ilpromenade app -WIP
PLAYER
✧ NAME:Hazy
✧ LJ USERNAME: jaybie_jarrett
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.):
Email :hazydreamstar@yahoo.com
AIM:HazyDStar4
MSN: scc_stryke@yahoo.com
Plurk:Jewel Beadley
Skype jaybiejarrett
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: None
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: Taroku “Blade” Toyaka "Refusing thy name is easier said than done"
✧ SERIES: Original Character , (“Mind’s Construction Chronicles”)
✧ HISTORY:
The world contains a race of people known as Psi who, in most cases possess one power. There are some who have one of two ‘conditions’ that weaken their power. Those conditions are mind-reading, in which the psi can read the minds of people within a 10-15 mile radius at any given moment, and Empathy, where a Psi can experience the emotions of people around them. Mind reading fades away after several years as the Psi grows up but Empathy is permanent.
The Psi’s original power and their conditions share in strength and one gets stronger as the other fades. The two abilities can only achieve half strength at the same time. The two conditions are seen as weaknesses and have a negative stigma in most Psi communities. There are also two different kinds of shapeshifters those who can manage human-animal transformations and those that can manage human-to human transformations. One cannot do both. The Psi have lived in secret from non Psi (mostly) for hundreds of years. The general rule is that one only reveals their power to a non-Psi if they are engaged to marry. Psi powers usually manifest around ages 5-7 whereas conditions can be present as early as 3 or 4.
There’s also two ancient magical forces, One attained and controlled by those who have killed, the practice of it is known as ‘Hemomancy’. It is powered by blood and uses ‘artifacts’ and requires very a dark mindset. Psi and non-Psi alike have been known to engage in it There are old urban legends and fables about ‘sorcerers’ who have trapped or bound a Psi to an artifact. When a practitioner of this ‘magic’ is near death they often seal themselves to an artifact so that a part of them may live on. Hemomancy causes a kind of madness after a person gets so deep in it. The only way out is remorse. It often causes crushing despair, madness or death to those who are too deep or not strong enough. This practice is believed to have died out years ago. The other Naturamancy is lesser known magic and based on the elements (earth, water, wind and fire) and healing. It is practiced fewer people as it is extremely difficult to master. Many of the best naturamancers are former hemomancers that were able to withstand remorse. Some of the better naturamancers can travel through time, something hemomancers have yet to figure out. . The world is similar to our modern day world with its unusual aspects hidden.
Since an incident in the 1500s the Toyaka and Stryke families, formerly casual rivals (and both Psi families) have been in a feud with one another. The fighting was sparked by the death of the Stryke’s ancestor Crispin and the disappearance of the favored daughter of the Toyakas’ ancestor, which Crispin’s son Mason was put to death for.
The ferocity of the fighting died down as both sides tried to keep their identity as Psi secret. The unofficial truce, which was more of a cold war between the families than anything, lasted for a good fifty years. The Strykes’ arrogance caused them to fall from social graces somewhat while they still retained their money. The Toyakas came up with a new plan suggested by the current head of the family’s favored daughter Fiona; an arranged marriage. They proposed it to the Strykes , enticing them with the promise of returning their family to its former place in society
The Stryke’s eldest and only daughter Sophia , a bitter perfectionist was arranged to the Toyaka’s oldest son and oft overlooked second child Tybalt. Sophia’s younger brother Elliott was arranged to Fiona. Sophia considered the arrangement her duty and went along with it despite her feelings. Despite the distance between them, Sophia and Tybalt tried to have at least one child, but due to some health issues things didn’t seem to be working out. Sophia’s brother Elliott came to her several times claiming that his wife terrified him and he couldn’t stand the arrangement. Sophia dismissed him as a liar and told him to stop making up stories and take some responsibility. He tried going to her again with proof of his claims but she told her husband who threatened to shoot Elliott if he ever showed up again.
Later Ian, the youngest of Sophia’s siblings confronted her. She dismissed him and he continued to try and get her attention until Fiona found out and he left. Months later he and his lover were found dead in their home. Soon after that Elliott left his wife claiming abuse. The Strykes believed him and helped him get a divorce and flee to America. Sophia became estranged from her family from that day. Around the time of Elliott’s departure she became pregnant and had a son, Taroku. Shortly after that she got the announcement that her ‘former’ brother had remarried and his new wife had a child. Sophia ignored the announcements and firmly told her parents she wanted nothing more to do with the Strykes. At Fiona ‘s pressuring for another nephew, Sophia and Tybalt had another child but it turned out to be a girl, Anamaria. Sophia had a preference for firstborn children, due to her parents spoiling their younger children and putting all the pressure on her, and being distant all the while.
She favored Taroku while Tybalt spoiled Ana. This caused a lot of arguments between the two of them and Taroku and Anamaria developed resentment towards each other. Sophia’s perfectionism affected her parenting and she pushed her children to be a bit perfectionist as well. Taroku was brought up believing that gluttony was one of the most shameful behaviors and he was taught to watch calories and eat less. Both Tybalt and Sophia started to sink into alcoholism and their fighting got worse which increased the tension between Taroku and Anamaria. Both children sided with the parent that favored them. Sophia’s parents, in one last attempt to reconcile their children, invited Sophia to a Psi convention, an event held once a year. This year it was in New York City. Sophia went with Taroku and it turned out to be something of a disaster. Sophia found out her brother’s son was an Empath and commented on how it served him right for abandoning his commitment with Fiona. Taroku mocked his cousin Skye about being “practically illegitimate” starting a fight. Sophia left early telling her son that Elliott wasn’t to be considered family. Sophia’s perfectionism became worse and she started trying to push her son to compete with Fiona’s son Dex due to her jealousy of Fiona.
One afternoon when Taroku and Anamaria were banished to their room they reached an agreement and started to become close. The two siblings relied on each other’s company as their parents’ marriage became more troublesome. Tybalt’s heavy drinking caused his relationship with his son to go from neglectful to abusive.
Taroku tried to stand up to Dex a violent tempered boy who didn’t appreciate his competition. To keep Taroku ‘in his place’ Dex poked the younger boy’s eyes until the two were pulled apart. Sophia took him to a hospital later that night and covered up Dex’s actions saying Taroku had an accident. Soon after he started a new school and had a little bit of trouble fitting in. He met Adrian Aarons, a spirited prankster and the two of them became friends. They were eventually joined by a third friend, Gretchen Kramer. In between tests and combat lessons with Dex, Taroku hung out with the two of them. Adrian gave Taroku the nickname ‘Blade’ which he would keep after tragedy struck. Taroku’s crazy cousin Derek was brought home from the mental hospital and started ‘playing with’ the three friends, Adrian’s parents put out a restraining order against Derek and became a bit more wary of Taroku’s family, as did Gretchen’s parents, who took her off on a retreat to the mountains of Switzerland. The boys still tried to stay close and planned a sleepover one night. Taroku became worried about Adrian’s safety after Derek taunted him about killing Adrian. He cancelled the sleepover, and the two friends had a fight. Derek listened in and that night while Adrian’s parents were out, Derek slipped out, violated his restraining order and murdered Adrian.
He cleverly hid the evidence, using his pyrokinetic powers to burn the remains and switched this knives, and gave the police the wrong knife. Adrian’s murder was pinned on a drifter but his parents blamed Taroku and refused to let him admission to the funeral. Gretchen returned from her trip and the first thing she did was blame Taroku for not protecting Adrian. Taroku tried to talk to her but she avoided him and told her parents and all her friends that he probably killed Adrian in jealousy and was obsessed with her. Their friendship was destroyed beyond repair.
