Lisa Imai ♫ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
traceofeffort) wrote2023-04-30 10:05 am
traceofeffort) wrote2023-04-30 10:05 am
Entry tags:
Application: Beautiful Dreamer
Lisa is in play at Beautiful Dreamer (![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yumemigaoka). BD requires apps to be posted in comments, so this copy is for reference only.
Player
Name & Pronouns: Salsa (he/him)
Age: 34
Contact Details:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
eternities; MaxSalsa on Discord
Canon Info
Canon Name: Lisa Imai
Canon Age: 17 at canon start; two years of time have passed in canon over the six years of real-world time it's been running
Canon: BanG Dream! Girls' Band Party (mobile gacha game); also has an anime with three seasons, the last two of which are relevant to Lisa, three season of gag anime which are not relevant for all parties' safety, the two Episode of Roselia movies that summarize very, very briefly the major mobage events that cover Lisa's band Roselia, the two Film Live movies that are just animated concerts, and then the actual concerts and weekly radio show because Roselia's voice actresses all actually play their instruments. [deep breath] The only things that contribute to Lisa's story, here especially, are the game and the back two seasons of anime. The whole franchise can be referred to as Bandori for short, and the game as Garupa.
Character Summary: Lisa is the unofficial Team Mom of Roselia, a glam J-rock band. She's also and officially its bassist; her childhood best friend Yukina is its singer and leader. She's a social person, and makes friends easily; the girl who would become Roselia's drummer, Ako, is in her dance club. But aside from music, which she originally learned alongside Yukina and the girl's father as a little girl, her hobbies are fashion and baking. The latter is something she uses to keep morale up alongside her supportive, upbeat personality; the former is something that comes and goes, since she has to be careful to keep her hands and legs free if she's going to play on stage.
Alongside guitarist Sayo and pianist Rinko, the five girls began to seriously pursue a future as a band by pursuing Future World Fes (FWF), a major local event seen as a stepping stone to a pro career, during Lisa's second year of high school. Yukina had family history with this event: her father had chased the dream of music four years prior, and been passed over at the qualifier event for FWF - that was the catalyst for Yukina to begin to chase a professional career herself, and the one that originally created a rift between her and Lisa in middle school, during which Lisa stopped playing the bass. Yukina first recruited Sayo, then Ako auditioned to join and Lisa happened to be present and demoed on bass at the same time. Rinko joined shortly after, and the five began to work out a plan to chase Future World Fes. That plan began with the band picking up the song Yukina's father took to FWF and using it to prove he wasn't wrong, cementing the five as a unit emotionally. But it took some time yet for them to all gel as friends; some of that was a function of Lisa keeping them all together with her smooth, easy diplomacy, which they would quickly and repeately realize they had problems with in her absence. That did not mean everything was sunshine and roses, though - Yukina demanded, if not perfection, a fervent devotion to the band and self-improvement, and anywhere she didn't believe she was getting it, she would take offense. Lisa's problem was in the other direction; from the very beginning, she'd believed herself Roselia's weakest member - someone that set down her instrument for years, someone that didn't contribute to composition or lyrics, someone just treading water in a band full of amazing people. It took her a while to understand that she was not really the weak link, and during her senior year, she pushed herself to improve and bring her A-game to the band, leading her to write a song for the first time and to really take ownership of her playing and what she brought to Roselia. The girls took their show to Over the Rainbow, the event that qualifies a band to get into FWF, and knocked it out of the park; a short time later, they took the stage at Future World Fes and delivered their best performance ever to a roaring crowd. Yukina proudly declared their journey was just beginning, as she and Lisa met with Yukina's father, who recognized their talent. And from there, new stages awaited as a professional band; Roselia was approached by an agency and signed on as hot new talent. At the same time, Lisa is about to graduate from high school; she's applied to a local university as an international studies major. (Garupa will, as of its sixth anniversary in Japan, advance time a second year, which will be when Lisa starts university; this information is current as far as we know but anything can happen. And usually does.)
Roselia has a friendly rivalry with Poppin'Party, a pop band of similarly-aged girls that Yukina and Lisa met at their school and who are rising as a popular girls' band at the same time as Roselia; a less-friendly rivalry with Afterglow, a punk band led by Yukina's friend Ran that she has a(n externally) standoffish relationship with, but Lisa's friend Himari is the bassist; something of a working relationship with idol band Pastel*Palettes, where Sayo's twin sister Hina is the guitarist; a minimal relationship with Hello! Happy World, an eclectic performance band featuring Lisa's theater/drama kid friend Kaoru and person who is entirely done with things Misaki, among others; and an actively hostile but slowly improving relationship with RAISE A SUILEN, led by DJ and producer CHU2 who had been trying to steal Yukina, and Poppin'Party's guitarist Tae, for her own band until she found her own bandmates during Roselia's rise to prominence. Lisa's talent for diplomacy is rather important dealing with most of these groups, as at least one member of Roselia has a problem with a member of any other given band in the city. It's a problem. There's supposed to be another band somewhere in the city, too... something about a violin?
