IGN (In-Game Name):
DisgracedFool
What is your discord username?:
Disgracedangel
What is your timezone?:
EST
Describe your activity on the server:
Activity Description
I’d say my activity on the server is currently a solid 8.5/10! I’ve got about 6 hours free per day to dedicate to SRP as of April! My activity right now consists of Clubs, Shop openings, swim, and Council. Now, this might sound like a lot to balance! But I can absolutely confirm that I will have plenty of time to dedicate to shrine if I am given the chance to work this amazing faction. First off, I have club quota, but they are not super intense in terms of quota. Shop openings are entirely optional and I can miss them if it means getting to work at shrine! Swim meetings are only every Wednesday and Saturday, which leaves the entire rest of the week to do shrine stuff, and the practices are only a max of an hour! Council is similar, but with house inspections! These will be on Sunday and only take an hour. That leaves me with at LEAST 4 hours to dedicate to shrine per day!
Activity Chart
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Busy with school! 3 PM -> 10 PM: Completely free to log on! | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Busy with school! 3 PM -> 10 PM: Completely free to log on! | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Busy with school! 3 PM -> 5 PM: Completely free to log on and do anything! 6 PM -> 7 PM: Swim practice 7 PM -> 10 PM: Free to log on and do whatever | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Busy with school! 3 PM -> 10 PM: Completely free to log on! | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Busy with school! 3 PM -> 10 PM: Completely free to log on! | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Possibly asleep! If not, I can log on. 3 PM -> 5 PM: Awake and able to get on and do anything 6 PM -> 7 PM: Swim practice 7 PM -> 12 AM. Free to log on and do anything! | 6:30 AM -> 3 PM: Possibly asleep! If not, I can log on. 3 PM -> 5 PM: Awake and able to get on and do anything 6 PM -> 8 PM: High school house inspections 8 PM -> 12 AM. Free to log on and do anything! |
Another small note that I feel I need to add here is that I have not been on the DisgracedWho account in a while but I promise I am active on my other accounts.. And I’m also on vacation during the time this will be checked and will therefore be unable to log on.. I am sooo sorry again..!
List your current roles on the server:
DisgracedAngel - Col-Swim (B), College (B), Grade 12, Adult
DisgracedFool (Account I’m applying on) - HS-Council (Will be moved to DisgracedWho), Adult
DisgracedWho - Lawyer (Needs to be removed, I’m no longer in this faction), Grade 12
Link any previous applications:
Lawyer - Denied (Government Application 1)
Police - Accepted (KPD Application 1)
Teacher - Accepted (Teacher Application)
Doctor - Denied (Hospital Application 1)
Shopkeeper - Denied (Shop Application 1)
Psychiatrist - Denied (Hospital Application 2)
Counselor - Denied (Employee Application 1)
Reporter - Denied (News Application 1)
Psychiatrist - Denied (Hospital Application 3)
Reporter - Denied (News Application 2)
Psychiatrist - Accepted (Hospital Application 4)
Police - Denied (KPD Application 2)
HS-Council - Accepted (Council Application 1)
Police - Denied (KPD Application 3)
Staff - Denied (Staff Application)
Dealer - Denied (BMD Application 1)
Police - Denied (KPD Application 4)
Professor - Accepted (Professor Application)
Shopkeeper - Denied (Shop Application 2)
Maiden - Denied (Shrine Application 1)
Police - Denied (KPD Application 5)
Judge - Accepted (Government Application 2)
Doctor - Denied (Hospital Application 5)
Police - Denied (Police Application 6)
Priest - Denied (Shrine Application 2)
Shopkeeper - Denied (Shop Application 3)
Nurse - Accepted (Employee Application 2)
Dealer - Denied (BMD Application 2)
Doctor - Denied (Hospital Application 6)
Maiden - Denied (Shrine Application 3)
Club-leader - Denied (Club Application 1)
HS-Council - Accepted (Council Application 2)
Club-Leader - Denied (Club Application 2)
Police - Denied (KPD Application 6)
Shopkeeper - Denied (Shop Application 4)
What position are you applying for (Maiden or Priest)?
Maiden
What is your motivation for applying?
I have plenty of motivation for applying! What are these reasons? Hmmm.. I don’t know if I had to list a couple, it’d probably be
୨︶︶︶୨୧︶︶︶୧
Reason #1: People in the faction
Now, I could say I’m applying simply just because I like the faction, but that wouldn’t be entirely true! I do love the shrine faction, but I also love the people in it and people previously in it. Each person in this faction that I’ve interacted with has been amazing and actually so fun to interact with! Every time I come up to the shrine, I get to meet characters that are so interesting, and since I’m negative about myself, I’m going to say that I love these characters more than my own. They each have such a cool, unique aspect to them, and I hope that by getting to work with these people, I will learn how to make characters better than before! Each time I join a faction I meet new and cool people that help me get even better at character development and I hope it’ll be the same for shrine! Rather, I know it will be the same for shrine!
