OOC: Seeking Paradise
Since many campers have seen Wolf's Rain but only in passing and only a few episodes at most, we'll do a mini-rundown on some WR canon. Up to the near the of the series for now because, in my head, Toboe is somewhere between fighting the walrus and entering the Black City. So no face-off with Jagara or OVAs. I might include conclusion info later.
Just so you know now, I believe Toboe loves Tsume and the feeling is shared. It may or may not be romantic, but it's definitely love.
THE PACK
Kiba: leader but not by choice, he's the one with the instincts and drive, he's the one who knows how to find Paradise somehow
Hige: the rolly-polly one, usually in a good mood and carefree but also quite witty, he loves his food and girls and both get him into a lot of trouble, he sees Toboe as a kid brother and teases him constantly
Tsume: Brusque and adverse to relationships. He used to manage a gang in Freeze City. They stole food from the government. On one raid, the youngest of Tsume's gang is killed when he falls and Tsume tries to save him by biting his arm for leverage. The kid freaks and falls to his death. It is possible Tsume sees Toboe as his chance to redeem for that failure. Later Tsume's gang betrays him and he leaves with Kiba and the others. His reasons for not trusting friendship are later revealed in the OVAs.
----
THE SERIES
First of all, most wolves are said to be extinct in Toboe's world. They've been missing for many years. Those who remain have either fallen into the guise of work dogs or assemiliated into the human world under their human illusions. Their world is also some strange mix between a Russian wasteland and a pseudo-future landscape with spaceships, artificial intelligence and lots of technology, with some forest and green spots tossed in. Don't ask.
Toboe was somehow abandoned by his pack when he was very young and taken in by an older woman. She raised him as a dog and he loved her very much. But he was rambunctious as he got older. One day when he was especially happy, he jumped on the old woman and wouldn't get off. He didn't realize that he was too heavy for her and she was having breathing difficulties. She died while he was too excited to notice. Toboe harbors deep guilt about this accident. The old woman always wore a set of three think bangles on her wrist. Toboe took them when she died and now wears them on his right paw.
After she died, Toboe tried to live by himself but he was too sheltered and unused to city life. Other animals tormented him and drove him from food. Then he met Leara, a young girl who fed him and befriended him in his human illusion. Leaving her, he runs into Tsume, another wolf. The two don't have much time for chat as a hunter shows up: Quent, an old sherrif who's obsessed with finding the wolves that killed his family. Tsume flees. Quent tries to shoot Toboe, who's too scared to move. Tsume returns and attacks Quent, helping Toboe to escape. High on the hero worship and the ecstasy of finding another like him, Toboe tags along Tsume. But Tsume doesn't want friendship. He drives the pup away.
Toboe returns to Leara, who's playing with her hawk. Wanting to join, Toboe chases after the bird and catches it, killing it. When he brings it back, Leara is devastated and Toboe can't cope with more guilt. He freaks out and howls, revealing himself to Leara. Tsume hears and snatches Toboe from the scene before anything can happen. He takes Toboe back to his keep and feeds him while explaining the truth about wolves and humans and how they can never coexist. Toboe points out that Tsume is the leader of a gang of humans who steal food. Tsume says he uses them and it's not the same. Toboe's naievety grates on Tsume and he tells Toboe to get out. Having had his fill of Tsume's unwillingness to accept friends, Toboe leaves.
Toboe returns to city life with a new resolve. He's found by two other wolves, Hige and Kiba who are searching for the flower maiden Cheza so she can help them find Paradise (for more info, check further down; it has its own section.) Toboe opts to come with. They find an injured Tsume in the sewer; he got into another spat with Quent and Quent's dog, Blue. Kiba convinces the group that humans won't ever accept them and their only future lies in Paradise. He leads them out of the city. Along the way, they are chased and Toboe almost falls in the same way Tsume's gang member did. Tsume bites him to grab him the same way but Toboe, being a wolf, cooperates and is saved.
The group runs along. Tsume tries to leave early on and gets persued by Toboe. The two are then attacked by a robot and Tsume is injured protecting Toboe. Toboe's affection for him grows and we have the cute leg-licking scene that all WR yaoi fangirls know by heart. Later Tsume tries to lead the machine away from Toboe so Toboe can escape. Thankfully, Kiba saves them. Throughout their quest, Tsume keeps trying to leave and Toboe keeps pursuing. And Quent keeps chasing after them.
