Queen of Hearts Application
Player Information
Name: Jessie
Personal Journal: talia_of_eragon (honestly I don’t use it, going through the character journal would work better)
Contact Info: AIM: taliaoferagon email: taliaoferagon@gmail.com
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Himura Kenshin
Source Canon: Rurouni Kenshin (manga)
Age: 19
Role In Canon: Title character and protagonist through entire series
Justification: Kenshin is my oldest muse, I’ve been playing him since May of 2005 from several different canon points. As he is such an old muse I’m interested in trying something new with him-and an alternate universe in which he had been born female instead of male sounds very interesting, particularly because of the sort of steps that she would have had to take in order for canon events to still take place-namely masquerading as a man in order to join first the Kiheitai and then be recruited by Katsura Kogoro as a hitokiri.
History: actual Kenshin wiki, Rurouni Kenshin on wiki, Himura Kenshin on wiki The canon point I'm bringing her in at is a month or two after the end of the bakumatsu once she has taken up her vow not to kill and received the sakabatou from Arai Shakku.
Changes:
In being born female instead of male, Kenshin’s original name would have been Kokoro instead of Shinta (based off of ‘Shinta’ being written with the kanji for ‘heart’ and ‘big’-‘shin’ is the on reading for ‘heart’ while ‘kokoro’ is the kun reading-Shinta is a boy’s name while Kokoro is a girl’s). Hiko Seijuro XIII, being a bit of a… dick… would have still taken Kokoro under his wing as a student but would have completely ignored the fact that she was a girl-as in he gave her a boy’s name (Kenshin-written with the kanji for ‘sword’ and ‘heart’) and raised her as if she was a boy, because it would be too much trouble and effort to make concessions otherwise.
The initial effect of this made Kenshin into more of a tom boy than she may have been under other circumstances-going as far as to pick up a more masculine way of speaking vs. what would be becoming of a young lady (i.e. especially using the term ore for “I” vs. the gender-neutral or possibly feminine watashi or atashi) and to dress as a boy regardless of circumstances. While under Hiko’s tutelage the dichotomy of being a woman learning swordsmanship didn’t factor in, it was only the master and his student 99% of the time-and really the point of being there was to become strong enough to protect people. If you were the strongest person present it shouldn’t matter whether said person was male or female, and for Kenshin that was good enough.
It wasn’t until she parted ways with Hiko that her gender became an issue, and it didn’t take her long to decide to hide the fact that she was a woman and fully decide to masquerade as a man in order to join first the Kiheitai and then be recruited by the Choshuu clan. It was not the largest leap to take because of how Hiko had raised her, but at no point in those seven years had she stopped thinking of herself as female. Hiding the fact didn’t set well with her, but it seemed a necessary evil in order to be placed where she felt she needed to be. The secret caused her intense anxiety over the concept of being found out and what could potentially happen to her if that happened-it was just added to the laundry list of other things she had to be anxious about. Fortunately, she was already so boyish in looks and mannerisms that the fact wasn’t so terribly difficult to disguise-and once her work for Choshuu truly began the issue almost became moot. First, because the vast majority of the other Choshuu kept such distance from her that it nearly negated the possibility, and second, even if the truth was uncovered… who would be mad enough to try to do anything to Hitokiri Battousai? If they were already terrified of her, what difference would it make if they learned she was female? The damage she could do didn’t change with her gender.
The only other change would be in regards to Tomoe-in the manga the two were actually married when they went into hiding, with Kenshin being a woman she would not have made the proposal of an actual marriage for obvious social reasons and so the marriage really would have been just for show as Katsura Kogoro suggested. The feelings between the two would still remain the same, however. (This may be a bit of a stretch for the characterization of Tomoe, but as anyone applying for Tomoe would have to app from the actual canon this shouldn’t step on anyone’s toes so I’m just chalking this up to the nature of the AU in order to preserve Kenshin’s characterization.)
Personality:
Male or female, Kenshin’s personality ultimately remains the same. The defining part of her personality is her fierce need to protect the people around her. It is the one aspect of her personality that remains the same no matter what happens, whether she is a seven-year-old girl in the middle of a bloodbath, a foolish youth in Kyoto or a wanderer in the countryside-if she hears someone crying out for help she has a fundamental need to react. This is the driving force behind everything Kenshin does.