Taroku, or Blade as he now called himself in memory of his lost best friend , was all alone now save for his sister. Under pressure not to show too much grief in front of his father who suspected there was something ‘funny’ between the two friends, Taroku started dressing in all dark clothes as a way of mourning Adrian and became cool and distant to everyone but Anamaria not seeming to care about them. Later, under increasing pressure from everything around him Taroku slid into the partying lifestyle. By day he worked in did tests for his mother and by night he snuck into nightclubs and wild parties and started smoking and drinking not seeming to care about what it did to his body. He also started using diet pills and throwing up to lose weight so his fanatical mother wouldn’t punish him. He started messing around with girls still trying to fill the empty space his friend’s loss caused. Two years later his family dragged him to another Psi convention and he met his maternal cousin Skye.
Taroku didn’t recognize the young boy he had once mocked and attempted to wave him off and treat him like he treated other guys. Skye did recognize him and the two got into an argument until Taroku recognized the boy. Taroku fled the scene to save face, and went back to flirting with the ‘well bred’ girls of the well known old Psi families. Soon afterward he found out, much to his shock that Skye’s parents his maternal aunt and uncle had recently died. He returned to boarding school but was expelled soon after, having been caught being ‘indecent’ with a girl in his dorm room after hours. He was put to work under his cousin Dex as a spy and he and his sister were sent to an American boarding school. He encountered Skye again after the flight over there and attempted to apologize, the two got into an argument and then he was attacked and threatened by Felix who blamed his parents’ deaths on Taroku’s mother.
Afterwards he balanced studying with keeping an eye on the Strykes using his powers. When Katsuya, Dex’s student first arrives Taroku is stuck with giving him a report, a troublesome task considering there is little love between the two boys. Dex comes to America to meet up with Katsuya and while escaping his troubles at a nightclub Taroku gets news from Ana that Skye has gone after Dex. He secretly tries to tail Skye in cat form. He barely gets the warning to Dex when he is attacked by a wild animal. After a near showdown with Skye, Dex returns to England and gives Taroku and Anamaria their orders watch the communication between Felix and his partner and their base of investigation. Taroku reluctantly agrees reminding Dex that Felix would gut him if he found out. Dex only replied to threatening to report him to the head of their family or use his organs in a dark magic ritual. So Taroku complied and he and Ana took turns watching Felix and his partner. In between he hangs out at the mall and spends his nights at various clubs and parties. One day he stops at the Library for some schoolwork and finds Skye’s younger brother Timmy looking up things on the Toyakas. He warns Timmy to keep out of the Toyaka’s business so he doesn’t get hurt. He and Ana get some more high tech spy gear from Dex with orders to find out more.
He eavesdrops on the Tektons but gets caught by Tasi and nearly injured and arrested. He is later approached by Duncan, a young boy about Timmy’s age who tells him what Timmy is looking into and attempting to sell him out. Taroku harshly tells the boy to keep his mouth shut about his friend and get lost. He continues to do his job almost getting caught by Felix. After that he decides to take a small break from spy work and he hits the clubs crashes a party. Later he notices that Timmy is ‘off’ and tries to find out why but gets cornered by Kato accuses Taroku of selling Timmy out and Taroku responds that someone tried to sell the kid out but he didn’t listen. Kato lets him get away with a warning to reconsider his loyalties so he doesn’t go down with the Toyakas.
This surprises Taroku a bit and makes him feel a little guilty. He tries to forget it and goes back to working on schoolwork. He starts having nightmares about being sent to prison or hell or getting someone killed. He becomes more reluctant to spy and Dex notices and questions his loyalty. Taroku mentions that he doesn’t want ‘family loyalty’ to make him a killer. Dex reminds him that if some other certain family members (like Derek) hear of him being a traitor they’ll attack first and ask questions later before hanging up. He is later dragged to a meeting with the Toyakas and notices Skye and his friends but doesn’t call attention to them. He and Anamaria sneaks out and he takes Ana to the mall for shopping. Later the make a stop by the bathroom and in the bathroom he meets Duncan. Duncan tells Taroku he knows about the Psi and has been watching him. The younger boy brags that he can do Taroku’s job better than Taroku can as he was the one who got Timmy caught by Derek. Taroku tells him off and says that he’s scum. Duncan points out that Taroku does the same thing, only because he’s afraid of his relatives. He claims that since Taroku doesn’t like it but doesn’t do anything about it he’s more scum than Duncan is.
At the end of that winter Taroku and Ana are called back to England to report to Fiona ‘or else’. Taroku gets out of school by claiming he’s going home to observe a religious holiday (which is half true. A religious holiday does occur during that time, not that his family really practices it). They fly back to England where Fiona questions Taroku about his loyalty. She promises to look out for Taroku and offer him protection ‘if he’s good’. Dex takes it upon himself to give Taroku a little ‘training’. Training that included a gun and a lot of beating up. Ana is sent somewhere else and Taroku returns to America alone.
He sulks a little bit and then becomes determined to do the best job he can at spying to get his sister back . He takes notes on the Strykes/Tektons ‘progress on finding out about the artifacts. The spying starts to take a toll on his grades and performance in school. His teachers demand a parent teacher conference. Taroku tries to please them by working harder but he is eventually reduced to begging Dex for help. Dex tells Taroku that if he steals something from the Tektons and passes it along to Derek he’ll take care of the issue and see about the issue with Ana. Despite his better judgment Taroku agrees. He nearly gets arrested for violating a restraining order but is forbidden from looking at what it is. As he gets the documents to Derek he debates with himself what they could be and what information he could possibly be passing. He remembers Kato’s warning and decides to look at the documents. When he finds out what they are , he can’t go through with passing some of the information. He tries to come up with a plan and then decides to ‘lose’ some of them. He hands the folder with the monetary info to Derek excluding any info that gives away their location. Derek holds Taroku hostage and sends his brothers to the latter’s dorm to look for them. Derek tells Taroku that if they don’t find them he will torture him. They find the info and Derek makes Taroku beg and submit to beating in exchange for not saying anything to Dex.
Derek hands Taroku off to Dex and Dex goes to the parent teacher conference with Taroku, posing as a parental figure. He gets Taroku pulled out of a few ‘useless’ classes’ and pulls him out of debate. As they leave Taroku asks about Ana but Dex tells him bluntly that there’s no way in hell that Ana’s coming back. He mentions that Derek told him some interesting things about Taroku ‘betraying them’. He goes off to an important meeting leaving Taroku to fume and drown himself in alcohol some more.
Dex’s meeting stirs the Psi into a civil argument and the public starts to distrust Psi even more. Taroku’s roommate finds out about his powers and he gets kicked out of the school. He sends a message to his parents about it and they are angry but Dex orders him to forget about it and wait for orders.
In the meantime he goes to parties and nightclubs. He gets a fake ID from Dex and is ordered to keep an eye on the Tektons and report their movements. He gets caught by a couple of people and questioned about involvement in the occult. The leader locks him in a cellar for the night and he gets out using his Psi powers. Dex gets on his case about why he hasn’t been watching ‘the enemy’ and given new orders. Watch Kato Tekton’s place of employment. He watches it and runs into Adelaide Cameron a friend of Kato’s. To keep up appearances he talks to her and asks her out to dinner. Over dinner he tries to question her about Kato and work. They end up talking about different more personal matters and Taroku gets distracted. Their conversation leaves him with something to think about. How much does he really owe the Toyakas?
