Kaioh Michiru (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
incousinswithyou) wrote2014-03-08 09:32 pm
incousinswithyou) wrote2014-03-08 09:32 pm
Brave New World App
PLAYER INFO
Name: C
Contact Information:
Personal Journal:accipiter
Plurk:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
insomniacdragon
AIM: xsleeplessdragon
Time Zone: EST/GMT -5
Characters Played: None
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Kaioh Michiru
Character Canon: Sailor Moon – mostly anime
History:
Michiru was born into a rich family and is prodigiously gifted in art and music. Sometime in middle school, she had premonitions of the end of the world and reawakened as Sailor Neptune – or vice versa. Either way, the vision urged her to find the Talismans, which would lead to the Holy Grail, which would then enable the Messiah to save the world from silence. Additionally, it told her that the person who would help her do all this was one Tenoh Haruka, as she would later discover. Before she learned her partner was destined to be Haruka, she had already developed a major crush on her; the realization made her both joyful that Haruka was “the one” and miserable because Haruka was the one person she didn’t want to walk the same path she did. In taking up the mantle and duties of a sailor senshi, she had to give up her dreams of being a violinist and be forever fearful that she would have to take a life; for example, stopping monsters from attacking other people ran the risk of killing the person the monster used to be. In the end, Haruka was persuaded to join the quest to save the world. Indeed, the burden that they would have to kill an innocent hung over them for much of their story arc because the three Talismans were hidden in pure hearts – removing the Talisman would mean the death of the pure individual.
For about half the season, they let the villains do the dirty work of removing pure hearts from the victim of the week and then they would swoop in and examine the hearts for themselves. This led to disagreements with Sailor Moon and the Inner Senshi, who were a lot of idealistic than Haruka and Michiru and insisted that sacrificing an innocent is no way to save the world. Haruka and Michiru, on the other hand, decide that the Inner Senshi are too idealistic and unwilling to bloody their hands for the sake of the world and therefore, they would be better off not working together. What’s one person compared to the entire world, after all? They wring their hands a lot over this for a bunch of episodes, but they usually end up reaffirming their willingness to sacrifice innocent people.
So it’s kind of funny when they finally learn that they themselves were carrying the Talismans. Michiru gets herself killed and her pure heart/Talisman ripped out trying to save Haruka. Haruka rips out her own Talisman shortly thereafter, leaving it all to Sailor Moon. Then, magically, they come back to life because their hearts can be extricated from the Talismans. Then they, along with Sailor Pluto and her own Talisman, summon the Holy Grail. Sailor Moon can tap into some of the Grail’s powers, but not completely, leading Michiru, Haruka, and Pluto – the Outer Senshi – to believe that they still had to search for the Messiah. They spend a few episodes doing that until they learn that the villains were trying to revive the Messiah of Silence, upon which they decide they must kill the Messiah of Silence before she’s reborn. This leads to yet another fight with the Inner Senshi because they believe that the Messiah of Silence is this innocent girl named Tomoe Hotaru.
Eventually, they find out that Hotaru is Sailor Saturn, who only ever wakes up to destroy everything. It doesn’t help that Hotaru is possessed by the enemy, who want to get the power of the Grail in order to summon their own demonic overlord and destroy the earth. Ultimately, Hotaru gets revived, Pluto sacrifices herself to give Haruka and Michiru a chance to stop the enemy, and Haruka and Michiru’s practicability was ultimately useless against the love and idealism ofshoujo anime Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon saves the day, gives the reborn Hotaru a second chance at life, and nobody dies.
Eventually, Haruka and Michiru accept that idealism isn’t exactly a weakness, per se, and accept Sailor Moon as their Princess and future Queen. However, even when they come to regard the Inner scouts as allies and friends, they’re still liable to go their own way and fight on their own terms.
AU History:
Way back during Savior-era, Neptune was one of the many companions of the Savior who fought in the war and helped save humanity from getting wiped out. Eventually, she became reincarnated as Michiru, along with many of her companions. Fragments of her past life might appear in her dreams, but it’s mostly unintelligible. However, the (varying levels of) pull she feels towards her reincarnated companions might explain why she feels drawn to certain people.
