senseheart | PERMISSIONS

Who the hell is Aura and what's up with her?

Aura is a NPC from the first Wild Arms game! She's rather minor in the original game (to a point of being unnamed), but her character is a little more prominent and expanded a bit in the remake.

She's encountered when the party visits Saint Centour, a bustling city turned ghost town courtesy of Alhazad transforming most of the villagers into bloodthirsty monsters (and presumably killing off the rest). She ends up the sole survivor and lives alone until Zed encounters her sometime after the Gate Generator incident (which is the game's midpoint).

She turns up again way later on in the game where she mentions Zed and how he's been taking care of her, triggering his optional boss fight (and recruitment sidequest in the remake).

As for what she's like, Aura's pretty much as normal a human you can get aside from being blind due to an unexplained injury in her childhood. However, she does have mild empathic abilities and can sense what people are like on at least a surface level. Normally it's from the sound of their voices, but sometimes there's other tells too.

Examples:
This contains in-game text from both the original Wild Arms and it's remake, Alter Code: F. The latter is where I play her from (since she's actually named there), but because she's so minor ~~and due to its screwy translation~~ I include elements of both games.

"I'm sorry, I was injured as a child. I'm blind... Due to my impairment, I can tell bad people from good by the sound of their voice!" (original, about herself)
"I am sorry...I am hurt and blind. I can tell by talking to people whether they are good or bad." (remake, same dealio)

To Rudy:
"You're a nice person, but you've had many bitter experiences." (original)
"You are a very kind person. But you have gone through a lot, right?" (remake, less screwy translation to follow)

To Jack:
"You're very virtuous, but you are also easily hurt." (original)
(LOCALIZERS FUCKED UP HIS TEXT AND PUT IN CECILIA'S READING, so for his remake text I will put in my own attempt here eventually.)

To Cecilia:
"You're a strong woman, but you have not reached your full potential yet." (original)
"You have a very strong will. But you have yet to realize something important in yourself?" (remake)

Regarding Zed:
When Cecilia is onscreen character:
"This feels like... Cecilia. How are you? There's this swordsman I've been seeing... He's very nice, but a little hyper. I wonder if he'll visit me today." (original)
"This guy has been coming around lately, he's very hyper... I wonder if my swordsman is coming by today." (original)
"I think this is Cecilia, right? How have you been? A visting swordsman has been taking care of me lately, so I feel lucky. He is so energetic that I sometimes get overwhelmed by him. I wonder if he will visit me today." (remake)

When Jack is onscreen character:
"That voice... it's Jack. It's been a long time stranger... There been someone else visiting me... He's very nice to me... He's a swordsman too. He's a little odd, but very funny." (original)
"That voice... Jack. It's been a long time stranger... There's someone else who's looking after me... He's a mysterious man and loads of fun!" (original)
"This voice, it is Jack, right? Someone has come to town and is taking care of me. He is also a swordsman, but he is a bit strange and very funny." (remake)

When Rudy is onscreen character:
"Hey, it's Rudy. There is this guy I've been seeing lately... He's a little weird, but he seems sincere enough. (original)
"There's this guy who's been coming around to see me... He's a little strange, but he seems very sincere." (original)
"Ah, you are Rudy, right? Someone visiting this town has recently been tending to me. He seems a little strange, but I feel that he is trying his best." (remake)
"Hello, Rudy. I wonder how Zed is doing? Heheh. I'm sure he's as funny and cheerful as ever." (remake)

In short, here's basically where you can tell me whether or not it's all right for Aura (or if you want her to) to sense certain things about your characters and what they're like.

Keep in mind her abilities are strictly empathic, and on a rather mild level at that. She can't sense any magic in anyone as far as I know, and she can't tell whether or not they're human or otherwise - the latter is precisely why an optional bossfight with Zed is triggered, as he attacks the party out of fear they'll warn her about the fact he is a Metal Demon.

Also? In the event it's Not Cool for her to detect anything about your character, that's fine. She's pretty normal as human as you can get, so I don't doubt there's times her readings on someone are wrong or if she just can't get a good feel of what they're like at all.

Some copypasta for you:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Name: Saul Livingston
Canon: OC
Can Aura sense what your character is like? If so, provide a brief (or detailed, whatevs) description: Absolutely. Must be noted, though, that where he is in Sol Raveh, emotionally, is a bit different from where he is everywhere else (thanks to his canon point), so I'll note 'em.

Snarky and fun-loving (to use some clichés), kind of an ass but rarely means it. He enjoys bantering and playing around, and if the other person/people can give as good as they get (or better!), more's the fun. Past that exterior, he's basically decent and kind but rather world-weary. Saul is Tired, and has concerns regarding his future and the path he's on. There's a lot he's given up on, a lot of hopes he was invested in that simply never came to be - and his heart's the heavier for it. There are places, people, and even times that he misses dearly, and he's given up hope on seeing them again.

He's got some guilt issues similar to Zuzu up there - made mistakes, Not Happy about it, feelin' other peoples' judgment for 'em etc. - but they're not nearly as pronounced. Those issues have been worked through and accepted for the most part, but there are still scars. (They surfaced during the recent event because the hallucinations brought 'em out and he was in a vulnerable place to start with.) They're not nearly as prominent as the feeling of loss; by now, he feels that everyone who was owed an explanation or apology (that he's been able to reach) has been granted one, so that book is mostly closed.

In solraveh at the time of writing, though, the mopey elements are going to be more prominent. There are Extra Troubles left over from the previous game that he never even got to see the aftermath of, let alone get a chance to resolve, and they're directly connected to his Not-Better-Side that he doesn't have the most control over. So on top of the above baseline there's a lot of extra fear, anxiety, and even anger - squirreled away, but present nonetheless. That'll remain true until there's an opportunity to work through it ~~and/or a possible canon update~~.

SO, OVERCODE: Decent fella, cares about others (but may prefer to do so quietly in some instances), has an outer shell of snark and wackiness, but inside is very emotionally tired and more than a touch morose. In Raveh, it's even worse; there's some added turmoil in there that he can't do anything about, and it's left him a bit fragile. He might even feel a bit more deeply about everything than he's willing to let on. (Not that the horsing around is completely false- it's a valid part of his personality too, but it also makes a good cover for the rest of the parts: the ones he'd rather not just anyone see.)

Is that suitable? :'D

Edited (grammur) 2015-12-05 16:26 (UTC)

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