Kurante

"I dunno - is it really a bad thing if they want you to change?"

**Kurante** is a a blank state character - and though not fully original, has been given characterisation to work against this as there is no defined character for her anywhere else. Kurante is a recurring character across various rhythm games from which she appears in, from which her entire concept (in this interpretation) was drawn from.

## Canon.

Kurante's background is scarcely documented (as a character - or at least, this interpretation of her) - all that is known about her is how she got to where she was in her home world. Fresh out of education, Kurante had opted to look for a job right away - but she specifically wanted to be taught something so she could take after her tutor and later replace said tutor when they stepped down from what they did, while maintaining the knowledge Kurante was taught. The good news is this would work as she had hoped - as her tutor would become her future BFF and role model, and as luck would have it, one of the top music artists in the world Kurante was living in.

Naturally, Kurante learnt from them and after enough years into this, Kurante set out to make some noise as she was taught - and using this same 'art form' to invert frowns. However, upon her first travel from home that took her into another world, Kurante had suddenly gained wings upon her entry - which have been with her ever since. She does not know why she even 'has' these wings - and as they are unnatural to her by ordinary means, has a lot of trouble with using them to fly. Kurante kept improving then after as she adapted to her newly gained ability of flight, and she eventually reached a point where her mentor let her go - to become independent, but the two have still kept in touch to this day. However, as of recently, what she has been doing has been eating away at her confidence and her spirit - as though she believes she can't keep going. She loves what she does, but she wants to stop for her own wellbeing, despite the expectations and content-hungry nature of her amassed following.

Even to this day, this is something that pains her greatly - what she now used to do, and cannot let go, wanting to go back despite the fact she herself knows it will most likely repeat and not get any better than it could have been. She's clinging to the past too much to the point that it hurts, and after enough time on the job, she developed scopophobia - the fear of being watched - due to her exposure. Needless to say, there have been much better days.

## Pre-Paradise

Not too long ago, Kurante had just quit doing what she did for a living - until that day, she was a roaming angel of music who went through various worlds and universes, accumulating a steady following as she went and spreading her supposedly boundless energy wherever she went. Though she was torn about this as it was something she loved to do, the expectations and wants from her following was finally getting to her - and in turn, pressure, which led to her announcing her quitting. Not long later as she vented to herself and herself alone about her decision and the aftermath of announcing it (which was mostly poorly received), Kurante heard a knock at her door - but when she went to answer it, she found nobody there. Only an invitation at the doorstep - and when she left her home to pick it up, with the breeze closing the door behind her, followed by a swift attack to her head which knocked her out. The next thing she knew, Kurante had woken up in the Paradise Hotel - in her own designated room, not initially realising this until she opened the door to 'her' room and was met with a hallway not identical to the one she would normally have at home.

## Plot Involvement

Upon her arrival to the Paradise Hotel, Kurante's first stop was the outside pool - where she was met with the mechanical Iron Giant. She had originally intended to relax, but the size and sheer presence of this robot had taken her by surprise - and lo and behold, attempted to communicate with it - which was a complete success. As the two introduced themselves however, Kurante was surprised to know this behemoth of metal did not have a name - and being who she was, attempted to brush it off as she then asked if the robot was lost 'here' too, followed by the robot's head motioning to the sky above. The rest of the encounter quickly shifted from idle talk to a fly in the sky above - with Kurante using her wings and the robot itself was flying via thrusters built into it. The angel took a moment to savour the view before it escalated into a brief race in the sky, much to Kurante's enjoyment - but after it concluded, Kurante's amazement with technology was replaced with concern about the robot's damage, though she was reassured they would be fine and would not need to be fixed. Before the two parted ways, the robot initiated a more serious, brief talk about having a name - and in response, Kurante suggested that the robot should settle on something they are OK with being known as for life, and with further conversing before saying their goodbyes, the robot keeps the angel's words in mind after being in deep thought.

The next time Kurante would be seen is in a section of the plains - where she was formerly flying over until she stopped there to rest. This chance rest stop had her encounter Nanako Dojima and a pair of twins - the former of which Kurante conversed with, but was wary of the twins. These twins, known as Libby and Loppy, warranted fear from Nanako and a long rant from Kurante about... how they acted, and what they said. Though this encounter did not last very long, Kurante left the twins in the plains as she and Nanako left together, and it is implied that the two continued to hang out for a short time then after. Her activity would then see a drop for a while until she logged into the chatroom for the first time.

Kurante's next run-in was in hotel's outdoor lounge with Sumireko Usami, which was triggered by the latter wandering through the lounge - only to be alerted by Kurante playing music by using the Playfield before her - with the sound running into the world around her as her headphones were currently not in use. After gaining the girl's attention, Kurante remained blissfully unaware that she is the source of Sumireko's freak outs - at least, in the moment - but other than that, the two held some idle talk between them... until Sumireko asked about Kurante potentially being a singer. Hit with the memories of the past from that question alone, the angel's mood dropped as she answered - that is, until her energy bounced right back with her. When the two parted ways however and Kurante noticed the leaving Sumireko literally winking at her as she went, the angel was struck with confusion as to what she was doing - until it finally sank in. Her obliviousness to the world around her seemed to have not picked up the signs of potential adoration, and though she figured this out 'after' the two parted, would rather not endure that again (it's a little bit awkward, really, and she doesn't know what to do).

