[Esper] Kita Tsukiko

FULL NAME: Kita Tsukiko
OTHER ALIAS: Visage
CURRENT AGE: 17
GENDER: Female
OCCUPATION: Student, Performer
SCHOOL: A Certain High School
FACTION: N/A



APPEARANCE: Tsukiko has a slimmer build with brown eyes and long, brown hair tied in a ponytail. She sports a black sweater, blue jeans, and a dark red shirt underneath. If she can get away with it, she will be wearing black headphones with dark blue padding either on her neck or on her head. If she’s sitting or standing doing nothing, she’ll also usually have a deck of cards in her hand.
HEIGHT: 5’ 3” 
WEIGHT:  140 lbs


PERSONALITY:
Curious
Tsukiko wants to learn about anything and anyone, and so if presented with the opportunity she will go some extremes to learn something new.
Energetic 
Tsukiko doesn’t like to stand still and gets fidgety and impatient when she does nothing for too long. She especially gets impatient if someone else is stopping her.
Playful
While she tries her hardest when she can, she likes to do it with a laugh and a spring in her step, making things seem more like a game than a puzzle. To some she may seem like a snarky ass, but really she’s just trying to have a good time.
Realistic
It may seem like she’s just there to have a good time, but she knows when things get bad. She may not show it (in fact she tends to not show it), but she understands through experience that there is a time and a place for everything and that when the going gets tough for herself or others, it’s time to be serious.
Rebellious
She likes to work with others, but when they start to tell her what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, she can get annoyed pretty quickly. If she has an idea what she’s doing, she will do things her own way, as she has pretty much her whole life. Otherwise, she starts to feel undermined.
Trickster
As her whole life has revolved around deception, when she’s messing around she tends to try to trick people, either by using her ability or just being quick with her hands or on her feet. While sometimes it may seem like she’s being malicious, she’s just trying to have a good time, while making sure that people remember to never trust what they see.

LIKES: 
Apples
Exploring
Helping when she sees fit
Listening to music…always
Messing around
Performing
Soda or any kind of juice
DISLIKES:      
Being told what to do
Energy Drinks
Ice cream
Routine
Silence
Standing around
STRENGTHS: 
Adaptable
Agile
Deceptive
Perceptive
Preparation
WEAKNESSES: 
Can be uncooperative in some situations
Easily lured by curiosity
Forgetful
Head to head fighting
Impatient

HISTORY:
            The only child of a psychologist and a mechanic, Tsukiko was taught at an early age what it was to feel wonder. While her father was mostly focused with work, her mother decided to homeschool her for the first few years. But, as she grew older, her mother became more absorbed in her work, while Tsukiko only became more restless. Conflicts arose between her and her parents, as she felt more and more trapped at home and within her own question riddled mind. They wanted to spend more time with her, but they had to focus on creating a safety net for themselves first. With no other options in sight, they found a solution: Academy City. However, this would mean that not only would they not see her grow, she would also be on her own, which may be too overwhelming for her. Despite their trepidation, they ultimately decided that rather than force her to do one or the other, they would give her the choice. So, they sat Tsukiko down and talked to her about it, making sure that she knows that if she goes, they cannot come with her. She loved her parents despite all the fighting, but this was a chance to be free at long last, even if she had to go alone. So, she took it. They prepared and she was on her way to a new life. When she arrived, adjusting to a new environment for her was rough, especially because she was all alone. But, when she began the Power Curriculum Program, everything had changed.

            At first, she had no success. It broke her heart to see that everything she worked for had come to no avail. But, she didn’t give up and through extra work, she started making fuzzy images of small objects like a marker. Over the course of her time in the program, she created sharper images before moving to larger objects, like tables. When she felt ready, she tried her greatest challenge. What came out was a fuzzy image of herself, staring back at her through a haze. At first, Tsukiko was ecstatic. But, after a throbbing pain in her head, she lost focus and the image disappeared. She had become disheartened, as her dream had been snatched away from her yet again. Soon after, she accrued other responsibilities, which overpowered her desire to improve herself and further killed her passion. After all, she had a routine that overruled everything else. Wake up, eat, go to school, come home, study, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. She had become another cog in the machine that was Academy City’s society.

            Around the age of 10, Tsukiko had enough of her routine. She did not want her life to be the same seven steps over and over, day after day as it had been for the past five years. So, one day she broke her cycle. She didn’t come home. Instead, she wandered the city, looking for something new. She saw so many people, locked into the same routine that she was in. On her journey, she went to a park and sat under a tree, watching the world bustle around her. She closed her eyes, wanting to be free of it all. When she had looked to her right, she stared into her own two eyes once again. It still hurt, but her reflection looked slightly less hazy than before. When it faded, Tsukiko felt something new. It wasn’t sadness. It was like a raging fire burning inside her. She knew that she had to do something. She had to find something that would break the chains that bound her.

