Lostman Grafitti [Character Driven Urban Fantasy]

[AardWolf]

@AardWolfOh, I see where you're going now. I'd say that if they're genuine about their current emotion, they'd still be painted in the relevant color, but she simply won't be able to interact with that color the way she can do so for more duplicitous individuals. So she doesn't get rekt when she walks into a room and everyone just happens to be wearing their heart on their sleeves.

@ERode

I was worried I wasn't getting the concept across well enough, so I'm glad you got it, and that actually makes sense, I'll keep that in mind. Also finally finished filling this out:

The Artist

Identity:
Black hair matches the somber dark brown eyes of the 20 year old university student, her appearance neither ugly nor outstandingly attractive kept properly to garner enough attention but not draw any unwanted advances, still a second year in her art school, the small woman stand's around 5'4" and is rather touchy on that subject, couple that with her being built rather small for her age she's often mistaken still for a high schooler and often has to prove her age even to her other classmates. Often carrying herself with a sense of aloofness she gives off an air that she doesn't wish to be bother. Even though she's living in a small respectable apartment complex Yahiro Emu still goes out of her way to take a route to school to keep others from finding out that she lives in such a sub-par area of town, let alone risk the chance that her mother crosses their path. Born in the city, and even after seeing the type of place it truly is she still calls it home, she's not once left it.

Psyche:
Perfectionist.
Those are the only thought's that often drive the young artist, having seen her mother fall and fall again as she desperately clings onto whatever man has the deepest pockets until he discards her and she's left to deal with another drunken lecture about how all men are dogs and how they always leave once they've gotten what they want; always biting back the comment of perhaps it was how her mother was all to willing to open her legs at the sight of a single whisper of money and being kept was the reason she was left. Disgusted with it all, she clings to the one talent she possesses, painting, putting bright colors onto blank canvases to craft something anything that will take her mind away for a little while. Anything that will place her high enough that others look to her in admiration, in awe, she refuses to be the one begging for attention and often pushes herself to far in her pursuit of being on top, perfect grades, the perfect composure, the perfect lie she's crafted for others to believe but with each day it gets harder and harder to keep that stupid smile plastered across her face all to aware of the cracks slowly chipping away at her mask.

Background:
Her father left when she was 6, and for awhile her mother kept it together working two or three odd jobs to keep them a float and enough to still send the young girl to school, in shabbier clothing, second hand notebooks, little things that burned embarrassment into Emu who didn't understand why she couldn't have the things she once had before. Perhaps it was her constant questioning about why daddy wasn't coming home or why she couldn't have the newest toy when all the other kids in class had it that drove her mother towards the bottle, or was it the man who kept showing up and chatting to her mother whenever she dropped her off at school. She remembered him coming over a lot more, bringing her presents and telling her to be a good girl for her mother, he didn't last long and it wasn't even longer before another man took his place.

She was 10 when her mother started her job at Narcissus, a host club of ill renown in the red light district of town but she believed her mother when she said it was just a job as a receptionist for wealthy clients who needed to rest. How naive she was, thinking back on it she should've known better when her mother came home with reeking of alcohol and cigarette smoke going on and on about this business man who was going to take them out of this dump and give them the life her disappointment of a father never could. It was around then that she stopped doing household work all together and the young Emu quickly learned how to take care of herself, using the small allowance her mother left to either buy cheap food at the convenience store or she'd have to start skipping her art club to make the sales at the supermarket.

By the age of 16 her mother all but stopped coming home, if the landlord hadn't taken pity on the poor girl she would've been homeless long ago, either that or her mothers generous display of piety, as she called it. She could still remember the scream matches between the two of them once things turned sour, it was then she started selling her artwork, anything that she didn't need to survive. Collectibles, CDs, Limited Edition Releases. Often things she had saved up scrapping by with her meager allowance to be able to have. She worked a few years as a clerk at the supermarket she frequented, either early before school or after she got out, once again putting her art club on hold. She was only surprised the first few times she came home and found her mother passed out on the floor cursing out some man or another in her drunken slumber, tucking her into bed and leaving a glass of water with some headache medicine next to it before focusing on her college applications desperately trying to fill her portfolio to apply for a scholarship.

Now a second year at her university, she still comes home often to a trashed apartment and a mother she had slowly grown to despise either gushing over some new man that would leave her soon enough, or drunk on whatever bottles she still had stashed away. No matter how many of them she trashed, her mother always had more.

Quirks:
She likes write down the colors she sees painted on people, sometimes taking the time to sit and paint the world in front of her eyes.

Relationships:

• Yahiro Shizuri: Mother
  Emu uses the term loosely when speaking of this woman, a middle age woman who found herself single with a small child. There was no plan for this in her life, she thought she had done well snagging herself a high paying business man; even if it was a loveless marriage she thought he would've stayed out of obligation or his genuine love her for their daughter. She never thought she was one to be that naive, even more so believing that any of the men who come and flatter her at the club truly meant to free her from this life she had spiraled into. Too afraid to face her own daughter, she either avoids home or finds courage in a bottle to meet the empty stare from the young woman she no longer knows. Part of her wants to fix things, to try and start again, but part of her believes its too late.
• Nashio Hatsu: Best Friend
  Hatsu has known Emu since most of her childhood, having watched her go through so many changes she strives to be a bright spot in her life. While they don't share the same passion for art, her wanting to be a marine biologist both of them often find beauty down at the aquarium often spending countless of Emu's days off there to forget about the world outside. Though she knows she can't fix whats happened she just wishes that she could at least see her friends real smile from time to time. Often the art student uses her as a grounder, a reminder that not everyone wants to be perfect. She provides a semblance of peace.
• Sakimoto Keishi: Teacher
  Perhaps the most intriguing person Emu has met. He doesn't match his color. She often wonders if it's a mistake, that maybe her eyes are wrong, but from day to day it hasn't changed he's wore a single stroke of color simply happy not hiding anything at all. He's a polar opposite of her, the one who tries desperately to try and hide behind the mask and flurry of colors she paints herself with. A relatively new teacher, having only transferred her at the start of her second year, he's taken an interest in her art work. Saying that it lacks truth and that no one would truly resonate with it until she stopped trying to paint lies. He's not someone she often goes out of her way to interact with, he sets her on edge. He's hiding something but she can't tell by his colors and it confuses her.

