BasicsFull Name: Chidori Ariella Tsukino
Nickname(s): Ari-chii
Age, D.O.B.: 20 (technically 5), February 29th, 2000
Gender: Female
Class: Civilian
Arcana: Priestess
Grade/Career: Part-time school nurse, part-time clinic nurse, freelancer Photographer, Artist and Designer (currently under contract to cover some anime and gaming events)
Ethnicity: Japanese
Family: Both her parents, Amoretta & Yuu Tsukino, are deceased, and she has no siblings. Whilst she has some distant relatives elsewhere in Japan, she hasn't been in contact with them since her parents' funerals.
AppearanceFace Claim: Rise Kujikawa,
Persona 4Chidori stands at about 5'4, with nearly waist length chestnut brown hair that is almost always worn up in twin pigtails, with her bangs framing her face and her matching chocolate brown eyes. Her pale skin contrasts the fact that she does spend a fair amount of time outdoors, often worrying people because they think she might be ill. She maintains a slight build, partly due to her conservative eating habits, but with moderate muscle tone as she does a lot of walking exercise in her day to day activities. She also wears a pair of pink-rimmed glasses to correct her near-sightedness, though she sometimes swaps them out for contacts when its less obtrusive, especially if she has to do a lot of camera work. Chidori also has a tendency to wear two small pearl earrings; left from her mother's will, and one of her last ties to her parents, who lived in Kyushu until they passed away.
PersonalityLikes: Drawing, photography, sewing/needlepoint, cosplaying, lavenders
Dislikes: Flat blades (the kind you slash with), crowded spaces, pushy and overbearing people, bananas
Hobbies: Sketching and landscaping, her freelance work covering events, cosplaying, & costume design
Goals: To progress to higher circles within the cosplaying realm, potentially work for a major company doing character artwork & conceptual designs, and maintain some level of involvement within the community as a nurse (either at the school, the clinic, or both).
Chidori is both energetic and reserved, depending on her company - before her accident, she was a bright, cheery high-schooler who, whilst somewhat quiet and shy, would still work hard and toil away behind the scenes. With a passion for drawing, photography and needlework, the brunette found lots to do, even as a background member of clubs; making costumes, advertisement artwork and model shoots. Underneath it all, she was still friendly and still easily-excitable with the right kinds of people around her, like her parents. Some of that previous energy is still present years later; it is not all that uncommon to see her frantically jumping and wiggling about, trying to pantomime something to the person she's attempting to communicate with.
That being said, she does suffer from panic attacks when her disability's disadvantages aggravate the situation far enough, and enters a semi-catatonic state that involves shutting down and withdrawing into solitude. Since signing and pantomiming often proves fruitless or simply too much energy, she's growing accustomed to keeping a book and pencil with her, using art to communicate her meanings - anything from simple doodles to well-crafted images that employ much her practised skill. Or simply writing her thoughts plainly, though that makes her feel even more vulnerable most of the time.
Whilst still holding a friendly disposition at first contact, she doesn't bond very well with people without a lot of interaction; her first instinct is to observe, patiently, occasionally reaching out with a brief spurt of courage before retreating again to watch. She does have a very strong interest in art in general, and as such, does tend to be a little more forward if art is involved, in any form, be it drawing, painting, writing or music. When all is said and done though, the incident changed Chidori into a much quieter person, who still wants to help more often than not, despite her shyness.
She does however, have an aversion to prolonged physical contact, and if someone's voice resembles that of her kidnapper's, she freaks and runs (as has happened with one of her tutors, who was then quickly replaced). This doesn't apply so much in the conduct of her job - casual physical conduct for the purpose of nursing seems to have become more within her zone of comfort, at least on a professional level. Intimate contact is still out of the question for the time being, without a serious amount of effort to build a rapport first, but she can maintain physical contact for things like massage therapy in an effort to alleviate patients' symptoms.
Anything with a bladed edge causes severe panic for her, for reasons that will become rather obvious; there one recent exception to this, also detailed below, thanks to hard work on the part of a very patient teacher.
HistoryHer childhood was rather happy all things considered, spent playing games with other kids, drawing with rather dismal skill but happily spending the time to practice and continue with it. In fact, she enjoyed it enough that her parents bought her a proper set of pencils and drawing implements, at the age of 8, and she begun spending most of her time sitting outside, drawing whatever she saw - from the landscapes in front of her, to the insects that passed by in the grass next to her. School was both trying and enjoyable, mixing some of her favourite things with a lot of social pressure. Pretty quickly, she became one of those quiet people who happily pass the time by as a background player. Attending an all-girls boarding school was an intriguing experience, and in some ways, lessened the pressures of boyish influences, even if some of that was replaced by overeager schoolgirls falling in love at the drop of a hat. Thankfully, as a shy and less talkative student, much of that skipped over her without a great deal of fuss, leaving her to focus on the work itself, and just learning in general.
Drawing close to the final weeks of her first year, Chidori slipped home for a day - her birthday - to visit her parents, who took her out for a big dinner after a long day at the zoo and whilst they were paying the bill at the counter, she made the mistake of wandering out by herself, to wait by the car. Unfortunately, by this time, it was rather late, and despite the fairly friendly restaurant, the neighbourhood wasn't particularly safe when it got late. Oblivious to the danger because of how wonderful the day had been, Chidori didn't even notice when the stranger came up and grabbed her from behind, knocking her out cold with a blow to the head.