They find Cheza, the artificially-created human that was built by the technology-advanced rulers known as Nobles. Many desire Cheza, including the main noble, Darcia, and scientist Cher. Though the wolves, aside from Kiba, don't entirely trust Cheza at first, they warm up to her and will protect her at any cost. She is their key to Paradise and they love her. She also has the ability to heal them when they're injured and her singing puts them at ease and makes them happy.
The wolves and Cheza make an attempt to discover the road to Paradise but when they've created a path (through this bizarro howling/dancing ritual), Darcia shows up and mortally injures them all with his ship and lasers. Yep, lasers. Cheza heals them but is stolen by Darcia. The wolves are distraught but determined to get her back. While recovering, they encounter Blue again, who's now revealed to be half wolf, half dog. She joins the pack.
Everything goes sour after the wolves make a raid on Darcia's Keep. Cheza gets stolen by another Noble, Jagara. Kiba and Blue are separated from the others. Their confidence is shaken. We get a brief interlude with Toboe finding a half-frozen Quent, who's searching for Blue, and staying with him to keep him warm. Quent is too delirious to realize he's with Toboe and not Blue. This goes back to Toboe's natural love for humans, even those who shoot at him. After some friendly advice from our neighborhood natives (What's with BONES and Indians?) and a talking horse, the group is reunited with Kiba and off again. This is also the time when Toboe actively makes the decision to stay with the pack. He had been uncertain after losing Kiba and considered stayinw with the natives. But he decides he wants to be strong now and help the others.
Some more screwy alliances are made. A GINORMOUS walrus attacks the pack and badly injures Toboe's friends. He snaps, fights the walrus and kills it, thus earning his place. That said, it is not a good idea to really piss off the little guy. He's a wolf through and through and will show it if pushed too far. The pack makes it to Jagara's city, the Black City, determined to get back Cheza.
----
PARADISE
Also known as Rakuen, this concept is crux of the series. It's also the most intangible. Fans of WR have speculated its meaning for a long time. The wolves think it's a place where they can find other wolves and be happy. Humans think it's the salvation of their world. It's also generally viewed as a myth and connected with The Book of The Moon. The prophecy states only the wolves can find Paradise and indicates the Flower Maiden in required. The Nobles also want to create their own artificial Paradise using Cheza and the blood of the chosen wolf, Kiba. Whether or not, the wolves actually find Paradise at the end is up to interpretation. Since Toboe doesn't really understand it, I don't think others should be required to either.
----
ILLUSIONS
Did a quick post about this in the OOC comm, but I'll touch upon it again here. Somehow, wolves are able to move among humans disguised as humans. Possibly an evolution made necessary by their dwindling numbers. They are NOT shapeshifters. They don't change. They are wolves and trick the human eye. Being wolves, they recognize other wolves and see only their wolf form.
In the series, the illusion is used for both "OMG bishie!" factor and to show what the human characters are seeing. The times we know humans see the wolf forms are when Tsume grabs his gang member, when Quent's drunk, when they attack people (slip-up in scene where Tsume holds down a traitor gang member and still appears human), when the feeble old man spots them, when another human is very disoriented and groggy and when they're unconscious. I also think there's a loophole that people who know what they are can see the wolf, such as the Nobles. It's hard to say since half of the time the wolves are around the Nobles, they are attacking them.
That's why I say the illusion fails when the wolves are in emotion-overdrive (anger, sadness, pain), when they're touched or when humans are somehow inebriated. So yeah, it's a fairly week illusion and can be piereced with certain abilities.
Also, this makes clothes illusions too. They aren't really wearing them (I don't care about randomly shirtless Kiba because that makes no sense!). I might play with this later on if it makes things overly complicated. But for now, I'm sticking with that notion. But as part of the illusion, if the wolves are hurt but not enough to knock out the illusion, the clothes reflect the injured state. They'll look torn, bloodstained, ect.
Generally, it's easier to just view Toboe as a talking wolf for now. If a wolf can't do it, he can't either. But that shouldn't effect most things at camp. It's not like we have cars or things that require hand-eye coordination.
As for the typing/Netting abilities and other random inconsistencies that are just too cute to resist, it's camp. 'Nuff said.