Locations:

• Tenoroshi University of Art:
  The commute route she chooses to take increases the 10 minutes train ride from her home to 20 minutes so that she arrives from the shopping district rather than the housing development on the outside of the red light district. A reputable university, with a decent employment track record and an art program that she can couple with a teaching license. Also housing economic and acting majors, it even cares a small nursing program for the select few capable of being accepted. A smaller university nestled in the north side of Tenoroshi, often considered a sister school to the Tenoroshi University of Science & Commerce, the lesser sister meant for those who couldn't cut in the real work force. There's a small tension and rivalry between the two schools, one that she notices when she has to attend the monthly seminar hosted by the larger school.
• ベルシャトー魚昌/Le Belle Château Uomasa:
  A decent enough apartment complex, an apartment that was once her childhood home now littered with take out containers and used art supplies on one half, the other with scattered clothing and empty bottles. What was once filled with laughter and comfort now barren and desolate. It had long stopped being a home for either of them, now it was merely a place to rest as its inhabitants avoided each other. A lone futon sat in front of a tv that no longer had cable, a table meant for four now only showed wear enough for one when it was graced enough to a presence, alcohol stains soaked into the wood. A two bedroom, one bath set up. One room had its walled covered in sketches and paintings, many of them of people who walk past the window covered in paint, the floors littered with school and sketch books stuffed full of loose paper and notes. The other is more barren, devoid of life, used as a storage for piles of clothing and a lone bed.
• Narcissus:
  A low end hostess club settled in the seedier part of the red light district, rather renown for all the right reasons and all the wrong ways. Often its patrons are ones who aren't well received at home or can't afford to go to nicer ones without having to suck up to their boss, watching them make passes at women they could only dream of. Shizuri's current place of employment. The top hostess in the bar, sadly that wasn't much of an honor. She often work's there late nights and almost every night drinking and flattering the poor souls that come in there while her own drowns in each cup. Cheap red couches with mystery stains, cheap liquor and cheaper glasses litter the tables coupled with snacks brought from the run down food cart out front. The sign buzzes as the neon lights flickered desperately to stay light in the cold city air.

[Asuras]

Enshiro Mana

---

Identity:
Enshiro Mana is a ghost, perhaps most in the way that few would care to approach her. A delinquent appearance of unkempt hair and sullen eyes speaks true of a wandering soul in need of help that any common pedestrian wouldn't give a passing glance. At an average and unassuming 5'3", she nevertheless strikes a certain nervousness in those around her; baggy, dirty clothing could always hide a knife, right? She either doesn't take particularly good care of her health, or some drugs are involved, but regardless, she maintains a pale appearance, and certainly not the sort gained by nobles who never worked in the fields. For all her downtrodden looks, Mana still stands tall and walks with a purpose and confidence. Familiarity and wisdom with her life situation keeps her head high, even if her poor chances at happiness should really keep her head down.

Psyche:
As a poor and unskilled young girl living in the city, Mana lives a life paycheck to paycheck, fortunately held slightly away from rock bottom with the inheritance of her mother's death. Despite the monotonous nature of it, she has given up on something better. A turbulent childhood and poor life choices have rooted her in a mental landscape of hopelessness Capable of taking breaks from her part-time but never-ending job, she loiters to stave off the loneliness of living with few genuine friends, and fewer opportunities to enjoy life to its fullest. For Mana, simply surviving is about as much as she can do, and taking the small victories here and there drive her to at least maintain a certain level of energy and activity. A nicely-sized paycheck after a hard week of work means feeling the squeeze slightly less. Even with an inheritance to use, Mana is reluctant to do so; a certain guilt and depression keeps her back.

Background:
Her father left quite early in her life. His involvement and importance meant so little to her, she's forgotten how old she even was, or if she was even old to remember for that matter. Left with her mother, a well-working middle-class woman who cared very much for her, Mana's path to adulthood had seemed as normal as could be. When she had turned fifteen, Mana's mother began to suffer from an early-onset dementia. Too often, making sure her mother was alright took precedence over her schooling. Behind and exhausted, Mana's focus on graduating with decent grades slipped through her hands, instead replaced with a desire to find peace from the nightmares of her home. She fell in with a delinquent crowd, whose disdain for the unmerciful education system meant Mana could fit right in. Their antics, aloofness, and general misbehavior only served to dig a deeper hole in hr life.

When graduation came around, Mana saw no future for herself, and quickly relegated herself to part-time work, a life she considered the only future for someone like her. No longer bound by school, but wary of the growing dangerousness emerging in her friend circle, she abandoned them in favor of simply trying to get by. Her mother soon died, but had the sense to write a will for her daughter before her mind had drifted too far gone.

Since then, Mana has been a nobody.

Quirks:
Smokes often. Horror movie enthusiast, but nevertheless quite afraid of supposedly haunted locations.

---

Relationships:

• Koman Asahi:
  "General supervisor" of the MeruMeru Konbini, Asahi is Mana's de facto "boss", though he is on paper just another employee. The absentee store owner leaves maintenance to Asahi, who schedules and manages other employees. His reasonable and hard-working nature earns him a lot of respect, and so the other employees effectively defer to his judgement. Aware of Mana's situation, he tries his best to net her as many hours as possible, and his own quiet demeanor allows Mana to interface with him more easily than others her age. Though their interactions rarely extend beyond work, Mana believes him to be someone she could rely on if things got worse for her.
• Masayoshi "Kenshin" Kento:
  A friend from high school, Kento eventually graduated (albeit with somewhat better marks than Mana) and ended up in limbo afterwards. Thanks to his good looks and socialite-esque personality, Kento was admitted into a Host Club where he makes an unusually substantial living for someone his age. Mana would never dare enter an establishment like a Host Club, but sometimes waits outside for Kento to finish with his shift, in which they often go elsewhere for a late night snack where Kento can sober up.
• Hiritsugi Suzume:
  Another friend from high school, though one that was not a part of Mana's inner circle. Herself the daughter of a relatively notable yakuza member, she didn't have the freedom to act out like Mana did. Still, they came to enjoy one another's company later in education, sparked by a quiet and empathetic moment shared when smoking in the back of the school together. Though their friendship appears mellow and empty to some, they share a kind of kinship that can be powerful even if silent. When Suzume has the time, their favorite spot to hang around is the swing set up on Shiomi Hill.

Locations:

• MeruMeru Konbini:
  A convenience store located at the crossroads of a major street that leads from the outer third of Tenoroshi to downtown. Being so close to so many other convenience stores, their common customers are those living right above the store, and those who don't want to waste time at mom and pop stores where their particular favorite meal brand may or may not be sold. As far as business goes, things are steady, with booms during the mornings when commuters are headed by or out. This is where Mana works part time.
• Shiomi Hill Park:
  A small playground built alongside a winding hill road that leads out of Tenoroshi. It is equipped with a jungle gym and four swings, as well as a sandpit carefully maintained by an elderly lady who lives nearby, and enjoys sitting in the park. Since there are no schools nearby, and the majority of residents are older, the playground doesn't see too much use besides the occasional grandchildren coming around. The edge of the playground overlooks the hillside edge. A great view of Tenoroshi.
• Niimura Street:
  A winding, tight street filled with both residences and small shops selling wildly varying merchandise. A very "hole-in-the-wall" type location, and one that is often visited by "punks" such as herself, though they keep to themselves near the bike rack. As no bikes have been reported stolen in years, the delinquents are left alone by police, though some unfamiliar with the area may pass by worried that they're up to no good. Mana used to go by this place more often, especially during high school, but has since taken to only occasionally catching up with the locals. Sometimes she sells cigarettes to minors there at a higher price than she bought them herself.

