Romance of the Three Cities ~ Santo no Renai ~ Yuri RP

Romance of the Three Cities ~ 三都の恋愛

In the center of the Keihanshin*

metropolis, Mitoshin Academy*

三都心学園

, a thriving private all-girls school, attracts Japan's best and brightest to study among its illustrious halls. It caters to the wide variety of students present, and has clubs and special services to accommodate all varieties of Human, Youkai, Mages, and Tekosei students attending.*

Tekosei (テコ生) = term for Artificial Life, both like Robot Girls and genetically-engineered life, like Cat Girls. (Nya~)

Welcome one and all to the new Yuri RP! Join our girls for a slice-of-life romantic adventure as they navigate the treacherous seas of high school romance.*

The thread has started, but we're still accepting new characters as well! Bombadillo will also be co-GM'ing with me, so feel free to ask us any questions you might have.

Main Thread

Discussion Thread

Current Characters:

• Sonzai
  • Kowano Kina (Mahjong Club, Year 1)
  • Mahjong Club Semi-NPCs:
  • Suzuki Hatsumi (Mahjong Club President, Year: 3, Class 3-5)
  • Hidaka Kazue (Mahjong Club VP, Year: 3, Class 3-5)
  • Ito Nanami (Mahjong Club, Year: 1, Class 1-6)
• Bombadillo
  • Shimada Kanako (??? Club, Year 2)
  • Asukai Miyabi (Music Club, Year 1)
• Scrounge
  • Komori Yue (Student Council, Year 2)
  • Beta (No Club, Year 1)
  • Blondie (Theater/Drama Club, Year 1)
• IchigoNeko
  • Rensaki Hikaru (Literature Club, Year 2)
• doineedaname
  • Misaki Tanaka (Music Club, Year 1)
• Shadowbell
  • Petrauskaite Sadako (Mahjong Club, Year 1)
• Sachiko
  • Koyima Akari (Music Club, Year 1)
  • Erzebetia (Erzie) (Kendo Club, Year 1)
• desdendelle
  • Hyou Sakura (Going Home/No Club, Year 2)
  • Hyou Kyoku (Music Club President, Year 2)
• Dragon573
  • Alexandria (Theater/Drama Club, Year 1)
• Aken Jizo
  • Yagyu Sakuya (Kendo Club, Year 1)

Note: Characters in year 1 are in class 1-3, and year 2 characters are in class 2-2.

School Staff NPCs:

In addition, there are a few School NPCs for staff. Note that they really shouldn't get too much screen time, unless someone gets sent to the principal, etc. More may be added, if necessary.

• Principal: Sato Masa *
  And remember, no one can have any interest on the principal
  • She has long, black hair in a ponytail, and is a normal human. Usually dresses formally, but has a pleasant, informal personality.
• Secretary: Takahashi Akasuki
  • She has short dark green hair, wears glasses, and is apparently normal as well. Is usually overly formal in all respects, but isn't unreasonable.
• Nurse: Nakamura Kaori
  • She has longish light brown wavy hair, is half-Kitsune, and so sometimes has fox ears and tail. (Mostly depending upon mood, etc.) Is quite cheerful and tries to help, being skilled in both modern and magical medicine. (She asks Anna for help with the Robot Girls, however)
• 1-3 Homeroom: Watanabe Yasumi
  • Ordinary human, with light red hair and of slightly below-average height. Is cheerful and enjoys teaching. Teaches History and World Cultures.
• 2-2 Homeroom: Saito Chihiro
  • Ordinary human, with short, black hair and of average height. More professional, but still quite reasonable and knowledgable. Teaches Japanese.
• Science and Technology Teacher: Kikuchi Anna
  • Half-Japanese, Half-German, with blond hair in a ponytail, outwardly apparently normal, but has non-intrusive cybernetic implants. Has a vast knowledge of science, programming, and technology, runs lab courses here and at the attached university, and helps Kaori out with the robotic or AI students.

