soul_skirmish | "How has your character developed?" The meme of legends.

"How has your character developed?" The meme of legends.

Because introspection is fun.

Basically, exactly as stated - how has your character developed throughout their time in Death City, from their state upon application? Feel free to be as TL;DR: as you want, because ~~I want to read all of it~~ this is a writing based hobby, words are what we're here for!

ARBITRARY RULES:

• Post your characters as a header
• Reply to your comment with explanation!
• ???
• ~~spam emotes at everyone else's development arcs~~

stolen with love from

towerofanimus!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Placeholder until I beat this essay into submission.

Will reply here as I remember things aaaa

Edited 2012-10-02 23:58 (UTC)

Duke has gone from playing with squirrels and monsters to playing with cats and squirrels.

Other than that, he's still moderately mistrustful of humans, he still pretty much hates wars.

Oh. And he's feeling useless enough to try to approach people.

CAN NPCS PARTICIPATE?

I DON'T SEE WHY NOT, THEY'RE CHARACTERS IN THE GAME TOO

/Len, too lazy to switch journals

WHOO /will just comment here then so as not to spam.

It's hard to really start this off as "when he's apped" since he's technically been here since game start and I personally apped him back in August last year. Still, he's definitely developed quite a bit, particularly within these last few months.

People know Kid as how he's first introduced in the series—SYMMETRY FOR LIFE. He goes through such extremes over it and would have mental breakdowns even over his hair. He still has symmetry issues, but it's been two years since the end of the anime canon and nine months since his father's death. Most (or perhaps some—really it's quite situational) has been subdued because unlike in the past, he can't act like a 14/15 yr-old anymore. It's been at least two years and he's aged and matured. Due to the circumstances of the game, he has to take responsibility for his actions (thanks BREW) and take up the adult position and has to figure out what as a Shinigami he has to do. He still believes in perfect balance, but how he views it has been tempered toward more to order, which is also a large part of his personality, and the proper duties of a Shinigami, properness also being a part of his personality. I also derive this from the manga where old man Shinigami and Kid himself are embodiments of "order" (and that's partly why I play him more akin to OCPD with OCD tendencies—that's another essay for another day >_>).

So now, he no longer really freaks out or fusses about it as much. That isn't to say never, just not as frequent as one might assume. Oh he definitely still goes around straightening things, putting things in neat, perfect order or some sort of symmetrical look. And he would never be caught dead wearing something where the button was misaligned or there was a frayed thread. But he doesn't fly off the handle if just the littlest thing is out of place as he did in the past. A person could comment on his stripes and he would no longer go into a blubbering mess (exception: mentioning while he's already in one of his "moods" or is already stressed/in a tense attitude—then he'll break down and sob over how much of a failure he is). It still definitely bothers him (a lot), but there is another reason why it does along with the lack of symmetry which I will get to later.

He is working very hard to overcome his extreme need for symmetry and order, especially in the more mudane things. Part of this is due to his realization that he needs to learn how to wield the current Death Scythes, all of whom are singular and some asymmetrical. This caters toward his desire to be a proper Shinigami. When he focuses on the proper aspect of something, he can then handle the asymmetry/imbalance of it all. For further proof, just look at his martial arts stances. Not only are they "Kid what are you doing—" thought inducing, but they are completely asymmetrical. If he could master and be able to fight like that without a fuss, then he can do this.

This also affects his sense of confidence. Or rather, a highly doubted one. Kid has always been harsh on himself and sets very high expectations that he believes are necessary for him to be a proper Shinigami. All the recent events have constantly made him question if he really is fit to be in his position. He strives to be so, but there is always that niggling in the back of his mind that will drag him mentally down. He'll always compare himself to his father and will never believe that he could be as great of a shinigami as he was. There is also the issue of his stripes. They are actually a symbol of his youth as a shinigami. The lines actually connect as he unlocks more of his powers, and in anime canon, he has only managed to connect all three once during the battle against Asura. It has never really been made clear what happens after that (in the manga he's only connected two), so we're running on the notion that he didn't actually become a full fledged shinigami at that point and that he still has a ways to go before then. So with that in mind, the fact that he had yet to reconnect them bothers him. The stripes now bother him more on the fact that they remind him how still inadequate he is.