            After that day, she went on walk after walk, looking around, trying to find some release. At first, there wasn’t any success. Every walk, she looked around and only saw more people in an almost zombie-like state. After several weeks, when she had started to give up again, she found the key. While on a walk, she saw a man put on a performance for passersby. He used a deck of cards to try and amaze people, but everyone kept walking past him, save for a few who saw him and stopped to see. She walked up to the man and asked for him to perform for her. Still being rather young, she was amazed when he did and asked the ultimate question: “How did you do that?” The man refused to explain, replying with: “If magic was explained, there wouldn’t be that sense of wonder. You should figure that out for yourself.” Searing his words into her mind, she went home with a new hope.

            Tsukiko began researching the art of magic and performance, practicing card tricks and other simpler techniques, sleight of hand especially. However, when she finally decided to perform, she wanted to do something special. She thought of card tricks, but rejected it because it was too familiar. However, her knowledge of magic was based around card tricks, so she felt lost without them. Running out of ideas, she sat in her room and thought. She thought about her journey and eventually remembered her humble beginnings. She started out as a Level 0, someone with no talent to call her own. But, through hard work and dedication to the craft, she began to carve her own path through life, dreaming of excitement. Through her peaks and troughs, she pushed forward despite the resistance, and here she stood. One step away from her goal.

            At that moment, she remembered what the man had told her. She closed her eyes, concentrating for one last time. When she opened her eyes, there it stood. Clear as day and only with a slight pain, her illusion stood in her room staring back at her, a look of confusion and excitement plastered on her face. She had done it! At long last, she had done what she had practiced for years! Next day after class, she went to a park with a deck of cards in one hand and a renewed conviction in her heart. To give people some form of release and revive their interest in the world around them, she thought that she would share her own story. A story that began with fuzzy vision, and ended with a dream and for the next several years, she continued to fulfill her dream. She strived to show people that there is more to this world than what was part of their routine and that to look underneath the surface is what it means to truly live.

RANK: N/A
LEVEL: ?
Jamais Vu: Tsukiko can refract light in a way that other people perceive an object to be there. These “objects” are solid in look, but are completely pass through and cannot create any sound. The illusion itself has several restrictions. Firstly, it can be anything smaller than, and including, herself or an average sized person, but she can only create one at a time as she must focus to keep the illusion going. On top of this, the illusion can only be created and remain within a 10-meter radius, and must be within her line of sight. However, she can move the illusion in a few ways. For instance, if she creates a card, she can have the illusion act as though it is in her hand, being manipulated, or being thrown about. On the other hand, if she creates a person, that person has the full range of motion that a normal person would have. While small objects she’s familiar with, like a deck of cards, appear instantaneously and copies of herself appear after a one second delay. Illusions of herself or of objects she recognizes can be manipulated with ease, even if she is moving at the same time she is manipulating them or moving a clone of herself, as it takes less effort to simulate movement of something she knows. But, for objects or people she does not recognize, there are extra factors to consider.

            She can create the illusion of other people, but the detail of the illusion is affected by several factors. If she cannot see them, the illusion can appear slightly transparent, or could be missing a feature. This depends on what Tsukiko remembers of that person, which is why that clones of herself appear picture perfect. However, if she forgets that the person wears an earring, or wears a badge/hat, the illusion will appear without whatever that item is. If Tsukiko CAN see the person, she will be able to create a more accurate depiction, but it is still limited on what she sees. Thus, if she sees a person she will need some time to scan them to be able to create an accurate representation of them.

            Thoroughly scanning a small object takes about two to three seconds for a clear image. Scanning one side of a person she has never met will take between five to seven seconds depending on the detail of their appearance (for instance, if they are wearing a plain white shirt versus a uniform), while scanning the front and back of a person can from ten to twelve seconds to create a clear image. After scanning a person, Tsukiko can create an image of that person after a one second delay. If she dispels that clone, she can recreate it based on what she remembers, but she must look at the person again if she wants to create an accurate version of that person. Looking at a person to fill in missing details takes a second less than what it was before, but that still leaves up to eleven seconds for people she doesn’t recognize. When interacting with its environment, if she concentrates on the illusion, she can create realistic movement. However, if she moves at the same time the illusion moves, the recreation’s movements can suffer by becoming slightly more robotic and awkward, or the illusion may become slightly transparent or hazy, making it more obvious to detect the fake. Most importantly though, under no circumstance can she create the illusion of objects of her own design, or of people that do not actually exist either physically or mentally, as this would require far too much effort on her part to create, let alone sustain.

