ooc - Application
Name: Sheryl Nome
Fandom: Macross Frontier
Gender: F
Age: 17
Time Period: End of the series canon but not taken from the movieverse.
Wing Color: Pale yellow with pale pink tips
History
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS
Synopsis of Sheryl’s role in the series.
Sheryl's story begins back on Macross Galaxy. She's a child of the street and lives like any homeless person would before she was discovered by Grace O'Connor and rescued from the streets. After this, there was a period of time where Sheryl was admitted to the hospital to begin treatment for the V-type infection that she has become a carrier for. This is a very difficult to treat infection and as such, comes back to haunt Sheryl in the later years of her life. It is sometime during this point in her young life that Sheryl is codenamed Faerie-9 and given the name Sheryl Nome by Grace. Of course, this was never the case as Sheryl was aptly named by her mother, Mao Nome. Sheryl's mother also left her a gift in the form of her Grandmother's Fold Quartz earrings and Sheryl will eventually begin to take the steps to become the Galactic Nymph.
Fast-forward many years towards Sheryl's arrival at Macross Frontier where it has all been conveniently planned that the Vajra will begin their next series of attacks. Sheryl goes about her daily life as a pop idol as she prepares for her concert. Her first encounter with Alto was when he caught her after she jumped off a tower edge during her concert and he had to take her sailing through the air to the delight of an enraptured crowd. However, this concert doesn’t go as planned as the Vajra begin their first attack upon the Frontier. The first attacks takes place during Sheryl's first concert and she's outraged that it's ending. It was her show and she wanted to see it through to the end. When the call to evacuate is given however, you better evacuate. Of course, Alto doesn't approve of this and let's Sheryl know that she isn't being a professional if she doesn't care about what happens to her fans.
Along the way in her travels on Macross Frontier, Sheryl encounters Ranka Lee who is a big fan of hers. They eventually end up in a park where they witness the SMS Skull Squadron taking off to fight in a battle. Eventually, Sheryl is reunited with Alto where she demands that he return the lost earring that she'd been searching for earlier in the day while also searching for him throughout the main colony of Frontier. She's also quite skilled at getting lost but anyone is likely to get lost while running around in foreign territory. However, just in time for some good old bonding time between the love-triangle, a Vajra attack occurs. Thankfully, there's an emergency shelter nearby, which has Ranka, Sheryl and Alto taking refuge in. Alto and Sheryl being the wonderfully mature young adults that they are, take the time to have an argument in front of Ranka who does good on her attempt to diffuse their lovers spat. In comes the specialty of the Nyan Nyan Restaurant; perfectly shaped breasts with perky pink nipples! tuna dumplings! Insert laughter here. Sadly, tragedy is looming in the air as their oxygen begins to run out but help is on the way. Just in the nick of time, Grace and Cathy find them in the shelter and save the day!
This leads Sheryl to giving Ranka some advice about a golden opportunity being just around the corner for the young aspiring singer. This event is none other than the Miss Macross Pageant. Sheryl is a guest judge for the event in which she witnesses Ranka lost the competition but she begins getting a lot more attention through her tribulations. At this time, Sheryl is still the number one pop idol despite the tragedy that befalls her home of Macross Galaxy. A distress call comes from Galaxy about being attacked by a huge swarm of Vajra and it is eventually learned early in the series that the main island of Galaxy is presumed lost in space.
Eventually, the Vajra have settled on Frontier as their main target as Sheryl proclaims that even though Galaxy is missing, that she will keep moving forward for the sake of those who are missing. She sings bravely and refuses to give up despite the fact that she practically breaks down emotionally on the stage while singing. Before the concert however, Alto shows up backstage to return Sheryl’s earring to her. This leads Sheryl to give Alto the earring as a good charm luck to keep him safe in battle. Regardless of her tsundere nature, Sheryl is falling in love with Alto.
