[ INFO. ]
░ the basics
▐ YOUR NAME Miru.
▐ OVER 18? Yes.
▐ PERSONAL LJ databomb
▐ EMAIL/IM miruvix[@]gmail.com | dash chromatique
. CHARACTER Shun Shimizu.
. AGE 24.
. APPEARANCE [ icons ]
Average height of 5'7", average build bordering slightly on the narrow side, average posture, average stance. The look he's aiming for here is "forgettable." Pale skin stretched tight over a slender frame, over lithe fingers and long limbs, over a protruding collarbone and narrow shoulders, over an impassive face. Eyes - black-brown and almost always hidden under a fringe of messy bangs, tinged with the faint hint of melancholy apathy. His hair, he doesn't have time to cut often, and it trails down to the base of his neck in dark, wispy strands. Well-defined features and a soft expression that usually wavers in between a polite smile and passive blankness; he'd be considered good-looking in that bland, forgettable way, the type of person that flees your mind the moment you turn away and go back to your business. The way he dresses is just as mild -- simple clothes in unobtrusive colors, blacks, grays, whites, muted tones with no defining logos or designs. A preference for long-sleeved shirts and straight-cut khakis. He looks neat, but entirely unremarkable, and likes to keep it that way.
▒ the details
჻ HISTORY
The world Shun hails from is Earth, actually -- just a couple hundred, maybe a thousand years older. He was born and bred in New New York (most commonly referred to just as 'New York'), one of the main metropolitan cities left after WWX tore up society. His world is close to present day in terms of technology and advancement, save a very different power structure.
Because New New York and the numerous other cities are ruled by a totalitarian government. Most people actually don't have too many complaints about this arragement -- this government was the one that raised society up from the ruins after WWX, and it does its job well. The economy is flourishing, the streets are peaceful, and the crime rate is down low.
Very low.
See, the only flaw of this government is that the justice system is absolute. The police force will kill anyone who is a hindrance to society, no questions asked. Sure, it's a bit brutal, but that keeps the streets free of thugs, and as long as you're not a criminal you don't have a reason to fear that rule, right? (Right.)
That might have been the case for Shun, except, well. His parents were terrorists. Informants for the Yggdrasil, an old, deeply-rooted organization waging a long, long war against the government. When Shun was nine, he returned from school one day to find his parents 'disposed of.' Because they had, after all, defied the law by working for an anti-governmental organization.
Shun's family, unwilling to accept the son of 'terrorists,' shuttled him off to a small orphanage, where he was raised with tender, loving care. A quiet but earnest child, he did well in school and worked hard as soon as he could to save up money -- college was a bit of an expensive luxury for the orphans, but that was okay, he could at least save up enough to make a living for himself.
And honestly, Shun had planned on avoiding the whole government vs. anti-government war. His parents had fought back and paid their price, and now he was on his own -- no need to follow in their footsteps, right? (Don't count your chickens, so on and so forth.) Shortly before Shun graduated high school and prepared to live on his own as an adult, he happened to play witness to an ugly, ugly run-in between some less-mannered government agents and an orphan who had lost his parents to the justice system. The child had done very little wrong, and yet had received a punishment that could in no way be called just.
This ended up being the turning point. The orphanage Shun grew up in was filled with children who had similarly lost their parents to the government's absolute rule, and the fact that these government agents would dare to touch the children that they had orphaned was too much for him to tolerate. (And maybe a bit of this anger, just a bit, was at the murder of his own parents, years ago.)
It took a long time, but he eventually managed to worm his way into the Yggdrasil's information network, and began training as an operative. Once he was given a firearm (of course, it was illegal for civilians to bear arms, but the Yggdrasil had its ways of procuring these things), Shun showed an unexpected knack for sharpshooting. And so he was trained to be a sniper.
He's been in the organization for more than six years now. He's established a bit of a name for himself -- the media calls him 'Ghost,' a fearsome terrorist sniper to be killed on sight. But when he's not working for the Yggdrasil to murder government executives, Shun maintains a peaceful civilian facade as the owner of the local Sunflower Bookstore, and frequent helper at the orphanage he grew up in. 'What a nice young man,' people tend to say about him. 'How helpful and kind! Couldn't hurt a fly!'
