Myriam Scuttlebutt

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HMD (on my general journal, leave a note it's for Myriam Scuttlebutt at Cerealia!)

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[and AGAIN, finding Phoenix to confide in him is a very scared Box Girl]


Mr. Wright!! I got it!!

Kahk kahk kahk!

Prosecutor Blackquill... he's guilty!

It looks, feels, and smells, like a newspaper, it has The Cerealia Times printed on the cover as its title. It's dated "January 8th, ? year." There's also a note saying "Price: Free" and "Published Weekly". The heading saying "EXTRA" also indicates it's an extra edition.

The top page has the headline: "WELCOME FELLOW NEW ARRIVALS!"

The story below reads:

"If you are reading this, no doubt you are confused and puzzled by the information that has just been fed to you by the CERES corporation.

Don't worry.

There's help!

The Cerealia Times is dedicated to bringing Cerealia and its relocated arrivals the top information necessary to adjust to living in Cerealia. All you have to do is hold it in your hands and read it! That's it! If you can't read, hand it to a friend and ask them to read it for you! If you don't have hands, ask a friend to hold it for you!"

What follows is a run-down of the various locations (limited to the entertainment district, and shopping district) that point out various businesses that stock necessities of life. There's a part dedicated to the Game Center in the entertainment district which is very detailed, down to what games are fun and what games offer good odds of winning. There's also a mention of Archer swordboning and where his food cart is located with a note that: "SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS!!"

A small section below is listed "MISSING PERSONS" and reads:

"An unverified person styling themselves "Lord" Cain C. Hargreaves is searching for his butler, a mister Riff Raffit. He is described as "quite tall, broad-shouldered, with fair hair and blue eyes, probably wearing a well-pressed suit in blue or gray. He's left-handed, strongly built and maddeningly altruistic."

Riff Raffit is of such reportedly high character he is likely to be seen "...rescuing a kitten from a tree, aiding a gentlewoman with her garden or teaching underprivileged children how to box." Any reports should be addressed to "Lord" Cain C. Hargreaves. No reward has been offered for this information. Mr. Hargreaves has expressed that as his employer, he is considering docking Mr. Raffit's paycheck."

The rest of the paper is a re-print of the first edition, detailed below:


---





The second page above-the-fold story reads: "MAYHEM!" accompanied by a blurry photograph of the blizzard and what might be a monster, but could be anything. The article proceeds to detail what happened during the killer Christmas event. The byline is Leia Rolando.

The below-the-fold story reads:

"Cerealia shrouded in secrecy! What lies beneath?!" byline Myriam Scuttlebutt.

"CERES is a name known to every inhabitant of Cerealia. What else provides the population with low-income housing, modest employment, and the occasional explanation? But some say the details don't go far enough, or conversely, go too far completely.

For example, on arrival to Cerealia from their point of origin, each person is given a brief explanation of various events: the world is slipping, CERES needs help to rescue it, and other various details. Need to know information? Certainly. However, the information is presented so fast and so complete, that some say it bears resemblance to a shady practice known as 'information dumping'. A questionable tactic in which an organization that does not wish to release information attempts to discourage the questioning party by releasing a tremendous slough of facts to the point the ordinary person is so deluged they cannot separate important details from irrelevant ones.

And yet, very important details are left unanswered. What is the progress CERES is making? What is the purpose of the 'terrorism' rumored to have occurred in Cerealia? What security methods are being put in place to safeguard lives? What do the terrorists want?

It is clear to this reporter that further transparency is not only appropriate, but absolutely vital to the security of Cerealia and its growing community! The Cerealia Times stands open to any official statement and interviews on behalf of any spokesperson who has yet to come forward and offer such a thing, but neither will we be made to become their platform for the 'party line'. We call on CERES to demonstrate the vitality of a free and open press."

Next page is an article titled "Lawlessness in Cerealia?!" byline Myriam Scuttlebutt. The article details the criminal justice system that currently exists in Cerealia (that is, if someone murders someone, they go to jail), and why, it seems, no other crime is prosecuted nor are some (unnamed) lawyers with rather impressive records used to represent the accused. Similar calls for more transparency are made.

Next page is titled "Local News - Spotlight on Nonon Jakuzure" byline Myriam Scuttlebutt, and it contains an article and picture related to shikisha, conductor at the Opera House and lists a Q and A session with her.