He is called to a meeting where the Toyakas grill him about information and plan to raid the Tekton/Stryke’s new organization MonteCorp. Taroku is reluctant to assist and Dex, surprisingly tells him his interference isn’t necessary. Taroku starts to leave but then curiosity gets the better of him and he listens in. He finds out the date and time that they intend to storm the place. He goes home and on his way he notices that’s someone is following him. When he gets home Katsuya Toyaka confronts him and accuses him of being a traitor. Taroku claims that he’s not going to do anything and then Kat warns him that Dex will know if he’s lying.
Taroku’s stress gets worse and on the night of the planned attack he goes to warn them remembering Adelaide’s words. He gets cold feet however when he sees Derek there. Taroku hides and watches the whole attack up until Timothy Stryke’s electrocution at the hands of Katsuya. He notices an uncanny similarity between the two. He escapes the scene but the events haunt him. He looks into some olds news about the kidnapping disappearance of one year old Gilbert Stryke (Timothy’s older twin) and comes to a disturbing conclusion. Katsuya and Timothy are brothers.
He tries to drown out the realization with drinking but can’t quite shake the sick feeling. He starts to become more worried as the hate for Psi grows more. When he’s at a club he gets cornered and attacked by some people for being a ‘freak’. He gets injured but manages to get away. The event shakes him a bit and he starts to become more guarded and almost paranoid about being found out.
✧ TIMELINE: A Week after the Psi Protection Act goes into affect
✧ PERSONALITY:
Taroku grew up in an extremely dysfunctional household. His immediate family and his extended family were all part of a hierarchy led by a bloodthirsty head of household, Fiona Toyaka. The Toyakas run kind of like a cult that runs on a perverted form of family loyalty that values obedience to the head of the family above all else. Betrayal to blood is viewed as unforgivable Taroku was raised with the mantra ‘keep up appearances and keep our family affairs hidden’ pounded into his head. He was convinced that most psychiatrists were fakes and to avoid them. He’s secretive about his home life and gets anxious when he accidentally spills something. He doesn’t like doctors claiming that they’re “nosy, ask too many questions and have big needles”. He was brutally punished when his family suspected that he had let something slip. He convinced himself somewhat that since he’s rich he should be living the good life, or at least pretend to be.
Taroku’s mother paid more attention to him as a child. She was, at the beginning a strict parent who stressed healthy eating and cared a bit too much about appearances. She warned him to avoid the seven deadly sins especially the sin of gluttony which she seemed to have a special dislike for. But she soon became fanatical filling Taroku’s head with extremist methods of weight management and yelled at him for eating too much. This caused his unhealthy eating habits and paranoia about weight gain. She also had a lot of resentment towards her sister in law and started pushing Taroku to do better than his cousin Dex (the child of the sister in law she resented and the brother she hated). She justified her pressuring by claiming that she was involved in his life and not distant like her parents were. She also claims that she is at least specific about her expectations. Despite not liking the way his mother treated his sister, he craved her acceptance and affection and wished she would put him above her obsession with appearing perfect. He uses weight pills crash diets and unhealthy habits to please her, even if it hurts him in the process.
His relationship with his father is far more strained. Tybalt was indifferent to Taroku in early childhood. He started drinking more, sinking harder into his bitterness at being stuck in a marriage with a woman he didn’t love and children he wasn’t sure he could raise. He slowly started becoming abusive to Taroku. He mocked his child’s attempts to please him by getting involved in sports, partially leading to Taroku’s aversion to sports. As his father drank more he started lashing out more at his son and wife. Taroku gave up trying to please his father, preferring to stay out of the man’s way. His father always pressured him not to be a sissy and caused his inability to make normal friendships with other males. He feels very betrayed by his father who, instead of raising him, mocked him, humiliated him in front of drinking buddies and denied that Taroku was his son. After his best friend died, Taroku struggled not to show his grief in front of his father. He has a hard time standing up to the man for fear of getting a beating but resents him and tries to find small ways to spite him.
Taroku’s relationship with his sister started out as a rivalry.
The two of them resented each other for seemingly getting the affection of the parent who abused them. Taroku was taught not to hit a girl but he found other ways to get to his sister, with words. When their fighting reached its peak, at a holiday get together the head of household got annoyed and banished them to a room together, not realizing that her actions would eventually give them a method of surviving against her. The two siblings realized that they both had the same problem and it would be smarter to stick together than to tear each other down even more. They made a truce and started to bond and took on an ‘us against the world’ mentality. Ana’s relationship with Taroku is one of the few familial relationships he has that isn’t destructive. He gives his best effort to defend her against family members and is fiercely protective against outside elements, especially boys. Possibly his protecting his sister is one last attempt to get favor from his father, by trying to protect his ‘little girl’. Anamaria is also his anchor, that is to say she is there when he needs someone to rely on. She is also his primary reason for not giving up, because he fears what the family would do to her without him to look out for her.
Taroku always struggled with friendships with other children especially other boys, made worse by his arrogant attitude in early childhood before the incident that injured his eyes. Adrian Aarons was more persistent and managed to break through to him. He showed up when the once arrogant boy had been humbled and was at the mercy of his classmates. Adrian’s friendship was probably the best thing for Taroku . The two boys worked together to pull pranks the bullies at their private school who used their influence to push others around. Adrian helped bring out the best in Taroku, and made it ‘worth it’ to try to be a good person instead of following his relatives. He also expressed concern at his friend’s home life and was the first person Taroku trusted enough with the secret of his powers. The two brought a third person into their party, plain but ambitious Gretchen Kramer, a decision that Taroku would come to regret. The three of them were bonded by a similar predicament; all of them were rich kids from households with varying levels of dysfunction. Derek’s interference caused stressed in the threesome and Gretchen seemed to become depressed. Her parents whisked her away for a retreat to Switzerland. Taroku and Adrian later had a fight and the last thing Adrian did was accuse Taroku of being a coward. That accusation still haunts Taroku to this day as he wonders if there was more he could have done to protect his friend. It was also the first time he truly felt ashamed of his relatives. Gretchen’s later betrayal was a second blow. Taroku had been in love with her and hearing words of blame from her was almost more than he could take.
The loss of his friend and betrayal of a friend he had feelings for greatly damaged Taroku’s ability to trust people. It set back much of the good that the friendship had done for his ability to make good relationships. He now had another reason not to make close bonds with people, feeling they would leave, die or otherwise betray him. The only person he fully trusted was Anamaria. Many of his other relatives seemed to either be outright abusive or manipulate him (and many of the decent ones only came around once or twice every five years). His aunt Fiona, the head of the household once promised to keep him safe from his father rage, but only as long as he was a ‘good boy’. Most interactions he had with her seemed to have an ulterior motive. His relationship with Dex was one of, jealousy, fear and hatred. Dex represented the impossible ideal that Taroku was expected by his mother to live up to. Dex also had power over his other relatives granted by being the son of the head of the household and seemed to take every chance to use it for cruelty. Taroku wished he could take Dex’s place so he could try to right what Dex had wronged.
Dex taught Taroku hand to hand combat and fencing for some time. He then expelled his cousin from his tutelage when the younger boy was still coping with the loss of his friend. Dex was a harsh teacher and took every chance he got to remind Taroku of much of a disappointment and failure he was and when he was expelled, pronounced him ‘hopeless’ and ‘a lost cause’. Dex eventually became Taroku’s boss of sorts and held threats of pain and death over his younger cousin to keep him in line. While working as a spy for the family Taroku slowly gains more awareness of the family’s goals and how evil they are. He still stayed in their service out of fear of death and justified going along with it for his sister’s protection and his own, reminding himself that he wasn’t doing anything but spying. He started to realize that the ‘family business’ was built on manipulating and abusing its members.
