[OOC] I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

[PKMNB0Y]

~Cross Heart Academy~

Enter a world of swords, magic, and wonder! As a new student entering the prestigious Starveil Academy, the brightest years of your life await—and with love in the air, classes aren't going to be the only thing on your mind! With so many of the best and brightest attending, you're more than spoiled for choice! With so many routes to choose from, you'll keep coming back for more!
But all is not well behind closed doors, and it may ultimately fall to you to uncover what secrets lurk within...

...Or so the summary of "Cross Heart Academy" goes. Despite it's somewhat cheesy premise (even as far as otome games go), "Cross Heart Academy" has since grown to amass a cult following all it's own. To pry into the minds of it's creators and figure out where all of the story threads within sprung forth from would be many a fan's dream, but given how silent they have been towards the public, such desires are but a fleeting dream.

With that being said, awakening as one of the characters within that world was most certainly not something that you had expected to happen. What to make of this set of circumstances—and those of others who seem to have found themselves in similar straits—falls to you all to decide.

---

---

Regarding the Plot and Gameplay of Cross Heart Academy

"Cross Heart Academy" is an anomaly of a game, with the actual game depicted in the second "half" almost wholly contingent on the events that occur in the first—that is, to say, the section that focuses almost wholly upon the events that occur within the protagonist's time at Starveil Academy. Depending on who the player chooses to pursue and the events that they trigger, that second half of the game could be anything from an SRPG to a 4X game to even a town management simulator... And in some cases, a mix of any number of genres. This aspect has caused the game to garner a fanbase that expands beyond it's intended audience, small as that is, and is what many fans would argue sets it apart from many of it's peers. Few other games, after all, can offer political intrigue, adventure, and all other manner of scenarios in a single game without feeling like any single part is underdeveloped.

Regarding the Characters of Cross Heart Academy

Many of the characters that live within the world of Cross Heart Academy are somewhat 'flat', if only because the focus may not be primarily on them. Main cast members—for example, the male leads—are often explored far deeper than the supporting cast if only because of how often the protagonist interacts with them.
Such rules do not necessarily apply to those who now find themselves living in this world. Every person is a 'person', no longer simply lines of code within a system, and thus is just as complex as any other person might be. Though the 'rules' imposed upon them by the world may still linger to some extent (some might even call it "fate"), the choices that those transported to this world make could very well transcend the decision trees that were so easily charted prior.

---

---

So... Yeah. Otome game(?) isekai RP borrowing from the recent boom in the genre's popularity. Personally, I think the concept speaks for itself, honestly. Other than that... Form for the people who might be chomping at the bit to dive into this madness, I suppose? Because this is clearly a good idea and not at all going to end up in complete chaos (which, I mean, is probably going to be part of the fun?)

Form

First, a little note: The 'Original Role and Background' field is for the 'person' who existed in the 'world' of Cross Heart Academy and their role there, while 'History' should be about the person who now inhabits the body of "that" person... Or, to put it simply, 'History' is about the isekai'd person.
[list][*][u]Name[/u]:
[*][u]Age[/u]:
[*][u]Appearance[/u]:
[*][u]Gender[/u]:
[*][u]Personality[/u]:
[*][u]Abilities/Skills[/u]:
[*][u]History[/u]:
[*][u]Original Role and Background[/u]:
[*][u]Other[/u]:[/list]

Any questions or concerns? Feel free to bring them up, and I'll be more than willing to answer.

[Raineh Daze]

Magic Lesbian

• Name: Elastasia Julienne ... (several extraneous middle names nobody ever remembers follow) de Aquilanne. Ellie to her friends, if they exist.
• Age: 18
• Appearance It would almost work for a formal portrait, if she had remembered to bring her shoes along.
• Gender: Female
• Personality: In a word: absent-minded. Nearly at some breakthrough on getting a spell to work, or enjoying the local woods? Well, this isn't a world with alarms as reminders, or clocks literally everywhere--it's so easy to miss when dinner is, or forget to attend to some casual meeting. Of course, that could just be a lack of punctuality at work, but getting so absorbed in things like this as to forget when you keep leaving things behind... well, that doesn't speak well for Elastasia's awareness. The tendency for shoes and the like to be included in this is entirely its own oddity, though.
  Mostly, these might pass unnoticed--she's highly placed enough in society that her family can take measures to make sure she actually shows up to important things--but showing up at functions underdressed (either from lack of time to change into something formal, or something else) starts rumours fairly easily. As does forgetting the names of important nobles.
  Despite her unthinking arrogance in her specialities (something at least justified in this life), Elastasia is overall polite and friendly... aside from the magic thing. It is, after all, the catalyst of her initial adversarial relationship with the heroine--and completely in line with her prior life's attitude towards newcomers to her games.
• Abilities/Skills: Well-versed in the customs of nobility when she remembers to show up on time and dress properly, Elastasia otherwise lacks in mundane skills. Her academic talents are fairly middling, even with another life's education... sure, her calligraphy is exceptional, but in terms of general learning, there's nothing to write home about.
  But magic? Magic is a different story. If there was one person it was worth investing a bit more into magic lessons to access for later stages of the playthrough, it would probably be Elastasia. Although lacking any magical specialisation when the player would finally obtain control, her base stats and aptitudes tended to lead to a viable build for any magic-heavy option, no matter her lack of physical skills. Even during the VN-like portions of Cross Heart Academy, she has a tendency to excel across disciplines, whereas the heroine (without extreme optimisation) finds herself having to specialise. It's quite unsurprising, then, that without interference her ending is as a reclusive archmage.
  Despite this, she does have an innate preference: purely kinetic magic. Levitation and the casual summoning of items (who needs a chair when you can float? Or a table if you can keep things where you want them?) predominantly, but as a defensive measure "no, everything just gets bounced back" is fairly obvious.
• History: Before this whole reincarnation business, Elastasia... well, she couldn't have said there was much about her life to write home about. Really, the notable thing was managing to combine being a game-playing NEET with being a country bumpkin who'd go out and take a nap in the woods. She isn't even all that sure how she died, but is going to put good odds on it being something dumb like falling off a cliff, or a bad run-in with a hornet.
  She was never one of Cross Heart Academy's diehard fans. Sure, it was fun to see how many smaller games they had crammed into the second half and cheese the hell out of them, but the actual otome game side... it always felt like a lot of possible branches had been cut in order to manage this two-for-one deal rather than have a pure Visual Novel and the romance options really weren't her thing. Some of the guys were cute, sure, but... not something she could get into with the first-person perspective the game was given.
  Regaining the memories of her prior life when Elastasia was being sent away to school was quite the shock. Honestly, if she didn't have Elastasia's own upbringing to fall back on (as flaky as it might be in the long run), there was no doubt that she would have caused a scandal immediately. But since she had always been rather strange and it was a major change to Elastasia's life, reconciling her previous lifetime actually passed mostly unnoticed.
  And in the end? Honestly, she much prefers being Elastasia. Sure, it's impossible to escape the influence of an entire second lifetime on her personality, and the knowledge that came with it would no doubt be vital... especially in avoiding bad romantic choices on her end. But really? Leaning into Elastasia's personality makes dealing with the school setting so much more bearable, and she would never be able to keep up any attempt to act as nobility if she didn't just accept that this was her life and her personality as well.
  Unfortunately, that doesn't mean she's not even more eccentric than her game counterpart. The lack of patience for social games really bleeds through--whereas the game Elastasia might just forget to show up, the current one is vastly worse at hiding her desire to be doing something else. She's also far more prone to trying to find somewhere nobody WILL interrupt her with a reminder she should be somewhere.
• Original Role and Background: In the original story of Cross Heart Academy, Elastasia was an eccentric magical prodigy from one of the kingdom's oldest families--if the heroine chose to took a magical path, it was essentially guaranteed that they would be crossing paths at one stage or another, with those routes more focused on it regularly featuring her as a rival and eventual friend. This naturally became its most apparent in the route of her younger brother, Terys. The impetus for the route lay in helping Terys to avoid a scandal that her eccentricities would otherwise generate, and the close collaboration sparking a more intimate relationship.
  Nobody remembers the route for that. Sure, he was a cute, doting younger brother, but those basically grow on trees.
  What did cause it to stand out amongst certain segments of the player base was how Elastasia would inevitably confess to the heroine if their relationship grew strong enough. But there was never an option to accept, and to complete her brother's route you were obliged to cross this threshold... or if you wanted to recruit her services in any of the more combat-focused second halves of the game.
• Other:

