& IT'S THE OPHELIAC IN ME

POLYchromatic December Inactivity List

2011-12-08T17:13:32Z

friend add 100yearsgone
7thborn
friend add adamantined
friend add aettir
allthefeelings
friend add alwaysadoe
am_i_being_rude
andchoice
a_parting_word
as_damaged
awhitephantom
awkwards
friend add baitswitch
friend add binarysky
bladed_siberian
blessed_ninja
bloodcakedarmor
brobeforehos
friend add byweavinglives
cametolife
friend add chosenfake
classywigger
friend add cold_dry_pieces
commarogue
friend add commoneresque
council_king
coyote_walking
cursed_ninja
deathofdelilah
add deathstrumpcard (***)
friend add demonwhisperer
friend add diastereomer
friend add dillonrockstar
friend add direbunnies
friend add disinheriting
doujin_dork
friend add earphonics
friend add eiremagic
friend add everhoping
friend add faroffdream
friend add fatespoken
freewolfmoon
greding
guardianjoker
had_not_lived
friend add halflost
friend add haring_to_go
he_who_kills
horrible_protag
iam_thebadwolf
illgrowoutofit
innocentvow (***)
ironiking (***)
is_was_willbe
iwatchtjhooker
friend add jiyuna_togabito
friend add justificarum
knaveswitness
knowledgeably
friend add labchocobo
liveontoday
livingmyths
friend add lookjustlike
mghtbconcussed
moregirls
mumbled_truth
friend add mytechskeeper
needleofmyown
friend add never_very_good
notflynn (***)
officer_garrus
one_that_leads (***)
orangetoughguy
friend add oshutup
friend add pacifistnin
friend add pinkfuckingpro
friend add punchedhitler
friend add pyromatique (***)
rehymenator
friend add repeatshimself
resentive
seesbydoing
servessithis
shall_yield_us
friend add shifts
shiverandsing
sitaronthewater
specifics
spinorfall
friend add srslynotguy
friend add stapletrauma
stargathering
friend add starshipmedical
friend add startraveling (***)x2 months
add stopbleepingme (***)
friend add stupidgenes
friend add tainted_loyalty (***)
thekidsare0kay
friend add thesquatmaster
add trollsbackwards (***)
twisthervision
friend add undespairing
friend add veritamania
verysmallpig
vicodincrutch
friend add virginblade
add waitsforever (***)
wandbreaker
friend add whackaspirit
whattingawhat
whitetwoguns
whithersoevergo
friend add wind_magic
wishgrant
zombiefree

Amat Omnes Application; Kasugano Tsubaki

2011-11-10T16:27:11Z

PLAYER

» Journal: stormcoming
» Birthdate/Age: 11/27/88
» Characters Played: Beast [worthdisgracing] & Mamushi [impurify]

CHARACTER

» Name: Kasugano Tsubaki, "The Sixth"
» Fandom: Mirai Nikki ("Future Diary"), with side manga Mirai Nikki: Mosaics and Mirai Nikki: Paradox

» Reference: Wiki based off the official English releases, Wikia, and Wikipedia. (I recommend the wikipedia, but hey, options!)

» Canon Point: mid ch. 6
» Gender: Female
» Age: young adult (Somewhere between 14-18, see "Appearance" for confusion regarding her physical age. I estimate she's ~16.)

» Orientation: Heterosexual. It's hard to get at Tsubaki's natural/underlying sexuality without wading through the unfortunate and disgusting truths of the sexual abuses she suffered in her childhood that continued for what is assumed to be no short period of time, but I will deal with those in "Suitability". She has had numerous sexual encounters with men, but they were largely against her will, and her own preference was not explored in the main storyline. However, her orientation is canonically proven in the end as heterosexual in the official side manga Paradox, which shows her showing romantic interest in a male, Aru Akise.

» Personality: It's hard to discuss Tsubaki's personality apart from her history. All her life, Tsubaki has been frail and physically weak. Legally blind, she describes her range of sight as only as far as her hand can reach- and so her life is made up of the "Seen World", that within her reach, and the "Unseen World", that beyond her reach and therefore her sight. As a child, however, she did not want for anything, and described herself as "happy". Even knowing she was being used as a pawn for the false religion her parents set up around her and her blindness, setting her on a pedestal as a clairvoyant priestess able to receive the words of gods, she didn't mind. She was happy.

That all ended when er parents died in a car wreck, victims of an apparent accident. The new religion, Onukata, or "Way of the Sacred Eye", relied on her, the aforementioned "Sacred Eye", and so the man who murdered her parents, the 2nd in command, had to keep her alive in order to maintain the followers. What had once been a somewhat "run of the mill" cult took a dark turn as, in an attempt to bribe the male cultists, the 2nd in command (and Tsubaki's new guardian), began preaching a way to cleanse the body of impure thoughts and sin by expelling it through sinful acts. Namely, the rape of the young priestess. As detailed in "Suitability", Tsubaki from this point on lost her happiness and her virginity, the qualifications of a "priestess", and became a plaything as a cult, something used for the male cultist's amusement and desires. Trapped and locked away in a single room in the grand hall of the cult's temple, subject to gang rapes, being starved and drugged, Tsubaki held on to hope and sanity as long as possible, her main defense being focusing on the temari hand ball memento from her mother.

One day, however, that hand ball disappeared. It rolled out of her reach during one of the sexual assaults, and vanished in to the "Unseen World". Without a single thing left to pin her sanity on, Tsubaki began to lose it, began to grow vacant, listless, and mad, simply letting herself be violated. She ceased fighting back because she never won, and she sunk in to despair. At her lowest point, Tsubaki found an answer. All the cruel and horrible things in her life came from the "Unseen World". The force that snatched away her parents. The words of the man who killed them and commanded she be treated that way. The men who came from outside the bars of her room and cell to force themselves on her. Everything was the fault of the "Unseen World". And so everything in that world... it would be better if it just disappeared. Tsubaki's twisted vision of world destruction was born from her hate and anguish during that period of torment.

Her personality and body grew stronger when she resolved to live, to regain control in any way possible in order to spite that "Unseen World", to somehow gain the power to erase it. She was still a puppet, but she began operating as the priestess of the cult, receiving worshipers and performing rituals- however, this experience, though it strengthened her, also made her intensely bitter. She had been a false priestess under her parents, but to to be claiming the title of something sacred, holy, when she knew herself to be sullied beyond repair, was insulting and disgusting. But she did it- any means to secure the destruction of the world that took everything from her.

In addition to turning religion in to a tool, she changed sex in to one as well. She became dominant and "skilled" in sex, able to perform lewd acts without visible pause or hesitance, subsume her own thoughts and desires because it was clear to her what people wanted of her, and she would give it until she could obtain what she wanted from them. She locked herself away- both figuratively and literally. Her painful past, her desire to rail against the treatment she received, the bitterness, the self-loathing, she locked it all away in order to be a gentle and soft-spoken humble priestess who spoke the words of God for her followers. And she locked herself away literally- she never tried to escape from the wooden bars that walled her in to that great hall. A door was opened and shut, she ate there, slept there, was violated there, and received worship there. It may have been futile, she may have been caught if she did, but she never did try and escape- mentally, there was no chance.

She passed her days in that way. She ate, slept, "prayed", and was violated there in the semi-darkness of a single, if not large, room that she couldn't even see with her weak eyes- though she had changed her thinking forcibly to see the sex as something she had agency and control in when in truth she had none. In this period before her appearance in canon during the "Survival Game", Tsubaki cultivates two different persona, both radically different and leagues from the young girl who had been happy once.

In the public eye and before her followers, Tsubaki is the pure and kind "Sacred Eye", frail and vulnerable but faithful and sincere. She is a humble priestess who wants nothing more than to pass on the words of the gods to her worshipers and help them through life- she is fine with being held apart from the common man in order to better commune with the world beyond, and regularly holds ceremonies and rituals to benefit those who tithe or worship in her cult. She is a virgin, pure and unsullied, who would scorn the touch of mortal man.

In private, Tsubaki despises the world around her and the many vague and incomprehensible forces that have robbed her of her freedom, her family, her own control over her body, and her happiness. She is intensely bitter over how cruel life has been to her without the maturity to think of the fact that life can simply be cruel with no rhyme or reason, and wishes to lash out in return at God, at the world itself. She is paranoid, but with good reason, having to act in public like she trusts and loves her followers while knowing that they are beasts, monsters, beneath. She cannot trust anyone any longer, unable to open herself to anything lest she be betrayed further- this paranoia leads her to keep a diary of sorts, a record of everything every follower tells or reports to her so that she can check and confirm the truths around her. (This diary would later become her "Future Diary".) She sees people as disgusting, impulsive creatures, things that are either deceivers or the deceived. She uses the deceived for their donations and praise, and the deceivers as pawns to use even as they use her body.

After all- she's the one with the control. (Right?) In order to be fully welcomed in to the cult a member must commit a crime or heinous act, though this is a secret from the public, naturally. A burglary, assault, rape... ? Tsubaki is often the target of those "inductions", but she manages to think of it as her now having power over them. If she told, they'd go to jail. If she told, they'd lose everything, wives, children, money, freedom. She's the one with the power. She's blackmailing and using them to do her bidding. (Right?)

Tsubaki in her private persona is no priestess- even beyond the sex both forced upon her and initiated "by her" she can't claim such a title. She smokes what can be assumed to be opium, she curses and screams and throws "tantrums" when in distress, and she lusts after the destruction of everything beyond her very narrow realm of sight. She acts mature because of what she's been through, but in fact, her maturity was stunted by it instead.

Her sense of power only becomes more inflated and realized when she is chosen by Deus to participate in her world's "Survival Game"- a game where the aim is to kill the other participants in order to become "God" itself. All the participants use diaries in some form that are powered to show the future in a way related to how they were originally used. Tsubaki's diary, which had been a record of what she was told by her followers, became the Thousand League Eyes Diary. It records the future events her follows will relate to her minutes, hours, days before they would happen. And so within her fortress of a compound, surrounded by followers, Tsubaki is seemingly untouchable- with the exception of the fact that she's vulnerable to sabotage from within her own cult, seeing as the diary records what followers tell her, but there's no guarantee that follower would be telling the truth, either purposefully or by omission/misconception.

Knowing that makes Tsubaki even more on edge, more paranoid, but the diary itself grants her far more freedom and privilege than ever before. She now isn't faking her clairvoyance. She can tell the future now. She has skills and uses beyond her body that cannot be denied by the 2nd in Command, because no other person but she can utilize the Diary. She has real power now, not just a power she imagined she had in her own head to cope with abuse. But it makes her more desperate as well, more aware that she needs to be more clever, more cunning, than ever. It's a real, possible chance to become "God". It's a chance to destroy that world she hates and make a new one how she likes. It's a chance to take her revenge on everything around her and a chance to, from the wreckage, fix everything again.

Tsubaki is not a sane young woman any longer, not really. She does sincerely, (she thinks), want to see an end to the world. She hates herself and she blames and despises the people she is surrounded by daily. She sees people as tools because she was treated as a tool. She sees sex as one of the most convenient ways to control people because it was forced upon her. She lusts after power because she's always been powerless, blind, and weak, and she desires to become "God", to pull the strings, because she's always been a puppet. If Tsubaki had ever been shown kindness, had been offered a chance at freedom and a normal life, even just been given a choice- she could have been saved. We're shown in the Paradox manga that a single intervention, a single boy willing to hear her out, to help her and show her the world beyond that single room in a temple hall, is something that has the potential change her view of the world.

But it never happened. No one ever came. No one ever saved her. And she's too jaded, too bitter, too angry and desperate and dirty and sad and lonely to likely even be able to believe someone if they tried to do it now. Tsubaki has the capacity, deep, deep down, to be a kind girl- a girl who was happy. But you'd have to tear through layers and layers of anger, abuse, and mental instability brought out by it in order to find that.

» Appearance: Manga and Anime styles! It's quite hard to pin down Tsubaki's age from her appearance and we were never given an official one. The mangaka's style lends itself to people looking younger than they are supposed to be most of the time, and Tsubaki's constitution is quite frail, which lends her a small, vulnerable and weak appearance. While she is shown to be developed as a young woman with breasts and hips beneath her androgynous traditional clothing, her face still maintains child-like qualities and her height and bone structure are short and petite. Not having been freely allowed to roam outside, Tsubaki's skin tone is pale, and her eyes also have a pale, lavender hue indicative of her near-blindness. Her black hair seems to have never been cut, and falls to her feet when standing, with her bangs falling heavily to the left and leaving only one eye uncovered- not that it makes much of a difference. She usually wears traditional Japanese clothing in keeping with her role as a cult priestess.

» Suitability: Fortunately, (more like "unfortunately", but-), Tsubaki is well equipped to adapt to life in Amat. Being forced in to sex is sadly not a new concept for her due to the circumstances of her past, and she has grown quite manipulative in order to look out for her own well-being as a result. Tsubaki was physically/psychologically/emotionally abused and gang raped by members of the cult her parents established after their "accidental" deaths, and while she clung to sanity for as long as she could, once she lost her support system, (a memento of her mother's), she began to lose it. She coped mentally by trying to turn sex in to something she herself enjoyed and used at her own discretion to have power over other people. She managed to free herself from the ritualistic abuse's most damaging form when she was empowered with a "future diary", but it follows her around constantly- she's surrounded at all times by the men who made her in to a toy for their sexual desires, and has to rely on the man who she suspects murdered her parents and the one who led the gang rapes under the new cult doctrine of "expunging impurities to cleanse the body". There is no escaping the fact that she is haunted by that past, but she denies it most of the time in order to operate on a day to day basis- this is something she is good at. She's reconstructed her personality and behavior, and can manipulate herself as well as she has learned to manipulate others using her new powers and her body both. She knows men lust after women, after her, and she knows sex can be used as a weapon and method of control. We see this in the series not only when she kisses Yukiteru specifically to incite his "girlfriend's" jealous rage and show her dominance over the two, but also when she captures the girl, Yuno, and in order to force Yukiteru out of hiding threatens to have her gang-raped by her cult members as she had once been. Tsubaki also has no problems going through with this threat- she had to go through it, and it's fine by her to force it on others thanks to her current thinking. Tsubaki has stated in canon that she has "no intention of dying", as she has a very compelling goal to work towards- namely, winning the "Survival Game" and becoming God. She would have no problems participating in sexual situations in Amat, as she has already been warped in to using sex for survival and control as it is. She would have some trouble holding down a "normal" job, as she has never had one and is legally blind, but she is manipulative and clever and would be able to find a way to support herself, likely by playing on what she knows already- the role of a priestess.

SAMPLES

» "amatomnes" Entry:

[A soft voice, cultured and feminine, is the only thing audible at first, though it's a video broadcast- the device must be pressed against something or covered, the screen is just dark.]

-ay go now. Thank you for your assistance.

[The video changes abruptly as it is set down on the floor, revealing a young woman in loose, red-orange robes, dark hair pooling around her where she sits, staring in the vague direction of the device. The vague direction, because her single un-covered eye is a weak-colored pale, and she seems to be squinting something fierce when she focuses on something.]

Greetings.

I was told I could get information on this device from... whoever is listening... ?

[A faint blush comes to her cheeks, and she raises a voluminous sleeve to cover her lower face, gaze averting as she seems to affect an embarrassed stance.]

I need to know... who brought me here? Why did you- what do you want of me... ?

If it's that- I cannot give it to you. I only wish to be returned to my cell.

» "amatomneslogs" Entry:

It's never one face, one instance, one harsh night or one touch that Tsubaki dreams of. It's a thousand faces, a thousand hungry eyes upon her naked body, a thousand hands holding her down and a thousand violations, every place in her that can be tainted, every tear that can be wrung out of her. Hot breath and guttural, bestial noises all blur together in to a cacophony of wrong and disgust and hatred all piled in on one another, like the bodies, hot and sweaty, twisting, arching, pushing, always pushing, in, out, in, out, whether she raised her hips or opened her mouth or spread her legs or not. There's no fighting it in her dreams.

They're just dreams.

She's woken to worse realities.

But the night terrors still have her waking in a lurch, eyes snapping open as if they might actually be able to make something of the darkness, see past the hand she can barely make out clawing in to the air, a gasp and choke of sound before she remembers how to breathe, how to pull the air in to her lungs. Covered in a cold sweat, trembling with bile in her throat, Tsubaki's pale fingers clutch at the sheets of her futon, will herself to calm down.

It was only a dream.

That sort of thing didn't happen anymore. She didn't allow it to happen anymore. And soon enough, even the world that allowed it to happen in the first place would be gone. A smile, sick and off stretched across Tsubaki's lips as she reached out her hand once more, pulled white knuckles from the sheets to watch as her hand phased in and out of that border- the one between the Seen and the Unseen worlds.

For all she knew, just beyond that hand of hers lurked monsters waiting to devour her. (No, she did know that, didn't she?) But it was alright. She had a true gift, the one gift she'd actually received from God, here, safe with her always.

Unable to trust even to go back to sleep, Tsubaki locked the dreams away in her mind under "false", "past", "foolish", and pulled the scroll upon when she kept her diary out from beneath her robes, a magnifying glass from the pocket of a sleeve. She unrolled it reverently, pulling it up on her knees to read with aid. Just the assurance that she was safe, she would live through the night.

Worshiper - sees all clear in the southwest gardens.

Janitor - hears mild disturbance in the tool shed. It's just mice.

Guard - checks the locks on the central gate.

Worshiper - patrolling in the dormitories.

Initiate - guarding 9th, it's hopeless for her to try and escape.

It wasn't the reports that made her still in a rush of anxiety, it was the lack of a certain one. The lack of DEAD END, scrawled in large letters with the time and circumstances of her death waiting for her at the end of the scroll.

Where was her Dead End?

It came back in a rush, one that left her clutching her head and whimpering as if struck with a sudden headache. Yukiteru, the First, Yuno, that bitch, the Second, and the Fourth as well- Goddamn it, what had happened? Pale eyes hurried to inspect the scroll again, waiting for something to change. Waiting for the future to change.

It didn't.