On the other hand, he is different now than he was in the beginning of the game start. Before he always said he was the "current acting" Shinigami in part because he did not believe he was the Shinigami yet and also in somewhat denial that his father was dead. Now he does not refer to himself as just "current acting." Around the time he decided to learn how to wield the Death Scythes, he accepted the fact that yes, he is the Shinigami now. His father's gone and he has to step up whether he thinks he's ready or not. So there is a bit more confidence there, if tenuous. But it's basically a sign that he is finally ready to really step out as the leader of this world and do what he was born to do—maintain the order and protect all those who live in it.

That includes the guests. Needless to say, the guests have had a huge impact on how he looks and handles things. Not only does he have his own world and people to look after, but also the people he unwittingly dragged in. He feels a great weight of responsibility, and it was pretty rough when the game started (or so I observed from looking back through the archives). I'd say he probably took the resentment personally. But now things have eased and shifted to something more comfortable. He still feels the weight whenever a new group appears, but at this point, any accusations or negative statements thrown at him are taken in stride. He knows that nothing can be done for now and that they need to focus on the war. He still has moments of doubt and insecurity, but in the end he does know that he has to stand firm and continue moving forward. So in some ways, the guests both help and hurt his confidence. But I think it's been a benefit overall. Plus, he's learned a great deal more and has been exposed to many different cultures and people. That alone gives him additional experience and influence.

But overall, his biggest development change so far has been that shift from hypersensitivity to symmetry to a more tempered and shift toward order and properness is a pretty big change development wise. It's also still slow going. That is why whenever anyone asks what he is striving for, he still says he wants "perfect balance." But it's not so much "Everything is symmetrical!" but more of "perfect order."

I am probably leaving some other things out, but I think this is the biggest change worth mentioning. And it's pretty long. So I'll just cut it here |D

Placeholder for all three when I have more time

Placeholder for Date Masamune, because give me a moment to collect my thoughts!

I think one of the things that's important to note here with regards to character development is the route from Sengoku Basara 3 which Masamune is taken from. He's taken from his blue route, which I think is the most balanced in regards to the emotions he feels and the development he goes through in game. While his red route focuses more on Mitsunari and just this sole idea of beating him, Masamune's blue route has him a lot more balanced as he rides through Japan as he beats Mitsunari early on, then finishes in Osaka where he has the battle for burning souls with Sanada Yukimura in Osaka. So as a result, Masamune enters Death City pretty zen because while he's not "done", he's definitely content enough.

When he got to Death City it was a party because there were familiar people around! But as they left one by one, he was just... staggered. He's not really the kind of guy to form loads of emotional attachments or network too well but each departure really left an impact on him because it was just... they were familiar and they reminded him of home. He was comfortable and that is largely down to the fact that Kojuro was the last person to leave out of the cast. Everyone else could leave and he could not give a fuck but then Kojuro leaves and then suddenly BAM.

The thing that really trigged the change is Kojuro's departure because I cannot emphasise how important Kojuro is Masamune as a whole. Kojuro took care of him since he was a child and Kojuro is his steadfast companion as he rides through Japan. So to find him here in Death City was probably the thing that eased him in faster than anything else. Sure he felt betrayed by the fact that he was with another meister but his fears were quickly assuaged by the fact that Kojuro still did things for the glory of Oshu. The vegetable patch plus the whole fact that people knew of Masamune, through Kojuro was something that staggered him at first but it turned to pride. Absolute pride that they were still Oshu, no matter where they were.

Kojuro being there did mean that Masamune was coddled, in some extent, in his search for a weapon. It wasn't HIGHEST PRIORITY because he had Kojuro, right? Kojuro even took the form of Kokuryuu which is even better! It's a sword that Masamune himself is very familiar with. His seventh blade is literally his seventh blade, and even more important than the rest. Masamune has a code of honour and would not impose upon Auron without good measure, so Kojuro and Masamune went on the few odd missions and it was great. He was having fun in Death City. He enjoyed his time as much one can in a war because he's fucking Date Masamune and he kicks ass at this.