Character Creation Guidelines:

The setting is an Alternate Universe Japan in the near future, so both fantasy and science-fiction type characters (in addition to ordinary humans) are allowed. (However, no aliens, gods, or characters not from Earth.) And remember, since there's no Masquerade, your characters can be as open (or not) as they want to be about their true nature. This is not a combat-focused RP, so your characters should not have any powers dramatically greater than ordinary humans.*

Also: Absolutely NO characters with mind-reading or mind-controlling abilites, as this can totally kill the drama in a character-interaction-driven RP. Otherwise, feel free to be creative, as Youkai, Robot Girls, or even Otakus are allowed. :)

Signup Sheet:

• Name: (Eastern Order: Family/Last First)
• Age:
• Gender: Female (it is a Yuri RP, after all :P)
• Species: (if applicable)
• Sexuality:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Skills:
• Biography:
• Role: (Tropes/Descriptions like Meganekko or Shrinking Violet, just as a general idea)
• Club: (No Club/Going Home is also OK)
• Year: (1, 2, or 3; usually age 16 = 1st year, and 18 = 3rd, but this isn't required, and basically all interaction is outside of class, so it doesn't really matter too much.)

Other Guidelines:

Please write all actions in-character (such as pranks, etc.) or at least PM me or Bombadillo beforehand. As well, try to keep the RP light-hearted and fun - while romantic drama is fine, Darker and Edgier really isn't what we're going for here.

And as always, Absolutely NO: Auto-hitting, power-playing, god-modding, mod-godding, ghosting*

, being a jerk*

unless of course your character is a jerk

, smoking*

even if your character smokes :P

, skateboarding, overnight parking, flash photography, tampering with or disabling the smoke detectors, and please keep your hands, arms, tails, and antennae inside the thread at all times. Thank You.

edited 15th May '12 9:11:44 PM by Sonzai

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

I'm just noting that both Sakura and Kyoku are in 2nd year despite Sakura being 15. Also noting that Sakura's planned as a Kuudere / Jerk —> Jerk with a Heart of Gold.

edited 12th Apr '12 3:22:17 PM by desdendelle

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Is there a character limit? I may be making new characters and/or dropping one of my pre-existing ones.

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

The only limit is how many characters you think you can reasonably handle. I would recommend no more than three, but if you're up to the task, feel free to submit more. Note that random additional minor/NPC-type characters (like family or outside friends that show up occasionally) don't count.

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

And no limits on what they are or how strange their backstories are? Like, say, a homunculus created for a spectacularly ill-advised Takarazuka adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Yes, more ill-advised than a Takarazuka adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show would normally be in the first place.)

edited 12th Apr '12 9:12:41 PM by Scrounge

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

• Name: Inoue Imogen "Imo" Eastern order.
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Species: Cat Girl
• Sexuality: Bi The Way
• Appearance: Mixed Japanese-European, with simple light blonde hair, a short but athletic build, defiant Asian eyes (Tsurime Eyes), similarly light blonde cat ears/tail and tomboyish manner.
• Personality: An individual with few close friends. Imo is very laid-back, outspoken, and a bit careless about offending people. She values her independence and doesn't like responsibility, which means it's hard for her to deal with people depending on her, but she firmly adheres to her own code of ethics and won't ever go back on her word.
• Skills: Quick-thinking, well-read, naturally sporty and agile, but lazy.
• Biography: Imogen was born in England, grew up in Australia and when her parents divorced when she was twelve, she chose to move to Japan where her father (also a cat-person) was appointed a professorship in humanities. Her mother is a somewhat successful but emotionally distant conceptual artist, and Imogen is their only child. Imogen has become a natural loner, despite her life not wanting for much.
• Role: The Lad-ette
• Club: Literature Club
• Year: 1

I hope this sounds all right.

edited 18th Apr '12 5:40:28 PM by Nymue

Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.

For ease of navigation, I'm gonna reproduce Akari's sheet here.

• Name: Koyima Akari

• Age: 16

• Gender: Female

• Species: Human

• Sexuality: Lesbian. Very openly so.

• Appearance: Civilian clothes◊, Stage uniform◊, Stage uniform again◊.

• Personality: Cheerful and strong-hearted, trusts people based on their looks, likes cheering people up in any ways possible, a bit of a Jerkass and an Attention Whore, but deep inside a nice girl.

• Skills: Singing, dancing, force magic, not so well on other magic branches, but at least she does passably well. Except in traslocation. She hates that speciality.