When he hears these things, Shun just tends to smile politely. (You'd never know.)
჻ PERSONALITY
First time you meet him, you're bound to think, "What a nice young man!"
Because that's exactly what he is. Polite, quiet, thoughtful -- kind of shy, but not necessarily anti-social -- not much of a conversationalist, but an excellent listener, always willing to lend an ear if someone starts talking, and nod in silent agreement with a little smile on his face. Soft-spoken and mild, he's not exactly the most noticeable or memorable person, but that's alright -- he's quiet content to just sit in the background until you turn to him again, whence he'll greet you with a small nod and a polite 'hello.'
He's not exactly the type of person that you want to be close friends with, because it's hard to tell what he's thinking what with the way his politeness seems ever so slightly distant and the way he just seems so unruffled, but hey! Just bump into him, have a little conversation, go along your way, and all you'll remember is that he's a nice young introvert.
Aha. But not really, because all of that is just a perfect facade. Oh, don't get it wrong, it's not that he hates people or that he's harboring evil thoughts behind that polite smile, no, not at all.
It's just that he simply. Doesn't. Care.
They do say that the opposite of love isn't hate, but apathy, and that's exactly what Shun is. Apathetic. Sure, he seems nice, but you know how forgettable he is the moment you turn his back? It's the same for his feelings towards you -- the moment that little conversation at the line in the coffee shop ends, he has absolutely no opinion of you, regardless of whether or not you're being robbed at knife-point by gangsters.
The thing is, he's spent so long training and breathing in the atmopshere of a terrorist organization where it's 'every man for himself' that he no longer has the capacity to care about too many people. Having cut connections with old schoolmates and only seeing his customers for ten, fifteen minutes a day, how could he really bring himself to make connections with people?
And sure, it's nice if he's good to people and they're good back, there's no reason for him to be nasty in the first place, which is why he'll play the nice-guy role for as far as he can milk it; but that's only because it's convenient. (How annoying would it be if people were to pick fights with him because he was rude? He'd rather avoid anything like that.) He feels no obligation to help people he has no attachment to, and he has attachments to very few people. He may remember you and say hello, but that doesn't mean he really gives a damn about what's happening to you unless it somehow affects him as well.
Think of it this way: he's nice, but entirely uncaring.
But, like everything, there are exceptions.
For one thing, he has a massive soft spot for children. Not in a personal way, not really, but because it's one of the few moral principles he has left: that kids should get a fair chance at life before receiving any retribution for who they are, what they do. After all, until they become adults, people have the opportunity to change, right? It's not exactly fair to quash something before it has the chance to prove itself, whether in good or evil. While he doesn't really connect to any kids on a personal level, he still holds a very cold dislike of anyone who would dare hurt a child.
And despite his usually (ridiculously) passive attitude towards almost everything else, there are some things that he'll actually pause to look at. People who make him stop and maybe actually care for a moment or two.
It differs from time to time, but it's usually the people who are overly passionate about something that make him pause and glance back -- he doesn't really understand them, and so if he sees someone who really, truly, believes in something (or even someone), it piques his meager interest. Might get him to actually care about that person -- because he wants to see how far that passion can go. It's part curiosity, but also part compassion -- the last dregs of any real emotion he's got preserved. Those few people who he actually finds interesting, that he might actually like, he'll actually do things for. Talk to them. Listen to them. Help them. Fight for them. Kill for them, without a second thought. It's not like he cares about the other people he's injuring.
-- because hey, that apathy encompasses him, too. He doesn't give too much thought to his own well-being, other than "stay alive." The basic self-preservation instincts are there, of course, and if there's ever a threat against him, then he'll defend himself -- but on the other hand, if one of the few things he actually cares about needs to be defended at a cost, then he'll make that sacrifice himself with ease. He doesn't place himself at a very high priority, and drifts through life without much thought. Whatever happens happens.
And if something catches his attention then, well. Then we'll talk then.