Reason #2: Genuine Interest
Now, I would hope that each person applying for shrine has a reason similar to this one. Shrine is actually such an interesting faction, with so many cool features. I won’t pretend to know everything about shrines and what they do, since I am actually not Google and don’t know every single thing! Which is why this faction is so cool to me, because despite how little I know about Shintoism, it’s so cool. I mean, only in Shrine can you do tarot readings, omikuji, and weddings! Well, I guess anyone CAN do a wedding, but not nearly as good as shrines weddings. I’m ranting, but what I’m trying to say is that all of the things I’ve seen members of the shrine do is so cool to me.
Reason #3: New experience
I’ve never joined shrine once during my entire 3 years on this server! It’s certainly been something I’ve had my eye on, but I’ve never truly put in a good attempt for it. Which is exactly why, through this attempt, I really want to be given a chance to learn more about one of the most important parts of the server, the shrine! I hope that through this acceptance, I can learn tons about the server.
୨︶︶︶୨୧︶︶︶୧
What do you currently know about Shintoism? Are you willing to learn more about it?
There are quite a few things I’ve learned about Shintoism during my time learning from sharktism! But of course, I am very aware that I do not know everything, and in fact, I probably only know the basics since I haven’t really gone through training, which means I’ll never know everything! But I am absolutely willing to learn more about Shintoism. Anyway, onto what I’ve learned
୨︶︶︶୨୧︶︶︶୧
Knowledge #1: Tea!
One of the most important things about the Shrine! At least to Ritsu, the character I’m applying with! I do not know what tea ceremonies are like, and while I hope to learn while in the Shrine, I do know the basics of giving tea to people who come up!
Knowledge #2: Kami
I do know the Shinsei Seinaru Monastery is the only shrine to be dedicated to the one kami.. Unfortunately I forgot the name of that Kami and I am soo sorry that I forgot.. But I do know they are one of the few shrines, if not the only shrine, that worships it.
Knowledge #3: Offerings
I also know that offerings are very important to the shrine, and it’s important that you do not turn your back on the offering box, as it is seen as turning your back on the kami! You can put any offering into the box!
୨︶︶︶୨୧︶︶︶୧
Again, I’d like to apologize for not writing down more in this section… I did learn a lot more, but since I am not at my computer when writing this, I do not have the information that I took saved! I promise there is more that I know.
Character Full Name:
Several quick taps against the floor could be heard as someone rushed over and opened the door to the interview room. Taking a deep breath as she sat in the chair.
"My name? It's Ritsu Shinozaki, mhm.. that's my name.. sorry for being late to the interview, I had to work a shift at a store I work for.. I'm pretty busy around the start of the spring season.. sorry again.."
The taps against the floor turned constant as she awkwardly tapped her foot against the floor. She seemed to be trying anything to relax. How could someone who works a job be so anxious? She took out a cup of tea from her bag as she sipped on it to try to calm herself down
"Ah.. umm.. sorry about the tea, I just get really bad anxiety, and this helps calm it down a bit.. Interviews really scare me.. I hope this isn't a problem..!"
Character Title:
She set down her tea once her title was asked. She seemed almost confused about getting asked the question. Weird! She took another sip of her tea before eventually responding.
"Ummm... well, my title is uhhh... San, I think.. I don’t really ever go by my title, though. But either Miss or San works if it’s a respectful situationnn..!! I also won’t really mind if people just call me Ritsu!!"
Her anxious foot tapping against the floor only got quicker as the questions went on. Her eyes closed for a while before eventually standing up as if she were about to leave, before sitting down again after mumbling to herself for a while.
"Sorry.. Sorry.. I just.. didn't want to like be a problem and I thought leaving might avoid that but then I thought about how much I really want to work up here and sat back down.. I'm so sorry.. I'm probably being terrible right now."
Character Age:
She was not calming down after trying to leave for a second. Her anxious foot tapping was only getting quicker as if she were trying to break through the floor with her taps to escape this awkward interview.
Ah uh, 21.. I'll be 22 this September, but you didn't ask that uhmm.. yeah.. 21. I'm planning on dropping out of physical school and instead going to virtual school while I stay up here at the shrine so that I can dedicate my time to up here! That's okay, right?"
Sweat went down her forehead as she paused for a minute, as if thinking about her response. After a long sigh, she spoke again.
"Sorry, you only asked my age, and I went on a tangent about school. I am 21, yeah."
Character Marital Status:
Eventually, the rhythm of her foot tapping changed, remaining just as fast but with the addition of her fingers tapping against the table too for some extra noise. Sip of tea, tap on the table, tap on the floor, followed her words for the entire interview, and she seemed to be almost oblivious to what she was doing. Sweat was going down her face as she was clearly more focused on what she was saying than her actual body moving.
"Uhhhh.. My marital status? Well.. I’m not married, but I am dating, so I don’t really know what that would mean. But yeah, I am dating! I don’t have to leave her to be part of Shintoism, though, right? I’m sure Maidens can date other people. I hope!"
She seemed terrified after she said that, even though she hadn't said anything wrong. She took another sip of her tea before tapping her fingers against the table as if trying and failing to relax.
"Do you mind if we take a quick break? I really need to go outside to call someone, but I need to do it really quickly. I promise I won't be long at all."
Without waiting for a response, she stood up and walked quickly out of the room. A long pause could be heard before whispering could be heard alongside the obvious sounds of crying. Eventually, she walked back into the room, wiping tears off her face.
