GARGLEBLASTED/MOSTLY HARMLESS APPLICATION
Character name: Terada Ayano (BUT EVERYONE CALLS HER OTOSE)
Fandom: Gintama
Timeline: Chapter 320-something/Episode 215
Age: Early 60s!
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: None, but she does have the ability to gather incredible people around her.
How would they use their abilities?: She'd reopen her shop and-- well, keep an eye on the Kabuki-chou residents where she can.
Appearance:
Otose's a fairly healthy old lady in her early 60s, stands 166cm and weighs in at 48kg. Physically, she's pretty feeble and she smokes like a damn chimney, but all things considered, when a woman reaches her age and hasn't kicked it or ended up indefinitely interred in a hospital, one could say that she's doing pretty well! She's economical in motion and stays unruffled in the face of impending doom. Otose wears a dark brown/gray kimono and keeps her hair done up in a traditional style.
Background:
Otose grew up as [INSERT MAIDEN NAME HERE] Ayano. She was either born in the Kabuki District or arrived sometime when she was (relatively) young. Her best friend was a made man, a member of the Yakuza, Doromizu Jirochou. He used to get into all sorts of trouble, and Otose would berate him and keep him on the right track to eventual success. Jirochou's arch nemesis was a man called Terada Tatsugorou, a policeman who he later realized had the same goal as him-- to protect the the town. Well, they ended up becoming best friends, and Ayano joined that circle not much later.
She and Tatsugorou fell in love, married, and had no kids (that we know of just yet). During the Anti-Foreigner War, Tatsugorou and Jirochou fought together. Tatsugorou took a hit meant for Jirochou and died, leaving Kabuki District and Otose's safety to him.
Sometime after the war, while Otose's leaving manju as an offering at her husbad's tomb, Gintoki speaks up from behind it, asking if he can have them because he was really freaking hungry. She says to ask her husband because they're his, and Gintoki just gets up and starts chowing down. When asked about what he said, Gintoki replied that dead guys don't talk, but in exchange for the manju, even though Otose's an old hag who probably doesn't have much time left, he'll protect her in her husband's stead.
Somewhere down the line, she meets a cat with no ears, who used to be a human Yakuza, and befriends him. Sorta. Well, she just feeds him. He takes off to be a Yakuza of the Kabuki-chou cats. Gintoki lives above Otose's shop (probably for a couple years), Gintama happens and Shinpachi and Kagura join him. She hires a cat alien called Catherine, who steals from her, who the Yorozuya tracks down and turns in to the police because she's a thief, though Otose hires her again.
Basically, she's a presence in most of the arcs, mostly in the background being herself and not getting into any shenanigans. Somehow or another, mostly because of Gintoki's presence, she's one of the four devas of Kabuki-chou, which ends up being a whole big arc were Jirochou comes back and Kada, one of the other four, tries to take over and get rid of Jirochou at the same time.
BASICALLY LOTS OF THINGS HAPPEN and Otose gets stabbed, winds up in the hospital and tries to get the Yorozuya to leave. That doesn't work, and everyone (seriously, just about all the characters from previous arcs) comes together to defend the store against invading aliens. Otose makes another appearance near the end to boost everyone's morale back up, and after that she ends up in the hospital with Jirochou and Saigou (the crossdressing deva). Saigou pretends to sleep while she has a heart-to-heart with Jirochou (with just about everyone listening in from outside) and then the arc wraps up pretty happily.
And Otose's still Otose, though that arc did end up giving her a lot of closure about certain things.
Personality:
WELL SHE'S A SERIOUS OLD BAT though Otose does have a benign sense of humor. She's the strict, no-nonsense "Mother" of Kabuki-chou who keeps the Yorozuya-- well, housed if nothing else. She's distant and blunt at first, but at a (much much much) closer look, you'll be able to see that she cares deeply for her town and its residents. Partly Tatsugorou's influence, partly because she's an enormous softie.