[Rune_Alchemist]

Hi its me again
just waiting on a few things to see who gets meido

[Pyromania99]

Rude Noble Girl

• Name: Serrica Francesca Haldblum
• Age: 17
• Appearance Serrica carries herself confidently as if she could do no wrong with her tendency to wear beautiful if not expensive dresses that tend to be strong, powerful colors like red and purple. For the majority of her life she’s kept her brown hair short though, lately, she’s tried to grow it out longer.
• Gender: Female
• Personality: Serika or Serrica is rather selfish person and carries herself with a sense of superiority over others. If one were to notice her taking an interest in a particular human being outside of social situations, it’s quite likely that she has an idea on how to use that individual. She is highly fueled by greed and a wish to be even more rich than she already is. With that in mind, she treats the commoners of her family’s territory very well, after all, the success of the common man is the success of her territory. She has invested in more than a couple of merchant groups for a cut of the profits.
  
  In social situations much like a party or a ball, she likes to be the center of attention and spreading her influence where she can. Those that pay attention to her, she treats fairly well, those that pay no attention to her are ignored but those that badmouth her tend to have things happen to them, There are rumors that she merely enjoys the company of women and that’s why she holds many tea parties and attends as many parties as she can when it’s not time for school.
• Abilities/Skills: As a noble daughter, Serrica had much education in the domain of proper manners, though admittedly, she has plenty of times where she ignores those lessons when people she dislikes are involved. Sometimes, spending just the right amount of money spent in just the right way can solve those types of problems.
  
  She’s also very knowledgeable about the fluctuating prices of the market though a lot of this is due to her knowledge of the game more than any formal training. Once again, the right amount of money in the right place is bound to bring forth a great amount of profit.
• History: Serika was once a girl from a somewhat poor family. While her family did care for her and did what they could, both her parents had to work constantly to keep up with all their debt, leaving Serika by herself most of the time. Through-out elementary school, she was bullied by a few of the other kids and, once she moved on to middle school, started to do the same to others. Over time, she started to bully kids for their money and figured it was her own way to make money, much like the amount of time her parents spent working.
  
  Once in High School, she didn’t have any easy targets so she eased on the behavior. Instead, she just felt depressed. She had no friends to the mixture of the bully or be bullied attitude she held towards life and had no real goals towards life besides living. Trying to find her own hope for more in life, she entered a free lottery at a local supermarket where she won a game system and with it an apparently popular game called “Cross Heart Academy”. A cursory look at the game made her call it “stupid” but upon actually playing it, she felt herself engrossed with it. Especially in the “Merchant” route of the second half. She learned many of the ins and outs of the game’s trading system that she practically was a master at it.
  
  One day at school, she insulted one of the popular girls at school for being a “dumbass”. After class, she was accosted by some of the girl’s friends before getting into a small scuffle and being pushed down a set of stairs…
  
  The next thing she knew, she woke up in a fancy bed. It took a small amount of time but she quickly realized that she woke up in the body of the character Serrica Haldblum, a character from Cross Heart Academy! Albeit, she was quite small compared to the scenes in the game. Logically, she had time to settle into her own greedy and selfish very of Serrica Francesca Haldblum. A second, selfish lease on life.
• Original Role and Background:
  In the original story, Serrica was a kind and graceful noble eldest daughter of the Haldblum Ducal family, which even the royal family couldn’t just outright ignore. Serrica herself took part in a couple of different routes, typically as an ally of the Heroine. Most notably in a few routes where she used her status to cover for the Heroine after they became friends.
• Other:

[PKMNB0Y]

@Raineh Daze@Pyromania99: Both characters look fine to me. Accepted.

Anyways, time for me to throw something in the ring.

