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saudade_apps) wrote2014-02-20 06:43 pm
saudade_apps) wrote2014-02-20 06:43 pm
Entry tags:
[Beginner] KHR! - Chrome Dokuro
PLAYER
NAME: Madb
PLAYED CHARACTERS: None
LINK TO RESERVE: Be here yes
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Chrome Dokuro (Kuromu Dokuro/Chrome Skull, Nagi (Headcanon family name: Koizumi))
AGE: 13
FANDOM: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! / KHR
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
First of all, the wiki is a morass of hatred and seething evil. It's flat wrong in places, edited badly, and generally a mess. If you feel like digging through it, Godspeed, but you'll probably figure things out faster just flat out reading it.
Nagi was an unwanted child. She had a hard time connecting with other people, not even her mother and adoptive father cared about her. When she was hit by a car in an attempt to save the life of a cat and hospitalized near death, her mother refused to even consider the idea of undergoing surgery in order to save the life of her child, stating that nobody wanted Nagi to live anyway. Nagi's life was sufficiently grim and hopeless that her own reaction was one of relief.
Enter Rodoku Mukuro. He walked into her mind and offered her hope, perhaps the first hope that she had ever had. He offered her a life; “Nagi, Nagi...I have need of you”. For the first time she was given the opportunity to be someone to someone else. Mukuro tells her that he thinks they might be the same kind of person.
Battle for the Rings Arc
The "Rings" mentioned here are the symbols of office for the Vongola family's highest positions: the leader and his Guardians. The Ninth leader of Vongola designates Sawada Tsunayoshi as his choice for Tenth, however the Ninth's adoptive son Xanxus concocts a scheme to steal the office, leading to a series of battles between each of the potential Guardians. The offices are designated by power-sets: Sky, Storm, Sun, Lightning, Cloud, Mist, and Rain. Tsuna and Xanxus are "Sky", Chrome and Mukruo are Tsuna's "Mist" Guardian. (Later they share the position as Mist Guardians, but this is unique to them.)
Chrome enters the Battle for the Rings as Mukuro's vessel, having managed in what could not have been more than a few weeks, to have learned enough from him that she had a chance of defeating Mammon, one of the Arcobaleno babies. The other guardians flipped out over her appearance, requiring her to convince Tsuna to allow her to fight. Being given permission to do so, Chrome manages to hold her own against Mammon for a relatively long time, even gaining the upper hand more than once. The Arcobaleno, they learn later, are the absolute best of their kind in the world at the time they were chosen: meaning that in a few weeks, Chrome learned enough about illusion and was strong enough to fight the best illusionist in the world and hold her own for the majority of the battle. When she was finally defeated her thoughts were only of Mukuro, stating that she only wanted to help him. Left behind when she fainted after Mukuro used her powers to defeat Mammon, she nonetheless did not take any comfort from Tsuna, but rather ran off to find the others who followed Mukuro.
Chrome was seen around the fringes of the next battle, staying out of the way of the other guardians but present anyway, along with Ken and Chikusa - the two members of Mukuro's gang still following him after his defeat earlier at the hands of Tsuna and his guardians. She got confused during the battle when explosions and smoke covered everything and they saved her from an explosion, showing that however they felt about her they were not going to let her get killed off.
During the Sky battle between Tsunayoshi and Xanxus all of the Guardians of both men were poisoned with a fast-acting, deadly poison. Chrome was saved by Yamamoto and Gokudera (two of Tsuna's Guardians) although they lost their rings. Mukuro told her that “someone was coming” in time for a man that Mukuro had held hostage in his own body and turned into a murderer until he was saved from the young Illusionist (Lancia) to come and keep everyone from getting killed off.
Future Arc
In this arc the Tenth's Guardians are pulled into a potential future to save all of the parallel worlds-slash-their own future from a man named Byakuran who is able to share his conciousness with all parallel versions of himself. Man he'd be a nightmare for y'all to deal with.
Chrome appears relatively late in the arc, showing up unexpectedly in the future Kokuyo Land, the place where Mukuro's gang lives, alone. The Mist Ring which she was wearing was frozen to her finger, but before she had any real chance to think about the reasons for that a creepy son of a bitch named Glo Xinia showed up to fight her. He taunted her by telling her that he had defeated Mukuro, make seriously creepy as hell intimations that he had either managed or just tried to rape her future self, and ran her ragged around the area.
Chrome fought him well, but without Mukuro she was at a disadvantage. One which disappeared when Mukuro's voice started to give her instructions and led her into creating her very first “real illusions”; those of Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa. This allowed Mukuro to be “there” to fight for her alongside her. After blowing Glo Xinia through a wall with enough force that he spends the rest of his time in the comic in a full body cast she passes out.
She was eventually rescued by the future-Ryohei and brought back to the base where the others had been dwelling, in critical condition as her organs had disappeared due to things happening with the Future-Mukuro elsewhere. It is important to me to note that none of the boys are seen visiting Chrome, with Tsuna coming to visit only when she starts dying in order to tell her that she could not die, however it was the adult version of Hibari who came and made her draw out the power of the Vongola ring so that she could make barely-working organs to support herself with it, bringing her out of critical danger, although she was still very gravely ill.
"Real Illusions" aren't terribly well explained, but boil down to "Illusions that can affect the real world as long as the person using them has enough power and pumps it into them". It appears that it is easier to do them to unwilling victims with help (such as throwing a rock behind an attacking illusion in order to confuse what is real and what is not), however Mukuro is keeping Chrome alive by dint of illusory organs. In other words: they are over powered as hell and it's a good thing that Chrome is more into being a sneaky bastard than a straight-up fighter.
Chrome and Tsuna shared a dream about a large machine prior to the core group of guardians - the boys - infiltrating the Merone base. It should be noted that Chrome is generally left out of the plans of the other Guardians, they treat her like she isn't there and under-utilize her greatly. However she tends to take silent charge of the situation when she can be of help, to wit: Chrome came to assist later, along with some of the other side-characters. She had the owl-shaped box weapon that Mukuro had possessed during the fight with Glo Xinia on her shoulder. Despite her illness and weakness (she is shown using her spear as a crutch and eventually being carried through the base) she ran illusions enough to get everyone inside the base. During Hibari's fight with Genshiki she managed to see through the other man's illusions, warning Hibari of what was coming.
She stopped Tsuna from destroying the machine that they had seen in their dream, which turned out to be a good thing since the future forms of all of them were inside it. Chrome was treated well by the girls, Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin, becoming careful and quiet friends with them slowly over the time that the Vongola were training. It was a slow thing, because she wasn't used to anyone showing care or concern. The boys pretty much ignored her, as they do. It's made obvious that Chrome had no way of dealing with the sort of kindnesses that the girls were giving her, from I-pin's sharing of the hot bun to the way that the other girls touched her when they found her cleaning up after the party. (Headcanon: While her mother says that Nagi has no friends, I feel that she wasn't even picked on; rather she ghosted through her days with virtually no interaction from anyone as she had become excellent at silence and watching so as to stay out of her mother's way.)
The Vongola were split up into groups in order to train, having found out that one of the people they thought was behind the terrible future was actually attempting to save the world(s) and that they had a whole different group of enemies to fight. Chrome was left to a program left behind by Mammon and did not actually have a tutor of her own, although it appeared that I-pin and perhaps Bianchi were training alongside her. None of the Guardians, however, spent any time with her. Asked if the Vongola could trust her, Chrome said; "I want to return to the past to be with the people most important to me. I...I want to become...a stronger person..." At this point she has no loyalty to the Vongola; they haven't shown her anything but the most casual kind of disregard with the exeption of Tsuna taking her to his home to rest when she'd passed out way back during her Ring battle.
Chrome showed her loyalty to the girls who had decided to accept her as one of them by joining in with their housework strike when the boys refuse to explain what was really going on. She simply, quietly, makes it clear that she will also be refusing to work until the boys come clean. She does not, however, force the issue by telling the Haru and Kyoko what was really going on: that wasn't her place and she isn't the kind of person to let information go easily.
During the final battle stage of the arc, Chrome brought the Vongola box to Mukuro, however she was stopped on the way there by a jealous M-M who called her pitiful and ugly, and claimed that Mukuro belonged to her (M-M). When nearly hit by a bolt of energy Chrome was saved by the future Mukuro and the two of them share a bit of a moment where he touches her face and she smiles at him before passing out on his chest with the comment that she is “so happy”.
