General Application
Player: Steff
Personal LJ: stefanie_k
Email: failufail23@gmail.com
AIM: xvalkyriecryx
Time Zone: EST
Character: Nana Osaki
Fandom: NANA
Timeline:
Chapter 48 of the manga, after Reira and Shin's birthday party/Ren and Nana's engagement party (aka The Party Where Every Couple Sleeps with Each Other at Least Once that Night). Hachiko made a surprise appearance, and Nana invited her to stay the night at the mansion where the party was being held. After drunkenly belting out songs with Hachiko and Nobu in her room, Nana eventually passes out.
Personality:
Nana is a proud, independent, and stubborn person. She is not afraid to speak her mind about others and others’ feelings, but will very rarely speak freely about herself or her own emotions. She rarely lets herself rely on anyone, because she's just used to being alone. Ren was the only person she shared any personal information and secrets with, until she met Hachi. Through the story, she begins to let herself rely on other people every now and then. Still, she refuses to let Ren’s fame with Trapnest boost her and BLAST into stardom due to her own pride. She wants to be responsible for her own fame, not become famous just because of who her boyfriend is.
She really doesn’t make new friends easily either. She’s a reserved person, willing to let another person talk their head off while she sits and listens, never really divulging any information about herself. Nor does she even care about others’ opinions about her. The people she “allows” in her life are special to her, and she sees them as her pseudo-family, since she never had a real one of her own. She does have a possessive streak, keeping the people close to her under her watchful eye.
Nana’s relationship with Ren is a very conflicted one. She loves him-there’s no doubt about it, but she often questions those feelings. To Nana, her career matters more to her than getting married and starting a family. Regardless, she loves Ren, and will stay with him no matter how many times she questions herself or doubts their relationship. Ren is like a drug to her-an addiction. No matter how she tries to pull away from him, he ends up pulling her back and vice versa. They need each other to stay “stable,” though their relationship is toxic to both of them. They even go as far to say that they would die together.
Her relationship with Hachiko is a close one. They are best friends, who really want to look to one another when times are tough. Nana loves Hachi; not in the way she loves Ren, but close to it. Though the two women are separated due to various circumstances, they try to see each other when they can, which is not very often at all. Nana wants Hachiko to be happy, and does her best to achieve that happiness for her, even if it’s to support her in things Nana doesn’t necessarily approve of.
Because Nana is a vocalist, she does possess some charisma and stage-presence. She truly enjoys singing-not singing for a crowd or anyone else, but for herself. It gives her a feeling of freedom; a feeling of being alive. It clearly shows when she’s in the spotlight.
If anyone threatens a person she cares deeply for, she won’t hesitate to defend them. She likes to joke around and hang out with the few friends she has-smoking, drinking, and playing mahjong. When she’s drunk, she apparently loves to sing karaoke. Even though she may not look it, she is a handy person (she built the kitchen table and benches for 707). She can cook, but everyone says that her food is too salty (yet Ren prefers her salty miso soup). Nana is a frugal person-she doesn’t even own a cell phone, even when she receives money from BLAST’s contract with Gaia. Though eventually, later on she does acquire one, so she could stay in touch with Ren while he was in London.
Her favorite things include lotus flowers (she has a tattoo of one, more specifically a “ren” flower, on her left arm), the designer Vivienne Westwood, the Sex Pistols, Seven Stars cigarettes, and coffee with milk and strawberry cake.
Background:
Nana was born on March 5, 1981 to a single mother. At the age of 4, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother and was never heard from or seen again. When she was old enough, her grandmother made her work at the restaurant she owned, without pay. Her grandmother was scared that Nana would turn out like her mother, so she never let Nana wear colors like pink or red because it would “give the impression that [she] was seducing men.”
In high school, Nana was a loner. The only friend she made was Nobuo Terashima, the person responsible for introducing her to punk music. Because of she was so quiet and barely talked anyone, rumors that she was a prostitute began circulating throughout the school. Even though the rumors weren’t true, Nana just didn’t care or have the energy to defend herself, so eventually she was expelled from school.