Pensive Workaholic

• Name: Reginald von Afah
• Age: 16
• Appearance: "I'm a bit... Occupied at the moment."
• Gender: Male
• Personality: A rather brusque individual when caught up in his work, Reginald is not much a fan of pleasantries. He is curt and often to-the-point (and was in the past prior to regaining those memories of another life), to the point where words of blind praise seldom come out of his mouth, if ever. To those within his inner circle (small as that is), though, Reginald is far less unshakeable than the facade he puts up. The weight and the constant possibility of his entire world collapsing over his head has led him to become as driven as his 'vengeful' self was, though for completely different reasons, and though he desires to live a life free of turmoil, neither the position he was born into or the one that awaits him seem to wish one for him. To him, so long as those 'bad ends' can be avoided (or at least mitigated to some extent), then all of his struggles will have been worth it.
  With that said, what comes 'after' or what happens to him on other routes is yet unknown to him, and with the world as it is, the fear of wait awaits him beyond that horizon continues to slumber in wait... To say nothing of what enemies await him past even his own 'scenarios'.
• Abilities/Skills: More than anything else, Reginald's skill in melee combat is what sets him apart from many others—or, at the very least, sets him apart within the game of "Cross Heart Academy". When siding with the protagonist, Reginald is oft considered one of the best melee units in the game, with a heavy focus on strength and agility; considering how most routes in which one plays with him usually cause a non-insignificant portion of the recruitable cast to be against the player by default, though, that much might be expected. When against her, though, Reginald has the potential to be just as devastating (if not moreso), as with his tendency to focus out the supports and backline first, rosters of characters could end up crippled even after a victory against him without proper planning.
  When placing matters of battle aside, though, the few years that Reginald has spent with his new memories have led him to study far more than his past self would have in the years leading up to his arrival at Starveil Academy. Though he does not have the political know-how to navigate social situations like many of his peers might, his information gathering and breadth of knowledge (especially when coupled with what knowledge he had before reincarnating) allows him some leeway in terms of studies and gives him more chances to try and either better himself or dig deeper towards the root of his problems.
• History: Prior to his 'awakening' as Reginald, the young man inhabiting his body was a college student who had a penchant for the sciences—in other words, a bit of a nerd who so happened to play "Cross Heart Academy" on a whim. Though the plot of the game had intrigued him as a whole, much of his focus had been on the game's combat scenarios—particularly the RPG and SRPG sections. With even the smallest of changes causing ripples down the line in terms of both encounter and map design, that college student found himself engrossed in those scenarios... Leaving many of the more 'peaceful' scenarios to the wayside (unless, of course, they unlocked something else for him to try his hand at).
  All of those memories came flooding back into him at the age of twelve after a bout of illness, and the following days were spent trying to sort out the deluge of information that had suddenly come pouring into his head. Ultimately, though, the young boy had come to a simple conclusion given all that he had learned thereafter: that such a fate could not come to pass. While he could not in his heart condone what had been done to lead him down that path of vengeance, neither could he accept the person that 'he' would become. What else was there to do, then, but try and avoid that fate with all his heart?
  Ultimately, though, this meant that Reginald would throw himself wholly into his studies, be they academic or martial. Social presence was put to the wayside as he tried to hone himself in body and mind, but his status as a duke's son meant that no matter how he tried, politics would return to claim him once more.
  The ideal goal would be to unravel the schemes of those who sought to bring him to ruin before they even began, of course, but failing that...
  Fighting for his life was always an option, dire as that seemed to be.
• Original Role and Background: Reginald's role in the original world of "Cross Heart Academy" was that of one of the main 'capture targets'—one who was pivotal in more than a few arcs involving the political instability of the kingdom that the Academy resided within. Depending on the choices taken by the player, Reginald would either become the main focus or major antagonist of the second half of the game in those more political and battle-centric routes and disappearing into the shadows on most others. Calling him a 'vengeful specter' would not have been far from the truth, given what fate befalls him and his family, and whether or not he moves to destroy the nation often hinges upon how far he is pushed mentally.
• Other: Has a younger sister named Ellen who, depending on how the scenario plays out, either dies in the incident that brings down his family or joins the protagonist in order to stop him (and possibily dies in the process). Needless to say, Reginald would rather none of those happen in the first place.

[VitaVitaAR]

• Name: Anne Marielle(that's the heroine's name?!)
• Age: 16(oh no...)
• Appearance: "This would be awkward enough without everything else!"
• Gender: Female(aaaah)
• Personality: Matsuoka Ryouji is not happy with this situation. Suddenly remembering her original age and name the day of entry into Starveil was a traumatic experience at best, realizing not only was she a girl now but she was the heroine of Cross Heart Academy on top of it. She has absolutely no interest in any of the romantic routes and is desperate to avoid them. After all, regardless of what she is now, she was a straight man prior to reincarnation.
  
  A bunch of varied bishonen are not on her list of romantic interests. A sarcastic and easily-exasperated person, Anne was quick to comment on things that bugged her about the game's world and characters in her past life and she is still liable to do so now. She's also quite concerned with what the future may hold, given her experience with the game itself. Of course, no matter her past memories and experiences, it can be denied that she is also the game character, Anne Marielle, in addition to Matsuoka Ryouji. Some of Cross Heart Academy's Heroine's kindness and willingness to help others has almost certainly remained, perhaps due to the fact that in spite of Ryouji's bitter attitude he wasn't completely without those impulses in the first place.
  
  The fact is that ultimately, Anne's attitude isn't exclusively informed by her past life's memories and experiences, even if those take the forefront. New personal connections are something she cherishes deep down, both due to Ryouji's loss of the few he had in his old life and Anne's friendly and caring disposition. Perhaps it's also due to the fact that, despite her many negative comments about the game's cast, she truly can't say she disliked any of them, especially as the writing got stronger towards the middle and end of the plot. Still, she is absolutely not interested in any of the game's romantic routes. Flags are to be avoided at all costs.
• Abilities/Skills: Lacking in many practical skills save maybe decent cooking ability, it's likely the designers of the game wanted Anne not to excel in too many things to avoid her starting to feel a little far away from the average person. However, it is later revealed that she has incredibly impressive magical power and an aptitude for holy spells, something she is already aware of due to her previous life.
• History: Matsuoka Ryouji was something of a loner, a young university student who had never really had many friends in life. But he did have some positive relationships, and in spite of a rather bitter attitude he got on very well with his young high-school age sister. Even if their relationship wasn't always smooth, it turned out that they had a similar sense of humor in spite of her far brighter and cheerier demeanor, and her interest in video games(primarily otome games) was useful for his desire to get into game development.
  