Otose has little interest in holding a position of power, despite its minor advantages. Her position as a Deva was something that had been foisted on her, most likely as a result of being able to keep the peace in her area, and also for having Gintoki around. She acknowledges readily that without the Yorozuya, she wouldn't be in the position she is, displaying a humble sort of outlook for someone known as the goddamn Empress of Kabuki District.
She'll go out of her way to help those she cares about and she'll extend a hand to anyone in need, even while she puts up a cold front for-- well, no particular reason. Otose can be naggy and abrasive, but that's just the way she is. She embodies Kabuki District's motto to a T in her own way: stubborn, shameless, forceful and flexible (depending on the translation, anyway).
She'll also feed orphans at the cost of her own job and feed stray cats who wander into her shop. And also cut Gintoki breaks whenever she can even when he doesn't pay rent. And also take in Catherine as an employee, whose debut was to steal her money and take off with it, and then try to run her down on a motorcycle before Gintoki knocked her out. Yeah, still working at the shop. As it turns out, Otose's also a pretty good judge of character.
At her age, Otose's seen just about everything. She'll keep her cool in serious situations, but when handling trivial matters or dealing with people who are making a nuisance in her neighborhood, she's been known to be loud, vulgar and violent. You don't live (read: stay alive) in the Kabuki District without picking up some rough edges, after all.
That bartender who stays up all night to listen to your woes in that little snack-bar? That's her, which means she also knows a hell of a lot more about you than you're probably entirely comfortable with, especially since you told her in a drunken, depressed blitz. So don't mess with her.
But despite the initial harshness, Otose's got plenty of connections and acquaintances of her own. Gintoki's her one-man army (with the rest of the Yorozuya and Snack Otose employees as ridiculously powerful sub-armies), but she has the diplomatic chops to maintain order on her block.
Well... more or less, anyway. It's a failed mission from the get-go, trying to tame the rowdy group of idiots that lives above her shop.
Why should that character be in this game: For OCs only.
Why do you want to continue their history here: For characters from other games only.
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play:
Have you read up on how the game works?: Y. Flaming Ferret, she can get jobs, take special jobs from other people and uhhhh steal?
1st person sample:
[ Otose's not really the type to break the fourth wall, BUT HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT SHITTY (LITERALLY) WORLD DESTRUCTION!! ]
I really can't be satisfied with that sort of resolution, but it's impossible to change the past. Any residents of Shinjuku's Kabuki District around?
Though sometimes it feels as if I can't get rid of that group even if I tried.
[ She says nonchalantly, but the perturbed way she roots around in her sleeve for a pack of cigarettes and lighting up thoughtfully should tip off anyone who knows her. ]
... I suppose I'll be needing a lot of these in the next few weeks.
3rd person sample:
Space travel wasn't such a foreign concept in Edo, and the aliens had been surprised at first that a newcomer her age was so completely unfazed by them, but they had adapted quickly enough. Otose for her part already misses the comforts of home, the simple sound of a wooden sliding door, the worn surface of her bar, and she might even miss the authority she had gained in the Kabuki District.
One of the few ideas she's had the most trouble with adjusting to is something she knows is irrational. Offerings exist to appease the living rather than to feed the dead (logically, at least) but Tatsugorou's gravestone isn't a place she can visit anymore. A place that had brought her so much comfort (disregarding a certain incident involving a certain idiot-- no, not that one, the other stubborn white-haired hellraiser), that had connected her to so many people--
Otose picks up the photograph from the memory printer's output slot-- Jirochou's and Tatsugorou's faces grin up to her from the glossy photograph. The one under it is just one of many times both Yorozuya and Snack Otose employees in their entirety were gathered around the bar. She doesn't remember what this particular occasion was about, but when she picks it up and runs her finger over the edge of the picture, she doesn't even bother trying to resist a small, warm smile.
She tries not to be the kind of woman who dwells on the past and for the most part she succeeds, but Otose thinks, not for the first time, that the ship might not be so bad after all, if she can do things like this.