OTHER ABILITIES: Any other talents or non supernatural abilities or equipment used by your character.
Sleight of hand: Due to her practice in misdirection, she is very quick with her reactions and how she uses her hands. On top of this, it allows her to do less practical things, like juggling, to more practical things, like pickpocketing.
Phone: Having it on her to listen to music, it also has a voice recorder to replicate different sounds, which she sometimes uses in her performances, as her illusions don’t make any sound.

CHARACTER THEME: 
Heartbreaking: Unforgotten – Halo 2 OST
Let’s have a blast! (Standard Fight): Lost in the Rhythm – Jamie Berry Ft. Octavia Rose
If I must… (Important Fight): Hysteria - MrFijiWiji & Direct
Show Time: Danse Macabre - Kevin Macleod
Gotta run!: Delight – Jamie Berry Ft. Octavia Rose


PLAYER'S NAME: Kita Tsukiko
CHATANGO NAME: TMurakami
RATING: M
FACE CLAIM: Sakura Kyouko (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)



 

Test Post:

You sure have evolved over the past few years. The quality is a whole lot better and the overall concept is quite nice and enjoyable, not to overlook that you kept in mind the critique you have been given the last two tries. Good job, Mura.

But, as usual praise isn’t all there is to my evals.


I. General Stuff — The Routine of Nitpicking

First of all I feel like pointing out that with her height of above 1.7m she is quite tall for a Japanese girl. Especially if we consider that the average is about 1.50ish.

Also, for your information: Entering Academy City is entering the Power Curriculum and entering the Power Curriculum is entering Academy City. Therefore she’d enter said program the very day she enters the city and a school.


II. The History — For now an advice only

So her parents were torn between spending time with their child and creating a safe situation for themselves and solution to all that was sending her away to a boarding school, basically meaning that they threw away the most of their chances to actually see her? For some reason I really don’t feel like this is clean. Wouldn’t it make more sense in this context, if they decided to let her go for her own sake? I mean as a psychologist the father would understand how damaging parents’ fights can be for a child etc.

Academy City is the city of science. Everyone there is at least somewhat into science, having a superior understanding of the world’s workings. Usually it’d be natural for the citizens, be it teachers or students, to see through things like card tricks or magic with a sharpened eye. This usually means that performing arts are usually not met with such great interest by the people, mostly shrugged off as boring, outdated or old fashioned. Of course there could be exceptions like Kita.
What I am getting at is the idea of exploiting the decay in interest towards street magic and the like due to logical scientific observation dominating the minds of the majority of citizens, in order to add another layer to the character and their gimmick.


III. The Ability — The Downside to Illusions

Admittedly this is something I have been severely afraid of dealing with for a while, recalling one of my earlier evals. Illusions created through the refraction of light are a bit difficult after all. However I think I made up my mind instead of panicking needlessly.

Overall your description of the ability and its downsides are quite neat, however insufficient.

Creating a perfect illusion of an object depends on so many factors, it’s nearly impossible to create one, even if you actually keep monitoring the object you’re reproducing. The key would be to actually study the entirety of the object for days until every perspective, minor mark and reaction to light and other phenomena are part of your mindset. However that is more or less impossible. It might only work if the created image remains unmoving. Once it moves, the story will be a bit different.

Therefore please note that objects in motion are usually the type to be seen through easier, due to the weirdness of their interaction with the surroundings. The accuracy of the depiction should always depend on how much she studied the created object. For example replicating a pen she’s never seen before will usually lead to less quality than one she uses on a daily basis. Same goes for people. Even if she perceives someone the very moment she creates the illusion, it will only replicate the angle she can see and only the way she sees it. Reproducing someone from memory however will lead to more troubles. The quality of course being lower compared to reproducing herself. Thus it’d be the best bet if she mostly focussed on a clone of herself or objects of her everyday life.

Beyond that the usual issues apply, like the illusions not creating sound or having no matter, thus being revealed once bugs, leafs or whatever else passes right through them.

My suggestion would be for the standard application time to be 3 seconds minimum for smaller objects, a clone like 5-7 seconds and reproducing something on the spot at least 12 seconds.

The edits, which are on the first and last paragraphs of the history, as well as the entirety of the ability section, are finished. Ready when you are for round 2, Iva XD

OK.
Absence is still in the going, but I’ll be straining my bit for a while, I guess.


Just make sure to remember that Kita’s ability requires her to put constant focus in the upkeep of the projection, making it quite easy to throw off her mental work in many ways. But I guess that is in and of itself a rule of thumb for this universe.

Beyond that, we’re through.