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Good Points:
 Serene Surface -- Although enthusiastic, Mitsuko appears completely and utterly unworried by anything and everything. Sure, she show appropriate concern, but she doesn't seem to be anxious or troubled. This, of course, is a very delicate and clever ruse. Mitsuko is easily worried, especially when it comes to her friends. (Easily worried as in, "Tamaki develops a slight cough and suddenly a box with eight different cold remedies shows up on her doorstep the next day.") But she believes that showing worry does no good, it usually just stirs up more worry and that doesn't really help. So she has carefully developed a mask to hide her anxieties. It is an old and solid mask, she crafted it with skill. It takes a truly gifted person to see past it, and only in brief moments will there even be a crack. Mitsuko keeps this mask up with even more vigilance around her friends, because they have enough on their shoulders protecting her. She thinks that sharing her personal worries would be burdening them even more.
Immunity -- Mitsuko is one of those endlessly frustrating people who do not get sick. Ever. (And, yes, she does pout if she is told she's too dumb to catch a cold!) Her immune system is working properly and seems to fend off everything. If the enemy is spreading around some nasty flu? She's okay. In fact, she's usually taking care of everyone else in her household, since they do not have the immune system of awesome she does. Mitsuko has no idea how fortunate she is, and only notices when she's fighting a really nasty cold bug, and might need a nap. Just one nap, and she's good.
Light of Trust -- Mitsuko has complete and utter trust in her friends. She believes they would never her do her any ill, and always make decisions with the right intentions. That, basically, they can do no wrong. Even if they did "wrong", they didn't mean to, or it just looks like it's wrong, but really it's the right decision. This makes things very difficult when her friends have been brainwashed, as she wants to trust them, so badly.
Reach Out -- Mitsuko is unafraid to ask for help. No pride, no ego, no fear of shame gets in the way. She knows when she needs help, and she will ask for it, even from strangers. Because she doesn't have a big ego, she doesn't mind acknowledging that someone is better than she is at something. Although it can cause her to look needy and helpless, she also doesn't bite off more than she can chew, or get herself into shoes she can't fill.
Social Orchestrator -- Put Mitsuko in a room filled with people who absolutely despise each other, and within the hour, she would have them playing nicely. Fortunately, she's rarely put in such extreme situations. Instead she usually manages "attention focus" in groups of friends and conversations. What she does is make sure everyone is involved in the conversation, and that the topic of discussion is something everyone can join in on. She has always hated feeling left out of the conversation, so she wants to make sure that no one feels the same. She's also good at sensing when someone might want to leave the group, and finding a way to excuse them without making them feel unwanted or obvious.
Flaws:
Leaps First, Looks Second -- Just as it says, Mitsuko tends to make rash decisions without thinking them through. She does whatever seems like a good idea at the time, but rarely considers the consequences. As a result, she tends to be rather surprised at most consequences, particularly ill ones. She believes that because she makes all her decisions with good intentions, they will be carried through to the end. This is not true, sadly. Matters can be compounded by further poorly considered decisions trying to rectify any problems. On a different note, Mitsuko doesn't intentionally put herself in danger. She doesn't say to herself, "I SHALL GO RESCUE THAT KITTY SITTING IN THE PATH OF THE SPEEDING CAR THAT COULD POTENTIALLY KILL ME." Instead, it's more of a, "OMG KITTY." But it is always out of an eagerness to help out. This wouldn't be so badly received if she weren't, you know, the Moon Princess and all.
Directionless-- It's important to notice that Mitsuko's not lazy, it's simply that her energies are poorly directed. Which is to say, barely directed at all. She doesn't plan, as aforementioned. Scheduling out her day so that she can get in the maximum amount of anything never happens. She is terrible at pacing herself, tending to give her all or nothing. She doesn't entirely resist being directed, provided there's nothing else she really wants to do at the moment. But she has more than a few difficulties mitigating what she wants to do, with what she needs to do. Numerous factors contribute to this, as she feels overburdened by what she needs to do, which makes what she wants to do ever more appealing.
This flaw is a double-entendre, because Mitsuko is like the second coming of Hibiki Ryouga. She gets lost very easily, and even knowing the cardinal directions does her little good. She isn't hopeless, because she does get to and from school without trouble. Finding new places is very difficult, however. She usually carried maps, and makes people giving her directions chart out a specific course. Mitsuko does have a new love for GPS on her cellphone, because it makes her life so much easier.