  This is likely why she came to him with an otome game she was struggling with, due to a surprising difficulty spike towards the midpoint. Ryouji spent much of the early game mocking the writing choices and decision trees, but as things went on he did come to like the characters as the writing grew stronger. And when the game transitioned from a pure VN to a remarkably challenging SRPG with surprisingly engaging story beats, he couldn't deny he was actually enjoying his time with the game. Eventually he beat it alongside his sister, and while he didn't exactly want to say he liked an otome game that much it was difficult to deny it. Unfortunately for Ryouji, a car accident would end his current life when he used his own body to shield his sister's. She survived, but he did not, and...
  She would wake up as the sixteen-year-old Anne Marielle, protagonist of the otome game she had completed the day prior.
• Original Role and Background: Anne Marielle is friendly, kind, and mildly airheaded girl from a very minor, barely-existent noble family with no prestigious history and basically no reptutation, that was in decline already due to the death of her father and loss of a considerable amount of wealth. Considered a commoner in the eyes of the other students who only entered the school due to what they perceived as pity, her life at the academy life started with her being disregarded and bullied. However, due to her kindness and willingness to help others, she found herself attracting the attentions of a certain set of male students...
  From there, in Ryouji's case, things escalated into a rather emotionally intense and dramatic route culminating in a a battle that decided the fate of the world.
• Other:

[PKMNB0Y]

@VitaVitaAR: Character accepted.

[AThousandCurses]

As I'm writing, I'm unsure about my character concept. I planned on making a tutorial NPC that only stuck around for the first half of the game. He serves as a rare material gatherer that would give the heroine valuable items in exchanging for ludicrious amounts of money. Though his second function is to provide the heroine an indicator on which route she his heading both in romance and in game genre.

[Rune_Alchemist]

@PKMNB0Y

Totally not sus hard working maid

• Name:
  Mella Kristelle
• Age:
  19
• Appearance
  Generally, nothing special. Somewhat tall with a petite build and strong legs. Short dark hair, dressed in appropriate attire for a maid. A somewhat hard to read, neutral expression that seems to consider most people around her a bit annoying. Her most striking feature, is perhaps her violet eyes. A somewhat rare trait often considered to be connected to high ranking members of the church.
• Gender:
  Female
• Personality:
  In a few words, a bit standoffish with a penchant for dry wit, sarcasm, and generally thinking people are a bit dumb. A neutral, unreadable and slightly tired expression. Mella performs her duties as a maid with a practiced professionalism. Polite and friendly, but not friendly. She does menial tasks assigned to her without complaint, attends to her lords or ladys requests without questions, preempts whatever it is they could possibly want and ensures to do as they wish to the best of her abilities. In effect, she's a model maid as far as her employers are concerned.
  Aside from perhaps one little quirk of hers - she's an absolutely greedy and selfish little fiend. Not that she'll steal from her employers, no, that's a good way to get put in prison or worse. She'll do whats expected of her no questions ask...but want something else from her? Better pay up. Make an unexpected trip to town for some reason? Pay up. Spike the drink of some nobleman during a party? Pay up. Spy on other maids? Pay up - and you best pay well. This mostly translates to her doing just doing above the bare minimum as far as her work goes to appear competent.
  For the most part though, she pinches money, keeps her head down, and looks after no one else but herself. While the greed didn't come about until after she gained her memories, this life suits her just fine.
• Abilities/Skills:
  Mella is an exceptional maid. Cooking, cleaning, housekeeping, gardening, caretaking...you name it. If its a domestic skill of some manner she can perform to excel. Mostly as one could expect from a maid, a few more skills in more clandestine areas, too. Rumor spreading, information gathering. Some perhaps, breaking and entering, sneaking, theft and has been quietly trying to learn some swordsmanship for some minor self defense in her little free time.
  
  Outside of these things, though, Mella has no exceptional skills - she was never meant to be a major character in any route but one.
  
  Well.
  
  Save for the fact she's clairvoyant. A secret she doesn't let anyone know, nor does she want anyone to know. Using still surfaces of water, mirrors, or other 'pure' reflective surfaces she can, should she desire, see events that are happening far away. Its not perfect, and she can only hear sound in the purest of reflections like mirrors, and the visions may be cloudy and unfinished otherwise.
  
  This is an ability ever held by those blessed by the divine and a closely guarded ability. The missing Saintess Rhamelle Seraphiella Kristiel was said to possess this ability.
• History:
  Prior to becoming a maid, the person who had once been Mella, was a hard working cubicle monkey and desk jockey, and something of a former delinquent who had a history of crime in their former world before straightening their lives out as best they could. Playing games like Cross Heart Academy wasn't even particularly something they were fond of or had even considered doing too much of. The only reason she ever did, is because a friend left it over at her place one day, and quickly became engrossed in the more sim and business management routes that the game offered later on in the second acts.
  
  About three years ago, is when she'd regain these memories. Confused at first, because one she had no idea what character she was, two, she thought this might have been punishment from the gods for running away, she quickly came to terms with who she was and what had happened. She was the Saintess - and in most routes, she ended up dying. Well yeah fuck that she already died once from overwork she wasn't gonna do that again. It was a good thing she was used to long hours and pretty monotonous work like this.
  
  She resolved to solve this issue by amassing a fortune, becoming a mostly independent woman, and living a cushy life. Starting by saving up money to start a business.
• Original Role and Background:
  The maid Mella Kristelle was for the most part, in Cross Heart Academy a complete background character. A maid working for the von Afah household, and the personal maid of their son, Reginald. In most routes, she's neither seen nor heard aside from a few references. In most routes, she often perishes in the conflicts that ruins the Afah house.
  
  The only route in which she ever becomes relevant, is if the Heroine decides to Romance the man that will later become the Archbishop of the church. In this route, the Heroine effectively becomes a high ranking inquisitor and member of the church, maxing out both divine and more clandestine abilities in the process. The Archbishop asks her to look into the disappearance of Saintess Rhamelle Seraphiella Kristiel who disappeared some years ago under suspicious circumstances.
  
  After following clues and looking into things, its discovered Mella, is in fact the saintess. Wanting nothing to do with the guilded cage of the church, the Heroine is forced to either fight her in which she is accidentally killed, let her go where she becomes effectively a homeless vagrant and leaves the country, or dragged back to the church and placed under stricter lock and key for the good of the kingdom.
• Other:

Carries a small handheld mirror on her at all times.

[PKMNB0Y]

@AThousandCurses: I see no issue with the concept, honestly (though I wonder how the second function, which you could probably argue is more important, would be presented).

@Rune_Alchemist: Accepted.