The next two days were possibly the worst of her life - the stalker had kidnapped her during the brief moment of recklessness on both Chidori's, and her parents', parts. She never saw his face, but his sickening voice disturbed the heck out of her, and she shrunk into herself whenever he was around. He wasn't the smartest though - the police did track him down, and forced him into a corner where he held her at knife-point as a hostage. Seeing no real way out, he panicked and tried to slit her throat, to silence her, consequently receiving a bullet to the head from one of the officers, stopping him from fully slicing through the tissue.
Rushed to hospital and losing consciousness several times, it was almost a full fortnight before she came to properly, immensely relieved that the first faces she saw were her parents, though the worry on their faces was concerning. Chidori tried to speak, but sharp pains in her throat limited her to guttural sounds and sighing were about the extent of what she could manage. Crying fortunately didn't hurt, as she did a lot of that when she realized the surgery had kept her alive, but the damage to her larynx was deemed irreparable - she likely would never be able to speak again.
The following two years followed a very similar pattern; constant care, regular counselling and lots and lots of rest. When her mental health was considered strong enough, tutors were called in to help her keep up with the school she was missing - no one thought it would be a good idea for her to return yet, not until her social anxieties became manageable, and Chidori could handle her muteness without breaking down. Art became her medium - she was already passionate about it, and it helped pass time when she practised. Her grades went from okay to very good with the right tutoring as well, allowing her natural intelligence to cultivate and express itself properly.
With the counselling bringing her stability, and the tutoring bringing up her baselines far past what was ordinarily required, there was a good deal of hope for a semi-normal life to come. A few more months, and each specialist advised that it would be possible for her to return to school, though counselling could be continued on-site or off-site if Chidori was having too many problems adjusting back. Fortunately for the brunette, her new roommate made life very much interesting and yet strangely comfortable to deal with. On the reverse, her mutism made things far easier for the purple-haired girl as well, forming a symbiotic friendship that made the rest of her school years bearable, and at times, even fun.
Whilst she entered a number of competitions for drawn art & photography, Chidori's interest in her passions only seemed to pay small dividends here and there as far as work was concerned. Worried that she might not be able to find a full-time career that way, her parents and teachers pushed her to branch out further - by chance, it happened that her curiosity was piqued when attending a nursing seminar course in one of her final years. Shortly thereafter, Chidori found herself focusing on that effort, maintaining her hobbies on the side, but putting her mind to the test in the pursuit of learning - she studied incessantly, to keep her grades at a high level, so that she could guarantee herself a place in a Resident Nursing tertiary course. It was a practical education, intensive but only spanning 12 months - but that year saw Chidori at her most determined. Even the prospect of handling surgical equipment, particularly a scalpel, was dealt with in due time; one tutor in particular took the young woman's anxieties to heart and patiently worked with her to overcome her fear, at least when she was working as a nurse. Although it was noted that this could later stem into mild dissociation, Chidori has kept herself committed to involving compassion and understanding in her nursing in order to prevent it from becoming an issue.
Completing her course with distinction, it was only shortly thereafter that her string of good luck was cut short; only three nights after her graduation ceremony, whilst Chidori was in the process of packing her things and readying to return home after a year of staying on campus, her parents were killed in a brutal assault. Despite this, there was no hard evidence to lead the police in any direction, and no viable suspects to question - the case was cold inside of a week, leaving Chidori suddenly orphaned and at a loss, her sense of accomplishment and pride now dashed by severe depression and panic. Struggling immensely, she relied on some of the friendships she had made on campus to manage through the ordeal of organising her parents' funerals. Her distant family members were less than helpful, having struck discord with her parents years prior.
In an effort to cope, her mentor pushed her to look for nursing jobs, anything part-time that might help her pursue her passions and help her come to terms with her grief. By sheer fortune smiling down upon her, Chidori found more than she was looking for when she investigated potential work in Sanyo City - there was a part-time job available at a community clinic... and rumours abound that there might be new surgery techniques being developed in conjunction with breaking-edge technology; something that could (potentially) repair damage that had previously been deemed surgically irreparable, such as her larynx injuries. Whilst the latter was more of a hail mary, and a slim one at that, neither Chidori nor her mentor could deny that it was a suitable opportunity to uproot, leaving her grief-stricken burdens behind, and try somewhere new.
With a more-than-modest inheritance to assist finances, it was only a couple of months before Chidori had secured herself accommodation in Sanyo City, attained part-time work at Selenic Clinic, and moved all of her things across. Whilst it took more time than that to settle in, before long, things were already seeming to become brighter. Admittedly, she was still isolated, reverting to her insular self as she adjusted to a new community - her colleagues are pleasant acquaintances, but Chidori is yet to have formed any meaningful relationships, partly from a lack of reaching out. On the other hand, her experience there, and a recommendation from her boss, landed her a second part-time contract the following year, working as a school nurse 3-4 days a week at Mishiro High. Having only just started a couple weeks ago, she's still getting her bearings, but the environment is certainly an interesting one for her.
On the side, she still does some freelance art & photography work, relying on scanning and digital mediums - she still dreams to make it big some day, but there's a competing goal of focusing on nursing and even medicine later in her future, another side of her life for her to balance and puzzle out in the years to come.
EquipmentNot applicable for the time being.
Notes-She has a thin white scar from her assault still, though it is often hidden beneath deftly applied make-up, or a choice accessory covering her neck.
-Due to being born on February 29th, there is an ongoing joke about her technical age, but for all legal purposes, she is 20 years old still
-Thanks to the efforts of her mentor during tertiary education, she is capable of both using and being around scalpels and similar surgical blades, though with some effort and very mild dissociative professionalism (which she's working on!)
-She has the requisite clearances for working with children and application of direct stimulation methods (i.e. - massage for alleviation of certain symptoms, such as headache pain)