OOC - The Wake App
Mar. 9th, 2013 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
records_of_painPersonal Information
Name: Orlando
Age: 24
Personal Journal:paperback
Email / AIM / MSN / Plurk: agreylady[at]gmail.com, Elspeth Vimes on AIM, ElspethVimes on plurk
Current Character(s): none
Character Information
Character Name: Tanyuu Karibusa
Fandom: Mushishi
Source:
Character History:
Long ago, there was a mushi unlike any other, a forbidden mushi that destroyed all things indiscriminately. A mushishi of the Tamai family sealed this forbidden mushi into the body of a member of the Karibusa family, turning her skin the color of ink and eventually killing her. But not before she had a child.
Since then, one in every other generation of the Kaibusa family has carried the forbidden mushi inside them, rendering part of their bodies ink black and useless. But they have learned how to bind it. By listening to stories of the death of other mushi, they can subdue the forbidden mushi and use its mark like ink to write these stories down and seal the forbidden mushi away on paper. Those who do this are the Recorders. They live in an isolated house with their records, attended by a member of the Tamai family, and visited only by the family and mushishi.
Karibusa Tanyuu is the fourth Recorder. The curse is located on her right leg, and makes it impossible for her to walk without aid. As a small child, Tanyu was extensively tutored. Originally she was not told the reason for this, or the truth behind the birthmark on her leg, but As soon as she knew enough writing (we're talking traditional Chinese characters here, it takes a little while to build up your vocabulary) and enough about mushi, she was sent from her family to the Recorder's house, with only her relative Minai Tama, a former mushishi, for constant company.
As a child and young adult, one of the few people Tanyuu saw regularly was the heir of the Tamai family, Kumado, a boy about her age. While strange and not altogether polite, Kumado became her only friend. That is, until she grew older, and a mushishi named Ginko came to visit.
While as a child Tanyuu hated her duties, she grew to understand the importance of her responsibility, and she now devotes herself to it and even takes pride in what she can do.
Character Personality:
Tanyuu is both strong-willed and practical. She refuses to let herself be limited by, say, her physical capability, and constantly pushes herself to do more, whether that is getting herself to a hill she's never seen the view from or sealing more of the forbidden mushi. She's proud, and determined to think things through her own way. She can take the statement "you can't do this" as a challenge, and one she will rise to if at all possible. She reflects on what she sees and hears, thinking things through carefully and forming her own conclusions, quite possibly in opposition to what she's been told. She is extremely good at what she does, and she knows it. Her pride in everything she works at shows, though she's also capable of poking a bit of fun at herself for it.
But Tanyuu is a realist. If doing something genuinely is beyond her, she can and will ask for help, and if it conflicts with her duties, she won't do it. She prioritizes what she must do above what else she might be able to do, and what she might be able to do usually above what she wants. She is extremely duty-focused, and will crush some of her dreams herself for the sake of her work and those who help her in it. She won't pick fights with people she recognizes as necessary in some way, even if they challenge or dismiss beliefs she holds dear (for example, while she does not agree with the way many mushishi treat mushi, she recognizes that she needs these allies and so does not tell them off). Her confidence in her ability to do her job is based on the fact that she really is that good (though her confidence in her tea-making abilities may have...less real grounding).
At the same time, she does in some ways isolate herself even more than her circumstances already isolate her. She's aware not only of the importance of her position, but of the sacrifices that other people (such as Tama and Kumado) have made for the cause she is supposed to carry on. She doesn't want to be a burden, or for people to suffer or struggle for her unnecessarily. To that end she can close herself off and lie about how well she's really doing. Help for the sake of her work, she'll ask for. Help for her own sake is more difficult (Ginko provides an exception, he's a friend, not family, which allows her to be freer with him).
Tanyuu is a very curious person. She enjoys learning and experiencing new things. Of course, she has little opportunity to do so. She still feels closely trapped by her duties, even while she recognizes their importance. Her greatest desire, though one which she greatly suppresses at this point, is to be free of the curse so that she can travel and see the things she hears and reads about. It's the main reason she sometimes overworks herself.
Over the years, she has developed a great respect for life of all forms, and a great distaste for those who callously dismiss some of it, for no better reason than that it's not human. Death and suffering are terrible things to wish on anyone or anything, and she believes that if more people could see that the world would be better off.
She tries to be forward-thinking and to focus on the positive possibilities that are ahead if she can only get things done now. Still, she is in many ways disillusioned. She knows how many bad mushishi are out there, taking advantage of both humans and mushi. She knows that it's likely she won't be able to live out any of her dreams for herself in this lifetime, no matter how badly she wants to, and that she'll have to be content with making progress for the sake of others. She still harbors some of her childhood jealousy of people who are free to move about freely.