From the age of thirteen Taroku turned to the party lifestyle to cope with the pressure emotions he felt. He got addicted to alcohol and tobacco. He uses the diet control pill to rid himself of the weight and in his mind, the guilt of indulging on alcohol. He started smoking in little bits in place of eating meals. He relies on the fact that Psi bodies are more durable and take longer to permanently injure or damage. He let a girlfriend talk him into having his ‘first time’ with her, partly to spite Gretchen and partially to help Taroku forget her. After that he started messing around with girls more to feed the starvation for affection he suffered from since childhood. Yet he still has a code of chivalry. He is perfectly willing to allow himself to be used for his bank account but finds the idea of taking advantage of a girl to be repulsive. He would rather be used then be a user like his relatives. He justifies this to himself claiming that the deal is ‘mutually benefitting’. He insists to others that he’s got some charm but underneath he knows he’s being used and resigned himself to it, believing “It’s better to be hurt than to be guilty for hurting another”. He has no plans to be married and has an aversion to the idea of marriage. He distrusts the idea of marriage, as nearly all the marriages around him have been dysfunctional. He also fears fatherhood, not wanting to be the kind of father Tybalt was to him. He says that if he ever got a girl pregnant he would have no problem paying child support but raising a kid is something he doesn’t think he can do.
Taroku and Skye still don’t like each other but for different reasons. Taroku is annoyed by Skye’s “self-righteous idealism”. He resents the belief Skye has that he and his sister willingly serve the Toyakas, though Taroku has never explicitly stated his reasons. Taroku doesn’t like the way Skye treats his brother and is exasperated by Timmy’s naiveté. He also dislikes Felix but feels guilty, knowing that the older boy has a justifiable reason to hate him- Felix is Ian Stryke’s son, and his parents are dead because of Taroku’s mother. Taroku views life as a series of tough experiences to deal with. He knows firsthand that the world is a cruel unfair place that spits upon hopes and ideals. He believes in loyalty but not his family’s version. To him loyalty should be earned and betrayal of friendship is a lowly, disgusting thing to do. Taroku has no illusions regarding his personality flaws. He honestly views himself as a ”pretty lousy person”. He’s good at chess. He beat Dex once at it. Dex declared it a fluke but never played Taroku again after he got in one last win.
Taroku has an extensive knowledge of both English and American law and government. He was sent to study law in order to become a lawyer that could get his family members out of trouble. He is perfectly aware of the common view of lawyers and has even cracked a few lawyer jokes at his own expense. He has a sense of humor that that can be dark, bordering on gallows humor at times or suggestive. He’s also very sarcastic and his snarky comments can sometimes get him in trouble.
He prefers the nickname ‘Blade’ because he prefers the person he was with Adrian to the puppet he is to his family. He’s also very neat, due to his mother’s influence. She stressed appearances and looking your best. He can be a bit on the vain side (his mother didn’t really see vanity as much as a sin as gluttony. “At least vain people look good” she said). He likes being a cat because they clean themselves.
Due to his powers Taroku has gained an appreciation for animals and what they can do. He is almost always unwilling to harm an animal and occasionally looks out for strays that pass by his dorm, something he gets a bit of heat for from classmates. He considers himself mostly vegetarian and won’t eat any meat other than fish. He only eats fish because of the instincts that carry over from his most common form, a cat. He has little tolerance for people who willingly harm animals. He’s also surprisingly good at working with animals, though if someone points it out, he will stubbornly deny it.
On the surface he seems like a cocky, rich and somewhat vain skirt chaser, but if you manage to get close enough you will find a sometimes abrasive but clever, complex witty and extremely loyal person with a slightly tarnished but still functional moral compass.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS:
Taroku can shift into any animal on the ‘physical plane. That is to say, he can’t become any kind of spiritual or supernatural creature. Shifting requires more concentration if he hasn’t turned into one certain animal before. He can turn into animals he’s turned into before more quickly. After the first few shifts into an animal he starts to learn and take on some of the animal’s instincts. If he uses one form enough he may start to exhibit certain quirks and little behaviors he learned from the form while in human form (example Taroku often uses the form of a cat so he has gained a taste for seafood and it’s the only meat he will eat) He cannot turn from one animal to another he has to transform in a pattern ‘human-animal’ or risk screwing up his body.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Day
✧ MASK DESIGN: It’s a dark blue color with gold decoration around it and has pointed tips. On one side it has the Toyaka family Coat of Arms which includes a sword a dagger and shadowy fox with sharp teeth.
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: His apartment building.
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON :
I - can’t…this is sick. Really fucking sick. They’re brothers. Twin brothers. How could Kat not-
Wait…they’ve never actually face until now. Damn, the first time they see each other in twelve (Is it really? That sounds about right.) years and one of them electrocutes the other near to death.
I always knew there was something wrong with Aunt Fiona, but this is a whole different kind of low. Yet somehow, I’m not surprised. She always creeped me out. Hell, the woman had her husband killed because he succeeded in leaving her. She’s a fucking lunatic. Doesn’t she have an ounce of motherly instinct? It almost makes me feel sorry for Dex
Almost .
He had a hand in this too. The way he lords himself over the whole family makes it hard to feel sorry for him. Especially when I remember why I have glasses.
Just my luck being born into a family of nutters. Somebody up there hates me.
✧ THIRD PERSON:
It was getting dark outside by now and Taroku inwardly cursed the public bus system and their poor heaters. It’s not like cold was new to him, certainly not. But it just seemed like another addition to the list of all that had gone wrong today. They had just barely made it out of a family meeting. It seemed Dex wasn’t content with making his life miserable all the way from England. Ana leaned against him a bit and he put an arm around her.
Dex hadn’t passed up the chance to berate Ana for not getting enough done and then dismissed her as a waste of space. She didn’t mention this until afterwards and she had to hold Taroku back from going back to rip Dex up. Not that he would succeed, but he at least wanted to try. They were headed for the mall now and Taroku was determined to do anything it took to bring that smile back to her face however temporary.
If used some of his work budget, then he would face the consequences. If Dex didn’t want him to ‘waste’ his money on unimportant matters then he should have watched his mouth. Ana had so much mess going on, their mother seemed to blame her for everything that was wrong with the family and their father didn’t do anything to help. Their parents didn’t believe in psychiatrists so shopping was the best method of therapy that Taroku could offer.
“T-Taroku” she said. Her nose sounded congested from crying.
“I can see if they’ll turn up the heat if you want. “ he said.
“No. It’s fine” She said. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to use your money on me if it will get you in trouble”
“I want to. If Dex doesn’t like it, it’s his fault for being a bastard to you” Taroku said holding her closer. She laid her head on his lap and he leaned back still rubbing her shoulder. She looked so much like a little girl again. He wished he could protect her better, from their parents from Dex from, everything. He was doing everything he knew to watch out for her but things still went wrong. She was still a ghost of her former self and he hadn’t seen her genuinely happy for years. “I’m sorry Ana. I’m a lousy older brother”.
✧ ORIGINAL CHARACTER QUESTION: Well, the first thing Taroku will likely wonder is if he’s finally cracked or in a drunk dream. He’ll slowly get used to it and his snarky nature may gain him a few enemies, but as he gets used to the idea of being away from his family he’ll start to let down his defenses and allow some people to get close.