"Sorry.. it was a very important call. I am fine, I am doing fine.. uhm.. can we continue please? I'm really sorry for the interruption."
Character Nationality:
She continued with her repetitive movements, this time taking out a tiny lemon cake, taking a bite, and accidentally scratching her fork against the plate. She eventually realized what she was doing.
"Oh.. I am so sorry. I shouldn't be eating food in here this was really stupid of me to bring I am really sorry.. really sorry.. I'll put it away.."
She took out a tiny little baggy, placed the lemon cake in it, and then put the bag into a cute little lunch box she had brought with her!
"Umm, right.. sorry again.. I am Japanese, I believe! I was born and raised in Japan, as I never really ever left."
Degree/Certifications (If applicable):
She took another deep breath as she continued to tap against the table and floor, along with sipping her tea. Eventually, she finished it and placed it into her lunch box, too, before clearing her throat.
"I don’t really know how my degree would help up here, but I spent a year working towards my bachelor's in Health Sciences. Which doesn’t really help when trying to join a Shinto Shrine, I would think."
She paused for a while. thinking about what to say next which meant more annoying tapping as she thought for a longgg while!
"Oh.. right um.. I know this doesn't count for a degree or certification, but I do work... umm... 6 stores right now, so I think that makes me more qualified to deal with people up here, since I work with the public all the time at my stores! And nobody has said they hated my service at the stores so I think I'm doing a pretty good job.. I also manage stock for one so I can help with any shrine stock too.."
Backstory
Chapter #1 - Before Birth
The parents of the peaceful girl Ritsu were Masaru Shinozaki and Chiyo Zoju, with Masaru born in Sapporo, Japan, and Chiyo eventually moving there when she was 20 to attend college. They met in college, where they talked about the dangers in Japan and how they both wanted to raise a kid who was safe from all of it. Joking about homeschooling the kid their whole life. The two of them continued to hang out after that, growing closer and closer with each passing day, until eventually they got married when they were both 25 years old. It was decided after the wedding that Chiyo would take Masaru’s last name and drop the Zoju one, so they could disappear from any known family names. At 26 years old, the two of them purchased a farm and spent the rest of their lives there, with no plans to move anywhere else. By the time the two of them had spent a full year on the farm, living off the plants they grew and sold, they had a baby. The baby’s name? Ritsu!
Chapter #2 - Born and homeschooled
She knew nothing was going on outside of her farm with her parents. Taught everything she needed to know for a basic education, but besides that, all Ritsu ever did was help out on the farm. If anyone from their families ever came by, Ritsu was kept upstairs where she couldn’t meet them, since if she ever found out what the real world is like, she might want to leave! It wasn’t like they were keeping her there for some evil reason; they just simply wanted to make sure their precious daughter would never have to suffer. They had only ever seen the bad in Japan, never the good things that constantly went on around them, because they were too focused on the negatives. Ritsu watched as they grew plants, and she decided she wanted to grow her own plants, but the cuter ones! She had seen flowers left on a counter from a member of the family that she, of course, hadn’t gotten to meet, and decided she wanted to grow plants like those. Her parents couldn’t tell her no since they didn’t want their daughter to grow up completely unhappy, and the flowers made her happy! So they allowed her to grow her own plants in a small section of the farm. By the time Ritsu was 16, she hadn’t even considered leaving the farm because all her parents had ever told her was things about the farm. Sure, people would come by from time to time to buy the plants her parents grew, and she would watch from the window, but that wasn’t enough to convince her to leave! But when she had turned 18, she started to get bored with the farm and how little ever changed. She would constantly ask to go on a trip outside of the farm so she could see what other flowers were out there in the world. By 19, they had finally gotten sick of her constantly asking to go anywhere but the farm, so they took her on a short trip to Tokyo, Japan, while they sold a big shipment of plants they had grown, so that they could get money to add a couple of new things to their farmhouse! Even just that one day Ritsu had spent in Tokyo was enough to convince her that she had to go see what else Japan had to offer! So she helped out on her parents' farm for the last year, as she asked to be paid an allowance since her parents had made pretty good money from the farm they owned, and they didn’t see the harm in it. After another year of working by the time Ritsu was 20 she eventually had a conversation to them about how she was going to leave the farm and explore the world… it broke her parents heart seeing her leave after leaving with them for 20 years but it had been 20 years since they had ever really lived outside of their farm so what harm could really come of letting Ritsu go on her own for a while. After all she promised to write to them each and every day so that they would know she was okay! After a short amount of convincing, Ritsu got approval and headed off to a small part of Japan isolated from the main island. Karakura, Japan.
Back to the interview! She taps her foot, clearing her throat as she gets ready to tell a long story with no pauses.