She also has a bit of a rebellious and mischievous side. If she can get away with bending or breaking some of the rules she doesn't think are really necessary, she'll do it (the first time she let Ginko in to see the records, she wasn't exactly following the rules). She displays a sense of fun and some wit with people she's comfortable with.
Powers and Abilities:
Tanyuu's canon abilities are almost all mental. She has an incredibly well-trained memory. If she wants to remember everything you said in the last three hours almost verbatim? She will. She has the entire, extensive records the Karibusa family has made memorized, and can remember almost anything she reads after the first time. Her vocabulary is enormous, though she doesn't show it off. She also has an extremely high pain tolerance, from years of sealing the forbidden mushi. And she's good with a pair of crutches or a cane, as she needs to be.
Samples
Network:
The library here is amazing! I've never seen a selection like that before. It's wonderful to have books from so many places.
Even though it's a little difficult to get to, I think I'll be visiting a lot. Does anyone have recommendations? The ones I have now are all travel logs.
Third Person:
From this side of the hill, the house disappeared from view, and Tanyu could lay down her canes and enjoy the uninterrupted view of the rolling hills and waving grass. Or she could close her eyes and pretend the whispers and rustles were the sound of the sea. Ginko had told her once that if the sound the wind made over the hills were deeper, it would be a lot like the sea. Every now and then she tried to hear it.
She had never seen the sea. When she was a child, her time had been spent with lessons. There hadn't been time to take her to the shore. And then, of course, she and Tama had moved out here, and she had the mushi to seal. But she had seen seashells, round little marvels of color, and she'd always wanted to see the other kinds there were. Maybe start a little collection. She could ask someone for shells, of course, but it wouldn't be the same as finding your own, picking them out from the sand and the waves. If she could seal the forbidden mushi, if she could gain use of her right leg, she'd ask Ginko if they could go to the sea together. There were some interesting mushi that lived on the shore and in the sea.
Most likely they wouldn't see that together. Most likely she'd never leave this house again. But it was nice, sometimes, when she was out here, to believe in it. Or maybe "nice" wasn't the right word. Maybe "necessary" was.
Still, there were larger things to believe in, and work to be done before she could live out dreams. She picked up her canes and hopped to her feet. She gave another look at the light on the hills, and turned back, her face set in determination as she slowly climbed back over the hill towards the house.
Name: Orlando
Age: 24
Personal Journal:
paperbackEmail / AIM / MSN / Plurk: agreylady[at]gmail.com, Elspeth Vimes on AIM, ElspethVimes on plurk
Current Character(s): none
Character Information
Character Name: Tanyuu Karibusa
Fandom: Mushishi
Source:
Character History:
Long ago, there was a mushi unlike any other, a forbidden mushi that destroyed all things indiscriminately. A mushishi of the Tamai family sealed this forbidden mushi into the body of a member of the Karibusa family, turning her skin the color of ink and eventually killing her. But not before she had a child.
Since then, one in every other generation of the Kaibusa family has carried the forbidden mushi inside them, rendering part of their bodies ink black and useless. But they have learned how to bind it. By listening to stories of the death of other mushi, they can subdue the forbidden mushi and use its mark like ink to write these stories down and seal the forbidden mushi away on paper. Those who do this are the Recorders. They live in an isolated house with their records, attended by a member of the Tamai family, and visited only by the family and mushishi.
Karibusa Tanyuu is the fourth Recorder. The curse is located on her right leg, and makes it impossible for her to walk without aid. As a small child, Tanyu was extensively tutored. Originally she was not told the reason for this, or the truth behind the birthmark on her leg, but As soon as she knew enough writing (we're talking traditional Chinese characters here, it takes a little while to build up your vocabulary) and enough about mushi, she was sent from her family to the Recorder's house, with only her relative Minai Tama, a former mushishi, for constant company.
As a child and young adult, one of the few people Tanyuu saw regularly was the heir of the Tamai family, Kumado, a boy about her age. While strange and not altogether polite, Kumado became her only friend. That is, until she grew older, and a mushishi named Ginko came to visit.
While as a child Tanyuu hated her duties, she grew to understand the importance of her responsibility, and she now devotes herself to it and even takes pride in what she can do.
Character Personality:
Tanyuu is both strong-willed and practical. She refuses to let herself be limited by, say, her physical capability, and constantly pushes herself to do more, whether that is getting herself to a hill she's never seen the view from or sealing more of the forbidden mushi. She's proud, and determined to think things through her own way. She can take the statement "you can't do this" as a challenge, and one she will rise to if at all possible. She reflects on what she sees and hears, thinking things through carefully and forming her own conclusions, quite possibly in opposition to what she's been told. She is extremely good at what she does, and she knows it. Her pride in everything she works at shows, though she's also capable of poking a bit of fun at herself for it.