[AThousandCurses]

• Name: Cervantes Quixote
• Age: 23
• Appearance:
• Gender: Male
• Personality: If one must be a merchant, one must be observant of their surroundings. To retain customers, you must have your best smile on at all times, even when they're rather vile creatures that spit poison. Finally, if one has resolved to become a merchant, one must focus on one thing. Money. Money rules the world and your life, so always focus on the profits. Cervantes embodies all these traits, from being observant, amicable, and greedy. However, those views stem from the need for stability and safety.
  Outside of business, Cervantes is genuine and amicable while being a bit foul-mouthed. A free spirit who tries to enjoy life to its fullest. Cervantes enjoys social interaction and thinking of odd things. He's the type of person who would banter and have your back in your time of need. Though, in the end, he's also human. If a problem impacted his life, Cervantes would try to solve it in the quickest way possible.
• Abilities/Skills: Cervantes possesses a lack of magical aptitude or any physical talent. He makes up with his luck and collection. It may have been the game's settings, but when it comes to finding rare items, Cervantes possesses a high rate of finding them. A mixture of both knowledge and intuition, if there's an item that is needed, Cervantes could see it.
  His other talents are also business-related. From his knowledge of the economy to what stores you should go to if you need a specific service.
  Though the main thing Cervantes is known for is his intuition. As a tutorial NPC that only sticks around for the first half of the game, Cervantes serves as an indicator of which route the Heroine is heading. Cervantes has a sense in his mind that tells him how the story will turn out, a feeling, to be exact. It could be the future sight or a premonition from god; it is uncertain where this power lies, except that Cervantes has a feeling about how things will turn out. However, the Heroine is required to be nearby for him to activate it.
• History: Before Cervantes was Cervantes, Cervantes previous life was a worker at his family's restaurant. It wasn't much hard work between switching from serving customers to cooking the meals. It was quite dull and tedious work, a fact that Cervantes became well acquainted with every day. That's why he often loafed around by reading fantasy books or playing games.
  When he came across 'Cross Heart Academy,' it was undoubtedly an exciting game. It was certainly an innovative, unique product compared to other visual novel games. If anything, he found it strange that they could fit so much content into the game, to begin with.
  What did Cervantes's previous self do when he got the game? The answer might be odd but reasonable. Cervantes tried to speedrun the game in his free time. It was a very open game with various factors that determined future outcomes, meaning every playthrough had its unique experience.
  Sadly, he would die early after going out drinking with friends. The events are still blurry to him as he is intoxicated.
  When he came to be, he was the tutorial NPC shopkeeper. A fact that he knew well after spending quite a bit of time trying to grind out the NPC's prices and visiting him to check what route the Heroine was on. It was just him alone, in a shop, with nothing except his name that he found in the NPC's journal. Cervantes Quixote.
• Original Role and Background: To the majority of the players of Cross Heart Academy, the only name that Cervantes went by was 'nameless shopkeeper.' A tutorial NPC that also served as a shopkeeper gave the Heroine a rundown of the market. A charming character for sure, mainly when the shopkeeper sold valuable items or quest items that were hard to obtain. He also served as an indicator of what the route the Heroine was on, saying, "Hmmm, I have a feeling a war might be brewing soon. You should prepare yourself in the coming days," or, "I heard the Crown Prince was infatuated with someone as of late. You wouldn't know who that would be, would you?" Though when the second half of the game was reached, the shopkeeper would disappear. Nobody knows why, but several theories have come up. Perhaps an unfixable bug deleted the shopkeeper; maybe the creators forgot to add him in the second half of the game, or maybe the villainess was killed offscreen after finding out he was helping the Heroine. Nobody knows, and neither does Cervantes.
• Other:

[MagusDream]

This is an interesting Isekai concept. I'm thinking of a male character that, by the game's terms, isn't dateable and has no route, but can become the friend of the heroine to help her with whatever choice she makes.

[PKMNB0Y]

@AThousandCurses: Character looks fine. Accepted.

@MagusDream: Yeah, that concept's perfectly workable.

[Fiber]

I was thinking of playing an NPC who only exists in the game to loredump, controlled by someone who hasn't actually played the game but read a bunch of doujinshi and fanfics based on it.

[PKMNB0Y]

@Fiber: Concept as a whole feels a bit too nebulous for my liking. There's not enough there to form a cohesive character around simply BECAUSE of the concept, and the secondary person added in adds nothing meaningful to the world or cast in my opinion.

[MagusDream]

OK, I have something to show off.

The Heroine's Outgoing Route Helper and His Isolated and Reserved Host

"Why hello there, Anne! Do you need anything from me today? I'm happy to help you so you can count on me!" ~ Noctis' in-game text when talking to him.

"A loner like me has to play the role of the heroine's best friend informant or something...? I didn't do something to deserve this torture after dying... did I?" ~ Alain, after finding out he has reincarnated as Noctis, of all characters available.

---

Basic Information

Character Name: Noctis Alegretto
Isekai'd Human Name: Alain Willows
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Character Type: Ally / Non-Routable
Alignment: Lawful Good

---

Personal and Historical Information (Noctis)

Personality: As a character, Noctis is a pretty sympathetic, friendly, and intelligent young man that quickly becomes friends with the heroine Anne Marielle from the first meeting between them. He'd always be ready to give her any information necessary regarding the route she (being controlled by the player) selected, as well as some tips on how to progress with that character, what exact gifts to buy, and what to talk about with the selected character.

Outside of his role, he is a studious and prestigious young man that has a high interest in the pursuit of the magic arts, especially in the control of the elements to aid people. He's a hard worker that always spends most of his hours chasing after theoretical and practical knowledge in order to master the control of magic. His dream was always to pursue the role of a scholar and a teacher, helping other people to use and control magic without any fear.
Original Role and Background: Noctis is the 9th and youngest son of the Alegretto family, known to house some of the best mages and scholars who graduated from Starveil Academy. As such, he is now continuing the family tradition by also pursuing the same goal, though the only difference is that he wants to work AT Starveil Academy and not outside of it, like the rest of his older siblings who ended up working on different places like [CONFIDENTIAL_INFORMATION_UNLOCAKBLE_AS_YOU_PLAY].