▓ nuadoria specific
≡ WHAT ARE THEY BRINGING TO NUADORIA?: As he was pulled in while on mission: a Zastava Black Arrow sniper rifle, a Glock 30 handgun, some appropriate ammunition for both weapons, and a nondescript hunting knife. Other than that, the clothes off his back, some keys, his wallet, and some other trinkets. Also, a custom gas-mask used as his usual method of disguise.
≡ YOUR CHARACTER'S ELEMENT: Water.
≡ WHAT IS THEIR GESTALT?: A ghost. Or, more specifically, a reikon given the physical form of a small, fuzzily-glowing ball of light with a faint vapor trail that will bob around close to him. It won't do much except linger around him and generally be a bit weird and annoying.
It's battle form will be an onryo, a vengeful spirit. It'll take the form of something between a kabuki onryo and a samurai ghost from Noh theater -- with white-gray armor and wearing a kabuki mask. As onryos are generally vengeful ghosts, it'll have some modicum of spiritual power.
≡ CHARACTER INTEGRATION?: What to say? Shun will probably react much like any other "omg where is this what do I do" character upon realizing that he's in a strange world. He's quite talkative -- if only for the sake of gathering information -- and polite enough to keep conversation going. And he's proactive. He's quite determined to get back to his own world, because everything he lives and fights for is back in his home world, in NNY -- he can't waste time in this strange city of Nuadoria.
So he's bound to be active, trying to find some way to head back. He's not strong enough to do this on his own, though. He is, in the end, just a normal human being -- of course, a well-trained human being, skilled with firearms and intelligent, but that hardly lives up to the level of magic and supernatural powers that are scattered all over the place in Nuadoria. So hopefully these factors combined will mean he'll find some small niche to occupy.
〓 samples
✔ THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
The rhythmic thump of booted feet on the pavement, the soft rustle of his jacket trailing behind him, the hoarse rasp of every breath through the filter of his gasmask. The moments after an assassination were always the most hectic, Shun found -- the getaway was always the most adrenaline-fueled part of a mission. And as he leapt down from the rooftop he'd been camping out at for the past two hours -- having waited all that time to make the single perfect shot, instantly ending the life of that bastard of a government official -- Shun could feel his heartbeat pounding in his throat. (Focus just on running. On getting out of here.)
Rifle slung over his shoulder, movements smooth but rushed, he leaps over the edge of the roof, sliding down the banister of the fire escape, and leapt onto the railway of the escape opposite the building -- catching the black metal railing and swinging himself onto the platform with the hard clunk of boots. A brief pause to catch his balance, before he continued to make his way down to the ground -- jumping from platform to platform, sliding down the railing to speed up his progress. Already, the sirens were growing closer, and he'd have to slip into the side alley as soon as possible --
-- when his hand slipped, his glove losing its traction against the smooth metal railing. He barely had a moment to try and orient his balance before he hit the ground with a hard thump.
It took him little more than a second to scramble to his feet to get back to his escape -- but in that single instant where his thoughts were jarred by the hard fall, the scenery had changed. And Shun froze, eyes wide behind the goggles of his gasmask -- trying to get some grip on what exactly had happened. Just seconds ago, he'd been in NNY, and now -- ? This wasn't any place he recognized, and for several long moments, Shun simply stayed kneeling on the pavement, casting about warily. (The buildings, the sky, the cityscape -- all of it foreign. Was he hallucinating? Where was this? None of this made sense.)
Mask still on, fingers still clasped around the handle of the pistol at his belt, he rose to his feet and glanced around carefully, searching for some indication of what had just happened. And it was only when he felt the strange bulge in his jacket pocket and pulled out what looked like a PDA that he dared to pull his gasmask off -- carefully, of course, leaving it hanging around his neck in case he'd need to obscure his face in a hurry again -- getting the sense that maybe this situation was a bit different from everything he'd fought through before.
✔ FIRST PERSON SAMPLE:
[ VIDEO ]
[ click! the video recording starts -- a tad bit shaky at first before settling down, to show this polite young man, looking quite confused. staring into the camera, perplexed, for a moment before saying with some amount of cautious hesitation, ]
Hello?
[ a pause. he looks uncertain, but it's not like there's much else he can try to do in this situation. shifting the weight of something heavy slung across his shoulders he says, as politely as he can, ]
May I ask where this is?
