength hiding behind her quiet exterior, as well. Though she might have difficulty dealing with other people, during times of true danger she's capable of keeping a cool head, to analyze the situation and figure out the best approach - and then clearly and calmly relay that to those who need to hear it. She's dedicated to keeping people safe. In time, she'll be able to draw out this strength in her everyday life, as well. It's for this reason that she's trusted as SEES's Navigator.

And SEES, meanwhile, gives her a place where her talents are needed. She's also experienced first-hand what it's like to be helpless in the face of the supernatural, having been stranded in Tartarus alone for an extended amount of time. She wants to help protect people from Shadows - and from those with power who would use it against the powerless.

4b. Personal Interests: Tell us about your character's interests, hobbies, and/or favorites. What do they do for fun? How do they use their spare time? If they're the driven sort who fills all their spare time with the pursuit of their goals, that's fine, but having other things they care about will help give you more hooks with other characters and plots.

Fuuka is someone who prefers vastly indoor activities to outdoor. Aside from school and the occasional walk to clear her head(or get away from uncomfortable family situations) she tends to stay inside most days - though if a friend were to ask her somewhere, she'd gladly go with them. Usually, when she isn't reading she can be found tapping away at her laptop, typically browsing the internet or doing some writing, whether for schoolwork or her own personal projects.

She has a love of technology and machines of all kinds, using them and building them, stemming from time spent watching her father fix audio equipment at his work bench. She's proficient at tune-ups and repairs, and she can even build something from the ground up with the right motivation.

Fittingly, for someone who got her start on audio equipment, Fuuka enjoys listening to music, too, with varied tastes that might be surprising for someone so quiet. She even has her own stereo that she's modified for clearer audio.

She's just as proficient with software, too. She knows the ins-and-outs of computers, how to find what she wants and recover lost data. She isn't quite at the level of legendary super hacker, but she's more than capable of digging into places that are hard to access - though she's too much of a good girl to do so without a request or permission from someone she trusts.

Perhaps to make up for this, she's also taken to looking into more 'traditionally feminine' hobbies that she can take up, that might be more socially presentable. She's tried and failed to get into a few different ones so far, but lately she's started to legitimately enjoy making flower arrangements. She hasn't done any gardening herself yet, but she's interested.

Cooking is also on the table for the near future... but that will be a long road for Fuuka. She isn't supernaturally cursed to be a terrible cook - it's just something she rushes into without preparing herself for appropriately, because she feels the need to provide some tangible help to her team beyond her support in battle. And then when she does try, she often goes into it with her usual defeatist mindset, panicking when she makes a mistake and overcorrecting - with likely more than a little subconscious social pressure thrown in on top, feeling like she has to do it herself because society expects her to be a good cook.

Fuuka is also interested in art, and is currently a member of Gekkoukan's Art Club. It's not something she has a professional interest in, but she enjoys it. Secretly, she's more interested in doing digital art than physical, but Art Club is helping her get a good foundation for when she feels comfortable enough to start, and its members have been welcoming. She's made a lot of good progress.

And, of course, she enjoys movies and reading. Though her interests are fairly broad, she tends to gravitate most toward more grounded science fiction works - the type she could see happen and even think about how to make it real. Bookstores are a no-go for her due to an incident from her past, though(due to her short height one she accidentally knocked some books off a shelf when reaching for one higher up, and when she went to remove them from her bag and put them back someone accused her of stealing and took pictures), so what she can't find digitally she has to look for in other stores.

Fuuka possesses the fashion sense of someone much older than she is. Some might wonder if her grandparents buy her clothes for her - but no, that's just what she likes, it's comfortable and she thinks they look nice.

4c. Major Arcana: Tell us about your character's Arcana and how it applies to them. Think about what stage of the Tarot your character's journey is on or represents; all of the tarot cards are within everyone, but choose/describe your character's based on what you want to emphasize.

Fuuka represents the Priestess - and fittingly, she's someone who relies on her intuition more than direct action. She focuses on planning, and possesses a keen wisdom and sense of perception that she uses to support others. ...But reflecting some of the High Priestess's other traits, she's prone to hesitation and uncertainty, and finds it difficult at times to engage others openly out of fear for how they'll react.

4d. (OPTIONAL) Fool OCs and some unique powers such as Chidori Yoshino's healing powers are appable, but they require an extensive and in-depth plot to go along with their extra powers; a Fool OC means a commitment to creating an original game plot to go with your character. If you're applying for a Fool OC, please tell us in detail about the Fool's Journey you have in mind, the long-term plot you're looking to create, and any original supernatural influences and/or elements attached to it including any original awakening styles. This will need back-and-forth with staff, so be prepared for questions and/or revisions. This also applies to such unique powers; they don't require a full game plot, but we want them to add more to the game than having a cool power.

