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[cartographie]

APPLICATION

OOC

NAME: chel
AGE: 30+
CONTACT: baoshan or dm
CHARACTER(S): n/a

IC

NAME: Nami
AGE: 19
SUITABILITY: Her ability to hustle her way through a game of cards aside, at her current canon point Nami is a person who's reached the beginning of a new era in her life and is finally in a place where doing things like letting her guard down enough to make friends, and ask for help aren't outlandish-seeming ideas. Throwing her into a setting like this game will put her in an interesting position, where she will have to learn how to access her vulnerability a little more easily, while once again being in a situation where she's got to essentially play a game to get ahead and stay on her toes. I think the game's circumstances will make for a lot of fun writing opportunities for Nami as she’s put into situations where she has to balance her old penchant for cut-and-dry cunning and the horrors of being perceived and known - which are starting to feel less horrible now that she’s made some real friends.
CANON: One Piece Live Action
CANON POINT: end of season one

ABILITIES: Cartography: Possibly the best map-maker in the East Blue, Nami’s natural talent for drawing maps was honed, painfully, during her years with Arlong, drawing maps of almost every island and military base in the ocean he sought to dominate.
Marine Navigation: A science that draws from everything surrounding a boat, from the stars above to the waves around it, Nami is highly skilled at charting and setting the ship’s course, knowing what’s needed to keep Merry afloat and moving forward.
Crime: 100 million berry does not make itself. In canon, Nami’s good with her hands and has demonstrated an ability to crack safes and pick pockets as well as locks, in addition to the sleight-of-hand required to cheat through games of cards.
Staff-Fighting: She’s nowhere near the toughest fighter among the Straw Hats, but Nami is skilled with her bo staff, which helped her not only incapacitate the guards who might have blown her cover when she infiltrated the Marine base in Shells Town but fend off waves of them alongside Luffy and Zoro while the three later made their escape.


VICES: Greed: Nami loves money, and while this stems from her mother being killed because they didn’t have enough to pay off the Arlong Pirates when she was a child, even as an adult she’s easily drawn towards the promise of making a profit. She will make bets, bankrupt her crewmates over cards, and be easily swayed to undertake ventures she would ordinarily write off as risky if there’s money to be made at the end.
Manipulative: Situations that tilt towards her advantage are her favorite, and Nami doesn’t mind doing what she can to help her odds, even when it means deceiving others. Quickly adopting a fake story, or a false opinion to get what she wants comes easily to her, and her knack for putting on the charm makes the lies she tells unblinkingly land all the sweeter.
Stubborn: Nami’s stubbornness manifests itself in a variety of ways, from the inability to ask for her help until being presented with circumstances she absolutely could not tackle by herself, to her readiness to start an argument if she feels like she’s right, Nami believes her way is the right way.

VIRTUES: Protective: She may not be the strongest, but Nami will do anything in her power to keep the people she loves safe. Everything Nami did, going under Arlong’s control and cutting herself off the people who cared about her, Nami did out of a sense of protectiveness for the people who survived the pirate's initial attacks, and for the sister she abandoned in an attempt to save them all. With her crew, her protectiveness usually manifests itself through nagging and bossing them around, trying to keep them in line and alive, but when the stakes are high and their lives are on the line, she will readily try to argue her way into them seeing reason and playing it safe.
Quick-thinking: When the plan goes awry, Nami can be counted on for her ability to think quickly on her feet. As navigator, she relies on this trait to steer Merry (and her crew) out of dangerous waters and away from cannon fire, as a thief she relied on her cleverness to get her out of tight situations and evade capture, such as when Axe-Hand Morgan caught her and Luffy in his base in Shells Town, forcing Nami to have to adopt a quick cover story to keep them both out of the brig.
Practical: Feeling at her best when there’s a plan in motion, maps, charts, plans, and information are all things Nami will base her choices on. Not one for flying blind and even less inclined towards the leaps of faith others in her crew are happy to lean into, Nami is the sensible one. She’s the one setting the course and then keeping everyone else aboard on track, breaking up the stupid arguments the rest of her crew like to get into, and serving as the voice of reason when the stakes are high, because the Straw Hats may be idiots, but, they’re her idiots, and someone has to bring logic and reason to the table sometimes.

