000
PLAYER INFORMATION-
Name/Nickname: Andy
AIM/E-mail/Contact: 2icsection9@gmail.com
LJ: Nique
CHARACTER INFORMATION-
Canon Character and Series: Katsura Kotaro, Gintama
In-Game Name: Kotaro 'Zura' Katsura, Matsusuke Niibori (Alias used with his rebel group).
Rank: Lt. Commander
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Position & Ship: Victoria II, Quartermaster.
Appearance: Not particularly tall, or imposing (he weighs a whopping 125lbs), with long black hair he wears loose, and brown eyes. Can usually be found wearing a uniform, or whatever strange costume fits his current mood.
Personality: Katsura is a serious young man. A very serious young man. Driven by continued grief over the death of his beloved teacher, and consumed by hatred of what he sees as Ivona's disgustingly corrupt way of life, he wants nothing more than to enact a complete overthrow of Ivona's political structure. To that end, he is constantly spreading his extremist beliefs, and, through use of considerable charisma, has gathered a small group of like-minded people to help him further this cause, though he is careful to keep himself from being directly tied with any of his followers' acts in order to keep his position in the Ivonan military secure.
While he possesses the intelligence and strategical know-how to theoretically see these dreams to fruition, several things hamper him. For one, he is a hopeless traditionalist, out of touch with current trends, and thus occasionally has difficulty relating to those around him on some levels. He's also unfortunately prone to outlandish and absurd outbursts that lead many to question Katsura's grip on reality. It certainly seems that his sanity is tenuous, at best, though whether this is due to some organic problem or the trauma of losing his beloved teacher to the bloody logging conflict in Bydan at impressionable age is difficult to say. He remains coherent enough to keep from being discharged from his military post, though it's unlikely that further promotion would occur without some serious bribes.
Despite the fanaticism and angry, bizarre outbursts, Katsura can be extremely kind to those he holds some affection for, and is not, in general a cruel man, though those who know him only passingly are likely to consider him something of a jerk. He disdains ostentatious things, preferring to live a simple, uncomplicated life. Unfortunately, he's also very fond of trying to force his views upon anyone else in the general vicinity. He enjoys cute things, is fanatically devoted to his pet duck, Elizabeth, and eats soba to the exclusion of nearly anything else. He loudly protests being called anything but 'Katsura,' regardless of how ridiculous his protestations may be.
Abilities/Weapons: Katsura carries a katana on him at all times, and is quite well trained with it, having studied his swordsmanship religiously. He is also well educated when it comes to military tactics, and his more subversive activities have gained him a working knowledge of crude explosive devices. He can be quite devastating when employing a surprise uppercut, but that is about the limit of his hand-to-hand fighting abilities.
How well can your character hack?: He's not particularly skilled at it.
Weaknesses: Katsura is very slightly built, and relies heavily on his sword for personal defense, though he is capable of throwing a surprisingly strong punch, though this only really works if his opponent is off-guard and is unlikely to serve him particularly well in unarmed combat. He is also prone to fits of illogical behavior, and generally gloomy in disposition, often imagining outlandish worst-case scenarios for even very mundane situations. Having seemingly reached the limits of his military career, and losing control of the terrorist organization that he worked tirelessly to build, he is prone to occasional bouts of melancholy. He is also highly susceptible to 'cute things' often reduced to a blushing, stammering wreck in the face of things like puppies and kittens. Lastly, he his highly attached to his pet duck, Elizabeth, and can be thrown into fits of worry and despair should she vanish from his sight.
History: Born in Melior, the son of a doctor, Zura was sent at a young age by his liberal-leaning parents to study with an Ivonan ex-patriot living in seclusion near Bydan in Vohemar, by the name of Shoyou Yoshida. It was hoped that the young boy would be able to learn from the man's more radical ways of thinking, and come home ready to enact changes that his family and several other like-minded houses felt were needed in Ivona's government.
Katsura took this duty seriously and studied hard to learn political and military matters from his teacher, while also rigorously studying swordsmanship. He greatly enjoyed the calm of the forests after the chaos of city life in Melior, and became greatly devoted to his teacher.
These idyllic school days were cut short when conflict broke out over logging activities in the villages near Bydan. The forests began to burn, and conflicts between village militia and the instigators of the scheme brought violence to the front door of the quiet little compound. Amidst chaos and flame, Shoyou was killed (though whether his death was a byproduct of the conflict, or a well times assassination by Ivonan forces looking to keep the man from spreading his radical ideas remains unknown). Grief stricken and alone, Katsura joined in the conflict, siding with the beleaguered villagers of the area who believed they had been betrayed by Bydan's officials. Though young, Katsura was well trained, and proved himself both a clear headed military organizer and able swordsman, diving head first into the skirmishes, fueled by rage and despair over the loss of his beloved teacher.
In the end, however, the reality of Bydan's much greater force made it clear that the conflict could not be won. Still distraught, both at the death of his teacher and those of the people he had helped command in the dispute, Katsura sought to end his life in the last skirmish of the conflict, though the simple but motivation words of a friend helped to convince the young man not to throw his life away.