Now hailing from one of the upper crust, extremely rich families in Union, Michiru was, first and foremost, an artist and a musician. Everything changed, however, when burgeoning psychic powers resulted in persistent prophetic dreams that had her searching for signs of the gods’ return, lest calamity befall them once again. Although she was reluctant to take up this duty because it would mean that her own dreams of becoming a violinist would have to be discarded, she steeled herself to join the Divine Defense Force anyway. Along the way, she convinced one Tenoh Haruka to give in to destiny and join as well, so they might have a chance at preventing whatever disaster might happen.
Over the course of a year, their partnership and teamwork steadily grew to greater proficiencies as they became trusted members of the Divine Defense Force. Although she’s a natural actress in the theater, it’s really not where her artistic interests lie. In the last month, they had been assigned to investigate Professor Tomoe, an evil scientist who was experimenting on Pokemon and humans. They tracked him down, killed him and the mad monsters he had created, and then very nearly killed his daughter, on whom he had also experimented on. They eventually decided that she was an innocent and since she wasn’t going crazy and attacking them(and since she didn’t possess any powers that could destroy the entire world and reset everything), she could be given a chance – as long as they kept an eye on her.
Any fears and suspicions regarding Hotaru’s potential instability on Michiru’s part are easily kept under wraps – she is charming enough and easy enough to get along with when she wants to be. As such, she certainly seems to be the more accepting of the pair. Trust is slowly building up.
Canon Personality:
Michiru presents herself to the world exactly how she would like to be viewed. She’s a gifted, knowledgeable, polite, well-bred young woman and above all, she is elegant, mature, and perfect. Few people would question it – after all, she’s a famous violinist and artist, a student of an elite school, and the very definition of dignity and femininity. Of course, she can be charming when she wants to be and makes acquaintances easily enough.
It’s difficult, however, for her to find an equal who could capture both her attention and her respect. Among the Inner Senshi, Michiru finds an equal in Ami when it comes to swimming. Indeed, she immediately challenged Ami to a race and was passive aggressively incensed when she realized that Ami had thrown the race so they would tie. Although still extremely polite, Michiru’s voice had gotten downright cold when she asked Ami if she had thrown the race because she thought Michiru wouldn’t have been able to handle a loss. As we can see, Michiru refuses to allow anybody to pity her or to look down on her – even if I find it highly unlikely that she would’ve been happy losing the race. Hurt, Ami ran off before the accusations leveled at her, which caused Michiru to reevaluate the situation a little. While she was certainly annoyed that Ami hadn’t taken the race (and therefore Michiru herself) seriously, she seemed genuinely surprised when Ami ran away almost in tears. She knew Ami was capable of giving her a real fight and she wanted that challenge. To fix it (and to assuage her guilt that she had made somebody cry), she got Haruka to bring Ami back for a rematch – while she herself obtained a more hydrodynamic swimsuit (i.e. one without ruffles), got rid of all unnecessary baubles, and tied her hair up. Ami showed up with something to prove and this time, both of them gave their all and still tied. However, this time, they were both happily exhausted and each had found a newfound respect for the other.
So while she’s still polite, elegant, and charming for the most part, she won’t hesitate to show her displeasure, whether it is in the form of cold disdain or actual anger. Additionally, the sass and the sarcasm (as well as the perfectly bland, deviously pointed questions) are all rolled up in the well-mannered epitome of elegance and contradictions that is Michiru. The teasing is generally reserved for people who she actually likes and knows.
Michiru’s main motivation is Haruka. While her duty as a sailor senshi is a close second, it (almost) invariably loses out if Haruka is in danger. She’s perfectly fine with sacrificing herself if necessary, but sacrificing or abandoning Haruka for the sake of the greater good is just not going to happen. When she first met Haruka, she wanted the other woman to help her in saving the world, but was rejected. As such, when a monster attacked Haruka, Michiru tried to stop the other woman from taking hold of her transformation wand and thereby becoming Sailor Uranus – even though she knew that the best chance they had of saving the world was if the both of them worked together. Instead, she told Haruka not to do it because she knew that the duties of a senshi were a terrible burden and that Haruka had already expressed no desire to give everything up to save the world. Still, she persisted in trying to deter Haruka by defeating the monster herself. Complications arose when Haruka objected to hurting the monster because it used to be a human being. At this moment, the practical side of Michiru came into full force – she will not hesitate to attack this monster and risk taking on the burden of taking a human life because if she did not do so, then even more people will be hurt. Similarly, she will use whatever means necessary to save the world because there is nothing worse than that particular calamity. And then she immediately throws all that to the wind as she shoves Haruka out of the way of the attacking monster and takes a blow meant for the other woman. Michiru herself could have been hurt and then there wouldn't have been anybody else to stop the monster.