Q: "How does it feel to be the conductor of a musical orchestra?"

A: "It feels amazing. Being the center of attention, the person controlling the entire ensemble, everyone's enjoyment depending on a simple flick of the wrist in time with the song. It's truly the most important part of an orchestra."

Q: "What first spurned your interest in conducting?"

A: "I started falling in love with classical music when I was in first grade, my best friend bought me a CD with classical marches. From then on I fell in love with it. I started conducting the Elementary band by my last year there, and just continued into middle school."

A final quote reads: "The vibrancy, the passion, the deafening power of an ensemble working as one. Classical music separates the composer from the piece, making it more complex, while also allowing them to put their heart and soul into it without reservations. That's what I love."

It finishes with a note that Nonon performs regularly at the Cerealia Opera House, and mentioning her name confers a discount.

Another unspecified number of articles with the byline of Leia Rolando detail various local businesses owned by newcomers to Cerealia.

An objectively-written article about The Little Sister business with the byline of Myriam Scuttlebutt. It includes a picture of psycholawgy dressed as a reindeer waitress and is presented very matter-of-fact with no editorializing or opinion. There is now also an objective account of the menu. (Hot wings, celery, carrots, potatoes.)

"Weather: Probably pretty cold. Air quality: not-the-best."

A small article titled: "Local jerk acts like a jerk" has the byline of Myriam Scuttlebutt and it proceeds to detail how an unidentified white-haired man proceeded to cause trouble at a party organized by a small tightly-knit group of friends who just came out to have a good time and honestly felt so attacked by him. It specifies that details are very very sketchy and were not verified.

There's a whole section titled:

"GOSSIP"

It reads as follows:


"Welcome to the first edition, of hopefully many more, of the Gossip Column! Where we talk about sordid or not-so-sordid relationships in progress, rumors, and any other news we deem worthy of a quick read along with your coffee!

To kick things off, we scouted out the Winter Ball and we’ve struck a bit of gold!

One is a lonely number, and no one knows that better than Sir Integra Hellsing! We’ve searched high and low, and came up with pretty much nothing on her! So boring! If anyone can find her type, we’ll give a rich reward of three hundred credits! Valid only if the relationship lasts more than three months!

Next up we have Peko and Dangerous Drugs! Just say “No, thank you”, ladies and gentlemen! Drugs ruin lives, make you grope random strangers, and ruin relationships! We sincerely wish her the best in any intervention, rehabilitation, and recovery she may need! Don’t forget to donate to your local not-for-profit organization that deals with drug abuse and recovery! Be strong, Peko!

Lets move on to new an budding couples! Lets all give a big CONGRATULATIONS to Jaune and Pyrrha! If it wasn’t for Ruby, we would have never known they were an item! They sure are low key, though! We can’t have that! What a catch, Jaune, and good luck, Pyrrha!

Next we have a possible pairing! Guess whose hand was below the belt line while dancing?! It was none other than our resident delinquent, Ryuko! But who was she trying to win over with such lewd dance moves?! She may be new, but Nonon is already turning heads, and Ryuko has caught her in her sights! Nonon has high standards, so we’ll have to see how this unfolds!

The Cutest Couple Award definitely goes to Lily and Shirasu! She lead the way all over the dance floor, and Shirasu was a gentleman about it! We need more refined men like him around!

The Creepiest Couple Award goes to Inaba and Rock Lee! It’s rather a one-sided affair! Lee does all he can to be in Inaba’s presence! Nothing will stand in his way! Not even Inaba herself! He may have smooth moves when fighting, but not when it comes to avoiding collisions! We like him for trying, though!

The Couple to Watch Out For Award goes to Weiss and Zoro! We spotted them some days after the dance and one of them was already hot and sweaty! Surely things will sizzle between them soon! We’re sure of it!

There’s your taste of what’s to come! Keep an eye out for the next edition!


Until Next Time!

Miss Tattler"

The following positions are listed:

Publisher: Myriam Scuttlebutt
Editor: Myriam Scuttlebutt
Lead Reporter: Leia Rolando
Reporter: Myriam Scuttlebutt
Reporter: Inaba Himeko
Photojournalist: Myriam Scuttlebutt
Correspondent: Myriam Scuttlebutt
Gossip columnist: Miss Tattler

It specifies that letters to the editor can be delivered in person to Myriam Scuttlebutt. (No details of where or who she is.)