Fritterer -- Mitsuko is especially poor at managing money. She rarely blows her allowance all in one go, but rather spends it in small portions. In a week, she'll buy maybe a ball of yarn, tea at a cafe a couple times, tokens for the arcade, new lipstick for her sister, a romance novel, etc. None of these things cost very much, but she still ends up with an empty wallet at the end of the week, and maybe in debt to a friend. Mitsuko is usually surprised to find she's spent all her money too, not just because of her dyscalculia, but because if she spends under 400´, she doesn't really consider it a purchase. But, there is hope, she can save money; she just has to hide it from herself. Mitsuko usually finds money she hid from herself one to two years later, depending on where she stashed it. ... Then she usually spends it.
Shadow of Doubt -- For every ounce of trust she has for her friends and lover, she has an ounce and a half of doubt in herself. She has no idea what she is doing most of the time, because she so rarely looks forward, and never with confidence. She sees herself as paling in comparison to these great people. After all, she was princess by chance of birth. It could have easily been someone else. That doesn't mean she doesn't have obligations as a princess and senshi, but she wishes she had been chosen. If she had been chosen on merit of... anything that was individually her, it would help immensely with her self-esteem. However, this is not nor ever will be true, and she has learned to live with it.
Defeatist -- Being blonde, very pretty and not terribly good at schoolwork, Mitsuko is frequently labeled as a dumb blonde. Unfortunately, she does little to assert otherwise. She believes she's doomed when it comes to her grades, and so she rarely studies or spends more time on her homework than she has to. She also tends to avoid intellectual topics, as she feels she doesn't have much to say on them. When caught in a corner, she tends to say the obvious, or repeat what has been said. She'll basically do anything she can not to say overtly stupid, which is usually just evacuating the conversation. This just perpetuates the dumb blonde stereotype. It doesn't help that her own family believes that Mitsuko is not much more than a pretty face. Both her parents have doctorates, and her sister is working on earning one as well. All three don't expect her to even get into a university. Mitsuko never says as much, but she believes the same.
Personality:
Mitsuko is, in a word, welcoming. She treats everyone she meets, everyone she talks to, like an invited guest in her home. She greets people with open arms, lacking in prejudice or apprehension. She manages to be friendly without invasive or pushy, mostly by being interested by what people have to say or do. And she is honestly interested; Mitsuko believes that every one deserves to be heard. Fortunately she never comes off as politely interested, but earnestly so. She is less forthcoming when it comes to speaking about herself, but not so much she comes off as shy. It simply doesn't occur to Mitsuko to volunteer stories or information without being asked. As for information about other people, she is also good at remembering faces and names, as well as hobbies, family and friends. So even people she has a passing acquaintance with feel important.
Not too surprisingly, Mitsuko is also an excellent hostess. She's not a social butterfly in any sense of the word, but when someone actually does visit her home, she always makes time for them. Her hostessing style echoes that of Southern American hospitality, if she knew anything of it. (Although Mitsuko is not outgoing enough to be a truly proper Southern Belle.) Any guest is offered a seat, then food and drink as well as conversation, even if they're just passing by. She's also been known to invite people to spend the night whenever she thinks it's too late for he or she to walk home safely, or if they are just too tired. Mitsuko easily walks the line of being attentive without making the guest feel intrusive or waited upon.
Besides just naturally liking people, Mitsuko has the added benefit of social intelligence as well as a natural intuition when it comes to reading other people and their emotions. Although she is no social butterfly, Mitsuko seems to lack awkwardness in almost any situation. She's best when she isn't at center stage, but rather as a guide. She is very good at making sure everyone is involved in the conversation, as well as steering the dialog. This doesn't mean just avoiding sensitive subjects, but subjects that may leave someone out of the interaction as well. When things do get out of hand, she can help return it to a neutral ground. Because of their subtlety, her social skills are rarely noted or appreciated, but Mitsuko has very little idea of how unique they are in the first place.
By no means is Mitsuko perfect, however. Mitsuko tends more towards emotional than stable or serene. Her moods aren't quite as tempered as most people's, because she isn't as inclined to rationalize with past experiences, or future outcomes. Fortunately, her ability to appear calmer than she really is helps her out considerably. She may be ready to break down sobbing hysterically, but she won't actually do so until she is in private. What the public sees is slightly watery eyes and a trembling lip, and of course, a strong desire to get out of the situation. The longer she has to consciously maintain an unruffled projection, the more she crumbles when she has the chance. She has yet to really, truly breakdown in public, but that does not mean she never could.