Michiru says all these things about practicality and using any means necessary and how important this duty is to them, but her actions show a different story as soon as Haruka’s well-being is out of alignment with their mission. For example, throughout their story arc, they swear to each other that they wouldn’t risk their lives to save the other because the mission was paramount to everything else, including their own personal feelings; whoever survived would continue to search for the Talismans. Even though half the time it’s Michiru drilling this plan into Haruka, she absolutely does not hesitate to throw herself into harm’s way as soon as Haruka is in danger. Indeed, Michiru probably elicited the promise from Haruka in order to keep her safe, but had no intention of keeping it herself.
Her unhealthy co-dependency aside, Michiru’s practicality is at odds with her ideals – as well as with the themes of love, trust, and friendship that make up the anime. Although they loudly proclaim that they will do whatever is necessary to save the world, even if they bloody their hands, they spend a good amount of time agonizing over how they don’t actually want to kill anybody. They will do it because it’s practical and makes perfect sense and because nobody else is willing to do such a thing to save the world. Their commitment to their mission becomes harder and harder as they grow closer to the Inner Senshi (in civilian form) and have to stand by and watch as the girls each in turn become the Victim of the Week. While they might perversely hope that the other girls don’t have Talismans hidden in their hearts, they still remained devoted and sometimes even lured the girls into a vulnerable state for an enemy attack.
In regards to how she grows throughout the anime, this is rather evident in her relationships with other people as well as in her priorities. Before the show started, she was an enormously talented girl but had no real friends. Although she was aware of Haruka and had developed a major crush on her, they probably would not have become partners – with the implicit trust and dependence that come along with it – if not for the whole “saving the world” business. This led to meeting the Inner Senshi and through the trials of friendship and evil alien overlords, they manage to become friends, to care for each other to some extent, and to work together (sometimes). Their contrasting ideologies get in the way, but Michiru grows fond of the Inners in her own way and would go out of her way to help them (sometimes). In particular, they definitely become much more invested in protecting their princess, Usagi – who is literally the epitome of love and friendship and impractical, idealistic plans.
Speaking of senshi, Michiru finds a family with the Outers – Hotaru, Haruka, and Setsuna (Pluto). The three of them agree to raise Hotaru together and maybe give her a semblance of a normal life. Even though all three of them were doing everything they can to kill Hotaru to stop the world from exploding, they turn right around and take her in when she was reborn. We see Michiru’s strong maternal streak in her interactions with Hotaru and really, it just shows how Michiru is divided by what she perceives as duty and by the idealism and care that can’t possibly have a place in this world and yet is inherent in herself (deep down somewhere under all the snark).
Michiru’s relationship with Haruka also shifts subtly. For one thing, their flirting gets a lot less subtle and their interactions with the others are much less tense now that they’re no longer constantly worrying about how they will have to kill somebody. For another, Michiru has moved on from the mindset that “everything can go to hell as long as Haruka is alright” to one in which “everything will be fine as long as the two of them are together.”
The growth she shows in terms of the meaningful relationships she develops is a far cry from the loneliness she shows pre-anime. But even with the newfound family she has, she’s still willing to sacrifice them, including herself and Haruka (as long as they’re together), if it’s to carry out her duties as a senshi and to protect the princess.
TL;DR Michiru is a tease and a giant bundle of contradictions.
AU Deviation:
There’s a lot less angst and guilt-ridden consciences in this AU because they don’t have to specifically sacrifice a few innocent people for the good of the whole. As a result, even if there’s some kind of calamity or disaster on the horizon (and a vague one at that), Michiru is calmer and more open to making new acquaintances. It’s been an entire year and the world hasn’t exploded yet and there’s no real guilt now that she’s given into her destiny, which is supposed to prevent the disaster. So really, she’s doing what she’s supposed to do. Even without the clearly delineated steps to prevent this particular calamity, Michiru is capable of sitting still and doesn’t have this need to keep moving at all times. After all, with her confidence in her own abilities and with Haruka at her side, there isn’t really much they can’t take down together.
Canon Abilities:
In her civilian form, Michiru is an famously talented violinist and artist and is also an extremely good swimmer. Her intuition is certainly much more reliable than that of ordinary people and in fact, would warn her of tumultuous events on the horizon. This ranges from the usual “the sea is stormy” premonition regarding the Monster of the Week to the all encompassing vision about the end of the world.