Soon after that, her grandmother died, leaving her alone. She found a job as a cleaner that paid well enough to let her get her own apartment, because she couldn’t afford the rent on the apartment that she and her grandmother lived in. That Christmas, Nana bought herself a present-a red dress that she wore to a punk concert Nobu was taking her to. That concert was where she first met Ren Honjo. As she watched him perform, she described the feelings she felt as, “jealousy… mixed in with envy… and lust.”
It wasn’t long after their first meeting that Ren asked Nana to become the lead singer of BLAST, a band made up of himself as the bassist, Nobu as the guitarist, and Yasu as the drummer. When they began performing in their hometown, they soon acquired a large amount of fans. Nana fell into her role as the lead singer of a punk band easily, and found that she had a deep love for what she did. When she sang, she sang for herself, and no one else.
On Christmas night, about a year and a half after BLAST was together, Ren and Nana became a couple. They moved in together soon after. They shared an intense romance for the next year and three months, until Ren was offered a spot as the guitarist in an up-and-coming band-Trapnest-in Tokyo. Nana had to make a decision whether or not she wanted to go with him. She decided not to, because she didn’t want to abandon her singing just to be with Ren. That was the end of their relationship, even though both of them were distraught over the breakup.
It was Nana’s 20th birthday when she decided to move to Tokyo on her own. While on the train, she meets Nana Komatsu, and coincidentally becomes roommates (in Apartment 707, ironically so, since “nana” means “7” in Japanese) with her as well. Nana gives her the nickname “Hachi,” because she was like a little puppy dog, begging for attention. As roommates, the two women begin to share a close relationship. When Hachi’s boyfriend at the time, Shoji, was caught cheating on her, Nana stood up for her, threatening to punch Shoji in the face.
Nana is reunited with Ren through Hachi. Hachi won front-row tickets to see Trapnest in her hometown. She convinced Nana to come with her after finding out that Nana and Ren were once a couple. During the concert, Nana cried as she watched Ren perform and Hachi held her hand. Nana thought that Ren couldn’t see her, but he did. That night, Nana and Ren were reunited and subsequently begin their romantic relationship again. Nana begins staying with Ren in his Tokyo apartment periodically, lessening her time at 707.
Through time, as their closeness grows, Nana becomes possessive of Hachi, especially when someone threatens to take her away. This is part of the reason why she was so upset when Hachi chose to be with Takumi (the bassist of Trapnest), rather than with Nobu. Nana had told Nobu that the reason why she was happy when he and Hachi were together was for selfish reasons. It was because she was, “set[ting] her free in my own garden.” In other words, when Hachi was with Nobu, Nana didn’t feel as if Hachi was taken away from her.
With the help of Hachi, BLAST gets back together with the addition of a new bassist, Shin. They begin by playing small venues around the city, and again gain a large following. Because of their increasing popularity, they are soon offered a contract with Gaia Records. Soon, the entire band and their business are thrust into the public eye, beginning with Nana and Ren’s relationship. The press and the paparazzi begin hounding them, starting rumors that the only reason Nana was with Ren was to further her career. All accusations are dismissed with no comment, and BLAST (with the help of Gaia) decide to use the (although negative) publicity to their advantage to draw attention to their debut. Nana promises Hachi on live TV that she will make her wish come true (to perform on TV and let her see Nana singing her heart out).
BLAST plays a series of “guerilla” performances in different locations to increase public interest, and starts living in an apartment complex owned by Gaia. Nana and Ren are apart for the time being, but are reunited some time later at a dual television performance for BLAST and Trapnest. During a break in rehearsal, Nana goes to her dressing room and finds Ren there. He asks her to marry him and she refuses at first, and even after a session of rough sex (he chokes her with her collar) she wouldn’t give him a straight answer. After some thought, she tells him that she would ask what her boss would think about it, generally telling him that she would marry him.