ETA: After some help from Kazahaya-mun, I decided that since his appearance is an illusion, he can shape it as he wills. He just may not realize he has to do it at first. Also, since he's never done it before, he's not sure he can so he'll be hesitant.
God I hope I'm done now. Dang confusing canon.
Just so you know now, I believe Toboe loves Tsume and the feeling is shared. It may or may not be romantic, but it's definitely love.
THE PACK
Kiba: leader but not by choice, he's the one with the instincts and drive, he's the one who knows how to find Paradise somehow
Hige: the rolly-polly one, usually in a good mood and carefree but also quite witty, he loves his food and girls and both get him into a lot of trouble, he sees Toboe as a kid brother and teases him constantly
Tsume: Brusque and adverse to relationships. He used to manage a gang in Freeze City. They stole food from the government. On one raid, the youngest of Tsume's gang is killed when he falls and Tsume tries to save him by biting his arm for leverage. The kid freaks and falls to his death. It is possible Tsume sees Toboe as his chance to redeem for that failure. Later Tsume's gang betrays him and he leaves with Kiba and the others. His reasons for not trusting friendship are later revealed in the OVAs.
----
THE SERIES
First of all, most wolves are said to be extinct in Toboe's world. They've been missing for many years. Those who remain have either fallen into the guise of work dogs or assemiliated into the human world under their human illusions. Their world is also some strange mix between a Russian wasteland and a pseudo-future landscape with spaceships, artificial intelligence and lots of technology, with some forest and green spots tossed in. Don't ask.
Toboe was somehow abandoned by his pack when he was very young and taken in by an older woman. She raised him as a dog and he loved her very much. But he was rambunctious as he got older. One day when he was especially happy, he jumped on the old woman and wouldn't get off. He didn't realize that he was too heavy for her and she was having breathing difficulties. She died while he was too excited to notice. Toboe harbors deep guilt about this accident. The old woman always wore a set of three think bangles on her wrist. Toboe took them when she died and now wears them on his right paw.
After she died, Toboe tried to live by himself but he was too sheltered and unused to city life. Other animals tormented him and drove him from food. Then he met Leara, a young girl who fed him and befriended him in his human illusion. Leaving her, he runs into Tsume, another wolf. The two don't have much time for chat as a hunter shows up: Quent, an old sherrif who's obsessed with finding the wolves that killed his family. Tsume flees. Quent tries to shoot Toboe, who's too scared to move. Tsume returns and attacks Quent, helping Toboe to escape. High on the hero worship and the ecstasy of finding another like him, Toboe tags along Tsume. But Tsume doesn't want friendship. He drives the pup away.
Toboe returns to Leara, who's playing with her hawk. Wanting to join, Toboe chases after the bird and catches it, killing it. When he brings it back, Leara is devastated and Toboe can't cope with more guilt. He freaks out and howls, revealing himself to Leara. Tsume hears and snatches Toboe from the scene before anything can happen. He takes Toboe back to his keep and feeds him while explaining the truth about wolves and humans and how they can never coexist. Toboe points out that Tsume is the leader of a gang of humans who steal food. Tsume says he uses them and it's not the same. Toboe's naievety grates on Tsume and he tells Toboe to get out. Having had his fill of Tsume's unwillingness to accept friends, Toboe leaves.
Toboe returns to city life with a new resolve. He's found by two other wolves, Hige and Kiba who are searching for the flower maiden Cheza so she can help them find Paradise (for more info, check further down; it has its own section.) Toboe opts to come with. They find an injured Tsume in the sewer; he got into another spat with Quent and Quent's dog, Blue. Kiba convinces the group that humans won't ever accept them and their only future lies in Paradise. He leads them out of the city. Along the way, they are chased and Toboe almost falls in the same way Tsume's gang member did. Tsume bites him to grab him the same way but Toboe, being a wolf, cooperates and is saved.
The group runs along. Tsume tries to leave early on and gets persued by Toboe. The two are then attacked by a robot and Tsume is injured protecting Toboe. Toboe's affection for him grows and we have the cute leg-licking scene that all WR yaoi fangirls know by heart. Later Tsume tries to lead the machine away from Toboe so Toboe can escape. Thankfully, Kiba saves them. Throughout their quest, Tsume keeps trying to leave and Toboe keeps pursuing. And Quent keeps chasing after them.