Lisa is everyone's advocate, an attentive listener and someone that really does want to hear what you have to say. She's slow to anger, although she gets angry at herself more easily, and gives freely of herself, perhaps to excess. In a way, she embodies her instrument: she keeps tempo and mood for everyone around her, and while others around her overshadow her, she's key to keeping everything together - if you look behind the scenes, she's there. One of Lisa's larger weaknesses is Yukina; Lisa's mood and outlook are tied a little too closely to her best friend, and if they have a fight or a disagreement, her entire bearing shifts to something darker and more dangerous. She also tends to deflect compliments and praise, which would be fine if she had better self-esteem, but is slightly self-destructive instead. She's someone that pushes herself to get to the things most important to her, which tends to come at the cost of her other hobbies - she doesn't make it to dance club very often anymore, most of her baking goes directly into the mouths of her bandmates, and she's somewhat dropped off the fashion train because she just can't keep up. And she doesn't mind it nearly as much as she thought she would - Roselia is worth it.
AU Info
AU Name: Lisa Imai - no change, since it's setting-appropriate already
Age: 17, keeping her canon birthday in August; this effectively puts her at her worldwide server canon point and I'm going to be freaking out this time next year when I have to have her apply to university
AU History: (This is going to be a little long and rambling, but I don't want to make cuts and leave something out, so. Sorry in advance. I'm also going to throw up a CW for minor depictions of bullying.)
Lisa has always lived in Yumemigaoka; her parents have been realtors for a long, long time, and are very good at their jobs. Perhaps too good - while they were around when she was little, they've slowly become more and more busy, unable to give their daughter the time she needs, but at least providing a stable home in an upscale apartment in Koubai, not far from their office. In elementary school and into middle school, Lisa had a fairly stable circle of friends that hung out often and tried new stuff sometimes, usually in phases - everyone picking up a thing, it being popular for a month, and then everyone dropping it, except for one or two of them keeping that thing when everyone else moved on. Lisa kept the bass she'd picked up when their little group formed an impromptu band, played for two weeks on and off, and then decided learning new music was too hard; and the sewing they'd all learned so they could make their own clothes, repair things when they inevitably tore something, and alter things they outgrew but didn't want to throw out. Early in middle school, Lisa was trusted with the stove and oven so she could bring something with her when she went to play, and her mother taught her to bake on the weekends sometimes, when she wasn't getting a house ready to show. It's one of Lisa's fonder memories, even if she's experienced every kid's nightmare of herself covered in flour and her mother looking on aghast. She took most strongly to sweets, as one might expect of a teenage girl - cookies, cakes, occasionally other flaky pastries. She tried homemade croissants exactly once. When she wasn't baking, Lisa practiced the bass, in case they decided they wanted to play again. She liked it: it let her feel like she was connected to everyone, and like they could depend on her to keep them going forward.
But at some point late in middle school, in her second year, Lisa didn't click with her friends the same way she had for years. It didn't seem to her like anything had changed - they still hung out all the time, she hadn't really changed any of her more permanent hobbies and had more or less kept up with whatever bad idea her friends got up to, except the couple of really bad ones. Alas, the rift opened, and try as she might she couldn't reach them again. It felt like, the harder she tried, the worse it got. They stopped answering her calls and texts. She was ignored in class. New trends got started without her, and when she tried to pick something up after the others, she just found herself laughed at. Lisa's parents noticed she wasn't really hanging out with her friends anymore - wasn't really hanging out with anyone, was becoming detached - but she shrugged it off, told them was find, the couple of times a week she even saw them. Winter break saw Lisa practicing her baking at home and knitting a new pair of gloves, instead of out with the people she thought she knew.
Then, at the start of her third year, it all went to hell. They started talking behind her back. Starting rumors. Things started going missing from her desk, from her bag if she left it unattended. People she'd never even met knew her name and didn't want to associate with her. Sometimes the escalation was stronger; apparently there was a certain line drawn though, as the worst offenses only happened once or twice each, not that Lisa particularly wanted the feeling of tacks in her shoes more than the once, of having to replace all her textbooks because there was no way they'd dry the same. It was all disheartening, and Lisa could feel herself detaching further; could feel a mild depression threatening to set in. But she just kept doing her best to get through the days. The second-to-last week of school that year, suddenly the lot of them disappeared from the school, and despite herself Lisa asked around. It turned out they'd all accidentally picked up a new hobby: Dreaming. Either they transferred to Promised Morning or they'd all done something else drastic; she didn't care anymore. They'd gone somewhere she couldn't - wouldn't - follow. And that was enough for her. The break after finals was spent preparing for a new, upper-end high school, knitting a new scarf, and trying to psych herself up.