Amidst their busy schedule, BLAST makes time to go to the rescheduling of the fireworks display that was ruined by the typhoon in the summertime. They decide to meet with Hachi at Apartment 707 at 6:00pm that night. Maybe somehow they could reclaim the feelings of that summer night.
After Nana and Ren’s engagement was announced to their respective record labels, everything snowballed. Their engagement would really end up being used as a publicity stunt. It would be a good way to boost single sales for both bands, since both their singles were scheduled to come out on the same day. It would also settle all rumors about Nana and Ren’s relationship, and even though each of them may lose fans over it, the majority would be happy for them. A press conference for their public engagement announcement was set up, and right before their television appearance, Ren finally gives Nana an engagement ring-one just like Hachi’s.
Third Person Sample:
The stage was set, and the lights were going down. It was just about time for Nana to hit the stage.
As soon as the the club went dark, Nana took the stage with her guitar slung over her shoulder. The song she was about to perform was one of the few songs she played backup guitar to. The microphone stood in front of her, ready to pick up her vocals and send it out to the eager crowd. While most people got butterflies in their stomach doing something like this, Nana was in her comfort zone. It's what she loved to do, after all. She even felt comfortable enough to have a cigarette on stage, only flicking it away with the first strums of her band's lead guitarist.
With those first few strums, the lights onstage came up and focused on the four people onstage. Nana had to bring up her arm for a split second to shade her eyes from the brightness of it all, but she quickly adjusted and started strumming on her own guitar. The crowd was pretty big, and it made her wonder if the event sold out. It didn't matter much to her though-- she was just happy to be able to perform.
She worked the crowd as best she could, and if the screaming and the cheers were anything to go by, she was doing rather well. The ground shook from the bass. Her body swayed to the music, letting it carry her away. This was what she loved about music-- its ability to just take her away... to make her feel free. The rush of the whole experience was better than any drug-- it was a pure adrenaline rush. As her song came to a close, she kicked down the microphone stand for extra-added effect.
Then, the lights went down in preparation for her next song.
Personal LJ: stefanie_k
Email: failufail23@gmail.com
AIM: xvalkyriecryx
Time Zone: EST
Character: Nana Osaki
Fandom: NANA
Timeline:
Chapter 48 of the manga, after Reira and Shin's birthday party/Ren and Nana's engagement party (aka The Party Where Every Couple Sleeps with Each Other at Least Once that Night). Hachiko made a surprise appearance, and Nana invited her to stay the night at the mansion where the party was being held. After drunkenly belting out songs with Hachiko and Nobu in her room, Nana eventually passes out.
Personality:
Nana is a proud, independent, and stubborn person. She is not afraid to speak her mind about others and others’ feelings, but will very rarely speak freely about herself or her own emotions. She rarely lets herself rely on anyone, because she's just used to being alone. Ren was the only person she shared any personal information and secrets with, until she met Hachi. Through the story, she begins to let herself rely on other people every now and then. Still, she refuses to let Ren’s fame with Trapnest boost her and BLAST into stardom due to her own pride. She wants to be responsible for her own fame, not become famous just because of who her boyfriend is.
She really doesn’t make new friends easily either. She’s a reserved person, willing to let another person talk their head off while she sits and listens, never really divulging any information about herself. Nor does she even care about others’ opinions about her. The people she “allows” in her life are special to her, and she sees them as her pseudo-family, since she never had a real one of her own. She does have a possessive streak, keeping the people close to her under her watchful eye.
Nana’s relationship with Ren is a very conflicted one. She loves him-there’s no doubt about it, but she often questions those feelings. To Nana, her career matters more to her than getting married and starting a family. Regardless, she loves Ren, and will stay with him no matter how many times she questions herself or doubts their relationship. Ren is like a drug to her-an addiction. No matter how she tries to pull away from him, he ends up pulling her back and vice versa. They need each other to stay “stable,” though their relationship is toxic to both of them. They even go as far to say that they would die together.