Tsubaki struggled up, forcing weak muscles in to movement, to grope beneath her clothes- she wasn't wearing clothes. Earlier, she'd taken her diary and glass from them, hadn't she?

She hadn't.

Without realizing it, her breath was coming quicker in alarm, the borders of hyperventilation as the Onukata priestess threw off the sheets, staring down at her naked body- she'd seen it too often to be surprised merely be nakedness, seen those sorts of things, (flushed skin, slick thighs, pert breasts, swollen lips), too often to be surprised merely by their presence- But how?

There hadn't been an initiation. Ever since the Dead End flag had been triggered, she hadn't allowed any of her followers but the women in to her cell, and then only to deliver food and bedding. Only Yukiteru-

A high-pitched and slightly manic sounding giggle slipped from her lips as she stumbled out of bed, clutching her diary to her bare chest as her long hair dragged out behind her. So, even the First hadn't been as innocent and kind as he'd seemed, had he? Wanted a reward for helping her avoid her Dead End flag, did he?

Very well. Tsubaki, no, even better- the virgin Onukata priestess would see him duly rewarded. And his woman as well. They'd pay the price for taking from her, just like all her followers paid in subservience, in coin, in reputation. She'd take their Dead Ends in turn, then others, more, more, until she finally won and became a God. A God of the Unseen World.

As of yet, her new surroundings were swallowed up in it. The luxurious furniture, the view from the building, the fluttering curtains and soaring columns were all lost to the indistinguishable blur that her sight turned all beyond her in to. It would be another moment before she fully realized it herself, before the connections within the Seen World were made- the floor beneath her feet wasn't tatami mat, it was cool marble. The bed she'd crawled out of was no futon. The collar on her neck, woven threads, would not come off.

Her diary no longer bestowed upon her the blessings of Gods, the knowledge only they posses.

The Future.

Post Tracking [November + December]

2011-11-03T15:59:43Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Hitagi
✄ Amy

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Estelle
☆ Estelle
☆ Eridan
☆ Spitfire
☆ Yuri
☆ Eridan
☆ Shiemi
☆ Estelle
☆ Bran

Xerxes Break [knaveswitness]

♞ Rosella
♞ Liam
♞ Jack
♞ Gilbert
♞ Gilbert
♞ Regina
♞ Tony

POLYchromatic November Inactivity List

2011-11-03T15:58:15Z

friend add adamantined (hiatus)
aettir (hiatus)
friend add aliveandticking
andchoice (hiatus)
angelsrwatchng
friend add awkwards (hiatus)
friend add bitesvampires
friend add blastiafreak (hiatus)
friend add branstark (hiatus)
child_radical
friend add cold_dry_pieces (hiatus)
friend add commoneresque (hiatus)
friend add council_king (hiatus)
friend add cry_reaper (hiatus)
deathstrumpcard
friend add deviantstray
friend add direbunnies (hiatus)
friend add drizzlinginside (***)
fanboy_silver
friend add favoritetraitor (hiatus)
friend add fortunes_arc
halflost (hiatus)
friend add herglassring
he_who_kills
illgrowoutofit (hiatus)
innocentvow
ironiking
friend add is_was_willbe (hiatus)
friend add knowledgeably (hiatus)
friend add liveontoday (hiatus)
friend add moregirls (hiatus)
notflynn
friend add notsodere (***)
one_that_leads
friend add pyromatique (hiatus)
revengeisalie
seesbydoing (hiatus)
friend add servidude (***)
friend add specifics (hiatus)
startraveling (***)
add staying (***)
stopbleepingme
tainted_loyalty
team_sociopath (hiatus)
friend add thekidsare0kay (hiatus)
friend add threadthefire (hiatus)
friend add treadingdawn
trollsbackwards
friend add uhhok
unweighty
friend add veritamania
friend add verysmallpig (hiatus)
friend add violence_violin
waitsforever
friend add withresolve

Post Tracking [October]

2011-10-31T17:25:48Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Hitagi

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Aradia
☆ Lucy
☆ Vriska
☆ Gilbert
☆ Rin
☆ Eridan
☆ Merrill

Xerxes Break [knaveswitness]

♞

POLYchromatic October Inactivity List

2011-10-09T18:47:30Z

friend add 1500births
friend add adamantined (hiatus last week)
add agoodchild (***)
friend add aimandfire
friend add antimafioso (***)
badhairlifetime (hiatus)
baitswitch
brobeforehos
craaaaaaaazy8s
deviantstray (hiatus)
doujin_dork (hiatus)
friend add drizzlinginside (***)
faroffdream
friend add fatespoken
feorging
friend add flamewarring
greding
friend add guignolsong
horrible_protag (hiatus)
friend add impledge (***)
intheblanks
insulting
friend add jiyuna_togabito (hiatus last week)
add loonyandproud (***)
lovepassionbaby (***)
friend add makinghoscroak (***)
moregirls (hiatus last week)
motorboating
friend add mytechskeeper
add notsodere (***)
friend add protects_her
pyromatique (hiatus)
friend add repelling
saturates_space
friend add scontros
sealed_ninja
add servidude (***)
friend add stapletrauma
add startraveling (***)
staying
stupidgenes
add surfingchannels (***)
twisthervision
friend add violence_violin (hiatus)
withloadedguns

POLYchromatic Application; Xerxes Break

2011-09-27T18:06:10Z

[nick / name]: Rizu
[personal LJ name]: stormcoming

[other characters currently played]:
Mizuno ][ Star Driver ][ innocentvow
Araragi ][ Bakemonogatari ][ stapletrauma

[e-mail]: opheliary@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: steelandpride

[series]: Pandora Hearts
[character]: Xerxes Break

[character history / background]: If you'd like the short version, wikipedia can be your friend. This timeline is also something of a lifesaver, (though it has not yet been changed to reflect revelations from the newest chapters, but those don't affect Break).

In the world of Pandora Hearts, (which is generally explained here, in brief), many key events of the "current" time began during the days leading up to, and shortly after, a cataclysmic event that occurred 100 years ago, now referred to by the citizens of this world as the "Tragedy of Sablier".

In the decade after this tragedy, the major Duke households went in to political uproar as the capitol moves from the crator that was Sablier to the new city of Lebereaux. Seeing as one previously minor noble house, the Vessalius, had been elevated in to prominence by the virtue of one of their sons being the so-called hero of the tragedy, and one, the previously feared and noble Baskervilles, claimed the villain as their own, let alone more rumors considering the powerful Nightray family as a potential ally to the Baskervilles, thus weakening their political status... Everyone with a drop of noble blood sensed it in the water and the noble families of the country began to fight amongst themselves for the coveted positions of power. In the political jostle following this upheaval of a long standing power balance many smaller noble houses waged all-but-outright war upon each other in an attempt to claim more and more prestige. One of these houses, the Sinclair, became just one more victim in the tragedy's aftermath when the entire family was murdered by a rival house.

Except for one single member of the bloodline and one loyal retainer. Meet Kevin Regnard, a knight of the Sinclair House, 24 years of age, who had, by luck or fate alone, been away from the manor at the time of the massacre along with a young daughter of his Lord. Returning to find them all dead, Kevin was wracked with guilt for being unable to protect his master, and in the days that followed, he ended up being contacted by and making a contract with a Chain, a monster particular to their world. The lure of the Chains, the reason humans make contracts with these dangerous beasts in the first place, is one of the most persuasive of all.

The ability to change the past.

Kevin became what is known as an "illegal contractor", committing countless murders to feed his Chain's demands until the clock on his chest, his remaining "time" before he was consumed by the beast, struck twelve, and he was sucked in to the Abyss, the "womb" from which Chains spring. In the Abyss, (a place unexplored, unknown, and full of contraction and mystery both), Kevin encounters what is now referred to as "The Will of the Abyss", a young girl called Alice. Alice easily defeats the knight's Chain, and him, and plucks Kevin's left eye from his skull in a fit of sadistic whimsy but before he can lose the other, Alice is distracted. The arrival of two young children seemingly fresh from the Sablier tragedy, covered in blood, the blond pulling his older, unconscious brother along, interrupts our charming and blood-strewn scene, especially when the blonde greets Alice as if he knows who she is.

This upsets her, and in a fit of sobbing and hysterical little girl temper tantrum/bestial rage, things get more and more chaotic. Remembering his first purpose, the reason he'd killed people, contracted with a Chain in the first place, Kevin begs the Will of the Abyss to grant him what he'd been seeking- the way to change the past, erase his mistakes, and the guilt that haunted him because of his Lord's death. Alice promises to change his time for him, and in exchange, asks of him to grant her wish.

To destroy her.

It would be decades before he even tells a single other person what this wish of hers was. After she tells him that wish, Keven loses consciousness and is thrown from the Abyss as it crumbles around him, Alice, and the two young children.

When Kevin awakes, it is ~15 years before the current manga timeline, (so ~85 years after the Tragedy of Sablier), found by a young girl named Sharon Rainsworth (aged approx. 10), and a retainer of the Barma household, Liam Lunettes (aged approx. 13). He is taken in by the Rainsworth family, one of the current Four Duke households in their country. It is then when he finds out how the Will of the Abyss changed his past, changed the events that, to everyone he meets, occurred over a generation ago. (Yeah, he was in the Abyss for about 5 minutes, and outside, about 30 years passed- it sucks like that.)

There was no massacre. The Sinclair family survived that day, and continued to fight in the struggle between noble houses. However, that struggle escalated when one of the elder Sinclair daughters was assassinated by a rival house. Due to this, one of her younger sisters contracted with a Chain striving to change things just as Kevin had- and in the process, sacrificed her entire family to her Chain. Yes, Kevin changed the past. Lord Sinclair lived for four more years than he had originally. But in exchange the Sinclair girl who had originally survived the massacre, the little girl who had looked up at Kevin with tears in her eyes over the graves of her family and asked him not leave her... no longer had her life. In this new past, there were no survivors. He'd accomplished nothing. Less than nothing.

Kevin discarded his past name, choosing now to go by the name of Xerxes Break. He spent many years bitter and closed off from others, but with the patient care of Shelly Rainsworth, the noble house's matriarch, he slowly opened back up somewhat, and learned to smile again, no matter how false those smiles can be. Now, fifteen years later and in the manga's current timeline, Break has sworn his loyalty to the Rainsworth household, contracted (legally, this time), with another Chain, and is working in the secret organization Pandora alongside Shelly's daughter, the girl who found him passed out in front of her family's gate, and fellow legal contractor, Sharon Rainsworth, seeking the truth of what happened during the Tragedy of Sablier, and in the Abyss.

When the current timeline runs afoul of the man now known as Xerxes Break, he is seen in Sharon's shadow, and seen again when young Oz Vessalius is pulled from the Abyss 10 years after being banished there at his coming of age ceremony (bringing the current manga timeline to approx. 100 years after the Tragedy, as Oz was sucked in to the Abyss ~90 years after). Xerxes offers Oz and his contracted Chain, Alice, (yes, this is a most confusing plot point- we know, sob), the chance to work for him as his underlings in Pandora, giving them the opportunity to chase shards of Alice's scattered memories, and they accept.

The first mission he sends them on is one intended to send a message to the boy he considers oddly and disturbingly naive. Without telling them the illegal contractor is already near being sucked in to the Abyss, he sends them to a town to investigate the young girl. Sharon confronts him about his choice to remove the photo showing the girl's nearly-strike-of-midnight contract from the mission file, and Break merely dismisses it as a kindness. A kindness, to show Oz that it is not always hope that lies at the end of the road.

Without trying to bore you to death, Break has a hand in many of the subsequent events that occur in the main manga timeline. He sees to it that Oz and co. head to the location of his coming of age ceremony in an attempt to lure out his original attackers, something that succeeds when the Baskerville Zwei shows herself there. Break also sends them on assignment to track down an escaped illegal contractor, suspecting why and how he managed to escape, something that ends up feeding his suspicions and dislike for Vincent Nightray (who he recognizes from the Abyss, as the little blood-colored boy all grown up, and who he suspects is not as forgetful of his past as his brother, Gilbert, is), even going so far as to bait and threaten (subtly, naturally), the Nightray noble when escorting them out of the Rainsworth house after he saved Oz and co. from the escaped contractor by shooting him.

We are then given Gilbert's account of Xerxes Break, when he relates how, after Oz's disappearance in to the Abyss, he was found by the man and "encouraged", shall we say, in to taking his place as the adopted son of the Nightray house alongside his younger brother Vincent, who had been seeking him- and also for the purpose of serving as Break's "eye" in the noble house. More of Break's past is given to us when he and Alice, then Oz and Gilbert as well, are pulled in to the Cheshire's playpen, Cheshire being the Chain who possesses Break's left eye thanks to a gift from the Will of the Abyss, as well as when in the aftermath they seek out the Duke of the Barma house, Rufus, for knowledge about the Tragedy of Sablier, but end up having Break's past revealed to them instead.

In addition, Break's utter dislike and distrust for a certain Vincent is only intensified when, after returning from Cheshire's dimension with the cat Chain's bell, (which holds a fragment of Alice's memories, and one incriminating of Vincent himself), Vincent shows his hand by revealing that while they were all occupied with Cheshire, he kidnapped Sharon Rainsworth, and poisoned her, offering Break the antidote (which he demonstrates on his own servant, Echo, whom he poisoned as well, specifically to... prove the antidote to Break), only if he would destroy the bell with his chain, the Mad Hatter. Break hesitates, as his goal is the truth and the bell a key, and Sharon even urges him to not worry about her, but in the end, his loyalty to Sharon's mother, (one could only conjecture his affections towards Sharon herself, though she has thought of him as something of a big brother to her since her childhood), wins out, and he destroys Cheshire's bell. However, Vincent, being the lovely little thing he is, proceeds to simply toss the antidote off the balcony. Luckily for Break and Sharon, Echo, in a fit of something that might be mercy or emotion throws herself forward and catches it, allowing Break the time to snatch her and the antidote away from Vincent's rather vicious backhand, and save Sharon.

Oz and co. later snuck off to the sight of the original Tragedy seeking answers and instead encounter the Baskvervilles and a befuddling mix of trapped and frozen memories of the past. Break made a dramatic entrance and came to the rescue of the besieged youngsters, stabbing Zwei through the chest and hand and defeating the Baskerville Lotti, as well. Once defeated, he initiates a conversation with her- in which he makes her an offer to become his friend, reaching out for information. He has to depart in order to ~~bitchslap~~ stop Gil from going psycho on Zai Vessalius, Oz's father, and takes the contractor out when he's overtaken by a sort of mental control. It's a quick role reversal however, because a little while later he weakens and a now calmed down Gil has to carry him to meet up with the others. There, he falls in to unconsciousness.

He awakens in the Rainsworth household safe and sound, but mostly blind- something he manages to hide from all but the most observant, Oz and Liam. It takes him a while to move from bedridden to out and about and begin adjusting to his failing vision. Once he does though, he uses the time while Sharon, Oz, Gil, and Alice are investigating the seals on Glen Baskerville's soul to investigate Oz Vessalius himself, reporting to Sheryl Rainsworth that some mysterious happenings occurred on the day of Oz's birth that raise the possibility he may have been switched at birth or some such.

We next see Break when he, Oz, Gilbert, and Alice "infiltrate" Duke Barma's household in order to investigate Isla Yura, someone they find out is related to the sealing stones. "Infiltrate" because Break and Oz are clever enough to realize that if Barma truly wanted to lock them out they would never have been able to get in- he's allowing them. So Break allows Oz to lead everyone around in disguise and play along with the game while he waits for the jig to be up. Up in a big way, because Isla Yura is a creep of the highest fashion obsessed with Jack Vessalius, and of course he'll let Oz have his coming of age ceremony party at his place, isn't that so convenient.

So it's off to the Isla manor using the party as an excuse to investigate the grounds for the sealing stone. While Oz keeps Isla distracted Liam and Break make their way around, and Liam takes the time to whap Break in the head and tell him it's about time to tell Sharon about his eyesight issues. Which he does, on the balcony when she asks him to dance, he is afraid for half a second she'll cry- he can't stand people crying, doesn't know how to deal with it- but she doesn't. He realizes she's become a fine woman standing at his side this whole time without him even realizing it- but that little bit of contentment doesn't last long at all, this is Pandora Hearts we're talking about.

Xerxes and co. run in to a fight between Leo and the young Nightray scion Elliot, and Gil leaves to chase after his adoptive younger brother and Break tells Oz to chase after Leo and get information out of him regarding his relationship to Isla Yura. While they're talking however, a man is attacked and beheaded in the manor by the person known only as the "Head Hunter" and their chain, the "Queen of Hearts". Break allows Oz to continue investigating alone, in the hopes that the Head Hunter will be easily captured when making an attempt on Oz's life.

Meanwhile, he makes his way to the basement and finds one of the Baskervilles, Lottie, whom he proposed friendship to in Sablier. When he corners her and she asks for clarification on his offer, he tells her it's simple. The Baskerville's goal and his personal one seem to be the same- so why not work together? His talk is interuppted, however, by the appearance of fake Baskervilles intent on recreating the Tragedy of Sablier, and in the scuffle another Baskerville, Doug, rescues Lottie and reminds her they have little chance of winning against Break, fleeing the scene. Though he wants to locate Liam and ascertain his safety, Break hears the chaos erupting above ground and heads back up, just in time to detain Elliot Nightray standing on the stairs above his decapitated sister's body, accusing him of being the "Headhunter" who has been killing off the Nightray family. The basis of his accusation- information he received from Duke Barma when they "infiltrated" his manor regarding a chain identified as "Humpty Dumpty".

However, after explaining his reasoning to Gilbert and trying to get him to check Elliot for an illegal contractor's seal, and then getting in to a raised voices BITCH YOU DON'T KNOW ME hissy fit with him, a man runs in screaming about someone cutting off heads, only to have his own head chopped off. Faced with this new evidence Break and Gil abandon Elliot and chase after the Headhunter. Another BITCH fight follows before the Headhunter makes himself heard again, and the game of follow the leader begins- with Break alone playing, leaving Gil behind.