Fuuka possesses no notable powers beyond those already covered by her Persona.

Supporting Cast (OPTIONAL)

5. Do you have any Non-Playable Characters in mind to help support your character and the story you want to tell with them? Examples include family members, friends, bosses, and/or co-workers. We encourage you to list a couple here to get thinking about your character's relationships: their name, basic deal, and what they mean to your character is sufficient. If you want to elaborate further, consider an Arcana!

If you want staff to run them, please say so and also include a one-line description or let us know to make something up. NPCs do not need combat statlines and are not expected to have them.

Staff will give you a heads up before using your NPC, and you can revoke this consent at any time.

• Fuuka's Parents: Currently, Fuuka's home life is strained due to her parents' insecurity regarding how well-off their immediate family is. This has caused them to focus all their effort on their jobs while generally ignoring Fuuka - except to put pressure on her about school.
• Natsuki Moriyama: A student at Gekkoukan High School, commands a lot of respect among her clique. At first, Natsuki hated Fuuka - though a good deal of this was, in truth, self-loathing for seeing someone in a similar situation to her still manage to excel. She was responsible for a lot of Fuuka's grief - but following the prank that escalated beyond her expectations, she would try to make it up to her. Though she won't remember Tartarus, the Shadows, or any events of that night, part of her still remembers Fuuka coming to her defense despite everything. Though their social circles couldn't be any more different, the two end up becoming steadfast friends.

Persona

6a. Starter: Tell us about your Persona. Tell us how their story unfolds and how it parallels your character. Tell us how they fight in battle and the meaning behind their fighting style -- and the psychological underpinnings of why their style has expressed the way that it does. For instance, Fuuka is a Navigator who is exceptionally talented at relaying information up the hundreds of floors of Tartarus... because she wanted to connect the people around her! If your character or their Persona have any special powers (such as Chidori and Medea's life-emitting talents), please detail them here as well.

Fuuka's Persona is Lucia - the patron saint of the blind, who stood firm in her beliefs and was tortured for them, and was granted divine sight. Though Fuuka may seem like a timid person, she has great strength deep within - the strength to stand firm in the face of danger. And she uses her divine sight to guide others as a Navigator, to detect danger and analyze the enemy and provide her team with the knowledge they need to face them and escape unharmed.

And just as important is her power of connection, to communicate with her allies even though they may be far apart, to unite them across distances. It's a power she takes for granted, at first - focusing instead on how it reflects her fear of how others see her by allowing her to see others as they are. It's only later that she realises the true meaning of this power.

Fittingly, Lucia greatly augments Fuuka's Resonance, broadening her senses and allowing her to detect things others might miss. It allows her to get a feel for the auras of others as well as pick up on any danger nearby. This effect is potent, surfacing even before Fuuka realises what a Persona is. With time and training, she will be able to hone these senses further and broaden her reach.

In times of need, when it seems like her powers will fail her or there's too much interference, Fuuka is able to hone her senses with a ritual, focusing on the environment around her and using it to guide her.

In battle, Fuuka prioritizes analyzing the situation and relaying their information to her allies, allowing them to determine the best approach. Once her analysis is complete, she then shifts to providing support and further guidance, to keep her team ready for any change in the situation. Though Lucia does possess some offensive capabilities, this is more of a fallback than an active capability - Fuuka fully trusts combat to those more suited for it.

However, what she lacks in offense Lucia makes up for in defense - when Lucia materialises, she does so directly over top of Fuuka, encompassing her and those in her vicinity in her protective sphere. This sphere is more than capable of withstanding hits from even powerful Shadows... but in return, Lucia is somewhat lacking in mobility.

Though they're weak as Lucia and will require training, Fuuka's Persona will eventually acquire some disruption and jamming capabilities - though these are largely used in the service of disrupting negative influences affecting others against their will.

6b. Persona Evolution: In canon, many characters gain a second or even third stage to their Persona as a result of character development or some other special event. Consider what such evolution might be in store for your character's Persona, if any. We encourage you to think of at least one, so that we can discourage others from stepping on your toes.