▐ YOUR NAME Miru.
▐ OVER 18? Yes.
▐ PERSONAL LJ databomb
▐ EMAIL/IM miruvix[@]gmail.com | dash chromatique
. CHARACTER Shun Shimizu.
. AGE 24.
. APPEARANCE [ icons ]
Average height of 5'7", average build bordering slightly on the narrow side, average posture, average stance. The look he's aiming for here is "forgettable." Pale skin stretched tight over a slender frame, over lithe fingers and long limbs, over a protruding collarbone and narrow shoulders, over an impassive face. Eyes - black-brown and almost always hidden under a fringe of messy bangs, tinged with the faint hint of melancholy apathy. His hair, he doesn't have time to cut often, and it trails down to the base of his neck in dark, wispy strands. Well-defined features and a soft expression that usually wavers in between a polite smile and passive blankness; he'd be considered good-looking in that bland, forgettable way, the type of person that flees your mind the moment you turn away and go back to your business. The way he dresses is just as mild -- simple clothes in unobtrusive colors, blacks, grays, whites, muted tones with no defining logos or designs. A preference for long-sleeved shirts and straight-cut khakis. He looks neat, but entirely unremarkable, and likes to keep it that way.
▒ the details
჻ HISTORY
The world Shun hails from is Earth, actually -- just a couple hundred, maybe a thousand years older. He was born and bred in New New York (most commonly referred to just as 'New York'), one of the main metropolitan cities left after WWX tore up society. His world is close to present day in terms of technology and advancement, save a very different power structure.
Because New New York and the numerous other cities are ruled by a totalitarian government. Most people actually don't have too many complaints about this arragement -- this government was the one that raised society up from the ruins after WWX, and it does its job well. The economy is flourishing, the streets are peaceful, and the crime rate is down low.
Very low.
See, the only flaw of this government is that the justice system is absolute. The police force will kill anyone who is a hindrance to society, no questions asked. Sure, it's a bit brutal, but that keeps the streets free of thugs, and as long as you're not a criminal you don't have a reason to fear that rule, right? (Right.)
That might have been the case for Shun, except, well. His parents were terrorists. Informants for the Yggdrasil, an old, deeply-rooted organization waging a long, long war against the government. When Shun was nine, he returned from school one day to find his parents 'disposed of.' Because they had, after all, defied the law by working for an anti-governmental organization.
Shun's family, unwilling to accept the son of 'terrorists,' shuttled him off to a small orphanage, where he was raised with tender, loving care. A quiet but earnest child, he did well in school and worked hard as soon as he could to save up money -- college was a bit of an expensive luxury for the orphans, but that was okay, he could at least save up enough to make a living for himself.
And honestly, Shun had planned on avoiding the whole government vs. anti-government war. His parents had fought back and paid their price, and now he was on his own -- no need to follow in their footsteps, right? (Don't count your chickens, so on and so forth.) Shortly before Shun graduated high school and prepared to live on his own as an adult, he happened to play witness to an ugly, ugly run-in between some less-mannered government agents and an orphan who had lost his parents to the justice system. The child had done very little wrong, and yet had received a punishment that could in no way be called just.
This ended up being the turning point. The orphanage Shun grew up in was filled with children who had similarly lost their parents to the government's absolute rule, and the fact that these government agents would dare to touch the children that they had orphaned was too much for him to tolerate. (And maybe a bit of this anger, just a bit, was at the murder of his own parents, years ago.)
It took a long time, but he eventually managed to worm his way into the Yggdrasil's information network, and began training as an operative. Once he was given a firearm (of course, it was illegal for civilians to bear arms, but the Yggdrasil had its ways of procuring these things), Shun showed an unexpected knack for sharpshooting. And so he was trained to be a sniper.
He's been in the organization for more than six years now. He's established a bit of a name for himself -- the media calls him 'Ghost,' a fearsome terrorist sniper to be killed on sight. But when he's not working for the Yggdrasil to murder government executives, Shun maintains a peaceful civilian facade as the owner of the local Sunflower Bookstore, and frequent helper at the orphanage he grew up in. 'What a nice young man,' people tend to say about him. 'How helpful and kind! Couldn't hurt a fly!'