But when Kojuro left things just went all topsy turvy because suddenly his back is exposed! He's never felt like that before! The last time this happened was when in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, Kojuro left of his own volition to rescue Masamune's men from Hisahide Matsunaga and even then, he chased Kojuro down so he wouldn't be alone. The Twin Dragons of Oshu ride and conquer together. But here he is in a situation where he can't actually follow Kojuro back, and it's not like Kojuro would want him to be dishonourable and defect from Death City JUST BECAUSE HE LEFT. So now it's on! Masamune has to be the shining light of Oshu to the world. Now that he knows of the multiverses and how he's the last one standing, he has to work twice as hard to be this kickass dragon who is afraid of nothing.

So Masamune did the logical thing and just try and get his shit together as best as he can. He went on a search for a weapon, it took him a while because in his mind he is still comparing every weapon to Kojuro. And he's pretty stubborn and exacting so it had to be a sword. Nothing else. He could have a gun or a laser or whatever else but he needed a sword. Because fuck having another weapon beside a sword. If there's a thing that Masamune learned is that in a war, any advantage is one you take. So if Masamune's skills lie with blades, then he will stick with it because the advantage he gains with that is absolutely massive.

Finding Temeraire was another big thing for Masamune because he's a dragon, an actual dragon. Masamune's a dragon only in name, in title but Tem is an actual dragon. But the fact that Masamune refuses to treat him any differently because of that, is probably one of the foundations of their friendship. Masamune can relate to being a beast, to needing someone to reign you in - he is a dragon perhaps in more so than title, in any case. Tem being a changdao (he hasn't quite realised that changdao, is read "naginata" in Japanese so when he discovers that he might have a bit of a scene since Japanese naginatas are girly weapons because of the ease of wielding them. (Just for reference, Oichi and Matsu both wield naginatas and they are both waifus of the highest caliber.)).

But I think now he's really making strides in being his own person, in really being Date Masamune. Because suddenly he has the freedom to do things for himself, and he realises how much of a right this is. He still is the leader of Oshu, but because he's not there that burden does not rest heavily. Sure he feels guilty that he's not back at home but at the same time, he knows intuitively that things are okay. Things are fine. If he works hard and stays badass, then he can probably go home soon too.

He needs to be better at making friends though, but that's next in line.

Placeholder! This is gonna be long, mostly because Mello's been here a while. Wammy's kids, what can you do?

Mello... wow. He went from deliberately breaking resonance with Near to almost apologizing for it, and from hating him to sort of being his boyfriend? Who even knows with these two.

I pulled him from right after he died, so that it was objectively an instant for him between the heart attack in his world and waking up in Death City. It took him a little while to accept that there wasn't an easy way out, and longer to accept that it's probably in his best interest to help win the war.

He joined the Watch because he wanted to have a gun again, and found, to his surprise, that he liked and respected Mustang, to the extent that he didn't want to do anything to screw over him, the Watch, or Death City's security. Mello tends to underestimate people, but he's slowly learning that BREW pulls in the exceptional people from various worlds, and that you can't write anyone off as useless here.

Two things really moved his development along: getting kidnapped and stuck in the Moral Manipulation Machine, and the Valentine's truth event. The first made the war personal for him. Before this, he just saw participating in the war as the fastest way to free BREW up for what he really wants, which is to get himself and everyone else from his world home alive. Never mind how it's going to happen, he'll make it happen! It's Mello Logic. But after being kidnapped, he wants revenge for what the witches did to him. Messing with his mind is just about the surest way to make him feel angry and violated, so yeah. The witches are going down for it.

The truth event forced him to admit things that would've taken a really long time to come out otherwise, mostly about how he needs Near. That was also when he admitted he wants Near, which he hadn't even really admitted to himself, even though he kissed him on Christmas Eve. One major thing Mello's realizing is that he lies to himself a lot. It'll be a while longer before he starts to consider it a bad thing, though.

He hasn't consciously noticed this yet, but he's becoming less of a snob about who he associates with. When he first arrived, he decided everyone was stupid, without any evidence, mostly because he's used to being the smartest (OK, second smartest, sometimes) guy in the room. That's just not true in Death City, and the more people Mello gets to know, the more he starts to chill out a little with his superiority complex. He'll never completely lose it, but if he could be here for five years in game time, he'd mellow out (ha ha) considerably.

Psii hasn't been around very long, but he's slowly getting physically stronger, and he actually touched someone other than his best friend! Voluntarily! And he said 'me' a couple of times.

I was so proud of him.