[Canidae]

I'm still working out everything for his backstory and how he met the Lostman (I was thinking that it might happen during the roleplay, not before it), but this is a rough outline for what I have down so far for this character. If there's anything I need to change to fit with the game, I am more than willing to edit it ^^.

Damien Chattaway: WIP

<In the past I've had trouble posting pictures on here and having them show up, when I get my character sheet completely finalized I'll see about adding in a photo for him>
Identity:

• Damien Chattaway
• 17
• Male

Appearance: Standing at a flat 6’0, Damien appears slightly lanky for his height. He has a light beige complexion and dark, umber brown coloured eyes. He straight jetblack hair, but he often dyes it different colours. He is of mixed descent, his father being (presumably) japanese while his mother, Lorena Chattaway, is white. Known for flaunting his appearance, he tends to dress flamboyantly and you could say his fashion is,, avant-garde. He has a narrow nose and defined facial features which have been further accentuated with makeup. The amount of makeup he wears, while abhorrent to his mother, is something he displays more with a sense of pride than shame. He wears a small nose ring and small silver piercings shaped like rings. He often keeps his hair done up and pulled back except for bangs he lets hang out on the left side of his face.

• His brother and mom would say that Damien’s “unemployed” but Damien would beg to differ, considering delinquency a full time job.

Psyche: Damien can give off the impression of having a markedly carefree and light-hearted attitude. Always ready to find the silver lining in virtually any situation, he has a fondness for humor and optimism. This behavior can also be inappropriate in some situations, however, and can quickly become tiresome among more somber-minded individuals. He is remarkably flexible and adaptable to fitting in with different people and has a gregarious nature about him, flitting about in different social situations and using his charisma to make friends.

Despite his friendliness and laid-back nature, he can also be very criticizing and skeptical towards others. He is merciless when it comes to poking holes in other people's ideas and he isn't shy when it comes to voicing his own opinions. His sharp tongue can often land him in hot water.

To an acquaintance or casual friend, it might be easy to miss the mood swings Damien goes through, but for anyone who has spent a long time around him, it can become readily apparent that Damien has a temperamental nature with oscillating highs and lows. There are periods of time where he acts speckless, cool, and borderline egotistical as he engages in risky behavior. This sort of boldness could be attractive to others at first, but the gross overconfidence he displays even in peril could be downright troubling to others. There are other periods, however, where he becomes morose and seemingly unmotivated to pursue anything. There is a certain mark of apathy and carelessness to his behavior as he lets friends and family, as well as interests and projects, hang on the fence during this period as he stalls and puts everything off.

This can be hard to recognize however because Damien is generally closed off when it comes to having deep, meaningful conversations or having emotionally charged discussions. Usually he isn't making a point to “hide” his feelings, but he can potentially come off as being shallow or detached. As a general rule, Damien cares about the people he’s close to, and most of his actions have good intentions behind them, but he can fail to take into account the consequences of what he does first or look beyond his personal self interest. There is a lack of self-awareness at times that can become a foil and spell disaster for anything he does.

While not necessarily a fear, Damien does have a strong preference of hanging out around other people. Unless he is feeling super apathetic and withdrawn, he tends to experience anxiety and restlessness when completely alone for several hours. While this need for companionship makes him very broad-minded, it also means he has low standards when it comes to friendship.

Background:

• He currently lives with his mother and older half-brother, Haireth, in the equivalent of an apartment duplex located around the slums of Tenoroshi. His mother works at the local Anthony’s Bar & Grill.
• His mother still hasn’t discussed with him about how she and his father met, where he is now, and why they aren’t together. Haireth’s father had separated from his mother shortly after he was born, but Haireth still sees his father occasionally and they are on good terms.
• After witnessing a fight on the streets going on between two teenagers- one obviously bigger and and older than the other- Damien, in an uncharacteristic and definitely-not-impulsive-decision, steps in and intervenes, defending the scrawnier boy from a severe beating. Damien later learned this boy’s name was Kiyoshi Amagawa and that he was the head of a punk biker gang called “The Spades”. This initial contact sparked a longer involvement that Damien got tangled into as he became friends with Amagawa and joined his biker gang.
  Damien was fifteen when he joined the biker gang and while he was supportive of the group at first, as time went on and he got older, he found himself repeatedly disgusted by the debauchery and criminal activities a lot of his friends fell into. However, he also knew that he was now an integral part of the group and that Amagawa would undoubtedly feel betrayed if Damien voiced his dissent and left.

Quirks: N/A for now

Relationships:

Haireth Chattaway: Damien’s older half-brother. He has dark auburn hair and often has a calm, if displeased look on his face. He has mellow brown eyes and stands just an inch taller than Damien is. Being two years older, Haireth often feels the need to be the more responsible person whenever he and Damien hang out. Despite not seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of things, they have a pretty tight relationship and grew up pretty close. Haireth has a rigidly traditionalist sort of mind, but his outward attitude is often doggedly marked by a grim pessimism and defeatist mentality which often undermines his goals and relationships. Naturally quieter and more emotionally stable than Damien, he functions as the “rock” of the family and he knows that mom could always count on him, even if all the expectations placed on him wear away at his mental well-being.

Kiyoshi Amagawa: Damien’s best friend and leader of “The Spades”. He appears scrawnier than what most would envision a punk gang leader to look like, but he has a ruthless intellect behind that frail body and a keen memory for details and observation. He and Damien are the same age, but he stands shorter, being only 5’9. He has dyed light blue hair cut in a mop-top fashion. He wears gauges and one earring at the top of his left ear. His eyes are light brown, but they almost appear hazel in certain lighting. They are framed by a pair of half-rectangle shaped glasses. He wears a long black overcoat that tapers down to his ankles and long knee high leather boots, which give him the illusion of being taller. Amagawa and Damien generally get along well, but they’ve also had their share of arguments in the past concerning the nature of The Spades. While he used to trust Damien to make decisions in his absence or confide in him when there were troubles, lately he’s been rather suspicious in regards to what Damien’s been up to lately. Keen and observant, he’s noticed that Damien’s been acting rather distracted and aloof lately. There hasn’t been anything yet that would lead Amagawa to think that Damien would cut ties with The Spades, but he has been concerned about his unusual behavior as of late.

hAha, I’m still thinking about who to put here.

Locations:
I know that these are only rough draft forms and characters haven’t officially been accepted yet, but I could see Damien hanging out around Tenoroshi North Park and Niimura Street. The ideas I was coming up with for locations he would frequent were similar to both of those places as well, so I don’t really want to “copy” or make duplicate locations, if that makes any sense? I can always make new locations though that aren’t directly tied to my character if you still want locations, however ^^.
Anthony’s Bar & Grill: His mother’s place of employment as well as the primary “headquarters” of The Spades after closing hours. (I was thinking that maybe it could be in between the hour walk from Sakura Mansion and Tenoroshi North Park if that’s alright?)

[ERode]

@AardWolf As a general note, the average height of a Japanese woman (full grown adult) is something like 5'2. Emu is well above average, in that case. To confirm, she didn't start working at a convenience store when she was 10, right? Outside of that though, there's a whole buncha stuff I can use there, so that's good. If you could touch up on the run-on sentences you have in the CS, that'd improve readability as well. Also, I'll be making the landlord a character as well, just so you're aware. Dude seems prominent enough to at least be named and all.