Chapter #3A - Adjusting to Karakura - September
"Okay soooo.. Basically, I moved to Karakura when I was 20! Homeschooled before that.. Anyway, it was pretty difficult getting used to this place.. I arrived in September a couple days after my birthday actually! My first week or so was terrifying since I had basically no idea what I was doing, and the local female college football team offered that I try out for their team, which was uhhh.. Honestly really scary I had no idea how tryouts work and suddenly I had someone training me on how football worked. It was.. An experience, to say the least, but I’m just glad it happened, since I made some pretty good friends from it, which helped me get through what came next. Uhh.. I joined the gardening club as one of the first things I did when moving to Karakura, since I liked gardening at my farm! I managed to get into the club which was great at the time until I had to actually deal with what went on in the club.. Ummm.. it was a horrible month for the rest of september since I didn’t make it into football and then the gardening club had like 3 other clubs that hated them and took it out on the gardening club members I guess it was worse before I got there but I was hit with a harp, was told they kidnapped and KILLED a fish which was horrible.. I can’t believe someone would even end life like that which is part of the reason I want to do Shintoism.. I know I didn’t kill the fish, but I feel like I should dedicate my life to making sure that I do everything I can to make people happy. But by the end of september I was mostly okay.. I think that’s around the time I started working at Tsuki no Umi since I already worked at Seikatsu since they had an open manager spot with a new boss taking over the store.. Both of those shifts helped me get through a tough month even if I didn’t really like the Seikatsu boss.. But it was okay.
Chapter #3B - Adjusting to Karakura - October
October started and September ended.. I still had friends and started hanging out with the swim team, which was nice, and they made me feel better about not getting into the football team. But… as I’m sure most of you up here know.. October is the worst month of the year because that’s when uhh.. Well.. they.. The spirits come out and make everything bad. Starting off the month, I was going on a walk in the forest since I used to do forest walks to calm myself down from the gardening club events. And I walked up to a cave where a bunch of people were and then one of them accused me of being a spirit!? They then threw a frying pan at my head which gave me a concussion.. My second or third concussion in two months, by the way! The harp was the first.. I woke up in the hospital after that and was crying because someone had hit me with a frying pan. Concussions hurt by the way and it was my first time ever taking medication.. I also joined a group that was dealing with uhh.. Onesung the people making those horrible mannequins in October, mostly because my friend Miosa was involved in it! A mannequin and some guy locked me in a cabin too during october and tried to break in to scare us.. It was the worst but eventually about half way or something into october I started dating this one girl and she was amazing.. At least for the first couple of months! Anyway, I also met my best friend, Loren, from the swim team during this time, since I want to talk about a couple of positives. Eventually October ended and that was pretty much the end of my somewhat horrible time in Karakura..
Chapter #3C - Adjusting to Karakura - November and December
Okay! November, uhhmmm.. What happened during that month? Sorry, it kind of all blurs together for me at this point. Oh, I joined the astrology club! A club I’m still in now but I guess I’ll have to leave it if I get to be a shrine maiden.. Which is fine! I spent most of November and December focusing on the Gardening club and the Astrology club, where I got to do palm readings, which I still do to this day, and took care of the school gardens! Pretty sure I started working at Yeobo and Umisachi around this time too since I was really dedicated to having a busy schedule since my brain tends to get bored easily if I’m not working.. It’s a problem I’m trying and failing to solve! I also helped a lot of my friends during this time so that they felt better since some of them were feeling down.. I also MISSED swim tryouts which sucked and made me feel pretty bad for a while and since I was mad at their captain Sihyun for associating with Onesung or whatever that group with the white outfits were.. Ugh they were awful.. I don’t usually hate people, but I don’t get why people would just want to dedicate themselves to being awful. I was also super mad at my boss at Seikatsu during this time since he didn’t really like me being with his daughter, since I’ve been told um.. That I’m a bit of a coward, which is fair, I guess. I don’t really like making people mad. But that made the month a bit sadder. Oh I also fell out of a gardening club window and broke both my legs during this time too.. which .. uhm.. Sucked. I recovered, though! The concussion and broken legs were terrible though since I hit my head on a branch in the forest shortly after while I was following the club meeting.. Uhm.. Right! That’s probably all of November and December. New Year's was SUPER cute though!! I loved it and got to spend it with my girlfriend, which was great. Anyway! Onto January and February
Chapter 3D - Adjusting to Karakura - January and February
These two months weren’t really anything special either.. January is around when I started getting interested in hospital work since I really wanted to help people so they wouldn’t have to suffer like I did with the concussion.. So I joined a hospital internship program, which was tons of fun! Except umm.. Turns out I have a serious fear of blood and can barely handle seeing it! Which uhm.. Made it so that my dream of working at the hospital is basically impossible.. I might consider being a psychiatrist in the future but I’d like to focus on shrine for several years before I ever consider doing hospital work again.. It’s scary knowing people's lives would be in my hands. Around this time my girlfriend mostly left Karakura and stopped showing up.. This includes on Valentines day when she entirely ghosted me for a while.. She eventually came back and promised to stay but she never did.. I guess we technically are broken up, but I never said anything to her about it, so.. Is that cheating? Uhh.. I should really tell her. But it’s okay, I promise I will.. It just hurts to tell someone you want to leave them, you know? But that was basically it for January and February. I mostly spent the month working and doing club stuff while talking to friends! Nothing entirely eventful happened.. So.. March and April
Chapter #3E - Adjusting to Karakura - March and April
This is as recent as it gets! March was when me and my girlfriend basically stopped seeing each other.. My friends started hating each other and arguing. It is when I joined the swim team, though! I’ve also recently left gardening since I realized I probably should. They got better members but I kind of just stopped showing up since I didn’t really want to deal with remembering what had happened in the past with all the club stuff.. I then joined photography recently! I used to like taking photos, but I stopped once I realized I was in too many clubs and would never be able to join photography! Until recently when I left gardening so that’s fun.. I also started talking to this one girl Vera Togomi and we’ve recently started dating so that’s exciting.. I hope it works out!! But only time will be able to tell with that stuff. As long as she stays around, I’ll be happy. My friend Loren also left Karakura due to private reasons which makes me sad and I miss him.. But it was also for his own good so I guess it’s okay.. I just miss him and all the people that used to be in Karakura with me like Toma and Kaoru.. I also started working at Daisuki around this time, and now I manage their stock, so that’s some good news! But besides that we aren’t too far into April and my life hasn’t been entirely eventful as of recently.. Which is fine, I’d rather stick to working and taking care of those I love than have new things happening to me! Repetitive is better than bad is what I think.. So that’s basically how adjusting to Karakura has gone so far! A couple ups and downs.. But I also really love my friends and my girlfriend so I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.."