✧ NAME:Hazy
✧ LJ USERNAME: jaybie_jarrett
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.):
Email :hazydreamstar@yahoo.com
AIM:HazyDStar4
MSN: scc_stryke@yahoo.com
Plurk:Jewel Beadley
Skype jaybiejarrett
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: None
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: Taroku “Blade” Toyaka "Refusing thy name is easier said than done"
✧ SERIES: Original Character , (“Mind’s Construction Chronicles”)
✧ HISTORY:
The world contains a race of people known as Psi who, in most cases possess one power. There are some who have one of two ‘conditions’ that weaken their power. Those conditions are mind-reading, in which the psi can read the minds of people within a 10-15 mile radius at any given moment, and Empathy, where a Psi can experience the emotions of people around them. Mind reading fades away after several years as the Psi grows up but Empathy is permanent.
The Psi’s original power and their conditions share in strength and one gets stronger as the other fades. The two abilities can only achieve half strength at the same time. The two conditions are seen as weaknesses and have a negative stigma in most Psi communities. There are also two different kinds of shapeshifters those who can manage human-animal transformations and those that can manage human-to human transformations. One cannot do both. The Psi have lived in secret from non Psi (mostly) for hundreds of years. The general rule is that one only reveals their power to a non-Psi if they are engaged to marry. Psi powers usually manifest around ages 5-7 whereas conditions can be present as early as 3 or 4.
There’s also two ancient magical forces, One attained and controlled by those who have killed, the practice of it is known as ‘Hemomancy’. It is powered by blood and uses ‘artifacts’ and requires very a dark mindset. Psi and non-Psi alike have been known to engage in it There are old urban legends and fables about ‘sorcerers’ who have trapped or bound a Psi to an artifact. When a practitioner of this ‘magic’ is near death they often seal themselves to an artifact so that a part of them may live on. Hemomancy causes a kind of madness after a person gets so deep in it. The only way out is remorse. It often causes crushing despair, madness or death to those who are too deep or not strong enough. This practice is believed to have died out years ago. The other Naturamancy is lesser known magic and based on the elements (earth, water, wind and fire) and healing. It is practiced fewer people as it is extremely difficult to master. Many of the best naturamancers are former hemomancers that were able to withstand remorse. Some of the better naturamancers can travel through time, something hemomancers have yet to figure out. . The world is similar to our modern day world with its unusual aspects hidden.
Since an incident in the 1500s the Toyaka and Stryke families, formerly casual rivals (and both Psi families) have been in a feud with one another. The fighting was sparked by the death of the Stryke’s ancestor Crispin and the disappearance of the favored daughter of the Toyakas’ ancestor, which Crispin’s son Mason was put to death for.
The ferocity of the fighting died down as both sides tried to keep their identity as Psi secret. The unofficial truce, which was more of a cold war between the families than anything, lasted for a good fifty years. The Strykes’ arrogance caused them to fall from social graces somewhat while they still retained their money. The Toyakas came up with a new plan suggested by the current head of the family’s favored daughter Fiona; an arranged marriage. They proposed it to the Strykes , enticing them with the promise of returning their family to its former place in society
The Stryke’s eldest and only daughter Sophia , a bitter perfectionist was arranged to the Toyaka’s oldest son and oft overlooked second child Tybalt. Sophia’s younger brother Elliott was arranged to Fiona. Sophia considered the arrangement her duty and went along with it despite her feelings. Despite the distance between them, Sophia and Tybalt tried to have at least one child, but due to some health issues things didn’t seem to be working out. Sophia’s brother Elliott came to her several times claiming that his wife terrified him and he couldn’t stand the arrangement. Sophia dismissed him as a liar and told him to stop making up stories and take some responsibility. He tried going to her again with proof of his claims but she told her husband who threatened to shoot Elliott if he ever showed up again.
Later Ian, the youngest of Sophia’s siblings confronted her. She dismissed him and he continued to try and get her attention until Fiona found out and he left. Months later he and his lover were found dead in their home. Soon after that Elliott left his wife claiming abuse. The Strykes believed him and helped him get a divorce and flee to America. Sophia became estranged from her family from that day. Around the time of Elliott’s departure she became pregnant and had a son, Taroku. Shortly after that she got the announcement that her ‘former’ brother had remarried and his new wife had a child. Sophia ignored the announcements and firmly told her parents she wanted nothing more to do with the Strykes. At Fiona ‘s pressuring for another nephew, Sophia and Tybalt had another child but it turned out to be a girl, Anamaria. Sophia had a preference for firstborn children, due to her parents spoiling their younger children and putting all the pressure on her, and being distant all the while.
She favored Taroku while Tybalt spoiled Ana. This caused a lot of arguments between the two of them and Taroku and Anamaria developed resentment towards each other. Sophia’s perfectionism affected her parenting and she pushed her children to be a bit perfectionist as well. Taroku was brought up believing that gluttony was one of the most shameful behaviors and he was taught to watch calories and eat less. Both Tybalt and Sophia started to sink into alcoholism and their fighting got worse which increased the tension between Taroku and Anamaria. Both children sided with the parent that favored them. Sophia’s parents, in one last attempt to reconcile their children, invited Sophia to a Psi convention, an event held once a year. This year it was in New York City. Sophia went with Taroku and it turned out to be something of a disaster. Sophia found out her brother’s son was an Empath and commented on how it served him right for abandoning his commitment with Fiona. Taroku mocked his cousin Skye about being “practically illegitimate” starting a fight. Sophia left early telling her son that Elliott wasn’t to be considered family. Sophia’s perfectionism became worse and she started trying to push her son to compete with Fiona’s son Dex due to her jealousy of Fiona.
One afternoon when Taroku and Anamaria were banished to their room they reached an agreement and started to become close. The two siblings relied on each other’s company as their parents’ marriage became more troublesome. Tybalt’s heavy drinking caused his relationship with his son to go from neglectful to abusive.
Taroku tried to stand up to Dex a violent tempered boy who didn’t appreciate his competition. To keep Taroku ‘in his place’ Dex poked the younger boy’s eyes until the two were pulled apart. Sophia took him to a hospital later that night and covered up Dex’s actions saying Taroku had an accident. Soon after he started a new school and had a little bit of trouble fitting in. He met Adrian Aarons, a spirited prankster and the two of them became friends. They were eventually joined by a third friend, Gretchen Kramer. In between tests and combat lessons with Dex, Taroku hung out with the two of them. Adrian gave Taroku the nickname ‘Blade’ which he would keep after tragedy struck. Taroku’s crazy cousin Derek was brought home from the mental hospital and started ‘playing with’ the three friends, Adrian’s parents put out a restraining order against Derek and became a bit more wary of Taroku’s family, as did Gretchen’s parents, who took her off on a retreat to the mountains of Switzerland. The boys still tried to stay close and planned a sleepover one night. Taroku became worried about Adrian’s safety after Derek taunted him about killing Adrian. He cancelled the sleepover, and the two friends had a fight. Derek listened in and that night while Adrian’s parents were out, Derek slipped out, violated his restraining order and murdered Adrian.
He cleverly hid the evidence, using his pyrokinetic powers to burn the remains and switched this knives, and gave the police the wrong knife. Adrian’s murder was pinned on a drifter but his parents blamed Taroku and refused to let him admission to the funeral. Gretchen returned from her trip and the first thing she did was blame Taroku for not protecting Adrian. Taroku tried to talk to her but she avoided him and told her parents and all her friends that he probably killed Adrian in jealousy and was obsessed with her. Their friendship was destroyed beyond repair.
