vatheon app: PART TWO, sob
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Kasumi was born as the sixth and final generation of artificially-bred espers, and so has two main abilities: the ability to "read", by visualizing the memories and emotions of others as images and colors, and the ability to "project", which is more or less what it sounds like, by taking images she has already visualized and allowing someone else to see them. It's a discriminate ability that can be concentrated further onto one specific target, however, it's also one with a limited range, and tends to be more difficult than talking according to Kasumi, especially because it's up to the person with ESP to interpret the readings they receive. With projection, if the receiver isn't conscious of the projected image, it's indistinguishable from a stray thought of their own that disappears in an instant, and if no thoughts exist as receptors for the image, the projection will fail. It's not really stated just what the range for all this is for Kasumi in particular, though, but it's very large, considering she's able to track the locations of others (by honing into their thoughts) to distances as far away as the hill behind the base. This will be all be by player permission on an individual basis, of course. It's also stated individuals with ESP have far more mental strength than the average person; she's incredibly good at continuing to focus on an image after capturing it only once.
I suppose if you're looking for personality strengths/weaknesses, though, there's a few worth mentioning. For one thing, Kasumi is sensitive, caring, and kind-hearted; she doesn't like to see others suffer, and least of all likes being unable to do anything about it. She's a very eager-to-please girl, in a sense, because while she's usually pretty submissive to people she trusts, she's gradually learning how to express her own opinions, advance her own station, and do things based on her own will rather than someone else's. Kasumi is also unusually positive for someone with an upbringing like hers, preferring usually to look at the good things than the bad, as seen in her ability to be grateful to humanity for creating her at all. On the flip side, though, she's so shy and quiet that she tends to fade into the background fairly easily, and has very little life experience to base her reactions to unfamiliar things on. Often, she can be obedient to a fault with people she trusts, but usually tries to read their intentions to make sure she's not being manipulated in the process -- though naive, Kasumi is not stupid. Although she still harbors a great deal of emptiness inside her, she's since resolved to try and make her own memories and pave her own path in life, rather than try to leech off someone else, even if that someone else is Sumika. She's also not a fighter, and even a little out-of-shape as Takeru observes when she gets out of breath just climbing the hill behind the base, so there's that to consider, as well.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
Not really relevant, since it was only brought up in side material, but Kasumi's name before she was brought to Yokohama Base, as best I can translate, was Trista Sestina. The name "Kasumi Yashiro" was a localized name that had some sort of special significance; I'm not sure about the name "Yashiro" (shrine/company), but "Kasumi" was chosen for the reference to the "fog of probability", apparently. I don't think she consciously remembers her old name, though, so it probably won't really come up.
Also, it's worth repeating that even though Kasumi is an esper and I will have a permissions post for what she can read (and lots of player communication), she's resolved to stop looking into people's hearts as much as possible, and try to understand them the normal human way. So she's not going to be doing it at every turn, luckily.
[ Sample ] :
She'd never seen the ocean before.
Kasumi wasn't sure it was the ocean at first -- how could she be sure, when she'd never seen it from the surface before, much less from underneath? But she was drenched, her hair dripping and her black dress clinging to her and giving her a clammy feeling all over. There wasn't any water anywhere deeper than an ocean, was there? That must have been what it was... but...
Something flickered at the edge of her vision, causing her to jump out of her skin at first; she had to dart her eyes around a few times to catch sight of it with how quickly it moved. It was... what was it? It glowed faintly, in the same sickly greenish-blue color of the ODL fluid, but it didn't look like any BETA she'd ever seen. For that matter, it wasn't attacking her. It felt guilty, but she initially tried to do a reading on it.
...It was strange, though. Normally, even with the most fragmented thoughts, there was at least some semblance of a color or a blurred image. But here, she couldn't pick up anything. Kasumi wondered for a moment if this creature did not really have any thoughts at all, or if it was some sort of machine, but when she reached out her hand to try and grab it or touch it, it flitted away with the speed of a panicked insect.
Standing up, feeling only slightly dizzy by the change in surroundings, she looked up. Light filtered through the water and created flowing streams that played upon the area, and the scent of salt water was everywhere, faint but distinguishable. Maybe she even blended into the surroundings a little, with her misty hair and eyes. The place in front of her had to be a city of some kind, but it was so much different from the ruined town she had grown accustomed to by now.
A part of her was tugging at her to find someone and ask what had happened. Another part, the cowardly little girl part of her, was utterly terrified and wanted to stay put. But the thought that overshadowed all of those was the part of her that stared up wondrously at the scene above her and thought, to a man who couldn't hear her, "I'm finally visiting the ocean, Shirogane-san..."
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : Nay!