His original role in Cross Heart Academy was as a member of Starveil Academy's Student Council, as well as the heroine's ally and friend. Noctis is programmed to give the heroine information on the character selected by her, tips on how to make said character happy, what he likes to receive as gifts, as well as some sidequests that would improve the heroine's stats that were desirable by the selected character, although not at a regular pace, but long intervals.>/list>
Other:

---

Personal and Historical Information (Alain)

Personality: Alain is a pretty reserved person that was never used to having many friends, and just play games all day on his own. He wasn't fond of talking to people and was just so reserved that people actually believe that he was depressive or anything of the sort. But it wasn't that he had sad thoughts 24/7, it was just that Alain wasn't exactly fond of growing to people because of circumstances that made him feel different from the rest of the people his age.

But those who were close to Alain know that he's just a shy but kindhearted person that's a good listener before a talkative friend. He talks... not too much, but he does. He's reserved, and thinks more than he talks, but isn't a bad guy. The two friends Alain had in school were really close to him because he was a big support, especially whenever they were in a bad mood.

The reason why he feels different from others is that Alain is a PwD (person with a disability), specifically on his legs, so he has to walk in a wheelchair, which gives him an inferiority complex compared to people who can walk normally. Also, he is gay, so he likes men, which is something his own family has a prejudice against, as well as the LGBTQIAP+ community in general.

He's a visual novel and an otome game aficionado that loves playing these games to have that feeling of a more innocent romance, considering his community's romance games most likely include something "spicy" that isn't Alain's preferable aspect when playing VNs. He was drawn by the Cross Heart Academy through the game's anime style, the story, and some of the characters. Speaking of which, he has already completed the game's "delinquent" and "burly but cute" routes, which are his favorite trope when playing these games, and is drawn to the characters of this route like a fly to a lamp.

Reincarnating as Noctis left Alain mostly in shambles because he's nowhere near being comparable to Noctis as a person, and that has led him to develop a habit of overthinking at least 10 situations at once because he's the friendly Ally that the heroine/player speaks most of the time to get ways of progressing their route further. The only things that made Alain happy with this reincarnation is that he can walk like a normal person and that he can use magic.

History: Alain is the youngest of two sons from a simple and traditional family living in São Paulo, Brazil. Despite being American by nature, his father was relocated from his job in the U.S. when he was just a 1-year-old baby, so he rarely lived in his country of birth. Ever since he was born, Alain was diagnosed with a disability on both his legs, not having one of them spared. So he had to use wheelchairs from his childhood beyond, and no physiotherapy did result despite his and his family's efforts.

Alain's problems only got bigger when his father began to mistreat him because he couldn't walk. Despite his mother and his brother being at his side, the misogynistic, prejudicial, and harmful attitudes coming from his father affected him greatly, and he started to develop an inferiority complex. Also, because he would often lash out at his wife and his other son because they were helping him made Alain worry for their safety, which is why he began to distance himself from them in order to guarantee their safety.

Alain never had many friends at school, but the two he had at his side were his second family for him. They would play games, hang out a little and keep him safe from bullies who threatened and tried to abuse Alain because of his disability. This is what prevented Alain from losing hope and becoming depressive since he had people to count on outside of his family.

However, because of his limitations, Alain settled on video gaming as a hobby. To fill some of the voids he felt as a person, he started to binge on RPGs and visual novels where he could play protagonists being heroes and able to save the world from danger with their friends. Then, he dwelled on the more romance-centric part of visual novels and jumped directly onto Otome games. He started to get passionate and ended up discovering his own sexuality through these games. He tried the LGBTQIAP+ side of visual novels, but the "spiciness" of their content was a big turn-off for him and he just settled for the Otome games in general.

When he came across Cross Heart Academy, he fell in love with it and played it happily. Taking the control of Anne Marielle, he started to dwell in the world of the game as he played the "delinquent" route and ended up falling in love with it. Once he completed it, he started to play other routes, completing the "burly but cute" route as well and starting the "student council president" route, while also dwelling a little bit on regards to the lore.

Normally, in these types of stories, the person dies a rather normal death such as a car accident and gets sent into another world. However, Alain was a victim of a brutal tragedy. While he was playing the game, his father, exceedingly drunk and out of control, started to violently tear the house apart at the sight of the "family's failure" playing a "girly" game, which ended up leading to him getting a knife and harming both wife and son... while killing Alain in the process. The last sound he heard that day was sirens as his eyes closed and he only saw the darkness.

When he opens his eyes back to reality, he's in an unusual room that he never saw before. And when he looks at the mirror, a shocking revelation comes to his life, as he reincarnated as Noctis Alegretto, one of the important supporting characters in Cross Heart Academy...

---

Battle and Techniques

Abilities and Skills: As a character in-game, Noctis is an offensive mage-type ally, specialized in casting different elemental magic. Think of him as a classic "Black Mage" type character. He is a recruitable character by the player and is an ally in every route taken by them, without exception (until new routes are created where he becomes a permanent enemy), only being fought against in some tutorial events if the player chooses to take magic lessons and is the reward character for completing the magic lessons tutorial.

Noctis starts with only the basic spells for Water and Wind elemental magic, but as the player trains him within the game, he later learns Fire, Earth, Lightning and Ice elemental spells, making him a versatile character against every element. He cannot learn Light, Dark, Divine and Demonic elemental spells, as these elements are exclusive to special characters.

He comes with a special battle passive called Elemental Learner, which grants him a considerate resistance to all elemental magic except Light, Dark, Divine and Demonic elemental spells.

Outside of battle, Noctis returns to his role as the heroine's/player's route helper, indicating information necessary for the route to progress, as well as granting hints and tips to improve the relationship between the heroine/player and the selected route main character/love interest.

Strengths and Weaknesses: As often discussed by players throughout the Cross Heart Academy fanbase, Noctis is considered a beginner-friendly character for those who like to use magic, and a good character, in general, to use against enemies who aren't good against mages and have low character resistance. Because of his versatility, with an array of elemental magic at his disposal, he's also pretty good against anything since he can hit elemental weaknesses except Light, Dark, Divine and Demonic elemental affinities.

However, this comes with the problem of Noctis being a jack of all trades that is good at a lot of stuff, but focuses on nothing and is unable to excel at his work. At later levels in the game, depending on the route taken, Noctis is completely replaceable by other characters that are better at his job and can deal stronger damage by learning spells that he can't learn. This makes him get easily forgotten at battles near the endgame, where his skills become insufficient to deal with late-game bosses and the final boss of each route.

It's also important to notice that Noctis has very low to abysmal physical resistance, meaning that classes that take advantage of physical attacks can and will deal deadly damage to him, if not outright kill him in battle.