Kenshin also has a staggering strength of will. Once she decides to do something she will do it and will not waver from the path no matter what happens. Generally speaking, this falls back to the first point and normally has to do with the protection of other people in some way shape or form. When she quarrels with Hiko in order to join the war below the mountain she has already made up her mind and cannot be swayed. She finishes out her role in the war despite recognizing that it was not the right path. At the end she does find a way to protect without killing. And despite everything, she vows to never kill again and manages to keep the vow despite all that happens in the manga. Beyond this simple show of will Kenshin will also push herself beyond what would seem the logical physical and mental breaking point to accomplish her goals-again, this generally falls to the protection of other people-and is known as ‘the spirit surpassing the body’ in the manga.
In day to day interactions, Kenshin is very patient and slow to anger, even over topics that would have most other people up in arms in an instant, this is mostly because Kenshin doesn’t hold much importance in pride and appearances. She easily lets most insults and barbs roll off her back with no problem and the only thing that generally does get a rise out of her generally has to do the oppression of abuse of the weak-which just factors back to that need to protect. The only other thing, at least at this canon point, that would bring out significant anger in her would be people trying to delve into her past.
It should almost go without saying that the fact that Kenshin-a woman whose entire being revolves around the need to protect others-became a hitokiri created a bit of a rift in her psyche. She is plagued by guilt over that decision and the sins she committed during the war-especially in regards to her own lover, Yukishirou Tomoe-and downright obsessed with finding a way to atone for those sins. The emotional wounds Kenshin has sustained hasn’t gone without an effect on her. She is very distant from others, wanting to help, being kind and altruistic, but still keeping them at arm’s length. At this point particularly, Kenshin is afraid of making connections of any kind with other people. This is for several reasons: first and foremost is the very legitimate fear that anyone she makes a connection with could be harmed in order to get to Battousai (the way Tomoe was). Second, is the fear of people learning of her past. During her time as Hitokiri Battousai she was very rarely treated like a normal person by anyone who knew her identity, and the common reaction of anyone who learns it is instantaneous fear and distance. Third, while she won’t acknowledge this herself, she is utterly terrified of the loss of those connections, especially if that loss is somehow (and would likely be) her fault.
The guilt of Tomoe’s death nearly killed her, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that Tomoe died saving Kenshin’s life it might have. Everything surrounding Tomoe’s death had been Kenshin’s fault in some way shape or form. Kenshin was responsible for her fiance’s death, leading her into the situation to begin with. Then, Tomoe’s connection to Kenshin as her lover caused her to be used as a hostage. And in the end, it was Kenshin’s own sword that took Tomoe’s life. There aren’t words for the degree of psychological wounds something like that caused-and the walls Kenshin puts up around herself are the result. Later in life these walls take on the familiar silly bumbling rurouni act-stopping people from getting close to her by means of distraction and deflection. At this canon point it takes the shape of cold aloofness, opting for avoidance, flat out refusal or in some cases anger and confrontation.
Abilities:
Kenshin uses a sword style called Hiten Mitsurugi which is an ancient style that is said to be ‘the strongest’. It was designed for the purpose of fighting multiple opponents at once and relies most heavily on the use of shinsoku, or god speed-noted in the manga as moving faster than the human eye can follow. Kenshin is also able to read her opponent’s ki and predict their movements, thereby making her seem even faster yet. Coupled with that, most of the style’s signature moves revolve around battou-jutsu, or sword-drawing techniques where the act of drawing the sword speeds up the attack as the sword leaves the sheath (this is where Kenshin earned the name ‘Battousai’, meaning “one who has learned all about battou-jutsu”). Ultimately through the above combination to an untrained onlooker, Kenshin often times seems to disappear with the speed of her movements, causing people to think there is some kind of magic or sorcery at work, and beyond that she is able to take down lesser enemies before they even have time to react to her attack.