Several quick taps against the floor could be heard as someone rushed over and opened the door to the interview room. Taking a deep breath as she sat in the chair.
"My name? It's Ritsu Shinozaki, mhm.. that's my name.. sorry for being late to the interview, I had to work a shift at a store I work for.. I'm pretty busy around the start of the spring season.. sorry again.."
The taps against the floor turned constant as she awkwardly tapped her foot against the floor. She seemed to be trying anything to relax. How could someone who works a job be so anxious? She took out a cup of tea from her bag as she sipped on it to try to calm herself down
"Ah.. umm.. sorry about the tea, I just get really bad anxiety, and this helps calm it down a bit.. Interviews really scare me.. I hope this isn't a problem..!"
Character Title:
She set down her tea once her title was asked. She seemed almost confused about getting asked the question. Weird! She took another sip of her tea before eventually responding.
"Ummm... well, my title is uhhh... San, I think.. I don’t really ever go by my title, though. But either Miss or San works if it’s a respectful situationnn..!! I also won’t really mind if people just call me Ritsu!!"
Her anxious foot tapping against the floor only got quicker as the questions went on. Her eyes closed for a while before eventually standing up as if she were about to leave, before sitting down again after mumbling to herself for a while.
"Sorry.. Sorry.. I just.. didn't want to like be a problem and I thought leaving might avoid that but then I thought about how much I really want to work up here and sat back down.. I'm so sorry.. I'm probably being terrible right now."
Character Age:
She was not calming down after trying to leave for a second. Her anxious foot tapping was only getting quicker as if she were trying to break through the floor with her taps to escape this awkward interview.
Ah uh, 21.. I'll be 22 this September, but you didn't ask that uhmm.. yeah.. 21. I'm planning on dropping out of physical school and instead going to virtual school while I stay up here at the shrine so that I can dedicate my time to up here! That's okay, right?"
Sweat went down her forehead as she paused for a minute, as if thinking about her response. After a long sigh, she spoke again.
"Sorry, you only asked my age, and I went on a tangent about school. I am 21, yeah."
Character Marital Status:
Eventually, the rhythm of her foot tapping changed, remaining just as fast but with the addition of her fingers tapping against the table too for some extra noise. Sip of tea, tap on the table, tap on the floor, followed her words for the entire interview, and she seemed to be almost oblivious to what she was doing. Sweat was going down her face as she was clearly more focused on what she was saying than her actual body moving.
"Uhhhh.. My marital status? Well.. I’m not married, but I am dating, so I don’t really know what that would mean. But yeah, I am dating! I don’t have to leave her to be part of Shintoism, though, right? I’m sure Maidens can date other people. I hope!"
She seemed terrified after she said that, even though she hadn't said anything wrong. She took another sip of her tea before tapping her fingers against the table as if trying and failing to relax.
"Do you mind if we take a quick break? I really need to go outside to call someone, but I need to do it really quickly. I promise I won't be long at all."
Without waiting for a response, she stood up and walked quickly out of the room. A long pause could be heard before whispering could be heard alongside the obvious sounds of crying. Eventually, she walked back into the room, wiping tears off her face.
"Sorry.. it was a very important call. I am fine, I am doing fine.. uhm.. can we continue please? I'm really sorry for the interruption."
Character Nationality:
She continued with her repetitive movements, this time taking out a tiny lemon cake, taking a bite, and accidentally scratching her fork against the plate. She eventually realized what she was doing.
"Oh.. I am so sorry. I shouldn't be eating food in here this was really stupid of me to bring I am really sorry.. really sorry.. I'll put it away.."
She took out a tiny little baggy, placed the lemon cake in it, and then put the bag into a cute little lunch box she had brought with her!
"Umm, right.. sorry again.. I am Japanese, I believe! I was born and raised in Japan, as I never really ever left."
Degree/Certifications (If applicable):
She took another deep breath as she continued to tap against the table and floor, along with sipping her tea. Eventually, she finished it and placed it into her lunch box, too, before clearing her throat.
"I don’t really know how my degree would help up here, but I spent a year working towards my bachelor's in Health Sciences. Which doesn’t really help when trying to join a Shinto Shrine, I would think."