---

Music Themes

Noctis' Music Theme: Berry Berry Cue (CounterSide)
Alain's Music Theme: Mary, the Magician (Ghostly Field Club), recreation by Artifex

[Crusader Lord]

@PKMNB0Y

Meido of Serrica

Lydianna Schaffen

• Name: Lydianna Schaffen
• Age:: 16
• Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/CHvaOy9.jpg
• Gender: Female
• Personality: The type of person who earnestly seeks to do her best and makes sure of it no matter what, though when she gets especially passionate about a task there is always the chance of overworking herself. Still, in the end one can find her rather reliable in general and prompt when it comes to getting something done. Likewise, cooking has always been a passion for her that even now includes and involves the brewing and preparation of various teas that she’s learned about in the game and likewise since being ‘reborn’ in the game's world. Yet even with these initial traits that would seem perfect for a servant, there's more to this than just a seemingly happy-to-serve servant-type of person. She is a determined girl who, for the first time in a long time, feels like she is in control over her life to some extent. So what if it comes with serving the nobility? So what if she gained fame for her culinary skills and expertise that had been ever more honed and sharpened over a new 16 years of life? Her position is a particular one that allows her access to what she desires at least, especially in working for the Haldblums (not that she had any choice in that matter), whether it be cooking ingredient or pay or even being able to make people both wealthy and common alike smile with her dishes. Then again, she has also come to embrace the selfish wish to learn magic as well on a personal note. She’s always found the magical fascinating, and to be in a world where that is real, it’s a dream she seeks to make come true as well with all her heart. She wishes to learn all there is to learn from it, just as much as she adores and wishes to continue with cooking, and to see her pursuits blossom into fruitfulness in this new world in their entirety. This is why serving her mistress, the strangely ruthless-seeming and selfish Serra, does have more than one potential benefit to get out of things by serving her at the Academy.
  
  Yet at the same time her knowledge of the game is something that has left her…suspicious of her mistress' behavior to a certain extent. Was she the only one to arrive in the world of the game? Because Serrica in the game was a kind and graceful girl, but the one she’d served all her life was nothing short of the opposite in some ways. In the end it did not matter for the most part, however, and she's kept to her role with a genuine glee. The future had potential for her as well, to be sure, whether that was further advantages from her position currently or even rising up the ranks of society one day.
• Abilities/Skills:
  
  As someone raised to become a maid and kept around her mistress from a young age, she’s acquired the skills that would make sense for one in the employ of a big noble family such as the Haldblum. Manners, etiquette, presentation, how to mend clothes, how to manage things on short notice, running errands for her mistress Serrica and her mistress' parents, housekeeping, gardening, and so forth in this vein of things. Aka, the whole wide range of domestic skills needed if not outright required for a high-class maid such as herself.
  
  Meanwhile her old life’s passion, cooking, was something she took over into the new one with a continued passion that has brewed quite the results for her own personal reputation. Included in this is her dedicated how to prepare tea, and adding it to her repertoire of skills, which she's come to enjoy as just another part of her passion. However, from the start she was dubbed by her new-world mother and maid peers and even nobles she served as a ‘born genius’ at cuisine and cooking. Learning the practices and such of the new world, and taking everything she had memorized to an instinct before as well as game knowledge, she knew cooking would be a shoe-in area she could make work for herself. Not that this is all she knows of course, but it is her most standout skill thus far.
  
  Further the nature of being a ‘fly on the wall’, a snooping sneaky servant, and so forth has also come to be part of her skillset inevitably. Listening in on someone or following them by her mistress’ command, sneaking in and out contraband, stealing, moving undetected, getting into things she shouldn’t, and the like are among the things she’s also become rather experienced and well-versed in due to the nature of her role and job. Being a maid doesn't mean living a boring life, after all, and even she has had to admit to herself that this sort of thing is a bit of a bad guilty pleasure she enjoys to some extent.
• History:
  
  A child with a passion for cooking, who enjoyed the flavors and learning about the ingredients and so forth from a young age. She was always curious and seeking to learn, and on top of enjoying fantasy books filled with magic and wonder. Yet her parents would push her, once a talent seemed to bud up in her, to take this passion and make it professional. Whilst her life started off humble, she was pushed and advertised and such until she became a young TV cooking star in the end. She often missed the more humble life where she could just cook as she pleased, and where she could help people with her cooking, but now she was having to invent recipes for cookbooks or allow others to put them in there as if she’d made them herself, follow show formats set by those above her, and talk to co-starring faces from other shows and the like that came onto her own show or invited her onto theirs. Etc.
  
  All of this to her was rather taxing and draining, the only initial comfort she had at first being the far more advanced and fancy and top-tier cooking classes she got to take. Famous chefs and avant-garde cooks and 5-star restaurant recipes would find their way deep into her cooking and mind, on top of things such as historical recipes and such she could now pursue with her newfound status and wealth as a mere child. Indeed her talents and skills would be hones further, but it still wouldn't be enough to get her through on some days. Ultimately it would be her discovery of otome games and other kinds of video games that gave her another outlet during this time as well, within which she’d find a small passion in ~Cross Heart Academy~ and the struggles of the heroine who was surrounded by other nobility and their antics. She would go through the routes, side characters, and all she could to get an idea of things and grasp the game’s world. It took her out of things as they were around her, and let her be someone else somewhere else who could do things she could only dream of. It let her in a sense also be more herself as she sought to master the cooking aspects in the game, but also indulge things she'd fantasized about doing like learning how to use cool magic spells and finding true love out there.
  
  Then came the day when her parents filed for divorce, after which came her being placed in the care of a middleman the day after as they bickered and fought in the courts to each get custody of her and her...everything. It was hard to sleep for days after that first day in court having to testify, during the nights of which she binged on playing ~Cross Heart Academy~ in particular to try to keep her mind off of things. Getting up to cook her own food during one of these following days, as per her usual, she would exhaustedly spill a small bit of oil after trying to pour some in a pan to cook her breakfast. Turning to grab a paper towel, her foot hit the spreading oil spill. She fell. CRACK. Her head hit the counter edge, and landed on the floor unconscious with a bad head wound. She would ultimately die of bleeding out on the floor before her 'neutral caretaker' that was living with her could get EMS on the scene.
  