• Biography: Akari was born from a family of medium-high class magicians in Hokkaido. Being an only child for a family of that kind has its advantages. Mainly, being raised in good schools and having Summer holidays in the coasts of Osaka. She also got to spend some time with mages secluded in the Fujiyama, but she left quickly and asked to go back to school because, in her eyes, the mages there were all a bunch of weirdos. After that brief experience, she enrolled in a school in Hokkaido once again.
  
  The main reason Akari didn't mesh well with the secluded mages was that she loves being the center of attention. She has been that for her parents since she was a toddler, and she doesn't plan on quitting that anytime soon. Not even when she gets a job and becomes independent does she want to stop being the center of attention. The magic training for her is a good long term plan, of course, because what can be more famous than a powerful mage? But for the short term, her plans are very clear: She wants to be an artist. To that end, she has trained herself hard, did anything she thought necessary to improve her looks and went to castings whenever she had a chance between periods of study and rigurous preparation. Ultimately, her efforts came to fruition. Someone saw her potential when she was around 14 years old, and offered her a contract with Oltana Tiv Records to become the company's next new sensation that would, hopefully, regain terrain over the current hot stuff, 765 Production. What caught the producer's attention the most was Akari's idea to win a crowd: She would be the first Idol to openly boast about her homosexuality in her songs. Against all predictions of rival companies, it worked! Akari's songs became that year's hot stuff in no time, and Oltana Tiv Records rised to number 1. Her new vocation came with sacrifices, though. First and foremost, she had to leave old friends behind and move to Keihanshin to begin her formal career.
  
  Two years has passed since then. The other companies have quickly caught up to Oltana Tiv's marketing tactic, and now Akari is not the only openly lesbian Idol Singer. Akari is on a lean period, and she's feeling that soon her career as an Idol will be over. She has accepted it, however. It's the way of the Idol, after all: One day you're queen, the next one you're a humble farm girl. Thus, she's already making plans about what to do when the time comes to say goodbye to the stage. For now, she has enrolled in Mitoshin to continue with her studies proper. The future will tell what happens next...

• Role: Magical Girl Idol Singer.

• Club: Music club.

• Year: 1

I may modify the sheet a bit to have her be an actual magical girl, though. Also, I think I'm gonna make a second one. Probably a Karakuri (Robot) Girl

edited 17th Apr '12 12:26:35 AM by Sachiko

"Suffer a vicious person and you will fear vice. Suffer a virtuous one and you will soon loathe virtue itself." Tony Duvert

@Nymue: Sounds great - accepted!

@Sachiko: Sounds good to me - whatever you want to do.

@Scrounge: Well, there are limits, but aside from the prior-mentioned constraints*

the only real suggestions are to make someone at least somewhat believable, and not clash with the setting too much. For that particular example, that kind of character seems very hard to justify as to why they'd exist. (Why would they ever create artificial life under those circumstances? There are laws governing that kind of thing, you know. :P)

To elaborate further, in this setting, I'm imagining Science, Technology, Magic, and Youkai co-existing peacefully, but still subject to the restrictions of creating a world that could conceivably exist. As well, I'm thinking more like modern magic and mythology, so no alchemy (if that's what you meant by homunculus).

For example, to make a cat girl, there are multiple ways in this setting it could happen:

• Nekomata Youkai
• Genetically-engineered (Born and grow up, I don't think anyone actually would/could create someone fully formed instantly this way. Therefore, only Robot Girls can (potentially) have ridiculously low ages.)
• Magical transformation/hybrid

Even though this is a highly fantastic setting, I still prefer consistency and logical backstories wherever possible, but I am encouraging creativity, so feel free to propose someone!

edited 13th Apr '12 12:37:21 PM by Sonzai

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

She exists because someone took the concept of method acting to a terrible extreme. She was created to play the role of Dr, Fran N. Furter's attractive but not particularly bright creation Rocky, hence the decision to create someone for the role.

She was not particularly thrilled about being listed in the props budget.

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

Sorry Scrounge, but I just don't think I could accept that kind of character. This is because creating sentient life, just for the purpose of a show, should not only be famously illegal in this setting, but is also highly morally wrong, and I just don't think I want that kind of Fridge Horror in this RP. I could see, maybe if it was something like an AI that gained sentience accidentally, then was released, or something along those lines, but in the kind of situation you mentioned, I just can't view the creators as anything other than basically villains. It's really the tone of the RP that's important here - it's Slice of Life and Romance, so I'd really prefer it if we don't overdo it on the Comedic Sociopathy, and stick to fun and cute interactions.