Sephiroth has developed the most out of the three muses I have here in Soul Campaign. I originally took him from right towards the end of the Advent Children Complete movie, right after Cloud's initial defeat of him over the Midgar Ruins. When he first entered the game, he was filled with anger, hatred, and revenge for everything that had happened to him, and to a point he still is as well. He was a man who (to put it shortly) was used and abused by science and large greedy corporations. He was born because of a science experiment, experimented on even before he'd left his mother's womb, and many years after he'd breathed his first breath. Throughout his childhood he was fed lies and told to be obedient by those who 'owned' him, his origins hidden from him, and then eventually joined the military where he quickly became the head General for their armies. One thing lead to another, and he eventually discovered his roots and how be basically came into existence. Without going into too much detail, it drove him over the edge. His anger and pain consumed him, and through that, he basically lost himself within it and delved into madness where his goal was basically to become a god and follow in his 'family's' footsteps.

That goal was still mostly intact during FFVIIACC, and remained at the point where Cloud defeated him above Midgar. So when he entered Death City, he was still consumed by all the negative emotions that twisted him into the monster he'd become. Although the main difference from his world and this new one was the fact that he'd been stripped of all of the powers that made everything he did possible in his canon. That didn't stop him. He's anything but a stupid man though, and knew that in order to destroy this planet and head off to 'find his shining new future', he needed to begin regaining his lost power. So he kept off the radar initially to discover how he could do just that. It was actually through his first friendship, even though he'll deny it until he's blue in the face that it was, that he discovered the answer: which was to collect souls to become stronger. The only problem Sephiroth had was the fact that the fastest way to do that was to partner up with a Meister... which was something that he loathed to consider, but his need and desire to regain his power eventually made him realise that it was a 'necessary evil' if he was to regain his place in the universe.

So what did he do? He went to the one person who was here in this world who had defeated him... and then prompted to blackmail said person into becoming his partner OTL Sephiroth called Cloud out in the middle of the night with the promise of death of innocents so that they could have a little chat. So the pair met up and got into a discussion. One thing eventually lead to another, and Sephiroth basically used Cloud's 'weakness' of wanting to save lives to his advantage as he entered into a deal with Cloud: become Sephiroth's Meister, and the innocent people of Death City and this world would remain safe from his wrath. Cloud didn't have much of a choice in the matter, and even if he didn't like the deal, he had to eventually accept it.

That began the long road of their (currently 8 month) partnership which begun back in July in the game.

Their resonance wasn't exactly the best at the beginning. In fact, it was horrible for them both as Sephiroth's weapon form was not only heavy and near-impossible to wield, but any attempt to hold his weapon form resulted in their resonance causing pain and a backlash towards them both. Yet with the threat of the people's safety, Cloud continued with their deal so as to protect them.

It wasn't long after they'd partnered that Adachi (unknowingly by the city) began to affect things throughout the city. The mist that entered the city was thick and could turn people's hidden pasts into a real and twisted manifestation. This, in fact, happened to Sephiroth where he was confronted with the monster that was inside of him. It was one he had always tried to keep hidden and under control, and one that he didn't want others to discover as it would only tell information about him that he didn't want anyone to discover, and when he'd discovered that it out in death city, he basically went to stop it. He didn't reach it in time though, and before he got to the creation, it had already begun informing those that knew Sephiroth of all the deep and dark secrets that he kept hidden. Of course that only went to enrage the ex-General, and after a vicious battle (where the manifestation of him transformed into Jenova-Life), Sephiroth was eventually victorious, but not without Cloud's aid. The 'damage' had been done though, and some of the issues he kept hidden within had been exposed during the fight, and thus exposed to Cloud - which Sephiroth hated beyond everything else. He didn't want to be seen as anything but a monster by others, but his attempt to maintain that 'mask' had been compromised by this shadow of himself.

While that incident was the beginning of his development here in Death City, it was perhaps one of the most important pieces to the puzzle.

The second most important piece to the puzzle was not long after that event, when Jonathan Crane appeared to the city as the Scarecrow and began attacking people with his fear gas. Sephiroth was the first unfortunate victim of this attack. They'd had runins before where Sephiroth was cautious and suspicious of the man, taunting and baiting Crane, until Crane had eventually sought out his revenge when he'd managed to attack Sephiroth with his fear gas. This triggered a mutation of the gas elements inside of his body, thanks to the alien DNA Sephiroth's cells consist of, and the affects of the fear gas mutated into something that clung to his JENOVA cells and basically stripped Sephiroth of the most important aspect to him in Death City: his ability to transform and thus protect himself.