Her relationship with Hachiko is a close one. They are best friends, who really want to look to one another when times are tough. Nana loves Hachi; not in the way she loves Ren, but close to it. Though the two women are separated due to various circumstances, they try to see each other when they can, which is not very often at all. Nana wants Hachiko to be happy, and does her best to achieve that happiness for her, even if it’s to support her in things Nana doesn’t necessarily approve of.
Because Nana is a vocalist, she does possess some charisma and stage-presence. She truly enjoys singing-not singing for a crowd or anyone else, but for herself. It gives her a feeling of freedom; a feeling of being alive. It clearly shows when she’s in the spotlight.
If anyone threatens a person she cares deeply for, she won’t hesitate to defend them. She likes to joke around and hang out with the few friends she has-smoking, drinking, and playing mahjong. When she’s drunk, she apparently loves to sing karaoke. Even though she may not look it, she is a handy person (she built the kitchen table and benches for 707). She can cook, but everyone says that her food is too salty (yet Ren prefers her salty miso soup). Nana is a frugal person-she doesn’t even own a cell phone, even when she receives money from BLAST’s contract with Gaia. Though eventually, later on she does acquire one, so she could stay in touch with Ren while he was in London.
Her favorite things include lotus flowers (she has a tattoo of one, more specifically a “ren” flower, on her left arm), the designer Vivienne Westwood, the Sex Pistols, Seven Stars cigarettes, and coffee with milk and strawberry cake.
Background:
Nana was born on March 5, 1981 to a single mother. At the age of 4, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother and was never heard from or seen again. When she was old enough, her grandmother made her work at the restaurant she owned, without pay. Her grandmother was scared that Nana would turn out like her mother, so she never let Nana wear colors like pink or red because it would “give the impression that [she] was seducing men.”
In high school, Nana was a loner. The only friend she made was Nobuo Terashima, the person responsible for introducing her to punk music. Because of she was so quiet and barely talked anyone, rumors that she was a prostitute began circulating throughout the school. Even though the rumors weren’t true, Nana just didn’t care or have the energy to defend herself, so eventually she was expelled from school.
Soon after that, her grandmother died, leaving her alone. She found a job as a cleaner that paid well enough to let her get her own apartment, because she couldn’t afford the rent on the apartment that she and her grandmother lived in. That Christmas, Nana bought herself a present-a red dress that she wore to a punk concert Nobu was taking her to. That concert was where she first met Ren Honjo. As she watched him perform, she described the feelings she felt as, “jealousy… mixed in with envy… and lust.”
It wasn’t long after their first meeting that Ren asked Nana to become the lead singer of BLAST, a band made up of himself as the bassist, Nobu as the guitarist, and Yasu as the drummer. When they began performing in their hometown, they soon acquired a large amount of fans. Nana fell into her role as the lead singer of a punk band easily, and found that she had a deep love for what she did. When she sang, she sang for herself, and no one else.
On Christmas night, about a year and a half after BLAST was together, Ren and Nana became a couple. They moved in together soon after. They shared an intense romance for the next year and three months, until Ren was offered a spot as the guitarist in an up-and-coming band-Trapnest-in Tokyo. Nana had to make a decision whether or not she wanted to go with him. She decided not to, because she didn’t want to abandon her singing just to be with Ren. That was the end of their relationship, even though both of them were distraught over the breakup.
It was Nana’s 20th birthday when she decided to move to Tokyo on her own. While on the train, she meets Nana Komatsu, and coincidentally becomes roommates (in Apartment 707, ironically so, since “nana” means “7” in Japanese) with her as well. Nana gives her the nickname “Hachi,” because she was like a little puppy dog, begging for attention. As roommates, the two women begin to share a close relationship. When Hachi’s boyfriend at the time, Shoji, was caught cheating on her, Nana stood up for her, threatening to punch Shoji in the face.
