(no subject)
app.
NAME: Gee
JOURNAL: aseashell
EMAIL: barbedwirerose@hotmail.co.uk
AIM: loveslostlabours
WIKI NAME: deadenedlove if it’s still there, if not then n/a
CHARACTERS: n/a
CHARACTER NAME: Abarai Renji
FANDOM: Bleach
CANON: Chapter 264; shortly after falling through the floor into Szayel’s den of sin. In fact, in the middle of falling through the floor into Szayel’s den of sin. It will be a painful landing.
WHAT THEY LOST: His ability... to eat... taiyaki. I am a hideous person.
ABOUT THE CHARACTER: Abarai Renji is a man with tats and the attitude to match. As fiery as his hair is red and making use of language just as colourful, there are very few instances in which he can be considered shy. That said, it’s unsurprising that he makes such a formidable opponent on the battlefield, considering how far he’s had to climb to reach the level on which he now stands.
Growing up on the streets of Inuzuri, Renji was faced with a choice; fight or die. This in itself was enough to toughen him up considerably, although back then staying alive had become something of a game - it had to for children to survive in a world like that, where everybody was out for themselves and no-one had any kindness to spare. For a long time, he acted as a sort of head for their small group of friends, the only one with any considerable spiritual power and therefore the one to be looked up to. And then Rukia came along. Rukia, the little spunky girl who spoke and acted and led like a boy, who had reiatsu just as he did, who he would have envied were it not for her gentleness. Everything she did she did with a vague sense of grace, whether it was seeking out food for the five of them or kicking him in the head, and for years they stayed by one another’s side, growing and learning and living in the rough world that Inuzuri had shaped for them. Living, however, wasn’t as easily done as said in that sort of environment - Inuzuri was no place for children - and by the time Rukia suggested they become shinigami, the two of them were all that was left. Renji made no dispute. There was nothing to stay for.
As far as Renji was concerned, everything was going well once he reached the Academy. He integrated well with other people of his own age, strengthened his skills, and it was here that his confidence began to further develop into what it is today. And then Kuchiki Byakuya came along. He came, and he went, and he took Rukia with him. When Rukia told Renji of the offer, he’d had a moment of complete and unshakable disbelief. Rukia was to become a noble. That was good, right? She deserved that. More than either of them could ever have dreamed of in life and now, for her, it was coming true. And he forced himself to smile. He couldn’t believe it was happening and he hardly wanted to, but he smiled for her. Congratulated her. Well done, Rukia, you got away. You’re not one of us nobodies anymore.
That was the moment at which he swore to himself he would surpass Kuchiki Byakuya. The man who could give her everything, he would surpass.
Renji trained hard after that. He got through the Academy and was accepted into the 5th division. That didn’t last long, however. Renji was soon recognised for his strength and transferred into the 11th. Fourty years after Rukia’s adoption into the Kuchiki family, Renji was presented with a letter informing him that he was to become the lieutenant of the 6th division, and suddenly he was even closer to his goal of surpassing the stoic head of the Kuchiki family.
And then everything went to hell. Renji dealt with the situation of Rukia’s propsed execution as professionally as he could. Blaming Ichigo, the human boy, the Ryoka boy, and placing faith in his Captain to protect his adoptive sister. When Byakuya made it clear that he would have no part in saving Rukia, however, and he went on to lose to Ichigo making it clear that he was not strong enough to save her, his angry pride broke down long enough to allow his concern and fear of her death to take pride of place. Proud and stubborn as he is, Renji will allow it all to fall if it means protecting a person dear to him, as he did that day when he all but begged for Ichigo to save Rukia in his stead.
When Byakuya refused to let him pass to help save Rukia, Renji was ready. He had been diligently preparing for this fight for a long time, observing Byakuya’s zanpakutou, training his eyes to see each step of his shunpo and to know his battle style like the back of his hand. He fought well, but he didn’t win. Even after being hit directly by every blade of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, though? After being pierced by at least 5 blades after that? Renji still struggled on to attempt a final failed attack before allowing himself to fall. Persistent. Once he has a thought in his mind, a goal, he will entirely devote himself to it, no matter the cost.