Ever since he had descended into madness all those years ago, and well before then, Sephiroth had always been able to protect himself. He'd always been armed in one way or another, even after entering Death City and discovering he could partially transform his left arm into a blade. This was the first time ever that he was basically completely unarmed, and with the fear toxin spreading through his body and clinging to his cells, it further complicated any attempt to be able to actually transform. Not only that, but it also began to amplify Sephiroth's other fears as well: such as the fear of abandonment that he had kept hidden deeply inside of him. This wasn't discovered by Sephiroth until Cloud had confronted the Scarecrow in an attempt to capture him, but instead was injected with the fear serum. When he sensed that Cloud was in danger, his fears kicked him into gear as he basically became consumed with a possessiveness to prevent yet another thing 'important' to him from being taken. Yet at the time, Sephiroth hadn't yet realised his way of thinking. With his possessive side in full effect, and Cloud suffering from being injected with the fear serum, Sephiroth basically squirrelled Cloud away so that the blonde could begin the slow process to recover from the effects of the fear serum. What he didn't expect was that he would feel any sort of protective desires within him when he saw how broken and messed up Cloud was. To Sephiroth, Cloud was his to break and toy around with, and the thought that someone else had dared to do that to what was his infuriated the ex-General beyond anything else. He absolutely hated the thought that Crane got the jump on him a few days earlier, but he hated even more that someone else had 'dared' to mess with what was only his to mess with.

It was this thought that started to change Sephiroth's way of thinking, and slowly over time, he basically began to become protective over Cloud. Initially it was for the whole 'he's mine to mess with' sort of mentality, before it began to eventually morph and change into something that was far more honest. Cloud had seen this side to Sephiroth as well, and it was something that was impossible for him to ignore. As a result, their partnership started to become more of an actual partnership.

Of course, Sephiroth was still unable to transform into his Weapon form. This was something he kept to himself, even despite heading out on a mission attack Norad. His inability to transform almost cost himself, Cloud, and another pair with them (Kurapika and Kuroro) their lives. Kurapika had discovered something about Kuroro in that mission, and had refused to partner with him, which had Kurapika partnering with Cloud for that mission. Sephiroth remained by Kuroro's side ~~because they were definitely NOT friends, even if they totally were~~ and fought alongside the other Meister. He hadn't informed Kuroro of his inability to transform, but as they were becoming surrounded by Kishin Eggs, Kuroro quickly discovered this problem. While he would never have admitted it, Sephiroth had slowly begun to respect Kuroro by this point in his stay in DC (despite it not being mentioned much because mun totally thought it was better to keep this short and failed OTL), and being on the receiving end of disappointment from someone he was starting to consider an ally began to knock some perspective into his life. Fortunately they were both skilled fighters, and while they couldn't kill the Kishin Eggs, they beat them into as much submission as possible before Cloud and Kurapika cleared their area out and came to finish the job.

That mission began a chain of events for Sephiroth that eventually began to lead him towards doing the one thing he vowed never to do again: to make emotional bonds (aka friendships) with someone else. His friendship with Kuroro was sealed, even if he wouldn't admit to it, and Sephiroth grew incredibly loyal and protective of the other Meister.

He didn't know what to do with himself at this point. Things were rapidly changing within his mind, and it was only at this point that he'd begun to realise the fact that he was beginning to become emotionally attached to people in his life again. First Cloud, and then Kuroro. He began to wonder if there was a possibility that he could have more than solitude and isolation, and began hiding himself away to think over these new findings.

With time and hard work, and the help of Cloud and Kurapika, Sephiroth was able to regain control of his ability to transform, and finally rid himself of the fear toxin that had taken root inside of him.

The final key to his attachment development was when those from the TYL event returned with messages from their future. Sephiroth and Cloud received one from the ten year older versions of themselves. It was an envelope that only had two things inside of it: two photos. The first being a photo of four close friends in it, Cloud, Sephiroth, Kurapika, and Kuroro. The second being one of Cloud and himself.