Fandom: Gintama
Timeline: Chapter 320-something/Episode 215
Age: Early 60s!
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: None, but she does have the ability to gather incredible people around her.
How would they use their abilities?: She'd reopen her shop and-- well, keep an eye on the Kabuki-chou residents where she can.
Appearance:
Otose's a fairly healthy old lady in her early 60s, stands 166cm and weighs in at 48kg. Physically, she's pretty feeble and she smokes like a damn chimney, but all things considered, when a woman reaches her age and hasn't kicked it or ended up indefinitely interred in a hospital, one could say that she's doing pretty well! She's economical in motion and stays unruffled in the face of impending doom. Otose wears a dark brown/gray kimono and keeps her hair done up in a traditional style.
Background:
Otose grew up as [INSERT MAIDEN NAME HERE] Ayano. She was either born in the Kabuki District or arrived sometime when she was (relatively) young. Her best friend was a made man, a member of the Yakuza, Doromizu Jirochou. He used to get into all sorts of trouble, and Otose would berate him and keep him on the right track to eventual success. Jirochou's arch nemesis was a man called Terada Tatsugorou, a policeman who he later realized had the same goal as him-- to protect the the town. Well, they ended up becoming best friends, and Ayano joined that circle not much later.
She and Tatsugorou fell in love, married, and had no kids (that we know of just yet). During the Anti-Foreigner War, Tatsugorou and Jirochou fought together. Tatsugorou took a hit meant for Jirochou and died, leaving Kabuki District and Otose's safety to him.
Sometime after the war, while Otose's leaving manju as an offering at her husbad's tomb, Gintoki speaks up from behind it, asking if he can have them because he was really freaking hungry. She says to ask her husband because they're his, and Gintoki just gets up and starts chowing down. When asked about what he said, Gintoki replied that dead guys don't talk, but in exchange for the manju, even though Otose's an old hag who probably doesn't have much time left, he'll protect her in her husband's stead.
Somewhere down the line, she meets a cat with no ears, who used to be a human Yakuza, and befriends him. Sorta. Well, she just feeds him. He takes off to be a Yakuza of the Kabuki-chou cats. Gintoki lives above Otose's shop (probably for a couple years), Gintama happens and Shinpachi and Kagura join him. She hires a cat alien called Catherine, who steals from her, who the Yorozuya tracks down and turns in to the police because she's a thief, though Otose hires her again.
Basically, she's a presence in most of the arcs, mostly in the background being herself and not getting into any shenanigans. Somehow or another, mostly because of Gintoki's presence, she's one of the four devas of Kabuki-chou, which ends up being a whole big arc were Jirochou comes back and Kada, one of the other four, tries to take over and get rid of Jirochou at the same time.
BASICALLY LOTS OF THINGS HAPPEN and Otose gets stabbed, winds up in the hospital and tries to get the Yorozuya to leave. That doesn't work, and everyone (seriously, just about all the characters from previous arcs) comes together to defend the store against invading aliens. Otose makes another appearance near the end to boost everyone's morale back up, and after that she ends up in the hospital with Jirochou and Saigou (the crossdressing deva). Saigou pretends to sleep while she has a heart-to-heart with Jirochou (with just about everyone listening in from outside) and then the arc wraps up pretty happily.
And Otose's still Otose, though that arc did end up giving her a lot of closure about certain things.
Personality:
WELL SHE'S A SERIOUS OLD BAT though Otose does have a benign sense of humor. She's the strict, no-nonsense "Mother" of Kabuki-chou who keeps the Yorozuya-- well, housed if nothing else. She's distant and blunt at first, but at a (much much much) closer look, you'll be able to see that she cares deeply for her town and its residents. Partly Tatsugorou's influence, partly because she's an enormous softie.