Nana is reunited with Ren through Hachi. Hachi won front-row tickets to see Trapnest in her hometown. She convinced Nana to come with her after finding out that Nana and Ren were once a couple. During the concert, Nana cried as she watched Ren perform and Hachi held her hand. Nana thought that Ren couldn’t see her, but he did. That night, Nana and Ren were reunited and subsequently begin their romantic relationship again. Nana begins staying with Ren in his Tokyo apartment periodically, lessening her time at 707.
Through time, as their closeness grows, Nana becomes possessive of Hachi, especially when someone threatens to take her away. This is part of the reason why she was so upset when Hachi chose to be with Takumi (the bassist of Trapnest), rather than with Nobu. Nana had told Nobu that the reason why she was happy when he and Hachi were together was for selfish reasons. It was because she was, “set[ting] her free in my own garden.” In other words, when Hachi was with Nobu, Nana didn’t feel as if Hachi was taken away from her.
With the help of Hachi, BLAST gets back together with the addition of a new bassist, Shin. They begin by playing small venues around the city, and again gain a large following. Because of their increasing popularity, they are soon offered a contract with Gaia Records. Soon, the entire band and their business are thrust into the public eye, beginning with Nana and Ren’s relationship. The press and the paparazzi begin hounding them, starting rumors that the only reason Nana was with Ren was to further her career. All accusations are dismissed with no comment, and BLAST (with the help of Gaia) decide to use the (although negative) publicity to their advantage to draw attention to their debut. Nana promises Hachi on live TV that she will make her wish come true (to perform on TV and let her see Nana singing her heart out).
BLAST plays a series of “guerilla” performances in different locations to increase public interest, and starts living in an apartment complex owned by Gaia. Nana and Ren are apart for the time being, but are reunited some time later at a dual television performance for BLAST and Trapnest. During a break in rehearsal, Nana goes to her dressing room and finds Ren there. He asks her to marry him and she refuses at first, and even after a session of rough sex (he chokes her with her collar) she wouldn’t give him a straight answer. After some thought, she tells him that she would ask what her boss would think about it, generally telling him that she would marry him.
Amidst their busy schedule, BLAST makes time to go to the rescheduling of the fireworks display that was ruined by the typhoon in the summertime. They decide to meet with Hachi at Apartment 707 at 6:00pm that night. Maybe somehow they could reclaim the feelings of that summer night.
After Nana and Ren’s engagement was announced to their respective record labels, everything snowballed. Their engagement would really end up being used as a publicity stunt. It would be a good way to boost single sales for both bands, since both their singles were scheduled to come out on the same day. It would also settle all rumors about Nana and Ren’s relationship, and even though each of them may lose fans over it, the majority would be happy for them. A press conference for their public engagement announcement was set up, and right before their television appearance, Ren finally gives Nana an engagement ring-one just like Hachi’s.
Third Person Sample:
The stage was set, and the lights were going down. It was just about time for Nana to hit the stage.
As soon as the the club went dark, Nana took the stage with her guitar slung over her shoulder. The song she was about to perform was one of the few songs she played backup guitar to. The microphone stood in front of her, ready to pick up her vocals and send it out to the eager crowd. While most people got butterflies in their stomach doing something like this, Nana was in her comfort zone. It's what she loved to do, after all. She even felt comfortable enough to have a cigarette on stage, only flicking it away with the first strums of her band's lead guitarist.
With those first few strums, the lights onstage came up and focused on the four people onstage. Nana had to bring up her arm for a split second to shade her eyes from the brightness of it all, but she quickly adjusted and started strumming on her own guitar. The crowd was pretty big, and it made her wonder if the event sold out. It didn't matter much to her though-- she was just happy to be able to perform.
She worked the crowd as best she could, and if the screaming and the cheers were anything to go by, she was doing rather well. The ground shook from the bass. Her body swayed to the music, letting it carry her away. This was what she loved about music-- its ability to just take her away... to make her feel free. The rush of the whole experience was better than any drug-- it was a pure adrenaline rush. As her song came to a close, she kicked down the microphone stand for extra-added effect.
Then, the lights went down in preparation for her next song.