Even after all that, Renji doesn’t desire, when asked, that his Captain had died. Instead, he is glad that Byakuya lived, or Renji himself would have no reason to get stronger. This shows that Renji is not one to easily bear a grudge, or at least not one to hate. Byakuya had taken Rukia from him, almost killed him in defense of Rukia’s execution, and yet Renji sits with him while he recovers. If not forgiving, he is at least the sort of person to put things to one side.
Despite how it might seem, Renji isn’t all seriousness and sentiment. In fact, far from it. When he’s not busy fighting for pride or for friendship or for any of those other serious things, he’s... about as distant from noble as you can get. Hot-headed and quick to anger, as shown by the very quick personality switch he manages when Ichigo makes an appearance during his conversation with the healing Byakuya and he yells at him to shut up since he was ‘just about to say a cool line’, he’s also one for friendly, smug banter. He enjoys to openly mock his friends, providing he knows they can handle it. With Ichigo, for example, he will readily hurl insults and general unpleasantnesses, whereas he takes particular pleasure in mocking Rukia. That’s not to say he’s particularly skilled at recieving these insults in return, generally resorting to ‘shut up’ if he hasn’t a suitable remark to retort with.
Along with this, Renji isn’t too skilled at avoiding simple blackmail and bad deals. At the Urahara Shoten, there have been numerous times when, under the trap of being the freeloader, Renji has been left at a loss. Passing up a helping of seconds because ‘just because he’s the Freeloader, we shouldn’t deny him another bowl, should we Freeloader-san?’ Agreeing to help Chad after arguing it (quite fervently, and to the point where he needed restraint) over with Urahara, along with undertaking 3 months of miscellaneous jobs in return for the answers to his questions which he had only not received because Urahara had been too lazy to tell him.
Of course, while helping Chad he taunted and jibed, asking the young man if he was done already when he seemed overwhelmed by the strength of Renji’s bankai, and if he’d got weaker when Renji easily avoided his attack. However, when Chad got hurt and refused medical treatment, he told him not to get carried away, and when word of the arrancar attack came he said he would go in Chad’s place considering the amount of energy Chad had used up. In his own way, Renji is very thorough about caring for his comrades, but only makes it obvious when it matters.
This, then, in contrast with the what can only be sensibly described as derp he displays on a regular everyday basis really brings into question how he can have a sensible side at all. Case in point: Running the fuck away from Dondochakka, despite being in the midst of a deep and important conversation about Nel. Needing not one, not two, but at least five cubes of sugar just to take a sip of coffee.
Oh, and of course, last but not least. Taiyaki. Taiyaki gets you everywhere. Until, of course, the day comes when he can’t eat it anymore... at which point it goes a lot further to getting you a punch in the face.
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: Abarai Renji had seen many strange things in his lifetime. A cat humping a dog in a back alley, Kuchiki Byakuya wearing a smile (a rare occurrence, and even then he hadn’t been meant to see it. Although Byakuya never made mention of it, he’d let Renji know his mistake had been a big one by the three extra piles of paperwork shifted from the rest of the division to Renji’s desk every day for the rest of the week) and Rukia in a toga, the latter providing him with both one of the most hilarious and one of the greatest days of his life. He’d seen the insane and the downright unbelievable, the ridiculous and the hilarious, and considering how long he had left to live and the craziness that had become of his life as of late, he’d resigned himself to the fact there was lots more left to come.
One thing he hadn’t been prepared for, though? One thing he really hadn’t been prepared for? A magical goddamn castle in the middle of fucking fairyland. It wasn’t so bad, though, really. If you could overlook all the assholes and the talking books, there was one thing that made this place the best thing that’d happened to him in years. Wishes. And why so, the more inquisitive person might ask? ‘Cause wishes meant free taikyaki.