Can't wait to start figuring out how to build a reconciliation between Emu and her hot mom. ;3

@AsurasMotherfuckers with their missing dads and their dead moms. Did she ever do any hard drugs, by the way? Or did she distance herself from her group before things got too wild and edgy? Anyways, her life's inoffensive enough that I'm basically fine with it. Can't go without a convenience store in town, after all. When's she gonna see the light and start vaping?

@CanidaeIf you have trouble with getting pictures posted up, just upload the picture to imgur and use the link from there. I know that a buncha sites don't allow for hotlinking and all, so that's probably what the problem is. Drama with the old friends group's always useful though, and its definitely nice that Damien is both a guy AND a relatively social person. Sets up the contrast n all. Anyways, I'll wait till you finish up your backstory before thinking more about it. In regards to the final NPC, it's always fine to come up with enemies rather than family or friends.

And really, for locations, it doesn't need to be like, the top 3 places they frequent the most. I'd be pretty worried if the only place that a socialite punk biker goes to is a park, a street, and the parking lot of a restaurant. Where's his edgeeeeeeee.

[Savo]

Yeesh, I need to be quicker on the cuff here; someones already nabbed a convenience store and a nice place to view the city... granted, it was him clambering up to the roof of some random apartments without getting caught, but still... at least no one has taken a library yet, that's for sure.

In other news, I'm struggling a bit to figure out who I might have for a third person with relationships. I did want to roll with a student who conditional hangs out with Marc when it benefits him, but I felt like I would of probably made him a bit one dimensional... plus I don't think I could of a proper, tangible personality. Another was a strange, stray Shiba Inu that he decide to show a bit of kindness to and over time, became acquainted with... all while have an impeccable ability to appear in the most bizarre of places at times.

Regardless, I do understand that I can just make an enemy or adversary to him, but I might have the same issue as the prior. Maybe I could brainstorm with you or someone else to help me come up with a tangible idea to get the the last person down before setting Marc in? Also, funny coincidence, namely for Burgers chary since this the guy they listed won't be the only Kurosawa they run into.

If I get this up on time anyways.

[Asuras]

@AsurasMotherfuckers with their missing dads and their dead moms. Did she ever do any hard drugs, by the way? Or did she distance herself from her group before things got too wild and edgy? Anyways, her life's inoffensive enough that I'm basically fine with it. Can't go without a convenience store in town, after all. When's she gonna see the light and start vaping?

@ERode

She's done a couple, but she can count on one hand how many times. The experience was too upsetting for her to stick with them. Her group during high school had only one or two individuals who were really invested in hard drugs, so the peer pressure to try them were minimal, if nonexistent. She tried them out of curiosity only. She would probably try them again, if the conditions were right.

Mana definitely sees smoking as a mature thing. Vaping would take away the magic to her.

[Savo]

Also, as much as I hate posting a WIP, might as well throw it up to show what I've got. Will probably help with critiques and anything I might have to change to improve Marc.

The Student

Identity:
Marc Kurosawa, a young man whose appearance could fool anyone into thinking he's attending one of the colleges around, when in actuality he's nothing more than a seventeen year old student at Tenoroshi Academy. It doesn't help that he could be easily picked out from a crowd of his peers, considering his short hair displays a light blonde hue, as well as standing at 5'10. His eyes, while shown to be predominantly yellow, are actually contacts that hide his true, keen dark blue eyes. Further more, his glasses seem to be predominantly for style, as the lenses are popped out. Further more, the aura he exudes comes off as a tryhard, rather than aloof and cool as he'd like, especially with his normally conceited smile.

For his body type, it's decently toned for a high schooler's; he could join one of the sports teams if he even had a vague semblance of interest in it... in fact, not a whole lot of things really interest him, to the point where 90% of the time, he's either going through the motions or trying something new that he'll eventually forgo. He's thankful he lives in a spacious apartment complex in the northern downtown of Tenoroshi as his room is a disorganized mess with myriads of discarded interests littering the landscape. The only things he really finds any interest in is sleuthing, discussing mysteries surrounding Tenoroshi, as well as exploring the city, reading at the library, and sometimes using his moms gym pass (someones gotta use it).

Psyche:
What's to say about Marc? He's the biggest, badass dude around! Honestly, if anyone hung out with him for too long, they would probably implode from being unable the handle this dudes 'tude.

Well, that's what he would like to think anyways, aside from the whole "imploding" shtick. All I can really say is that, for the life of him, cannot determine what kind of "cool" he wants to be and it's pretty jarring. Unless you get him talking, he stays relatively silent, crossing his arms, sneering, staring, possibly making some cringy quippy one liner that makes him sound like he's been watching too many old spaghetti westerns. Strong, silent, and cool was what he was aiming for, which could almost be possible if he didn't talk as much. Get his mouth running, and you'll have a blowhard who'll peacock himself at the drop of a hat. Honestly, these two states contrast so much to the point where, yes, his tryhard nature comes into full effect.

However, what reason for this is rather simple - a desire to fit in, be cool, be one of the in groups, not some sort of "social pariah." This equates to him going between doing crap that would seriously get him injured to boldly trying to assume control of a conversation that he lacks the skill to manage. Granted, this attention whoring has caused him to alienate himself, save for a select few people he can count on one hand; two hands is just stretching it.

If anything, Marc would love to stop pretending to be this braggart that lacks empathy for anyone but himself, but he lacks the emotional maturity to understand that. The only time he can really stop pretending is in his stopped time, in which he shows a much more upbeat, yet lax, almost borderline lazy traits. For all the energy that he has now, it becomes multiplied when in his own little world. Granted, he'll have to return to reality some time, but he enjoys these brief moments where he can just be him.

And finally, the most important part - his unending thirst for discovering the whimsical reasons for certain events in such a mundane town, as well as trying to discover new places. Marc isn't easily placated, unless you either load him full two or three animal tranquilizers or have him discover the truth behind a mystery. Granted, even once this one thing comes to fruition, he'll begin thirsting for more; he may or may not be on the spectrum.

Background:
<WIP, divorce, lack of friends, and an inherent interest piercing the monotony loading>

Quirks:
If he was asked this question he would shrug, try to prop himself up in a manner that would fit his mind of how he could exude badassery and nonchalantly shrug before stating "I'unno, explorin' the city for anything interestin'?"

Really though, outside of being able to punch something really hard, he's pretty decent at parkour; allowed him to discover the wonderful sight from the Tengu's Villa. Also, great at mimicking other people's voices. May or may not have a number of useless, miscellaneous skills, as evidenced by things around his room, such as "abstract" (i.e. crappy) pottery on his desk, a ditched flute case being used as a substitute for a proper bookend, some unfilled pots in the corner with an unopened bag of seeds, two or three mismatched weights, etc.

For some odd reason, he performs well on most assignments and test, despite goofing off or spending time at the library doing anything but.