High school was a breath of fresh air, for the most part: without the instigators, Lisa's life returned more or less to normal. Some of the rumors followed her, of course, but without anyone to sustain them, they tended to lose steam. The problem, of course, was that she'd had her trust and her bonds utterly shattered, and she'd entered her first year with precious few people that were willing to talk to her. It was an uphill battle to start to form new bonds - not just to actually get people to accept Lisa for who she was and not who the rumor mill insisted she might be, but to get over her own hangups about trusting again, making friends again, putting herself out there again. But she started to connect again, and when she managed to get through to people, it made her feel like her life hadn't been wasted. That she'd be able to rise again and make everything okay, by her own hand.
Things looked up. She didn't see her parents enough for the difference to really present itself beyond being explained away as a good day. She got back into baking, and started taking things in both to give to the people she'd started to befriend (to keep them that way) and to give to other people (to try and make more friends). Some part of her recognized it was perhaps a little shallow, but it seemed to be working well enough, so she didn't contest it. She started to hang out with new people - cautiously, infrequently, in places she didn't feel trapped if something happened - and had good experiences. Slowly, she was starting to come back out of her shell. If her new, budding friends noticed she had (severe) hangups, they were being polite and not calling her on it. This time, around her birthday the December of that first year, her parents did notice the difference in how Lisa was acting, and did two notable things: increased her allowance, because they had no idea what hobbies she did have anymore and decided to just let her fund her own way - encouraged her to spend it as she liked, and tell them as much or as little as she wanted when she actually saw them - and gifted her a new bass, with a bright red body and a good sound. She hadn't had the heart at the time to tell them she hadn't played in two years, and besides that, it was something given to her as an attempt to connect to her. She may have cried (just a little!). Starting to play from zero again was rough, and it was a hobby largely pushed to the side for her own sanity; she practiced a little bit at a time again, but it wasn't her priority. She certainly didn't have anyone to play with, and wasn't quite ready to search for someone.
Her junior year, then, was when she started to flourish again. It was a mercifully, blissfully uncomplicated year, and she pushed through her worries and her fears as best she could. She started baking more honestly again, making the kinds of things she liked instead of what she thought would be best to offer others, but sharing the extras anyway because she'd turned into a stress baker all of a sudden. She started to make dresses and tops and skirts in bright colors and rotated some of the darker stuff into a bottom drawer. And she knit herself a bright red, fluffy scarf over a couple months, embroidering a music note into it; she wore it all winter and made it her trademark. She felt good about life. As the year came to an end, she turned eighteen and she felt like she had things under control. She baked her own birthday cake as a test of skill, a tiered cake she'd been proud of (and savored for the better part of a week).
The only thing left was the bass. It'd been the thing she'd been pushing off, and she felt bad about it, so for the last several weeks of the school year, she poured whatever time she had after studying into trying to pick it back up. And that just made her more and more frustrated as she couldn't get back to the sound she wanted despite hours and hours of practice. She'd had to stop knitting and baking because her fingers were just too beat up, but she didn't want to stop. She had to get it right. She had to find her sound again. She had to-
She woke up that evening, shortly before finals, in the Dream Sphere, channeling her frustration into holding off a Nightmare as Dreamer Rhodonite, and awoke with a Sandglass. The irony wasn't lost on her, and she spent the rest of that night boucing between crying and laughing. Once she finished out the school year, she spent the break figuring out where to go from there. Eventually that ended in a decision to sign on with the Union and transfer to Promised Morning - she loved the friends she'd finally made, but she didn't want them to get caught up in her problems. And besides, she wasn't going anywhere, she could always see them if she wanted. She just... had a calling she needed to rise to. And if she was being honest with herself, she wanted to see what a school for Dreamers was like, plus the Academy was supposed to be a good school anyway for her resumé.
Lisa arrives at Promised Morning as a fresh transfer student at the start of the year, not entirely sure what to do from here but determined to make a new start and rise above. Where she goes from here is up to her, but... it's magic, yeah? Anything could happen. And she's hoping anything does happen.
AU Personality: On the outside, Lisa is not unlike her canon self - peppy, outgoing, and an advocate; still with a strong tendency to go ham at her own expense; still a romantic at heart, although there's a certain mystery to magic she's also attracted to. But she's been through some things growing up in Yumemigaoka that have caused her some trouble, and it's warped her a little bit. She gets depressed more easily, disheartened sometimes, has minor confidence issues, and is slower to trust unless there's something pointy in her face and she doesn't really have other options; that last point is going to be a little bit sticky since she's going straight into a situation where that's liable to happen often as a Novice Dreamer. If she gets caught in a strange situation, especially with someone new, she gets nervous fast, and there's a real risk she either breaks down or bugs out.
