Vesper's Journal

[Vesper 0]

 

Profile

Username: Vesper
Real name: Valerie Rivers
Age: 20
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 135 lbs
Sexuality: Bisexual
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

 

History/Personality

Valerie was born to a regular suburban family in America. She lived the white picket life under her mother and father, plugging away diligently as a student. She never stood out one way or the other as a class clown or a prodigy, simply getting by with B's and the occasional A in fields she was stronger at. Despite this, she was often picked on and tormented by her peers during her schooling years for her unremarkable self. If the standout kids with high grades were respected and the underachievers trailing behind were laughed at, she was seen as worse than all of them for simply being bland and uninteresting. She would undergo every form of abuse and humiliation that a youth could experience in school, and only resisted through it all to spend time with one of her few friends - Dale Lanner. Dale was an overachiever with less in the way of good looks but nevertheless was the kind of soul that realized bullying when he saw it and stepped in when he could. The two met during one such occasion, and were inseparable from then on.

They discovered they shared many interests over the years, from video games to martial arts movies and comics. Valerie wasn't particularly a bookish girl, but she did enjoy stories from popular authors as they released and superhero comics when they concerned her favorite characters. She found herself most immersed in the cool, brooding assassin type women for their stoic mannerisms and effortless sex appeal and charm. For somebody as plain as she was often considered to be, it was the sort of thing she dreamed of to be that confident and mysterious. As she grew older and graduated high school, she maintained her friendship with Dale and persisted through the bullying with her head held relatively high - she wasn't proud of the bullying she received, but felt happy that it was over. 

It was at that point as she worked to save up for college that she found herself also delving deeper into the world of online gaming in her spare time. She would relieve her stresses at work and in real life by playing games at home alongside Dale, working her way up steadily and building a small internet community. She felt fulfilled with the life she lived in the online spaces she frequented. It was around this time spending many more hours online with Dale that she realized she had developed something of a crush on him - not that she would ever admit it, of course. She didn't want to risk ruining a great friendship, so she kept it her own personal secret.

When the announcement for Sword Art Online came out, Dale was already spamming texts at her before she could even ask him if he was interested. Thus they decided they would camp in line for a copy of the game; there was no way they were going to miss out on such a hotly discussed game on new hardware. Despite this, they were quite far back in the line and thus rarely left for any reason except for bathroom breaks - and even then, it was in turns so they wouldn't lose their spot in the line. They got quite a few hollers for this, but none of it mattered in comparison to the glory of a fully-realized virtual reality adventure to lose hours upon hours in. They almost didn't manage, likely being well into the 7000's of players that got their copy, but they did. They rushed home to Valerie's house to play, locking themselves away in her bedroom to set up the game. The anxiety of allowing a boy into her room didn't even bother Valerie at that point. Her heart was racing for a different reason - the ultimate experience in RPGs. The best thing that would ever happen to her was being put on her head in that moment, and when the NerveGear finally booted up, she felt fulfilled.

Getting into the game, she was blown away by the graphics and attention to detail. It was so lifelike that she recognized Dale quite quickly in the same starting town as her among the thousands of others nearby. They quickly followed the masses out into the starting fields, killing the various wildlife and starter enemies to gain a handle on the controls and movement. It didn't feel like the game had much of a tutorial for whatever reason, so with Valerie - or as she was known in-game, Vesper - being more of a casual player she had to rely on Dale as a pseudo tutorial. His character's name was Lanner, which while not creative had its own kind of charm to it that Valerie found adorable. Though at that point she would probably find most things he did adorable anyway.

The game was fun, up until the game's true purpose was revealed. Valerie and Dale were among the many players teleported forcibly. They were forced to sit there and listen to the ramblings of a madman explaining the rules of a death game, despairing and unable to do anything as panic spread. Their only instinct was to run and escape the crowd of people, now more closely resembling their real selves. They settled down after making a camp in the beginner fields, distancing themselves from the screams and cries of emotionally traumatized people. Agreeing that it would be better to fight than to lay down and die or wait for somebody else to step up and save them, the pair resolved to fight. They ventured forth, with Valerie more reluctant to engage in fights due to the new knowledge that 0 HP meant real death. As they progressed further into the wilderness, they found themselves trapped by a party of players who had gone delusional from trauma and had decided to make their profit by looting players. In the heat of the moment, with both Valerie and Dale injured heavily, Dale allowed himself to act as a shield for Valerie's retreat. Being a higher level than Valerie or the party ambushing them, he stayed behind while she fled. As Valerie sprinted with all her strength, she was forced to watch her best friend's health deplete slowly. They had stayed behind to take him down alone, but she had no bravery to turn back to the battle. Her survival instincts were fully realized, and even shame was not a concern for her. 