As Sailor Neptune, Michiru keeps her sense of intuition and gains a couple of attacks and probably a few physical boosts as well. She certainly has greater than average agility, speed, strength, and durability. Her attacks are:
Deep Submerge: an attack akin to shoving the concentrated power of the ocean/tsunami into a glowy magical orb and chucking it at people.
Submarine Reflection: an attack using the Deep Aqua Mirror Talisman.
Additionally, her Talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror, is available in both civilian and Senshi form. It looks like an elaborate hand mirror, but it can attack things, destroy false illusions, uncover weak points in the enemy, and summon the Holy Grail when used in conjunction with the other two Talismans. When she’s not using it to attack, she uses it to scry for enemies or danger.
Enlightened Abilities:
Michiru’s type is Water/Psychic and her ability is Mastery of Training.
Initial abilities: Something akin to Water Pulse. Foresight. Nasty Plot.
Midpoint abilities: Something akin to Brine. Lock-On. Confusion.
Endpoint abilities: Something akin to Hydro Cannon. Mirror Move. Psychic.
Her own agility, strength, and durability will similarly increase as her level increases.
No item at start, but she’ll probably get an enhanced item similar to her mirror later on.
Starter Pokémon:
Ralts, Level 8
Notes/Special Considerations:
Not really a big deal, but I think giving her some vague premonitions before a big event would fit well, given mod approval.
Apparently, will be acquiring the Deep Aqua Mirror (courtesy of Lugia) later on.
SAMPLES
First-Person:
Test drive thread.
Test drive thread the second.
Third-Person:
Assuming that Haruka is asking these questions and assuming that Michiru has stopped asking why she’s asking such weird questions:
-What would you say the role of Pokémon is in your life?
Pokemon? They’re our friends and partners, if they wish to be. [that answer is so standard, it’s almost clichéd. There’s a slight smirk though.] Or perhaps I should say that our bonds make them as much a part of us as we are to them. Is that what you’re looking for?
-What do you feel your role in Union is?
Is it not to contribute to the greater good of humanity and to help maintain the fragile harmony between Pokemon and humans? [and to keep your butt out of trouble] Of course, if we were to observe the mandates of our [dryly] highly secret organization, I would have to say that I am here ensure that the masses are suitably entertained and distracted. [smile]
-What do you seek for humanity’s future?
I thought we already went over this. I’m looking to foster greater trust on the part of both humanity and Pokemon. Recreating the past isn’t an option, but I’m rather certain that the general consensus is that we should build a better future, yes?
-To what lengths would you go to rescue your allies if they were lost in the wilderness?
Are you planning on getting lost in the woods? It certainly doesn’t seem rational, if you ask me – unless, of course, you just like being chased.
-You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?
Is this because I didn’t say that I’d save you if you got lost in the woods? [sigh. Ara, Haruka.] I am more than capable of holding my own. [as if her steely will would ever let her give up without a fight] Although…are you implying that you won’t come looking for me? [there is only one right answer to that question]
-What area do you seek to explore? The peaceful forest, in search of new, previously overlooked discoveries; the uncharted caves, in search of the unknown; or the wildest of mountain terrain, in search of danger, adventure, and thrills?
Anywhere with a decent supply of hot water and soap. [anywhere with you, dummy, and she’d be content. Unless it’s a month long sojourn into a cave. Then she won’t be as content. But otherwise, as long as you’re there, she’s fine.]
Name: C
Contact Information:
Personal Journal:
accipiterPlurk:
AIM: xsleeplessdragon
Time Zone: EST/GMT -5
Characters Played: None
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Kaioh Michiru
Character Canon: Sailor Moon – mostly anime
History:
Michiru was born into a rich family and is prodigiously gifted in art and music. Sometime in middle school, she had premonitions of the end of the world and reawakened as Sailor Neptune – or vice versa. Either way, the vision urged her to find the Talismans, which would lead to the Holy Grail, which would then enable the Messiah to save the world from silence. Additionally, it told her that the person who would help her do all this was one Tenoh Haruka, as she would later discover. Before she learned her partner was destined to be Haruka, she had already developed a major crush on her; the realization made her both joyful that Haruka was “the one” and miserable because Haruka was the one person she didn’t want to walk the same path she did. In taking up the mantle and duties of a sailor senshi, she had to give up her dreams of being a violinist and be forever fearful that she would have to take a life; for example, stopping monsters from attacking other people ran the risk of killing the person the monster used to be. In the end, Haruka was persuaded to join the quest to save the world. Indeed, the burden that they would have to kill an innocent hung over them for much of their story arc because the three Talismans were hidden in pure hearts – removing the Talisman would mean the death of the pure individual.