When he hears these things, Shun just tends to smile politely. (You'd never know.)
჻ PERSONALITY
First time you meet him, you're bound to think, "What a nice young man!"
Because that's exactly what he is. Polite, quiet, thoughtful -- kind of shy, but not necessarily anti-social -- not much of a conversationalist, but an excellent listener, always willing to lend an ear if someone starts talking, and nod in silent agreement with a little smile on his face. Soft-spoken and mild, he's not exactly the most noticeable or memorable person, but that's alright -- he's quiet content to just sit in the background until you turn to him again, whence he'll greet you with a small nod and a polite 'hello.'
He's not exactly the type of person that you want to be close friends with, because it's hard to tell what he's thinking what with the way his politeness seems ever so slightly distant and the way he just seems so unruffled, but hey! Just bump into him, have a little conversation, go along your way, and all you'll remember is that he's a nice young introvert.
Aha. But not really, because all of that is just a perfect facade. Oh, don't get it wrong, it's not that he hates people or that he's harboring evil thoughts behind that polite smile, no, not at all.
It's just that he simply. Doesn't. Care.
They do say that the opposite of love isn't hate, but apathy, and that's exactly what Shun is. Apathetic. Sure, he seems nice, but you know how forgettable he is the moment you turn his back? It's the same for his feelings towards you -- the moment that little conversation at the line in the coffee shop ends, he has absolutely no opinion of you, regardless of whether or not you're being robbed at knife-point by gangsters.
The thing is, he's spent so long training and breathing in the atmopshere of a terrorist organization where it's 'every man for himself' that he no longer has the capacity to care about too many people. Having cut connections with old schoolmates and only seeing his customers for ten, fifteen minutes a day, how could he really bring himself to make connections with people?
And sure, it's nice if he's good to people and they're good back, there's no reason for him to be nasty in the first place, which is why he'll play the nice-guy role for as far as he can milk it; but that's only because it's convenient. (How annoying would it be if people were to pick fights with him because he was rude? He'd rather avoid anything like that.) He feels no obligation to help people he has no attachment to, and he has attachments to very few people. He may remember you and say hello, but that doesn't mean he really gives a damn about what's happening to you unless it somehow affects him as well.
Think of it this way: he's nice, but entirely uncaring.
But, like everything, there are exceptions.
For one thing, he has a massive soft spot for children. Not in a personal way, not really, but because it's one of the few moral principles he has left: that kids should get a fair chance at life before receiving any retribution for who they are, what they do. After all, until they become adults, people have the opportunity to change, right? It's not exactly fair to quash something before it has the chance to prove itself, whether in good or evil. While he doesn't really connect to any kids on a personal level, he still holds a very cold dislike of anyone who would dare hurt a child.
And despite his usually (ridiculously) passive attitude towards almost everything else, there are some things that he'll actually pause to look at. People who make him stop and maybe actually care for a moment or two.
It differs from time to time, but it's usually the people who are overly passionate about something that make him pause and glance back -- he doesn't really understand them, and so if he sees someone who really, truly, believes in something (or even someone), it piques his meager interest. Might get him to actually care about that person -- because he wants to see how far that passion can go. It's part curiosity, but also part compassion -- the last dregs of any real emotion he's got preserved. Those few people who he actually finds interesting, that he might actually like, he'll actually do things for. Talk to them. Listen to them. Help them. Fight for them. Kill for them, without a second thought. It's not like he cares about the other people he's injuring.
-- because hey, that apathy encompasses him, too. He doesn't give too much thought to his own well-being, other than "stay alive." The basic self-preservation instincts are there, of course, and if there's ever a threat against him, then he'll defend himself -- but on the other hand, if one of the few things he actually cares about needs to be defended at a cost, then he'll make that sacrifice himself with ease. He doesn't place himself at a very high priority, and drifts through life without much thought. Whatever happens happens.
And if something catches his attention then, well. Then we'll talk then.