Valerie found herself trudging into the safety of town with dull eyes upon seeing after the commotion that "Lanner" was no longer in her party. Dead. She found an inn to funnel into and cried herself to sleep there. That was the point at which her time as a player ended, and her soul was crushed. For all the physical pain she felt while fighting, the emotional weight of losing those close to her, and the things never said once they'd met their end - it was too much. Sword Art Online was no longer a game to be played, it was purgatory. Everybody there was waiting for salvation in one form or another. As time passed, heroes would rise and fall. Morale would skyrocket and then plummet just as fast. Progress was made, but never solid enough to permanently reinforce the idea that not all was lost. Among all this, she became known as the 'Gazing Girl' for the hours she would spend not engaging with the game and simply sitting outside around town giving others cold looks. She felt she had nothing left to live for in the wretched curse of a 'game' that Sword Art Online was. Valerie had disappeared, replaced by Vesper - a cynical, nihilistic husk whose only discernible motive was to wait for the inevitable to occur. 

Most recently however, she's been having nightmares about her first day in the game. Of the death of her best friend, and the horrible pained expressions he must have had during his last fight. It's been weeks since she's had a restful sleep, and thought for the first time in years that it could be a sign of... something. Of what, she hadn't even a guess. She was never very emotionally intelligent. Whatever reason she had to receive these nightmares now of all times, she picked herself up and resolved to venture in search of the answer. 

 

Virtues

Observant: In her years as a judgmental watcher within SAO, she's eavesdropped on many conversations and has had plenty of time to notice the subtleties of interaction. From body language and potential intent, to gauging people's worth in Col based off of their gear combined with demeanor, she has become talented at reading situations whether they be social or combat. Her paranoia sees to it that she will observe multiple angles to a situation before coming to a decision. Over a period of time with this mentality she's grown faster at observing these details and making these decisions quickly. Due to this observant behavior she has also learned ways to mimic people's movements in more minor ways in an attempt to gain some semblance of combat expertise without having to go outside of town.

Flexible: In every way, Vesper could be considered flexible. Physically she is decently flexible, allowing for movements that some others could not attempt. Mentally, however, is where the danger lies. Vesper finds herself able to fit in with people from many walks of life and can be convinced towards many different morals. Due to her relatively unbiased nature, she could likely find a lot of work in various fields if she felt like it. She prefers to speak in money rather than honeyed words, and as such has very few taboos for things that would earn her Col.

Calm: Vesper can find herself remaining calm in situations of high pressure. Whether due to her years of cynicism and thoughts to herself or something within her that she never knew she had, she finds herself able to remain cool under pressure. This also lends well to a reliable exterior personality, in which she can put up a front even in situations where she's afraid. While she has no interest in being a leader, it can sometimes help to show others that even when it's fake to not panic. 

 

Flaws

Paranoid: On the flip-side of her observant behavior, Vesper doesn't trust many people. Simply sitting by and watching she's seen and heard of many people betray others over her time spent in the game. She would even consider her own abandoning of Lanner to be betrayal on her part, thus she has no moral compass to aspire to or believe in. In her mind, everybody has ulterior motives that cannot be proven until it's already too late. As a result of this she isn't very receptive to offers of friendship, feeling like the other person is simply waiting for their chance to stab her in the back.

Slow Learner: Vesper has always been painfully average. Going with this, she has little in the way of natural talent. More than that, when she does wish to become talented in something, it tends to take her more effort and determination than just about anybody else with the tiniest sliver of talent. She's very stuck in her ways, and due to that it takes a great deal of comprehension to learn new things and develop more as a person.

Vulgar: Having heard time and time again the annoying prickles of charming words within conversations, she's taken a more blunt and straightforward stance on speaking. She'll speak her mind even when it doesn't concern her, or if she doesn't have much knowledge on the subject. She truthfully believes her own opinion to often be more correct than that of others, and going with that has misplaced confidence in herself. Her style of speech can get her into trouble more often than land her in a place of benefit; yet despite this, Vesper herself sees nothing wrong with her actions towards others.

False Confidence: Her outward confidence is a complete lie, only driven forward by her degrading emotions. In truth she's scared more often than not, and still shakes quietly when engaging in battle. The persona of the stoic and powerful comic characters she's looked up to is all she knows in times of crisis, and with SAO itself being a crisis, has had a lot of time to refine it. Regardless it is an overall fragile confidence that can be easily broken in times of powerlessness to reveal the scared child she still believes herself to be. 

 

Skills

Earned SP: 5
Used SP: 0
Remaining SP: 5

Non-Combat

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Passive

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Combat

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Weapon Skills

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Inventory

Col: 2500
Materials: x10 T1

Weapons

Spoiler

Borrowed Power | Rare Fistwrap | +1 ACC, +1 DMG | Gritty bandages that possess a menacing simplicity, and imply dark things of their previous owner...

Armor

Spoiler

Ragged Garb | Vanity

Accessories/Trinkets

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Consumables

Spoiler

• (3) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)

Unidentified

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-

 

Roleplay

• Punching a Rock - In Progress
• Fetch! - In Progress
• Gone Camping - In Progress

Edited June 25, 2019 by Vesper

[Neopolitan 0]

Approved, welcome to SAO-RPG