For about half the season, they let the villains do the dirty work of removing pure hearts from the victim of the week and then they would swoop in and examine the hearts for themselves. This led to disagreements with Sailor Moon and the Inner Senshi, who were a lot of idealistic than Haruka and Michiru and insisted that sacrificing an innocent is no way to save the world. Haruka and Michiru, on the other hand, decide that the Inner Senshi are too idealistic and unwilling to bloody their hands for the sake of the world and therefore, they would be better off not working together. What’s one person compared to the entire world, after all? They wring their hands a lot over this for a bunch of episodes, but they usually end up reaffirming their willingness to sacrifice innocent people.
So it’s kind of funny when they finally learn that they themselves were carrying the Talismans. Michiru gets herself killed and her pure heart/Talisman ripped out trying to save Haruka. Haruka rips out her own Talisman shortly thereafter, leaving it all to Sailor Moon. Then, magically, they come back to life because their hearts can be extricated from the Talismans. Then they, along with Sailor Pluto and her own Talisman, summon the Holy Grail. Sailor Moon can tap into some of the Grail’s powers, but not completely, leading Michiru, Haruka, and Pluto – the Outer Senshi – to believe that they still had to search for the Messiah. They spend a few episodes doing that until they learn that the villains were trying to revive the Messiah of Silence, upon which they decide they must kill the Messiah of Silence before she’s reborn. This leads to yet another fight with the Inner Senshi because they believe that the Messiah of Silence is this innocent girl named Tomoe Hotaru.
Eventually, they find out that Hotaru is Sailor Saturn, who only ever wakes up to destroy everything. It doesn’t help that Hotaru is possessed by the enemy, who want to get the power of the Grail in order to summon their own demonic overlord and destroy the earth. Ultimately, Hotaru gets revived, Pluto sacrifices herself to give Haruka and Michiru a chance to stop the enemy, and Haruka and Michiru’s practicability was ultimately useless against the love and idealism of
Eventually, Haruka and Michiru accept that idealism isn’t exactly a weakness, per se, and accept Sailor Moon as their Princess and future Queen. However, even when they come to regard the Inner scouts as allies and friends, they’re still liable to go their own way and fight on their own terms.
AU History:
Way back during Savior-era, Neptune was one of the many companions of the Savior who fought in the war and helped save humanity from getting wiped out. Eventually, she became reincarnated as Michiru, along with many of her companions. Fragments of her past life might appear in her dreams, but it’s mostly unintelligible. However, the (varying levels of) pull she feels towards her reincarnated companions might explain why she feels drawn to certain people.
Now hailing from one of the upper crust, extremely rich families in Union, Michiru was, first and foremost, an artist and a musician. Everything changed, however, when burgeoning psychic powers resulted in persistent prophetic dreams that had her searching for signs of the gods’ return, lest calamity befall them once again. Although she was reluctant to take up this duty because it would mean that her own dreams of becoming a violinist would have to be discarded, she steeled herself to join the Divine Defense Force anyway. Along the way, she convinced one Tenoh Haruka to give in to destiny and join as well, so they might have a chance at preventing whatever disaster might happen.
Over the course of a year, their partnership and teamwork steadily grew to greater proficiencies as they became trusted members of the Divine Defense Force. Although she’s a natural actress in the theater, it’s really not where her artistic interests lie. In the last month, they had been assigned to investigate Professor Tomoe, an evil scientist who was experimenting on Pokemon and humans. They tracked him down, killed him and the mad monsters he had created, and then very nearly killed his daughter, on whom he had also experimented on. They eventually decided that she was an innocent and since she wasn’t going crazy and attacking them
Any fears and suspicions regarding Hotaru’s potential instability on Michiru’s part are easily kept under wraps – she is charming enough and easy enough to get along with when she wants to be. As such, she certainly seems to be the more accepting of the pair. Trust is slowly building up.