Chrome was not seen again until everyone is getting ready to go. M-M cornered her to tell her that Mukuro is just using her and has no feelings towards her at all. Chrome began to say something, but was cut off by Ken. A blushing Chrome exchanged a rather meaningful look with Mukuro.
Inheritance Ceremony Arc
Chrome was shown purchasing snacks and a new character, Julie, was shown watching her. He apparently had done so before because he states that she's “only buying chocolate snacks again”. Later we learn that Julie has been leaving bags of food for Chrome (although Ken is the one shown eating). Later Julie approached Chrome and asks her to go on a date with him after the ceremony. Chrome turned him down and hurried off.
Yamamoto was attacked by an unknown assaliant and brought to the hospital, and Chrome goes along with everyone else to find out what had happened and to provide backup for Tsuna, who was taking it very badly.
She was asked to provide an illusion of Yamamoto so that only the people who attacked him would know that he was not present. Despite needing to function as herself at the same time she creates an illusion that almost everyone is taken in by, although Dino and Squalo both see through it due to Chrome's answering a question slightly wrongly, and offer their help if such help is needed. Mammon assured Chrome, when she was worrying that others would see through it, that someone would have to be an expert to see through them and to have some confidence.
It turned out that the Simon family attacked Yamamoto and during the ensuing fight Chrome is rendered unconscious and kidnapped by Julie. She awakened in Julie's room after the first incident of memory sharing post Sky/Earth ring battle and saw a silhouette looked rather like Mukuro's leaning in a door. She only made the mistake for a split second, however, before realising that it wasn't Mukuro. The figure turned out to be Julie and he continued to hit on her.
When Julie left, Chrome attempted to escape, however she was caught by Julie in the middle of it and he showed that he knew about her special relationship with Mukuro. This led up to Chrome finding out that Julie is holding her organs together, and that Mukuro is blocked from her. She refuted this, stating “This is the body that Mukuro-sama gave to me”. Julie proved that he was the one holding her life in his hand, and told her that her body was important.
Chrome rejected him, because Mukuro is the person most important to her, even over her own life. She didn't want him, she didn't want the organs he made. Julie informed her that he was the person responsible for the entire series of battles and that Julie was actually being possessed by Daemon Spade, the first Mist Guardian. Even knowing that she refused to give in to him.
She was put under mind-control and forced to call him “master” and to “cuddle” with him. She was forced to pick Tsuna (“boss”) out as the “number one bad guy”. She was forced to offer her body and Mukuro to Daemon. However when Daemon was stabbed she did not attack the person who does so. (Headcanon: ONLY the things shown on panal are what happens during her time under mind-control. Kissing, hugging. That's damn traumatic enough for someone her age, thankyouverymuch.)
Daemon made her set up a mist barrier when it appears that they are going to get into another fight, and he told the others that if the barrier was broken that Chrome would die. Under mind control she put her body between Daemon and the people fighting him, although he told her to step down when she did.
She was taken out of mind-control when Daemon was confident that the Vongola were going to be destroyed, immediately she began screaming and attempting to find a way out of her situation. When her organs were removed and she was left to die she uses the connection with Mukuro to tell him not to come and to leave her to die.
When Mukuro left her body after fighting with Daemon her first words were a demand to know where he was, and she was very unhappy at learning that he was stuck in the body of Mukurou (the owl box weapon). She placed herself between the others and Daemon, not for Daemon's sake but because if they attacked the first Guardian it would harm Mukuro's body and she didn't want him damaged. Mukuro actually has to fly at her with talons extended to get her to back down. When they are reminded that Daemon is an illusionist, Chrome considered jumping into a fight that was extremely high-powered.
Tsuna and Enma came up with a possible way to defeat Daemon, however doing so would kill Enma. This is when, despite Mukuro's protest, Chrome jumps in with her mist barrier. It wasn't strong enough on her own, so Mukuro added his power to it, and Chrome reacted by worrying about him...instead of about the possibility that she could die. Also, for the first and only time, Chrome called Tsuna “Tsuna-kun”.
Rainbow Arc
Chrome was thrown out of Mukuro's gang due to the fact that she was refusing his illusionary organs and therefor dying slowly. She was sent to Tsuna's class, and Reborn was given money to help her get set up in a place to live. Being thrown out of the gang caused her to cry on Kyoko's shoulders during class. Reborn decided to throw a welcoming party for Chrome that included a mimicry competition which did cheer her up slightly.
Without her organs Chrome gets sick, and became sicker. She and Mukuro meet and have a rather stilted conversation where he attempted to push her into beginning to fight in the rainbow battles. It turned out that he was taking time out of a battle to come and talk to her, and he told her that is she didn't tell him what was wrong she would die within three days.
She remained sick, finally getting hospitalized. Even being on life-support, however, did not stop her from asking Tsuna to add her to the battle group. While Tsuna turned her down, Reborn asked her what she wanted from Mukuro. This led to her showing up at one of the battles wearing a battler watch, dressed in her Kokuyo uniform. Despite being pale enough that even the sociopathic Arcobaleno Verde asked if she was alright, Chrome insisted upon battling.
Reborn explained that; "Until then (when Mukuro was freed) Chrome was able to communicate with Mukuro, that was asleep in that faraway prison, and could let him use her body. On the other hand Mukuro was the only person that could create illusionary organs to replace the ones she lost in the accident. In other words, they were closely supporting each other." Tsuna saying; "I see...now that Mukuro got his actual body he doesn't need Chrome anymore and Chrome is sorry for that so she stopped accepting his illusion." and Reborn continuing; "That's also part of the reason of course. I think the problem is mostly due to her feelings changing. Now that Mukuro has his own body again they don't share the same destiny anymore. He's a flawless young boy that can live his life normally even without her. Mukuro is not part of her anymore...and she's not part of him either. For the first time she saw Mukuro outside of her and that led her to feel that from now on she also wants to be seen...as a single person."
Chrome explained to everyone that “I like Mukuro-sama, and I also like what he likes. I want to be someone that can protect all that. I want to protect Mukuro-sama forever.” and her resolution flared highly enough that she was able to create her own organs and assist Mukuro.
PERSONALITY:
Reborn says this about the Guardian of the Mist: "Creating something from nothing, and nothing from something; thus bewildering the enemy. Rendering the family's true form intangible with visions of deceit." Mukuro is Guardian, but Chrome is also the Guardian and that changeability must therefore describe both of them. She is not, cannot be, read only on the surface.
Chrome appears in the background a lot, rather than taking centre stage, as shown above.
When we first see Chrome she is a silhouette behind Ken and Chiksua, laughing Mukuro's laugh. She is bold, there, because she knows that she is going to do something that she can do; she throws her coat and, in Italian, she declares her name (Lo nego, Il mio nome e' Chrome. Chrome Dokuro.) and we see her with a confident smile on her face. She's wearing revealing clothing, when compared to the rest of the female cast, and she looks perfectly comfortable with it, and with her trident. This contrasts with who she was when she was Nagi, being shown on the cover of chapter 210 which shows a shy-looking Nagi in a sailor's suit contrasted with a vibrant Chrome. The tag line is "The lonely me no longer exists for now I have people around me".
What this suggests is that while Chrome was once as shy and retiring as she always appeared, the very fact of having other people to care about caused her to grow and find within herself a reason to be more than just a wallflower. She shows a fine hand in many places, layering commentary and actions in such a way as to make herself look weaker or less important than she actually is; throughout the entire discussion where the guardians are objecting to Chrome and asserting that she must be possessed by Mukuro her actions are those of a confident young woman; to the point where she actually kisses Tsuna on the cheek when he backs her up. She doesn't allow the actions of the others to put her off balance. In the face of action, she knows who she is and what she wants. Even when Gokudera yells at her she's calm ("What the hell do you think you're doing?!" "Greeting") Ken and Chikusa get angry on Chrome/Mukuro's behalf at the way Gokudera yells at her, and Chrome steps up; telling them that it isn't "something for you to decide" and turns to Tsuna.
What she says there is very revealing; she asks "Is it that I'm not worthy of the position as Guardian of Mist?" On one level this could come across as a very uncertain question, but on the other it's putting Tsuna on the spot. She's asking a teenage boy to tell a teenage girl that she's "unworthy", a calculated gamble that he'd be unwilling to shame her like that. She follows that up by calling him "boss", reinforcing the fact that he's in charge and affirming that she wants to battle; she wants to be worthy.