Lisa has discovered that, whatever friends she does make going forward, she has a strong interest in keeping anything untoward from happening to them. That manifests in emergencies as what might charitably be called a bear protecting her cubs, and might uncharitably be called violent tendencies. Such tendency doesn't come up when something's threatening her, of course, and she doesn't go overboard if she doesn't need to. When it's her in trouble, Lisa tends to withdraw, either into herself or just away. It's not a healthy habit and she knows she has it, but she also hasn't really been able to fix it. Maybe friends will help sand down the edges on it over time.
This version of Lisa doesn't have her canon version's earrings and pendant to act as a warning to anyone approaching that she's a little twisted; instead she channels her clothing-making to work as an outward expression of her mood, largely consciously. She's got a variety of bright tops, cute dresses, and accessories of all shapes, and isn't afraid to wear any of it when she's not at school and thus restricted to her uniform. Beyond her signature red scarf, she always carries an extra, just in case of need; sharing a spare doesn't cost her that much beyond the time put in and the bundle of yarn, and it makes her feel good that she can help someone else in a tangible way. Similarly, her baking habit generates both snacks for her and pick-me-ups for anyone that might need cheering up in the way only something sweet can. Lisa very firmly believes that a fresh look and a fresh snack can brighten someone's day, and if she can help with one or both, all the better.
She's still good for more traditional emotional support, though - text her at 2 AM with a sob story and she'll stay up with you, ask her for advice and she'll do her best to help you out, beg for someone to go somewhere with you and... well, she'll try. She tries reasonably hard in school, and is willing to run study groups and the like, but she's not top-of-class material, and she's okay with that - it'd cut into her time for other things too much, and she's happy enough with the ranking she has.
Growing up largely on her own has made Lisa independent; she doesn't really worry about when she gets home from things, and has a certain level of street smarts picked up through experience, but lacks knowledge of certain social norms, and hasn't traveled much outside the city. It has also, however, made her a little clingy. The silence at home is not quite accusing, and she can fill it well enough with her bass if it comes down to it, but she really misses the days of being able to just hang out with friends her own age and do stuff together. She's getting back to it, slowly, but it's something she values strongly and will do quite a lot to protect.
Lisa has pushed off Dreamer training until now, for the most part, and has no idea what the hell she's doing. She will probably need a Mentor, but will probably need a bit to warm up to them before she's entirely comfortable running into battle with such a person leading her. Someone willing to explain what they're doing and take things at her pace will win points with her, both with magic and more generally. (I'll take actually looking for one to the relevant memes later.) She's excited to have become a Dreamer, even if there's a certain fear that whatever caused her former friends to Awaken and then drop off the social face of the Earth will happen to her. She's not afraid to do the work, but she's also vaguely aware that there's real danger involved, and so is still somewhat cautious. That said, her protective tendencies will lead her to charge into battle if things go pear-shaped, regardless of how effective she'll be.
Dreamer Info
Dreamer Title: Dreamer Rhodonite
Appearance: Rhodonite's hair dyes a washed out red that is closer to pink in the right light, and grows out a bit further to her waist, and her eyes shift to a pastel green. My outfit inspiration is one of Lisa's canon costumes but with some adjustments: the red dulls a little and faintly sparkles as the light hits it, and the frills turn to a series of cream shades, becoming a little longer and fluttering in the breeze. The red flowers become vivid red crystal; the purple one stays fabric and washes out to a light lavender. The hair ornament stays as is for a pop of color.
Archetype: Novice
Power Considerations:
RP Sample: Lisa top-level on the TDM; here's another thread in case I can't count.
Other Notes: I am very good at taking AU games - especially those with regains, but even more generally - as places to push the original character shining through, as a result of certain games I've played before! This is not the right game for that. Please bop me with a newspaper if I start to go too hard on AU Lisa acting like and/or doing the same things as Lisa Classic.
yumemigaoka). BD requires apps to be posted in comments, so this copy is for reference only.Player
Name & Pronouns: Salsa (he/him)
Age: 34
Contact Details:
Canon Info
Canon Name: Lisa Imai
Canon Age: 17 at canon start; two years of time have passed in canon over the six years of real-world time it's been running
Canon: BanG Dream! Girls' Band Party (mobile gacha game); also has an anime with three seasons, the last two of which are relevant to Lisa, three season of gag anime which are not relevant for all parties' safety, the two Episode of Roselia movies that summarize very, very briefly the major mobage events that cover Lisa's band Roselia, the two Film Live movies that are just animated concerts, and then the actual concerts and weekly radio show because Roselia's voice actresses all actually play their instruments. [deep breath] The only things that contribute to Lisa's story, here especially, are the game and the back two seasons of anime. The whole franchise can be referred to as Bandori for short, and the game as Garupa.