They find Cheza, the artificially-created human that was built by the technology-advanced rulers known as Nobles. Many desire Cheza, including the main noble, Darcia, and scientist Cher. Though the wolves, aside from Kiba, don't entirely trust Cheza at first, they warm up to her and will protect her at any cost. She is their key to Paradise and they love her. She also has the ability to heal them when they're injured and her singing puts them at ease and makes them happy.
The wolves and Cheza make an attempt to discover the road to Paradise but when they've created a path (through this bizarro howling/dancing ritual), Darcia shows up and mortally injures them all with his ship and lasers. Yep, lasers. Cheza heals them but is stolen by Darcia. The wolves are distraught but determined to get her back. While recovering, they encounter Blue again, who's now revealed to be half wolf, half dog. She joins the pack.
Everything goes sour after the wolves make a raid on Darcia's Keep. Cheza gets stolen by another Noble, Jagara. Kiba and Blue are separated from the others. Their confidence is shaken. We get a brief interlude with Toboe finding a half-frozen Quent, who's searching for Blue, and staying with him to keep him warm. Quent is too delirious to realize he's with Toboe and not Blue. This goes back to Toboe's natural love for humans, even those who shoot at him. After some friendly advice from our neighborhood natives (What's with BONES and Indians?) and a talking horse, the group is reunited with Kiba and off again. This is also the time when Toboe actively makes the decision to stay with the pack. He had been uncertain after losing Kiba and considered stayinw with the natives. But he decides he wants to be strong now and help the others.
Some more screwy alliances are made. A GINORMOUS walrus attacks the pack and badly injures Toboe's friends. He snaps, fights the walrus and kills it, thus earning his place. That said, it is not a good idea to really piss off the little guy. He's a wolf through and through and will show it if pushed too far. The pack makes it to Jagara's city, the Black City, determined to get back Cheza.
----
PARADISE
Also known as Rakuen, this concept is crux of the series. It's also the most intangible. Fans of WR have speculated its meaning for a long time. The wolves think it's a place where they can find other wolves and be happy. Humans think it's the salvation of their world. It's also generally viewed as a myth and connected with The Book of The Moon. The prophecy states only the wolves can find Paradise and indicates the Flower Maiden in required. The Nobles also want to create their own artificial Paradise using Cheza and the blood of the chosen wolf, Kiba. Whether or not, the wolves actually find Paradise at the end is up to interpretation. Since Toboe doesn't really understand it, I don't think others should be required to either.
----
ILLUSIONS
Did a quick post about this in the OOC comm, but I'll touch upon it again here. Somehow, wolves are able to move among humans disguised as humans. Possibly an evolution made necessary by their dwindling numbers. They are NOT shapeshifters. They don't change. They are wolves and trick the human eye. Being wolves, they recognize other wolves and see only their wolf form.
In the series, the illusion is used for both "OMG bishie!" factor and to show what the human characters are seeing. The times we know humans see the wolf forms are when Tsume grabs his gang member, when Quent's drunk, when they attack people (slip-up in scene where Tsume holds down a traitor gang member and still appears human), when the feeble old man spots them, when another human is very disoriented and groggy and when they're unconscious. I also think there's a loophole that people who know what they are can see the wolf, such as the Nobles. It's hard to say since half of the time the wolves are around the Nobles, they are attacking them.
That's why I say the illusion fails when the wolves are in emotion-overdrive (anger, sadness, pain), when they're touched or when humans are somehow inebriated. So yeah, it's a fairly week illusion and can be piereced with certain abilities.
Also, this makes clothes illusions too. They aren't really wearing them (I don't care about randomly shirtless Kiba because that makes no sense!). I might play with this later on if it makes things overly complicated. But for now, I'm sticking with that notion. But as part of the illusion, if the wolves are hurt but not enough to knock out the illusion, the clothes reflect the injured state. They'll look torn, bloodstained, ect.
Generally, it's easier to just view Toboe as a talking wolf for now. If a wolf can't do it, he can't either. But that shouldn't effect most things at camp. It's not like we have cars or things that require hand-eye coordination.
As for the typing/Netting abilities and other random inconsistencies that are just too cute to resist, it's camp. 'Nuff said.
ETA: After some help from Kazahaya-mun, I decided that since his appearance is an illusion, he can shape it as he wills. He just may not realize he has to do it at first. Also, since he's never done it before, he's not sure he can so he'll be hesitant.
God I hope I'm done now. Dang confusing canon.