Where the Headhunter leads Break, however, is to the basement where the Baskerville Lily seems to have just finished torturing and killing Liam Lunettes. Not cool. Lamenting how his careful plans have gone awry, Break kind of just. Snaps. And draws his sword on the Baskervilles for a fight. After all- he'd told Lotti before. If Liam was harmed by them... he'd not be able to get along with them at all. A high-level fight between Baskerville Fang and Break erupts in the basement and proceeds to the manor grounds. Something that suits Vincent Nightray, aka the Headhunter who led him the whole way there, just fine. A chance to get rid of the meddlesome Xerxes Break. Mad Hatter.

He holds his own for a while against the two Baskervilles, but their regeneration ability renders his sword skills mostly useless, and his blindness has deteriorated those anyway. He has to use the Mad Hatter to win, and he almost does, about to knowingly use it, snuff out his own life to take the two Baskervilles who killed Liam with him, before he dies of bloodless or something silly like that.

Before Gilbert comes flying in and flying kicks him.

A yelling pep talk follows in which Gilbert accuses Break of never asking for help and always running off alone when there are people all around him he could be relying on. This humbles Break momentarily, sobers him up to the idea that he was seriously about to die, not achieve any of the things he needs to do- so he asks for GIlbert's help defeating the Baskervilles. Which they do- well, with assistance from a third party who distracts Lily long enough to keep her from shooting Break, who in turn can them stab at her- though Fang takes the sword channeled through with Mad Hatter's powers, and thereafter dies. The Baskervilles retreat, and everyone is left wondering how the hell Liam, who distracted Lily, is still alive. Turns out his March Hare chain is pretty useless most of the time- it can let it's Contractor play dead.

Either way. Break finds himself strangely relieved and happy that Liam is alive. Unable to really move any longer, Break warns Gil of his thoughts regarding Vincent being connected to the Baskervilles before Gil runs back to Oz's side, where things are in motion to stop the recreation of the Tragedy of Sablier. One crazy fight and one sadly self-sacrificed Elliot Nightray, the Humpty Dumpty's original contractor, later... Sharon and Break make their way to the basement to use Sharon's chain, Equues, to evacuate the survivors. In the aftermath, Duke Nightray disappeared, as did Vincent. Leo, Elliot's servant, was detained by Pandora. Break is bedridden due to wounds and usage of his Chain.

Break is laid up for a week. During this week, lots of things happen- mainly the Dukes find out information about Isla Yura's goals at the mansion and Vincent kills Duke Nightray before kidnapping Leo, delivering Elliot's last words to him, and then swearing his allegiance to his lord, the reincarnation of Glen Baskerville. When he wakes up it's to an impressive lecture from Sharon Rainsworth- one he deserves and needs.

He doesn't have long to rest once he wakes, however- Leo is back, in his place as "Glen", and he attacks Oz and co. with Vincent and Echo. Break informs Sharon of his intent to fulfill his promise to the Will of the Abyss he made years ago, to destroy her. However, shit goes awry, as it tends to, when Rufus Barma, a close ally of the Rainsworth house, attacts the elderly matriarch Sheryl and steals her key to the Rainsworth family Door to the Abyss, by all appearances having switched his allegience to the Baskervilles when he realized they held the more likely chance of winning. Break and Sharon find Sheryl gravely injured in the garden, and Break pursues Rufus.

If you read that whole thing I am so sorry.

[character abilities]: Xerxes Break is a legal contractor with the secret organization Pandora, and is contracted to the powerful Chain known only as The Mad Hatter. The appearance we've seen of this chain is a somewhat warped version of the Alice in Wonderland character, though mostly prominent to the viewer is the distinctive hat, chains, feathers, and cards adorning it, as well as a billowing cloak over what seems to be an impaled eyeball. Break can summon his Chain at will, and call upon its powers- the most fearsome of those being the fact that his Chain is meant specifically for destroying things of the Abyss, including other Chains, (and things like Cheshire's bell, which is why Vincent had to go to such links to make Break destroy it, rather than simply take it and destroy it himself).

Break also carries a hefty staff that conceals a sword he is more than adroit with courtesy his former lifestyle as a knight, and can perform several actions that remain somewhat unexplained at the moment, but resemble magic and are no doubt linked in some way to his Chain, allowing him to do such things as travel from a cabinet, or underneath a table, on to a roof outside, or more battle-oriented things, such as creating barriers that can rebuff and imprison Chains of the Abyss.

Such powers don't come without ~~great responsibility~~ a price, however. As when he comes to blows with Duke Barma, and coughs up blood, (he does this more than once, but this is when the others notice), it's shown that the contracting of a Chain, and perhaps lingering affects of the Abyss and his former life as an illegal contractor, (his fully filled "time" is still drawn on his chest), is very strenuous on the body and repeated and frequent use of his Chain causes him bodily harm. Most crippling besides the whole internal organ damage is the fact that he began to go blind little by little, and as of current timeline, he is actually blind for the most part, able to only distinguish vague blurs where people should be, vague impressions of color. This blindness has limited his abilities and power level as, while he was a good enough swordsman that he was able to deceive people for a time, not even a swordsman as good as Break could keep up such a level of expertise relying mainly on hearing and what little sight he had left. His contract has deteriorated to the point that he is aware the next time he uses the Mad Hatter's power very well could be the last time.

In addition, the contract has "frozen" his time, and he has not aged since emerging from the Abyss, still looking relatively young if not definitely an adult man. However, he is approximately seventy five years old technically speaking, (though he's only lived 35-40 of them outside of the Abyss), and as he states at one point, though he looks ageless, he "may not have another year left" before he'd die of what could amount to old age.

[character personality]: As "Xerxes Break", Break's demeanor is often outwardly childish and immature, loud, demanding, and incessantly overly dramatic. He is prone to outrageous acts to shock and surprise and make an entrance, such as popping up when one least expects it from under a table or from inside a cabinet, offering you candy and then snatching it back and eating it in front of your face, and flopping over tables, waving all his limbs around, and making loud wooshing noises when his mistress tells her guests to dismiss him and his antics as simply air around them. He also makes use of a rather odd looking puppet he keeps on his shoulder and calls Emily, throwing his voice and warping the tone a bit, to insult people or suggest things, only to blame his words on the puppet should people get offended.

But beneath that innocent and foolish outward appearance, Break can be capable of being, and is, much more sinister, cruel, and calculating. He is not a wanton sadist nor a careless murderer or even a heartless abuser, but he is a man who manipulates others and events for his own purposes without the slightest bit of guilt, meddling in others' affairs, blackmailing and convincing others in to working for him and towards his aims, as well as guiding people along a path he's selected while making it seem like it was their idea all along. When others accuse him or confront him with his actions, asking for motives behind why he drives people to ends that he knows will end in their pain or sadness, he only answers with the truth as he knows it- that it's better to live with your eyes opened to the world and it's cruelties than to remain blind to them- that it's better to learn quickly that what lies in wait for you at the end of your road isn't always hope.

Break's drive comes from two main things: his consuming need to unravel the mysteries of the Abyss and the Tragedy of Sabrie, (an attempt to banish his guilt and lingering feelings over the events of his illegal contract and changing of the past as well), and his loyalty to Shelly Rainsworth. Working with Pandora, contracting with Mad Hatter, and his involvement in Oz Vessalius' business are all means to this end. Break jokes about friends and his comrades, but truth be told until recently, the idea of having actual people like that was one he'd cast aside. But it's true, that Sharon, who views him as something of a brother figure, Shelly, who saved his life, in a sense, once he thought himself lost to despair, and Oz and co., are all people he's grown close too, perhaps, in his mind, too close to. After all- he is one who has proven himself first not even being able to save his lord, and second, of not even being able to save a single little girl.

Don't mistake his assessment of his failures for anything beyond that- an assessment. Break doesn't deal in self-pity. Self-deprecating humor, sure, he can do that. But sitting around angsting is not really in his repertoire. He has things to do, goals to accomplish, and not a lot of time to accomplish them. Even when he wakes up blind in his bed he smiles and wears a mask before his comrades, and only in front of Liam, one of those few closest to him, does he actually admit his weakness and do anything like angst... for all of maybe three minutes. He does admit a bit more than he usually would ever in those few minutes, however. That he feels the punishment he receives in the form of a withering body is something like redemption for him, who could never really be forgiven for what he's done. But in the end all it takes is a few choice words to remind him to snap together, because in the end, Break doesn't have the time to sit around feeling sorry for himself, or even to sit around feeling sorry for many people at all. He has places to go, things to do, and mysteries to solve.

It's for this reason also that he's always carried on stoically, never complaining when he's hurt or injured. He'll fake complain and whine dramatically about stubbing his toe as part of his little act, but if he's near death you won't get a peep in seriousness out of Xerxes Break. He can't afford to let pesky little things like coughing up blood and going blind to slow him down, and he certainly isn't about to admit a weakness to anyone. Just like he takes advantages of others' weaknesses, he doesn't expect his enemies, or even "friends", to be above taking advantage of his own. He tried to hide his blindness for a long while from even those closest to him, Sharon Rainsworth and Liam Lunettes. He had to be bullied by Liam in to even telling Sharon at all, because really... confiding in people is the last thing Xerxes is good at.

Trust, in general, is not a skill of his. He's done so much manipulation in his life to get what he needs and in the course of that he's offered others the chance to use him in turn. You can trust a person when you know their motives and how strong their forced ties to you are but trust... is such a tricky word. He also rarely confides in others on account of his simply being... protective, in a way. He keeps those closest the most distant from him, because he doesn't know how to deal with things like a girl being angry with him for keeping a secret, or a friend looking at him with a hurt expression just because he may have overlooked telling them something that may be just a bit important. Break is what he thinks of as a "realist" when it comes to ties and possessions in the world. There are things that must be weighed, decided on... "If you want to protect one single thing, you must be willing to cast aside everything else." "Once you've lost something, you can't just take it back."

He can be startlingly blunt when he desires, willing to tell people he's using them, and to offer them the chance to use him in return for a mutual goal, able to wear that rare frown and tell a boy you find him disgustingly odd because of his optimism and selflessness, and able to lay out his plans and back-ups, explain them, and then shrug and admit someone wasn't his first choice, but they'll have to do. Sometimes teasing, sometimes sinister, Break walks a fine line between the two most times, depending on who he's dealing with, the situation at hand, and what he can gain or lose. For example, he'll flat out tell those under his thumbs what he thinks of them, tease them about their failures or rebuke them, but with those he knows he cannot outright accuse or face publicly just yet, (like Vincent), he walks a more cautious line, rarely coming out with his true intent and feelings, but instead hinting and using double-speak to get across his threats and warnings.

This is a smart man. He can bide his time and he can look several steps ahead of things, make plans and if they don't go accordingly, not the most common thing, but if they don't, he can come up with something soon enough. He's no genius mastermind but he has a knight's experience in battle strategy and honed skills expressly for he purpose of achieving his goals. He's the most feared man in the organization Pandora, thought to be the single most powerful individual at their disposal, and he wields both fear and respect as tools as easily as a blade. In the beginning, he is a "cool" character, always in control and always above it all, wise and experienced and driven.

But more recently, Break has been dealing with the truth of his encroaching mortality. He's known for a long time that contracting with Chains leads only to an early death, though he weighed the risks and he took the chances. But it's only now that it's become evident his time is running out. Now. His progressing blindness and physical weakness after using his powers and the fact that he's risking his life each time he enters a battle has put a few things in perspective for Break. Most importantly, the fact that he might actually run out of time before he discovers what he's been searching for all this time- the Truth of 100 Years Ago. It's lent a desperate edge to his actions, a certain willingness to risk that he never would have allowed before, at one point actually on the verge of committing suicide via Mad Hatter usage in order to win against his opponent- before one of his subordinates kicks him in the head. Literally.

All those kicks to the head have been doing some good- or bad, depending on how you look at it. For the longest time, ever since coming out of the Abyss and even now after Shelly's influence, (though to a lesser extent), Break has held himself apart. He doesn't belong in this time. He should have died decades ago. He killed people and fed them to a monster to change the past and only twisted it further. To him, these are all simple facts and truths, and reasons to keep himself apart from the people around him. He is a feared man, after all.

But over time... it became harder and harder to keep himself apart. Liam and Sharon were like a family. Shelly was like a new lady, in place of lord. Sheryl was his guide. Gilbert was his subordinate. Even the newcomers, Oz and Alice... they've wormed their way under his skin. Things he hid easily years before have become harder to conceal. There's a weird, awful sensation that sometimes creeps in and it's called "guilt", eats away at him sometimes and forces him to admit things he'd rather keep secret. It's an annoying, troubling, awkward, unwanted thing- being close to people. More awful for them, because Break knows he'll leave, and they'll hurt- and it's quite foolish of them to chose a man like him.

And quite foolish of him to think there might be some truth in what Gilbert told him- that there were precious people all around he should be calling out for, rather than going off to die alone.

All in all, Sharon describes Break as someone who "always arrogantly goes around making fun of people, always acts like he knows everything about everyone yet refuses to share and of his secrets, who pretends to be terribly mature but can't stand to lose, is a ridiculous perfectionist, gets bouts of nerves over the pettiest little things, a horrible hypocrite who is constantly trying to take care of others but can't stand being taken care of, and utterly hopeless to boot". Also he's a lousy dance partner even though he can dance well on his own.

That's pretty accurate.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Chapter 62, before his full out-and-about recovery from being bedridden

[journal post]:

[Without doubt, that is a grown man, barefoot, in his pajamas, huddled underneath a blanket he has wrapped around him like a hood ala a five year old boy. Definitely a winner, right here. He looks really put out, too.]

I finally think I can take a nap and get a good rest, and this is how the world repays me? I'll be filing a complaint with the nearest authority, I guarantee it.

[He pouts- that's the only way to describe it.]

I wager a maid will need be contacted. And a nurse, I'll be wanting for a nurse, as well. And don't send me someone young and pretty, either, I shan't have it. A withered old man like me- it would only be construed as perversion, I know how you young types operate with your schemes and your wondering. Send me the ugliest and most untouchable maid you have!

I have another list- not quite demands, but a shopping list, you might say. Ahem.

[The man holds up a scrap sheet of paper, upon which is written in large, slightly messy font:]

[1] secretary
[1] monocle (left)
[1] dark horse
[1] bunny
[1] bunny owner

If you know where I can find any of these highly useful items, do please let me know. I'm afraid that's it, actually.

[And as he moves to turn the feed off with a little smile, almost a friendly look, he just... buries back in to that pile of blankets, yes he does.]

[third person / log sample]:

Being bedridden gave a man far too much time to think.

Xerxes Break was a man who already did a great deal of thinking, and not for any passing fancy. He had things to accomplish and things to solve, things to break down and things to discoverer, and so of course he thought. He'd spent his life since arriving in this time thinking- on his feet and off them, taking his time and rushing like it was the last moment he had on the earth. And so of course, Xerxes Break had done a lot of thinking in his not so short lifetime.

But he'd never been bedridden for a week.

Of course, he'd spent most of the actual week literally unconscious and recovering from an abdominal wound, not to mention the damage he'd caused his body just using the small amount of Mad Hatter's powers that he had, but that was beside the point.

The point, perhaps, was that rather than admitting to himself that it was the subject of his thoughts that made him so tired, he continued to insist that it was merely an issue of time.

After all, time was to blame for so many things.

Blame wasn't the right word. Time was the cause, the instigator, the end and beginning of all the things in life that troubled him in this particular moment. After all, it was time that was running out for him. It was time that had ticked away to mark the hundred years since the Tragedy of Sabrie, a hundred years foretold to be required before a soul could re-materialize in their world's cycles. TIme held hostage was the thing that kept his mistress' body in adolescence and left her staring after women her same age who looked like women and not girls, that kept his face the same in the mirror each time he looked. It was time that had been stolen from him, decades of time spent in the dark of the Abyss when he swore it was mere minutes. Time was what had been changed, and ruined any chance of redemption for Kevin Regnard.

Whomever counted Time their ally would win- but could any man truly count that old bastard an ally, a friend?

The too loud, self-deprecating laughter that came from their still injured patient was enough to rattle the maids. No matter, their chatter and the noise they made with their breathing had been too loud in his ears. Everything was too loud these days. He'd had to make them loud. With his sight fading at every blink, every time he had to call on that cackling Mad Hatter, he'd had to rely on other things. Hearing left untouched by decay, a body that he'd honed to be able to detect vibrations in the ground, the air around him, and most importantly a brain that could still extrapolate and assume based on the blurs that used to be people and colors and life around him. It had been easy enough to hide his growing weakness from those closest to him- well. That creepy brat Oz Vessalius had figured things out of course, but he was caught up in some sort of self-righteous moral code that at least kept his mouth shut, and though Liam had caught him as well- they all knew now.

The great Xerxes Break, nicknamed Mr. One Man Show by the young Rainsworth mistress, a nickname seconded by many, and considered the most powerful single asset to the organization Pandora, and here he was, laid up in bed with a wound to his gut courtesy a Baskerville's Chain and his weakened body recovering from strain and the thing nurses and doctors called "exhaustion, poor man", but Pandora's researchers loyal to the Rainsworth house called "the likely effects of the combined impact of a completed illegal contract with the ongoing use of a very powerful legally contracted Chain". Funny. But he wasn't dead just yet, not for lack of trying and reckless desperation he'd felt beginning to gnaw on the edges of his efforts ever since he realized every time that this time might be the last time.

Unlike some, contemplating things like this, Break did not cry or even frown. His expression was neutral when he was conscious, staring sightlessly up at the vague impression of solid that was the ceiling of his room. Sometimes he didn't bother opening his eyes at all, if only to stave off the visitors just a little longer. Lectured by Sharon, Gilbert, and Liam... hah. He could laugh.

He was laughing, if the silent shake of his shoulders was any indication.