It's a classic example of leading someone to the conclusion that you want them to come to by framing your desire in a way that corners them in.
She consistently shows relief when she is allowed to fight, implying that she sees herself as a soldier more than as a girl. She shows honest relief, to the point of sighing, when Tsuna allows her to fight for the Mist ring, if she were truly as shy and retiring as she seems later on it would be hard to accept her eagerness to fight.
Whenever she fights she shows little or no hesitation. She always begins strong and only falters if she is backed entirely into a corner, even then it generally only takes a word from Mukuro for her to gather up extra reserves and push herself even more. It parallels the way that Reborn constantly pushes Tsuna, in some ways.
Chrome shows hints of humour, especially in the first fight with Mammon. "Who are you talking to?" she asks Mammon as the caught Chrome turns out to be basketballs "Over here...".
Even when she is trapped utterly, by Mammon, by Glo Xiniea, by Daemon, her reaction is one of defiance. She is only shown passive when she is poisoned during the Sky battle. "No matter who you are" she says to Mammon "I won't lose." and she goes back to attacking instead of falling back and defending. In fact it is Chrome's very strength of illusion powers that is her downfall in the fight with Mammon; "The stronger the illusionist's abilities, the more complete the infiltration. Their illusion's rate of success is also heightened and it's hold over reality stronger. Thus, in the illusionist's case, if their illusion is successfully countered with illusion it means that control of their own perception will be completely snatched away."
Chrome only shows fear for herself when her life is in danger, although even that isn't 100% certain, she is shown as perfectly willing to sacrifice herself over and over; fighting in the future when she is in critical condition, denying Daemon Spade's attempt to lure Mukuro to her, determining to fight without organs during the Arcobaleno battles.
Mukuro is the centre of Chrome's existence. Literally and metaphorically without him she is empty. Mukuro gave Chrome life literally by giving her illusory organs that function in place of the ones she's missing, he also gave her life by giving her a reason to live. He may very well be the first friend that she has ever had. What she does for Mukuro she does for herself, what she does for herself she does for Mukuro.
She doesn't seem terribly interested in making more friends, either, until much later. During the Ring Arc she keeps her distance from the Vongola. At the Cloud battle she is shown in the same general area as Ken and Chikusa, but seated apart from them. This may symbolize her desire to be close to those Mukuro is close to, while still not being accepted by them. Regardless, she is certainly not shown anywhere near the rest of the guardians.
She shows herself able to take the anger of others in stride, without losing her calm outer shell, giving the appearance of utterly ignoring the anger. Considering her past, however, it is very likely that she internalizes all of the things she is told.
Chrome is, after all, a child of abusive neglect. This can lead to any number of disorders, ranging from suicidal levels of depression to the incapability to react appropriately to social situations. Chrome appears to be dealing with them fairly well, to an extent. Many children of such houses are over-critical of themselves and end up depending on other people for a sense of validation and self-worth. Given no external care, they see themselves as worthless. Chrome gives these indications. The way that Chrome creeps around the background of all of the social situations shown in the series makes her appear not unlike a stray cat in many ways.
She wants to be loved, and she wants to love. The only person that she can trust, though, is Mukuro and at current canon spot she has just barely come out of believing that if she is not being his avatar she is of no use whatsoever. That entire incident, where she refuses to allow him to keep her alive, is proof that she still doesn't value herself as an individual rather than as a weapon in Mukuro's arsenal. Even her eventual resolution to be strong is centred around Mukuro rather than herself; “I like Mukuro-sama, and I also like what he likes. I want to be someone that can protect all that. I want to protect Mukuro-sama forever.”
Chrome only acts decisively when someone else is at stake and her list of priorities is very strictly outlined. It goes Mukuro --> Mukuro's people --> the girls --> Tsuna and company. She never argues with anyone overtly, instead allowing people to hold onto their opinions without argument.
Avoidance of argument is another sign of how she grew up. To be tolerated she had to be silent, a ghost, and that leaves a mark on a child. Her life before Mukuro was one of making as few waves as possible and fading into the background until she had no life to speak of. Her life after Mukuro came to her was one of being his body and his door to the world.
Chrome is naturally shy, we see that on the cover of 210, however she uses that shyness as a guard against other people coming too close. If they assume that she's shy, they won't pay attention to her; an assumption which is born out again and again. In the Arcobaleno arc Tsuna even admits that he didn't even notice when she didn't come to class. Acting shyer than she actually is, however, gives her the opportunity to watch everyone more closely for Mukuro's sake. Based on the clothing she wears, probably at Mukuro's suggestion, she has obviously blossomed to a point where being noticed doesn't bother her nearly as much as it would have when she was Nagi.
That change is also very significant. Over what could only have been a matter of weeks, with Mukuro's encouragement, “Nagi” becomes “Chrome” and allows herself to be dressed in a manner far more revealing than that of Kyoko and Haru, or even Bianchi. Her micro-mini, her stomach-bearing coat, the ostentatious skulls on her boots and her eyepatch that reflect her name...she's found a purpose and that purpose is allowing her to stretch beyond what she would have done alone.
Chrome shows her attachment to Mukuro in words now and then, but in her physical reaction to him even more. Every time he appears in a way that she gets to interact with him, she blushes. It is the same reaction of many a thirteen year old girl confronted with someone that she has a crush on, or loves in a romantic way. She doesn't think of Mukuro as “hers”, however, she only thinks of herself as his.
With one exception in the entire series, Chrome calls Tsuna “boss” and never actually addresses any of the other guardians by name ("Storm man", "Cloud man"). She keeps herself withdrawn from these people that Mukuro has not completely vetted, while fighting alongside them and protecting them with all that she has. She becomes far closer to the girls over a short period of time than she is with the boys over a much longer one. This cannot be out of a simple gender-lined reaction, however, as she remains stating that Ken and Chikusa are important to her along with Mukuro.
Chrome accepts the neglect of Ken and Chikusa as her due. Even though she is supposed to be Mukuro's avatar, she does not ask them for even a hint of concern and would most likely be shocked if someone suggested that they do so. To Chrome, she is not important.
Even when the girls do begin to make friends with Chrome, they are forced to make all of the movements. She stays reserved and within herself until the five-year-old I-pin actively comes to bother her. When shown with the girls, she is almost never shown as speaking; she is with them, but not a part of them.
She is “with, but not a part of” every group that she is engaged with. With Mukuro's gang, but not accepted by them. With Tsuna's guardians, but never spoken to after the first battle. With the girls, but never speaking. Chrome is the eternal outsider, and she appears to be content as such.
Chrome's reactions to Julie/Daemon's attempts to court her also show her low self-esteem. She doesn't dismiss him in a confident matter, she turns him down and runs from him. She backs away from him, she attempts to disappear.
She refuses to depend on other people, as shown by her attempt to escape when captured by Daemon Spade. In the middle of enemy territory she begins seeking a way out without even attempting to call out to Mukuro to come and save her. It is not, after all, his job to care for her...it is hers to be there for him.
Mukuro is so important to Chrome's own sense of self that when she is told that someone else (Daemon) is holding her organs together she violently rejects it. She does not want organs that Mukuro has not created, and she would rather die than not be Mukuro's Chrome...and when Daemon removes her organs and leaves her to die Chrome's reaction is to ask Mukuro not to come. She would rather die than have him be caught.
After the fight with Daemon Spade, when Mukuro is set free, Chrome has her entire world turned upside down. She isn't Mukuro's cherished avatar any more, she's just a weak, broken little girl who used to be helpful to him. To her, the fights that she got in, the struggles that she underwent, were nothing compared to being useful to Mukuro. She believes in her own uselessness so much that she begins to reject Mukuro, disallowing him from keeping her alive even as she is longing for him to remain close to her.
She doesn't know how to react to him on a human-to-human level, she doesn't know how to justify her own feelings towards him. He may be showing her that he still cares, but she can't accept it because she cannot think of any reason why he should care about her when he's free, and strong, and healthy.
This, however, is something of a blessing in disguise. It leads her to want to be seen as a whole person in and of herself; as someone who is worth something. She wants to be worth Mukuro's time, but without having anything to give back she is, to her mind, simply a drain on his resources. Due to this she reaches deep inside herself for the resolution to keep herself alive...so that she can be helpful to Mukuro.
