Quite fortunately, I have Chords of Steel; unfortunately, I tend to utilize them.
THE BASICS
Name: Dal
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Does it matter which gender you are rated as?: Not in the least.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER
Strong Points and Traits:
- I'm approachable. I'm not the type to bite one's head off unless I'm in a supremely bad mood, and I'm usually the one my friends confide in if something's wrong.
- I'm intelligent. I got a 1525 out of 1600 on the SAT at the age of 12. I completed high school at 14 and scored a 35 on the ACT, which is high enough to get me into both Mensa and the Triple Nine Society.
- I'm good with creative endeavors. I've been accepted into several writing programs and am in the process of soliciting the script for a television show co-written with my roommate. I also sketch and paint from time to time, but nowhere near as well as I want to.
- I have a fair amount of emotional strength. I've been living with disorganized schizophrenia for years, and I've had some rather traumatizing things happen to me at a rather young age that I never discuss, but I'm still in one piece.
- I have a code of honor. I have, to date, never cheated on a significant other; breaking someone's heart is something I can actually say I've never done. I'm not shallow in seeking relationships. If I'm assisted with something, I insist on giving the person credit, even if it's something that I'll be docked points or merit for because I didn't handle it all myself. I can't take credit for others' work.
Weak Points and Traits:
- I've been known to have a rather large manipulative streak. I know what pushes people's buttons, and I use it to the fullest of my ability if I ever feel like I'm in some sort of situation where I need to. My capability to judge exactly when that's needed is said to be a little...skewed sometimes.
- I've been known to have incredibly bad judgment when it comes to what is acceptable and what is not in social relationships. I say what I think and don't bother to sugar-coat, and if I feel like what I'm doing is necessary, I'll do it regardless of whom it affects. Remorse also takes a while to set in, assuming it does at all - oh, I'll want to feel bad, but by then everything's already done, so I usually don't regret the things I do.
- I overanalyze. I have a habit of seeing things that aren't really there in things that are said or done; I'm always told that I read into things far too much. It doesn't help that things tend to be in black-and-white for me - either I trust you with my life, or not at all.
- I'm a ridiculous perfectionist. I've been known to spend twelve hours editing 1000 words of writing, just to make sure it conveys exactly what I want; I'm also insanely meticulous about my schoolwork.
- I am an overachiever and a notoriously poor loser. I get insanely jealous if I find out someone is better than me at something I enjoy - something done for fun - and I become irritable, frustrated and incredibly mean to the person in question until I actually defeat them in a competition somehow; most of the time the person doesn't even know that I'm angry, but it's a personal goal by that point. When it comes to things that really matter, I need to be the best at whatever it is - I can not make myself settle for merely being "okay," and I hate the words "fine" and "good" when it comes to critiquing my work, because I strive for much higher than that.
Likes:
- Reading. I read constantly. It's not unheard of for me to be standing in line to buy popcorn at the movies with my face buried in a book.
- Writing. Writing has generally been my passion in life since I was very young, and it's something I still do all the time. I write because I have to, or I get anxious because of all the things I'm not writing down.
- Difficult things. Solving things that are hard to grasp or figure out is one of the biggest sources of satisfaction…ever, and I really enjoy doing so.
Dislikes:
- Those who frequently make a complete butchery of the English language.
- People who are intentionally ignorant. Unintentional ignorance is always able to be remedied, but people who purposely hate people or things because they don't want to know any better or don't care to find anything out disgust me.
- A fair amount of the things discussed above - namely, losing and imperfection in myself.
Hobbies:
- Cosplay. Because I like elaborate dress-up.
- Acting. Because I like to be someone else for a while; I grow bored with being myself and I like to see other people's views on the world. What better way is there to do that than acting?
- Roleplay. For the same reasons as acting, only with the last word substituted out as is appropriate.
Skills:
- Good memory, especially for things that are either completely pointless or things that have happened to me. (That last part can go either positively or negatively, and there's a distinct possibility I should have included "I hold grudges for life" under Weak Points and Traits...hm.)
- Public speaking and debate. My first love in college, and something I still adore doing.
- I can play double bass/upright bass, though I have to use a German bow to do it; I don't have enough wrist flexibility for a French bow, unfortunately, but I absolutely love German bows. I can also play some guitar and piano, and I can read music and sight-read fairly well.
- I'm good with languages. I'm fluent in English, Spanish and French, working toward fluency in German and Bulgarian (though that's a long way off; I can have small conversations, but I sound like a nine-year-old), I can understand but not properly speak Romanian, Japanese and Chinese, and I eventually want to learn Korean. I can keep all of those languages separate, and my grammar somehow doesn't suffer in most of them (my Bulgarian is the weakest of those I can speak right now). I suppose that could be at least partially chalked up to the "good memory" attribute.