People telling him that he should stop going off alone, that he didn't have to do it all by himself, that he had precious people on which to rely on, friends he could call on... it was laughable, after all. So he laughed. They seemed to forget that he was the man who'd done quite cruel things to them. Hadn't he sent Oz and Gilbert along with Alice off to watch a little girl die? (So they'd realize how this world worked.) Hadn't he been the one who'd hidden things even from those who'd stood at his side this whole time? (He didn't like to see people cry, you see, doesn't know what to do about it, and-) Hadn't he been the one who'd cheerfully offered a damaged young boy the chance to use him for his own ends if he'd just allow him the same favor, cajoled him in to acting as his Left Eye, a task that surely had brought him more than his share of trouble? (He'd said he could cut ties any time he wished, but it was kind of reassuring, to think of not having that shriveled, empty eye socket-)

Moving was still painful, but Break clenched his teeth and sat up, sheets gathering at his waist. He had no time to be wasting here. There was still the matter of Vincent Nightray, that rat with a crimson eye, the boy Leo who'd been brought to interrogation, the theories he needed to discuss with Sheryl regarding the Baskerville's next target, and briefings he'd need to have with Oz and Gilbert. He needed to know for himself if Liam was still alright. As usual, he didn't have any time to be laying around here, certainly no time to be bedridden, no time because being bedridden provoked all kinds of unnatural thoughts- to think, he'd almost mentally agreed with those foolish people, the nerve of them.

Stiff, weak movements and Break had pulled the top layer of sheets up, wrapped it around himself like a cocoon, and then... rolled out of bed on to the hard floor below.

Much better.

Being bedridden provoked all sort of unnatural thoughts. If one was going to be hopeless for a little while, it was better to look the part.

Post Tracking [September]

2011-09-18T20:00:03Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Hitagi
✄ Amy
✄ John
✄ Hitagi
✄ Nathan
✄ Hitagi
✄ Claire
✄ Jim

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Eridan
☆ Hope
☆ Chrome
☆ Angela
☆ Mukuro
☆ Hope
☆ Sollux
☆ Rapunzel
☆ Eridan
☆ John
☆ Fran
☆ John
☆ Lucy

POLYchromatic September Inactivity List

2011-09-04T15:51:27Z

7thborn
advancetheplot
agoodchild
am_i_being_rude
angelsrwatchng
friend add antimafioso
friend add awkwards
binarysky (hiatus- special)
friend add brobeforehos (hiatus)
friend add cateyedhunter
commarogue (hiatus)
cry_reaper
friend add cursed_ninja
friend add deathofdelilah
friend add drizzlinginside (hiatus)(second time)
add enterpainment (***)
fatespoken (hiatus)
friend add fortunes_arc
friend add imnotbluffing
friend add impledge
jiyuna_togabito
knowledgeably
lionesssejant
friend add loonyandproud
lovepassionbaby
makinghoscroak
friend add nosferotofu (hiatus)
friend add notsodere
friend add omelet_fu (***)
friend add overblame
friend add overreached
friend add pacmanbelt (hiatus?)
friend add ragazz0dinebbia
rehymenator (hiatus)(second time)
friend add renegare
risetwice
friend add scontros (emergency hiatus)
friend add sealed_ninja (hiatus)
friend add servidude
srslynotguy
friend add startraveling (hiatus)(second time)
stopbleepingme (hiatus)
friend add surfingchannels
friend add sword_and_quill
friend add sword_of_zero (***)
thekidsare0kay
threadthefire
trapdoor_spider
friend add taravata (hiatus)
tranquilkiller
trytofindit (***)
unweighty
veritamania
friend add weaponofheart (***)
wishgrant
friend add witheringlily
friend add withresolve
friend add worksmart (hiatus)
friend add yesimagenius (hiatus)

Post Tracking [August]

2011-08-25T15:10:22Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Terezi
✄ Nathan
✄ Terezi
✄ Myrnin
✄ Edward
✄ Frankie
✄ Belphegor
✄ Yuri
✄ Claire

KAMIKI IZUMO [foxtaming]

☯ Snake
☯ Kazu

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Vriska
☆ Terezi
☆ Vriska
☆ Fran
☆ Hope
☆ Vriska
☆ Eridan
☆ Roxas
☆ John
☆ Vriska

Character Sound-Off [Summer]

2011-08-13T07:18:30Z

polychromatic;

character; You Mizuno
canon; Star Driver
journal; innocentvow

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; Vriska Sekrit, Hope, Kazu, Fran
CREW; Non... existent... does ANYONE play from Star Driver?! Cause I would shank someone if I could get a Marino? ... An anyone?
UPCOMING; Beach trip! Denial, denial, and more denial! Mizuno is a Grade A derp, so I try not to get her involved in serious or angsty things too much because she's just not equipped to handle it, since she's without Marino. But she did encounter some with Vriska during Grab Bag, so now she's just... blocked it from memory, like she does to most things that make her sad. I'd like to get her in to a situation that forces her to grow up a bit more, but it's hard to engineer without breaking her, so. Choices.
OTHER; It's always good to play at least one happy and cute character. It was Tianzi, before, and now it's Mizuno. She's so adorable and fnkewlnf it makes me happy tagging with her, so.

character; Araragi Koyomi
canon; Bakemonogatari
journal; stapletrauma

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; Hitagi, Terezi, Myrnin, Claire, Nathan Young
CREW; hnngh Jane's Hitagi
UPCOMING; His super important date with Senjougahara!!!!1one. No, really, that is vastly important in his poor mind, okay? He's stressed out over it. He also needs to study. :|a And no, really- okay, on more plot levels, he does want to explore some of the conventions of the City, see if he can't puzzle out how things work Oshino Meme style. Gotta make the old man proud. He could ask around about the barrier and the clock, and he probably wants to poke around. I also want to see about doing something that would get him injured...
OTHER; o god I love icon combos with Araragi. And threading with Jane, hnngh I ship it. I don't know if I'm doing it right but I'm enjoying it.

character; Kamiki Izumo
canon; Ao no Exorcist
journal; foxtaming

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; none, just intro'd yesterday
CREW; ;__;
UPCOMING; usual new character things: exploring the City, making CR, tsundere-bitching at everyone, possible attempt at the barrier, getting an apartment, complaining about the shopping selection...
OTHER; sob just intro'd this is a useless entry, though I feel super lame for only have bases as icons, so I should probably fix that ASAP or I won't be motivated to play her, stupid... icons...

amatomnes;

character; Beast
canon; Kuroshitsuji
journal; worthdisgracing

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; Circus Crew, Cherry Darling, Jake Sully, Robin, (formally) Allen, (formally) Oz
CREW; Joker, Doll, Dagger, Snake, though unfortunately we're probably losing Dagger soon ;~;
UPCOMING; P- p- pregnancy plot. DON'T RUN AWAY. Beast is four months along at this point, so up next is... breaking it to people since she can't exactly hide it that well any longer. That's pretty hard for her, as she isn't the type to talk about things like that, not to mention that... she still isn't sure how she feels about it, being unplanned as it was, and. Stuff. Yeah. So I imagine upcoming is a lot of angst and struggling with how she feels to try and turn this in to an opportunity to have something she doesn't have the chance to have in canon, to try and work things out with Joker, etc. She'll also probably have to train someone to fill her spot in the circus as her pregnancy progresses.
OTHER; Gotta admit I am a bit scared of wank, since pregnancy plots always seem to attract them, but honestly I think Eric and I are avoiding the things that usually start wank about them, namely... not having it progress naturally, (randomly grown up kids or accelerated gestation), drama-llamaing all over the game about it, etc. SO. Yeah.

character; Cheshire Cat
canon; Are You Alice?
journal; petstray

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; Naoto, Integra, Yuri, ALL THE LADIES, non-human types
CREW; What crew? ;~;
UPCOMING; No... thing. Cheshire... is very whimsical and does as he pleases, and though he has a mission back home and wants to return there, he's realized that... there's nothing he can do. He's trapped and he can't just come and go as he pleases and it's driving him a bit mad. He's also not used to... having to see the women he sleeps around with more than a time or two, or living in a place with "Regrets", so... he's not sure how to act. It's so much easier when everyone just moves forward and never looks back, isn't it.
OTHER; Hmm, I feel like I'm stagnating a little with him. Right now I am really enjoying his interactions with Naoto, but I can't think of where to take him in general. He's a philanderer and a cheat and a scoundrel and a pet cat and a stray and just so many things, so I don't know. I feel like I'm not doing him to full potential due to lack of energy or something, we'll see.

character; Houjou Mamushi
canon; Ao no Exorcist
journal; impurify

PLAY☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒☒DROP
USUAL CR; Saeko, Francois, Esther, Reimu, Snake
CREW; Mephisto! Much to her displeasure.
UPCOMING; She needs to make plans for the next power event, because she wants to remove and seal the Impure King's right eye when she's able to, and I think... if she tried to do it with powers sealed it would probably take out her whole eyeball with it, oops. Also she would like to set up a proper temple building, but I'm not sure how feasible that would be... until then she'll keep mooching off the Shinto shrine that's set up, she's Shugendo anyway, donmai, donmai.
OTHER; Mamushi has Naga now, so she's a bit happier though still... obviously distressed and perturbed by the nature of Amat and her religious state. She's randomly really happy about meeting Snake from Kuroshitsuji because YAY SNAKES is something she... understands, lol. I was a little unsure about playing her at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

[Characters to App/Play Again;

Nnoitra Gilga | BLEACH ↹ Somewhere ↹ (already started...)
Medusa | Soul Eater ↹ Somewhere
Hannah Annafellows | Kuroshitsuji II ↹ POLYchromatic

WHY IS RPING FROM JAPAN SO HARD UGH TIMEZONES.

coding by fairyblue

Application; Nnoitra Gilga

2011-07-31T19:44:05Z

[ personality ] So say you had a bigass dog... but that dog died. He gets resurrected by some bad voodoo, but when he comes back, he's infected with the disease all resurrected critters have. Let's call it rabies. This dog runs around biting and slashing and killing, just aimlessly, until a master comes along. This master gives the dog steroids, so now the dog is loyal to him, because this master made it stronger, able to kill more and more. But this dog still knows very well that it has rabies, and eventually will die. This dog, though, isn't content with just being put down quietly. He wants to go out in a flurry of tooth and nail, and die on his own goddamn feet.

... now pretend this dog was actually a praying mantis. That's Nnoitra.

Yeah. Something like that.

First and foremost, Nnoitra is a killer. He's an Arrancar, a being that begins its life as a corrupted soul, a deceased spirit that stays attached to the world too long, long enough for the chain that holds it to rot and to take the flesh where it anchored to the spirit along with it- the heart. That spirit becomes a being known as a Hollow. Only the strongest of Hollows survive, to kill death gods, eat others of their kind, thereby becoming stronger and stronger. A bestial, corrupted existence ruled by instinct, but if powerful enough, still possessed of will, intelligence, and a degree of personality.

Taken from that state and forced in to a higher state of evolution, the Arrancar created from Hollows by their new god Aizen Sousuke gain a more humanoid appearance, heightened intelligence, and most importantly, a vastly superior strength. However, some of them rely on and still keep a very base and carnal sense of morals and values, living still as beasts in various ways as opposed to some of their number who become quite cultured or intellectually inclined. Nnoitra is among those of this type.

More than anything, he values strength. Despite being only the 5th Espada among 10, he proclaims himself the "strongest Espada", and he's not wrong. In terms of purely physical strength, release forms and special abilities notwithstanding, he is probably the strongest. He measures himself in the defeated and broken bodies of his enemies behind him. He proves his existence, and his worth, in those he's made bleed and those who have lost to him. In a world of the dead, under a blinding bright false sky and white for miles in sand and near empty castles, it's the only way he knows to live, to carve the truth that he exists in to the world around him.

Because of this, he is indeed indebted to Aizen Sousuke, and does feel some sort of emotion akin to debt or loyalty to him, he who elevated him from the rank of adjuchas, made him stronger. At the same time, he defies his god, begrudges him for being stronger than he, and hating him for the fact that he knows he can never reach that level, will always be beneath that man. He shows his defiance in the little things- ignoring a rule here and there, disregarding an order. An order not to fight, to kill, is one Nnoitra can never obey, no matter who it comes from.

However, at the same time, he doesn’t just kill everyone and anyone around him. Nnoitra relishes the fight, the blood, the rush, and the kill, yes. But he doesn’t kill for the sake of simple killing. All the time. In fact, as he “matured”, so to speak, he stopped killing those he considered vastly weaker than himself, only defeating them in battle and leaving them broken for whatever fate awaited them. When queried as to why he did this, leaving enemies alive, Nnoitra only scoffs and asks a question in return. Even if he kills a thousand weaklings, is there anyone who would acknowledge him as the strongest? Only those who are strong are worth killing. To Nnoitra, the life of a weakling has no value. Which is why all his existence, he has striven to be strong.

And he’s proud of that strength. Not only does he proclaim himself the strongest Espada to any who dare question it, he enforces that position however he sees fit. This way is not usually kindly, or particularly noble. Nnoitra is, after all, a bestial Arrancar, and though he may have a few moral-seeming ideas about how to fight and kill, it doesn’t mean he values the people around him or respects them, either. He’s abusive to those who come close to him, even those who are supposed to be his subordinates.

Unlike the other Espada and their relations to their Fraccion servants, (with Halibel and the noble but familial way she cares for her fraccion, with Grimmjow and the way he lead his band), Nnoitra is far more physically abusive of his fraccion, Tesla. If Tesla does something he doesn’t approve of, even if it’s something obviously done for his own sake, he’ll threaten his life with a blade to the throat, discipline him with a kick to the chest that could send him flying in to the nearest hard surface. However, it is notable in a way that he never truly does injure Tesla seriously, valuing his service and his loyalty, the fact that he acknowledges him as the strongest and has been at his back for a long time- and in the end, he does show a degree of concern for him, trying to warn him of an incoming attack and showing anger that he’s struck down, when one would think his usual system of beliefs would believe his defeat a just thing, if he was weak enough to allow it to happen.

Those besides Tesla, now… Nnoitra is able to interact decently with the other Espada. When it comes to interacting under Aizen Sousuke’s eye. In the heat of battle or out in the open, however, he’s more likely to let his true feelings show beyond just verbal abuse. He sees nothing wrong with striking down the sixth Espada when he’s bleeding and nearly down, just to get him out of the way so that he can have a chance to fight his opponent, one he’s targeted as “strong”. He sees nothing wrong with trying to corner the fourth Espada and have a good snicker and perverted joke at his expense and get annoyed when Ulquiorra’s deadpan attitude doesn’t allow him a bit of fun. And he definitely sees nothing wrong with detesting the third Espada, Halibel, for the mere sake that she is a woman higher in rank than him, taking potshots at her whenever he can.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Nnoitra is a brute among chauvinists. He detests the idea of women being above him in rank or strength, and will take any measure to make sure that it doesn’t happen. Whether this hatred and way of treating women was something he’s always felt or something that was instead born of his interactions with the former third Espada, Neliel Tu Oderschvank, no one can tell. But it’s a fact at this point. To Nnoitra, women are innately weak, and good for only a few base uses. And he has no problem telling people that, and acting quite sleazily. He’s quite put out that Ulquiorra won’t play along with him when he tries to elicit some perverted talk from him about how he’s “disciplining the pet”, Inoue Orihime, making it clear that if he were the one in charge of her, she’d definitely not be treated so respectfully. He also has no problems manhandling women, as he proves with Orihime again, having Tesla restrain her and abusing her friend in front of her, taking a sort of pleasure from her helplessness, from making her watch, at one point just sticking his fingers practically down her throat to make her shut up while he forces her to watch his fraccion do the abusing.

It’s women in power that really rile him up, however, and the foremost target of this hatred was the former Espada Neliel. The way she acted, which to the then younger and only 8th Espada Nnoitra was perceived as condescension and softness, drove him to hate her all the more. Unlike him, she didn’t revel in the fight or the kill, held herself apart and above such base activities and made no secret that she disapproved of them- calling him nothing better than a beast with how he acted. The fact that whenever he challenged her she only spoke down to him and didn’t kill him when he lost the fight, even avoided hurting him needlessly, was something that to Nnoitra seemed like pity, proof that she didn’t consider them equals because she didn’t view him as worth killing- and the last thing in the whole damn world Nnoitra wants is anyone’s fucking pity. Despite being a woman, no, likely because she’s a woman, Nnoitra has no problem with hatching a plot to take her down a few pegs, show her how weak she is, lord his superiority over her by planning with then non-Espada Szayel Aporro to attack her from behind and break open her Hollow mask.

It’s notable, however, that Nnoitra does not savage her body or do worse. He could have easily, with her unconscious and bleeding at his feet. No one would have blinked and thought it out of character for him to kill her, even if he were to rip her body to pieces, or have his way with it. Okay, Tesla might have protested a little, but no one would have thought it beyond Nnoitra. Instead, he tosses her body from the castles of Los Noches. Because in a way, as much as he hates her, he needs Neliel. Rather, he needs her to acknowledge him- the fact that she relegated him only the status of a beast and never treated him, in his philosophy, as an equal, is something that he can’t forgive. Though he thought he would be rid of her once and for all with that move, he felt somewhat empty defeating her that way, without her having the time to really understand his strength. When it turns out she’s alive, he relishes meeting her again, showing her when she returns to Los Noches in canon just how powerful he’s become, ready to challenge her again and force her to admit that he’s the strongest between them. And so while he hates Neliel, detests her soft attitude and her way of approaching fighting and the Arrancar nature, he also needs her more than anything because she’s the one person who to that extent refused to acknowledge him as strong, and his whole drive is strength, can’t move forward until she’s forced to see that.

However, it's also notable that while Neliel is in "baby form", in which she looks about six years old or so because of the spirit energy leaking from her mask making her unable to hold a larger form, and in which she also... acts like a six year old, Nnoitra doesn't have a single damn problem with kicking her across the battlefield.

That's right. Nnoitra literally kicks babies.