Otose has little interest in holding a position of power, despite its minor advantages. Her position as a Deva was something that had been foisted on her, most likely as a result of being able to keep the peace in her area, and also for having Gintoki around. She acknowledges readily that without the Yorozuya, she wouldn't be in the position she is, displaying a humble sort of outlook for someone known as the goddamn Empress of Kabuki District.
She'll go out of her way to help those she cares about and she'll extend a hand to anyone in need, even while she puts up a cold front for-- well, no particular reason. Otose can be naggy and abrasive, but that's just the way she is. She embodies Kabuki District's motto to a T in her own way: stubborn, shameless, forceful and flexible (depending on the translation, anyway).
She'll also feed orphans at the cost of her own job and feed stray cats who wander into her shop. And also cut Gintoki breaks whenever she can even when he doesn't pay rent. And also take in Catherine as an employee, whose debut was to steal her money and take off with it, and then try to run her down on a motorcycle before Gintoki knocked her out. Yeah, still working at the shop. As it turns out, Otose's also a pretty good judge of character.
At her age, Otose's seen just about everything. She'll keep her cool in serious situations, but when handling trivial matters or dealing with people who are making a nuisance in her neighborhood, she's been known to be loud, vulgar and violent. You don't live (read: stay alive) in the Kabuki District without picking up some rough edges, after all.
That bartender who stays up all night to listen to your woes in that little snack-bar? That's her, which means she also knows a hell of a lot more about you than you're probably entirely comfortable with, especially since you told her in a drunken, depressed blitz. So don't mess with her.
But despite the initial harshness, Otose's got plenty of connections and acquaintances of her own. Gintoki's her one-man army (with the rest of the Yorozuya and Snack Otose employees as ridiculously powerful sub-armies), but she has the diplomatic chops to maintain order on her block.
Well... more or less, anyway. It's a failed mission from the get-go, trying to tame the rowdy group of idiots that lives above her shop.
Why should that character be in this game: For OCs only.
Why do you want to continue their history here: For characters from other games only.
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play:
Have you read up on how the game works?: Y. Flaming Ferret, she can get jobs, take special jobs from other people and uhhhh steal?
1st person sample:
[ Otose's not really the type to break the fourth wall, BUT HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT SHITTY (LITERALLY) WORLD DESTRUCTION!! ]
I really can't be satisfied with that sort of resolution, but it's impossible to change the past. Any residents of Shinjuku's Kabuki District around?
Though sometimes it feels as if I can't get rid of that group even if I tried.
[ She says nonchalantly, but the perturbed way she roots around in her sleeve for a pack of cigarettes and lighting up thoughtfully should tip off anyone who knows her. ]
... I suppose I'll be needing a lot of these in the next few weeks.
3rd person sample:
Space travel wasn't such a foreign concept in Edo, and the aliens had been surprised at first that a newcomer her age was so completely unfazed by them, but they had adapted quickly enough. Otose for her part already misses the comforts of home, the simple sound of a wooden sliding door, the worn surface of her bar, and she might even miss the authority she had gained in the Kabuki District.
One of the few ideas she's had the most trouble with adjusting to is something she knows is irrational. Offerings exist to appease the living rather than to feed the dead (logically, at least) but Tatsugorou's gravestone isn't a place she can visit anymore. A place that had brought her so much comfort (disregarding a certain incident involving a certain idiot-- no, not that one, the other stubborn white-haired hellraiser), that had connected her to so many people--
Otose picks up the photograph from the memory printer's output slot-- Jirochou's and Tatsugorou's faces grin up to her from the glossy photograph. The one under it is just one of many times both Yorozuya and Snack Otose employees in their entirety were gathered around the bar. She doesn't remember what this particular occasion was about, but when she picks it up and runs her finger over the edge of the picture, she doesn't even bother trying to resist a small, warm smile.
She tries not to be the kind of woman who dwells on the past and for the most part she succeeds, but Otose thinks, not for the first time, that the ship might not be so bad after all, if she can do things like this.