Mun
Name: Qu-ko
Livejournal Username:

aphotic
E-mail: aura[at]smallmagic.net
AIM/MSN: HighinQusitor
Timezone: EST -5
Current Characters in Route: Juudai Yuuki (

vagabondfool)

Character
Name: Vivi Orunitia
Series: Final Fantasy IX
Timeline: Beginning of disc 4, after Terra is destroyed by Kuja, but before the party enters Memoria
Canon Resource Links: Vivi's article and the Final Fantasy IX article

Affiliation: Breeder

Personality: Mild and good-natured, gentle and kind, Vivi is a very sweet individual at heart. He is quite timid, for starters, which causes him to become hesitant and uncertain when it comes to fighting, and acts very much at first like the nine-year-old child that Quan, his "grandpa", initially assumed him to be. He's a little bit naive (less so than in the beginning, though), doesn't like arguing or fighting, and tends to behave somewhat awkwardly around others. He also doesn't make friends very well on his own, but he devotes himself utterly to those few that he has -- and when he is so moved, he's a force to be reckoned with, and won't let anything come between them and him. Despite the awkward manner, though, he's very loyal, thoughtful, and completely sincere in his words and actions, and is always looking out for and wanting to help his friends overcome their problems.

But there is also another level to Vivi beneath the bashful and slightly socially inept exterior: a deep maturity and emotional strength that very few others of his "age" possess, and in this, he's come a long way since his first appearance in the game. He has a somewhat deeply-seated fear of death (or "expiration", as it's put for Black Mages), knowing that his life span is not nearly as long as that of a natural-born human, but he's gradually grown to overcome this fear, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that he lives out the rest of his life for himself and his friends until the very end, and to stop the production of more mindless weapons of murder. He seems to possess better insight into the many layers of what existence truly means than most people, perhaps due to his unique situation. But even though he still has his contemplative moments about such things, Vivi has finally come to terms with his predicament for the most part, and has the confidence now to continue living the rest of his life to protect his friends and see to it that Kuja is stopped for good.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

Strengths:

- Vivi possesses an emotional tenacity like no other. He is highly mature as a whole, and has had a lot of emotional bombshells dropped on him throughout the course of the game, yet has taken them all to heart without going batshit over them at any point. He seems to be able to handle such things not quite in stride, but rather, with hidden strength and determination.

- Sweet and lovable and sweet and kind and sweet and generous and did I mention sweet? He's just an adorable marshmallow of a thing, and he's not the type to distance himself from others just because of who he is (though he's not exactly a social butterfly either). If it weren't for his awkward behavior at times, he would probably make friends very easily due to his wholly likable nature.

- Though they're disabled here in-game, his Black Magic abilities are lethal to enemies, outclass the abilities of the other Black Mages in game, and can easily make mincemeat out of unprepared foes.

- He's not nearly as naive and gullible as he was in the beginning of the game, and can make rational decisions before acting. In other words, unless he's really, really angry, he's not likely to act upon impulse alone, and can stay level-headed in most situations.

- Similarly, if he were to be mocked for any reason, up to and including about his dubious origins, his similarity to "instruments of murder", or his appearance, among other things, he wouldn't take it quite so easily as he might've earlier in the game. He'd get (mildly) angry if the intent was to hurt him, certainly, rather than sit there and cry in distress about it.

Weaknesses:

- Though I mentioned he was no longer so gullible and a lot of the holes in his personality have filled in, he's still possible to manipulate by taking advantage of his passive, unassuming nature. He'll probably be suspicious because he has more real-world experience now than before, but if he believes some good may come out of his actions, he may very well be taken advantage of for that.

- With how limited his life span is, and the muting of his powers, who knows what'll happen to him in the long run...?

- He's not very coordinated on his feet and trips over himself quite a bit. This, likewise, also happens often with his words if put under too much pressure.

- He hates being alone, which tends to be a source of frustration for him, because of the difficulty he has socializing at times.

Pokemon
Starter: Misdreavus (female)

Password: Salmon riceballs -- HEY YOU GOT THAT FROM JUUDAI

Samples
(Please note that both samples must take place in Route_29’s setting.)

First Person Sample:

[The video of the PokeGear clicks on, and there is a rather unusual sight upon the screen. A person of small stature, only made taller by the height of his pointy hat, and with curious yellow eyes glowing beneath a completely shaded face, obviously a bit overwhelmed. Behind him, there is a floating red beaded necklace...? One that he appears to be talking to, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder to curiously poke at the PokeGear some more.]

Um... what is this, anyway? This lady, she thought she was my mother... and she gave me a bag with some things in it and sent me out the door, but then I couldn't go back in to ask her about it--

[The Misdreavus phases back into view, screeching at him playfully. The camera jumps out of his hands when she does so due to being startled by the proximity, but he catches it and re-orients it, though the angle is a bit tilted now.]

...Well, I've never seen any of this stuff before... am I even still on Gaia? There's no Mist here...

[Pause, while he realizes that the creature following him around doesn't quite get what he's talking about.] Um, anyway, are you a monster?