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

Since she's undergone a redesign, thought it'd be helpful to put up new Kanako here. •Name: Shimada Kanako

•Age: 16

•Sexuality: Lesbian, but won't necessarily advertise it much.

•Appearance: Taller than average with a small build bordering on willowy, though modestly endowed when it comes to her more feminine physical development. Added to a fair complexion, dark brown eyes and long black hair complete with straight bangs and side bangs, Kanako's the spitting image of a Yamato Nadeshiko. At home she even dresses like one, wearing feminine blouses and skirts, and often yukata and kimonos. Outsdie the home she for some reason insists on a 'retro' outdated ankle length skirt with her uniform. She wears little makeup in the former case, and never in the latter. Best not to be too overly showy after all. In other words, Yamato Nadeshiko◊

•Personality: Usually fairly outgoing and sociable, and often she acts as if she doesn't care about others' opinions of her. Works hard to come off as good, traditional girl by focusing on politeness and the like, though she does curse a bit when sufficiently upset. Kanako can also be self-effacing when praised or trying to make someone feel better; if they can laugh at her, they won't think about their own problems she thinks. At school she participates in in traditional arts demonstrations, even though she comically fails at them occasionally.

She almost always defers to anyone representing authority or higher social position, assisting them at her own expense. In short, she remains a proper Yamato Nadeshiko in the home while attempting to be totally different and independent outside such settings. Universally, though, she has a strong enough determination to pursue personal goals to ludicrous ends if necessary.

•Skills: Very good at cleaning, cooking and sewing, as well as traditional muic and dance. Other than that, she has some training in karate from her one time intended fiancee. Notably she enjoys sports even though she has no talent in them, save perhaps riding a bicycle. While she may not want to admit it, she actually does know quite a bit about motorcycles and their maintenance. As this is 'unladlylike' she denies it vehemently. Also has picked up some conversational German, albeit in Schwabian accent, which is peculiar.

•Biography: Kanako was brought up in a weirdly delinquent family that somehow managed to make a living off of the family business - a mechanic's shop; she's the spitting image of her mother, who despite appearances was once something of a feared biker chick. Some girls when forced to grow up around three brothers would become tomboys, and Kanako was a bit of one when she was younger. Eventually she came to find it repugnant though, and worked hard to distance herself from that image. Her answer was simple enough - become a classic Japanese beauty, skilled in domestic abilities and carrying herself with humility and quiet determination. Thinking it was just a phase, her parents kept treating her like a tomboy, despite the fact that she had given up that sort of stuff quite some time ago. Still she put up with them... until the marriage arranged by her parents came up (to get linked to another shop owned by an ex-biker), and her fiancee was brought over to visit. Finding the young man to be unattractive and with few redeeming qualities Kanako fled somewhere she'd hoped the past wouldn't catch up with her; she enrolled herself in a private mission school in Aomori prefecture thanks to connections through a school friend.

At her private mission school, Kanako had noticed her attraction to her female classmates rather early. It troubled her that she felt so strongly about her best friend, and no one could tell her what was going on. Finally after watching a drama on TV, she decided to kiss her friend.. that's what you did, she thought. This resulted in her being asked to leave the private school just before her fiancee came to visit. Kanako tried hard to like him, but kept finding herself more interested in his sister instead. It would be a little while longer before she accepted that she did in fact like girls instead of boys.

After the kissing incident, Kanako was asked to leave before a bigger scandal could erupt. Unwilling to return home to become a grease monkey she managed to get lucky enough to transfer to another school, far away from the delinquent household. She sincerely hopes they stay far away while she tries to establish herself there.

Role: Yamato Nadeshiko

Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 S

Sounds great, Bombadillo.

Also: Does anyone have any particular preferences on when we start? I'm ready whenever everyone else is, but I think some people are still making/re-making characters.

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

I'm ready whenever everybody else is.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Same here. Pondering a second character but got to think on that for a bit.

Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 S

Same here.

Start without me. I apparently have nothing uusable and am busy with taxes (and trying to find out what happened to a tax-related document.)

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

Ready when everyone else is.

Join us soon, Scrounge~!

Avatar from http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/7486.html

Akari has been updated up at her sheet. Also this is my other profile.