She paused for a while. thinking about what to say next which meant more annoying tapping as she thought for a longgg while!
"Oh.. right um.. I know this doesn't count for a degree or certification, but I do work... umm... 6 stores right now, so I think that makes me more qualified to deal with people up here, since I work with the public all the time at my stores! And nobody has said they hated my service at the stores so I think I'm doing a pretty good job.. I also manage stock for one so I can help with any shrine stock too.."
Backstory
Chapter #1 - Before Birth
The parents of the peaceful girl Ritsu were Masaru Shinozaki and Chiyo Zoju, with Masaru born in Sapporo, Japan, and Chiyo eventually moving there when she was 20 to attend college. They met in college, where they talked about the dangers in Japan and how they both wanted to raise a kid who was safe from all of it. Joking about homeschooling the kid their whole life. The two of them continued to hang out after that, growing closer and closer with each passing day, until eventually they got married when they were both 25 years old. It was decided after the wedding that Chiyo would take Masaru’s last name and drop the Zoju one, so they could disappear from any known family names. At 26 years old, the two of them purchased a farm and spent the rest of their lives there, with no plans to move anywhere else. By the time the two of them had spent a full year on the farm, living off the plants they grew and sold, they had a baby. The baby’s name? Ritsu!
Chapter #2 - Born and homeschooled
She knew nothing was going on outside of her farm with her parents. Taught everything she needed to know for a basic education, but besides that, all Ritsu ever did was help out on the farm. If anyone from their families ever came by, Ritsu was kept upstairs where she couldn’t meet them, since if she ever found out what the real world is like, she might want to leave! It wasn’t like they were keeping her there for some evil reason; they just simply wanted to make sure their precious daughter would never have to suffer. They had only ever seen the bad in Japan, never the good things that constantly went on around them, because they were too focused on the negatives. Ritsu watched as they grew plants, and she decided she wanted to grow her own plants, but the cuter ones! She had seen flowers left on a counter from a member of the family that she, of course, hadn’t gotten to meet, and decided she wanted to grow plants like those. Her parents couldn’t tell her no since they didn’t want their daughter to grow up completely unhappy, and the flowers made her happy! So they allowed her to grow her own plants in a small section of the farm. By the time Ritsu was 16, she hadn’t even considered leaving the farm because all her parents had ever told her was things about the farm. Sure, people would come by from time to time to buy the plants her parents grew, and she would watch from the window, but that wasn’t enough to convince her to leave! But when she had turned 18, she started to get bored with the farm and how little ever changed. She would constantly ask to go on a trip outside of the farm so she could see what other flowers were out there in the world. By 19, they had finally gotten sick of her constantly asking to go anywhere but the farm, so they took her on a short trip to Tokyo, Japan, while they sold a big shipment of plants they had grown, so that they could get money to add a couple of new things to their farmhouse! Even just that one day Ritsu had spent in Tokyo was enough to convince her that she had to go see what else Japan had to offer! So she helped out on her parents' farm for the last year, as she asked to be paid an allowance since her parents had made pretty good money from the farm they owned, and they didn’t see the harm in it. After another year of working by the time Ritsu was 20 she eventually had a conversation to them about how she was going to leave the farm and explore the world… it broke her parents heart seeing her leave after leaving with them for 20 years but it had been 20 years since they had ever really lived outside of their farm so what harm could really come of letting Ritsu go on her own for a while. After all she promised to write to them each and every day so that they would know she was okay! After a short amount of convincing, Ritsu got approval and headed off to a small part of Japan isolated from the main island. Karakura, Japan.
Back to the interview! She taps her foot, clearing her throat as she gets ready to tell a long story with no pauses.
Chapter #3A - Adjusting to Karakura - September
"Okay soooo.. Basically, I moved to Karakura when I was 20! Homeschooled before that.. Anyway, it was pretty difficult getting used to this place.. I arrived in September a couple days after my birthday actually! My first week or so was terrifying since I had basically no idea what I was doing, and the local female college football team offered that I try out for their team, which was uhhh.. Honestly really scary I had no idea how tryouts work and suddenly I had someone training me on how football worked. It was.. An experience, to say the least, but I’m just glad it happened, since I made some pretty good friends from it, which helped me get through what came next. Uhh.. I joined the gardening club as one of the first things I did when moving to Karakura, since I liked gardening at my farm! I managed to get into the club which was great at the time until I had to actually deal with what went on in the club.. Ummm.. it was a horrible month for the rest of september since I didn’t make it into football and then the gardening club had like 3 other clubs that hated them and took it out on the gardening club members I guess it was worse before I got there but I was hit with a harp, was told they kidnapped and KILLED a fish which was horrible.. I can’t believe someone would even end life like that which is part of the reason I want to do Shintoism.. I know I didn’t kill the fish, but I feel like I should dedicate my life to making sure that I do everything I can to make people happy. But by the end of september I was mostly okay.. I think that’s around the time I started working at Tsuki no Umi since I already worked at Seikatsu since they had an open manager spot with a new boss taking over the store.. Both of those shifts helped me get through a tough month even if I didn’t really like the Seikatsu boss.. But it was okay.