THIS OR THAT?
Introverted or Extroverted?:
I've been described as an Extroverted Introvert; while I tend to act very outgoing and have no trouble talking to people, I usually don't enjoy doing such and I generally prefer being alone or in the company of very few people. I'll talk to people so that I present a good impression and I'm not openly hated (and so I can ask for favors later), but I really don't enjoy being in the company of a lot of people, and I'm one of the few people I know that hates parties with a passion.
Rational or Emotional?:
I like to think I'm more rational, but that's when I try to disregard having gone on a mental roaring rampage of revenge against someone who trounced me solidly in trivia the night before, or the fact that I cried unstoppably during Old Yeller...which would be fine, because everyone cries during Old Yeller, only I did so during the beginning of the movie. Just because I knew what was coming at the end and found everybody's happiness at the beginning so upsettingly ironic that I cried, and I couldn't stop doing so until the movie ended, so...yes. Think what you will.
Optimistic or Pessimistic?:
I'm always told I'm a terrible pessimist, and I tend to quote George Will when it comes to that - "The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."
Dominant or Submissive?:
Most people are actually surprised at this answer; most think I'd be rather dominant when it comes to most things, and I do tend to be very opinionated as to how things should be and blunt about how I express those opinions, but the thing is that it's not usually due to my wanting to change major things but rather change the way those major things are being executed. For example, if I'm given a project to work on with other people, I'm good at telling them how to fix the project when we put it together, dividing up jobs, making sure people stay on task, and overseeing everything - but I can't, for the life of me, ever come up with what we're doing in the first place. I can't figure out how to start it, or come up with the original idea for the presentation of the project, or do major overhauls if things go wrong. I don't initiate the big changes; I tend to leave the big decisions to others and just follow along and make sure things run smoothly once they're in place. This basically just makes me a really bossy submissive, in my opinion.
Large Groups or Small Groups?:
Small groups. They tend to run better, there's a lesser chance of squabbling breaking out, and when I'm in large groups of people I tend to feel this need to talk to them all when I might not want to. I was also the type of person who was ridiculed and tricked into things in high school due to certain large groups of people, and I have an instant distrust of anyone who wants me to spend time with them "and a bunch of [their] friends."
Cautious or Impulsive?:
Considering the above answer, I'd probably say cautious to a fault. I don't like the feeling that I might be making decisions that won't turn out in my favor, and I don't trust easily.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE GAME
Favorite Character:
Kristoph Gavin. I tend to gravitate toward characters like that - they're classy and incredibly erudite, but at the same time there's something there that isn't quite right. I don't feel that what he did was justified at all, but considering that he seems rather delusional and strangely paranoid underneath all of his posturing, I don't think I can blame him entirely, either.
Least Favorite Character:
Spark Brushel - though I know he was supposed to be annoying (at least as far as I can tell), there are certain things that actually bothered me to the point of physical discomfort while talking to him. The first one to come to mind (because I think I may have blocked the others) is actually the wrap-tie-around-head-and-squeeze animation - not because of the animation itself, actually, but the noise that accompanied it. It would make me feel physically uncomfortable for some reason, to the point where I had to play the parts involving him with the sound turned off because otherwise I would start feeling the need to squirm (although that didn't help, because my brain started providing the noise for me when the game didn't). Oh, and the animation involving the gratuitous sweating of bullets, then the toothbrush on the glasses, followed by the toothbrush going in the mouth. I am a cleanliness freak and that one also was responsible for some pretty bad twitching.
Favorite Case:
Probably Turnabout Succession, despite the abundance of Brushel. Even though I don't agree with the methods used to get convictions in this game (at all - the convictions of Daryan Crescend and Kristoph Gavin were absolutely rage-inducing for me because of how they're obtained, but that is a rant for another day) and the thing in question was jury manipulation of monumentous proportions, the MASON System was ridiculously fun to play with.
Least Favorite Case:
Turnabout Trump, honestly. I know that most people didn't like Turnabout Serenade - and that one was amazingly bad as well, don't get me wrong - but the last section of the first case made me angry beyond belief. Way to shatter my faith in you, Phoenix.
Would you rather be a Defense Attorney, Prosecutor, Witness, or Defendant?
Probably a prosecutor. Prosecutors and defense attorneys each seem to have a grand old time tearing apart the other's logic, but prosecutors tend to have more control over the courtroom situation. I do better if I know I'm on top of things and everything is working in my favor than if I constantly have to try to fight my way onward from behind.
ETCETERA
Post a Picture of Yourself: I'd rather not.
Links to Three Applications: This. That. And the other.
Do You Want the Japanese or English Character Name on Your Stamp?: The Japanese name works for me.
Anything Else?: I tend to be incredibly verbose; is it obvious?