Relationships:

Kurosawa Charlotte :

His own mother, and the only other person that he's acutely aware of that actually concerned about the well-being of those around town, if not for her own safety or her own sons. She's usually seldom home around the same time as Marc, though when she does, its often between seeing how he's doing at school, handling life, or if she needs to express her exasperation about consistent state of detachment the people seem to have when it comes to certain "rumors." Outside of that, she seems to be an assertive woman and may or may not be the one responsible for Marc's medley of "skills" (or lack-thereof).

Struggles to handle both her own social life and being a decent mother to her son; might be straining herself a bit as evidenced whenever she conveys how discontent she is. Probably has a bit of an idea about the stupid crap her son has been doing, but possibly not the whole picture.

Ishikawa Rin :

An acquaintance of Marc, as well as a massive conspiracy theorist. He originally met Rin when stopping by Tegami Oka multiple times, often with the both of them exchanging minute amounts of dialogue with one another which eventually allowed them both to open up to one another due to a bit of their familiarity. More often or not, when Marc catches Rin when he's off his shift, they usually hang out in the alley near Tegami Oka. It during this time when they both would let off their own steam while drinking some canned beer Rin provides, whether it was Rin's manager muddling around in the red light district, or Marc getting annoyed at some rumors being spread about him possibly causing the disappearance of certain students.

It regularly devolves into Rin regaling Marc with how most of the rumors around Tenoroshi are rubbish and often stating what comes off as a generally bizarre interpretation of the actual events, half of which he's certain is a result of Rin's intoxicated state.

Locations:
ヴィラ天狗さん/Tengu's Villa :

A rather old apartment complex that has seen better days when compared to the contemporaries surrounding it. While Marc has never been inside it, from the looks of it, looks orderly, antiqued like a shrine, which contrasting against the less maintained exterior. Based on who lives around here, Marc assumes that its mostly older folk, which he wouldn't be exactly wrong about. Granted, the main reason he comes to this particular venue is because of not only how tall it is, but the view when overlooking Tenoroshi. Usually Marc gets to the top by utilizing the fire escape on the side, though he doesn't visit it as much as he could like.

Tegami Oka :

One of the many convenience stores that litters the landscape of Tenoroshi, though it's located near the eastern portion of downtown, which is nearby the red light district. It's located on the path Marc takes to the monorail that leads to an area near his school... he really could have a better commute there and back. While it has customers coming and going, same for most stores, this is where Rin works. This usually gives him more than one reason to loiter about in the back until Rin is off hours.

The Tenoroshi Library :

<WIP, his reality and escapism through fiction loading>

[Canidae]

Holy smokes, I just realized that almost everyone has a missing dad, haha. That was unintentional on my part. I can see about thinking of something different in regards to my character's family situation, lol.

And I'll be taking those location and npc suggestions ^^

[OwO]

Mana definitely sees smoking as a mature thing. Vaping would take away the magic to her.

@Asuras

she requires the all mighty JUUL

[AdmrlStalfos19]

I've always been interested in this, but I wasn't confident that I could fit it into my schedule before now.

...

I'll start working on the CS.

[ERode]

@AsurasTime to turn her into a mutant with twenty fingers per hand then.

@SavoI'm always available for brainstorming. Just busy till late-Thursday/early-Friday because loltermpaper. Anyways, CS seems basically fine so far. As for the whole locations/NPC help stuff...I'll tag @Canidae for this as well.

If your characters are into music, there could be something like a music artist (preferrably independent/self-produced) that they follow, or a live house that they go to concerts in often. A rival on the streets that butts heads or fists with could pan out fairly well too, just someone who doesn't like how they look or formed a grudge with them in a previous incident. With both of them missing fathers, perhaps they've found themselves a father figure in something else, whether it be a teacher, a boss, an older student, or literally just some old, jobless fart who smokes cigarettes and reads the news in a dingy part of town? I get the feeling that literally no one makes their characters flat-out ugly, so maybe they somehow found themselves in a relationship, or a friend with benefits? If punk biker dude does actual biking, surely there's a stretch of the road somewhere that he likes to ride hard down upon? And parkour's a fun hobby that can be pretty social, so maybe there's a parkour gym that Marc goes to?

Outside of that, you could consider stuff like restaurants that they really like to frequent, nightclubs that they sneak into, cram schools that they skip out on, coffeeshops they stop by occasionally for a change of pace, a cemetary that they frequent for spooky reasons, a local shrine they have pleasant memories in, a shopping mall that they do all their shopping in, or some public art piece that speaks to them on some level?

Hell, you could make their third NPC into a virtual idol that they're secretly a fan of, if you want to create some embarrassing relationships that never see the light of day.

@AdmrlStalfos19@Malice@banjoanjo@pr3acher@Cole@Headless I'll be closing sign ups by the end of Sunday. Get your CSes complete by then. I might be increasing the player cap slightly due to higher than expected interest, but I'll see what turns up on Judgment Day.

[Savo]

I was thinking of some sort of gym, but decided against it due to Burger's chary having one, but now I think I can justify having one, especially to explain certain abilities; I think I'll replace the Tenoroshi Library with what I originally had, Teru Teru Tiger Gym... maybe I could go with changing the name to Teru Tiger Traceur Gym, as alliteration is always fun.

I also could probably give him a father figure, or lump on some daddy issues instead... maybe that could play a role into the way he is as a person.

But I will say the virtual idol thing did give me an idea. Due to the fact that Marc explores town a lot and can cover a lot of ground, maybe he found a forum that ended up talking about myths, folklore, and urban legends, and ended up finding a user that specifically talked about rumors and events going on that were talked about in horrible detail. Probably started out with him trying to research these events, as well as any popular urban myth or rumor surrounding Tenoroshi before discovering this forum, as well as user, and utilizing it to his advantage.

Though, one main issue I see with this is the fact that Rin exists... so I still might need to brainstorm another npc, but I'll keep this forum user as a backup. Regardless, good luck on your paper.

[ERode]

No need to worry about redundant location ideas all that much. Tenoroshi's big enough to sustain multiple gyms and weirdos. And the equipment in a dojo and a Parkour gym are pretty different, so there's surprisingly little overlap outside of all the buff people inside it.

[AdmrlStalfos19]

Speaking of NPC's, I've got a total of 5 possible ones to choose from for my character, Ishiyama Tsurushi, but I'm having trouble deciding which three to use. The five NPC possibilities are...

• A grade school student from the class that Tsurushi teaches
• The principal of said grade school
• A therapist that Tsurushi regularly sees
• Tsurushi's current girlfriend, who coincidentally shares the same room in an apartment complex she's staying at
• Tsurushi's former boss, who owns a gentleman's club/night club

EDIT: On top of asking which three NPC's I should go with, I'd like to ascertain some more info on the Lostman before I try and do anything with Tsuruchi's background. How exactly are we supposed to go about our characters' encounters with him? Would he vanish the second we laid eyes on him? Would he respond to our attempts to converse with him?