At this point, Kenshin has been given a sword called a sakabatou, which is a reverse-blade katana where the blunt edge is along the outward curve of the blade. Without this sword, the use of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is a swift and final bloodbath-however, this sword allows her to use the style without killing. She just leaves a wave of pain and broken bones behind her instead… >_>;
Sample:
dear_mun entry
Name: Jessie
Personal Journal: talia_of_eragon (honestly I don’t use it, going through the character journal would work better)
Contact Info: AIM: taliaoferagon email: taliaoferagon@gmail.com
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Himura Kenshin
Source Canon: Rurouni Kenshin (manga)
Age: 19
Role In Canon: Title character and protagonist through entire series
Justification: Kenshin is my oldest muse, I’ve been playing him since May of 2005 from several different canon points. As he is such an old muse I’m interested in trying something new with him-and an alternate universe in which he had been born female instead of male sounds very interesting, particularly because of the sort of steps that she would have had to take in order for canon events to still take place-namely masquerading as a man in order to join first the Kiheitai and then be recruited by Katsura Kogoro as a hitokiri.
History: actual Kenshin wiki, Rurouni Kenshin on wiki, Himura Kenshin on wiki The canon point I'm bringing her in at is a month or two after the end of the bakumatsu once she has taken up her vow not to kill and received the sakabatou from Arai Shakku.
Changes:
In being born female instead of male, Kenshin’s original name would have been Kokoro instead of Shinta (based off of ‘Shinta’ being written with the kanji for ‘heart’ and ‘big’-‘shin’ is the on reading for ‘heart’ while ‘kokoro’ is the kun reading-Shinta is a boy’s name while Kokoro is a girl’s). Hiko Seijuro XIII, being a bit of a… dick… would have still taken Kokoro under his wing as a student but would have completely ignored the fact that she was a girl-as in he gave her a boy’s name (Kenshin-written with the kanji for ‘sword’ and ‘heart’) and raised her as if she was a boy, because it would be too much trouble and effort to make concessions otherwise.
The initial effect of this made Kenshin into more of a tom boy than she may have been under other circumstances-going as far as to pick up a more masculine way of speaking vs. what would be becoming of a young lady (i.e. especially using the term ore for “I” vs. the gender-neutral or possibly feminine watashi or atashi) and to dress as a boy regardless of circumstances. While under Hiko’s tutelage the dichotomy of being a woman learning swordsmanship didn’t factor in, it was only the master and his student 99% of the time-and really the point of being there was to become strong enough to protect people. If you were the strongest person present it shouldn’t matter whether said person was male or female, and for Kenshin that was good enough.
It wasn’t until she parted ways with Hiko that her gender became an issue, and it didn’t take her long to decide to hide the fact that she was a woman and fully decide to masquerade as a man in order to join first the Kiheitai and then be recruited by the Choshuu clan. It was not the largest leap to take because of how Hiko had raised her, but at no point in those seven years had she stopped thinking of herself as female. Hiding the fact didn’t set well with her, but it seemed a necessary evil in order to be placed where she felt she needed to be. The secret caused her intense anxiety over the concept of being found out and what could potentially happen to her if that happened-it was just added to the laundry list of other things she had to be anxious about. Fortunately, she was already so boyish in looks and mannerisms that the fact wasn’t so terribly difficult to disguise-and once her work for Choshuu truly began the issue almost became moot. First, because the vast majority of the other Choshuu kept such distance from her that it nearly negated the possibility, and second, even if the truth was uncovered… who would be mad enough to try to do anything to Hitokiri Battousai? If they were already terrified of her, what difference would it make if they learned she was female? The damage she could do didn’t change with her gender.
The only other change would be in regards to Tomoe-in the manga the two were actually married when they went into hiding, with Kenshin being a woman she would not have made the proposal of an actual marriage for obvious social reasons and so the marriage really would have been just for show as Katsura Kogoro suggested. The feelings between the two would still remain the same, however. (This may be a bit of a stretch for the characterization of Tomoe, but as anyone applying for Tomoe would have to app from the actual canon this shouldn’t step on anyone’s toes so I’m just chalking this up to the nature of the AU in order to preserve Kenshin’s characterization.)
Personality:
Male or female, Kenshin’s personality ultimately remains the same. The defining part of her personality is her fierce need to protect the people around her. It is the one aspect of her personality that remains the same no matter what happens, whether she is a seven-year-old girl in the middle of a bloodbath, a foolish youth in Kyoto or a wanderer in the countryside-if she hears someone crying out for help she has a fundamental need to react. This is the driving force behind everything Kenshin does.