Kurante is currently at the Paradise Island Fair - an event hosted by the Shareholders. Included on the guest list as revealed by Toffee, Kurante made her way there soon after she found out - and arriving near the entrance, Kurante didn't want to enter alone as she felt unsafe in this expansive event - despite the entertainment promised by the Shareholders. Before she entered, Kurante noticed a fellow longer - Painwheel - and quickly latched onto her because she didn't want to go alone - and though Painwheel tried to refuse as she wanted to go in alone and without anyone with her (so she can have a break from pushing herself from her recent training), she gave up and let Kurante come with her - much to the angel's delight, who then proceeded to figuratively drag Painwheel around and towards the fairgrounds entrance. Prior to this, Painwheel refused to tell the angel her name (thus giving the angel concern although she also somewhat understood) - and the two walked through the entrance to the fairgrounds as a duo.

Both of them would go on to wander around the fairgrounds, eventually encountering Dick Gumshoe - of whom Kurante gladly spoke to, doing most of the talking in the conversation between her and Painwheel. Notably, when Gumshoe mentioned that he was an officer of the law, Kurante briefly began panicking and then pondered - does this place even have laws? Though she dismissed this thought later, she would then focus herself on the reluctant Painwheel - who still refused to introduce herself. After enough convincing and support from both her and Gumshoe, Painwheel gave up - just in time for the Scarecrow's broadcast just after they both left Gumshoe to his own devices, downing them both in orange gas (Kurante fell first, Painwheel resisted but she eventually succumbed as well).

Kurante's fear took her to a stage - to a certain time in the past, or so it seemed. With two large speakers at the far ends of the stage and a microphone before her, Kurante quickly realised exactly what this event was. Out beyond that microphone, there was briefly not a single soul before her - but at one moment when she lowered her head to speak to herself, rising it back up would alert the angel to a whole host of audience members. Kurante's phobia briefly kicked in and she had a premature breakdown - quickly identifying her fear as expectations, and after she finished said brief breakdown, the crowd was silent. Composing herself as best she could, Kurante spoke into the microphone - but before she was done, the crowd was... less than pleased, just as it was in the past. To put it simply, Kurante was 'not' having any of this - it was literally one of the most important events in her life, and remembering it like it was yesterday was a regular thing. Instead of giving in to the responses of the crowd out before her in her vision, Kurante rebelled against them as loudly and clearly as she could - realising that in order to escape the damage that day had done to her, she had to stop looking back - and start looking forward, instead of clinging to the past as much as she was. It was unhealthy and it was only getting worse - and with that, Kurante's growth as a result from this event initially begins again. The first time she grew from this event was quitting to heal her mental state - and on this returning trip of it via this vision, Kurante realises her problems that came about as a result of this event in the first place and addresses them to herself - intending to make an effort to become a better person by facing her fear instead of hiding in it.

Not long after she came to this realisation however, Scarecrow himself appeared in her vision and spoke down to her, and began speaking about these events in correlation to her and her fear - comparing life to a never-ending show, which signifies nothing. Kurante herself is compared to a 'rotten little cog, spun by forces you don't understand' - before Scarecrow arrived to the point where he says that, to the world, Kurante is not a person - a product (this notably 'hit' Kurante quite hard). As these words sank in, Kurante could not quite comprehend them too well, and in spite of her formerly hopeful mood, experienced a decline in her mood not long after Scarecrow was done - despite having her thoughts about the world's people validated and backed up by the man of fear himself, and now with re-affirmed confidence that what she did was the right thing. However, after she responded, or while she was responding, Scarecrow was suddenly nowhere to be seen - reduced to nothing but dust, now lying in a pile of it - an act carried out by Doctor Doom. Per his following announcement, Kurante struggled with her breathing and her vision as she slowly repeated these words to herself and slapped herself as if to wake herself up from the gas, and to calm herself down from getting more anxious and/or stressed. As her vision began to disappear, Kurante simply dismissed it altogether - not paying its contents any mind as it faded in and out of reality, and set her sights on getting out of the fairgrounds instead, intending to take a break after she returns to her room - something she thinks many people will need after their respective events considering how quickly things escalated and took a turn for the worse. Within moments the angel was to no longer be on the premises of the fairground, guided to an exit by one of these Doombots the aforementioned Doctor spoke of.

## Character Relationships

What relationships (friends, foes, romantic interests, etc) have they developed in the RP?

* *Example Person -* A character from ***Linked Title Here***. The details of the relationship would go here.

## Trivia

* Kurante's status as a semi-OC is that while the character in terms of design was not made by her player, the characterisation and so on was - because Kurante has no established personality otherwise and would thus be a blank slate character without it.
* Kurante's name (くらんて) , when reversed, results in Tenraku (てんらく, 転落,) which means to tumble down.
	+ Additionally, Kurante was not named by the original artist - and was instead named by the fans. The original name for her illustration was 'Tenshi' - which translates to angel - but the name Kurante simply stuck.
	+ In the rhythm game community, she is frequently see in tow with the song she was illustrated to accompany - the 222 BPM *Freedom Dive ↓*.
		- This is where Kurante's username in the Paradise's chat came from, named after her associated song (said username is FreedomDive).
* Kurante's Playfield that she can summon out of magical energy is named after the four arrows display typically seen in *DanceDanceRevolution* (DDR) or other related rhythm games.
	+ The 'combo counter' mechanic that the Playfield has is also taken straight from a vast majority of rhythm games that exist
	+ However, Kurante has no direct relevance to DDR outside of this and how the Playfield works - she is most commonly associated with *osu!* instead - and her song in question as mentioned above has since spread into a vast majority of other rhythm games since that day (since 2008).
		- This is reflected by her former occupation, where she travelled through worlds and universes not her own, taking her song with her.