Furthermore, she is very sensitive to other people's moods, and intuitive when it comes to the reason why they're experiencing such emotions. But because she's so sensitive and aware, she empathizes easily. Too easily, to be honest. She is fully capable of sympathizing with a murderer, were the circumstances right. Obviously this isn't all sympathy. Mitsuko trusts easily as well. She can't really help it, she's has a great deal of faith that most people mean no harm. This makes her a fabulous target for scam artists, although she's been pretty lucky so far. But to give Mitsuko knows she trusts too easily, that she's too sympathetic and emotional, although she's been able to do little about it. She wishes she could be more emotionally detached, but doesn't know how to go about it. Her knowledge of her flaws helps her somewhat, for example, she can be hurt by the smallest actions or words. But she also forgives quickly, usually after a tearful night. Her forgiveness is not only extended to small slights, but huge blunders as well. Due to her aforementioned faith in humanity, she is always willing to believe that someone can be better, and past grudges shouldn't hold them back.
If anything at all could be said about Mitsuko, it would be that she lives in the moment, and for the moment. She never looks far ahead, for she never knows what's coming, and looking behind will only make her trip. One almost thinks Mitsuko is carefree, the way she goes whatever fancy takes her, heedless of the results. When she wants to learn how to crochet amigurumi dolls, she goes out and finds a book and the supplies, and darn well learns how to make them. If she wants to visit the new bakery, she'll go do that too. (Unless it is closed, then she's a bit frustrated.) This is partially because, if she puts things off, and tries to plan them, she tends to forget about them, and regrets never doing it later, when it's too late. As a result, she rarely does her homework, and tends to neglect her chores as well. Things that are constant tend to be shoved to the wayside. She would much rather regret not doing her chores, than regret not going for a picnic on a beautiful, sunny day.
One of the reasons why she can go out and do things so easily is that because she lives in the moment, she is also unafraid of it. The present is transient. A moment will pass, she can either seize it or let it by. Past experiences do not easily mar potential new ones, with the exception of school, and school took many, many years of unpleasantness to have a solid, permanent effect. With this particularly specialized bravery, Mitsuko's always up for new and interesting people and things, especially at the last moment. Naturally, this does not include "XTREME FERRET LEGGING", but rather things like new amusement parks, or trying a new craft that's recently come into vogue. Basically, she is unafraid of failure. She can always try again, and next time she'll bring her awesome buddies. She will reappear in force and you cannot stop her. If it was a particularly unpleasant experience, then she just avoids it. She doesn't linger or angst about it, instead she seeks more fun memories to overwhelm any bad ones.
Mitsuko seems to have completely neglected the basic skill of planning ahead. She gets so caught up in what she wishes to do at the time, and how she is going to do it, troubles or consequences seem to hardly enter into things at all. Mitsuko frequently forgets to bring her purse when she goes shopping, or doesn't think to bring an umbrella, even in the sky is clouded over. But neither is she terribly upset when it starts to rain, unless she is caught somewhere without any cover at all. Yes, she always tells herself to think more next time, but she rarely does. Instead, she tends to depend on the kindness of others to get her out of a pinch. Someone will lend her a newspaper to protect against some rain so she may get home, or one of her friends will lend her the 500´ for the new cellphone fob. (She always pays them back.) Subconsciously, she believes that there will always be someone to help her when she stumbles. And up until now, there always has been.
Although she is a gentle soul, it doesn't mean Mitsuko will take gladly abuse from anyone. What plagues her most is the "dumb blonde" stereotype, which is all too easily and frequently applied to her. People see her hair color, followed by poor grades, lack of coordination in sports, and absence of overt artistic or music talent, and then they stop looking. Being exceptionally attractive doesn't help matters, either. They don't see how well she navigate a tricky situation caused by a misunderstanding between friends, or how she senses a sensitive topic and delicately steers the conversation away from it. These are not measurable traits, they can't be quantified like tests aced, goals scored, pictures drawn and songs sung can be. And that's what people notice, the absence of tangible accomplishment. And because she's a dumb blonde, they often feel that it's their duty to inform Mitsuko of her shortcomings. After all, she's too stupid to realize how far behind she is. Because of her low self-esteem, Mitsuko starts to believe it, too. When it comes to herself, and her own accomplishments, she is quite defeatist. Years of poor grades have done the most damaged, particularly in her academic household. Even if her dyscalculia would be diagnosed, the damage is done. Mitsuko simply does not believe she is capable of doing well in school, so she just doesn't try anymore.