Taroku, or Blade as he now called himself in memory of his lost best friend , was all alone now save for his sister. Under pressure not to show too much grief in front of his father who suspected there was something ‘funny’ between the two friends, Taroku started dressing in all dark clothes as a way of mourning Adrian and became cool and distant to everyone but Anamaria not seeming to care about them. Later, under increasing pressure from everything around him Taroku slid into the partying lifestyle. By day he worked in did tests for his mother and by night he snuck into nightclubs and wild parties and started smoking and drinking not seeming to care about what it did to his body. He also started using diet pills and throwing up to lose weight so his fanatical mother wouldn’t punish him. He started messing around with girls still trying to fill the empty space his friend’s loss caused. Two years later his family dragged him to another Psi convention and he met his maternal cousin Skye.
Taroku didn’t recognize the young boy he had once mocked and attempted to wave him off and treat him like he treated other guys. Skye did recognize him and the two got into an argument until Taroku recognized the boy. Taroku fled the scene to save face, and went back to flirting with the ‘well bred’ girls of the well known old Psi families. Soon afterward he found out, much to his shock that Skye’s parents his maternal aunt and uncle had recently died. He returned to boarding school but was expelled soon after, having been caught being ‘indecent’ with a girl in his dorm room after hours. He was put to work under his cousin Dex as a spy and he and his sister were sent to an American boarding school. He encountered Skye again after the flight over there and attempted to apologize, the two got into an argument and then he was attacked and threatened by Felix who blamed his parents’ deaths on Taroku’s mother.
Afterwards he balanced studying with keeping an eye on the Strykes using his powers. When Katsuya, Dex’s student first arrives Taroku is stuck with giving him a report, a troublesome task considering there is little love between the two boys. Dex comes to America to meet up with Katsuya and while escaping his troubles at a nightclub Taroku gets news from Ana that Skye has gone after Dex. He secretly tries to tail Skye in cat form. He barely gets the warning to Dex when he is attacked by a wild animal. After a near showdown with Skye, Dex returns to England and gives Taroku and Anamaria their orders watch the communication between Felix and his partner and their base of investigation. Taroku reluctantly agrees reminding Dex that Felix would gut him if he found out. Dex only replied to threatening to report him to the head of their family or use his organs in a dark magic ritual. So Taroku complied and he and Ana took turns watching Felix and his partner. In between he hangs out at the mall and spends his nights at various clubs and parties. One day he stops at the Library for some schoolwork and finds Skye’s younger brother Timmy looking up things on the Toyakas. He warns Timmy to keep out of the Toyaka’s business so he doesn’t get hurt. He and Ana get some more high tech spy gear from Dex with orders to find out more.
He eavesdrops on the Tektons but gets caught by Tasi and nearly injured and arrested. He is later approached by Duncan, a young boy about Timmy’s age who tells him what Timmy is looking into and attempting to sell him out. Taroku harshly tells the boy to keep his mouth shut about his friend and get lost. He continues to do his job almost getting caught by Felix. After that he decides to take a small break from spy work and he hits the clubs crashes a party. Later he notices that Timmy is ‘off’ and tries to find out why but gets cornered by Kato accuses Taroku of selling Timmy out and Taroku responds that someone tried to sell the kid out but he didn’t listen. Kato lets him get away with a warning to reconsider his loyalties so he doesn’t go down with the Toyakas.
This surprises Taroku a bit and makes him feel a little guilty. He tries to forget it and goes back to working on schoolwork. He starts having nightmares about being sent to prison or hell or getting someone killed. He becomes more reluctant to spy and Dex notices and questions his loyalty. Taroku mentions that he doesn’t want ‘family loyalty’ to make him a killer. Dex reminds him that if some other certain family members (like Derek) hear of him being a traitor they’ll attack first and ask questions later before hanging up. He is later dragged to a meeting with the Toyakas and notices Skye and his friends but doesn’t call attention to them. He and Anamaria sneaks out and he takes Ana to the mall for shopping. Later the make a stop by the bathroom and in the bathroom he meets Duncan. Duncan tells Taroku he knows about the Psi and has been watching him. The younger boy brags that he can do Taroku’s job better than Taroku can as he was the one who got Timmy caught by Derek. Taroku tells him off and says that he’s scum. Duncan points out that Taroku does the same thing, only because he’s afraid of his relatives. He claims that since Taroku doesn’t like it but doesn’t do anything about it he’s more scum than Duncan is.
At the end of that winter Taroku and Ana are called back to England to report to Fiona ‘or else’. Taroku gets out of school by claiming he’s going home to observe a religious holiday (which is half true. A religious holiday does occur during that time, not that his family really practices it). They fly back to England where Fiona questions Taroku about his loyalty. She promises to look out for Taroku and offer him protection ‘if he’s good’. Dex takes it upon himself to give Taroku a little ‘training’. Training that included a gun and a lot of beating up. Ana is sent somewhere else and Taroku returns to America alone.
He sulks a little bit and then becomes determined to do the best job he can at spying to get his sister back . He takes notes on the Strykes/Tektons ‘progress on finding out about the artifacts. The spying starts to take a toll on his grades and performance in school. His teachers demand a parent teacher conference. Taroku tries to please them by working harder but he is eventually reduced to begging Dex for help. Dex tells Taroku that if he steals something from the Tektons and passes it along to Derek he’ll take care of the issue and see about the issue with Ana. Despite his better judgment Taroku agrees. He nearly gets arrested for violating a restraining order but is forbidden from looking at what it is. As he gets the documents to Derek he debates with himself what they could be and what information he could possibly be passing. He remembers Kato’s warning and decides to look at the documents. When he finds out what they are , he can’t go through with passing some of the information. He tries to come up with a plan and then decides to ‘lose’ some of them. He hands the folder with the monetary info to Derek excluding any info that gives away their location. Derek holds Taroku hostage and sends his brothers to the latter’s dorm to look for them. Derek tells Taroku that if they don’t find them he will torture him. They find the info and Derek makes Taroku beg and submit to beating in exchange for not saying anything to Dex.
Derek hands Taroku off to Dex and Dex goes to the parent teacher conference with Taroku, posing as a parental figure. He gets Taroku pulled out of a few ‘useless’ classes’ and pulls him out of debate. As they leave Taroku asks about Ana but Dex tells him bluntly that there’s no way in hell that Ana’s coming back. He mentions that Derek told him some interesting things about Taroku ‘betraying them’. He goes off to an important meeting leaving Taroku to fume and drown himself in alcohol some more.
Dex’s meeting stirs the Psi into a civil argument and the public starts to distrust Psi even more. Taroku’s roommate finds out about his powers and he gets kicked out of the school. He sends a message to his parents about it and they are angry but Dex orders him to forget about it and wait for orders.
In the meantime he goes to parties and nightclubs. He gets a fake ID from Dex and is ordered to keep an eye on the Tektons and report their movements. He gets caught by a couple of people and questioned about involvement in the occult. The leader locks him in a cellar for the night and he gets out using his Psi powers. Dex gets on his case about why he hasn’t been watching ‘the enemy’ and given new orders. Watch Kato Tekton’s place of employment. He watches it and runs into Adelaide Cameron a friend of Kato’s. To keep up appearances he talks to her and asks her out to dinner. Over dinner he tries to question her about Kato and work. They end up talking about different more personal matters and Taroku gets distracted. Their conversation leaves him with something to think about. How much does he really owe the Toyakas?