Chapter #3B - Adjusting to Karakura - October
October started and September ended.. I still had friends and started hanging out with the swim team, which was nice, and they made me feel better about not getting into the football team. But… as I’m sure most of you up here know.. October is the worst month of the year because that’s when uhh.. Well.. they.. The spirits come out and make everything bad. Starting off the month, I was going on a walk in the forest since I used to do forest walks to calm myself down from the gardening club events. And I walked up to a cave where a bunch of people were and then one of them accused me of being a spirit!? They then threw a frying pan at my head which gave me a concussion.. My second or third concussion in two months, by the way! The harp was the first.. I woke up in the hospital after that and was crying because someone had hit me with a frying pan. Concussions hurt by the way and it was my first time ever taking medication.. I also joined a group that was dealing with uhh.. Onesung the people making those horrible mannequins in October, mostly because my friend Miosa was involved in it! A mannequin and some guy locked me in a cabin too during october and tried to break in to scare us.. It was the worst but eventually about half way or something into october I started dating this one girl and she was amazing.. At least for the first couple of months! Anyway, I also met my best friend, Loren, from the swim team during this time, since I want to talk about a couple of positives. Eventually October ended and that was pretty much the end of my somewhat horrible time in Karakura..
Chapter #3C - Adjusting to Karakura - November and December
Okay! November, uhhmmm.. What happened during that month? Sorry, it kind of all blurs together for me at this point. Oh, I joined the astrology club! A club I’m still in now but I guess I’ll have to leave it if I get to be a shrine maiden.. Which is fine! I spent most of November and December focusing on the Gardening club and the Astrology club, where I got to do palm readings, which I still do to this day, and took care of the school gardens! Pretty sure I started working at Yeobo and Umisachi around this time too since I was really dedicated to having a busy schedule since my brain tends to get bored easily if I’m not working.. It’s a problem I’m trying and failing to solve! I also helped a lot of my friends during this time so that they felt better since some of them were feeling down.. I also MISSED swim tryouts which sucked and made me feel pretty bad for a while and since I was mad at their captain Sihyun for associating with Onesung or whatever that group with the white outfits were.. Ugh they were awful.. I don’t usually hate people, but I don’t get why people would just want to dedicate themselves to being awful. I was also super mad at my boss at Seikatsu during this time since he didn’t really like me being with his daughter, since I’ve been told um.. That I’m a bit of a coward, which is fair, I guess. I don’t really like making people mad. But that made the month a bit sadder. Oh I also fell out of a gardening club window and broke both my legs during this time too.. which .. uhm.. Sucked. I recovered, though! The concussion and broken legs were terrible though since I hit my head on a branch in the forest shortly after while I was following the club meeting.. Uhm.. Right! That’s probably all of November and December. New Year's was SUPER cute though!! I loved it and got to spend it with my girlfriend, which was great. Anyway! Onto January and February
Chapter 3D - Adjusting to Karakura - January and February
These two months weren’t really anything special either.. January is around when I started getting interested in hospital work since I really wanted to help people so they wouldn’t have to suffer like I did with the concussion.. So I joined a hospital internship program, which was tons of fun! Except umm.. Turns out I have a serious fear of blood and can barely handle seeing it! Which uhm.. Made it so that my dream of working at the hospital is basically impossible.. I might consider being a psychiatrist in the future but I’d like to focus on shrine for several years before I ever consider doing hospital work again.. It’s scary knowing people's lives would be in my hands. Around this time my girlfriend mostly left Karakura and stopped showing up.. This includes on Valentines day when she entirely ghosted me for a while.. She eventually came back and promised to stay but she never did.. I guess we technically are broken up, but I never said anything to her about it, so.. Is that cheating? Uhh.. I should really tell her. But it’s okay, I promise I will.. It just hurts to tell someone you want to leave them, you know? But that was basically it for January and February. I mostly spent the month working and doing club stuff while talking to friends! Nothing entirely eventful happened.. So.. March and April
Chapter #3E - Adjusting to Karakura - March and April
This is as recent as it gets! March was when me and my girlfriend basically stopped seeing each other.. My friends started hating each other and arguing. It is when I joined the swim team, though! I’ve also recently left gardening since I realized I probably should. They got better members but I kind of just stopped showing up since I didn’t really want to deal with remembering what had happened in the past with all the club stuff.. I then joined photography recently! I used to like taking photos, but I stopped once I realized I was in too many clubs and would never be able to join photography! Until recently when I left gardening so that’s fun.. I also started talking to this one girl Vera Togomi and we’ve recently started dating so that’s exciting.. I hope it works out!! But only time will be able to tell with that stuff. As long as she stays around, I’ll be happy. My friend Loren also left Karakura due to private reasons which makes me sad and I miss him.. But it was also for his own good so I guess it’s okay.. I just miss him and all the people that used to be in Karakura with me like Toma and Kaoru.. I also started working at Daisuki around this time, and now I manage their stock, so that’s some good news! But besides that we aren’t too far into April and my life hasn’t been entirely eventful as of recently.. Which is fine, I’d rather stick to working and taking care of those I love than have new things happening to me! Repetitive is better than bad is what I think.. So that’s basically how adjusting to Karakura has gone so far! A couple ups and downs.. But I also really love my friends and my girlfriend so I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.."