Naturally, when Alto loses her earring in the heat of the battle while he’s saving Luca, Sheryl’s not overly impressed with this. It also leads her to stay on Frontier as there is no news of Galaxy’s whereabouts. Furthermore, it leads her to spend a day at Mihoshi High School to see what it’s like to be around kids her own age. Sheryl’s never experienced what it’s like to be a normal teenager so this is a new experience for her. Eventually, Sheryl also joins the high school as a member of the pilot programming.
Sadly for Sheryl, her V-type infection is starting to manifest itself. She doesn’t have as much work to do lately so she’s been seen at Mihoshi High a lot more frequently. At first, there are just little signs of a problem and perhaps she’s just getting a cold when she starts sneezing. As it is soon discovered, Sheryl’s constantly running a fever and overworking herself when she should be resting. Being the stubborn and headstrong young woman that she is, Sheryl keeps pushing herself regardless of her health and wellbeing.
Eventually work is arranged for Sheryl around Alto’s birthday to which point she offers him the gift of being able to fly in an open sky. This leads the duo toward Gallia IV to put on a concert for the 33rd Battalion which is mostly comprised of Zentraedi. Sadly though, Sheryl collapses immediately after landing and is not fit to perform in the concert. This situation enrages the rebel Zentraedi at the base and a large battle ensues while Sheryl begins a fight for her life. The day is later saved by Ranka and Michael who arrive from Frontier in the nick of time to prevent a lot of bloodshed.
Not long after this, Sheryl is recovering and insists upon helping Michael searching for the now missing Ranka and Alto after a series of events have all the electrical devices malfunctioning. Of course, it’s not long after this that another battle with the Vajra ensues. Meanwhile, Sheryl’s manager Grace decides to unleash a powerful bomb that destroys half of Gallia IV. Michael, with Sheryl in tow, boards his plane and begin their escape from Gallia IV by hitching a ride with the Vajra horde that is intent on attacking Frontier.
Naturally, Sheryl and Michael make it back to Frontier but the SMS pilot is injured during the fold trip back. This leaves Sheryl in quite the predicament as she must put her training as a pilot from Mihoshi High to the test. She proclaims that she’s Sheryl and pilots the plane back to the Macross Quarter albeit haphazardly. Michael is taken to a medical centre for treatment while Sheryl goes to make sure that Alto comes back to the ship alive.
After the battles are over, Sheryl is hospitalized to recover from her illness. Grace takes it upon herself to cancel all of Sheryl’s work while the diva declares that she’s fine and can still work. However, before Sheryl can get in another word, Grace leaves the room which annoys Sheryl. Later on, Alto comes to visit her with Ranka in tow and soon afterwards, Sheryl and Ranka are engaging in a contest to one up the other in regards to their relationship with Alto.
Soon after this, Sheryl learns that Grace has become Ranka’s manager at the insistence of the Frontier Government. The ill diva will leave the hospital and find her way to the bridge of Macross Quarter. It is here that she witnesses the power of Ranka’s song Aimo. After witnessing Ranka’s song, Sheryl makes the decision to confront her manager and demand why she’s become Ranka’s manager. This is where Sheryl will learn that if Grace hadn’t pulled her off the street all those years ago, she would’ve been a nobody that no one would pay attention to while living on the streets of Galaxy. This devastates Sheryl and leaves her to go staggering through the streets while searching for Alto in the rain. She soon collapses after this and calls out for Alto’s help to be aided by his adoptive older brother.
Dressed in the garb of Alto’s late mother at the Saotome mansion, Sheryl proclaims that she’s going to give up singing. She cites that she’s achieved most of what she wanted to do anyway which infuriates Alto who had snuck into the mansion to visit and he ultimately leaves in frustration. During the concert to celebrate National Aimo Day, Sheryl watches from a distance and is about to give up on Alto when she is encouraged by Klan to not give up on her love. Sheryl goes after Alto and tries to talk to him only to have a dizzy spell and fall into Alto’s arms.
At this point, the vajra have begun a large scale attack on the interior of the Frontier. Ranka is pleaded by Alto to sing and with Sheryl watching, the younger girl runs away. Sheryl catches up with Ranka who has tripped and sits on the floor weeping to give the girl a slap across the face and encourages her to sing. Unfotunately, Ranka’s song doesn’t have the same impact because her feelings for Alto have been completely crushed. Together, with Luca, Michael and Nanase, the group flees Mihoshi. Sadly, an attack lands in the middle of their group which leaves Nanase badly injured with Sheryl at her side.