POLYchromatic June Inactivity List

2011-06-06T16:30:39Z

adamantined
add advancetheplot (***)
add agoodchild (***)
add aimandfire (***)
am_i_being_rude
antimafioso
antipillar
add binarysky (***)
blastiafreak
friend add booksmacking
friend add born_nameless
brobeforehos
calculusdragon
cateyedhunter
chosenfake
cold_dry_pieces (***)
add commarogue (***)
commoneresque
friend add concitato (***)
coolestsoul
council_king
craaaaaaaazy8s
cry_reaper
dance_of_hope (***)
deathofdelilah
friend add deathstrumpcard
derpioso
add dr_conscience (***)
drizzlinginside
eiremagic
friend add enterpainment
evenwithpower
friend add existais
friend add eyes_ab1aze
friend add faroffdream
feellikejumping
flamewarring
friend add forgetspants
friend add foxtaming
greatergone
guignolsong
had_not_lived
friend add hatersbehatin
add hemocidal (***)
he_who_kills
imnotbluffing
innocentvow
innocentxcharm
friend add inthefrontline
friend add ipingall
friend add jesusing_clown
jiyuna_togabito
friend add kickapow
laughs_for_two
likeabawws
likeagoodson
lionesscouchant
lionesssejant (***)
friend add lovethyfather
friend add makinghoscroak
friend add ms_marycontrary (***)
notaqueenbee
friend add nosferotofu
friend add notastepford
friend add omelet_fu
friend add oshutup
o_tea_p
friend add overblame
add overreached (***)
pinkfuckingpro
friend add pyromatique (***)
friend add ragazz0dinebbia (***)
reed4context
friend add rejuvenated_sun (***)
renegare
repeatshimself
friend add scontros
secondcoolest
seesbydoing
friend add seiryuuswarrior
add sinandservitude (***)
sings4dragons
sitaronthewater
friend add sometimes_boe
sparkling_by
spiesonyou
srsbusinessk
stapletrauma
starfollowing
friend add startraveling
sword_of_zero
add tainted_loyalty (***)
team_sociopath
tessenwarrior
thenormalsquint
friend add toobad_sosad
trapdoor_spider
trollsbackwards
uhhok
verysmallpig
vicodincrutch (***)
friend add wandbreaker
friend add weaponofheart
whackaspirit
friend add wishgrant (***)
friend add wishsrequiem
add witheringlily (***)
friend add withresolve
worksmart
yesimagenius

Post Tracking [June]

2011-06-06T16:26:55Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Rin
✄ Yukio
✄ Guy
✄ Sam
✄ Gamzee
✄ Terezi

KAMIKI IZUMO [foxtaming]

☯

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Terezi, Vriska, Karkat, Nepeta
☆ Nepeta
☆ Fran

Zodion Application; Iva

2011-05-17T21:27:04Z

✖ PLAYER:

Name & LJ: Rizu @ stormcoming
Birthdate & Age: 11/27/88, age 22
Characters played in Zodion: N/A

✖ CHARACTER:

Name: Iva
Canon: Karneval
Info: Here!

PB/Image: Here! Er- I mean. Here.
Canon Point: ch. 24
Gender: Female
Age: 25

Birthdate/Sign: August 7th, Leo (canon)
Tattoo: approx. 3 inches in diamter, located on the back of her left hand

Suitability: N/A

Power: The power I'd like Iva to retain is her superhuman strength that's enhanced by her Circus ID bracelet. There's no name or real complication to the ability, it's simply that she's far, far stronger than a woman with her appearance should be- than any man should really be, either. For example, a flying kick from her has been seen to break through the roof of a building, and a focused blow during a fight sends men flying and bones breaking, and lifting heavy things is never really a problem when Iva is around. As for limiting this ability, that could be done by simply reducing the amount of strength available to her, making her only more strong than normally possible, instead of that much more so, etcetera.

Personality: One of the lieutenants of defense organization Circus' Second Ship, Iva has proven herself to be one of the best when it comes to rounding up criminals and super humans known as Valga. Capable and strong, the members of Circus are granted powers and abilities to aid them in their work, but it's said that even without these things, the members of the First and Second ships would still be the people you do not want to mess with. So while Iva looks like a woman who has nothing to do with the battlefield or what equates to police work, she's all about it, trained and passed tests in order to get the job that she does- catching criminals and taking down monsters, and then putting on elaborate circus shows for the townspeople inconvenienced by Circus' activities.

But while she's more than capable, efficient, and strong, her outward personality is not exactly the most professional or business-like. Being in Circus almost guarantees a number of quirks or interesting personalities, and Iva is no exception. Despite her job, which dictates her every day life, Iva is not battle-hardened or overly serious, smiling often and taking pleasure in the little things in life. Family and friends are things she values immensely, and she plays the big sister role for many members of the Second Ship, including Tsukumo and Yogi- and is the eldest of three girls when it comes to blood family as well, meaning she's got more than enough experience and inclination when it comes to big-sis behavior. She protects her "siblings" and teases them as well- Iva will rescue Yogi and Gareki, and next thing they know, she's taped signs to their backs when no one was looking so she can snicker to herself.

Iva likes things that many feminine women who don't fight crime and monsters for a living do, including dressing up and shopping, and she has a particular fondness for gemstones and art. But in addition to her usual penchant for the feminine, whether it be her preferred dress of her attitude, she's also capable of just as much masculine behavior, particularly around men. As her bio states, she's "feminine around women and masculine around men", her actions almost totally different depending on which gender she's dealing with. For example, when asking the same question she'll be smiling and friendly when asking the woman, while she'd be more gruff and authoritative with the man.

There's no as of yet revealed specific reason for it, and it's not because she hates men- it's simply how she changes her behavior in each situation. Iva is a woman who knows what she wants, and who also speaks to each person on a level she chooses- it's likely she changes her behavior based on gender simply because she feels more comfortable being much more feminine when around other girls, and feels like she's more likely to get things done, and get her point across, by being just as masculine as the person she's speaking to when interacting with men. It's easy, however, to just label her as a manly woman.

Valuing her family and friends as much as she does, Iva is a force to be reckoned with when they're in danger, breaking down walls and doing everything she can to not only save them, but administer punishment to anyone who hurt them or put them in peril. She doesn't show mercy to those she fights, whether it's killing Valga or administering a dose of intimidation and pain to someone whose put Tsukumo in danger. But she does it with flare no matter what, she's a flashy woman, dramatic and impressive whether she's putting on a show or play during the Circus carnivals, or taking out an enemy with her abilities.

For example, Circus members had to pick a catchphrase, so to speak, and while Yogi ended up with a ridiculous one because he didn't fill out the form, ("The rising male's spirit, the heart throbbing, sparkling prince!"), Iva picked a rather interesting one of her own volition- "Known as the "Crowned Queen", those who don't accept my love will be smashed up!". The girl likes to make an entrance. Despite how ridiculous this may seem, she's dead serious when it comes down to things. Strong and confidant, Tsukumo says she's the first one to speak up to Hirato, their commander, if she disagrees with him, but once she accepts a plan or mission she's entirely focused, and gives her full effort.

All in all, Iva is a good, strong woman. She may complain to her superiors if she doesn't like an order, but she obeys if its right, and she may give some of the boys a hard time, but not cruelly or with intent to truly harm. She likes to dress up Tsukumo, and she likes to have fun and drink and enjoy a party, but she also likes to win and mess around every now and then, and she keeps a level head when the going gets tough- she'll just gets tougher to match it.

✖ SAMPLES:

"Zodion" First-Person Network Entry:

[The first thing that comes in to view is... a bosom. A rather large, barely-clad-in-feminine-pink-lingerie bosom. The view shakes, someone's adjusting the device, it seems, before they pull the view back and- oh, okay, a face. Of a lovely, bright haired woman, who gives a wave with one hand, curling her fingers- looks cheerful enough. If you don't notice the fact that there's a hint of blood on her knuckles.]

Hello~ Can anyone hear this broadcast? It was quite nice to be provided with a phone, and every woman appreciates her strength being exalted, but I'm afraid that doesn't make up for the fact that I was kidnapped from my bed.

[Well, that explains how she's dressed, at least? (The fact that they managed that feat at all-) It also explains the slight, angry tick above her eye.]

So if any of those "Twelve" are listening, and want to explain this to me in person-

[She moves her left hand to show the palm, the faint Leo sign upon her skin- smiling. At first glance, it looks like quite a cute, kind smile. But closer inspection might make it seem as if she's barely avoiding punching something.]

Or if anyone knows where I can find them... ? I'll take that, too. ♥

"Zodionlogs" Third-Person Prose Entry:

This sort of thing shouldn't have happened.

Iva had been content to remain in the deep sleep that came after a job well done, the sort that meant... while her troubles and the troubles of the world were not yet over, she had done a small something. She had taken something out of the world that would harm it, and after that she'd brought smiles to the faces of those who'd had to live in fear, had to wait in their homes while the rats were rooted out all around them. That was Circus' job, in the end, wasn't it? And her job, more than being on the Second Ship, more than that- was to take a place at headquarters and train those who would continue to do that job long after her, after her Commander and her family.

At least, that was the more serious version of the story and her excuse for the lingering desire to just nestle in to the pillows. This particular night, however, the reason she slept so well was because of that brat Jiki's arrival. More like the welcome party that had come with it, and the food and wine that came with that. Iva would never pass up a good party, last night being no exception, and she'd gone to bed in her room aboard the second ship with the pleasant haze of red wine and company still clouding up her thoughts.

She didn't sleep in this bed, in this room as often as some of the others- the same as Hirato, she had other duties that often called her away from the ship. But it still felt like home no matter how long she'd been kept away. She'd shooed one of the sheep out with a pat that only reached its top hat and was left with a soft bleeting of "good night" before she'd yawned and stretched her way in to bed.

At least, that was how Iva remembered it.

A dream would explain it, why she was standing in this place she had never been, yet felt had to be someplace sacred, something that deserved her reverence. After all, that's how dreams worked- they were full of things you just knew, things you just intrinsically took to be fact, but upon looking back on it, there was no reason for you to have thought that. So perhaps it's not weird that she's standing here dressed only in the lingerie she'd worn beneath the party dress that she'd discarded before slinking in to drunken sleep. Perhaps it's not odd at all, that she finds herself stepping over a thin ring of water, drawn to the stone alter and a waiting glow.

The small pinch that she recognizes as pain, however, makes her pause, a slight noise of surprise as she looks down at her left hand, the same one with which she had killed Valga and raised upon the stage. There, barely visible and slightly different from her skin tone, was a mark- a shape she didn't quite recognize. And instincts made her tense up as the water that she'd passed over rose, took advantage of the sight of herself to fix a stray wisp of bright hair- as she looked in to a mirror and saw that mark again, only this time aglow, like the box had been a moment before, and wasn't once that water receded.

There was nothing to do but to investigate that alter, and regardless of her state of undress, Iva moved seamlessly, shamelessly, casting about for any threat before she moved to open it. The phone was a nice touch- and not the best thing to give her if the point of taking her from her bed was kidnapping or some such. Unless they expected to call her- hah. The letter, though...

Iva's brow furrowed as she read it, lips pursed and her hip cocked, taking on the stance of a woman in disbelief and irritation. For your strength, you have been chosen from among all the times and galaxies to aid us? Flattering, to be sure, but ridiculous as a concept. Zodion? The Twelve? Worship? The fate of the cosmos? It was like a play she would put on in Circus, and undoubtedly she'd be playing on of the Twelve, a cold-hearted and cruel goddess or-

Without quite realizing, Iva's fist had collided with the stone alter, once, twice, a third time, the letter crumpling slightly in her hand. To be away from Circus, from her job, and that "family", for something like this?

Even if this was a dream, she wouldn't tolerate it.

POLYchromatic Application; Kamiki Izumo

2011-05-15T06:21:48Z

[nick / name]: Rizu
[personal LJ name]: stormcoming

[other characters currently played]:
Mizuno | Star Driver | innocentvow
Araragi | Bakemonogatari | stapletrauma
Break | Pandora Hearts | knaveswitness

[e-mail]: opheliary@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: steelandpride

[series]: Ao no Exorcist
[character]: Kamiki Izumo

[character history / background]: Ao no Exorcist Wiki link.

[character abilities]: As an Esquire level Exorcist in training, Kamiki is aiming for the rank of Tamer, which means the abilities she has lend themselves to the summoning and contracting of supernatural spirits and demons. She has two particular summons she holds a contract for right now, two byakko, or white fox spirits. She states that her talent comes from being born in to a family of priestesses, though it's also implied later that this might come from being related in some way to a demon somewhere up her family line. In addition to her talent as a Tamer, Kamiki has some basic training in the other classes of Exorcist as well, including some hand-to-hand fighting and some use of religious text recitation to combat demons. However, her true talents lie with Taming.

[character personality]: At first glance, Kamiki Izumo seems like a bit of a bitch. Actually maybe more than a bit. One of the smart girls in the high school class, she certainly knows it and flaunts it, playing teacher's pet and showing off the fact that she knows her stuff. She has a single female friend who probably looks to others like a crony or follower, but to others, particularly other girls in the class, she can be quite mean. For example, when Shiemi tries to become her friend, she ends up "accepting" her friendship and then just using her, making her run errands and do her chores by saying "this is what friends do isn't it?", and then excluding her from other activities and making excuses as to why with "if you were a good friend you'd understand why". She explains this to her one "real" friend by saying that it's only because she doesn't see her as a "true friend" so it's not like she's the kind of person who would mistreat a friend, okay???

Kamiki is very proud of her heritage, boasting of her relation to a shrine maiden lineage and the talent it's gifted her with, and expecting others to respect her and flatter her. Now, she does have the intelligence and booksmarts to back up this expectation, being the top girl in class grade wise, but still. She doesn't like to share the spotlight with anyone else, preferring to have everyone's attention on her and her alone. When she shows off her talent in the exorcist Tamer class by summoning two byakko, for example, she gets really annoyed when another girl in class also manages to summon something, having hoped to be special and be the only one with the talent in that year.

And when Kamiki is annoyed, she doesn't exactly hide it. But she doesn't exactly address the problem openly, instead attacking others passive aggressively or being... a bitch about it. To the other girl who summons a creature in class, she uses her most sarcastic voice to tell her how cute and puny her summons is. To the boy in class who correctly memorized the bible verse she'd been unable to recite, she loudly declares to the air that memorizing is just showing off. Her passive aggressive comments have started many a fight in class and out of it, and usually leads to everyone being punished, thanks to collective responsibility.

She plays it cool, acting like she's above petty and insignificant things, but it's very easy to rile her or get to her. She can be quite vain and focuses on some shallow aspects of people, and spends a great deal of time on fashion and her appearance to always look her best. However, there is one thing that she never angry enough or upset enough to spill, and that is the matter of her past, and her goals in becoming an exorcist, because let's face it- she doesn't seem the type to at first glance. When arguing with another classmate who asks her what her goals are since she's so high and mighty, she's very curt and adamant about never having shared that sort of thing with anyone, and we're only given a brief flashback that shows her and a sister in blood and flames, with an older member of her family (presumably a sister or mother), in the throes of demonic possession or as a demon herself. As of yet, Kamiki still hasn't divulged this part of her past to anyone in the series.

But despite how she can come off to others, she's not all bad. She's used to trying to cover for insecurities and over the years has developed the bitchy exterior in an attempt to protect herself from others' scorn. When she was younger children in her school would mock and shun her because she claimed to see ghosts and would get upset by them, (presumably because she received a mashou, or spirit wound, in that flashback's events, which is what enables people in this canon to see the supernatural). Kamiki was at first hurt by this treatment, and had only a single friend, a girl named Paku, and so she began to cultivate a personality ended up being the one we see in canon at first.

Parts of her, still, are insecure and immature, afraid. When it's pointed out to her is when for just a moment it's obvious how vulnerable she can be. An example is when Ryuuji calls her a "nasty piece of work" and Kamiki responds with a "I know that, so?". When told by him that she's going to drive everyone away with that attitude, it briefly shows on her face how the idea of being alone scares her. When her friend Paku tells her that she doesn't like when people make fools of earnest people, referencing her interactions with Shiemi, and makes it seem like she won't be her friend anymore, Kamiki is so distraught by the idea that her summoned foxes turn on her and attack her, summons being only useable as long as the summoner's will is strong. And when she can't fight, finds herself scared when they encounter their first real dangerous situation, and Paku gets hurt, Kamiki blames herself, and ends up crying huddled in the corner, not wanting to be seen in that shameful state, so weak.

And every now and then... Kamiki is sort of kind. It usually in a roundabout way, or disguised as obligation, and heaven forbid anyone should ever mention it or tell her they noticed, but it does happen. When they get sent to Kyoto to tend to sick members of the Kyoto branch, Kamiki's bedside manner is actually rather gentle and kind, as well as competent. When everyone else in the class is ostracizing Okurmura Rin after they find out that he's half-demon, the son of Satan, Kamiki is the only one who will sit right down next to him, and when he asks why, isn't she scared, she just says that he's no one special, tons of people in the world have demon blood and a lot of them are exorcists so whatever, gosh. And there's a blush, when someone thanks her for something, or if Rin says "wow, Kamiki, I knew you were nice"! She also does other sort of thoughtful things, like returning the shirt Rin lent her when she was crying already washed- but don't tell her you noticed.

Bitch bitch. Tsun tsun. Dere dere. Kamiki throughout canon is slowly getting a bit better personality wise thanks to interactions with her fellow classmates and gaining experience as an exorcist. She's slowly learning to work with people a bit more and rely on others, and to try and be a bit nicer to people she's going to have to count on in battle situations. But don't hold your breath, is all.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: ch. 23, after finding out the Right Eye of the Impure King has been stolen.

[journal post]:

-hat is this thing, it doesn't even have a manual. So lame.

[Some beeping noises, like someone trying to text, before a dramatic sigh... and more beeping. Damn, this girl is good at texting, it's quite a fast series of-

Oh, seems she's noticed it's on an open channel, because the next audible thing is-]

Who am I calling, there are no numbers in here-

[You can almost imagine with the sounds the device is picking up: a girl stomping her foot with a toss of her hair- UGH! Have to... get presentable.

It starts out with a brief mumble, for realizing this line has been open the whole time, but a word or two in and her voice rises to speak seriously.]

...

This is Kamiki Izumo, True Cross Academy Esquire, reporting in. Requesting location and pick-up from any available personnel.

[... Ugh, that should do it. Click.]