How does your character act around shrine grounds? How do they interact with guests and other staff?
Ritsu is a shy person if nobody is going out of their way to talk to her, so when she is on shrine grounds, she will usually keep to herself! However, if she is asked about something she is super interested in, like Shintoism or Astrology, then she will not stop talking about it! She is overly excited about people wanting to learn more about her since she likes to share. If a guest looks down, she will also try her best to cheer them up, since seeing someone who is upset makes her upset, since she loves to spread peace and happiness in Karakura! Even if she’s constantly been told that some people just don’t want help, she will continue to try to the point of probably even being a bit annoying about it. When it comes to other staff, she will try to get to know them better since she likes knowing the people she works with and making sure that they feel cared about! She will almost never be seen being rude to others since she approves of anyone being mean, even if sometimes the jokes they make are funny!
You see a guest jumping around the roofs of the building and overall disrespecting shrine grounds, how would your character handle it?
If there is one thing she doesn’t tolerate, it’s disrespect for anything! Jumping on the roof of a shrine building is actively disrespectful to the shrine, and it’s especially bad if they go around being disrespectful to the entirety of the shrine grounds. But she is also scared of conflict and afraid of people hating her, which is why she will try her best to be super kind about it so that the person doesn’t hate her. This could be seen as a negative aspect since sometimes being peaceful to people being disrespectful isn’t the right choice, but it’s the only choice she will ever make 9 times out of 10.
Why does your character want to become a shrine maiden/priest? What do they wish to achieve?
Why does Ritsu want to be a maiden? There are several reasons why she wants to be a shrine maiden!
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Reason #1 - Knowledge
Knowledge is one of the most important things to Ritsu. If there is something she doesn’t know, she will usually try to learn it so that she can stay informed on something! She spent 20 years of her life mostly in the dark about how the world works, which only makes her want to use her time to keep learning what she had missed out on. This includes the main religion of Japan, Shintoism! This also makes her perfect for the shrine since she will be super focused on how to keep learning about the religion so she can dedicate her whole life to it!
Reason #2 - Improvement
Ritsu doesn’t believe that she is perfect! In fact, she thinks she isn’t even close to perfect, and one of her many negative thoughts is that she’ll never be good enough for others. Which is exactly why she also wants to join the shrine; while it’s a selfish reason, it is still one of her main goals. To become an even better person so that she can help herself enough to be ready to help anyone who needs her help. With how things currently stand, she is not confident in her ability to help others until she herself feels better!
Reason #3 - Respect
She wants to be as respectful as she can be to the people of Karakura, and since the shrine is one of the most respectful places, she would like to continue learning more about respect so that she can make sure nobody will hate her! Since she wants to be there for everyone, she can’t do that if they hate her.
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What are the core values of your character?
Ritsu has 6 different core values she finds to be the most important to herself. Most of these are very important to her, and if she ever gets to the point where she has to break one of these core values, she would be completely devastated for a while.
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Category #1 - Learning - ★★★★★
There is nothing more important to Ritsu than learning new things. Of course, it’s almost impossible to have her break. There will always be something new that she wants to learn during her time in Karakura. Each month is usually a new thing for her!
⤷ September: Football
⤷ October: Spiritual importance of flowers
⤷ November: Cashier work
⤷ December: How to be kind to everyone
⤷ January: Doctor work
⤷ February: All hospital work
⤷ March: Cooking and other classes
⤷ April: Shintoism and Friendship
Category #2 - Honesty - ★★★★☆
Honesty matters a lot to her and she will almost never lie to someone. If she ever does, it’s because she is joking and they know it’s the truth! If she ever breaks this, it would destroy her since she doesn’t want someone to believe a lie, especially if the lie could get them hurt, which is why she will never lie about something unless absolutely required to!
Category #3 - Love - ★★★★☆
During her time in Karakura, she’s had 3 relationships, each one she made sure to show a bunch of love to those people! Despite how much two of those people broke her heart she will still always care about them. She also loves her friends and will make sure that she never hurts them, and the one time she did, she felt horrible about it.
Category #4 - Hope - ★★★☆☆
The least important of her 6 core values, but she does still try to hold out hope for most things! Her entire 3rd relationship, she has held out hope that it’ll work out. She also likes to have hope that people will improve overall. Even when she constantly gets told they won’t.
Category #5 - Fairness - ★★★★★
It’s important to her that is fair to everyone! If someone is disrespectful to her, that doesn’t mean she’ll just give up on trying to help them. It just means she will want to try harder since she believes that everyone deserves an equal chance to succeed in life. If she ever isn’t fair to someone, then she will likely cry about it once she realizes how awful she was by not being fair.
Category #6 - Forgiveness - ★★★★★
Something she has broken once and only once is forgiving someone. There have been several times where she has been mad at people but no matter what she always forgives them at somepoint since she doesn’t like hating someone. Everyone except her boss at Seikatsu. No matter how hard she tries to forgive him for hating her she will never find it in her to like Volker. But yet despite all the negative things that have happened to her from people she still finds a way to forgive them! Maybe one day she’ll have her forgiveness value back in full if she just finds it in her to forgive Volker which might even be possible in the end.
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