Even looking at the plate before him made his mouth water. No, screw that, he could close his eyes and think about it and the saliva would well in his mouth. A whole stack of taiyaki, mounted on a plate, just for him. And after that, there could be hundreds-no, thousands-where that came from. Heaven. Heaven was here, in this screwed up castle, under this giant roof. It took a few long minutes for him to even consider reaching out to take a hold of one of those gorgeous, fishy-shaped treats, but when he finally did it was with all the savour of an art collector who’d finally found the long lost work of his favourite painter. His fingers closed around one, gently, so gently, and he brought it up to his face. Sniffed, just to catch a closer waft of it’s beautiful scent, then opened his mouth, brought the thing forth...
And chomped down on nothing.
Renji opened his eyes, stared at the suddenly empty plate upon which had moments before been a little stacked slice of heaven, and screamed.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: [silence.
Silence.
...]
--aaaAAAAAAHH-- gk!!
[anyone in the lobby may have just witnessed an odd spectacle. One (1) red-haired, black-clothed flailing lump of man just fell, quite literally, through the ceiling... although perhaps more accurately through the air just below the ceiling, since the ceiling looks fine...
OH HERE WE GO. Ready yourselves, everyone, the lump seems to be alive...
he sits up
rubs at his head
groans a little--]
OW! [and oh look, his head gave his journal a soft landing] Th’hell?!
[GRABS THAT GODDAMN BOOK AND THROWS IT ACROSS THE ROOM
it lands open, so the following is recorded in a muffled angry whine for anyone hearing this via the journals, or instead a LOUD PISSED OFF SHOUT for anyone witnessing it in person or closeby]
TAKE THAT, STUPID BOOK. I’m gonna shred ya down an’ turn y’into toilet paper.
INTENT: 6’2” of tattooed, redheaded monkeyman. Do not tell me you don’t want this, Paradisa, because I would know it to be a lie. A.k.a dfkgjsdfg I don’t know yet, but I intend to make it beautiful.
NAME: Gee
JOURNAL: aseashell
EMAIL: barbedwirerose@hotmail.co.uk
AIM: loveslostlabours
WIKI NAME: deadenedlove if it’s still there, if not then n/a
CHARACTERS: n/a
CHARACTER NAME: Abarai Renji
FANDOM: Bleach
CANON: Chapter 264; shortly after falling through the floor into Szayel’s den of sin. In fact, in the middle of falling through the floor into Szayel’s den of sin. It will be a painful landing.
WHAT THEY LOST: His ability... to eat... taiyaki. I am a hideous person.
ABOUT THE CHARACTER: Abarai Renji is a man with tats and the attitude to match. As fiery as his hair is red and making use of language just as colourful, there are very few instances in which he can be considered shy. That said, it’s unsurprising that he makes such a formidable opponent on the battlefield, considering how far he’s had to climb to reach the level on which he now stands.
Growing up on the streets of Inuzuri, Renji was faced with a choice; fight or die. This in itself was enough to toughen him up considerably, although back then staying alive had become something of a game - it had to for children to survive in a world like that, where everybody was out for themselves and no-one had any kindness to spare. For a long time, he acted as a sort of head for their small group of friends, the only one with any considerable spiritual power and therefore the one to be looked up to. And then Rukia came along. Rukia, the little spunky girl who spoke and acted and led like a boy, who had reiatsu just as he did, who he would have envied were it not for her gentleness. Everything she did she did with a vague sense of grace, whether it was seeking out food for the five of them or kicking him in the head, and for years they stayed by one another’s side, growing and learning and living in the rough world that Inuzuri had shaped for them. Living, however, wasn’t as easily done as said in that sort of environment - Inuzuri was no place for children - and by the time Rukia suggested they become shinigami, the two of them were all that was left. Renji made no dispute. There was nothing to stay for.