Character Summary: Lisa is the unofficial Team Mom of Roselia, a glam J-rock band. She's also and officially its bassist; her childhood best friend Yukina is its singer and leader. She's a social person, and makes friends easily; the girl who would become Roselia's drummer, Ako, is in her dance club. But aside from music, which she originally learned alongside Yukina and the girl's father as a little girl, her hobbies are fashion and baking. The latter is something she uses to keep morale up alongside her supportive, upbeat personality; the former is something that comes and goes, since she has to be careful to keep her hands and legs free if she's going to play on stage.
Alongside guitarist Sayo and pianist Rinko, the five girls began to seriously pursue a future as a band by pursuing Future World Fes (FWF), a major local event seen as a stepping stone to a pro career, during Lisa's second year of high school. Yukina had family history with this event: her father had chased the dream of music four years prior, and been passed over at the qualifier event for FWF - that was the catalyst for Yukina to begin to chase a professional career herself, and the one that originally created a rift between her and Lisa in middle school, during which Lisa stopped playing the bass. Yukina first recruited Sayo, then Ako auditioned to join and Lisa happened to be present and demoed on bass at the same time. Rinko joined shortly after, and the five began to work out a plan to chase Future World Fes. That plan began with the band picking up the song Yukina's father took to FWF and using it to prove he wasn't wrong, cementing the five as a unit emotionally. But it took some time yet for them to all gel as friends; some of that was a function of Lisa keeping them all together with her smooth, easy diplomacy, which they would quickly and repeately realize they had problems with in her absence. That did not mean everything was sunshine and roses, though - Yukina demanded, if not perfection, a fervent devotion to the band and self-improvement, and anywhere she didn't believe she was getting it, she would take offense. Lisa's problem was in the other direction; from the very beginning, she'd believed herself Roselia's weakest member - someone that set down her instrument for years, someone that didn't contribute to composition or lyrics, someone just treading water in a band full of amazing people. It took her a while to understand that she was not really the weak link, and during her senior year, she pushed herself to improve and bring her A-game to the band, leading her to write a song for the first time and to really take ownership of her playing and what she brought to Roselia. The girls took their show to Over the Rainbow, the event that qualifies a band to get into FWF, and knocked it out of the park; a short time later, they took the stage at Future World Fes and delivered their best performance ever to a roaring crowd. Yukina proudly declared their journey was just beginning, as she and Lisa met with Yukina's father, who recognized their talent. And from there, new stages awaited as a professional band; Roselia was approached by an agency and signed on as hot new talent. At the same time, Lisa is about to graduate from high school; she's applied to a local university as an international studies major. (Garupa will, as of its sixth anniversary in Japan, advance time a second year, which will be when Lisa starts university; this information is current as far as we know but anything can happen. And usually does.)
Roselia has a friendly rivalry with Poppin'Party, a pop band of similarly-aged girls that Yukina and Lisa met at their school and who are rising as a popular girls' band at the same time as Roselia; a less-friendly rivalry with Afterglow, a punk band led by Yukina's friend Ran that she has a(n externally) standoffish relationship with, but Lisa's friend Himari is the bassist; something of a working relationship with idol band Pastel*Palettes, where Sayo's twin sister Hina is the guitarist; a minimal relationship with Hello! Happy World, an eclectic performance band featuring Lisa's theater/drama kid friend Kaoru and person who is entirely done with things Misaki, among others; and an actively hostile but slowly improving relationship with RAISE A SUILEN, led by DJ and producer CHU2 who had been trying to steal Yukina, and Poppin'Party's guitarist Tae, for her own band until she found her own bandmates during Roselia's rise to prominence. Lisa's talent for diplomacy is rather important dealing with most of these groups, as at least one member of Roselia has a problem with a member of any other given band in the city. It's a problem. There's supposed to be another band somewhere in the city, too... something about a violin?
Lisa is everyone's advocate, an attentive listener and someone that really does want to hear what you have to say. She's slow to anger, although she gets angry at herself more easily, and gives freely of herself, perhaps to excess. In a way, she embodies her instrument: she keeps tempo and mood for everyone around her, and while others around her overshadow her, she's key to keeping everything together - if you look behind the scenes, she's there. One of Lisa's larger weaknesses is Yukina; Lisa's mood and outlook are tied a little too closely to her best friend, and if they have a fight or a disagreement, her entire bearing shifts to something darker and more dangerous. She also tends to deflect compliments and praise, which would be fine if she had better self-esteem, but is slightly self-destructive instead. She's someone that pushes herself to get to the things most important to her, which tends to come at the cost of her other hobbies - she doesn't make it to dance club very often anymore, most of her baking goes directly into the mouths of her bandmates, and she's somewhat dropped off the fashion train because she just can't keep up. And she doesn't mind it nearly as much as she thought she would - Roselia is worth it.
