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[Player name] Lieke
[Age] 21
[Personal Journal] mennybeads
[Character name] Okita Soujirou Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi, but goes by Okita Souji.
[Age] Ca. 20.
[Canon] Shinsengumi Imon Peacemaker
[Point in time taken from canon] Just before the Ikeda-ya incident, around chapter 23.
[Background]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacemaker_Kurogane would work well enough for the comic’s background. His personal story: he was almost born to be a swordsman. At a very young age he joined Kondou Isami’s school and became an integral member of it quicker than anyone would have imagined-he turned out to be something of a prodigy. He mastered the Tennen Rishin-Ryu sword-fighting style at a young age (canonically unknown, historically 18), invented an innovative and important move called the Three Piece Thrust and helped set up the shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi were set up to protect the Shogun from imperialist troops around the time Japan was being pressured to open up its borders in the mid-1800s. They were an overall pretty badass group who protected the streets of Kyoto. His personal background in the comic is very vague, though. We know things such as that he was very young when he joined, he made his first kill at age 9 and has more than a little trauma regarding these things, and he has a good relationship with most of the prominent figures in the Shinsengumi.
[Personality]
He’s an incredibly likeable guy, chipper and pleasant sometimes to the point of being ridiculous and childish. He’ll talk and act in a very girlish manner and think nothing of it, despite the fact he’s in a prestigious (and macho) band of warriors. He loves kids, small animals and sweets. The rest of the company seems to look at him as a friend, someone to confide in-despite his seemingly carefree personality, he’s not stupid, and they know it. If he wants, he can give some pretty good advice, or at least provide a listening ear. The fact that he likes to prank people (a little bit of schadenfreude seems to go a long way with him) may be slightly less popular with his friends.
Fun and games aside, he is the prodigy child of the Tennen Rishin-Ryu school, and he’s been around warriors for the larger part of his life. He’s strong-willed and intensely loyal. Whether it’s someone else’s life or his own, he would gladly give it for the greater cause. When it really matters, he’s obedient.
When it comes to sword fighting, he’s a different person. Even when it’s practice against a kid, with nothing but a bamboo sword, he’s not able to go easy on anyone. He’ll give it is all, and sometimes forgets where he is. He’s got a calculating mind, quick feet and keeps his eye on the prize, making him one of the best swordsmen in the company. He knows it, too, and loves to surprise new students: the contrast of his girlish looks and his incredible skills with a sword often shock them. In battle he’s ruthless and won’t spare anyone if they get in his way. Sometimes he has to be restrained in order to stop, and this mindless rage and passion will get stronger as time goes on.
He’s got a pretty big complex regarding his past. He grew up amongst warriors and killed his first person when he was nine. He sometimes refers to himself as a ‘monster’ or an ‘ogre’, as someone who is heartless and kills without thinking about it. He knows why he does it and he will follow the rules of the Shinsengumi to the very end. Sometimes, it seems that he almost sees himself as a fighting puppet, something to command, who will follow his superiors’ orders without even thinking about it. Cut and kill. Sometimes he’ll take it badly, but most of the time he’ll shrug it off.
He is completely against admitting any weaknesses, hiding his cough and even going so far as throwing away medicinal tea while no one’s looking. He won’t admit that he’s not in control of his body, which has always been trustworthy to him before contracting the disease. He waves away any concerns and is quick to distract people asking him how he is, able to put up that cheerful front. And while he seems emotionally vulnerable he only is in exceptional circumstances.
Despite all this, though, his cheerful manner the rest of the time doesn’t seem insincere-when he jokes around he honestly seems to mean it. He just turns quickly, is all. Athis point in canon, he’s a pretty pleasant guy to be around. He’s fun-loving and will sneak out to steal some candies or to steal a friend’s (bad) poetry book, keeping the company’s spirits high.
[Abilities]
Nothing supernatural he’s just sort of a prodigy when it comes to swordfighting.
[Other important stuff]
He’s got tuberculosis. At this point, he can delude himself into thinking it’s a steady cough, but it’ll get worse.
[Sample post]
[First Person]
[There’s static, fumbling, a little curse and then a delighted gasp as an image and sound cut through]
--ade it work! I guess those who persevere last the longest, after all, huh? [he waves a little book in front of the camera, obviously up to something bad, then sits back so you can see his neck, a piglet in his lap and the book in his hands]
Today I have a very special treat for everyone. Listen carefully, because I risked my life obtaining these! I understand guarding them like state secrets, when it’s this quality...
This is the work of a very-- talented man. He put his heart and soul into these haiku, so we need to be serious! To appreciate it, you should bring yourself into a different state of mind. Now. If you’re ready…
[Third Person]
Once, as he is training, eyes fixed on his imaginary opponent, he slips.
It’s nothing big, but an itch in his throat distracted him, made his eyes water, and it made him slip. In his mind’s eye, his opponents sword slides smoothly into his treacherous lung, and he falls to his knees. The sound of bamboo echoes in the empty hall.
It takes him a few minutes to regain his composure, to stop the litany of disappointment disappointment disappointment running through his head. He picks up the bamboo katana, puts it in its place, and slides open the door-only to be startled into a laugh when Tetsunosuke all but falls onto his face.
“Tetsu-kun! Did Hijikata-san tell you to come here and spy on me?” He taps the side of the door in contemplation, making a show of it. "Ah, he must have, he’s always been jealous of my footwork.”
When the boy starts to splutter, to deny that he was spying on anyone for any reason, he laughs again and crouches down to put a hand on top of the page’s head.
“Let’s give the old grouch something to be curious about, hm? Keep it between us.” The boy nods, scrambles off as soon as Souji takes his hand off of him. Looking at his retreating figure, Souji feels like he’s choking on the secret.