Lucia evolves into Juno - queen of the gods in the Roman pantheon, and the goddess of marriage and womanhood. The evolution of Lucia into Juno represents Fuuka deciding to no longer hide aspects of herself from the world for the sole sake of being accepted - that she doesn't need to force herself to seem feminine for the sake of others, that she's fine as she is and that she doesn't need to hide what she loves. It helps her recognize the significance of her powers of connection, as well.

Juno is also known as a divine protector, one who watches over others - and Fuuka certainly fits that bill.

Arcana System Information

7a. Base Combat: Tell us how your character fights. This should include what kind of weapon (or weapons, if they have more than one) they use, what kind of style (or lack thereof) they have, what kind of damage their weapon(s) do, and so one. Tell us why they fight like this and/or what it reflects about who they are as a person -- for example, they have a strict, traditional upbringing, so they use martial arts, or they're in archery club so they use bow and arrows. If a character uses multiple weapons, they can have different types of weapon damage. Basic attack elements include: Strike (e.g. punches, baseball bats, staffs, etc.), Slash (e.g. swords, spears, axes, etc.), and Pierce (e.g. bows, guns, throwing spears, etc.).

Fuuka is not a front-line fighter. If Fuuka has to attack physically, that's a sign that things have already gone wrong - she generally doesn't like fighting, doing it only out of necessity. Instead, she relies on her allies to handle the direct combat while she supports from the back. Lucia's nature as a Persona that encompasses her rather than acting freely of her means she doesn't have many opportunities to attack directly, given that any attack would have to go through Lucia, or require dispelling her and open herself up to harm. Still, just because she shouldn't be doesn't mean it's a good idea for her to go into combat without any training at all - things do sometimes go wrong, and as such, Fuuka's style of self-defence has developed due to influence from Lucia, advice and training with older members of SEES, and online learning. Fuuka does not carry a weapon, as it would largely just weigh her down. As a result, Fuuka relies on barehanded Strike damage.

Fuuka's style is based more on mitigation, redirection, and tiring the opponent out rather than inflicting direct harm, resembling aikido. She has her allies for inflicting harm - her objective is usually to escape it. Lucia's influence helps her predict where the enemy is going to attack from, providing her forewarning and time to consider the best approach. Though she's small, this allows her to use her opponent's strength and size as leverage against them - though this also means that she's at a disadvantage when forced into close-range combat against an opponent capable of confusing her senses. Relying on Lucia also means she's less effective in the real world, though the muscle memory does carry over.

7b. Please fill out a character sheet for your character's stats and link it here. Refer to Arcana System and Monad System for instructions. Note that if you're a Wild Card, you can apply for up to four additional Personas. The character sheet can be found below; make a copy of it and include a link to your filled-out copy in your app:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14Aiw9ttoQKq0DhrSTyxr4yDmwdgYk0TAsOMZ5ehmwhE/edit?usp=sharing

Fuuka's sheet can be found here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/135q67CbviYf20i5dOjE9BziEVvz3gQ4kqQ1VMsoJYd4/edit?usp=sharing

Monad Information

8. Stats and Approaches: Tell us about your character's primary traits while exploring supernatural spaces--what they're strong at, what they're weak at, what they're merely okay at--and why they're like that. We'd also like to hear about your character's Approaches (see Monad System for details). This is your space to tell us how your character approaches Monads narratively; please use the spreadsheet linked in the above section to stat the mechanics. Base your strengths on the following five traits:

• Academics: How educated your character is; how good they are at reasoning and/or logical understanding.
• Charm: How charismatic your character is; how attractive they are and/or how well they can make others like them.
• Guts: How brave your character is; how capable they are of standing their ground and/or pushing through.
• Proficiency: How adept your character is; how clever they are and/or how deft or agile their movements are.
• Understanding: How compassionate your character is; how kind they are, how well they understand others' feelings.

Note that these traits are heavily abstracted, so don't stress too much if your ideas don't match up perfectly; just pick the trait that aligns best with your intent. Each character gets three Approaches, and you may repeat traits if you wish.

During exploration, Fuuka excels at guiding her allies safely - feeling out the lay of the land and identifying potential sources of danger or useful resources. She can help her allies avoid danger... or, help them get the advantage. With her Academics, she's able to sort through information quickly and easily and relay it to her team, as well as reason out the solution to problems faced in the field.

Though it's not something she advertises, Fuuka is surprisingly Proficient. She has a lot of experience repairing machines, and this has lended her a good bit of manual dexterity and problem-solving ability. She generally approaches tasks requiring Proficiency with a 'work smarter, not harder' attitude, though this does mean she can falter at times when the only answer to a problem is sheer physical aptitude.