AU Info
AU Name: Lisa Imai - no change, since it's setting-appropriate already
Age: 17, keeping her canon birthday in August; this effectively puts her at her worldwide server canon point and I'm going to be freaking out this time next year when I have to have her apply to university
AU History: (This is going to be a little long and rambling, but I don't want to make cuts and leave something out, so. Sorry in advance. I'm also going to throw up a CW for minor depictions of bullying.)
Lisa has always lived in Yumemigaoka; her parents have been realtors for a long, long time, and are very good at their jobs. Perhaps too good - while they were around when she was little, they've slowly become more and more busy, unable to give their daughter the time she needs, but at least providing a stable home in an upscale apartment in Koubai, not far from their office. In elementary school and into middle school, Lisa had a fairly stable circle of friends that hung out often and tried new stuff sometimes, usually in phases - everyone picking up a thing, it being popular for a month, and then everyone dropping it, except for one or two of them keeping that thing when everyone else moved on. Lisa kept the bass she'd picked up when their little group formed an impromptu band, played for two weeks on and off, and then decided learning new music was too hard; and the sewing they'd all learned so they could make their own clothes, repair things when they inevitably tore something, and alter things they outgrew but didn't want to throw out. Early in middle school, Lisa was trusted with the stove and oven so she could bring something with her when she went to play, and her mother taught her to bake on the weekends sometimes, when she wasn't getting a house ready to show. It's one of Lisa's fonder memories, even if she's experienced every kid's nightmare of herself covered in flour and her mother looking on aghast. She took most strongly to sweets, as one might expect of a teenage girl - cookies, cakes, occasionally other flaky pastries. She tried homemade croissants exactly once. When she wasn't baking, Lisa practiced the bass, in case they decided they wanted to play again. She liked it: it let her feel like she was connected to everyone, and like they could depend on her to keep them going forward.
But at some point late in middle school, in her second year, Lisa didn't click with her friends the same way she had for years. It didn't seem to her like anything had changed - they still hung out all the time, she hadn't really changed any of her more permanent hobbies and had more or less kept up with whatever bad idea her friends got up to, except the couple of really bad ones. Alas, the rift opened, and try as she might she couldn't reach them again. It felt like, the harder she tried, the worse it got. They stopped answering her calls and texts. She was ignored in class. New trends got started without her, and when she tried to pick something up after the others, she just found herself laughed at. Lisa's parents noticed she wasn't really hanging out with her friends anymore - wasn't really hanging out with anyone, was becoming detached - but she shrugged it off, told them was find, the couple of times a week she even saw them. Winter break saw Lisa practicing her baking at home and knitting a new pair of gloves, instead of out with the people she thought she knew.
Then, at the start of her third year, it all went to hell. They started talking behind her back. Starting rumors. Things started going missing from her desk, from her bag if she left it unattended. People she'd never even met knew her name and didn't want to associate with her. Sometimes the escalation was stronger; apparently there was a certain line drawn though, as the worst offenses only happened once or twice each, not that Lisa particularly wanted the feeling of tacks in her shoes more than the once, of having to replace all her textbooks because there was no way they'd dry the same. It was all disheartening, and Lisa could feel herself detaching further; could feel a mild depression threatening to set in. But she just kept doing her best to get through the days. The second-to-last week of school that year, suddenly the lot of them disappeared from the school, and despite herself Lisa asked around. It turned out they'd all accidentally picked up a new hobby: Dreaming. Either they transferred to Promised Morning or they'd all done something else drastic; she didn't care anymore. They'd gone somewhere she couldn't - wouldn't - follow. And that was enough for her. The break after finals was spent preparing for a new, upper-end high school, knitting a new scarf, and trying to psych herself up.
High school was a breath of fresh air, for the most part: without the instigators, Lisa's life returned more or less to normal. Some of the rumors followed her, of course, but without anyone to sustain them, they tended to lose steam. The problem, of course, was that she'd had her trust and her bonds utterly shattered, and she'd entered her first year with precious few people that were willing to talk to her. It was an uphill battle to start to form new bonds - not just to actually get people to accept Lisa for who she was and not who the rumor mill insisted she might be, but to get over her own hangups about trusting again, making friends again, putting herself out there again. But she started to connect again, and when she managed to get through to people, it made her feel like her life hadn't been wasted. That she'd be able to rise again and make everything okay, by her own hand.