Another blurb reads: "Story sources and employees wanted! Inquire at..." (and there's a text reading of the link to Scuttlebutt's inbox.)

A final blurb reads: "Did we get it wrong? If you wish to correct a factual statement, leave your correction at..." (and there's a text reading of the link to Scuttlebutt's inbox.)

Hugging this character: No hugging!
Kissing this character: No kissing!
Flirting with this character: She will ignore it! Unless you're her type, then she'll get flustered.
Fighting with this character: She will run away!
Injuring this character: Please no. Or at least talk it out with me first. This includes attacks on her box.
Killing this character: W-why. D:
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Not a huge problem I think, just ping me for a heads up on the details.

Can my character pull the cardboard box off of her head?
This question probably comes up the most.

Short answer: no, but your character is free to try if your character would really want to. She'll pull back on it to stop them.

Long answer: Nothing freaks Myriam out faster than someone touching/messing with her box. Any attempts to lift it will make her grab it and hold fast. Myriam is pretty weak, but boxes like that are actually fairly heavy, so a person lifting them would have to contend with the weight, the awkward angle, and Myriam pulling back. Of course if you're playing a really strong/powerful character for whom that wouldn't matter, then ping me and we'll talk it out.

Really though, if you have an idea for something that involves Myriam being outside of her box, it's probably better to ping me about it and I'll pose her falling out of it or something. |D

OOC:
Backtagging: Fine!
Threadhopping: If it's a physical action thread and your character could conceivably be nearby I have no problem with it.
Fourthwalling: Nah.

Anything else, just ask me!

Name: Myriam Scuttlebutt

Game: Ace Attorney Dual Destinies, case 3 only.

Description: She's a short (4' 9", 144 cm) schoolgirl who wears a cardboard box over her head, using it as a very conspicuous disguise and never showing her face, if she can help it. The boxes are quite big and stretch down to cover her torso. Underneath the box she has the appearance of a normal girl with indigo colored hair and eyes. She wears a black Themis Academy school uniform with black loafers and white socks. She has her hair in twin-tails held together with "bulldog" paper binder clips. She also wears white knee-pads and has numerous adhesive bandages on her legs and fingers.

Personality: She first comes across as anti-social and mean-spirited, but really she's just shy, sensitive, and socially awkward. The box disguise is both a way to hide her emotions and to spy on people for gossip. She's extremely devoted to journalism and can be quite clever, but not exactly cunning.

Short summary: She's a one-shot character who fills the role of "annoying reporter," like Lotta Hart or Spark Brushel.

Long summary: Myriam Scuttlebutt is a senior at Themis Legal Academy. She is studying under the judge course, but really she wants to be a legal journalist. (All students must study under the judge, prosecution, or defense classes.) She also attends what she calls "undercover reporter school" outside of the Academy. She is the sole member of the Newspaper Club, which means she does all of the reporting, editing, and publishing. She's immensely and sincerely prideful of her work, even if the paper is mostly gossip she made up. During the course of events in case 3, she appears as the first witness who makes easily disproved claims about Juniper Woods, who she seems to hate. It's later revealed she didn't really hate Juniper, but was jealous and wanted to be her friend. She had also embraced Professor Aristotle Means' theory of "the ends justify the means," only she applied it to journalism and installed tape recorders around campus to gather gossip and took photographs without permission. By the end of the case she has made friends with Juniper and (tentatively) agreed to help her and her friends embrace honest means to uncover the truth and bring an end to "the dark age of the law." She's still rather dysfunctional, as she refuses to abandon her cardboard box disguise and even tries to give Juniper and her friends their own boxes, and doesn't understand why they don't want to wear them. However, she also has accepted some new members to the Newspaper Club, and they catch her showing emotion over potentially graduating and leaving her new friendships behind.

Mock trial script: Scuttlebutt writes a script for a mock trial. The title is Rouge et Noir: Crimson Blood and Dark Judgment. The actual contents are not revealed, but it's stated this trial allowed special rules for both attorneys to pay bribes to the judge while court was adjourned. Each attorney could also bring up to three dollars worth of items with them to simulate fabricated evidence. The tagline was: "Welcome to the darkest mock trial ever, where the end justifies the means!"