[third person / log sample]:

The Kyoto Branch had a far different feel than Tokyo, from the attitudes of the branch employees to the old fashioned architecture, the smooth wood beneath her feet and the smell of cypress. It wasn't as weird to Izumo, coming from the background she'd had, even if she was more accustomed to shrines than temples, and of course it wasn't odd at all to those three idiots from Kyoto. After all, ever since she'd arrived all she heard from the workers at the inn and the branch office was "Young Master" this, and "Young Master" that when that gorilla walked by. And it seemed like Shima and Miwa were just as popular- annoying.

But she'd been thankfully spared the sight of them for the most part, assigned as she'd been to helping out the Doctors and caring for the mashou infected who'd been afflicted when someone had attempted to steal the Right Eye of the Impure King. Day after day it was the same monotonous thing. Wash the sheets. Gather medicinal herbs. Prepare the food. Feed those too bad off to feed themselves. Bathe the patients. It wasn't like she was complaining, though. Wasn't like she was the one who was even doing the most work- even an idiot could tell that Moriyama girl was working herself to the bone, and with that same goofy smile on her face, like she was glad to do it or something-

But what else did she expect? Their class had only been recently promoted to Esquire, after all. This was the first mission they'd been given that was remotely serious- before this it had been glorified chores. Deliver the Valerian root to the outpost, clean up after the real Exorcists, help scare out Goblins... boring, but a necessary part of "training" outside of the classroom, outside of Grimoire Studies, Holy Recitation Class, Demon Studies, Demon Pharmacology... classrooms and book smarts that she excelled in. The training it took to really become an exorcist. In her case, to become a Tamer, a recognized Exorcist, able to fulfill those goals kept close to her breast, told to no one.

Not even the classmates who were becoming something like comrades, something like possibly perhaps maybe friends.

As if. Paku was her only friend- had been her only friend for years, ever since the rumors and no one ever believing her, when she'd seen the things they couldn't, the ghosts, the spirits all around them. And what had that gotten her? Small hands curled in to fists every time she thought about that night, about the night her resolve had wavered, and instead of being able to protect her friend, her own two summons had turned on her instead, bared their teeth at her throat for daring to be weak and presuming to command them.

The two magic seals were always in her pocket. A reminder that she'd failed- but also, that she'd redeemed herself. She had, hadn't she? Ordered them to obey her- she had a miko's blood in her line, and the messengers of Inari owed her their obedience. (Right?) But Paku wasn't in the Exorcist cram school anymore... even if they were still friends, if they could still go shopping together, hang out- it wasn't the same. Nothing in the class was the same either, not since they'd all found out that Okumura, (Okumura, not Okumura-sensei), was the son of Satan. Since everyone decided to be complete idiots about the whole thing- as if that changed how Okumura was. Tch- ungrateful. It was downright awkward to be in that position, to watch everyone else pussyfoot around him and try to act like he wasn't there- that was cowardice, if she'd ever seen it, and she... she wasn't afraid of something like demon blood, because she-

Izumo hadn't realized she'd been staring blankly at her cellphone, the fashionable phone strap about her wrist, until one of the inn maids passed by and told her they were done cleaning the baths. With a sigh, she put away her phone, (it wasn't like she had anything to mail anyone about anyway, gathering up a towel and shrugging in to one of the Toraya yukata, doing up her hair as she found herself headed to the laundry room on her way to the baths.

It wasn't like she wanted to check on that weed of a girl, or anything. She just figured she'd see if she was being useful.

That's all.

Amat Omnes Application; Houjou Mamushi

2011-05-10T01:52:56Z

PLAYER

» Journal: stormcoming
» Birthdate/Age: 11/27/88
» Characters Played: Beast [worthdisgracing], Lotti [lechoisi], & Cheshire [petstray]

CHARACTER

» Name: Houjou Mamushi
» Fandom: Ao no Exorcist

» Reference: here, unfortunately this wiki doesn't cover Mamushi as she's a newer character and the English wiki is behind-- The Japanese one isn't... but you can see some English mention of her here... she has a page on the Ao no Exorcist wiki but as you can see, it is lacking. If you'd like I can write up a summary of her involvement in the series up to this point, just let me know. It's also up on places like mangafox, so if you want to read the chapters she's in, the wiki link to the chapters can provide which ones she's in.

» Canon Point: Ch. 24, "The Empty Sword", before handing Toudou the Right Eye
» Gender: Female
» Age: 24

» Orientation: Heterosexual. It's somewhat implied that the romantic feelings she's prone to are towards men, from a possible admiration/crush on a teacher in high school to a possible tsun-ish-attraction to her childhood friend-now-rival, Shima Juuzou. When it comes to straight facts and not implied attractions, Mamushi is a devout Buddhist/Shugendo practitioner, and devoted not just to the religious rites and part of her sect, but the whole lifestyle along with it. This carries with it certain expectations for the duties of women, which includes sexual roles. When forced in to a situation where she'd have to do such things, she would follow what was regulated by her religion, which would be that if women are going to be sexually active, they're going to be having relations with men.

» Personality: Mamushi is a woman who, more than anything, has the best interests of her sect at heart no matter what she does. In the end, everything to her is focused around her role and participation in the Kyoto-based Myouou Dharani, (or "Myou Dha"), Buddhist sect. To her, it isn't just a religious conviction, it's a duty, and a family all in one. As the eldest daughter of three in the Houjou family, one of the three main families, (Suguro, the bloodline of the head priests, Shima, the bloodline of those who guard the outer temple, and Houjou, the bloodline of those who guard the inner temple), who uphold the branch's traditions and direct line of transmission, she's well aware of her own duties to the sect, as well as to her family.

Based on how she interprets the duties of Myouou Dharani, Mamushi has a very strong black and white way of seeing what is right and what is wrong, and isn't afraid to speak up if she feels someone is neglecting their duties or doing something she considers improper. She can do this somewhat respectfully, if it's to someone she views is a superior, but more often than not she comes off as too proud and abrasive when she does this, and tends to offend those around her and lead to her being silenced or disciplined by her father, Houjou Uwabami. She chafes somewhat under her father's rule, as she is well aware of her role to him, and her lack of use as a daughter and not a son, and therefore unable to perform certain rites and assume certain roles in the sect. She's also troubled by the fact that her father never seems to take her side in arguments, yet she constantly looks to him for support despite the fact he seems to rarely give that, or give her approval for her actions. Her main support system comes in the form of her two younger sisters, Ao and Nishiki, who look up to her with unflagging devotion and believe pretty much everything she says with a chorus of "that's right, ane-sama!", "yes, ane-sama!".

Serious natured until her trigger is set off by an insult or a perceived wrongdoing, at which she becomes loud, grating, cocky, and prone to violence before someone knocks her down a peg or reminds her of her position, Mamushi was a devoted student in school and is a Middle First Class Exorcist by the True Cross Order's standards, and wears paraphernalia that identify her as a priest of some rank within Shugendo/Buddhist mixed practices. She had to have worked hard to obtain two meister ranks within the order, as a Tamer, (with snake summons), and an Aria, (someone who repels and exorcises demons through the power of religious scripture)- which is something she did because it was expected of her, and because she truly does believe in the mission of the Myouou Dharani sect, which has long been tied to the practice of performing exorcisms, as well as protecting a certain artifact, the Right Eye of the Impure King, a demon killed by their founder, that if unsealed is capable of creating a miasma that can poison and kill those affected by it.

Mamushi is not so much a loner or serious natured by choice as she is somewhat bad with people and unwilling/unable to compromise her duties in order to socialize or do things a normal young woman of her age might. Her profile lists that she doesn't even listen to music at all, for example, and her idea of a nice way to spend her time off is watching the rain fall. It also reveals that, while she loves the snakes her family breeds and raises, is very skilled at caring for them, and they seem to adore her in turn, one of Mamushi's secret worries is that she's no good at making friends, showing that she does sometimes long for a more "normal" life, but is unwilling to throw away the ascetic's way in which she's been raised, and that world she lives in, with the burdens and duties with it.

The burdens, in particular, have been increasing for Mamushi, and in canon events, they culminate in an act that, to others of her sect, seem like a betrayal. When she was attending True Cross academy to study to be an exorcist, Mamushi came in to contact with a teacher named Toudou Saburota, who planted a seed of doubt in her mind when he mentioned that the Left Eye of the Impure King was being kept at True Cross Academy, overseen by the Academy Head, Mephisto Pheles. Urging her to investigate from the shadows, Mamushi has spent the last eight years prying in to what she can and uncovering some of the secrets of the Order and the Myouou Dharani sect. What she's found has warped her ideas of the religious sect she's considered family since her earliest days, and lead to a number of resentments in her heart. By Mamushi's accounts, there are three people who have failed the sect and the sect's original, true purpose to which she devoted herself. One, Sugaro Tatsumi, the Head Priest of Myou Dha, an absent and seemingly lackadaisical figure she blames for leading their group astray, not stepping up to take responsibility, and abandoning his position as a guardian of the Right Eye. Two, Mephisto Pheles, head of the True Cross Order in Japan, who she believes is only using the Myou Dha for his own purposes after discovering some of his secrets, which include that he's been secretly raising the son of Satan. Three, the elders of her sect, including Shima Yaozou and her own father, Houjou Uwabami, who she blames for going along with Tatsuma and doing what she believes is "selling out" to the True Cross Order in the first place, and being unwilling to listen seriously to her concerns.

Through these resentments and unease in her heart, her old teacher Toudou manages to worm his way in, and convinces Mamushi to steal the Right Eye of the Impure King, having already stolen the Left himself, showing that Mamushi is easily manipulated if care is taken to make sure that along the way she believes that the path is a righteous and just one. She's willing to go so far as to steal and deceive her comrades if it means doing what she feels is right morally and ethically, because she feels that no one will believe her because she doesn't have much solid proof of her doubts. Part of her feels badly about deceiving the people she cares about and considers family and comrades, but she feels like she has no other option but to act- to steal the Eye and carry it safely to somewhere more protected to seal it, fearing it too vulnerable with the way the Myou Dha are now. Her devotion to the sect, in this way, blinds her, because she is willing to hurt those she calls comrade in order to do what she thinks is best for everyone, and won't even realize the magnitude of what she's done until later in canon when Toudou reveals that he's just been using her along to steal the Right Eye for his own purposes.

And so Mamushi is a serious, burdened, and somewhat lonely young woman, trapped between her devotion to her sect and her devotion to what she thinks is the right thing to do, something that contradicts all she's been taught in her life. She's able to take risks- and make sacrifices, putting her body in danger just by carrying the Right Eye, attack her comrades, because she feels compelled to try and expose the wrongdoings in her organization and do right by the original duties. She's not exactly a model religious woman, as she is often caught up in emotion that manifests in ways like petty squabbling between the Houjou and the Shima brothers, ("Dirty monkey!", "Ugly snake-faced bitch!"), outbursts towards her father or the Head Priest protesting the way they doll out judgement or interpret the doctrine, and when she was younger, things like running away from home deep in the mountains to cry. She's not as strong as she likes to think she is, deceived by someone she put her trust in on account of the small doubts in her heart that were carefully groomed in to an act that betrayed everyone who was on her side, but she pushes herself more and more striving for things like faithfulness to Myou Dha doctrine, her father's approval, and loyalty to doing what is right no matter the cost or how misguided she turns out to be.

» Appearance: Picture Reference!!! At 5'3" and only 105 lbs., Mamushi is not a very intimidating figure, despite her personality. What stands out most with her is often her hair, which is a stark white, and the serpent tattoo (that the manga-ka sometimes forgets to draw...), which twines up from somewhere on her body and is usually only visible on her neck up to an end of it on her right cheek. This tattoo is a mark of reaching some point of age or respect in her family, as her father has a large one on his head, the second daughter has a smaller one than Mamushi, and her youngest sister does not yet have one. Mamushi has light colored, serpent-slit eyes, and wears red eye liner in an old court style, though coming from the canon point that she is, her right eye is replaced with the Right Eye of the Impure King. This means the sclera of the right eye is a pitch black, and the iris is a peculiar triangular shape with three pupils. Mamushi always dresses in either traditional Kyoto attire, or more often, her sect's Exorcist uniform, which is white robes with an Exorcists black coat over top, modified to be sleeveless, boots, and her sect's sash.

SAMPLES

» "amatomnes" Entry:

[When the device turns on, it's because someone has... stepped on it. The maid who accidentally did so because the device ended up near the door steps back with a small noise and no more if heard of her- perhaps she's left the room.

As is, the video feed now reveals a seated figure- white hair unkempt, clad in only what looks to be a white under-robe, hastily pulled over her body, hands folded in what some might be able to identify as a Buddhist hand gesture. Around her is what seems to be some sort of pentacle symbol on the marble floor in crimson ink. The sound of the maid's entry interrupts a chant of some kind, as the woman turns to look in the camera's direction-]

[But she soon turns her gaze away again, hiding that disfigured seeming eye as she goes back to chanting, a bit too fast, a bit too breathy- shoulders shaking as she moves through a series of hand gestures betraying the fact that she's not meditating in the most calm state of mind.]

Homage to the all-pervading Vajras. O Violent One of great wrath, destroy. Un. Tarata. Kan. Man.

Homage to the all-pervading Vajras. O Violent One of great wrath, destroy. Un. Tarata. Kan. Man.

[Repeating this over and over, a crimson stain spreading on the thigh of her robe as blood drips down her cheek. The video times out.]

--- also, I'm aware that posts that aren't indicative of the character's normal behavior aren't always the best, and Mamushi is coming in to Amat in a very fragile state of mind, so I'll include a second journal from later on once she knows how to work the device to show her "normal" behavior!

» "amatomnes" Entry:

[With a bit of fumbling, Mamushi gets the device recording and sets it up, only then sitting back. Unlike her last broadcast, her hair is perfectly done, she's fully dressed, and she looks far more composed- if not stern and barely restrained.]

I understand now that you expect me to use this device here- in order to. Socialize with you all.

[Can you just hear the enthusiasm?]

I have no interest in such a use for it, nor am I interested in entertaining any foolishness.

I am seeking information about priests in this area, and your... holy sites. Preferably Buddhist, but anything might be of service.

It is potentially vital that you provide this information.

[And she doesn't sound like she's joking.]

» "amatomneslogs" Entry:

The pleasure was only noticeable because of the absence of pain.

Her lungs were burning, panting for breath, and not because of the fact that she was running up the mountain, her former teacher behind her as she lead the way to the old main temple. Her muscles were straining, and not because she was pushing herself, go faster, get there sooner. There was an electric current running up her spine, making her writhe and cringe, cry out-

And it wasn't pain, the one she was consumed by not moments before. It had been moments, hadn't it? Radiating from that right eye, the Impure King's poison spreading through her body and polluting her flesh with miasma, a pain that threatened to cripple her and tear her apart, a pain she bore as a burden of duty, what she'd been born to do, protect and seal that Eye...

It was still consuming, this sensation, but her panting was for more air, not to run, but to move, and the strain was to tighten, to arch, the bolts of sensation ones that curled her toes and made her cry out for more, not ones that sent her to her knees, clutching at herself in unbearable agony.

And it was a dream.

For a moment, Mamushi almost thought all of it had been a dream, the pain and pleasure both, and she was back at the Shinbu barracks. The light filtering in- had she overslept? Ao and Nishiki would surely tease her for being late, let alone the scolding she could already imagine from the numerous ones before that she'd receive from her father. Let alone the dream- something like that... she couldn't confide in anyone, for fear of the reaction. Just another reminder that she was nowhere near an enlightened state, nowhere near free of earthly desires- ones that as a young woman, of course she sometimes longed for, wondered about-

It was only a moment.

Before she felt dried blood on her right cheek, dull red and brown over the serpent tattoo that crawled over her skin. Before she reached up to feel, and old blood oozed out from where it had pooled behind that evil eye, the one that had remained in this world after Myou Dha's founder Fukaku defeated it, ever glaring at him and filling the air around it with deadly fumes.

In an instant she was up, clutching a hand to that right eye and breath lost somewhere between the panic and the fear, her vision blurred by Impure King's, and her head spinning as she tried to reorient herself, find out where exactly she was. The architecture, with it's soaring columns and marble floors, the billowing sheer fabric curtains, and the sharp scent of the sea was nothing that was familiar to a woman who had spent most all of her life in Kyoto- nothing in True Cross Academy had even come close to this.

The fact that she was naked hit her a moment later, eyes widening as she looked down, catching sight of the scaly mark that wound across her pale skin, growing paler as she flushed with panic. At the realization that there was a warmth ebbing in her, there, between her thighs, that almost instinctively, she'd reached down to feel, touch herself-

Before she jerked her hand back, afraid of the possible truth, breath coming faster, faster, as she tried to remember how she'd gotten here, struggling out of the tangle of sheets, over to the folded clothing and satchel within it, pulling on the white under robe for decency's sake, fingers shaking as she rifled through vials of medications, alchemical compounds, and rolls of parchment, the tools of an exorcist, pulling out a metal tin of red ink.

The lack of pain, the crippling miasma, was almost more terrifying than the pain itself. Because it should be painful, should be struggling just to breathe, to move- but she didn't have time to consider why it wasn't there, had to move, to take measures to stop the spread of poison if it were indeed still spreading and just not telling her body. Aware, that there was something heavy on her neck, but with no time to stop.

"Homage to all the Buddhas."

Mamushi tried to steady her hand as she began the series of incantations, struggling to force her mind to calmness, to search for which sutra might best calm the force of the Impure King as she began tracing out the geometric symbols of the seal to suppress it's evil, too aware of the slick sound as she crouched, then moved to sit, hands moving seamlessly in to the mudra she'd practiced since childhood.

"Hail Bishamnoten."

The Purification of the Three was next. As if she could purify a body tainted by the carrying of that Right Eye, one that... for all she could tell, may already have been defiled. The Koumyou Shingon mantra for poison. Fudo Myouou for suppressing the Impure King himself.

"Homage to the all-pervading Vajras! O Violent One of great wrath! Destroy!"

Her voice was unsteady at first, choked back, but as she began the familiar repetition, managed to get her mind slow down and begin to think, her brow still stayed furrowed, but her breathing slowed just slightly, and she began to trace back her steps, from her school days to her betrayal, to the race to the Goumadou. All to the steady drip of poisoned blood sliding down her right cheek.