When someone actually tries to browbeat or bully her, Mitsuko relies on non-aggressive strategies to stop it. She rarely loses her temper, because she knows it won't help matters and usually she feels wretched later on for losing her temper in the first place. Usually, in a confrontational situation, she first tries to defuse without backing off. Thanks to her social intelligence, she knows that quailing or apologizing to a bully just makes it worse. If she can't return the conversation to a neutral area, she may appeal to whomever she's with for back up or help, or she will try to escape. If the situation is particularly bad, she will try to escape and find help, as opposed to just running away. But whatever she does, she tries not to add gunpowder to the fire. This doesn't mean it always works, but she is aware that trying to be aggressive in return does her no good.
Obviously, her self-image is nothing like the one she projects. Few people have even the slightest impression of what she thinks about herself. And Mitsuko wants it that way. Before, she projected confidence because it made her more of a target to be hesitant and vague. Now her reasoning has evolved; it's because she is a princess. She is their princess, and she thinks that princesses don't worry about geography homework, or doing poorly in the long jump, or having upset her parents by staying out late fighting youma. (Note the "princesses don't worry", not "shouldn't worry".) In short: a princess isn't insecure. So she hides her worries away, and locks them in a little box, quite literally. To help get things off her mind, Mitsuko write them down on scraps of paper and keeps them inside a tiny chest. She doesn't actually deal with her insecurity and anxiety, or any her unpleasant emotions. Insecurity and anxiety are simply the foremost. Mitsuko swallows it all down, trying to sweeten the bitter aftertaste by going shopping with her friends, or eating a few sweet desserts. For better or for worst, it usually works too. She distracts herself easily and with practiced skill.
Despite that she changes her behavior because of her royal status, Mitsuko does not exactly feel the role. She isn't sure she's deserving of being a princess, although she is very grateful to have such dear friends (and retainers). But they are all amazing people, each one has special skills and inner strengths that she is constantly in awe of. Mitsuko hasn't actually had a chance to do what royalty does, so she has no idea if she's suitable or not. She doesn't know if she has the wisdom inside her to make decisions that are right for the people. She knows nothing about making trade agreements, or writing laws. And to intimidate her more, she knows that historically, royalty was raised from birth to learn these skills. Mitsuko has no such training, and it disturbs her. Sometimes, she feels that if she wasn't constantly reminded of her royal status, she would forget all about it. In a way, it is true. If there were no people around her who believed she was the Princess, she certainly would not do as much.
Mitsuko may doubt herself, but she does not doubt her friends. Ever. She trusts them wholly and loves each one without reserve. In a way, she has to, since they guard her life. If she didn't trust them, they wouldn't be able to do their jobs. But for Mitsuko, it really is nothing about exchange or compensation. Each of her friends have utterly charmed her, they are all so strong and so brave. She really cannot believe how lucky she is to know them. She has complete faith in their decisions, and capabilities.
It's no small wonder that someone with Mitsuko's insecurities has survived battles with Metallia, Pharaoh 90, even Chaos. The answer is fairly simple: her friends and her lover. She trusts and depends on them to get her through. And if they die, then she is damn well going to do everything in her power to get them back. Saving the world seems almost trivial to her, paling in comparison to saving her friends. She doesn't want to live in a world without Kyoko or Tamaki; there's no reason for her to save the world if the people she loves aren't in it. (Yes, she is more than a little dependent.) But as Princess, she has a great weight on her shoulders. Knowing she has support and love makes it a lot easier for her to cope with such a burden. After all, she has one of the most powerful objects in the universe in her hands, and she can't just pass it on to someone she feels is more capable. So every moment she spends with her loved ones, it makes all the sorrow and pain worth it.
As someone so emotional and full of trust and hope, it's no surprise that as a dead "spirit", she is bland and dull. She has none of her previous charisma. Mitsuko focuses on what she had, and uses her memories of her friends and lover to pass the time. She regrets not telling them she loved them more, and that she wasn't a better princess. All sentiments she'd had before, but now they consume her days. She doesn't care about the Crisis Senshi's troubles. After all, she doesn't know them. She worries about what she knew, and whom she knew. Without hope, there's little else she can do.
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). The nickname used by friends and family is Mitsu. Her private nickname is Miiko.
), light-child.
), within bamboo.
), honey.
![[ Symbol Here ]](http://rpg.lotus-eater.org/chaos_crisis/moonSymbol.png){kind=link}
![[ Visual ]](http://rpg.lotus-eater.org/chaos_crisis/moonFuku.png){kind=link}
![[ Earrings Visual ]](http://rpg.lotus-eater.org/chaos_crisis/moonEarrings.png){kind=link}
![[ Brooch Visual ]](http://rpg.lotus-eater.org/chaos_crisis/moonBrooch.png){kind=link}
![[ Boots Visual ]](http://rpg.lotus-eater.org/chaos_crisis/moonBoots.jpg){kind=link}