Things looked up. She didn't see her parents enough for the difference to really present itself beyond being explained away as a good day. She got back into baking, and started taking things in both to give to the people she'd started to befriend (to keep them that way) and to give to other people (to try and make more friends). Some part of her recognized it was perhaps a little shallow, but it seemed to be working well enough, so she didn't contest it. She started to hang out with new people - cautiously, infrequently, in places she didn't feel trapped if something happened - and had good experiences. Slowly, she was starting to come back out of her shell. If her new, budding friends noticed she had (severe) hangups, they were being polite and not calling her on it. This time, around her birthday the December of that first year, her parents did notice the difference in how Lisa was acting, and did two notable things: increased her allowance, because they had no idea what hobbies she did have anymore and decided to just let her fund her own way - encouraged her to spend it as she liked, and tell them as much or as little as she wanted when she actually saw them - and gifted her a new bass, with a bright red body and a good sound. She hadn't had the heart at the time to tell them she hadn't played in two years, and besides that, it was something given to her as an attempt to connect to her. She may have cried (just a little!). Starting to play from zero again was rough, and it was a hobby largely pushed to the side for her own sanity; she practiced a little bit at a time again, but it wasn't her priority. She certainly didn't have anyone to play with, and wasn't quite ready to search for someone.
Her junior year, then, was when she started to flourish again. It was a mercifully, blissfully uncomplicated year, and she pushed through her worries and her fears as best she could. She started baking more honestly again, making the kinds of things she liked instead of what she thought would be best to offer others, but sharing the extras anyway because she'd turned into a stress baker all of a sudden. She started to make dresses and tops and skirts in bright colors and rotated some of the darker stuff into a bottom drawer. And she knit herself a bright red, fluffy scarf over a couple months, embroidering a music note into it; she wore it all winter and made it her trademark. She felt good about life. As the year came to an end, she turned eighteen and she felt like she had things under control. She baked her own birthday cake as a test of skill, a tiered cake she'd been proud of (and savored for the better part of a week).
The only thing left was the bass. It'd been the thing she'd been pushing off, and she felt bad about it, so for the last several weeks of the school year, she poured whatever time she had after studying into trying to pick it back up. And that just made her more and more frustrated as she couldn't get back to the sound she wanted despite hours and hours of practice. She'd had to stop knitting and baking because her fingers were just too beat up, but she didn't want to stop. She had to get it right. She had to find her sound again. She had to-
She woke up that evening, shortly before finals, in the Dream Sphere, channeling her frustration into holding off a Nightmare as Dreamer Rhodonite, and awoke with a Sandglass. The irony wasn't lost on her, and she spent the rest of that night boucing between crying and laughing. Once she finished out the school year, she spent the break figuring out where to go from there. Eventually that ended in a decision to sign on with the Union and transfer to Promised Morning - she loved the friends she'd finally made, but she didn't want them to get caught up in her problems. And besides, she wasn't going anywhere, she could always see them if she wanted. She just... had a calling she needed to rise to. And if she was being honest with herself, she wanted to see what a school for Dreamers was like, plus the Academy was supposed to be a good school anyway for her resumé.
Lisa arrives at Promised Morning as a fresh transfer student at the start of the year, not entirely sure what to do from here but determined to make a new start and rise above. Where she goes from here is up to her, but... it's magic, yeah? Anything could happen. And she's hoping anything does happen.
AU Personality: On the outside, Lisa is not unlike her canon self - peppy, outgoing, and an advocate; still with a strong tendency to go ham at her own expense; still a romantic at heart, although there's a certain mystery to magic she's also attracted to. But she's been through some things growing up in Yumemigaoka that have caused her some trouble, and it's warped her a little bit. She gets depressed more easily, disheartened sometimes, has minor confidence issues, and is slower to trust unless there's something pointy in her face and she doesn't really have other options; that last point is going to be a little bit sticky since she's going straight into a situation where that's liable to happen often as a Novice Dreamer. If she gets caught in a strange situation, especially with someone new, she gets nervous fast, and there's a real risk she either breaks down or bugs out.
Lisa has discovered that, whatever friends she does make going forward, she has a strong interest in keeping anything untoward from happening to them. That manifests in emergencies as what might charitably be called a bear protecting her cubs, and might uncharitably be called violent tendencies. Such tendency doesn't come up when something's threatening her, of course, and she doesn't go overboard if she doesn't need to. When it's her in trouble, Lisa tends to withdraw, either into herself or just away. It's not a healthy habit and she knows she has it, but she also hasn't really been able to fix it. Maybe friends will help sand down the edges on it over time.
This version of Lisa doesn't have her canon version's earrings and pendant to act as a warning to anyone approaching that she's a little twisted; instead she channels her clothing-making to work as an outward expression of her mood, largely consciously. She's got a variety of bright tops, cute dresses, and accessories of all shapes, and isn't afraid to wear any of it when she's not at school and thus restricted to her uniform. Beyond her signature red scarf, she always carries an extra, just in case of need; sharing a spare doesn't cost her that much beyond the time put in and the bundle of yarn, and it makes her feel good that she can help someone else in a tangible way. Similarly, her baking habit generates both snacks for her and pick-me-ups for anyone that might need cheering up in the way only something sweet can. Lisa very firmly believes that a fresh look and a fresh snack can brighten someone's day, and if she can help with one or both, all the better.