Fuuka possesses a surprising amount of Guts compared to what one might expect. While she finds just dealing with people more difficult and tends to falter there, when threatened she's able to keep a cool, calm head to manage the situation. She's better at handling supernatural problems than personal ones...

...which as a result makes Charm one of her weakpoints. She's able to deal with her team well enough, but her timid nature makes it difficult for her to convince people to do things they didn't already want to do, and her shyness means it's hard for her to approach people she doesn't already know. This is something she'll be able to work on - but for now, it's low.

She does, however, possess a good bit of Understanding - she is a kind person capable of easily empathising with others and does her best to try to understand their feelings and why. This can help her defuse situations and identify points of tension... though she may not be the best equipped to actually act upon them.

Her primary three approaches can be summarised as -

Bookworm - An Approach relying on Academics. Fuuka is smart - she's done a lot of reading, both books and on the internet, and is often looking things up that she's curious about. She loves research, in fact, and never objects when studying one thing brings her down a rabbit hole to another. When in need, she can leverage this knowledge to help figure out what's going on and puzzle out solutions - or, bring out useful information she's heard.

Analytical - An Approach based on Guts. Fuuka is talented at studying the situation at hand and providing information to her team to help them decide the best way to approach it, even in heated situations.

Technician - An Approach based on Proficiency. Fuuka is skilled with the use and repair of machines, and this has given her a good bit of deftness. She can use this to figure out ways to make the problem easier - and identify useful items that might otherwise be overlooked.

Resources, Hype, and Miscellaneous

9a. By Your Side: Does your character have some resources or clout that aren't represented by your statistics? Do they have a secret in their background which might one day prompt a plot? Please tell us here! We understand these things can change and develop in play, but to the greatest extent possible, we want to know what you have in mind. If you already stated it in your character's background or elsewhere, please briefly restate it here as well.

Fuuka is well-versed in the use of the internet, and she spends a lot of her time online. As such, she's likely to discover how deep the discussion of the supernatural goes online. While she's unlikely to be an especially active participant, being more of a lurker than someone inclined to interact, that puts her in a good position to help out SEES by keeping a finger on the pulse of the web to try and keep everyone informed of goings-on.

Her knack for technology is likely to be useful, too. Though as she herself notes the Kirijo Group already handles their specialized equipment needs, having someone already in the dorm who knows how to fix what's broken can be a big help - and as we see, more than once do her friends and allies come to her when they need information that can only be found through hacking.

9b. WISH: The new timeline implied in Question 3c was created with the wishes of the survivors. Consider if your alternate timeline self had a wish that affected their life in this timeline, or if they were affected by someone else's wish. The scope of this wish is usually 'has a chance to reconcile with their parent' or 'didn't die young' rather than riches or power. This is something you can think about now, later, or not at all, but if you have something in mind, please state it here. For more on this, see: our discussion of wishes in The Two Timelines.

Fuuka (may have) lived a normal life, never coming in contact with the supernatural. It's possible she had someone make a wish on her behalf, but at present I don't know what that would be.

9c. MADE TO BE IN LOVE: What about this character sparks your passion? What are you excited to see or do with them? What about them and their story are you enthusiastic about experiencing and sharing? We want to know!

Fuuka is a character I've enjoyed ever since I first played Persona 3 on the PS2, so being able to do justice by her is a fun prospect. I love her storyline of a shy person who finds a place for herself, slowly building up her confidence and learning to appreciate what makes her special with the encouragement of those who care about her. And being able to play that story out in an environment like this will lead to good times, I think! I also just really enjoy playing the type of character who shouts out enemy weaknesses and attack patterns.

9d. Misc.: Do you have plans and hopes for your character that staff should know about? Do you have any particular inspirations for your character, like other character(s) they might be based on? Do you have a concern not covered by one of the other questions that you want to bring up? This is the place to tell us.

As mentioned, I think it would be neat to at least play out the fight with the Emperor and the Empress that acts as Fuuka's Awakening, and perhaps the scene where she encounters SEES in Tartarus as well.

Forming the Cooking Club and Technology Club are on the table for her for the future, but how they happen will depend largely on the people she meets and how her story unfolds, so there's nothing concrete at this time. Still, if it does pan out, that's something that'll be fun to portray.

Other than that, I don't have any big plans beyond seeing how things unfold alongside everyone!

All done? Please send your application (as text, not a link or an attachment) to velvetroommush@gmail.com with the following subject line: "FC/OC - Chorus/Focus/Nemesis - Character Name" (for example, "FC - Focus - Fuuka Yamagishi"). Good luck!