Chrome is an incredibly resolute person who will push herself without hesitation for anything that she believes in. She is extremely, perhaps even neurotically, loyal to Mukuro (first) and anyone who gives her acceptance and understanding. Chrome is good at playing weaker and more retiring than she actually is, and giving the impression of being a whispy nothing of a person when she is actually far more competent and strong than she gives herself credit for being. She is incredibly observant, paying attention to everything around her. Chrome is a mistress of using the fewest possible words to get her point across in her own way. She is patient and willing to let other people talk themselves out before putting in her own two cents.
Chrome fears being worthless, helpless, and useless. She fears being left alone to deal with life without others to base her sense of self-worth on, and having to figure out a way to survive without outside assistance. She's afraid of being severely damaged again. Although it led to the only good things in her life, she is well aware of just how fragile she is and the fact that she is literally walking the edge of losing her organs at all times.
She's afraid of losing Mukuro. Belonging to him makes her feel safe, and losing him would be the ultimate in loss of comfort. Emotionally and in a present-in-her-life way, the concept of not having him in her life is a crippling one.
She has an extremely low sense of self-worth which is all tied up in external influences. She is likely to push herself far past her own reserves without paying attention to the very real possibility that she will hurt herself, or worse.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Mukuro Rokudo - Chrome's reason for being, her best (and perhaps only real) friend, her leader and the centre of her world - both literal and emotional.
Ken Joshima & Chikusa Kakimoto - Mukuro's other followers, she lives with them in the ruins of Kokuyo Land, but is treated as a waste of time and a poor imitation of Mukuro. She, nonetheless, considers them important to her because they are important to Mukuro.
Tsunayoshi Sawada & the Guardians - If Tsuna hadn't needed Mukuro, Mukuro wouldn't have needed Chrome. For that reason alone she is grateful to them and happy to fight beside them.
Kyoko, Haru, Bianchi, and I-pin - The first people to attempt to be Chrome's friends. They confuse the hell out of her, but she goes along with it.
TIMELINE SUMMARY:
~Hit by a car, drafted by Mukuro
~Fight fight fight don't die
~Well shit, Mukuro doesn't need her any more
~Almost die
~Figure shit out
~RIGHT THEN, I AM GOING TO LIVE SO THAT I CAN PROTECT MUKURO also check me out: organs. Made by me. Boo yah.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Chrome barely had time to blink with a confused, sluggish feeling in her mind - like peeling herself up from a warm blanket nest on a frozen day - before she hit a circle of stained glass with a thump that made her knees buckle and caused her to stagger for several lurching steps, hands pressing against her flattened, empty abodomen.
Before she had a chance to even begin worrying at the empty feeling where Mukuro usually lurked, her mind was taking stock of the area - from the blue and gold and green of the floor to the darkness past the circle of light that she couldn't even begin to see off. She continued in the direction she'd stumbled until she reached the edge of the platform, and peered off in the distance, then down. Nothing. Lots and lots of nothing at all.
Turning around she saw three pedestals, equal distance from each other and from her. A shifting ball of violet mist, a spear, and a skull plated in chrome. She took a few steps towards the staff, only to see it lift a bit and begin to spin. Those few steps were reversed rapidly, and she cautiously checked to see if it happened with the other choices. It did, and so she went back to her position at the edge of the circle and sat down to see what would happen next.
Several hours later, when staring at the floating items failed to do anything at all, she took a deep breath and headed for the mist. It was...strange, to see something that represented her power so obviously floating, but she hoped that it would return her organs to her. It...didn't, but somehow it still felt right, like something had eased inside of her. From the corner of her eye she could see the spear rise and glow, turning to look at both the other objects she could see that the skull was as well.
"So...I have to pick another one?" she murmured to herself softly, "There is no question, is there." it was less a question than a statement, and she turned her back on the spear to pick up the skull. She could fight, she would fight, but she had no interest real in being anything other than Mist user and Chrome.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Chrome is an exceptional illusionist, managing to go toe-to-toe with the Arcobelano Mammon for several rounds. She has shown herself capable of creating “real illusions”, first with Mukuro's help and later on her own. She is also shown as being able to create illusions under extreme stress, such as when missing her internal organs. Later on in canon (specifically when Daemon Spade is possessing Mukuro's body) we're told that a possessing spirit can ONLY use powers that the body they're possessing can use. So she can use all of Mukuro's Paths that he uses while in her body. Chrome's a freaking badass with the self-esteem of popcorn keeping her from living up to her potential. She's never been a direct fighter, so loss of the "sword" won't really affect her. I posit, though, that her spear is a summon because WTF you cannot hide a pole weapon in a mini-skirt. Being an adaptable child she won't take long to grasp that she doesn't have "her" illusions, but she can access different powers. Expect lots and lots of expermentation. Also probably explosions. Explosions happen a lot in canon.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
Chrome hasn't got organs! Or, at the very least, she is missing everything below the ribs. Again, my positing, is that if her mother had agreed to help her survive, she would have been pretty much bedridden anyway due to the amount of machines taken to keep her digesting, etc. Due to the way she'd've had to have been hit in order to sustain the injuries shown in canon (her stomach, flat against her spine, literally) I've also stated that she bounced and rolled on the pavement. Chrome is covered, and I do mean covered in scars. She just hides them because she's thirteen and it's hard to be "ugly" at thirteen.
Hello and thanks for your interest in Saudade! We really enjoyed reading your app, it was extremely thorough! We would love for you to join us, but we have a couple small revision requests first.
Your timeline summary seems to be a literal summation of Chrome's story, rather than a description of her Strength of Heart moment. This is probably partially our fault--'timeline' was not necessarily the best choice of words, so we understand any confusion! We need a description of Chrome's specific pull-point and why it's so important, what makes it her Crowning Moment of Awesome.
We enjoyed your Awakening sample, but wanted a little clarification as to Chrome's choices. It's a bit unclear to us what each item represented, and which one she deliberately discarded. Remember, she has to choose one item and discard one item, but she appears to have just chosen one and then chosen another, so we were a little unsure. If you can just make a couple small edits to clear that up you'll be golden!
Lastly, the special abilities section needs to reflect how her powers will be affected by the choices she made in the Awakening. What equipment will she have on her when she arrives? How will her magic be affected? We just need a little more detail here.
Thanks again for your application! Once you fix these few small things, we will be happy to welcome you to the game!
Okay!
Chrome's Strength of Heart moment is where she quite literally pulls all of her power, physical and mental and illusory, together in order to take control of her life. Both the metaphorical direction it is going to go, "I like Mukuro-sama and I also like what he likes. I want to be a person who can protect all that. I want to protect him forever." and also the very physical reality of what keeps her body alive. At that point she recreates her own internal organs, heart and lungs and liver and all that other gunk that people need in order to survive. Before that point, only Mukuro, Mammom, and Daemon Spade are shown as being capable of creating illusions of that depth and complexity. Considering that Chrome has, at that point, something like seven or eight months of practise with illusions compared to the years (Mukuro), decades (Mammon), and centuries (Spade) that's one hell of an awesome thing to do. In addition, that declaration and gathering of power comes after she has literally unhooked herself from the machines keeping herself alive in the hospital and walked all the way from the hospital to the edge of town intending to fight with her people even if she can't stand up. Chrome is a tiny, quiet, badass.
When I was thinking about Chrome, I was thinking how Sword, Shield, and Magic would translate into what she knows. Magic has to come first, so the swirling indigo mist that represents Illusion in her world was her first choice. Turning her back on the spear was dismissal of the sword, she didn't exactly think "I won't fight", but that's the last way she'd want to approach anything if she can think her way out of the fight. The skull represents a shield because of her name and what she is through most of canon. Her name is Kuromu Dokuro, Chrome Skull, and she serves Rokudo Mukuro, Six-Paths Corpse, as his literal physical body. She is the fleshy shield around his power to act in the world, and she is also his tie to the outside that keeps his mind from going deeper into bugfuck psychosis. Spending most of a year floating in a big ol' tank of water in a straight jacket is not conducive to sanity. Sorry for being too vague!
As for the special abilities...I honestly am not exactly sure what is going to happen with her powers. Her equipment is easy, she's got her clothing. Period. She is not shown as having any box-weapons (summoned animals), box-weapons made into jewellery, etc. The only weapon of any kind she is shown with in that panel is her spear and that's gotta be illusion because it's a freaking pole weapon and she could not have had that in the hospital. Her in-canon powers are pretty freaking broken, they're all lumped into "illusion" but she's still able to blow someone through a wall, resist black holes (although she did have help with that one, from Mukuro), summon snakes, turn a thing of basketballs temporarily into herself...it just goes on. I was, I think, guessing that she'd have to start all over from scratch? IDK.