[ERode]

@AdmrlStalfos19I don't have any particular opinion on which three NPCs you go with, so if they're really all equal to you, just roll dice or something. Try to go at an angle of 'which relationships are most important to your character' and 'which relationships have the most dramatic value'.

As for encounters with the Lostman...for your character, it would be an encounter along the lines of either a mysterious phone call or the possession of someone in the same area as you. No one amongst the player cast would have laid eyes upon anything that one might think of as the 'actual form' of the Lostman. They would initiate the conversation with their question. Once you answer it, they will disappear. If you try to segue into a different topic, such as the patented 'answer a question with a question', they will remain silent. If you continue to do so, they will disappear.

[Savo]

Welp, decided to go with the forum user goer grill. Could of made a better backstory, but I think it generally gives you an idea of Marc's life, so here's the finished product.

The Student

Identity:
Marc Kurosawa, a young man whose appearance could fool anyone into thinking he's attending one of the colleges around, when in actuality he's nothing more than a seventeen year old student at Tenoroshi Academy. It doesn't help that he could be easily picked out from a crowd of his peers, considering his short hair displays a light blonde hue, as well as standing at 5'10. His eyes, while shown to be predominantly yellow, are actually contacts that hide his true, keen dark blue eyes. Further more, his glasses seem to be predominantly for style, as the lenses are popped out. Further more, the aura he exudes comes off as a tryhard, rather than aloof and cool as he'd like, especially with his normally conceited smile.

For his body type, it's decently toned for a high schooler's; he could join one of the sports teams if he even had a vague semblance of interest in it... in fact, not a whole lot of things really interest him, to the point where 90% of the time, he's either going through the motions or trying something new that he'll eventually forgo. He's thankful he lives in a spacious apartment complex in the northern downtown of Tenoroshi as his room is a disorganized mess with myriads of discarded interests littering the landscape. The only things he really finds any interest in is sleuthing, discussing mysteries surrounding Tenoroshi, as well as exploring the city, reading at the library, and sometimes using his moms gym pass (someones gotta use it).

Psyche:
What's to say about Marc? He's the biggest, badass dude around! Honestly, if anyone hung out with him for too long, they would probably implode from being unable the handle this dudes 'tude.

Well, that's what he would like to think anyways, aside from the whole "imploding" shtick. All I can really say is that, for the life of him, cannot determine what kind of "cool" he wants to be and it's pretty jarring. Unless you get him talking, he stays relatively silent, crossing his arms, sneering, staring, possibly making some cringy quippy one liner that makes him sound like he's been watching too many old spaghetti westerns. Strong, silent, and cool was what he was aiming for, which could almost be possible if he didn't talk as much. Get his mouth running, and you'll have a blowhard who'll peacock himself at the drop of a hat. Honestly, these two states contrast so much to the point where, yes, his tryhard nature comes into full effect.

However, what reason for this is rather simple - a desire to fit in, be cool, be one of the in groups, not some sort of "social pariah." This equates to him going between doing crap that would seriously get him injured to boldly trying to assume control of a conversation that he lacks the skill to manage. Granted, this attention whoring has caused him to alienate himself, save for a select few people he can count on one hand; two hands is just stretching it.

If anything, Marc would love to stop pretending to be this braggart that lacks empathy for anyone but himself, but he lacks the emotional maturity to understand that. The only time he can really stop pretending is in his stopped time, in which he shows a much more upbeat, yet lax, almost borderline lazy traits. For all the energy that he has now, it becomes multiplied when in his own little world. Granted, he'll have to return to reality some time, but he enjoys these brief moments where he can just be him.

And finally, the most important part - his unending thirst for discovering the whimsical reasons for certain events in such a mundane town, as well as trying to discover new places. Marc isn't easily placated, unless you either load him full two or three animal tranquilizers or have him discover the truth behind a mystery. Granted, even once this one thing comes to fruition, he'll begin thirsting for more; he may or may not be on the spectrum.

Background:
Marc is a foreigner when it comes to Tenoroshi and it shows. While he can speak in Japanese, he often fumbles about, making mistakes, often playing it up as that he meant to say that. Originally, he was conceived in Reims, France to a French mother and Japanese father. While he did have a decent life, he never really did make any friends. Granted, he did move around a lot, never staying in one place with his family for too long, going from Reims to Paris to Biarritz, before eventually traversing beyond France. He has seen many, many European countries due to his father often taking them along, even living in Germany and the UK for a time.

Granted, all this traveling was whimsical and fun for the time, but Marc's mother, Charlotte, was gradually growing frustrated since they could barely settle down, especially with them struggling to bring home a paycheck. It finally reached a high point when he brought them back to Japan where he promised to try and settle down... before struggling to do so. There were lots of fights, which Marc vividly remembered and shudder to think of till this very day. Eventually, there was a divorce, Marc's mom getting custody of him, and her transferring to Tenoroshi.

There was a... discernible lack of disconnect and his mother tried to stay properly connected to her son by introducing him to myriads of activities, most that he would discard after a while, all while trying to maintain some semblance of consistency in the household, as well as managing her job and social life.

On the other end of the spectrum, we come to Marc's side of the story. He was a bit of a quiet kid, took a bit after his father in a couple of departments, but overall was generally lonely and a bit of a weird kid. It didn't help that he was caught in both being a French and Japanese mix, often trying to associate himself with the other kids and fit in by attempting to go by a Japanese name... and that worked as well as one expected it too.

This was evermore increased with no one to come home to, chat with on a regular basis, and so on. It truth, it was mostly a lonely life, even with someone to support and pay for the apartment, he ended up having to do most of his own food for himself, learning to cook, and be a bit self-sufficient. During this time, however, something began to change, as a caterpillar metamorphosing into a moth. There was a certain cocky grin, a swagger in his step. He began doing increasingly idiotic things that a delinquent might do, hell, he might of even smoked for a bit... though he had a dissatisfying first attempt, so that's the only time he really has smoked.

It was... somewhat manageable at first. Vexing, but most students handled this lone wolf well.

Of course, they began to eventually notice a slow increase in how obnoxious he was becoming; sure, he wasn't disruptive in the classroom, but outside of that, he became almost intolerable to a nearly inexcusable length. His grades slowly began to rise up and rival even the most intellectual in his homeroom. He was an "ace" with no seemingly redeeming qualities whatsoever.

What happened, some might of asked.

The Lostman did. Met... her(?) on the rooftops while he was relaxing, watching the sunset with a can of beer he bummed off Rin earlier in the day. Honestly, the question they asked startled him, more so because he was neither expecting anyone to come up here, much less sit next to him. Of course, he was a little unnerved, trying to counter with a couple of questions of his own, before giving up upon being met with general silence. Of course, this frustrated Marc, causing him to just give them an answer, though with a bit of prose and detail about his thoughts about the city sprinkled in.

Once he believed her to be satisfied, Marc turned away for a second, retreading on the questions from a few minutes ago, only to notice out of the corner of his eye that she had vanished. Of course, that wasn't the strangest thing that happened on that day as he gazed here and there, trying to seek the girl out, only to discover his world was frozen in time.