SURVEY

▶ I REGULARLY MAKE NEW FRIENDS.
▷ 4. There hasn’t been a place in Nami’s life for friends until recently. Her need to make 100 million Berry as fast as possible and the dangerous circumstances she was operating with as a member of the Arlong Pirates, had did not leave space to cultivate real friendship. It's only recently, after falling in with Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, that she’s begun to open up to the possibility of connecting with people on a longer-term basis. During her time in Syrup Village, Nami had a brief but significant conversation with Kaya, another woman around her age. Despite occasionally appearing tactless, particularly when discussing Kaya's privileged background, Nami was deeply touched by their interaction, becoming protective and supportive of Kaya while helping her escape Kaya’s murderous butler. This indicates that she does possess a desire to make connections with others; it is simply a matter of developing the necessary skills. This suggests a sincere desire on her part to connect with others, it’s just a matter of finding her footing when it comes to how.

▶ SEEING OTHER PEOPLE CRY MAKES ME WANT TO CRY TOO.
▷ 2. Though she excels at maintaining a great poker face, beneath that, Nami is a sea of (mostly) internalized feelings. Though necessity forced her to cut herself off from other people, Nami is not oblivious to or unaffected by the suffering of others even though she may not readily show it. Just seeing the wreckage of Orange Town after Buggy the Clown’s pirates destroyed it was enough to make her stop dead in her tracks, bungling her escape because she was overcome by the sight of so much destruction. In Syrup Village, when Kaya told Nami about the death of her parents, Nami struggled not to show how sad hearing that made her, expressing her condolences in one breath, and then lying when Kaya asked if she’d ever lost anyone a moment later.

▶ I OFTEN MAKE A BACKUP PLAN FOR A BACKUP PLAN.
▷ 1. Plans are where Nami shines. The last eight years of her life have been the result of constant scheming, and relying on her ability to pull off a plan. Needing to earn 100 million berry for the sake of the only home she’s ever had is not something she entered into lightheartedly. Even as a child, when she first struck her deal with Arlong and agreed to be his mapmaker in exchange for buying back Coco Village, Nami was fully aware of the ordeal ahead of her and took it as far as she could relying on herself and her ability to plan as she could before finally asking for help from Luffy and his crew.

▶ I USUALLY STAY CALM, EVEN WHEN UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE.
▷ 2. Between keeping Going Merry on course in a variety of bizarre circumstances, and the numerous times she has talked her way into places she shouldn’t be, Nami may be worrying on the inside, but she’s had a lot of practice maintaining a calm exterior for as long as she has to. Her trip into the Marine base in Shells Town is an example of her flexing this talent, from feigning interest in a Marine guard so she could knock him out and steal his uniform to infiltrating the base and talking her way into the map room to running headlong into the base’s leader, Captain Morgan while in the company of Luffy (an idiot) and talking them both out of trouble while simultaneously stealing his keys, Nami kept her cool despite her already high-risk situation taking more than a few intense turns.

▶ I AM VERY SENTIMENTAL.
▷ 3. Because she’s spent the last eight years cut off from personal connections, Nami takes the things she holds dear seriously, especially her home. From the tattoo on her arm symbolizing the tangerines her mother grew and the pinwheels she shaped the rinds into as a child, to the tangerine trees from her childhood home that are growing on Going Merry’s deck, Nami cherishes the reminders of the island and family she loved deeply enough to commit herself to free at the cost of being able to live her life for her and pursue her own dreams.

▶ EVEN A SMALL MISTAKE CAN CAUSE ME TO DOUBT MY OVERALL ABILITIES AND KNOWLEDGE.
▷ 5. It takes a lot to make Nami doubt herself. When she betrays the Straw Hats and turns the map to the Grand Line over to Arlong, revealing herself as a long-time member of his crew, the first few cracks in Nami’s otherwise cool exterior begin to reveal themselves. Cutting herself off from the friendships she made while sailing with Luffy’s crew was a mistake big enough to rattle her, but she continued to move forward in trying to get her village back from Arlong without any help.

▶ I AM MORE INCLINED TO FOLLOW MY HEAD THAN MY HEART.
▷ 1. Like forming genuine friendships, following her heart is something Nami has never had the luxury of being able to do. After eight years of putting her village first, her decision to join the Straw Hats and move forward on her life's ambition of being the first person to draw a map of the world she comes from is the first significant choice Nami's made in a long time in line with what her heart desires.

