5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?
19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?
Guess what I found sitting in my drafts =w=" Without further ado...
5 - Tsubaki has a lot of odds and ends in her pockets, I think! The one thing she CANNOT go without would be her journal. Taking notes on primals kept her sane back in ARR, and now it's one of her go-to ways to process the world around her. She's built up quite a library by Dawntrail, with pages filled to the brim with notes and diagrams, art studies of the gods she's fought and pressed flowers from the First. She's donated most of her research to the renewed Students of Baldesion. She had been an intern with them before the Calamity, and now works closely with Krile and G'raha Tia to rebuild their order.
Most of the miscellaneous stuff goes to her backpack and chocobo saddlebag (things like her impressive dye collection, quest items she's bringing to people... monster bits... half a dozen buoyant oveforms...). She also probably has a nice case for her job stones, like the one in the Dawntrail Job promo video. Mostly the ones she only accesses on occasion. The Summoner, Bard, Dark Knight, and Azem's crystals all sit loose in a hidden pocket separate from the rest, so she can grab them at a moment's notice. She also keeps a few quills and snacks handy as well, just in case.
19 - I think Tsubaki sucks at handling interpersonal conflict. She struggles with selective mutism whenever her anxiety flares up, but there have been times where she'll actively use it as an excuse for not addressing her own frustrations and fears, and instead stew in her own misery before inevitably reaching a breaking point.
This is what happened when Alphinaud dragged her into the Crystal Braves, utilizing her as his lieutenant rather than Ilberd in his arrogance. (Easier to command somebody who will nod to whatever you say, and raise no objections to your short-sighted plans.) This is what led to her firmly withdrawing from Wuk Lamat's side the moment a political position was offered to her; Tsubaki didn't mean to hurt her, she just didn't know how to say no to a political leader. She'd never learned how to.
Ultimately, I think this led to her and Mikoto's breakup during the Bozja storyline. They had started dating during the SB alliance raids, and had enjoyed most of a year together after that. But in Bozja... the messiness of the war and Tsubaki's fear for her girlfriend got to be too stifling. Mikoto never got Tsubaki's side of the story after a big argument, and she broke things off from there. They will still correspond for research purposes, but only through writing and official pretenses. Never in person. Tsubaki still thinks about mending fences sometimes, but it's been a year and a half now... she doesn't even know if it would be a welcomed gesture.
Thankfully, she was able to learn from that mistake to mend fences with Wuk Lamat in Living Memory. The aftershocks of her reticence has left some lingering awkwardness between them, but they're on track to building stronger foundations.