NAME: Madb
PLAYED CHARACTERS: None
LINK TO RESERVE: Be here yes
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Chrome Dokuro (Kuromu Dokuro/Chrome Skull, Nagi (Headcanon family name: Koizumi))
AGE: 13
FANDOM: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! / KHR
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
First of all, the wiki is a morass of hatred and seething evil. It's flat wrong in places, edited badly, and generally a mess. If you feel like digging through it, Godspeed, but you'll probably figure things out faster just flat out reading it.
Nagi was an unwanted child. She had a hard time connecting with other people, not even her mother and adoptive father cared about her. When she was hit by a car in an attempt to save the life of a cat and hospitalized near death, her mother refused to even consider the idea of undergoing surgery in order to save the life of her child, stating that nobody wanted Nagi to live anyway. Nagi's life was sufficiently grim and hopeless that her own reaction was one of relief.
Enter Rodoku Mukuro. He walked into her mind and offered her hope, perhaps the first hope that she had ever had. He offered her a life; “Nagi, Nagi...I have need of you”. For the first time she was given the opportunity to be someone to someone else. Mukuro tells her that he thinks they might be the same kind of person.
Battle for the Rings Arc
The "Rings" mentioned here are the symbols of office for the Vongola family's highest positions: the leader and his Guardians. The Ninth leader of Vongola designates Sawada Tsunayoshi as his choice for Tenth, however the Ninth's adoptive son Xanxus concocts a scheme to steal the office, leading to a series of battles between each of the potential Guardians. The offices are designated by power-sets: Sky, Storm, Sun, Lightning, Cloud, Mist, and Rain. Tsuna and Xanxus are "Sky", Chrome and Mukruo are Tsuna's "Mist" Guardian. (Later they share the position as Mist Guardians, but this is unique to them.)
Chrome enters the Battle for the Rings as Mukuro's vessel, having managed in what could not have been more than a few weeks, to have learned enough from him that she had a chance of defeating Mammon, one of the Arcobaleno babies. The other guardians flipped out over her appearance, requiring her to convince Tsuna to allow her to fight. Being given permission to do so, Chrome manages to hold her own against Mammon for a relatively long time, even gaining the upper hand more than once. The Arcobaleno, they learn later, are the absolute best of their kind in the world at the time they were chosen: meaning that in a few weeks, Chrome learned enough about illusion and was strong enough to fight the best illusionist in the world and hold her own for the majority of the battle. When she was finally defeated her thoughts were only of Mukuro, stating that she only wanted to help him. Left behind when she fainted after Mukuro used her powers to defeat Mammon, she nonetheless did not take any comfort from Tsuna, but rather ran off to find the others who followed Mukuro.
Chrome was seen around the fringes of the next battle, staying out of the way of the other guardians but present anyway, along with Ken and Chikusa - the two members of Mukuro's gang still following him after his defeat earlier at the hands of Tsuna and his guardians. She got confused during the battle when explosions and smoke covered everything and they saved her from an explosion, showing that however they felt about her they were not going to let her get killed off.
During the Sky battle between Tsunayoshi and Xanxus all of the Guardians of both men were poisoned with a fast-acting, deadly poison. Chrome was saved by Yamamoto and Gokudera (two of Tsuna's Guardians) although they lost their rings. Mukuro told her that “someone was coming” in time for a man that Mukuro had held hostage in his own body and turned into a murderer until he was saved from the young Illusionist (Lancia) to come and keep everyone from getting killed off.
Future Arc
In this arc the Tenth's Guardians are pulled into a potential future to save all of the parallel worlds-slash-their own future from a man named Byakuran who is able to share his conciousness with all parallel versions of himself. Man he'd be a nightmare for y'all to deal with.
Chrome appears relatively late in the arc, showing up unexpectedly in the future Kokuyo Land, the place where Mukuro's gang lives, alone. The Mist Ring which she was wearing was frozen to her finger, but before she had any real chance to think about the reasons for that a creepy son of a bitch named Glo Xinia showed up to fight her. He taunted her by telling her that he had defeated Mukuro, make seriously creepy as hell intimations that he had either managed or just tried to rape her future self, and ran her ragged around the area.
Chrome fought him well, but without Mukuro she was at a disadvantage. One which disappeared when Mukuro's voice started to give her instructions and led her into creating her very first “real illusions”; those of Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa. This allowed Mukuro to be “there” to fight for her alongside her. After blowing Glo Xinia through a wall with enough force that he spends the rest of his time in the comic in a full body cast she passes out.
She was eventually rescued by the future-Ryohei and brought back to the base where the others had been dwelling, in critical condition as her organs had disappeared due to things happening with the Future-Mukuro elsewhere. It is important to me to note that none of the boys are seen visiting Chrome, with Tsuna coming to visit only when she starts dying in order to tell her that she could not die, however it was the adult version of Hibari who came and made her draw out the power of the Vongola ring so that she could make barely-working organs to support herself with it, bringing her out of critical danger, although she was still very gravely ill.
"Real Illusions" aren't terribly well explained, but boil down to "Illusions that can affect the real world as long as the person using them has enough power and pumps it into them". It appears that it is easier to do them to unwilling victims with help (such as throwing a rock behind an attacking illusion in order to confuse what is real and what is not), however Mukuro is keeping Chrome alive by dint of illusory organs. In other words: they are over powered as hell and it's a good thing that Chrome is more into being a sneaky bastard than a straight-up fighter.
Chrome and Tsuna shared a dream about a large machine prior to the core group of guardians - the boys - infiltrating the Merone base. It should be noted that Chrome is generally left out of the plans of the other Guardians, they treat her like she isn't there and under-utilize her greatly. However she tends to take silent charge of the situation when she can be of help, to wit: Chrome came to assist later, along with some of the other side-characters. She had the owl-shaped box weapon that Mukuro had possessed during the fight with Glo Xinia on her shoulder. Despite her illness and weakness (she is shown using her spear as a crutch and eventually being carried through the base) she ran illusions enough to get everyone inside the base. During Hibari's fight with Genshiki she managed to see through the other man's illusions, warning Hibari of what was coming.
She stopped Tsuna from destroying the machine that they had seen in their dream, which turned out to be a good thing since the future forms of all of them were inside it. Chrome was treated well by the girls, Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin, becoming careful and quiet friends with them slowly over the time that the Vongola were training. It was a slow thing, because she wasn't used to anyone showing care or concern. The boys pretty much ignored her, as they do. It's made obvious that Chrome had no way of dealing with the sort of kindnesses that the girls were giving her, from I-pin's sharing of the hot bun to the way that the other girls touched her when they found her cleaning up after the party. (Headcanon: While her mother says that Nagi has no friends, I feel that she wasn't even picked on; rather she ghosted through her days with virtually no interaction from anyone as she had become excellent at silence and watching so as to stay out of her mother's way.)
The Vongola were split up into groups in order to train, having found out that one of the people they thought was behind the terrible future was actually attempting to save the world(s) and that they had a whole different group of enemies to fight. Chrome was left to a program left behind by Mammon and did not actually have a tutor of her own, although it appeared that I-pin and perhaps Bianchi were training alongside her. None of the Guardians, however, spent any time with her. Asked if the Vongola could trust her, Chrome said; "I want to return to the past to be with the people most important to me. I...I want to become...a stronger person..." At this point she has no loyalty to the Vongola; they haven't shown her anything but the most casual kind of disregard with the exeption of Tsuna taking her to his home to rest when she'd passed out way back during her Ring battle.
Chrome showed her loyalty to the girls who had decided to accept her as one of them by joining in with their housework strike when the boys refuse to explain what was really going on. She simply, quietly, makes it clear that she will also be refusing to work until the boys come clean. She does not, however, force the issue by telling the Haru and Kyoko what was really going on: that wasn't her place and she isn't the kind of person to let information go easily.
During the final battle stage of the arc, Chrome brought the Vongola box to Mukuro, however she was stopped on the way there by a jealous M-M who called her pitiful and ugly, and claimed that Mukuro belonged to her (M-M). When nearly hit by a bolt of energy Chrome was saved by the future Mukuro and the two of them share a bit of a moment where he touches her face and she smiles at him before passing out on his chest with the comment that she is “so happy”.