That had been enough to begin the final change of Sephiroth's outlook on his partnership and bond with those around him, and the anger and rage he felt inside was hidden beneath the hope that sparked up within that maybe he could finally feel like he belonged somewhere, that he was wanted for who he was, and not what he was, and his outlook on the city, those around him, and even himself, changed.

From that point, his partnership and bond with Cloud only began to grow. They actually began working as a team, and their resonance continued to grow to the point where his weapon form was effortless for his Meister to wield. While they still have some major issues to deal with from their past, something they're both aware of and know deep down that they'll eventually need to broach, they've instead pushed that side for now to instead focus on strengthening the ties that bind them as a fighting force.

They've worked hard together, earning every single inch of ground they've captured, and do so without the need for any fanfare or acknowledgement. With their bonds strengthening, Sephiroth has felt comfortable enough to show who the person is behind the 'monster' or unfeeling bastard mask he shows everyone else around him.

Through the multiple battles that he's been through, his partner has shown time and time again that he would never abandon him. Even when Sephiroth became consumed with the Madness Wavelength and reverted back to being that monster, Cloud strove at nothing to bring his friend back from the brink through his Meister ability.

Knowing of his vulnerabilities and weaknesses in this world, and what those aspects lead him to, Sephiroth has made it his goal to attempt overcoming his weakness to the madness wavelength, and has vowed to himself, and to Cloud, that he would rise up against it. That's something he's still aiming to do to this day, but without broaching on the topics of the past and clearing that air, Sephiroth would never be able to fully gain control over himself in the Madness Wavelength.

One last aspect that's changed with his development would be his outlook on the people of the world. Where he came into this world wanting to destroy everyone and everything, that outlook had slowly begun to morph and change into the point that it currently is in the game.

As Sephiroth is now, his views of their death have shifted to a general apathy towards whether they live or die... or so he likes to think. While he no longer holds the desire to take their lives, he feels nothing within if they are killed by other forces either. However, while he wouldn't admit to it, lately he's begun to grow protective over people again. It rarely shows, and has subtly manifested in a blocked attack by a Kishin Egg to a civilian here and there, or a need to not rest so as to destroy a threat in an area faster. It's subtle, and he doesn't even realise it himself, but Sephiroth is basically beginning to become more of the General he used to once be, than the monster he'd arrived in this city as.

Aaaaaaand I think that's basically it. It's so hard to think of 3 years worth of CR OTL I'm sure that I've forgotten some things, but these are the main points that stuck out to me.

WOW OKAY so lets see if I can write all of this coherently.

Hopefully this will actually make some semblance of sense...

Well, before I get to her developments, I guess I should say a little about where Aqua was when I brought her in over a year ago. (In February it will be two years!)

Her canon-point is...possibly one of the worst canon-points I could have chosen, really. She was lost in the Realm of Darkness with no way out and even though she's determined not to give up hope is a hard thing to come by in a place where the only light is the one you bring with you. A light she almost let go out when she nearly gave in and let some monsters kill her. Except her friend's Keyblade swooped in and saved her and reminded her that she still has a reason to keep living, even if everything looks bleak. Her life, before coming to Death City, basically consisted of fighting for her life and wandering endlessly while hanging onto the fact that she still needs to keep her promise to her friends as her reason to survive this.

All this after her father figure died, her friend tried to kill her, another friend ended up in something like a coma after she failed to protect him and the realization that the only home she remembers has been destroyed.

Needless to say: she was exhausted and basically running on sheer will power.

This means that, when she arrived in Death City, she's already gotten into the habit of ignoring her problems and just soldiering on as a way of coping with things. I mean, I imagine she's not very forthcoming with her issues to begin with (the problem of being dependable is that, after a while, you expect yourself to always be dependable) but these experiences made it even worse.

And she was reserved when she first came to Death City. Willing to help because how can she not? but still reserved. Because she's not sure if this, all this light, was real, and she wasn't sure what to do with it if it was real.

So she defaulted to what she knows best: be useful. Help people. And try not to let her problems crush her.

She was still friendly, but re-reading her old threads, she's definitely a lot more open now than when she first arrived.

And also, at this point, Aqua still believes in her own ability to help. It's not really arrogance, but she knew she could fight and despite the disaster that was her attempt to protect her friend, she still believes she can protect other people if she tried hard enough. She's not really comfortable with the idea that there may one day be a situation where her friends will be in trouble and she won't be able to help them. It happened once; she won't ever let it happen again.