He is called to a meeting where the Toyakas grill him about information and plan to raid the Tekton/Stryke’s new organization MonteCorp. Taroku is reluctant to assist and Dex, surprisingly tells him his interference isn’t necessary. Taroku starts to leave but then curiosity gets the better of him and he listens in. He finds out the date and time that they intend to storm the place. He goes home and on his way he notices that’s someone is following him. When he gets home Katsuya Toyaka confronts him and accuses him of being a traitor. Taroku claims that he’s not going to do anything and then Kat warns him that Dex will know if he’s lying.
Taroku’s stress gets worse and on the night of the planned attack he goes to warn them remembering Adelaide’s words. He gets cold feet however when he sees Derek there. Taroku hides and watches the whole attack up until Timothy Stryke’s electrocution at the hands of Katsuya. He notices an uncanny similarity between the two. He escapes the scene but the events haunt him. He looks into some olds news about the kidnapping disappearance of one year old Gilbert Stryke (Timothy’s older twin) and comes to a disturbing conclusion. Katsuya and Timothy are brothers.
He tries to drown out the realization with drinking but can’t quite shake the sick feeling. He starts to become more worried as the hate for Psi grows more. When he’s at a club he gets cornered and attacked by some people for being a ‘freak’. He gets injured but manages to get away. The event shakes him a bit and he starts to become more guarded and almost paranoid about being found out.
✧ TIMELINE: A Week after the Psi Protection Act goes into affect
✧ PERSONALITY:
Taroku grew up in an extremely dysfunctional household. His immediate family and his extended family were all part of a hierarchy led by a bloodthirsty head of household, Fiona Toyaka. The Toyakas run kind of like a cult that runs on a perverted form of family loyalty that values obedience to the head of the family above all else. Betrayal to blood is viewed as unforgivable Taroku was raised with the mantra ‘keep up appearances and keep our family affairs hidden’ pounded into his head. He was convinced that most psychiatrists were fakes and to avoid them. He’s secretive about his home life and gets anxious when he accidentally spills something. He doesn’t like doctors claiming that they’re “nosy, ask too many questions and have big needles”. He was brutally punished when his family suspected that he had let something slip. He convinced himself somewhat that since he’s rich he should be living the good life, or at least pretend to be.
Taroku’s mother paid more attention to him as a child. She was, at the beginning a strict parent who stressed healthy eating and cared a bit too much about appearances. She warned him to avoid the seven deadly sins especially the sin of gluttony which she seemed to have a special dislike for. But she soon became fanatical filling Taroku’s head with extremist methods of weight management and yelled at him for eating too much. This caused his unhealthy eating habits and paranoia about weight gain. She also had a lot of resentment towards her sister in law and started pushing Taroku to do better than his cousin Dex (the child of the sister in law she resented and the brother she hated). She justified her pressuring by claiming that she was involved in his life and not distant like her parents were. She also claims that she is at least specific about her expectations. Despite not liking the way his mother treated his sister, he craved her acceptance and affection and wished she would put him above her obsession with appearing perfect. He uses weight pills crash diets and unhealthy habits to please her, even if it hurts him in the process.
His relationship with his father is far more strained. Tybalt was indifferent to Taroku in early childhood. He started drinking more, sinking harder into his bitterness at being stuck in a marriage with a woman he didn’t love and children he wasn’t sure he could raise. He slowly started becoming abusive to Taroku. He mocked his child’s attempts to please him by getting involved in sports, partially leading to Taroku’s aversion to sports. As his father drank more he started lashing out more at his son and wife. Taroku gave up trying to please his father, preferring to stay out of the man’s way. His father always pressured him not to be a sissy and caused his inability to make normal friendships with other males. He feels very betrayed by his father who, instead of raising him, mocked him, humiliated him in front of drinking buddies and denied that Taroku was his son. After his best friend died, Taroku struggled not to show his grief in front of his father. He has a hard time standing up to the man for fear of getting a beating but resents him and tries to find small ways to spite him.
Taroku’s relationship with his sister started out as a rivalry.
The two of them resented each other for seemingly getting the affection of the parent who abused them. Taroku was taught not to hit a girl but he found other ways to get to his sister, with words. When their fighting reached its peak, at a holiday get together the head of household got annoyed and banished them to a room together, not realizing that her actions would eventually give them a method of surviving against her. The two siblings realized that they both had the same problem and it would be smarter to stick together than to tear each other down even more. They made a truce and started to bond and took on an ‘us against the world’ mentality. Ana’s relationship with Taroku is one of the few familial relationships he has that isn’t destructive. He gives his best effort to defend her against family members and is fiercely protective against outside elements, especially boys. Possibly his protecting his sister is one last attempt to get favor from his father, by trying to protect his ‘little girl’. Anamaria is also his anchor, that is to say she is there when he needs someone to rely on. She is also his primary reason for not giving up, because he fears what the family would do to her without him to look out for her.
Taroku always struggled with friendships with other children especially other boys, made worse by his arrogant attitude in early childhood before the incident that injured his eyes. Adrian Aarons was more persistent and managed to break through to him. He showed up when the once arrogant boy had been humbled and was at the mercy of his classmates. Adrian’s friendship was probably the best thing for Taroku . The two boys worked together to pull pranks the bullies at their private school who used their influence to push others around. Adrian helped bring out the best in Taroku, and made it ‘worth it’ to try to be a good person instead of following his relatives. He also expressed concern at his friend’s home life and was the first person Taroku trusted enough with the secret of his powers. The two brought a third person into their party, plain but ambitious Gretchen Kramer, a decision that Taroku would come to regret. The three of them were bonded by a similar predicament; all of them were rich kids from households with varying levels of dysfunction. Derek’s interference caused stressed in the threesome and Gretchen seemed to become depressed. Her parents whisked her away for a retreat to Switzerland. Taroku and Adrian later had a fight and the last thing Adrian did was accuse Taroku of being a coward. That accusation still haunts Taroku to this day as he wonders if there was more he could have done to protect his friend. It was also the first time he truly felt ashamed of his relatives. Gretchen’s later betrayal was a second blow. Taroku had been in love with her and hearing words of blame from her was almost more than he could take.
The loss of his friend and betrayal of a friend he had feelings for greatly damaged Taroku’s ability to trust people. It set back much of the good that the friendship had done for his ability to make good relationships. He now had another reason not to make close bonds with people, feeling they would leave, die or otherwise betray him. The only person he fully trusted was Anamaria. Many of his other relatives seemed to either be outright abusive or manipulate him (and many of the decent ones only came around once or twice every five years). His aunt Fiona, the head of the household once promised to keep him safe from his father rage, but only as long as he was a ‘good boy’. Most interactions he had with her seemed to have an ulterior motive. His relationship with Dex was one of, jealousy, fear and hatred. Dex represented the impossible ideal that Taroku was expected by his mother to live up to. Dex also had power over his other relatives granted by being the son of the head of the household and seemed to take every chance to use it for cruelty. Taroku wished he could take Dex’s place so he could try to right what Dex had wronged.
Dex taught Taroku hand to hand combat and fencing for some time. He then expelled his cousin from his tutelage when the younger boy was still coping with the loss of his friend. Dex was a harsh teacher and took every chance he got to remind Taroku of much of a disappointment and failure he was and when he was expelled, pronounced him ‘hopeless’ and ‘a lost cause’. Dex eventually became Taroku’s boss of sorts and held threats of pain and death over his younger cousin to keep him in line. While working as a spy for the family Taroku slowly gains more awareness of the family’s goals and how evil they are. He still stayed in their service out of fear of death and justified going along with it for his sister’s protection and his own, reminding himself that he wasn’t doing anything but spying. He started to realize that the ‘family business’ was built on manipulating and abusing its members.