Chrome was not seen again until everyone is getting ready to go. M-M cornered her to tell her that Mukuro is just using her and has no feelings towards her at all. Chrome began to say something, but was cut off by Ken. A blushing Chrome exchanged a rather meaningful look with Mukuro.
Inheritance Ceremony Arc
Chrome was shown purchasing snacks and a new character, Julie, was shown watching her. He apparently had done so before because he states that she's “only buying chocolate snacks again”. Later we learn that Julie has been leaving bags of food for Chrome (although Ken is the one shown eating). Later Julie approached Chrome and asks her to go on a date with him after the ceremony. Chrome turned him down and hurried off.
Yamamoto was attacked by an unknown assaliant and brought to the hospital, and Chrome goes along with everyone else to find out what had happened and to provide backup for Tsuna, who was taking it very badly.
She was asked to provide an illusion of Yamamoto so that only the people who attacked him would know that he was not present. Despite needing to function as herself at the same time she creates an illusion that almost everyone is taken in by, although Dino and Squalo both see through it due to Chrome's answering a question slightly wrongly, and offer their help if such help is needed. Mammon assured Chrome, when she was worrying that others would see through it, that someone would have to be an expert to see through them and to have some confidence.
It turned out that the Simon family attacked Yamamoto and during the ensuing fight Chrome is rendered unconscious and kidnapped by Julie. She awakened in Julie's room after the first incident of memory sharing post Sky/Earth ring battle and saw a silhouette looked rather like Mukuro's leaning in a door. She only made the mistake for a split second, however, before realising that it wasn't Mukuro. The figure turned out to be Julie and he continued to hit on her.
When Julie left, Chrome attempted to escape, however she was caught by Julie in the middle of it and he showed that he knew about her special relationship with Mukuro. This led up to Chrome finding out that Julie is holding her organs together, and that Mukuro is blocked from her. She refuted this, stating “This is the body that Mukuro-sama gave to me”. Julie proved that he was the one holding her life in his hand, and told her that her body was important.
Chrome rejected him, because Mukuro is the person most important to her, even over her own life. She didn't want him, she didn't want the organs he made. Julie informed her that he was the person responsible for the entire series of battles and that Julie was actually being possessed by Daemon Spade, the first Mist Guardian. Even knowing that she refused to give in to him.
She was put under mind-control and forced to call him “master” and to “cuddle” with him. She was forced to pick Tsuna (“boss”) out as the “number one bad guy”. She was forced to offer her body and Mukuro to Daemon. However when Daemon was stabbed she did not attack the person who does so. (Headcanon: ONLY the things shown on panal are what happens during her time under mind-control. Kissing, hugging. That's damn traumatic enough for someone her age, thankyouverymuch.)
Daemon made her set up a mist barrier when it appears that they are going to get into another fight, and he told the others that if the barrier was broken that Chrome would die. Under mind control she put her body between Daemon and the people fighting him, although he told her to step down when she did.
She was taken out of mind-control when Daemon was confident that the Vongola were going to be destroyed, immediately she began screaming and attempting to find a way out of her situation. When her organs were removed and she was left to die she uses the connection with Mukuro to tell him not to come and to leave her to die.
When Mukuro left her body after fighting with Daemon her first words were a demand to know where he was, and she was very unhappy at learning that he was stuck in the body of Mukurou (the owl box weapon). She placed herself between the others and Daemon, not for Daemon's sake but because if they attacked the first Guardian it would harm Mukuro's body and she didn't want him damaged. Mukuro actually has to fly at her with talons extended to get her to back down. When they are reminded that Daemon is an illusionist, Chrome considered jumping into a fight that was extremely high-powered.
Tsuna and Enma came up with a possible way to defeat Daemon, however doing so would kill Enma. This is when, despite Mukuro's protest, Chrome jumps in with her mist barrier. It wasn't strong enough on her own, so Mukuro added his power to it, and Chrome reacted by worrying about him...instead of about the possibility that she could die. Also, for the first and only time, Chrome called Tsuna “Tsuna-kun”.
Rainbow Arc
Chrome was thrown out of Mukuro's gang due to the fact that she was refusing his illusionary organs and therefor dying slowly. She was sent to Tsuna's class, and Reborn was given money to help her get set up in a place to live. Being thrown out of the gang caused her to cry on Kyoko's shoulders during class. Reborn decided to throw a welcoming party for Chrome that included a mimicry competition which did cheer her up slightly.
Without her organs Chrome gets sick, and became sicker. She and Mukuro meet and have a rather stilted conversation where he attempted to push her into beginning to fight in the rainbow battles. It turned out that he was taking time out of a battle to come and talk to her, and he told her that is she didn't tell him what was wrong she would die within three days.
She remained sick, finally getting hospitalized. Even being on life-support, however, did not stop her from asking Tsuna to add her to the battle group. While Tsuna turned her down, Reborn asked her what she wanted from Mukuro. This led to her showing up at one of the battles wearing a battler watch, dressed in her Kokuyo uniform. Despite being pale enough that even the sociopathic Arcobaleno Verde asked if she was alright, Chrome insisted upon battling.
Reborn explained that; "Until then (when Mukuro was freed) Chrome was able to communicate with Mukuro, that was asleep in that faraway prison, and could let him use her body. On the other hand Mukuro was the only person that could create illusionary organs to replace the ones she lost in the accident. In other words, they were closely supporting each other." Tsuna saying; "I see...now that Mukuro got his actual body he doesn't need Chrome anymore and Chrome is sorry for that so she stopped accepting his illusion." and Reborn continuing; "That's also part of the reason of course. I think the problem is mostly due to her feelings changing. Now that Mukuro has his own body again they don't share the same destiny anymore. He's a flawless young boy that can live his life normally even without her. Mukuro is not part of her anymore...and she's not part of him either. For the first time she saw Mukuro outside of her and that led her to feel that from now on she also wants to be seen...as a single person."
Chrome explained to everyone that “I like Mukuro-sama, and I also like what he likes. I want to be someone that can protect all that. I want to protect Mukuro-sama forever.” and her resolution flared highly enough that she was able to create her own organs and assist Mukuro.
PERSONALITY:
Reborn says this about the Guardian of the Mist: "Creating something from nothing, and nothing from something; thus bewildering the enemy. Rendering the family's true form intangible with visions of deceit." Mukuro is Guardian, but Chrome is also the Guardian and that changeability must therefore describe both of them. She is not, cannot be, read only on the surface.
Chrome appears in the background a lot, rather than taking centre stage, as shown above.
When we first see Chrome she is a silhouette behind Ken and Chiksua, laughing Mukuro's laugh. She is bold, there, because she knows that she is going to do something that she can do; she throws her coat and, in Italian, she declares her name (Lo nego, Il mio nome e' Chrome. Chrome Dokuro.) and we see her with a confident smile on her face. She's wearing revealing clothing, when compared to the rest of the female cast, and she looks perfectly comfortable with it, and with her trident. This contrasts with who she was when she was Nagi, being shown on the cover of chapter 210 which shows a shy-looking Nagi in a sailor's suit contrasted with a vibrant Chrome. The tag line is "The lonely me no longer exists for now I have people around me".
What this suggests is that while Chrome was once as shy and retiring as she always appeared, the very fact of having other people to care about caused her to grow and find within herself a reason to be more than just a wallflower. She shows a fine hand in many places, layering commentary and actions in such a way as to make herself look weaker or less important than she actually is; throughout the entire discussion where the guardians are objecting to Chrome and asserting that she must be possessed by Mukuro her actions are those of a confident young woman; to the point where she actually kisses Tsuna on the cheek when he backs her up. She doesn't allow the actions of the others to put her off balance. In the face of action, she knows who she is and what she wants. Even when Gokudera yells at her she's calm ("What the hell do you think you're doing?!" "Greeting") Ken and Chikusa get angry on Chrome/Mukuro's behalf at the way Gokudera yells at her, and Chrome steps up; telling them that it isn't "something for you to decide" and turns to Tsuna.
What she says there is very revealing; she asks "Is it that I'm not worthy of the position as Guardian of Mist?" On one level this could come across as a very uncertain question, but on the other it's putting Tsuna on the spot. She's asking a teenage boy to tell a teenage girl that she's "unworthy", a calculated gamble that he'd be unwilling to shame her like that. She follows that up by calling him "boss", reinforcing the fact that he's in charge and affirming that she wants to battle; she wants to be worthy.
It's a classic example of leading someone to the conclusion that you want them to come to by framing your desire in a way that corners them in.