She shouts at Alto to keep going and essentially to fight. It isn’t stated how Sheryl and Nanase arrive at a shelter but they do. Nanase’s wounds are tended and the people inside the shelter are terrified. It is here, that Sheryl discovers that she truly cannot give up singing. After deciding that if Ranka is going to be the songstress of hope that she will be the Songstress of Despair, Sheryl sings her song Diamond Crevasse to calm the people inside the shelter.
Restarting her career under the eye of Elmo, Sheryl begins to sing again but in a different perspective. At this point, Sheryl’s V-type infection becomes terminal as it reaches her brain. However, because it has does this, her singing now has the ability to transmit faint fold waves. Her talents are immediately employed by Mishima’s newly formed government to continue Frontier’s fight against the Vajra. Alto even takes the time to cook for Sheryl despite limited resources on a slowly being crippled Frontier. It allows them to have a brief respite of peace even as the songstress gets drunk and gets carried to bed by Alto.
Then, the final battle to save Frontier and to settle a recently discovered habitable planet - soon discovered to be the Vajra home world - and Sheryl sings to help the Frontier troops. A battle ensues as Ranka’s song soon leads the Vajra to fight better and Sheryl’s own songs to be ineffective. Much to the woman’s horror, she watches Alto’s Valkyrie get blown up. Witnessing this devastates Sheryl in a way that being told she’d be a nobody ever did. She stares at the screen in a catatonic state until Alto declares that he knows who the true enemy of Frontier is. In the end, it takes a combined effort of Alto and Sheryl to snap Ranka out of her trance and disrupt Grace’s control of the Vajra. Furthermore, Sheryl is also cured of her V-type infection as Ranka magically transfers the infection from her brain into her belly.
As Ranka returns to Frontier, Sheryl and the latter combine their singing efforts to take control of the Vajra so that the true enemy, the Battle Galaxy, can be defeated. Thanks to the Vajra and Macross Quarter, Frontier safely lands on their home.
In the end, Ranka and Sheryl go running into the distance after Alto.
Personality:
Sheryl is also known as the Galactic Nymph in the world of Macross Frontier. Being an inter-galactic popstar, Sheryl has many layers to her personality. One of the many layers is her performing persona. She loves attention because of this and likes to show as much skin as possible. However, Sheryl is also full of confidence. She's been a professional for many years and can handle an interview as well as any person you're likely going to encounter in the show-business world. Some would say that she was destined to sing and that her voice holds a great deal of power.
With the aid of the earrings that she wears (called fold earrings) her voice can amplify fold waves and these can attract the Vajra. She's a brilliant performer and a total crowd pleaser. Sheryl litterally reeks of confidence because of her profession. Then again, one needs to be brimming with confidence to be a performer. She takes the time throughout the beginning of the series to encourage her rival, Ranka to go all out in the pursuit of her dreams. During the Miss Macross episode, Sheryl tells Ranka to take the first step being able to stand on the same stage as her.
Another one of the layers of her personality is the teenager that she actually is. She's horrible at finding or losing things as is shown when she loses one of her fold earrings. In the end, she does give this to Alto as a good luck charm so that he'll come back to her. Just like any other teenage girl, Sheryl starts falling in love with Alto who after Ranka's supposed betrayal, refuses to leave Sheryl's side as she is slowly dying from a disease that she was infected with by Grace O’Connor as a young child known as a V-type infection.
Despite the fact that she's a celebrity, she enjoys the fact that there are some people in the world that will treat her just like any other person in the world. She also enjoys experiencing new things because of where she was born. Furthermore, her career has left her with very little time to be a normal kid so when she gets the opportunity to be a regular person, she goes all out. When she first arrived at Macross Frontier, she was elated and overjoyed to get to experience so many different smells and sights. She's truly just like any other person in this respect. She truly just wants to live her life as she pleases. Sheryl is also a very creative person. Unlike most of the pop idols of real life, Sheryl actually writes her own songs.