Canon Personality:
Michiru presents herself to the world exactly how she would like to be viewed. She’s a gifted, knowledgeable, polite, well-bred young woman and above all, she is elegant, mature, and perfect. Few people would question it – after all, she’s a famous violinist and artist, a student of an elite school, and the very definition of dignity and femininity. Of course, she can be charming when she wants to be and makes acquaintances easily enough.
It’s difficult, however, for her to find an equal who could capture both her attention and her respect. Among the Inner Senshi, Michiru finds an equal in Ami when it comes to swimming. Indeed, she immediately challenged Ami to a race and was passive aggressively incensed when she realized that Ami had thrown the race so they would tie. Although still extremely polite, Michiru’s voice had gotten downright cold when she asked Ami if she had thrown the race because she thought Michiru wouldn’t have been able to handle a loss. As we can see, Michiru refuses to allow anybody to pity her or to look down on her – even if I find it highly unlikely that she would’ve been happy losing the race. Hurt, Ami ran off before the accusations leveled at her, which caused Michiru to reevaluate the situation a little. While she was certainly annoyed that Ami hadn’t taken the race (and therefore Michiru herself) seriously, she seemed genuinely surprised when Ami ran away almost in tears. She knew Ami was capable of giving her a real fight and she wanted that challenge. To fix it (and to assuage her guilt that she had made somebody cry), she got Haruka to bring Ami back for a rematch – while she herself obtained a more hydrodynamic swimsuit (i.e. one without ruffles), got rid of all unnecessary baubles, and tied her hair up. Ami showed up with something to prove and this time, both of them gave their all and still tied. However, this time, they were both happily exhausted and each had found a newfound respect for the other.
So while she’s still polite, elegant, and charming for the most part, she won’t hesitate to show her displeasure, whether it is in the form of cold disdain or actual anger. Additionally, the sass and the sarcasm (as well as the perfectly bland, deviously pointed questions) are all rolled up in the well-mannered epitome of elegance and contradictions that is Michiru. The teasing is generally reserved for people who she actually likes and knows.
Michiru’s main motivation is Haruka. While her duty as a sailor senshi is a close second, it (almost) invariably loses out if Haruka is in danger. She’s perfectly fine with sacrificing herself if necessary, but sacrificing or abandoning Haruka for the sake of the greater good is just not going to happen. When she first met Haruka, she wanted the other woman to help her in saving the world, but was rejected. As such, when a monster attacked Haruka, Michiru tried to stop the other woman from taking hold of her transformation wand and thereby becoming Sailor Uranus – even though she knew that the best chance they had of saving the world was if the both of them worked together. Instead, she told Haruka not to do it because she knew that the duties of a senshi were a terrible burden and that Haruka had already expressed no desire to give everything up to save the world. Still, she persisted in trying to deter Haruka by defeating the monster herself. Complications arose when Haruka objected to hurting the monster because it used to be a human being. At this moment, the practical side of Michiru came into full force – she will not hesitate to attack this monster and risk taking on the burden of taking a human life because if she did not do so, then even more people will be hurt. Similarly, she will use whatever means necessary to save the world because there is nothing worse than that particular calamity. And then she immediately throws all that to the wind as she shoves Haruka out of the way of the attacking monster and takes a blow meant for the other woman. Michiru herself could have been hurt and then there wouldn't have been anybody else to stop the monster.
Michiru says all these things about practicality and using any means necessary and how important this duty is to them, but her actions show a different story as soon as Haruka’s well-being is out of alignment with their mission. For example, throughout their story arc, they swear to each other that they wouldn’t risk their lives to save the other because the mission was paramount to everything else, including their own personal feelings; whoever survived would continue to search for the Talismans. Even though half the time it’s Michiru drilling this plan into Haruka, she absolutely does not hesitate to throw herself into harm’s way as soon as Haruka is in danger. Indeed, Michiru probably elicited the promise from Haruka in order to keep her safe, but had no intention of keeping it herself.
Her unhealthy co-dependency aside, Michiru’s practicality is at odds with her ideals – as well as with the themes of love, trust, and friendship that make up the anime. Although they loudly proclaim that they will do whatever is necessary to save the world, even if they bloody their hands, they spend a good amount of time agonizing over how they don’t actually want to kill anybody. They will do it because it’s practical and makes perfect sense and because nobody else is willing to do such a thing to save the world. Their commitment to their mission becomes harder and harder as they grow closer to the Inner Senshi (in civilian form) and have to stand by and watch as the girls each in turn become the Victim of the Week. While they might perversely hope that the other girls don’t have Talismans hidden in their hearts, they still remained devoted and sometimes even lured the girls into a vulnerable state for an enemy attack.