Japanese name: Uwasa Atsume, which literally means collects rumors.

Head-canon:
* She keeps a pet hamster. (Implied when she says her newspaper makes a great hamster-cage liner.)
* She's enrolled in the Judge course because it gives the most broad study of the law, and so better prepares her for being a journalist. (She probably also thinks she can fall back on being a judge if journalism doesn't work out somehow.)
* She's a fan of mystery novels and detective stories and that's how she became interested in law in the first place. (Implied by her mock trial script.)
* Before she came along, the "Themis Herald" was a small newsletter put out by a handful of students in the Newspaper Club every three months. It had no pictures and was published on normal paper. This upset her "ace reporter" ambition, so she pushed to expand the paper: give it as many pages as a real newspaper, print it every day, and use actual newsprint. Her outrageous demands, the shocking decline in quality of stories from having to print something every day, and her unwillingness to compromise drove out the other members very quickly. Soon she was the sole member, and responsible for everything. That was fine with her, and she even started cultivating a "toxic" image of herself so no other students would try to join. (Though that changed as she got closer to graduation and realized the club would disband without any members.)
* The bandages are for paper-cuts and scuffs from falling to the floor to hide under her box.
* Cardboard boxes the size Scuttlebutt wears are actually relatively hard to acquire, unless you pay for them directly or order something that requires a box that big. Scuttlebutt acquires them the second way by placing bulk orders for ink, disinfectant, disposable cameras, and other things.
** They're also heavier than you'd think. Someone wanting to remove the box would have to expend some strength (and not have Scuttlebutt pulling back) to just pull the box off her.
* The game portrays Scuttlebutt as having all of her photos on file in her computer. The concept art says that Scuttlebutt's camera is a cheap disposable. Conclusion: Scuttlebutt not only takes all of her photos with a variety of cheap disposable cameras, she develops the film herself, and then scans it to her laptop.
* Scuttlebutt gets decent/above-average grades. Not 'prodigy-level,' but respectable enough to attend a high-end school like Themis. Where she really shines is her wholehearted dedication to journalism. The quality of the work might be low, but she keeps it up consistently and she knows what to do to stay relevant enough to keep people reading. Her assertion that "[the paper] is more popular than you think," is true.
* Scuttlebutt's obsession with journalism came from when she was a kid and she thought it'd be fun to play at being a "journalist" and make newspaper out of construction paper for her parents to read. Eventually Scuttlebutt graduated from drawing weird shapes for pictures and blank lines where the text would be to completely copying what was in the local newspaper, word for word, then trying to sell it to other people. She was told: "You just copied what others already said, there's no reason to read this." This inspired her solution: "Start making things up!" This dovetailed nicely with Professor Means' theories of "achieve the ends by all means," which she learned when she started attending Themis.
* Scuttlebutt's political opinions are still largely unarticulated, but as a law student she believes in the integrity of the judicial system and the importance of rule of law. She is also a strong supporter of the First Amendment right to Free Speech and a Free Press. Specifically, that she should be allowed to write and publish whatever she wants with no restrictions.

Misc. non-characterization notes (aka, I explain the joke):
* Her first box is labeled "Panda Ink, turns white to black!" This has several meanings. Pandas are known for looking cute, but in reality they're rather solitary and will attack humans out of irritation (but not aggression). The japanese version also writes "ink" as "INKI" with katakana, and this is a pun as the word "陰気" is pronounced "INKI" and means "gloomy/dismal/melancholic," like her personality. "Turns white to black," is also a metaphor for accepting falsehoods as true by overriding your common sense, and in the context of journalism specifically means portraying a positive event as negative, or vice-versa. Her box is also labeled "fragile," in reference to her sensitive personality, and "this side up" is printed upside down, indicating her assumptions are "turned around."
* Her second box is labeled "Wipe the past clean with Crime Cleaner. Get sparkling clean with brute force." A reference to her changed outlook after Athena forcibly corrected her and it foreshadows her laptop being wiped out. The note "danger: toxic" implies she still has the "abrasive" personality. God, that was painful to write. Explaining the joke is the worst. Most of this is obvious but not all of it though, so there you go.