She consistently shows relief when she is allowed to fight, implying that she sees herself as a soldier more than as a girl. She shows honest relief, to the point of sighing, when Tsuna allows her to fight for the Mist ring, if she were truly as shy and retiring as she seems later on it would be hard to accept her eagerness to fight.
Whenever she fights she shows little or no hesitation. She always begins strong and only falters if she is backed entirely into a corner, even then it generally only takes a word from Mukuro for her to gather up extra reserves and push herself even more. It parallels the way that Reborn constantly pushes Tsuna, in some ways.
Chrome shows hints of humour, especially in the first fight with Mammon. "Who are you talking to?" she asks Mammon as the caught Chrome turns out to be basketballs "Over here...".
Even when she is trapped utterly, by Mammon, by Glo Xiniea, by Daemon, her reaction is one of defiance. She is only shown passive when she is poisoned during the Sky battle. "No matter who you are" she says to Mammon "I won't lose." and she goes back to attacking instead of falling back and defending. In fact it is Chrome's very strength of illusion powers that is her downfall in the fight with Mammon; "The stronger the illusionist's abilities, the more complete the infiltration. Their illusion's rate of success is also heightened and it's hold over reality stronger. Thus, in the illusionist's case, if their illusion is successfully countered with illusion it means that control of their own perception will be completely snatched away."
Chrome only shows fear for herself when her life is in danger, although even that isn't 100% certain, she is shown as perfectly willing to sacrifice herself over and over; fighting in the future when she is in critical condition, denying Daemon Spade's attempt to lure Mukuro to her, determining to fight without organs during the Arcobaleno battles.
Mukuro is the centre of Chrome's existence. Literally and metaphorically without him she is empty. Mukuro gave Chrome life literally by giving her illusory organs that function in place of the ones she's missing, he also gave her life by giving her a reason to live. He may very well be the first friend that she has ever had. What she does for Mukuro she does for herself, what she does for herself she does for Mukuro.
She doesn't seem terribly interested in making more friends, either, until much later. During the Ring Arc she keeps her distance from the Vongola. At the Cloud battle she is shown in the same general area as Ken and Chikusa, but seated apart from them. This may symbolize her desire to be close to those Mukuro is close to, while still not being accepted by them. Regardless, she is certainly not shown anywhere near the rest of the guardians.
She shows herself able to take the anger of others in stride, without losing her calm outer shell, giving the appearance of utterly ignoring the anger. Considering her past, however, it is very likely that she internalizes all of the things she is told.
Chrome is, after all, a child of abusive neglect. This can lead to any number of disorders, ranging from suicidal levels of depression to the incapability to react appropriately to social situations. Chrome appears to be dealing with them fairly well, to an extent. Many children of such houses are over-critical of themselves and end up depending on other people for a sense of validation and self-worth. Given no external care, they see themselves as worthless. Chrome gives these indications. The way that Chrome creeps around the background of all of the social situations shown in the series makes her appear not unlike a stray cat in many ways.
She wants to be loved, and she wants to love. The only person that she can trust, though, is Mukuro and at current canon spot she has just barely come out of believing that if she is not being his avatar she is of no use whatsoever. That entire incident, where she refuses to allow him to keep her alive, is proof that she still doesn't value herself as an individual rather than as a weapon in Mukuro's arsenal. Even her eventual resolution to be strong is centred around Mukuro rather than herself; “I like Mukuro-sama, and I also like what he likes. I want to be someone that can protect all that. I want to protect Mukuro-sama forever.”
Chrome only acts decisively when someone else is at stake and her list of priorities is very strictly outlined. It goes Mukuro --> Mukuro's people --> the girls --> Tsuna and company. She never argues with anyone overtly, instead allowing people to hold onto their opinions without argument.
Avoidance of argument is another sign of how she grew up. To be tolerated she had to be silent, a ghost, and that leaves a mark on a child. Her life before Mukuro was one of making as few waves as possible and fading into the background until she had no life to speak of. Her life after Mukuro came to her was one of being his body and his door to the world.
Chrome is naturally shy, we see that on the cover of 210, however she uses that shyness as a guard against other people coming too close. If they assume that she's shy, they won't pay attention to her; an assumption which is born out again and again. In the Arcobaleno arc Tsuna even admits that he didn't even notice when she didn't come to class. Acting shyer than she actually is, however, gives her the opportunity to watch everyone more closely for Mukuro's sake. Based on the clothing she wears, probably at Mukuro's suggestion, she has obviously blossomed to a point where being noticed doesn't bother her nearly as much as it would have when she was Nagi.
That change is also very significant. Over what could only have been a matter of weeks, with Mukuro's encouragement, “Nagi” becomes “Chrome” and allows herself to be dressed in a manner far more revealing than that of Kyoko and Haru, or even Bianchi. Her micro-mini, her stomach-bearing coat, the ostentatious skulls on her boots and her eyepatch that reflect her name...she's found a purpose and that purpose is allowing her to stretch beyond what she would have done alone.
Chrome shows her attachment to Mukuro in words now and then, but in her physical reaction to him even more. Every time he appears in a way that she gets to interact with him, she blushes. It is the same reaction of many a thirteen year old girl confronted with someone that she has a crush on, or loves in a romantic way. She doesn't think of Mukuro as “hers”, however, she only thinks of herself as his.
With one exception in the entire series, Chrome calls Tsuna “boss” and never actually addresses any of the other guardians by name ("Storm man", "Cloud man"). She keeps herself withdrawn from these people that Mukuro has not completely vetted, while fighting alongside them and protecting them with all that she has. She becomes far closer to the girls over a short period of time than she is with the boys over a much longer one. This cannot be out of a simple gender-lined reaction, however, as she remains stating that Ken and Chikusa are important to her along with Mukuro.
Chrome accepts the neglect of Ken and Chikusa as her due. Even though she is supposed to be Mukuro's avatar, she does not ask them for even a hint of concern and would most likely be shocked if someone suggested that they do so. To Chrome, she is not important.
Even when the girls do begin to make friends with Chrome, they are forced to make all of the movements. She stays reserved and within herself until the five-year-old I-pin actively comes to bother her. When shown with the girls, she is almost never shown as speaking; she is with them, but not a part of them.
She is “with, but not a part of” every group that she is engaged with. With Mukuro's gang, but not accepted by them. With Tsuna's guardians, but never spoken to after the first battle. With the girls, but never speaking. Chrome is the eternal outsider, and she appears to be content as such.
Chrome's reactions to Julie/Daemon's attempts to court her also show her low self-esteem. She doesn't dismiss him in a confident matter, she turns him down and runs from him. She backs away from him, she attempts to disappear.
She refuses to depend on other people, as shown by her attempt to escape when captured by Daemon Spade. In the middle of enemy territory she begins seeking a way out without even attempting to call out to Mukuro to come and save her. It is not, after all, his job to care for her...it is hers to be there for him.
Mukuro is so important to Chrome's own sense of self that when she is told that someone else (Daemon) is holding her organs together she violently rejects it. She does not want organs that Mukuro has not created, and she would rather die than not be Mukuro's Chrome...and when Daemon removes her organs and leaves her to die Chrome's reaction is to ask Mukuro not to come. She would rather die than have him be caught.
After the fight with Daemon Spade, when Mukuro is set free, Chrome has her entire world turned upside down. She isn't Mukuro's cherished avatar any more, she's just a weak, broken little girl who used to be helpful to him. To her, the fights that she got in, the struggles that she underwent, were nothing compared to being useful to Mukuro. She believes in her own uselessness so much that she begins to reject Mukuro, disallowing him from keeping her alive even as she is longing for him to remain close to her.
She doesn't know how to react to him on a human-to-human level, she doesn't know how to justify her own feelings towards him. He may be showing her that he still cares, but she can't accept it because she cannot think of any reason why he should care about her when he's free, and strong, and healthy.
This, however, is something of a blessing in disguise. It leads her to want to be seen as a whole person in and of herself; as someone who is worth something. She wants to be worth Mukuro's time, but without having anything to give back she is, to her mind, simply a drain on his resources. Due to this she reaches deep inside herself for the resolution to keep herself alive...so that she can be helpful to Mukuro.
Chrome is an incredibly resolute person who will push herself without hesitation for anything that she believes in. She is extremely, perhaps even neurotically, loyal to Mukuro (first) and anyone who gives her acceptance and understanding. Chrome is good at playing weaker and more retiring than she actually is, and giving the impression of being a whispy nothing of a person when she is actually far more competent and strong than she gives herself credit for being. She is incredibly observant, paying attention to everything around her. Chrome is a mistress of using the fewest possible words to get her point across in her own way. She is patient and willing to let other people talk themselves out before putting in her own two cents.