From the age of thirteen Taroku turned to the party lifestyle to cope with the pressure emotions he felt. He got addicted to alcohol and tobacco. He uses the diet control pill to rid himself of the weight and in his mind, the guilt of indulging on alcohol. He started smoking in little bits in place of eating meals. He relies on the fact that Psi bodies are more durable and take longer to permanently injure or damage. He let a girlfriend talk him into having his ‘first time’ with her, partly to spite Gretchen and partially to help Taroku forget her. After that he started messing around with girls more to feed the starvation for affection he suffered from since childhood. Yet he still has a code of chivalry. He is perfectly willing to allow himself to be used for his bank account but finds the idea of taking advantage of a girl to be repulsive. He would rather be used then be a user like his relatives. He justifies this to himself claiming that the deal is ‘mutually benefitting’. He insists to others that he’s got some charm but underneath he knows he’s being used and resigned himself to it, believing “It’s better to be hurt than to be guilty for hurting another”. He has no plans to be married and has an aversion to the idea of marriage. He distrusts the idea of marriage, as nearly all the marriages around him have been dysfunctional. He also fears fatherhood, not wanting to be the kind of father Tybalt was to him. He says that if he ever got a girl pregnant he would have no problem paying child support but raising a kid is something he doesn’t think he can do.
Taroku and Skye still don’t like each other but for different reasons. Taroku is annoyed by Skye’s “self-righteous idealism”. He resents the belief Skye has that he and his sister willingly serve the Toyakas, though Taroku has never explicitly stated his reasons. Taroku doesn’t like the way Skye treats his brother and is exasperated by Timmy’s naiveté. He also dislikes Felix but feels guilty, knowing that the older boy has a justifiable reason to hate him- Felix is Ian Stryke’s son, and his parents are dead because of Taroku’s mother. Taroku views life as a series of tough experiences to deal with. He knows firsthand that the world is a cruel unfair place that spits upon hopes and ideals. He believes in loyalty but not his family’s version. To him loyalty should be earned and betrayal of friendship is a lowly, disgusting thing to do. Taroku has no illusions regarding his personality flaws. He honestly views himself as a ”pretty lousy person”. He’s good at chess. He beat Dex once at it. Dex declared it a fluke but never played Taroku again after he got in one last win.
Taroku has an extensive knowledge of both English and American law and government. He was sent to study law in order to become a lawyer that could get his family members out of trouble. He is perfectly aware of the common view of lawyers and has even cracked a few lawyer jokes at his own expense. He has a sense of humor that that can be dark, bordering on gallows humor at times or suggestive. He’s also very sarcastic and his snarky comments can sometimes get him in trouble.
He prefers the nickname ‘Blade’ because he prefers the person he was with Adrian to the puppet he is to his family. He’s also very neat, due to his mother’s influence. She stressed appearances and looking your best. He can be a bit on the vain side (his mother didn’t really see vanity as much as a sin as gluttony. “At least vain people look good” she said). He likes being a cat because they clean themselves.
Due to his powers Taroku has gained an appreciation for animals and what they can do. He is almost always unwilling to harm an animal and occasionally looks out for strays that pass by his dorm, something he gets a bit of heat for from classmates. He considers himself mostly vegetarian and won’t eat any meat other than fish. He only eats fish because of the instincts that carry over from his most common form, a cat. He has little tolerance for people who willingly harm animals. He’s also surprisingly good at working with animals, though if someone points it out, he will stubbornly deny it.
On the surface he seems like a cocky, rich and somewhat vain skirt chaser, but if you manage to get close enough you will find a sometimes abrasive but clever, complex witty and extremely loyal person with a slightly tarnished but still functional moral compass.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS:
Taroku can shift into any animal on the ‘physical plane. That is to say, he can’t become any kind of spiritual or supernatural creature. Shifting requires more concentration if he hasn’t turned into one certain animal before. He can turn into animals he’s turned into before more quickly. After the first few shifts into an animal he starts to learn and take on some of the animal’s instincts. If he uses one form enough he may start to exhibit certain quirks and little behaviors he learned from the form while in human form (example Taroku often uses the form of a cat so he has gained a taste for seafood and it’s the only meat he will eat) He cannot turn from one animal to another he has to transform in a pattern ‘human-animal’ or risk screwing up his body.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Day
✧ MASK DESIGN: It’s a dark blue color with gold decoration around it and has pointed tips. On one side it has the Toyaka family Coat of Arms which includes a sword a dagger and shadowy fox with sharp teeth.
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: His apartment building.
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON :
I - can’t…this is sick. Really fucking sick. They’re brothers. Twin brothers. How could Kat not-
Wait…they’ve never actually face until now. Damn, the first time they see each other in twelve (Is it really? That sounds about right.) years and one of them electrocutes the other near to death.
I always knew there was something wrong with Aunt Fiona, but this is a whole different kind of low. Yet somehow, I’m not surprised. She always creeped me out. Hell, the woman had her husband killed because he succeeded in leaving her. She’s a fucking lunatic. Doesn’t she have an ounce of motherly instinct? It almost makes me feel sorry for Dex
Almost .
He had a hand in this too. The way he lords himself over the whole family makes it hard to feel sorry for him. Especially when I remember why I have glasses.
Just my luck being born into a family of nutters. Somebody up there hates me.
✧ THIRD PERSON:
It was getting dark outside by now and Taroku inwardly cursed the public bus system and their poor heaters. It’s not like cold was new to him, certainly not. But it just seemed like another addition to the list of all that had gone wrong today. They had just barely made it out of a family meeting. It seemed Dex wasn’t content with making his life miserable all the way from England. Ana leaned against him a bit and he put an arm around her.
Dex hadn’t passed up the chance to berate Ana for not getting enough done and then dismissed her as a waste of space. She didn’t mention this until afterwards and she had to hold Taroku back from going back to rip Dex up. Not that he would succeed, but he at least wanted to try. They were headed for the mall now and Taroku was determined to do anything it took to bring that smile back to her face however temporary.
If used some of his work budget, then he would face the consequences. If Dex didn’t want him to ‘waste’ his money on unimportant matters then he should have watched his mouth. Ana had so much mess going on, their mother seemed to blame her for everything that was wrong with the family and their father didn’t do anything to help. Their parents didn’t believe in psychiatrists so shopping was the best method of therapy that Taroku could offer.
“T-Taroku” she said. Her nose sounded congested from crying.
“I can see if they’ll turn up the heat if you want. “ he said.
“No. It’s fine” She said. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to use your money on me if it will get you in trouble”
“I want to. If Dex doesn’t like it, it’s his fault for being a bastard to you” Taroku said holding her closer. She laid her head on his lap and he leaned back still rubbing her shoulder. She looked so much like a little girl again. He wished he could protect her better, from their parents from Dex from, everything. He was doing everything he knew to watch out for her but things still went wrong. She was still a ghost of her former self and he hadn’t seen her genuinely happy for years. “I’m sorry Ana. I’m a lousy older brother”.
✧ ORIGINAL CHARACTER QUESTION: Well, the first thing Taroku will likely wonder is if he’s finally cracked or in a drunk dream. He’ll slowly get used to it and his snarky nature may gain him a few enemies, but as he gets used to the idea of being away from his family he’ll start to let down his defenses and allow some people to get close.