In regards to how she grows throughout the anime, this is rather evident in her relationships with other people as well as in her priorities. Before the show started, she was an enormously talented girl but had no real friends. Although she was aware of Haruka and had developed a major crush on her, they probably would not have become partners – with the implicit trust and dependence that come along with it – if not for the whole “saving the world” business. This led to meeting the Inner Senshi and through the trials of friendship and evil alien overlords, they manage to become friends, to care for each other to some extent, and to work together (sometimes). Their contrasting ideologies get in the way, but Michiru grows fond of the Inners in her own way and would go out of her way to help them (sometimes). In particular, they definitely become much more invested in protecting their princess, Usagi – who is literally the epitome of love and friendship and impractical, idealistic plans.
Speaking of senshi, Michiru finds a family with the Outers – Hotaru, Haruka, and Setsuna (Pluto). The three of them agree to raise Hotaru together and maybe give her a semblance of a normal life. Even though all three of them were doing everything they can to kill Hotaru to stop the world from exploding, they turn right around and take her in when she was reborn. We see Michiru’s strong maternal streak in her interactions with Hotaru and really, it just shows how Michiru is divided by what she perceives as duty and by the idealism and care that can’t possibly have a place in this world and yet is inherent in herself (deep down somewhere under all the snark).
Michiru’s relationship with Haruka also shifts subtly. For one thing, their flirting gets a lot less subtle and their interactions with the others are much less tense now that they’re no longer constantly worrying about how they will have to kill somebody. For another, Michiru has moved on from the mindset that “everything can go to hell as long as Haruka is alright” to one in which “everything will be fine as long as the two of them are together.”
The growth she shows in terms of the meaningful relationships she develops is a far cry from the loneliness she shows pre-anime. But even with the newfound family she has, she’s still willing to sacrifice them, including herself and Haruka (as long as they’re together), if it’s to carry out her duties as a senshi and to protect the princess.
TL;DR Michiru is a tease and a giant bundle of contradictions.
AU Deviation:
There’s a lot less angst and guilt-ridden consciences in this AU because they don’t have to specifically sacrifice a few innocent people for the good of the whole. As a result, even if there’s some kind of calamity or disaster on the horizon (and a vague one at that), Michiru is calmer and more open to making new acquaintances. It’s been an entire year and the world hasn’t exploded yet and there’s no real guilt now that she’s given into her destiny, which is supposed to prevent the disaster. So really, she’s doing what she’s supposed to do. Even without the clearly delineated steps to prevent this particular calamity, Michiru is capable of sitting still and doesn’t have this need to keep moving at all times. After all, with her confidence in her own abilities and with Haruka at her side, there isn’t really much they can’t take down together.
Canon Abilities:
In her civilian form, Michiru is an famously talented violinist and artist and is also an extremely good swimmer. Her intuition is certainly much more reliable than that of ordinary people and in fact, would warn her of tumultuous events on the horizon. This ranges from the usual “the sea is stormy” premonition regarding the Monster of the Week to the all encompassing vision about the end of the world.
As Sailor Neptune, Michiru keeps her sense of intuition and gains a couple of attacks and probably a few physical boosts as well. She certainly has greater than average agility, speed, strength, and durability. Her attacks are:
Deep Submerge: an attack akin to shoving the concentrated power of the ocean/tsunami into a glowy magical orb and chucking it at people.
Submarine Reflection: an attack using the Deep Aqua Mirror Talisman.
Additionally, her Talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror, is available in both civilian and Senshi form. It looks like an elaborate hand mirror, but it can attack things, destroy false illusions, uncover weak points in the enemy, and summon the Holy Grail when used in conjunction with the other two Talismans. When she’s not using it to attack, she uses it to scry for enemies or danger.
Enlightened Abilities:
Michiru’s type is Water/Psychic and her ability is Mastery of Training.
Initial abilities: Something akin to Water Pulse. Foresight. Nasty Plot.
Midpoint abilities: Something akin to Brine. Lock-On. Confusion.
Endpoint abilities: Something akin to Hydro Cannon. Mirror Move. Psychic.
Her own agility, strength, and durability will similarly increase as her level increases.