  …She then woke up as someone different in a world far different from her own. Now once again she found she could find joy in her life, had a loving parent to fill her life with, and room to fill that empty void and make a name for herself by doing what she loved. Sure it came with catering to the tastes of nobility, and working as a maid, but her former life had lent her some experience to help her deal with that at least. Not to mention being raised to fulfill her future role for nobility to boot. Yet now even cooking for her fellow peers was a joy in terms of the much simpler food they had to work with. It was far better in some ways than her old life, and now she knew things about the world that no one else did! Well…in theory. Potentially. She had more time to do what she loved, and the chance to learn magic in that at least was a treasure to her indeed.
  
  However, her ultimate fate was yet to come....and what it would hold in this case was going to be the biggest mystery of all to her.
• Original Role and Background:
  
  Lydianna was originally a side character playing the part of the somber and dutiful maid of the Haldblum Family, being assigned in time specifically to the noble daughter of the family. Her mother and herself were always treated oddly well by their employers, which gained them some ire from a few of the other maids of the family's estate, but due to her struggles in performing some aspects of her job the beautiful girl found refuge in serving Serrica due to the other's kindness toward her. Only a year behind her charge, she would eventually assist in her mistress’ efforts to help the Heroine (in the applicable routes that is) when her mistress went to Starveil Academy. Here she would also assist her mistress in her actions, whether Serrica became a friend of the Heroine or not.
  
  Yet it wasn’t all so simple. In reality, Lydianna was born the secret daughter of Lord Haldblum's brother who had married Lydianna's mother (a girl from a lower but still noble family) some time back before getting her pregnant and then dying. Yet due to the danger said brother was in at the time, which caused his death, the mother and child were taken in as mere commoners and became maids to hide the truth until things were safe for them to come out of hiding. Lydianna was never told the truth, but her mother would remain in-the-know the whole time. Eventually the Heroine could uncover the truth about Lydianna's parentage during one of the game's side quests at the Academy by snooping about during a side quest, finding the truth spelled out by taking and reading a misplaced unopened letter for Serrica sent to her by Lord Haldblum.
• Other:

[Teyao]

Ashan Darwish

• Name: Ahsan Darwish
• Age: 18
• Appearance: "My family insists that I need to present myself with a good image", "But I much prefer this"
• Gender: Male
• Personality: An outgoing and usually cheerful man Ahsan tends to be perpetually friendly, happy and blunt in his feelings but sometimes this comes across as pushy or overbearing.
  
  This means that Ahsan will almost always be honest even if lying would be the better and safer option, however this aspect of himself has become a little more lax once he regained his memories.
  
  Difficult to anger and stubborn he prefers to be among friends but does well in large gatherings as long as the atmosphere isn't too rowdy.
• Abilities/Skills: Born and raised as a Noble of middling status he knows and follows most of the etiquette lessons that predominate the kingdom with all their unnecessary flairs and the occasional use of flowery language to stroke or break each other's ego.
  
  But the singular aspect where Ahsan truly is remarkable is in his charm magic and his capacity to use dances to invoke more esoteric effects.
  
  He has a barely passable capacity with the sword as he only took it to practice blade dancing.
• History: Before Ahsan became Ahsan he was Alex, a normal person, someone who woke up everyday went to Uni and then came home to do Homework and relax.
  
  It was by pure chance that he came across a charming Otome game which then proceeded to reveal more and more of itself, quickly becoming one of his favorites by sheer quantity of the content and the surprisingly deep lore that could be found through all the different options one could choose.
  
  The only reason he never completed the game at a 100% was for a lack of time before his demise when he fell from the roof of his home when he was working on It.
• Original Role and Background: As the son of a normal Viscount, Ahsan life has been carefully structured for him to either rise through own merit or to be married off upwards in an attempt to elevate the family status.
  
  Which makes it such a shame that he wishes for nothing more than to leave his family name behind and become a wandering performer with little regards for prestige and decorum.
  
  It all started when he was 10 and a wandering troupe settled in his family lands for a few nights, sneaking off to see them in his first ever act of open rebellion Ahsan can say that was one of the best nights of his life thanks to the people and the grandeur of it all.
  
  When he informed his parents of his newfound interest in dancing they eagerly found him tutors and ways to practice, seeing it as an opportunity to make him distinguished in the eyes of the nobility but when it became apparent that he cared more for his freedom than for the family standing they stopped but the damage was done already.
  
  He managed to get an invitation to the Academy besides the other lower nobility and his character arc without the heroine interfering would be a coin toss between him abandoning his dreams and accepting to become a vessel for his family success or to break his chains and live his life to the fullest.
  
  If the heroine does become involved however his paths become More intertwined with hers to the point that Is possible for him to retain his status and accomplish his dreams.
• Other: One of the reasons his family is so insistent that he inherits the family legacy Is the simple fact that he possesses no brothers, sisters, cousins or even uncles who could take the mantle despite his parents' attempts.
  Despite being romanceable he wasn't a very popular choice despite being a "must-have" party member.

[PKMNB0Y]

@MagusDream: Putting the tag error aside, I find it weird that the person's family name pre-isekai was 'Blueflame'. Could probably change that to be something a bit more 'normal'. Rest of the form looks fine to me otherwise, and it'll be an acceptance once I give an okay on the name.

@Crusader Lord: Honestly, my biggest problem with this character is the weird (and maybe accidental?) suicidal ideation that the character portrays. It's one thing to pass away due to an accident or being a victim of some crime and be given a second chance, but to willingly take one's own life and, in essence, be rewarded for that?
...Yeah, doesn't sit right with me. I'll concern myself with the rest after that bit's fixed.

@Teyao: What I find a bit more problematic is how the character just doesn't fit in thematically with the rest of the cast at the given point in time in the story we're starting at (read: the start of the 'game's' story). There's no clean way to integrate the character into the RP for the first who knows how long, and if I'm going to be completely honest here it's fairly unlikely that forcing them into the cast would lead to anything productive. Sorry.

[MagusDream]

@MagusDream: Putting the tag error aside, I find it weird that the person's family name pre-isekai was 'Blueflame'. Could probably change that to be something a bit more 'normal'. Rest of the form looks fine to me otherwise, and it'll be an acceptance once I give an okay on the name.

@PKMNB0Y

I fixed it. And the tag error on Noctis' history was on purpose because since we don't have information on the rest of the game's world outside of the academy itself, I can't start creating stuff left and right so I put it in a way to make it seem that Alain hasn't played a route that unlocked that information.