But because this is a powerloss game, she does end up facing situations where she can't really help, and this is something she's still coming to grips with. It was difficult enough to deal with it on Halloween when she hadn't been able to help. It was even worse when she was kidnapped and put through the Moral Manipulation Machine. She hadn't been able to do anything either times, and people got hurt (the two are not necessarily related, but she thinks they are). As a result, she feels guilt because she should have been stronger. The MMM thing was especially hard to come to terms with because being able to wield a Keyblade was supposed to be the mark of a strong heart and...well. I'm sure you know where her thoughts are headed.

Talking to other MMM'ed people, as well as being called on the stupidity of her logic, she's sort of (sort of) coming around, but it's still difficult to just accept.

The other good thing about the MMM incident is that it brought a lot of the issues she never wanted to believe she had out into the open where she can't ignore them any more. The realization that she can be a bit selfish too, was a good one for her to make (even though it was a point she hadn't wanted to accept at first) because she doesn't need to be perfect, all the time, and that, sometimes? It's okay if she feels upset or have selfish thoughts because that's not the whole of who she is. This in turn makes her more willing to open up about her own problems.

Plus, Kae's Roy helped her realize that the way she was burying her problems was a by product of what she went through in the Realm of Darkness so she's working on changing this aspect of her personality. At least a little.

Edited (Because it might just all fit) 2012-10-03 01:45 (UTC)

...Takuto has more or less been ruined by Death City. Here we go in a condensed version....

Early on (like day one), Takuto met Aion and had a fabulous party that involved alcohol. It was a good experience! He had fun. Death City was thus a wonderful place--a new stage, if you will.

He was pretty much determined to save the world. Singlehandedly, if he had to. (Well, doublehandedly, since he's a dual-wielder and actually sucks at single wielding.) And he was young and silly enough to say that out loud, too. But cheerful.

His first mission, he took Aion and ran into a Kishin egg and then got physically ill after defeating it. Chopping up monsters is not a thing that happens in his canon. In his canon, when you win a fight, the other robot explodes and time restarts and you go back to doing whatever it is you were doing. Simple. In this world, there's gore. D:

At any rate, Takuto decided that he was still going to fight Kishin eggs and save the world, so he got over it as best he could. He made lots of shiny friends and then even asked a girl out and HAD A GIRLFRIEND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. Chikaaaaa~ <3 They kissed on purpose and everything!

This, too, was completely ruined.

His best friend (Riku of Kingdom Hearts) was sent home, and Takuto tragically realized just how much this friend meant to him. His girlfriend wasn't too pleased about this revelation, and Takuto was stuck wrestling with questions about his own sexuality. Which he came to terms with relatively quickly.

Takuto then asked Aion to be his partner officially and Aion declined. So, because Taku--no, let's face it--Aion is a badass, they had a duel on the roof of the Casualty Community. Takuto managed to impress Aion with his determination, and Aion finally agreed to partner up with Takuto.

And then there was Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but let's just say there were some poor choices and a very unhappy girlfriend. Takuto gave up drinking after that.

The downward spiral continued with the black blood in the water, which eventually gave Takuto weird, semi-hallucinations and caused him to seriously mistrust L and to get into a fight in a dark alley with his friend and teacher Kaoru's boyfriend. (Yes, a fight with Kenshin Himura.) Who he mistook for his nemesis from back home.

And then the witch invasion, in which he abandoned an injured Kaoru to a horde of zombies, broke both of the training weapons she had given him, and then was carried away by a giant bird.

Takuto is still pretty broken from the Morality Manipulation Machine. When he lost his morals, he became a sadistic, libido driven person. When he wasn't hitting on/kissing/making out with a prisoner, he was trying to kill his former friends. And having lots of fun while doing this, too. It took a solid punch from his partner to get his senses to return (because that's what punches are for), but lots of damage had already been done.

The physical damage included a bullet wound to the shoulder, numerous cuts, and a serious bruise on his face. The emotional damage included... well... everything. Takuto was pretty much broken, and he started to cling to Aion as his one rock of support. Aion had, after all, come back for him and made him return to being himself. When he left the hospital, Aion brought him to their new apartment in Death City Heights. They were together, and Takuto needed someone to look after him.