No item at start, but she’ll probably get an enhanced item similar to her mirror later on.
Starter Pokémon:
Ralts, Level 8
Notes/Special Considerations:
Not really a big deal, but I think giving her some vague premonitions before a big event would fit well, given mod approval.
Apparently, will be acquiring the Deep Aqua Mirror (courtesy of Lugia) later on.
SAMPLES
First-Person:
Test drive thread.
Test drive thread the second.
Third-Person:
Assuming that Haruka is asking these questions and assuming that Michiru has stopped asking why she’s asking such weird questions:
-What would you say the role of Pokémon is in your life?
Pokemon? They’re our friends and partners, if they wish to be. [that answer is so standard, it’s almost clichéd. There’s a slight smirk though.] Or perhaps I should say that our bonds make them as much a part of us as we are to them. Is that what you’re looking for?
-What do you feel your role in Union is?
Is it not to contribute to the greater good of humanity and to help maintain the fragile harmony between Pokemon and humans? [and to keep your butt out of trouble] Of course, if we were to observe the mandates of our [dryly] highly secret organization, I would have to say that I am here ensure that the masses are suitably entertained and distracted. [smile]
-What do you seek for humanity’s future?
I thought we already went over this. I’m looking to foster greater trust on the part of both humanity and Pokemon. Recreating the past isn’t an option, but I’m rather certain that the general consensus is that we should build a better future, yes?
-To what lengths would you go to rescue your allies if they were lost in the wilderness?
Are you planning on getting lost in the woods? It certainly doesn’t seem rational, if you ask me – unless, of course, you just like being chased.
-You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?
Is this because I didn’t say that I’d save you if you got lost in the woods? [sigh. Ara, Haruka.] I am more than capable of holding my own. [as if her steely will would ever let her give up without a fight] Although…are you implying that you won’t come looking for me? [there is only one right answer to that question]
-What area do you seek to explore? The peaceful forest, in search of new, previously overlooked discoveries; the uncharted caves, in search of the unknown; or the wildest of mountain terrain, in search of danger, adventure, and thrills?
Anywhere with a decent supply of hot water and soap. [anywhere with you, dummy, and she’d be content. Unless it’s a month long sojourn into a cave. Then she won’t be as content. But otherwise, as long as you’re there, she’s fine.]
no subject
Date of Joining: March 2014
Personal Growth or Trial:
Michiru started off pretty secluded, thanks to her mission, apocalypse dreams, and overall nature. She had Haruka and her Gardevoir, but that was about it. Although the dreams tied her to Haruka, they also set them apart even within the DDF, where they were supposed to have the (sort of, almost the same) goal of serving the gods. The first outside tie she had was Setsuna, who also shared the same dreams. After that, her circle slowly expanded to include the other senshi. Of note, she had good camaraderie and almost-I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-trust with Rei, which only deepened when they found out about their common dreams and bonds from their past lives (re: dream event). Even beyond that, she’s starting to depend and come to expect reliability from other members of the DDF, such as Rise and Right.
When it comes to her Pokemon, working with and relying on Pokemon other than the one she grew up with also expanded her world. The expectations she holds herself to has to be adjusted for each individual Pokemon, more so than she would have done for humans. Additionally, she has been indulging in her maternal instinct, even if child-rearing and having a Mission are at odds with one another. Reaching out to others and forging those bonds may be even more important when it comes to reaching their goal.
As exemplified in the Diancie/cave plot, she wasn’t alone, even when Haruka wasn’t there. Not that she was happy about that either way, but her world has broadened to beyond just the two of them and their mission.
Michiru’s first Mega Evolution would probably come about if she needs to protect somebody important to her – and surprise, it’s not just Haruka!! Her Pokemon or her canonmates would be definite triggers.
Mega Evolution Typing and Abilities:
Michiru’s typing will change from Water/Psychic to Water/Fairy. She’s going to gain Water Pledge, which can be combined with other Pledge type attacks. In particular, combining Water Pledge with Haruka’s Pledge attack would result in a stronger water spout attack, with a secondary +Def and +Sp Def boost in the form of rose petals.
Additionally, she’s going to get Dazzling Gleam and Whirlpool to compensate for losing those STAB Psychic attacks.
Appearance wise, she’s going to get a short skirt, frilly bows, a tiara, high heeled shoes, the (already manifested?) ability to fight effortlessly in said shoes.