"Un. Tarata. Kan. Man."

POLYchromatic May Inactivity List

2011-05-06T08:37:09Z

adamantined (hiatus)
advancetheplot
aesthetic_ally
friend add agoodchild
aimandfire
friend add antimafioso (hiatus)
binarysky
bloodycinematic (hiatus)
add chasingmorning (***)(second strike)
cold_dry_pieces
commarogue
commoneresque
concitato
cry_reaper (hiatus)
friend add cursed_ninja (hiatus)
friend add dance_of_hope
friend add derpioso (hiatus)
dr_conscience
friend add enterpainment (hiatus)
existais (hiatus)
forgetspants (hiatus)
foundababy (changed account)
friend add hatersbehatin (hiatus)
friend add hemocidal
his_instrument
friend add imthefunnyman
jesusing_clown (hiatus)
friend add justcautious (hiatus)
knaveswitness
friend add knifecushion (hiatus)
lionesssejant
friend add lord_brat
ms_marycontrary (***)
friend add neverplays
friend add notaqueenbee (hiatus)
officer_garrus
friend add overreached
proportioned
pyromatics (hiatus)
pyromatique
friend add ragazz0dinebbia
add rejuvenated_sun (***)(second strike)
renegare
friend add royal_flushed
friend add seekinghead
add sinandservitude (***)(second strike)
friend add sings4dragons (hiatus)
sitaronthewater
sometimes_boe (hiatus)
friend add soulofocean
friend add specifics
sword_of_zero (hiatus)
tainted_loyalty (***)(second strike)
friend add threadthefire (hiatus)
treadingdawn
friend add trytofindit (hiatus)
uhhok (hiatus)
vicodincrutch
wishgrant (hiatus attempt)(april hiatus)
witheringlily
wwanderful

Post Tracking [May]

2011-05-06T08:28:33Z

ARARAGI [stapletrauma]

✄ Dear Mun
✄ Luca
✄ John
✄ Ryuuji
✄ Edward
✄ Hitagi

XERXES BREAK [knaveswitness]

♠ Cain

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Kaniya
☆ Vriska
☆ Nepeta
☆ Kanaya
☆ Nepeta
☆ Tamaki
☆ Soul
☆ Tamaki, Nepeta
☆ Leo
☆ Soul
☆ Vriska
☆ Haruhi
☆ Hope
☆ TJ, Amal
☆ Vriska
☆ Euphemia, Guy

POLYchromatic Application; Araragi Koyomi

2011-04-23T01:54:52Z

[nick / name]: Rizu
[personal LJ name]: stormcoming

[other characters currently played]:
Hannah | Kuroshitsuji II | ninelocks
Mizuno | Star Driver | innocentvow
Xerxes | Pandora Hearts | knaveswitness

[e-mail]: opheliary@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: steelandpride

[series]: Bakemonogatari
[character]: Araragi Koyomi

[character history / background]: A third-year student at Naotsu Private High School, Araragi Koyomi led quite the normal life. He lives in a nice house with both his parents, who are police officers, and two younger sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. For most of his school years he was a good student and a model son, but when he entered high school his grades started to slip, (he's close to failing everything except math), and he became more rebellious and somewhat sullen, not feeling comfortable with his family life or where he was headed in the future. He doesn't really have a reason for it- it just happened. And so Araragi went about his days, over and over until something changed.

The change came in the form of a chance meeting over spring break with a beautiful vampire over five hundred years old, one known by the name "Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade". At the conclusion of their meeting the vampiress has lost most of her powers and identity, reduced to the form of an eight-year old girl with no name, who would later be referred to as Shinobu. After the events of spring break Araragi is assisted by the strange Oshino Meme, a specialist in the supernatural, on returning to a mostly human state. But this one chance occurrence thrusts Araragi in to the world of apparitions and the strange from that point forward.

Over Golden Week, Araragi becomes involved in the mysterious events surrounding a girl who attends his school, the class representative Hanekawa Tsubasa who is possessed by a [cat] spirit that attacks others in order to relieve it's master's stress. After that, it's the silent girl with the "illness", Senjougahara Hitagi, who met a [crab] one day and lost her weight. Then the young lost [snail], Hachikuji Mayoi, who can never find her way home to her mother's. Kanbaru Suruga made a horrible wish on a [monkey]'s paw, or so she thinks, all to regain her place at her unrequited love's side. Sengoku Nadeko an old friend of Araragi's younger sisters, has a [snake] curse laid on her by classmates. And Tsubasa's [cat] problem rears it's head again near the end of the year, leading the [vampire] that had run away to come out from Araragi's shadow and defeat her.

Araragi's third year in high school is an exciting one, and a dangerous one, but as time passes, he changes from a withdrawn and futureless young man in to a friend, a protector, a boyfriend, and a son. And that... sounded really, really, cheesy! To read more about the plot of the anime and the lightnovels, check here!

[character abilities]: Araragi is approximately 1/10th vampire at this point in his life, nearly human again thanks to Oshino's help after his brush with the supernatural over spring break. However, as he so aptly puts it, there are "some side effects". His healing ability is vastly accelerated, making him seem almost immortal. However- that is not the case, if he receives enough damage all at once that he can't heal fast enough, Araragi will die. But that would indeed take some work, as his body is shown in canon to be able to regenerate multiple broken limbs, counteract lethal poisons, and sometimes survive being slung around by his own intestines so. Yeah.

Beyond the near-immortality issue, Araragi's vision is greatly enhanced, enabling him to see things are long distances and in the dark. If he allows the vampire who sired him to drink his blood, his vampiric abilities increase dramatically for a short while, but it comes at the cost of becoming less human and setting back his return to normalcy.

[character personality]: At first glance, and at first in the series, Araragi doesn't seem like someone you'd really want to bother hanging around or trying to get to know. In school he comes across as a lazy fellow, a slacker who passes himself off as a "carefree guy" to explain why he doesn't put effort in to things like school or social situations. Nearly flunking classes, dazing off in class, strolling around aimlessly in order not to go home... yeah, model teenage boy, here. As he explains, Araragi is just "not good at making friends", but when pressed about why that is, it's more like... he didn't want to put forth the effort to make them. Because if you have friends, you have to be sad when they're sad, bored when they're bored... it's a pain.

Really, these are all just excuses. In the beginning, Araragi makes a lot of them. But once he makes a friend, (well, once someone makes a friend out of him, more like), he starts to change his tune. After his self-described "paradigm shift" that occurred over Spring Break. Just a little. Over time, he becomes someone more reliable, someone more mature- but. Let's keep in mind that "more mature" still means he's a kind of average teenage boy. Over the course of the series he starts to actually try and study for things at school, starts thinking about his future at the urging of his girlfriend and plans to try and get in to college instead of just floating aimlessly and perhaps working like he'd planned on. And he tries to fix his "smallness as a human being".

That "smallness" is something that bothers Araragi quite a lot. It's his way of explaining the fact that he still sometimes feels like he's not matured at all- that like he's been accused of before, he's only grown up on the outside- "smallness as a human being". In other words, pettiness. He's the type who, in everyday, not-serious situations, happens to react first, and then reflect on it later- and sometimes ends up regretting it. If he gets in to a fight with his younger sisters, he'll get worked up over it and roam around all day not wanting to go home and face the fact that he thinks maybe he should apologize. If he ends up being mean to a younger kid and beating them at something, he'll realize a moment later that he was feeling victorious about it, and then get depressed that he, a high school third year, would feel awesome about beating a grade schooler at anything. In the end, however, Araragi will try and make an effort to fix his "smallness". Whether it takes an apology or making amends, he'll always try to square something away.

Araragi's thought process and responses can also be a bit... interesting at times. Depending on the situation, he can seem knowledgeable or a complete fool. If he knows he's in a serious situation, he's capable of sitting down and trying to reason something out, of looking for answers and clues and keeping his head about him. In the every day life, however, he can be quite excitable and senseless. In the middle of an argument if someone says they can fly, he'll forget that such a thing is impossible and exclaim how amazing that is before he realizes it's a blatant lie. He'll get so wrapped up in a debate or fight that reason and logic completely fly out the window.

At the same time, in order to respond to people he'll sometimes say some pretty odd seeming and dead-pan things. When Hanekawa says they should let the class vote on something, he asks if he's sure, because that sounds a bit too democratic. When Senjougahara calls him pathetic and ignorant, he just responds that pathetic might be correct, but ignorant doesn't sound right at all, so if she'd please refrain. And when Hachikuji tries to start a fight with him, he'll threaten to grope her until she calms down. When Senjougahara tricks him in to looking at her in only her underwear and then asks if he had dirty thoughts about her, his response isn't an emphatic "no", it's a "if I did, it wasn't my fault!" - Some pretty weird things come out of this kid's mouth. And his actions can be just as odd, even to him. When he comes across a dying vampire that begs him to save her, he finds himself running away. Thinking that he's fleeing, afraid for his life, he realizes when he arrives at a trash can that what he's actually doing is dumping the ero-photo books he'd just carefully bought at a store before running back- it would be horrible to be found dead with a bookstore bag full of porn, after all.

Speaking of hormones, that's another, often comical, problem the Araragi seems to have. A frequent issue he has is that the people around him keep calling him out on his perverted moments, and he gets hung up on things like that... often. As a high school virgin, (he's sad to admit), he sometimes have problems looking at a girl's eyes and not her chest, and can really, really overthink things like the brief sight of a girl's panties, or a single touch. When Suruga asks him to guess whether she's wearing underwear under her bike shorts that she wears under her skirt, he has to know immediately if she is, because he swears that's quite the important distinction between his underclassman being a sports girl or an exhibitionist pervert. However, though he has these hang ups, and might seem quite perverted at times... Araragi isn't trying to get in to everyone's pants, so to speak. It's mostly just in his mind, and verbally- when it comes to physically acting he tends to freeze up awkwardly or do things all wrong more often than not. And when his girlfriend tells him quite frankly that she can't do anything physically with him like that because of some experiences in her past, he's quite understanding and content about waiting for her, (and him, he's nervous, okay!), to get more comfortable before they think of things like that.

But beyond his awkwardness, the lazy look, the slacker, or any other impressions of Araragi that may exist... the most important part about him is his kindness. It's not the sort of kindness that means he never has a unkind word to say about anyone, or exudes some sort of gentle air. In it's basest form, Senjougahara sums it up with "you'll save anyone". Araragi is one of the most helpful guys you could run in to, even if you'd never guess it. If someone in front of him is in trouble, he's practically incapable of not helping, even if, in spite of, great personal risk to himself. Because of his vampiric state and closeness to spirits, Araragi does actually get involved in a ton of cases where he could just walk away, but instead chooses to stay despite threat to his person. His vampiric nature keeps him from dying during these dangerous encounters, but only barely sometimes- and others have pointed out that even if he wasn't a vampire, they have no doubt he'd still throw his life away to help someone. Whether it's helping a lost little girl find her way home, or helping someone lift a curse on themselves, Araragi throws himself in to it wholeheartedly, as if it's only natural to do so. Seeing someone in trouble and just walking away, or thinking "it's not my problem"... there's no traumatic past or life shattering reason for it, but it's impossible for him. Not just helping them either- when it comes to believing in people, Araragi is one of the best. He'll go to great lengths to believe in someone, that they mean good, that they're telling the truth, even if it's someone who's done him wrong, because he just doesn't really want to believe in the existence of other things, even if he knows they exist.

However, "If you're kind to everyone, that means nobody in particular is special". Araragi has a hard time expressing himself at times, and expressing what he feels about other people in particular. He has no problem admitting things to himself in his own narration, but it's hard for him to make himself clear about where people stand with him even if he can be blunt about pointless things. In his head, he knows he loves Senjougahara the most, he knows Shinobu is the one he'll die with, he knows he respects Hanekawa the most, that he's happiest with Hachikuji. But when asked to state his feelings clearly, he usually tries to find a way to say it more round about- when asked by Senjougahara to say what their relationship is, instead of giving the honest and simple reply of "I like you", or "We're dating", he says "I hope Senjougahara fascination catches on." Being clear about his feelings- for some reason or another, he finds it awkward and prefers to keep it to himself and express it in other ways with only rare exceptions.

In the end, to the person who doesn't know Araragi very well, he seems like a perfectly normal high school boy. A bit perverse, a bit sullen, not the best student, not so good at socializing, but not so bad. In reality, he's got a lot more going on than that. He's got a sacrificial complex the size of a whale. He's great at astronomy and math. He's quite fond of children, but not really that good with them all the time. He's the inheritor of the legendary vampire Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade, but he's also human. He's incredibly dense and yet incredibly observant, depending on the situation. He seems removed, but he's quite involved in everything. And so while he's pretty complicated- at the same time, that probably just means he's an average teenage boy, too.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Post anime series final arc, Tsubasa Cat.

[journal post]:

Post One;

[A young man, probably around eighteen or so, seems to be reading the screen of his device, a somewhat contemplative, sullen look on his face. Looking newly sopped to the bone, his clothes wet, and a bedraggled bouquet of flowers in his hand, he's got his chin propped on one hand, gaze darting up and down as if reading something that he's scrolling through: the network.

This continues on for a good... well. Four minutes and fifty seconds.

Before the boy suddenly sits straight up at the sound of a small beep that happens to be a "posting!" notification from his device.]

Urk- No, no, no-

[He leans forward and starts pushing buttons frantically but the post goes ahead, the last image on the feed being a boy's face, eyes wide, and quite, quite confused.]

Post Two; [posted about 60 seconds after Post One]

[Here's that same boy again, sitting up straight and looking slightly awkward, scratching at his cheek somewhat nervously as the stray wisp of hair on his head seems to wilt forward- is there a breeze?]

Haha... you can just ignore that last one. It definitely looked like I was pretty stupid, huh? Well- I have it figured out now, so you can just pretend that never happened.

[Nice going, self. They'll definitely forget you messed up because you told them to- He clears his throat, getting to business.]

Anyway. It looks like I'm new here, and this is how we're supposed to keep up with each other... obviously this isn't a normal place-

So to start off with, I'd like to ask a couple questions if some of you wouldn't mind answering.

[About to search for how to turn it off before he realizes he should probably say something just a bit more-]

- Thanks for your time.

[third person / log sample]:

Preparing for a date with Senjougahara Hitagi was not an act done lightly or carelessly. Which was what had one Araragi Koyomi, high school senior, seventeen years of age, Naotsu Private High School vice class representative, and part Vampire, frantically pedaling across town for flowers with only an hour to spare before he was supposed to meet his girlfriend at her home.

He'd been nervous about the flowers. After all, that's what everyone did, right? In all the girly manga series and in the guidebooks, it was always flowers, so would Senjougahara berate him? What if it was too cliche? It wasn't like he could ask his sisters about something like this- as if Tsukihi and Karin would let him live something like that down? Their big brother, nearly sweating bullets over a choice like "flowers or no flowers"?

And after the reappearance of Black Hanekawa... well. It would be a while yet before he could ask Tsubasa advice. If he'd known how much he'd been hurting her, asking her about how to proceed in his relationship with Senjougahara, he never would have- but that was typical him, wasn't it? Being able to notice the disturbance of an apparition, but not even able to notice that a girl had fallen in love with him.

Even now, it still seemed surreal. Of all the things he'd gone through, somehow his encounters with the strange... somehow meeting a vampire with no limbs bleeding under a dead streetlamp, one who broke down and cried and begged for his help, his blood, seemed more normal and believable than Tsubasa Hanekawa being in love with him. Him- Araragi Koyomi, being popular with girls.

- Wait, you could call it popular with girls if two liked you, right? Or did it have to be three? Four? Oh, god, what if Sengoku liked him? What if Kanbaru liked him? No way, calm down, she definitely likes girls, and even if she did like him, it was probably because she was just fantasizing about him in some weird yaoi relationship with another guy. She had all those BL books in her room, after all, a whole sea of them, and...

What if it was with Oshino? No way, no way, that would definitely be elicit! And probably not illegal but it definitely seemed illegal, he was- he was definitely middle-aged! And like a teacher!

Kanbaru was twisted like that, though. Right? Right. But thankfully Hachikuji couldn't like him because that was definitely twisted, and highly, highly, illegal, so-

The floral shop employee was probably wondering about the high school boy behaving oddly as he tried to have an internal argument while also trying to pick out flowers, but hey, his money was good and the selection, two pink stemmed roses, three Peruvian lilies, and a sprig of fern, was actually quite tasteful for a young man. Even if he did color impressively and avoid eye contact when she asked who it was for. Definitely not his mother.

But back to the story.

Even with all that had happened... Araragi could still smile to himself, biking back more carefully, but still fast as he could, having forgotten to bring something to shield the flowers with. He didn't know enough to compare himself to other people, to say something like "he handled it better than other people", or "worse than other people", but.

After an encounter with a vampire, a meddlesome cat during Golden Week, a heavy stone crab in the beginning of the year, a lost snail after that, a rainy devil in the guise of a monkey's paw, a snake curse that turned out to be snake curses, and the reappearance of a certain cat... he liked to think he learned something. He liked to think Oshino had imparted something before he'd left, about how to solve the problems of the apparitions, the people around him, that he just never could seem to ignore.

He liked to think that it was training or experience of some sort that alerted him to the fact that the street he was biking down definitely wasn't the way to his house, or Senjougahara's house, or anyone's house in town, and that training that made him swerve and protect the bouquet as he crashed in to the side of a large fountain and fell straight in.

Good news was, he'd protected the bouquet- a little water never hurt flowers.

Bad news was, he had definitely gotten inadvertently involved in some sort of apparition, because this was obviously not normal, there was an odd weight in his pocket, and there was no way a city like this existed near his town. ... That he'd heard of, anyway.

Worse news was, looking around and then back down at the wet flowers and his soaked clothes, his bike with one tire still spinning, and his watch with now stopped hands...

Araragi had the sudden realization that his girlfriend was likely going to kill him.