▶ I AM PRONE TO WORRYING THAT THINGS WILL TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORSE.
▷ 2. It’s not a worry so much as an expectation. Nami anticipates things will get worse, and though they haven’t sailed together for long, her time with Luffy as her captain has shown her that she’s mostly right to anticipate things going south. In dangerous situations, she is the first to start scrambling to make a plan while trying to keep the rest of her crew from charging headfirst into the unknown. After watching Zoro risk his life for the sake of a duel and almost die, and being pulled along by Luffy’s relentless, reckless optimism, ever the realist, Nami anticipates something going wrong more often than she doesn’t.

▶ I ENJOY WATCHING PEOPLE ARGUE.
▷ 4. If it’s creating a diversion she can use to her advantage. Otherwise, the people she most often watches argue are members of her crew, and usually, if they're squabbling, it means they're not doing what they should be doing. Ironically, even though she’s quick to call them out for wasting time, she’s prone to ending up in a fair few back-and-forths herself given her inclination to greet most situations with deadpanned sarcasm.

▶ I TEND TO AVOID DRAWING ATTENTION TO MYSELF.
▷ 3. Nami has no problem with using her looks and finely honed gift of guile to attract attention if it’s to her advantage. However, when there’s nothing to be gained from pulling focus - beyond the odd compliment from a friend about her cute outfit - she’s more inclined to sit back and keep to herself. Her time using more illegal methods to make berry for Arlong taught her to be comfortable not attracting too much interest, and now, the fact that Luffy’s got a high bounty on his head, makes staying out of the spotlight still seem like the smartest idea.

▶ I OFTEN DO THINGS AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT.
▷ 3. Nami would strongly prefer this were a 1. Steering a ship in bad weather requires a lot of spur-of-the-moment choice-making, Nami is a pragmatist by nature and prefers to follow a scheduled route and stick to a plan rather than winging it. Even though she isn’t working cons now that she’s settled in as a member of Luffy’s crew and has no heists to plan for any more, Nami manifests her appreciation for being prepared by bossing everyone around - to mixed results.

▶ I FIND IT EASY TO EMPATHIZE WITH A PERSON WHOSE EXPERIENCES ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM MINE.
▷ 4. During their encounter in Syrup Town, Nami was quick to judge Kaya for her opulent house, basing her opinions on the low view she holds of the wealthy. It wasn't until she learned more about the young woman's circumstances - being raised as a sheltered orphan under the influence of a manipulative butler and struggling with an enigmatic illness - that Nami's attitude shifted to one of protectiveness and support for Kaya. Nami is happy not to look beyond what a person presents if she doesn’t have to, but when someone’s story and true nature reveal themselves, she won’t ignore a good person who’s hurting, especially if those hurts are similar to the ones she’s suffered, like the loss of Kaya’s parents.

▶ I BECOME BORED OR LOSE INTEREST WHEN THE DISCUSSION GETS HIGHLY THEORETICAL.
▷ 1. More governed by facts, Nami can be dismissive of conversations when they lean toward the theoretical and fanciful and often tends to serve as the voice of reason among the crew, doing what she can to keep the dreamers among them rooted in reality.

▶ I RARELY FEEL INSECURE.
▷ 2. She’s had to be good all her life, and Nami knows she’s good. Her talents, foresight, and ability to sweet talk her way into where she wants to be have taken her far in her quest to pay off Arlong and free her village. Nami is confident because the fact that she lived through almost 100 million berry worth of hustles and cons tells her she should be, and because she knows she’s good at doing what she loves - drawing maps.

▶ I AM STILL BOTHERED BY MISTAKES I MADE A LONG TIME AGO.
▷ 4. Not really. It's less a matter of regret and more a matter of having to have shouldered a tremendous amount of misery on her own. Nami’s choice to let her sister and the rest of her village believe she had joined Arlong’s crew was made out of a firm belief that their safety would otherwise be jeopardized. Protecting others by putting up walls set her up for eight years of relative isolation, but because lives would be at risk otherwise, she doesn’t view this time as a mistake.

SUIT REQUESTS: diamonds or clubs.
RANK REQUESTS: seven or five
SAMPLES: one & two, three