He tried to track down everyone he'd hurt so he could apologize. Some disappeared. One he ended up hiding the truth from to protect her innocence. One he offered his life to in repayment. One he apologized to awkwardly over the network. Another, he apologized to in person over a cup of tea. There didn't seem to be enough he could do to apologize. He apologized to his girlfriend and broke up because he'd cheated on her multiple times now and just wasn't good enough for her. (She was ready to quit him anyway.)

He had nightmares for weeks (and still does sometimes). He dreams he's back in the Grand Canyon, under the influence of the MMM, doing horrible things to people. The worst part is not that he's doing horrible things. The worst part is that he's enjoying it. When he wakes up, reality hits him and he's usually nauseous and afraid to go back to sleep. He's afraid that the monster he was while MMM'd is the real Takuto, that all these morals of his just cover that up. He's afraid that his morals will slip and he'll become that monster again.

He ended up figuring out that sleeping next to Aion helped him avoid the nightmares. It was always purely platonic between them, but Takuto needed Aion to stave off nightmares, to keep his moral compass pointed in the right direction, and generally to keep him going.

And then Aion was sent home. Takuto was devastated. He does have a history of semi-suicidal actions, and this prompted another one. He asked L to accompany him on a mission without any kind of prior resonance practice. It was a complete disaster, and L wound up injured and Takuto wound up receiving CPR.

But on the other hand, Takuto managed to finally grow up a little. He's still very much traumatized by the events of the past two months (getting kidnapped by witches and Aion's departure), but he's starting to behave more like his old self. He's just warier now. Less trusting. More prone to sudden feelings of fear and not being a good enough person. He's got something of a block concerning romance, considering how awful his previous attempt went. For a while the idea of being romantically close to another person was enough to make him gag because his boundaries got so screwed up from the MMM.

So Takuto is just starting to emerge from a lot of trauma. He's finally confident of the person he wants to be, and becoming more and more confident that he can really be that person. He's starting to reach out to other people and make friends, even though he understands that eventually BREW will send them away. Still, he believes it's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.

PLACE

HOLDER

I am going to tl;dr like the wind. Brace yourselves.

Placeholder until I get home and write something properly~

If anyone believed Naoto's settled entirely within Death City, she has not. Still, her acting skills have always been rather deceiving.

Since her arrival back late-November, she has basically one goal in mind which is tracking down and eliminating Adachi for his crimes. Her cooperation was mainly a need-basis. Not to say she's entirely using Shibusen or their resources as she is helping them with their own problems; they're just still within her benefit.

However, her plans have changed mainly due to BREW's interference and because of her acquisition of a Partner. Her attitude to those disregarding the situation as a whole is honest. Having gotten to know and work by more with Shibusen, they're still people and War is serious business. If ending it is the way home, it annoys her to no end when people decide to increase the difficulty more.

With several very close and personal losses, it has become more evident to her she needs to keep improving herself as a Weapon, as a person, and as a Detective. She has successfully made friends and is even in a relationship; though, it does worry her what might result in the new found fear of possibly losing him. On a similar vein, Naoto has also realized that treating Minato as a 'brother' has somewhat deceived her into actually continuing on that way. He doesn't seem bothered by it, but she really wished he would stop slipping into her bed.

At present, Naoto still looks to improve her combative and social abilities while still uncovering the truth and maintaining justice within this world. She's working on combating Madness and training Poe while trying to be more feminine. She doesn't know if the few scars on her hip and the one on her leg can assist her in that respect anymore.

If anything should be expanded upon, just tell me. My brain isn't working...

Edited 2012-10-05 00:13 (UTC)

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"How has your character developed?" The meme of legends.

Rose Lalonde | Homestuck

Rei Kurosawa | Fatal Frame III

Duke Pantarei | Tales of Vesperia

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Death the Kid | Soul Eater

Auron, Alucard and Zero

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Mello and Psii

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Sephiroth || FFVIIACC pt.1

Sephiroth's life in DC, the abridged version pt.2

Sephiroth's life in DC, the abridged version pt.3

Sephiroth's life in DC, the abridged version pt.4 END

Hyuuga Neji | Naruto

Aqua || Kingdom Hearts

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Takuto Tsunashi | Star Driver

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Temeraire || Temeraire series of Novels by Naomi Novik

Naoto Shirogane