POLYchromatic April Inactivity List

2011-04-01T07:50:50Z

friend add 1001teatimes
friend add badhairlifetime (***)(tried to hiatus)
friend add beforehistime
friend add calculusdragon (hiatus)
friend add caughtthebullet (***)
friend add chasingmorning
friend add childofsocal (***)(second strike)
friend add doujin_dork
friend add fufufromouran
friend add gilthart
friend add guardianjoker (hiatus)
friend add haspredilection (***)(second strike)
friend add heraldic_mage
friend add horrible_protag (***)(second strike)
friend add lookjustlike (hiatus)
friend add makinghoscroak (***)(second strike)
friend add ms_marycontrary
friend add neverplays (hiatus)
friend add ninelocks
friend add nosferotofu (hiatus)
friend add quiesquietis
friend add ragazz0dinebbia (hiatus)
friend add rejuvenated_sun
friend add sinandservitude
friend add sitaronthewater
friend add srslynotguy (hiatus)
friend add tainted_loyalty (***)(second strike)
friend add underage
friend add untintedglasses
friend add wind_magic (hiatus)
friend add wishgrant (hiatus)

Post Tracking [March + April]

2011-04-01T07:45:59Z

HANNAH [ninelocks]

⚒ Alois
⚒ Luca
⚒ Hanna
⚒ Sheila
⚒ Gamzee

XERXES BREAK [knaveswitness]

♠ Laszlo
♠ Iacho
♠ Ben
♠ Rosella
♠ Elliot
♠ Clef
♠ Leo
♠ Leo

CELTY STURLUSON [seekinghead]

✥ Eden
✥ Alan

YŌ MIZUNO [innocentvow]

☆ Fran
☆ Rudy
☆ Campbell
☆ Leo
☆ Hope
☆ Gokudera
☆ Estelle
☆ Yamamoto
☆ Vriska
☆ Farah
☆ Serah
☆ Eames
☆ Rue

POLYchromatic February Inactivity List

2011-02-02T03:08:03Z

friend add 1001teatimes (hiatus)
2ndnightshift
add adamantined (***)(hiatus)
agoodchild
add am_i_being_rude (***)(hiatus...)
friend add beforehistime (hiatus)
friend add cateyedhunter (hiatus)
chosered
coffeenspeed
friend add commarogue
friend add concitato (hiatus)
friend add courut
deathofdelilah (***)(hiatus)
dreamsofnoah
friend add freckleddoll
gilthart
friend add gforgreat (hiatus)
guardianjoker (hiatus)
friend add harmoniae (hiatus)
friend add his_instrument
friend add iloveatallman
imnotbluffing
friend add kisspokepoke (hiatus)
friend add letxequalnull (remove me)
lionesssejant
friend add morsmordre_met
neverplays
friend add nevertame (***)
omelet_fu
friend add photoncharge
pyromatics (hiatus)
friend add quiesquietis (hiatus)
friend add rehymenator
schisming
friend add shiningdown
friend add showmethegald
friend add sonofposeidon (***)
stillprotecting (hiatus)
friend add sword_and_quill
friend add the_alice
underage (hiatus)
add weaponofheart (***)(hiatus)
whackaspirit (*** in March, April)
wishgrant (hiatus)
friend add witheringlily (hiatus)

Thread Tracking [February]

2011-02-02T03:04:30Z

TANIA DOBERG [praisemenow]

❧ Apollo
❧ Iroh
❧ Fran
❧ Caspian

HANNAH [ninelocks]

⚒ Sebastian
⚒ Chrome
⚒ Luca
⚒ Luca, Florian

XERXES BREAK [knaveswitness]

♠ Toph
♠ Haru
♠ Oz
♠ Gilbert
♠ Daemon
♠ Gilbert

CELTY STURLUSON [seekinghead]

✥ Gremio
✥ Rudy
✥ Arthur
✥ Eden
✥ Shinra
✥ Jim
✥ Rudy
✥ Umi
✥ Umi

POLYchromatic Application; Yō Mizuno

2011-01-31T21:04:06Z

[nick / name]: Rizu
[personal LJ name]: stormcoming

[other characters currently played]:
Celty | Durarara!! | seekinghead
Hannah | Kuroshitsuji II | ninelocks
Tania | Witch Hunter | praisemenow
Xerxes | Pandora Hearts | knaveswitness

[e-mail]: opheliary@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: steelandpride

[series]: Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto
[character]: Yō Mizuno

[character history / background]: A super short wiki page is here, but this could take some explaining, settle down kids.

Southern Cross Isle, off the coast of southern Japan, seems a picaresque and scenic little place to those who don't know any better. But to those who do, Southern Cross holds quite the big secret. Beneath the school, Southern Cross High, are buried the remains of mecha-like entities called Cybodies. (For more on Cybodies, see here.) The main character, Takuto, is thrown in to conflict between the Glittering Crux Brigade, a group who wants to use the Cybodies in the real world, as opposed to the separate pocket dimension of Zero Time, and what he stands for- which is protecting Wako, the Southern Maiden, one of four who are in danger because breaking their seals is the key to progressing through phases of Cybody use.

Speaking of Maidens. There are four- one for each cardinal direction, and so it goes, the year the Shindou family heir, the one who can apprivoise Samekh, the King Cybody, is born so are all four maidens possessing the marks of Maiden Cybodies and the seals that keep the Cybody powers in Zero Time as opposed to the real world. Only one, the South Maiden, Agemaki Wako, lives publicly as a maiden. In fact, when the North Maiden is captured and her seal broken, no one notices until the change in Cybodies occurs, because no one knew just who the North Maiden was. It's the same for Mizuno. Unbeknownst to anyone but her twin sister and her aunt, she is the Western Maiden. The reason her identity has been so easily concealed is simply because- she's living a lie.

When Mizuno was born, she was an only child. She lived with her mother, Yō Fujino, and her mother's lover, though she didn't call him "father", but "that man". Whether this is because her biological father was unknown/left and that man was a step-father, or because she judged him unworthy of being "Father" is unknown. Either way, that man eventually left her mother when she was young and in a fit of co-dependency her mother convinced herself that it wasn't that he'd simply used her or left her, but he still loved them and was just tired of life on the island so she would go after him and let him rest for a while. Leaving her young daughter behind and telling her to go find her aunt who lived in the Western woods, Fujino abandoned her daughter- Mizuno hasn't heard word from her or seen her in years.

Sometime after the abandonment, Mizuno apprivoised for the first time- that is, she made a connection to her Maiden Cybody, and the memories and information from that Cybody became available to her, as well as, most importantly, the Driver's First Phase (for more on the first phase, see here- it's basically an ability the cybody pilot gains and can use outside of Zero Time). Using her First Phase, motivated by a child's simple desire to not to have to think about sad things (being abandoned) and about serious things (being a Maiden), Mizuno created a clone of herself to do those things for her. That clone is the girl she thinks is her twin sister- Yō Marino.

And so Mizuno and Marino grew up, raised by their aunt and believing they are twin sisters, have always been twin sisters, because when Mizuno created Marino she modified both of their memories, creating not only a clone, but one who had memories that matched with how she wished things had been. Took every memory- laughing and playing (alone), being abandoned by her mother (alone), walking through the woods and stopping to cry (alone), and turned it in to something they'd done together. Laughing and playing (together), being abandoned (together- Mizuno blank and unresponsive as Marino cowers in fear), walking through the woods (together- Mizuno gets to enjoy the sight of fireflies as Marino breaks down and cries). Mizuno is the one who is cheerful and carefree, a little childish, still, and odd to those who don't know her, while Marino is more mature, more serious and maternal, the one who is burdened with the knowledge of Cybodies and Maidens and what that means. Mizuno believes in her own lie so intently that she even subconsciously prevents being pulled in to Zero Time when Cybodies activate, something that takes tremendous power for a Maiden- all so she can remain ignorant of the darker things, of her role.

In high school, everything changes. Mizuno and Marino attend Southern Cross High, are placed in Class 2, and begin their semester with the rest of the young people on the island. But Mizuno, on one fateful day, meets Tsunashi Takuto, our dashing young hero the Galactic Pretty Boy. In the boy's bathroom. Takuto helps Mizuno out by saving the baby of her friend, a crow that lives on school property, when the chick fell out of the nest. Mizuno's crush on Takuto was almost instantaneous- after that, she follows the drama club, Night Flight's "vice president", a cute fox mascot, to the club practice and is inducted as a member, thrilled to have not only a cute animal about but to spend time with the boy she likes.

Unknown to Mizuno, by design- seeing as how she formatted her world, Marino is, at this point, taking a leadership position in the Glittering Crux, as the temporary head of the 2nd division, Vanishing Age, under the name "Manticore". Her goal is to fill the roll of Ayingott's pilot, the Cybody who has the power to "see" the Maidens- so that she can use that power and then claim to have not been able to locate the West Maiden, all in order to protect Mizuno from being hurt. So while they go about their daily lives... when Mizuno draws little sketches of Takuto and shows them to her sister, when they play baseball at the school field day... Marino knows exactly what's going on with the Cybodies and what she's fighting to protect, while Mizuno remains blissfully unaware.

But Takuto's charm and honesty begins to have an affect on Marino as well. In the bath when she's thinking about him, Mizuno asks her what's on her mind, and instead hears about their usual nightly ice cream ritual. Marino picks two small cups and brings them to their room, and asks if Mizuno wants ice cream. She always does. She asks which flavor she wants- Mizuno always says she wants the same flavor as Marino does. Marino asks her to guess which flavor she picked- and Mizuno always guesses correctly. Because, Mizuno says innocently- they always like the same thing. And so Mizuno's first love is also Marino's first love. (Also because they're technically the same person but eeeh, never mind.)

I will be taking Mizuno from before shit begins to go down and her world sort of... collapses all around her, but if you want to know what happens there's a super brief summary on wiki.

[character abilities]: Mizuno possesses two abilities that are related to her position as the Western Maiden, though she remains blissfully unaware of them for the most part. The ability useable in the real world is her First Phase- the ability to create a copy of herself, to change reality so that she can remain how she wants to be, innocent and carefree. The extent of her power is not clearly defined, but it is implied to be quite powerful based off how much she manages to manipulate events around her- creating a "twin sister", resisting being pulled in to Zero Time when everyone else with powers like theirs can't. Mizuno subconsciously uses these powers, so she isn't aware of how to control them, or even what she can do with them precisely- but as long as she remains relatively safe and happy, she doesn't employ them to change her reality. In the City, this power will be severely dampened- she won't be able to clone herself, for obvious reasons, etc.

The second power Mizuno possesses is one that would be inaccessible in the City, even if she was able to do it. As the Western Maiden she can pilot the Maiden Cybody that corresponds to her mark and seal, Memna. However, the Cybody would not be present in the City, as it remains somewhere in Southern Cross, and she wouldn't know how to pilot it, or even have memories on how to apprivoise it, having put that burden on her clone, Marino, instead. Beyond these two powers she doesn't make an active use of, Mizuno is just a 15 year old girl.

[character personality]: Mizuno has quite the reputation in her school, as the "fushigi-chan", (freak/weirdo), as the "little witch girl", a girl who lives "doing what she wants, when she wants". She has a short attention span, is easily distracted, loves cute things, seems to be perpetually content or happy, and rides on top of the bus instead of inside it because she saw a mascot character do it and thought it looked cool. She sings to herself, talks to birds, goes in to the boy's bathroom without even thinking, draws little sketches of her daily life and fantasies, and teaches people magical spells, like "Katami, Wakachita, Yagadanse", her "It will be alright" spell. A quasi-tomboy with no eye for coordination, she wears things like baggy overalls with purple heels.

Despite how very abnormal she seems, Mizuno is still sort of within range of an average 15 year old girl- if not a rather quirky one. She likes ice cream after her dinner, she daydreams in class, she's utterly thrilled with the crush she has on a boy, and she's close, (okay, borderline too-close) to her "twin" sister. But that average seeming happy-go-lucky self... that's all due to just how good at denial she actually is.

Mizuno is used to subconsciously projecting herself on others, particularly her twin. For example, Mizuno truly wants to see her mother again, despite acting like she's totally over the fact that she was abandoned by her, like she's fine with never seeing her again. She doesn't want to be taken back- but she truly wants to see her again, for some sort of closure, to know why- but she refuses to admit that even to herself, instead putting that on Marino. She projects her desires for friends and for protection on animals, claiming to be friends with them, hearing them talk to her and carrying on conversations. If she feels it, but doesn't want to acknowledge that she is feeling that way, someone close to her will likely soon manifest that thought or feeling in Mizuno's eyes.

Because when she encounters something she doesn't want to acknowledge, something she doesn't want to know- she blocks it out. If she can't block it out- she runs. If she has nowhere to run, she changes reality as she knows it in order to remain happy and ignorant. She doesn't want to think about sad things, about serious things, about responsibility... and so subconsciously, but selfishly, she rejects all of it, either putting it from mind entirely or pushing the burden on to someone else without realizing, like how she relies on her "older sister". Marino once tells her, after saying that they must keep her identity as the Western Maiden a secret, that-

Marino: "If you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes true."
Mizuno: "But a world from a lie is an illusion."
Marino: "It's alright. If the illusion never disappears, it's real."

Mizuno takes these words to heart, she truly believes that she isn't lying because her illusion has never broken since the day she created it. She isn't a bad girl. She doesn't realize what she's doing puts a burden on others, doesn't realize that her blissful ignorance comes at a price, or that other people have to pay for it. Immature still, and childish- but she isn't incapable of maturity, she just... hasn't ever had to face it. She does everything she can to not ever have to face the truth, even if she's grown strong enough over the years to handle it if she needs to.

But she has a crutch, her twin sister, and so she's never had to try and walk on her own- why would you, when you have a crutch? It means you need them, right? As long as you have that, it may be a lie... but it's still real. Mizuno is capable of standing on her own, of operating without her sister, of being serious, being mature-- she's just never had to be, and the possibility of having to, to her, is a daunting one.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: episode 15, before Mizuno and Marino find out that their mother has returned to the island, aka whle she's still pretty blissfully naive before the shit hits the fan.

[journal post]:

-akachita, Yagadanse. [The post cuts in halfway through a sentence of... some sort, though it sounds more like nonsense than a sentence.]

... Marino? Marino? ... Ehe, I fell asleep on the bus... I don't know where I am now... [It had started out with a giggle, but that noise drops out towards the end.]

It might be the mainland- I never thought it would be this big! I can't see the sky as well with all the lights, but you know, the buildings here are so tall! And the lights are all different colors- [did she realize she got sidetracked?]

... I tried Auntie's number, but she didn't pick up- and I left my shoes so I can't get back on my own, but don't be cross with me, someone will find them! They'll return them, since I put my name in them after last time... like you said.

[A long pause as the girl who seems to think this device is a cellphone stands somewhere in silence, and there may be the slightest hitch in her tone, like she's trying not to be upset.]

- Call me back, Marino. Bye Bye!

[third person / log sample]:

I love the clear season, when the wind still brings warmth.

Mizuno doesn't know where she learned that song anymore, it simply feels like she's always known it, like she's grown up knowing it. It's the sort of thing you find yourself humming under your breath without thinking, that when she's skipping along it's always what she ends up singing to herself, footsteps changing to move in time to the tune. But it's not like she spends much time wondering about where she learned it, she isn't one who likes to wonder "why" or "how" or "when".

They spin thousands of times, and sparkle tens of thousands of times.

It's not something that tends to enter her mind that often, those questions. Why should they, when so many things are happening right here, right now? When the sun rises on Southern Cross Island every morning, shining bright in to her window along with the beeping of her alarm clock- every day began the same, but she made every single one different.

Every day she wakes up to the face so like her own, Marino, her twin, and her near motherly concerns. Did you finish your homework, Mizuno? Don't forget to eat your breakfast, Mizuno. Hurry up or we'll be late, Mizuno! But she never had to worry about being late these days, not when the bus route ran right under the window of the house they shared with their aunt, not when she'd seen that cute fox leap on to the roof a few days before and found herself a new method of transport.

And in doing so give birth to light.

A method she was utilizing this very moment, back straight, shoulders back, one hand before her, holding down the hem of her uniform skirt and the other behind her to brace on the smooth bus top, wind whipping through her bright hair, sun on her face and a song on her lips. Other students might have looked far more depressed on the way to school, high school days filled with classes, but Mizuno, as usual, found no reason to be depressed.

Beyond the sunlight-thawed sky.

With so many things to be thankful for, to enjoy, how could anyone be, let alone Mizuno? She had Marino, who was eternally there at her side, the perfect compliment to her both physically and mentally. Serious when she was silly, athletic where she was artistic, mature when she was not. Everyone had always said they were the perfect set of twins. Marino always knew when Mizuno needed advice, comfort, a friend, or a sister. How- because she was Marino, of course! But though Marino had been the constant in her life, (hadn't she?), there was someone knew bringing a smile and a blush to Mizuno's features these days.

Everywhere is a clear blue.

Tsunashi Takuto, the transfer student at Southern Cross High. The one who she'd met in the boy's bathroom that day Cawbert's baby was in danger of falling. The one who, without hesitation, (without stopping like the rest of the students did to whisper those things about her, "witch girl"), had leaped out the window to the infant crow's rescue. Who had caught her, too, when she'd jumped right after him. Who she'd joined the drama club for, to be closer to him in Night Flight- even volunteered to play the lead female role in the upcoming play, if it meant... the she might kiss him.

Those racing thoughts-

Her sketchbook, filled with birds and foxes, a twin sister with the same face, the sun, the sea, and everything in the world around her, had begun to show traces of this new presence, too. Takuto, drawn in pencil as she sprawled on her bed, showed it proudly to Marino, (unaware of the pain that caused her- always unaware), before she guessed the flavor correctly like she did every time her sister brought in the ice cream and they played that silly game. It was strawberry, that night.

Take flight on your will-

No, there was no time to think about sad things, (how it could feel if she let herself, when her classmates called her names), about depressing things, (they didn't believe like she did), or about grown up things, (the mother who'd left her- no, them that day, still out there somewhere). Certainly none to think about the things she'd forgotten intentionally somewhere along the way, only hazy little fantastical dreams of a song and a maiden and a seal and a world engulfed in the most beautiful lights. No, there wasn't any need for those things, not in this world she'd created.

This innocent vow I'm feeling...

It was perfect.