As far as Renji was concerned, everything was going well once he reached the Academy. He integrated well with other people of his own age, strengthened his skills, and it was here that his confidence began to further develop into what it is today. And then Kuchiki Byakuya came along. He came, and he went, and he took Rukia with him. When Rukia told Renji of the offer, he’d had a moment of complete and unshakable disbelief. Rukia was to become a noble. That was good, right? She deserved that. More than either of them could ever have dreamed of in life and now, for her, it was coming true. And he forced himself to smile. He couldn’t believe it was happening and he hardly wanted to, but he smiled for her. Congratulated her. Well done, Rukia, you got away. You’re not one of us nobodies anymore.
That was the moment at which he swore to himself he would surpass Kuchiki Byakuya. The man who could give her everything, he would surpass.
Renji trained hard after that. He got through the Academy and was accepted into the 5th division. That didn’t last long, however. Renji was soon recognised for his strength and transferred into the 11th. Fourty years after Rukia’s adoption into the Kuchiki family, Renji was presented with a letter informing him that he was to become the lieutenant of the 6th division, and suddenly he was even closer to his goal of surpassing the stoic head of the Kuchiki family.
And then everything went to hell. Renji dealt with the situation of Rukia’s propsed execution as professionally as he could. Blaming Ichigo, the human boy, the Ryoka boy, and placing faith in his Captain to protect his adoptive sister. When Byakuya made it clear that he would have no part in saving Rukia, however, and he went on to lose to Ichigo making it clear that he was not strong enough to save her, his angry pride broke down long enough to allow his concern and fear of her death to take pride of place. Proud and stubborn as he is, Renji will allow it all to fall if it means protecting a person dear to him, as he did that day when he all but begged for Ichigo to save Rukia in his stead.
When Byakuya refused to let him pass to help save Rukia, Renji was ready. He had been diligently preparing for this fight for a long time, observing Byakuya’s zanpakutou, training his eyes to see each step of his shunpo and to know his battle style like the back of his hand. He fought well, but he didn’t win. Even after being hit directly by every blade of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, though? After being pierced by at least 5 blades after that? Renji still struggled on to attempt a final failed attack before allowing himself to fall. Persistent. Once he has a thought in his mind, a goal, he will entirely devote himself to it, no matter the cost.
Even after all that, Renji doesn’t desire, when asked, that his Captain had died. Instead, he is glad that Byakuya lived, or Renji himself would have no reason to get stronger. This shows that Renji is not one to easily bear a grudge, or at least not one to hate. Byakuya had taken Rukia from him, almost killed him in defense of Rukia’s execution, and yet Renji sits with him while he recovers. If not forgiving, he is at least the sort of person to put things to one side.
Despite how it might seem, Renji isn’t all seriousness and sentiment. In fact, far from it. When he’s not busy fighting for pride or for friendship or for any of those other serious things, he’s... about as distant from noble as you can get. Hot-headed and quick to anger, as shown by the very quick personality switch he manages when Ichigo makes an appearance during his conversation with the healing Byakuya and he yells at him to shut up since he was ‘just about to say a cool line’, he’s also one for friendly, smug banter. He enjoys to openly mock his friends, providing he knows they can handle it. With Ichigo, for example, he will readily hurl insults and general unpleasantnesses, whereas he takes particular pleasure in mocking Rukia. That’s not to say he’s particularly skilled at recieving these insults in return, generally resorting to ‘shut up’ if he hasn’t a suitable remark to retort with.
Along with this, Renji isn’t too skilled at avoiding simple blackmail and bad deals. At the Urahara Shoten, there have been numerous times when, under the trap of being the freeloader, Renji has been left at a loss. Passing up a helping of seconds because ‘just because he’s the Freeloader, we shouldn’t deny him another bowl, should we Freeloader-san?’ Agreeing to help Chad after arguing it (quite fervently, and to the point where he needed restraint) over with Urahara, along with undertaking 3 months of miscellaneous jobs in return for the answers to his questions which he had only not received because Urahara had been too lazy to tell him.