[The Misdreavus, in turn, looks rather smug as she nods her head (or makes a motion resembling the nodding of a head) and smirks a bit at this strange boy.]

But you're not really attacking me... are you a friendly monster?

[She lifts her face into the air, mimicking turning her nose up to him, as if to say "I'm totally friendly, but at the same time, I'm your worst nightmare". Vivi just... stares.]

...Okay. I think you understand what I'm saying to you... so will you help me? My magic isn't working for some reason, and I need to find someone who can tell me what's going on. I don't know what this thing is, either, but I heard voices coming out of it, so I think I can use it to talk to people. How does it work, though...?

[He focuses his attention more on the PokeGear now, gazing inquisitively into the camera, which he seems to have no idea is actually recording despite the fact he's speaking into it.]

Hey, can anyone hear me? Zidane?

Dagger?

Steiner?

Eiko?

...Quina?

Someone... please help me... I need to go home right away, Kuja is...!

Third Person Sample:

Vivi tripped over his own shoes again for the umpteenth time that hour. He stayed flat on the ground for a brief moment, while the Misdreavus floating above him snickered in a way that sounded rather nasty, but seemed more likely to be part of the nature of a ghost. He'd already found he simply passed right through her, having tried to reach up and touch her once before, so she was ghost-like enough for him to consider her such.

He pondered again. That thing, that... electrical... device. So few of them existed on Gaia, supposedly, that he was almost unsure there were even any on Gaia in the first place. Things at home were powered by steam and by the Mist produced by the Iifa Tree; only very occasionally would you come by something powered by electricity. Technology just hadn't advanced that far yet, it seemed. Even so, the technology of this place was strange, like a hybrid of magic and technology that Vivi had never seen in his life, and would require further questioning about.

Vivi picked himself up and brushed his clothes off. Beginning to feel himself losing his motivation, Vivi glanced around at the surroundings again. There was no Mist here at all, despite the fact that Terra was now gone and Gaia had once again been overwhelmed by the byproduct of the Iifa Tree. And instead of hostile monsters that would try to kill you at first glance, this place was inhabited by humans and lots of monsters that... didn't attack him, but rather the monster that had taken to following him around, with or without his asking. Plus, the monsters in the area didn't seem all that hostile anyway, and they seemed to enjoy minding their own business for the most part.

The Misdreavus nudged him with her head after he had stood still far too long for her liking, apparently willing herself to tangibility in order to do so. Vivi reminded himself that he had always told himself he wasn't going to let any circumstance, situation, or person choose his life for him, that was going to make his own way in the universe, no matter what time he had left to do it. But did it matter where he was, or what friends he had with him? Zidane wasn't here to sober him up if he were to slip back into emotional distress -- and it wasn't just Zidane, either. No one he was familiar with seemed to be around.

...Well, even if he stopped believing in himself suddenly, he reasoned, this creature wanted him to continue on. A friend? Maybe she was, even though they still kind of felt like strangers. He hoped so, because being alone again was not something he was looking forward to facing again, no matter how hard to believe this all was at the moment. Despite feeling as real as anything else, it also felt like this existence was unstable, that he could get transported back to where he was in an instant as though nothing had ever happened.

But... then he'd be leaving this creature alone. And no matter who or what you were, being alone was just not right.

"Hey," he said, turning to the Misdreavus, "I think you're following me because you don't wanna be alone, either. Is that right?"

She seemed to consider this, then nodded and smiled, seemingly glad to hear the small epiphany he'd had. Vivi's eyes lit up a bit, conveying a return smile as best they could.

"Then I'll stay with you for a little while, for now. I need to figure out this thing first... I'm sure it's a clue to why I'm here, but I don't know how to use it. And this path has to lead to somewhere, so I'm gonna follow it until I find someone I can ask about this whole thing. Someone must know, shouldn't they?"

The Misdreavus listened to him and nodded, then began to float along again, a bit pre-emptively considering Vivi did not move yet.

"Um, what's your name?" he inquired politely. "I'm Vivi."

She turned around to look at him strangely, almost frustrated that she couldn't convey anything but screeches and hisses and the occasional low trill. He seemed to comprehend the expression, since he drooped a bit after a moment.

"Then I guess I have to name you, huh... um, I'm not really any good at naming things, but..." Vivi looked at his shoes thoughtfully, then perked up with a vague idea. "Well, grandpa used to drink a lot of wine with his food... he showed me a really sweet wine once called 'sherry'. I didn't try it, but he said it was really good. And... I think it sounds like a good name. Maybe it's a little silly, but I like it." He looked to her for approval, finishing his explanation with "Is that okay with you?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, processing this information, then shook her head -- though it didn't seem to be in disapproval; rather, she seemed to be saying "Well, it sounds really dumb, but I'll take it".

"Okay. Then, let's go, Sherry." He began waddling forward again in his awkward way, following the path closely, and his partner drifted behind him, acting quietly as a second pair of eyes for him.

And they weren't strangers anymore.

Follow us:

Applications

COMPANY

PRODUCTS

COMMUNITY

CHOOSE LANGUAGE