Kenshin also has a staggering strength of will. Once she decides to do something she will do it and will not waver from the path no matter what happens. Generally speaking, this falls back to the first point and normally has to do with the protection of other people in some way shape or form. When she quarrels with Hiko in order to join the war below the mountain she has already made up her mind and cannot be swayed. She finishes out her role in the war despite recognizing that it was not the right path. At the end she does find a way to protect without killing. And despite everything, she vows to never kill again and manages to keep the vow despite all that happens in the manga. Beyond this simple show of will Kenshin will also push herself beyond what would seem the logical physical and mental breaking point to accomplish her goals-again, this generally falls to the protection of other people-and is known as ‘the spirit surpassing the body’ in the manga.
In day to day interactions, Kenshin is very patient and slow to anger, even over topics that would have most other people up in arms in an instant, this is mostly because Kenshin doesn’t hold much importance in pride and appearances. She easily lets most insults and barbs roll off her back with no problem and the only thing that generally does get a rise out of her generally has to do the oppression of abuse of the weak-which just factors back to that need to protect. The only other thing, at least at this canon point, that would bring out significant anger in her would be people trying to delve into her past.
It should almost go without saying that the fact that Kenshin-a woman whose entire being revolves around the need to protect others-became a hitokiri created a bit of a rift in her psyche. She is plagued by guilt over that decision and the sins she committed during the war-especially in regards to her own lover, Yukishirou Tomoe-and downright obsessed with finding a way to atone for those sins. The emotional wounds Kenshin has sustained hasn’t gone without an effect on her. She is very distant from others, wanting to help, being kind and altruistic, but still keeping them at arm’s length. At this point particularly, Kenshin is afraid of making connections of any kind with other people. This is for several reasons: first and foremost is the very legitimate fear that anyone she makes a connection with could be harmed in order to get to Battousai (the way Tomoe was). Second, is the fear of people learning of her past. During her time as Hitokiri Battousai she was very rarely treated like a normal person by anyone who knew her identity, and the common reaction of anyone who learns it is instantaneous fear and distance. Third, while she won’t acknowledge this herself, she is utterly terrified of the loss of those connections, especially if that loss is somehow (and would likely be) her fault.
The guilt of Tomoe’s death nearly killed her, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that Tomoe died saving Kenshin’s life it might have. Everything surrounding Tomoe’s death had been Kenshin’s fault in some way shape or form. Kenshin was responsible for her fiance’s death, leading her into the situation to begin with. Then, Tomoe’s connection to Kenshin as her lover caused her to be used as a hostage. And in the end, it was Kenshin’s own sword that took Tomoe’s life. There aren’t words for the degree of psychological wounds something like that caused-and the walls Kenshin puts up around herself are the result. Later in life these walls take on the familiar silly bumbling rurouni act-stopping people from getting close to her by means of distraction and deflection. At this canon point it takes the shape of cold aloofness, opting for avoidance, flat out refusal or in some cases anger and confrontation.
Abilities:
Kenshin uses a sword style called Hiten Mitsurugi which is an ancient style that is said to be ‘the strongest’. It was designed for the purpose of fighting multiple opponents at once and relies most heavily on the use of shinsoku, or god speed-noted in the manga as moving faster than the human eye can follow. Kenshin is also able to read her opponent’s ki and predict their movements, thereby making her seem even faster yet. Coupled with that, most of the style’s signature moves revolve around battou-jutsu, or sword-drawing techniques where the act of drawing the sword speeds up the attack as the sword leaves the sheath (this is where Kenshin earned the name ‘Battousai’, meaning “one who has learned all about battou-jutsu”). Ultimately through the above combination to an untrained onlooker, Kenshin often times seems to disappear with the speed of her movements, causing people to think there is some kind of magic or sorcery at work, and beyond that she is able to take down lesser enemies before they even have time to react to her attack.
At this point, Kenshin has been given a sword called a sakabatou, which is a reverse-blade katana where the blunt edge is along the outward curve of the blade. Without this sword, the use of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is a swift and final bloodbath-however, this sword allows her to use the style without killing. She just leaves a wave of pain and broken bones behind her instead… >_>;
Sample:
dear_mun entry