This brings us to the final layer of Sheryl, her weak side. For all the confidence that she displays in the beginning, her world is slowly rocked and turned upside by the betrayal of her manager, Grace. It leaves Sheryl feeling lost and brings her V-type infection into the limelight. After Sheryl is discarded by Grace for Ranka, the Galactic nymph is left feeling a bit lost and is taken care of by others. When the infection rears its ugly head, Michael is the first person to begin looking after Sheryl but he is soon replaced by Alto.
However, the desertion of Grace and the blows made to Sheryl's fragile pride with the revelation that Sheryl has a terminal infection which leads to Sheryl quitting the one thing that she loves more than anything. However, in the face of adversity and the discovery that she has the same ability (but to a lesser extent) as Ranka, Sheryl is recruited to help fight the Vajra and to bolster the spirits of the public. She may have given up for a little bit there but she bounced back and helped everyone around her.
Sheryl is also a very diligent young woman. Despite the fact that she was tired from her work, she refused to cancel an interview. She isn't afraid of a challenge either or for trying new things. Despite all the odds against her, Sheryl does pilot a Valkyrie for a few minutes in order to save the life of one of her fellow pilots, classmate and SMS employee. Finally, the boys of Luceti should beware this buxom beauty because if she enjoys flirting with the lads and will openly show displays of affection to them if they suit her fancy. Suffice to say, if Sheryl wants something, she’ll do her best to obtain it.
Strengths: Mental: Sheryl is one stubborn and determined young lady. She tout's all the time that she's Sheryl and that she won't give up. All three of these traits come out in clear display when she helps to bring an injured and unconscious Michael back to the Macross Quarter. Another time where she is shown to be stubborn is during the time when she travels to Gallia IV in order to give a live "Morale Boosting" concert to the 33rd Battalion of the army only to collapse instead.
It should also be noted that Sheryl will be able to communicate with Ranka through their shared ability of being able to manipulate Fold Waves through their singing voices but throughout canon - and particularly near the end of the series - they are able to speak with each other in a type of astral plane environment.
Physical: Her singing voice. It’s amplified by the use of fold quartz in her earrings in the beginning, but near the end of the series when Ranka has helped her by modifying her V-type infection, it’s much more potent than before. Her voice has the ability to distract the Vajra from attacking people and therefore, helping to win the war against them so that in the end, the people of Frontier can settle on a new planet to call home for the human race.
Emotional: She's Sheryl! She bleeds confidence in every decision that she makes. Besides, it would take a lot of confidence to write the lyrics to a song on a pair of pink Zentraedi panties, wouldn’t you agree? Even in the face of adversity or when her friends at Mihoshi High School start finding out about her infection, she takes it all on with a smile despite the fact that she's pretty devastated on the inside.
Weaknesses: Mental: Sheryl comes to rely on people and her image therefore using them both as a crutch. She has relied on her image as an artist or singer for many years and when Grace tells her that she is nothing more than a manufactured idol that will eventually be forgotten, the pop star starts to crumble away from her image. It leaves in a state of confusion and uncertain of what move to make next. In particular, when she decides to keep on singing and admits that she's scared and lonely, she begins to rely on Alto as her emotional crutch instead. Overall, if someone can crumble Sheryl's carefully constructed walls, there's going to be one very despondant Sheryl Nome.
Physical: Sheryl, unlike most of the residents of Luceti, is a plain old boring (100% pure I’d like to add) human. She has no talent for magic, no combat experience, just plain old non-combatant.
Emotional: Sheryl has a bit of a short temper and she’s also tsundere in regards to her feelings for Alto. The short temper comes out when someone tells her that she can’t do something because of her physical condition. This annoys her to all end and makes her reckless because of it.
Her feelings for Alto are very tsundere as well. One moment she could be on the verge of admitting her feelings to him and then he’ll be a total derp (let’s face it folks, Alto is dense) and she’ll head right into tsundere mode. For lack of a better phrase, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.