Bear with me. c.c

• Name: Erzebetia (Erzie)

• Age: 5

• Gender: Female

• Species: Magitek Gynoid

• Sexuality: What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?

• Appearance: Overall physical look◊. Ignore the Mini-Mecha.

• Personality: Cool, socially hampered, most of her emotions are atrophied, doesn't know how to act on certain circumstances, instinctively reacts to aggression with violence due to being a former combat gynoid.

• Skills: Fencing, quick thinking, magnificent physical qualities.

• Biography: Erzebetia was built as a combat gynoid to fight in a war that has since ended, but still remains fresh in her mind even after 2 years passed since it. For her, battle was everything. Her task was defending the people that had created her from their enemies, and in the middle of the battlefield, there was little time for acquaintances. Thus, while she has a personality and can think for herself, this personality is reserved and focused on fighting since her predicament didn't allow her to develop any other emotions. When the war ended, it was agreed that the robots would become civilians and live like normal people. Due to having spent years doing nothing but fighting since they had memory, many of the androids had difficulties integrating themselves in society. Erzie is one of those with the most difficult time learning to live harmonically among organics. As part of a program to progressively help her develop empathy and emotions and bond with humans, she was recently enrolled on Mitoshin. There has been some progress, but it has been very limited. Only time will tell if Erzie will manage to integrate in society fully.

• Role: Emotionless Robot Girl, potential Defrosting Ice Queen.

• Club: Kendo

• Year: 1

If this and New!Akari are approved, I'm as ready as ready can be.

edited 14th Apr '12 4:44:44 PM by Sachiko

"Suffer a vicious person and you will fear vice. Suffer a virtuous one and you will soon loathe virtue itself." Tony Duvert

No promises, Ichigo.

Yuki is a walking angst-bomb with a backstory that the new setting renders unusable. Ichigo... Ugh, she's not even recognizable after last reboot, I'd have to spend too much time re-railing her. Ai, from the first thread, is completely out given she was a demon literally raised in Hell and thus just plain a bad person with a bad life...

And I'm going to die fighting Sonzai on this homunculus thing just to prove I can give her an angst-free backstory. And I'm going to call her Blondie.

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

Is this still open?

It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.

I'm sure ready to begin right away.

Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.

@Sachiko: Both sound great - accepted! Just make sure for Erzebetia that her academic/social abilities are appropriate for her to be in High School (and not some other special training program) and that she remembers that the school has a strict no-fighting rule.*

Otherwise, supervised sparring in the Kendo Club, etc. is fine.

@Scrounge: Sorry if I wasn't clear before, but it's not the angst I have a problem with. Angst, Woobies, etc. are perfectly fine.*

The problem I have is with her backstory - specifically the immorality of her creators and its infeasibility. Creating life for a secret government military project = possible; for a random show = not so much. That, and I'd probably let more slide if you weren't making it from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those kind of references do not mesh well with a slice of life Yuri setting.

@Dragon 573: Certainly! We haven't started yet and new characters will be able to join at any time.

Also: Since no one has objected to starting, and people can jump in whenever they'd like, I'll start this up pretty soon.

edited 14th Apr '12 6:23:08 PM by Sonzai

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

Why would the government need an actress? She was intended as a permanent member of the revue, but chose to leave and pursue an education. Everyone was supportive of her decision.

...Would you be okay if I made it Litchi Hikari Club?

edited 14th Apr '12 7:45:41 PM by Scrounge

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?

So, what do you think of a Hard Light, Ridiculously Human Robot who prefaces all her speech with a conditional a la HK-47? I.E. "Sympathetic Statement: I am... sorry for your loss." "Caustic Sarcasm: No, I do not know who ate the doughnuts. Do you know if leptons are actually compound particals?' or 'Evil Humor With Barely Contained Malice: I enjoy the sight of humans on their knees... Reassuring Clarification: That was a joke.'

edited 14th Apr '12 7:27:25 PM by Dragon573

It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.

...If we're going to have a bunch of robots, I might break out my Ill Girl gynoid prototype that I used in another RP a few years back. "It's okay... There are some sparks there sometimes. I'd be more worried if there weren't."

Tax stuff is mainly resolved. I'll work on profiles and stuff tomorrow.

edited 14th Apr '12 8:01:05 PM by Scrounge

I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?