Quirks:
If he was asked this question he would shrug, try to prop himself up in a manner that would fit his mind of how he could exude badassery and nonchalantly shrug before stating "I'unno, explorin' the city for anything interestin'?"

Really though, outside of being able to punch something really hard, he's pretty decent at parkour; allowed him to discover the wonderful sight from the Tengu's Villa. Also, great at mimicking other people's voices. May or may not have a number of useless, miscellaneous skills, as evidenced by things around his room, such as "abstract" (i.e. crappy) pottery on his desk, a ditched flute case being used as a substitute for a proper bookend, some unfilled pots in the corner with an unopened bag of seeds, two or three mismatched weights, etc.

For some odd reason, he performs well on most assignments and test, despite goofing off or spending time at the library doing anything but.


Relationships:

Kurosawa Charlotte :

His own mother, and the only other person that he's acutely aware of that actually concerned about the well-being of those around town, if not for her own safety or her own sons. She's usually seldom home around the same time as Marc, though when she does, its often between seeing how he's doing at school, handling life, or if she needs to express her exasperation about consistent state of detachment the people seem to have when it comes to certain "rumors." Outside of that, she seems to be an assertive woman and may or may not be the one responsible for Marc's medley of "skills" (or lack-thereof).

Struggles to handle both her own social life and being a decent mother to her son; might be straining herself a bit as evidenced whenever she conveys how discontent she is. Probably has a bit of an idea about the stupid crap her son has been doing, but possibly not the whole picture.

Ishikawa Rin :

An acquaintance of Marc, as well as a massive conspiracy theorist. He originally met Rin when stopping by Tegami Oka multiple times, often with the both of them exchanging minute amounts of dialogue with one another which eventually allowed them both to open up to one another due to a bit of their familiarity. More often or not, when Marc catches Rin when he's off his shift, they usually hang out in the alley near Tegami Oka. It during this time when they both would let off their own steam while drinking some canned beer Rin provides, whether it was Rin's manager muddling around in the red light district, or Marc getting annoyed at some rumors being spread about him possibly causing the disappearance of certain students.

It regularly devolves into Rin regaling Marc with how most of the rumors around Tenoroshi are rubbish and often stating what comes off as a generally bizarre interpretation of the actual events, half of which he's certain is a result of Rin's intoxicated state.

Ducking_Enigma :

The avatar of one of the many people who frequents the website known "Minds, Mayhem, Mystery," a forum delegated to chatting specifically about Japanese urban legends, myths, folklore, and so on. Its usually to discuss the stories, debate over how real they are, but at least 75% of them tend to be just falsified stories. As far as he's concerned she made her debut by mocking these stories by creating one about a particular student at her school... which resulted in him realizing that his tale was about him. This was one of the few tales he read by her, and was the one he found the least amusing for obvious reasons.

Outside of that, he quickly took to chatting up theories, eventually escalating to if she had any more urban myths or legends about the town she was chatting about. Regularly exchanges information about Tenoroshi with Marc; the identity of this girl is unknown to him, but she's fun to chat with online.

Locations:
ヴィラ天狗さん/Tengu's Villa :

A rather old apartment complex that has seen better days when compared to the contemporaries surrounding it. While Marc has never been inside it, from the looks of it, looks orderly, antiqued like a shrine, which contrasting against the less maintained exterior. Based on who lives around here, Marc assumes that its mostly older folk, which he wouldn't be exactly wrong about. Granted, the main reason he comes to this particular venue is because of not only how tall it is, but the view when overlooking Tenoroshi. Usually Marc gets to the top by utilizing the fire escape on the side, though he doesn't visit it as much as he could like.

Tegami Oka :

One of the many convenience stores that litters the landscape of Tenoroshi, though it's located near the eastern portion of downtown, which is nearby the red light district. It's located on the path Marc takes to the monorail that leads to an area near his school... he really could have a better commute there and back. While it has customers coming and going, same for most stores, this is where Rin works. This usually gives him more than one reason to loiter about in the back until Rin is off hours.

Teru Tiger Traceur Gym :

Located on the north side of the city in front of a rather gorgeous park that is home to many Japanese spring flowers. The location is visited by many types of people, to the point where one wouldn't even bat an eye at a lean old man or a much younger individual. Outside of the standard parkour gym equipment, they have an obstacle course set up inside, with the owners altering the course every one or two months. Funny enough, this was one of the first activities Marc's mom introduced him to when coming to this city and still does it to this very day... though it is rather far out, so it does take a while for Marc to travel there.

[ERode]

Looks fine with me. Guess the Lostman's attracted to people with shitty dads and hot moms. Makes one think, eh?

[banjoanjo]

@ERode

Hi. I haven't proof-read this.

Her Lostman power. Miyane's biggest and most present wish is to be forgotten by the general public and to have her name vanish from the public eye. She has skewed views about how society receives popular media so her power grants her the ability to detect and manipulate people's sightlines. Because clearly, the only way to stop being invested in something is to develop a fixation on something else.

She views the sightlines as similar to cones of visions in video games. Miyane can force beings to 'fixate' on entities of her choosing, focusing their visual acuity. Trying to look away results in rapidly blurred vision or a sudden migraine until they return their gaze to the entity. It is merely a sight-based fixation, their thoughts are still free to roam. Basically a variation of Momo's power from KagePro.

The Ex-Expat

I can't be bothered resizing this, lol

_Credit

Character Sheet

Identity:
- Miyane Sou (莊 美夜音 Sou Miyane). 서 미아. MiA. She'll respond to all of them with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
- 32 years old. 14th year as a member of legendary idol group, 8team (currently on hiatus). 3rd year since Japan debut.
- Hobbies include spilling lives on hit mobile game, Lolly Lobber, building figurines, binging local dramas, karaoke, piano, drinking with her ex and manager.
- Currently occupies the 5th floor of Hanshin Building of Tamagakahara.
- 163cm. Not allowed to weigh more than 50kg. Pale skin, well-maintained. Long, natural hair, unkempt these days. Usually barefaced. Dresses richer than you (when she actually goes outside).

Psyche: She considers herself rational.

Elegant under pressure. Charming, maybe. They called her 'fatal' back in her prime. Those years of media conditioning classes had railroaded her into playing the ice queen of the group, but that persona wasn't completely unfounded. Miyane deems most things not worth emoting, to the dismay of many.

Beneath all that, she's exhausted. She's got her reasons, of course, but most social obligations seem to tire her out to a more severe extent than most people. If you're a stranger (or... anyone, really), the most you can expect from her is an autograph and a withering smile before she conjures some flimsy excuse to leave. There are only a handful of exceptions to this rule.

She's tired. So she hides. She's tried the resurrection thing and that only panned out mildly well. Knowing the feeling of having the world in your hands isn't all it's cracked up to be. Any middling success that comes after might as well be a failure if it's not breaking through all the ceilings.

So yeah. Miyane considers herself rational. Because the only other word she could use is 'cowardly'.

Background: They called them the nation's girl group.