▓ nuadoria specific
≡ WHAT ARE THEY BRINGING TO NUADORIA?: As he was pulled in while on mission: a Zastava Black Arrow sniper rifle, a Glock 30 handgun, some appropriate ammunition for both weapons, and a nondescript hunting knife. Other than that, the clothes off his back, some keys, his wallet, and some other trinkets. Also, a custom gas-mask used as his usual method of disguise.
≡ YOUR CHARACTER'S ELEMENT: Water.
≡ WHAT IS THEIR GESTALT?: A ghost. Or, more specifically, a reikon given the physical form of a small, fuzzily-glowing ball of light with a faint vapor trail that will bob around close to him. It won't do much except linger around him and generally be a bit weird and annoying.
It's battle form will be an onryo, a vengeful spirit. It'll take the form of something between a kabuki onryo and a samurai ghost from Noh theater -- with white-gray armor and wearing a kabuki mask. As onryos are generally vengeful ghosts, it'll have some modicum of spiritual power.
≡ CHARACTER INTEGRATION?: What to say? Shun will probably react much like any other "omg where is this what do I do" character upon realizing that he's in a strange world. He's quite talkative -- if only for the sake of gathering information -- and polite enough to keep conversation going. And he's proactive. He's quite determined to get back to his own world, because everything he lives and fights for is back in his home world, in NNY -- he can't waste time in this strange city of Nuadoria.
So he's bound to be active, trying to find some way to head back. He's not strong enough to do this on his own, though. He is, in the end, just a normal human being -- of course, a well-trained human being, skilled with firearms and intelligent, but that hardly lives up to the level of magic and supernatural powers that are scattered all over the place in Nuadoria. So hopefully these factors combined will mean he'll find some small niche to occupy.
〓 samples
✔ THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
The rhythmic thump of booted feet on the pavement, the soft rustle of his jacket trailing behind him, the hoarse rasp of every breath through the filter of his gasmask. The moments after an assassination were always the most hectic, Shun found -- the getaway was always the most adrenaline-fueled part of a mission. And as he leapt down from the rooftop he'd been camping out at for the past two hours -- having waited all that time to make the single perfect shot, instantly ending the life of that bastard of a government official -- Shun could feel his heartbeat pounding in his throat. (Focus just on running. On getting out of here.)
Rifle slung over his shoulder, movements smooth but rushed, he leaps over the edge of the roof, sliding down the banister of the fire escape, and leapt onto the railway of the escape opposite the building -- catching the black metal railing and swinging himself onto the platform with the hard clunk of boots. A brief pause to catch his balance, before he continued to make his way down to the ground -- jumping from platform to platform, sliding down the railing to speed up his progress. Already, the sirens were growing closer, and he'd have to slip into the side alley as soon as possible --
-- when his hand slipped, his glove losing its traction against the smooth metal railing. He barely had a moment to try and orient his balance before he hit the ground with a hard thump.
It took him little more than a second to scramble to his feet to get back to his escape -- but in that single instant where his thoughts were jarred by the hard fall, the scenery had changed. And Shun froze, eyes wide behind the goggles of his gasmask -- trying to get some grip on what exactly had happened. Just seconds ago, he'd been in NNY, and now -- ? This wasn't any place he recognized, and for several long moments, Shun simply stayed kneeling on the pavement, casting about warily. (The buildings, the sky, the cityscape -- all of it foreign. Was he hallucinating? Where was this? None of this made sense.)
Mask still on, fingers still clasped around the handle of the pistol at his belt, he rose to his feet and glanced around carefully, searching for some indication of what had just happened. And it was only when he felt the strange bulge in his jacket pocket and pulled out what looked like a PDA that he dared to pull his gasmask off -- carefully, of course, leaving it hanging around his neck in case he'd need to obscure his face in a hurry again -- getting the sense that maybe this situation was a bit different from everything he'd fought through before.
✔ FIRST PERSON SAMPLE:
[ VIDEO ]
[ click! the video recording starts -- a tad bit shaky at first before settling down, to show this polite young man, looking quite confused. staring into the camera, perplexed, for a moment before saying with some amount of cautious hesitation, ]
Hello?
[ a pause. he looks uncertain, but it's not like there's much else he can try to do in this situation. shifting the weight of something heavy slung across his shoulders he says, as politely as he can, ]
May I ask where this is?