She's still good for more traditional emotional support, though - text her at 2 AM with a sob story and she'll stay up with you, ask her for advice and she'll do her best to help you out, beg for someone to go somewhere with you and... well, she'll try. She tries reasonably hard in school, and is willing to run study groups and the like, but she's not top-of-class material, and she's okay with that - it'd cut into her time for other things too much, and she's happy enough with the ranking she has.
Growing up largely on her own has made Lisa independent; she doesn't really worry about when she gets home from things, and has a certain level of street smarts picked up through experience, but lacks knowledge of certain social norms, and hasn't traveled much outside the city. It has also, however, made her a little clingy. The silence at home is not quite accusing, and she can fill it well enough with her bass if it comes down to it, but she really misses the days of being able to just hang out with friends her own age and do stuff together. She's getting back to it, slowly, but it's something she values strongly and will do quite a lot to protect.
Lisa has pushed off Dreamer training until now, for the most part, and has no idea what the hell she's doing. She will probably need a Mentor, but will probably need a bit to warm up to them before she's entirely comfortable running into battle with such a person leading her. Someone willing to explain what they're doing and take things at her pace will win points with her, both with magic and more generally. (I'll take actually looking for one to the relevant memes later.) She's excited to have become a Dreamer, even if there's a certain fear that whatever caused her former friends to Awaken and then drop off the social face of the Earth will happen to her. She's not afraid to do the work, but she's also vaguely aware that there's real danger involved, and so is still somewhat cautious. That said, her protective tendencies will lead her to charge into battle if things go pear-shaped, regardless of how effective she'll be.
Dreamer Info
Dreamer Title: Dreamer Rhodonite
Appearance: Rhodonite's hair dyes a washed out red that is closer to pink in the right light, and grows out a bit further to her waist, and her eyes shift to a pastel green. My outfit inspiration is one of Lisa's canon costumes but with some adjustments: the red dulls a little and faintly sparkles as the light hits it, and the frills turn to a series of cream shades, becoming a little longer and fluttering in the breeze. The red flowers become vivid red crystal; the purple one stays fabric and washes out to a light lavender. The hair ornament stays as is for a pop of color.
Archetype: Novice
Power Considerations:
- Bass Boost: sound blasts, as largely a defensive power - think the Horn from Mario Kart, disrupting enemies and incoming attacks, rather than doing notable damage. Probably works better with her bass to hand. Breaks fragile objects; deflects anything more solid. Good at tripping people. At higher ranks: damages structures, gains directionality (fire as a cone instead of a radius centered on her!), ignores allies, performs as traditional barrier magic
- Inspire: bardic inspiration - support magic through music. Provides an attack or defense buff. Lisa can't sing well enough to be lead vocals, so only works while she has enough space to play, and wears off quickly once she stops. At higher ranks: provides more varied enhancements (
I was going to say DR 10/- at S Rank but literally everything is magic, sob, but there's design space for things like elemental resistance and esoteric, specific protections), works at a wider range, and lasts longer after she stops playing - Throughline: presence manipulation - blends into the background to attract less aggro, or stands out (possibly by or while playing her bass) to take attention from others onto herself. Mutliplied by whatever Rhodonite is doing that would otherwise attract aggro; sneaking around works well, screaming and hitting things reduces effectiveness, or vice versa if trying to pull aggro herself. The bass guitar is the backbone of the band, but is difficult to pick out if you're not actively listening for it. At higher ranks: more effective, can spread to other members, can also mask voices and other tells, selectively hides Rhodonite from specific targets
- Message: when you can't shout at someone, reach out with sending and make sure you can be heard. Has a verbal component at E Rank (speak your message out loud, but mentally shape the spell to target the right person) but can be used silently at D Rank, almost but not exactly like telepathy. When Rhodonite sends, there's enough magic left to get a response back, if it's short. Has enough of a cast/manifest time that using it during combat isn't feasible. Good for status reports. Does not send text or video or anything like that; it's a purely audible communication method. At higher ranks: range improves (at A/S Rank, can probably reach the entire Dream Sphere), message length improves, can establish continuous channels, can talk to multiple people at once, casts faster and requires less concentration (Talking Is A Free Action)
RP Sample: Lisa top-level on the TDM; here's another thread in case I can't count.
Other Notes: I am very good at taking AU games - especially those with regains, but even more generally - as places to push the original character shining through, as a result of certain games I've played before! This is not the right game for that. Please bop me with a newspaper if I start to go too hard on AU Lisa acting like and/or doing the same things as Lisa Classic.