Not her nation, exactly, but they welcomed her nonetheless. She was too young to realise the significance of it all when she passed the overseas audition.

It only took that one song. One smash hit and success erupted like an atom bomb. They became legends, transcended to previously inconceivable levels of cultural significance. They weren't just another throwaway idol group. They represented an entire continent.

Miyane, or 'MiA' as her stage name dictated, always felt like the ugly duckling of the bunch. She struggled with the language longer than she liked, was a bit too serious on their TV appearances. Too stiff, too foreign. The girls loved her nonetheless, and she loved them back. Maybe a bit too much.

Because when that stupid, bullshit scandal hit, she didn't know what to do. She hid. Then she ran. Real quick too. Didn't stop to even look back and see if they forgave her for taking off.

There were a lot of scrapped ideas. Plans that fell through. She recycled them for their own purposes, trying to reclaim even just a fraction of what she had in Korea. And it worked, to some extent. Her name re-emerged in Japan, risen like a phoenix. There was talk of 8team's next big soloist. Then the usual vitriol caught up and she went back into hiding.

Now she keeps to that barren apartment. Shuts the sunlight out and just... waits. Patiently too. She waits to be forgotten; waits for the end, and with it, sweet release.

Quirks:
- Tugs on her sleeve when stressed. Sniffs the scent of fabric softener from her sleeve when even more stressed.
- Fluent in Japanese and Korean. Speaks enough basic English and Chinese to hail a taxi in their respective countries.
- Theme

Relationships

Hyejin Kim – Manager. Unfulfilled workaholic. The closest thing Miyane has to a friend who doesn’t double as a fuckbuddy because “professionalism, Miya-ssi!” Was employed as 8team's manager around their 10th anniversary but made the valiant choice to break off and assist MiA in her solo efforts once the scandal hit. With the power of contractual obligations, Hyejin is one of the only people alive that can drag Miyane out of the apartment. Most of her work consists of negotiating minor endorsement shoots, supervising hair and makeup, and convincingly parroting to people that "why yes, MiA-san is hard at work on her next album, please show your support when it comes out!" Follows the English Premier League in her (extensive) spare time.

Daehyun Kang – Labelmate. On-and-off boyfriend, currently (and solidly) off. Steadfast comrades in the relentless warzone that is the idol industry. Because whether you like it or not, you need something to cling to, something to drag you breathless back to the surface when you're living this cutthroat life. They tried the co-dependency thing some years back. They both agreed it wasn’t MiA’s style. After what seemed a lifetime of hoarse arguments, thrown plates, press rumours and bitter vows to never speak to each other again, over the third course of a company event dinner, an awkward (and quite inebriated) conversation led to the realisation that frankly, they were too old for this shit. At present, the lead dancer of Lustro is contracted to film on location in Tenorashi for the highly anticipated action-thriller, Father Crime. The Japanese market has been clamouring for his local debut for a while. When he’s not filming or working out, Daehyun can generally be found enjoying an ice-cold beer on the loose mattress in Miyane’s guest room.

Miori Sou – Older sister. Distant. Vaguely disapproving. Bah, what does she know? She should come back when she climbs the three income brackets between them. The days of joyful homecomings and concert tickets in the mail have long since passed. Miyane likes to think of it as an 'inevitable compromise'. Miori refuses to comment. ("He's family, Micchan." "Only in name." "I don't know why you have to be so unfair." "Oh, cos you're such a shining beacon of virtue." "I'm just trying to be considerate. Which you could also fucking do for once, using your money to help our father instead of acquiring another pile of--" "That's right. My money. From my work." "Your selfishness is going to bite you back someday." "...Yeah. I'm selfish for trying to stop my deadbeat sister from getting sucked dry by an asshole who only swings by every few years. Fuck you.") She and her boys drop by every week for a quiet dinner, providing a regular spark of activity in Miyane's otherwise uneventful routine.

Locations

Tamagakahara - An apartment complex on paper, though it would be more accurate to call it an apartment district. 550 units in 31 buildings, fully operational facilities such as a gym, an Olympic pool, a golf range, and much more. All of it is guarded by one of the country's leading security contractors. Like its namesake, the complex houses many of Japan's modern deities. Real estate moguls, executives, politicians, socialites... fallen celebrities. It is truly a castle in the clouds. Miyane's unit takes up the entire floor of the third building. The furnishing is sparse, desolate even, the only places looking lived in being the kitchen and Miyane's bedroom. Funnily enough, the largest room in the unit is never opened. If one were to peek inside, they would find a space consciously darkened by drawn curtains. Cables thrown haphazardly across the carpeted floor, strange padding on the walls. Instruments and microphones leaned against the back wall. The whole room is covered in a thick layer of dust, except for noticeable spot on the piano stool. The keyboard itself remains closed.

Tenoroshi Dock - The filming location for the hideout scenes in Daehyun's upcoming blockbuster. Though its feature in the movie is sure to bring in future revenue, the area has long been a tourist attraction in its own right. Past the maze of shipping containers and notable fish market, Warehouse 14 stands as the dockyard's shining jewel. The structure was uncovered at the turn of the millennium. Instruments of torture, drug paraphernalia, documents explicitly recording the illegal shipments that came in. The warehouse had been a major Yakuza den during the Showa Period, abandoned for some reason or another. Despite the local police stripping the place clean, it is still a must-see for crime-history enthusiasts including the likes of Father Crime's screenwriter, though there has been a recent rise in public disputes between the filming crew and dock workers over interference in each other's work.

KonKon Karaoke - A hole in the wall. Discreet. Uncomfortably sticky. Solid walls, at least. Microphones work fine too, so the joint serves its intended purpose well enough. Miyane's go-to place to blow off some steam cos singers gotta sing, right? No, there's nothing wrong with her in-house studio, karaoke places just... have a better atmosphere. When the owner of the business barely raised an eyebrow at the idol's first booking, she knew this was the one. She's been a regular ever since, her song selections usually indulging in heart-rending ballads and the Lustro songs the company always deemed too 'hardcore' to give to the girl groups. Drinks and snacks can be ordered via the static-y booth phones. Rather subpar offerings, except for the coffee which boasts rather sumptuous notes. A very luxurious bean brand, permanently stocked after a month of Miyane's persistent nagging.

[ERode]

Oh man, these NPCs will be challenging to play...Anyways, banjo, do you have a particular scandal in mind and are just keeping it under the wraps for IC reveals, or do you have no particular idea and are willing to hand the work over to me?

[banjoanjo]

I did have one in mind, but I think it'll be more fun to have you make it up to see what I can improv around it.

Cos I based it around the Korean idol industry and the wacky real-life scandal stuff that comes out of it ranges from "slept/smoked pot with an underage trainee" to "bought real estate one time" to "is an actual pimp, also evaded a shit ton of taxes" to "accidentally used the Imperial Japan Snapchat filter on Korean Independence Day" to "was exposed using legally prescripted anti-depressants for professionally diagnosed mental health issues, how immoral" to "straight up sexually assulted someone" to "stared too long at another idol".

So feel free to shop around.