But Tanyuu is a realist. If doing something genuinely is beyond her, she can and will ask for help, and if it conflicts with her duties, she won't do it. She prioritizes what she must do above what else she might be able to do, and what she might be able to do usually above what she wants. She is extremely duty-focused, and will crush some of her dreams herself for the sake of her work and those who help her in it. She won't pick fights with people she recognizes as necessary in some way, even if they challenge or dismiss beliefs she holds dear (for example, while she does not agree with the way many mushishi treat mushi, she recognizes that she needs these allies and so does not tell them off). Her confidence in her ability to do her job is based on the fact that she really is that good (though her confidence in her tea-making abilities may have...less real grounding).
At the same time, she does in some ways isolate herself even more than her circumstances already isolate her. She's aware not only of the importance of her position, but of the sacrifices that other people (such as Tama and Kumado) have made for the cause she is supposed to carry on. She doesn't want to be a burden, or for people to suffer or struggle for her unnecessarily. To that end she can close herself off and lie about how well she's really doing. Help for the sake of her work, she'll ask for. Help for her own sake is more difficult (Ginko provides an exception, he's a friend, not family, which allows her to be freer with him).
Tanyuu is a very curious person. She enjoys learning and experiencing new things. Of course, she has little opportunity to do so. She still feels closely trapped by her duties, even while she recognizes their importance. Her greatest desire, though one which she greatly suppresses at this point, is to be free of the curse so that she can travel and see the things she hears and reads about. It's the main reason she sometimes overworks herself.
Over the years, she has developed a great respect for life of all forms, and a great distaste for those who callously dismiss some of it, for no better reason than that it's not human. Death and suffering are terrible things to wish on anyone or anything, and she believes that if more people could see that the world would be better off.
She tries to be forward-thinking and to focus on the positive possibilities that are ahead if she can only get things done now. Still, she is in many ways disillusioned. She knows how many bad mushishi are out there, taking advantage of both humans and mushi. She knows that it's likely she won't be able to live out any of her dreams for herself in this lifetime, no matter how badly she wants to, and that she'll have to be content with making progress for the sake of others. She still harbors some of her childhood jealousy of people who are free to move about freely.
She also has a bit of a rebellious and mischievous side. If she can get away with bending or breaking some of the rules she doesn't think are really necessary, she'll do it (the first time she let Ginko in to see the records, she wasn't exactly following the rules). She displays a sense of fun and some wit with people she's comfortable with.
Powers and Abilities:
Tanyuu's canon abilities are almost all mental. She has an incredibly well-trained memory. If she wants to remember everything you said in the last three hours almost verbatim? She will. She has the entire, extensive records the Karibusa family has made memorized, and can remember almost anything she reads after the first time. Her vocabulary is enormous, though she doesn't show it off. She also has an extremely high pain tolerance, from years of sealing the forbidden mushi. And she's good with a pair of crutches or a cane, as she needs to be.
Samples
Network:
The library here is amazing! I've never seen a selection like that before. It's wonderful to have books from so many places.
Even though it's a little difficult to get to, I think I'll be visiting a lot. Does anyone have recommendations? The ones I have now are all travel logs.
Third Person:
From this side of the hill, the house disappeared from view, and Tanyu could lay down her canes and enjoy the uninterrupted view of the rolling hills and waving grass. Or she could close her eyes and pretend the whispers and rustles were the sound of the sea. Ginko had told her once that if the sound the wind made over the hills were deeper, it would be a lot like the sea. Every now and then she tried to hear it.
She had never seen the sea. When she was a child, her time had been spent with lessons. There hadn't been time to take her to the shore. And then, of course, she and Tama had moved out here, and she had the mushi to seal. But she had seen seashells, round little marvels of color, and she'd always wanted to see the other kinds there were. Maybe start a little collection. She could ask someone for shells, of course, but it wouldn't be the same as finding your own, picking them out from the sand and the waves. If she could seal the forbidden mushi, if she could gain use of her right leg, she'd ask Ginko if they could go to the sea together. There were some interesting mushi that lived on the shore and in the sea.
Most likely they wouldn't see that together. Most likely she'd never leave this house again. But it was nice, sometimes, when she was out here, to believe in it. Or maybe "nice" wasn't the right word. Maybe "necessary" was.
Still, there were larger things to believe in, and work to be done before she could live out dreams. She picked up her canes and hopped to her feet. She gave another look at the light on the hills, and turned back, her face set in determination as she slowly climbed back over the hill towards the house.