Chrome fears being worthless, helpless, and useless. She fears being left alone to deal with life without others to base her sense of self-worth on, and having to figure out a way to survive without outside assistance. She's afraid of being severely damaged again. Although it led to the only good things in her life, she is well aware of just how fragile she is and the fact that she is literally walking the edge of losing her organs at all times.
She's afraid of losing Mukuro. Belonging to him makes her feel safe, and losing him would be the ultimate in loss of comfort. Emotionally and in a present-in-her-life way, the concept of not having him in her life is a crippling one.
She has an extremely low sense of self-worth which is all tied up in external influences. She is likely to push herself far past her own reserves without paying attention to the very real possibility that she will hurt herself, or worse.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Mukuro Rokudo - Chrome's reason for being, her best (and perhaps only real) friend, her leader and the centre of her world - both literal and emotional.
Ken Joshima & Chikusa Kakimoto - Mukuro's other followers, she lives with them in the ruins of Kokuyo Land, but is treated as a waste of time and a poor imitation of Mukuro. She, nonetheless, considers them important to her because they are important to Mukuro.
Tsunayoshi Sawada & the Guardians - If Tsuna hadn't needed Mukuro, Mukuro wouldn't have needed Chrome. For that reason alone she is grateful to them and happy to fight beside them.
Kyoko, Haru, Bianchi, and I-pin - The first people to attempt to be Chrome's friends. They confuse the hell out of her, but she goes along with it.
TIMELINE SUMMARY:
~Hit by a car, drafted by Mukuro
~Fight fight fight don't die
~Well shit, Mukuro doesn't need her any more
~Almost die
~Figure shit out
~RIGHT THEN, I AM GOING TO LIVE SO THAT I CAN PROTECT MUKURO also check me out: organs. Made by me. Boo yah.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Chrome barely had time to blink with a confused, sluggish feeling in her mind - like peeling herself up from a warm blanket nest on a frozen day - before she hit a circle of stained glass with a thump that made her knees buckle and caused her to stagger for several lurching steps, hands pressing against her flattened, empty abodomen.
Before she had a chance to even begin worrying at the empty feeling where Mukuro usually lurked, her mind was taking stock of the area - from the blue and gold and green of the floor to the darkness past the circle of light that she couldn't even begin to see off. She continued in the direction she'd stumbled until she reached the edge of the platform, and peered off in the distance, then down. Nothing. Lots and lots of nothing at all.
Turning around she saw three pedestals, equal distance from each other and from her. A shifting ball of violet mist, a spear, and a skull plated in chrome. She took a few steps towards the staff, only to see it lift a bit and begin to spin. Those few steps were reversed rapidly, and she cautiously checked to see if it happened with the other choices. It did, and so she went back to her position at the edge of the circle and sat down to see what would happen next.
Several hours later, when staring at the floating items failed to do anything at all, she took a deep breath and headed for the mist. It was...strange, to see something that represented her power so obviously floating, but she hoped that it would return her organs to her. It...didn't, but somehow it still felt right, like something had eased inside of her. From the corner of her eye she could see the spear rise and glow, turning to look at both the other objects she could see that the skull was as well.
"So...I have to pick another one?" she murmured to herself softly, "There is no question, is there." it was less a question than a statement, and she turned her back on the spear to pick up the skull. She could fight, she would fight, but she had no interest real in being anything other than Mist user and Chrome.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Chrome is an exceptional illusionist, managing to go toe-to-toe with the Arcobelano Mammon for several rounds. She has shown herself capable of creating “real illusions”, first with Mukuro's help and later on her own. She is also shown as being able to create illusions under extreme stress, such as when missing her internal organs. Later on in canon (specifically when Daemon Spade is possessing Mukuro's body) we're told that a possessing spirit can ONLY use powers that the body they're possessing can use. So she can use all of Mukuro's Paths that he uses while in her body. Chrome's a freaking badass with the self-esteem of popcorn keeping her from living up to her potential. She's never been a direct fighter, so loss of the "sword" won't really affect her. I posit, though, that her spear is a summon because WTF you cannot hide a pole weapon in a mini-skirt. Being an adaptable child she won't take long to grasp that she doesn't have "her" illusions, but she can access different powers. Expect lots and lots of expermentation. Also probably explosions. Explosions happen a lot in canon.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
Chrome hasn't got organs! Or, at the very least, she is missing everything below the ribs. Again, my positing, is that if her mother had agreed to help her survive, she would have been pretty much bedridden anyway due to the amount of machines taken to keep her digesting, etc. Due to the way she'd've had to have been hit in order to sustain the injuries shown in canon (her stomach, flat against her spine, literally) I've also stated that she bounced and rolled on the pavement. Chrome is covered, and I do mean covered in scars. She just hides them because she's thirteen and it's hard to be "ugly" at thirteen.
Hello and thanks for your interest in Saudade! We really enjoyed reading your app, it was extremely thorough! We would love for you to join us, but we have a couple small revision requests first.
Your timeline summary seems to be a literal summation of Chrome's story, rather than a description of her Strength of Heart moment. This is probably partially our fault--'timeline' was not necessarily the best choice of words, so we understand any confusion! We need a description of Chrome's specific pull-point and why it's so important, what makes it her Crowning Moment of Awesome.
We enjoyed your Awakening sample, but wanted a little clarification as to Chrome's choices. It's a bit unclear to us what each item represented, and which one she deliberately discarded. Remember, she has to choose one item and discard one item, but she appears to have just chosen one and then chosen another, so we were a little unsure. If you can just make a couple small edits to clear that up you'll be golden!
Lastly, the special abilities section needs to reflect how her powers will be affected by the choices she made in the Awakening. What equipment will she have on her when she arrives? How will her magic be affected? We just need a little more detail here.
Thanks again for your application! Once you fix these few small things, we will be happy to welcome you to the game!
Okay!
Chrome's Strength of Heart moment is where she quite literally pulls all of her power, physical and mental and illusory, together in order to take control of her life. Both the metaphorical direction it is going to go, "I like Mukuro-sama and I also like what he likes. I want to be a person who can protect all that. I want to protect him forever." and also the very physical reality of what keeps her body alive. At that point she recreates her own internal organs, heart and lungs and liver and all that other gunk that people need in order to survive. Before that point, only Mukuro, Mammom, and Daemon Spade are shown as being capable of creating illusions of that depth and complexity. Considering that Chrome has, at that point, something like seven or eight months of practise with illusions compared to the years (Mukuro), decades (Mammon), and centuries (Spade) that's one hell of an awesome thing to do. In addition, that declaration and gathering of power comes after she has literally unhooked herself from the machines keeping herself alive in the hospital and walked all the way from the hospital to the edge of town intending to fight with her people even if she can't stand up. Chrome is a tiny, quiet, badass.
When I was thinking about Chrome, I was thinking how Sword, Shield, and Magic would translate into what she knows. Magic has to come first, so the swirling indigo mist that represents Illusion in her world was her first choice. Turning her back on the spear was dismissal of the sword, she didn't exactly think "I won't fight", but that's the last way she'd want to approach anything if she can think her way out of the fight. The skull represents a shield because of her name and what she is through most of canon. Her name is Kuromu Dokuro, Chrome Skull, and she serves Rokudo Mukuro, Six-Paths Corpse, as his literal physical body. She is the fleshy shield around his power to act in the world, and she is also his tie to the outside that keeps his mind from going deeper into bugfuck psychosis. Spending most of a year floating in a big ol' tank of water in a straight jacket is not conducive to sanity. Sorry for being too vague!
As for the special abilities...I honestly am not exactly sure what is going to happen with her powers. Her equipment is easy, she's got her clothing. Period. She is not shown as having any box-weapons (summoned animals), box-weapons made into jewellery, etc. The only weapon of any kind she is shown with in that panel is her spear and that's gotta be illusion because it's a freaking pole weapon and she could not have had that in the hospital. Her in-canon powers are pretty freaking broken, they're all lumped into "illusion" but she's still able to blow someone through a wall, resist black holes (although she did have help with that one, from Mukuro), summon snakes, turn a thing of basketballs temporarily into herself...it just goes on. I was, I think, guessing that she'd have to start all over from scratch? IDK.