Of course, while helping Chad he taunted and jibed, asking the young man if he was done already when he seemed overwhelmed by the strength of Renji’s bankai, and if he’d got weaker when Renji easily avoided his attack. However, when Chad got hurt and refused medical treatment, he told him not to get carried away, and when word of the arrancar attack came he said he would go in Chad’s place considering the amount of energy Chad had used up. In his own way, Renji is very thorough about caring for his comrades, but only makes it obvious when it matters.
This, then, in contrast with the what can only be sensibly described as derp he displays on a regular everyday basis really brings into question how he can have a sensible side at all. Case in point: Running the fuck away from Dondochakka, despite being in the midst of a deep and important conversation about Nel. Needing not one, not two, but at least five cubes of sugar just to take a sip of coffee.
Oh, and of course, last but not least. Taiyaki. Taiyaki gets you everywhere. Until, of course, the day comes when he can’t eat it anymore... at which point it goes a lot further to getting you a punch in the face.
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: Abarai Renji had seen many strange things in his lifetime. A cat humping a dog in a back alley, Kuchiki Byakuya wearing a smile (a rare occurrence, and even then he hadn’t been meant to see it. Although Byakuya never made mention of it, he’d let Renji know his mistake had been a big one by the three extra piles of paperwork shifted from the rest of the division to Renji’s desk every day for the rest of the week) and Rukia in a toga, the latter providing him with both one of the most hilarious and one of the greatest days of his life. He’d seen the insane and the downright unbelievable, the ridiculous and the hilarious, and considering how long he had left to live and the craziness that had become of his life as of late, he’d resigned himself to the fact there was lots more left to come.
One thing he hadn’t been prepared for, though? One thing he really hadn’t been prepared for? A magical goddamn castle in the middle of fucking fairyland. It wasn’t so bad, though, really. If you could overlook all the assholes and the talking books, there was one thing that made this place the best thing that’d happened to him in years. Wishes. And why so, the more inquisitive person might ask? ‘Cause wishes meant free taikyaki.
Even looking at the plate before him made his mouth water. No, screw that, he could close his eyes and think about it and the saliva would well in his mouth. A whole stack of taiyaki, mounted on a plate, just for him. And after that, there could be hundreds-no, thousands-where that came from. Heaven. Heaven was here, in this screwed up castle, under this giant roof. It took a few long minutes for him to even consider reaching out to take a hold of one of those gorgeous, fishy-shaped treats, but when he finally did it was with all the savour of an art collector who’d finally found the long lost work of his favourite painter. His fingers closed around one, gently, so gently, and he brought it up to his face. Sniffed, just to catch a closer waft of it’s beautiful scent, then opened his mouth, brought the thing forth...
And chomped down on nothing.
Renji opened his eyes, stared at the suddenly empty plate upon which had moments before been a little stacked slice of heaven, and screamed.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: [silence.
Silence.
...]
--aaaAAAAAAHH-- gk!!
[anyone in the lobby may have just witnessed an odd spectacle. One (1) red-haired, black-clothed flailing lump of man just fell, quite literally, through the ceiling... although perhaps more accurately through the air just below the ceiling, since the ceiling looks fine...
OH HERE WE GO. Ready yourselves, everyone, the lump seems to be alive...
he sits up
rubs at his head
groans a little--]
OW! [and oh look, his head gave his journal a soft landing] Th’hell?!
[GRABS THAT GODDAMN BOOK AND THROWS IT ACROSS THE ROOM
it lands open, so the following is recorded in a muffled angry whine for anyone hearing this via the journals, or instead a LOUD PISSED OFF SHOUT for anyone witnessing it in person or closeby]
TAKE THAT, STUPID BOOK. I’m gonna shred ya down an’ turn y’into toilet paper.
INTENT: 6’2” of tattooed, redheaded monkeyman. Do not tell me you don’t want this, Paradisa, because I would know it to be a lie. A.k.a dfkgjsdfg I don’t know yet, but I intend to make it beautiful.