By this time, news of the conflict had reached even distant Melior, and as talks were underway to turn over rebellion leaders, heavy bribes were placed in the hands of Bydan's leaders to ensure that Katsura was placed on the next airship across the badlands, instead of being sent to a Vohemar prison.
Pains were taken to cover up the young man's roll in the conflict, at least in Ivona, and after spending some time in his family home, recovering physically--if not psychologically--from the conflict, the young man was sent to Bellcius military academy. It was not the political career his family had originally hoped for him, but would, they felt, be better for his fragile state of mind. Indeed, the rigors and order of military life seemed to do the boy good, and his earnest devotion to his studies saw him graduating with flying colors. It seemed that all had been returned to its proper state, and that Katsura could look forward to a long and prosperous military career.
What most people did not realize was that far from being one of Ivona's loyal sons, Katsura had been growing more and more agitated with the country of his birth since his return. The ease with which his family had been able to bribe and cajole their way into hiding the Bydan conflict from the prying eyes of their fellow countrymen disgusted him, and he saw even his family's rather liberal views too stifling. He wanted to carve the corrupted heart from the nation, and set about doing so in a quietly subversive way.
Gifted with a certain amount of natural charisma, Katsura was able to slowly gather a group of followers beneath him, many of them coming from disillusioned intellectuals in Melior, while others came from lower classes who found themselves unable to move upward in Ivona's stratified society. In order to keep from being connected with these subversive activities, he used the alias Matsusuke Niibori while meeting with these rebellious factions, who's strident desire became no less than a complete overthrow of Ivona's government and a radical restructuring which would ensure a more fair way of life for all of its citizens, not just those rich enough to buy their way in. This group has been responsible for various terrorist acts throughout Ivona, though, fortunately for them, the attacks have been laid largely at the feet of Vohemar radicals, due to Ivona's refusal to admit to any home-grown civil unrest.
After his graduation from the academy, Katsura served in a number of distinguished posts, seeming, on the surface, at least, to be the epitome of a loyal military man, though he continued to spread his treasonous philosophy whenever possible. In the last few years, however, his promotional opportunities have grown slim, due to increasingly erratic behavior on his part. Having achieved the rank of Lt. Commander, however, his career seems to have stalled out, and his current transfer to the Victoria II is largely owing to an incident during his previous assignment where he declared himself 'Captain Katsura' and attempted to install his pet duck, Elizabeth, as first mate. Having spent the last few months on 'medical leave' he is ready to rejoin military life, though whether his assignment to the Victoria II was meant as a punishment to Katsura or the ship's crew is open for debate. Of late, control of his underground terrorist group has passed largely out of his hands, as he's become less capable of commanding them, which has lead to the group taking on an even more extremist philosophy than the one Katsura espouses.
SAMPLES-
Third Person (roleplay): In his mind, he wasn't doing anything wrong, really. After the last failed skirmish with Vohemaro pirates, it was clear the Captain had no idea what he was doing, and while Katsura did not want to aid in the improvement of the Ivonan fleet particularly, it would be troublesome if he died before he could put his intricate plans into motion. Of course it would be. So he saw nothing particularly wrong with waiting, quietly and stealthily, until the Captain and First mate were unawares, tying them up, and dangling them from the bow of the ship.
That he'd done so while decked out in full pirate regalia just proved he had style. The fact that he'd declared his duck First Mate... well. She was the only one he could truly trust, wasn't she?
"Lieutenant Commander, if you could please just come down, I'm sure we could talk this--"
"It's not Lieutenant Commander!" He shouted down to the poor, beleaguered boatswain who'd been trying to coax him down from his perch in the crows nest for the past three hours. "It's Captain Katsura!" Why they had to be so difficult about the whole thing, he just couldn't understand. "It's all right," he commented to the white duck tucked safely under one arm. "They'll see the error of their ways eventually." If not, they'd simply have to go to Boston in the fall, instead.
First Person (journal):
Hello? Ah... I'm not [sounds of fumbling] I'm not too familiar with these devices, but I believe I'm joining your ship. I've been assured it's a very fine vessel, and I look for ward to--no, Elizabeth, please don't eat-- [something like quacking in the background before the transmission cuts out]
Name/Nickname: Andy
AIM/E-mail/Contact: 2icsection9@gmail.com
LJ: Nique
CHARACTER INFORMATION-
Canon Character and Series: Katsura Kotaro, Gintama
In-Game Name: Kotaro 'Zura' Katsura, Matsusuke Niibori (Alias used with his rebel group).
Rank: Lt. Commander
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Position & Ship: Victoria II, Quartermaster.
Appearance: Not particularly tall, or imposing (he weighs a whopping 125lbs), with long black hair he wears loose, and brown eyes. Can usually be found wearing a uniform, or whatever strange costume fits his current mood.
Personality: Katsura is a serious young man. A very serious young man. Driven by continued grief over the death of his beloved teacher, and consumed by hatred of what he sees as Ivona's disgustingly corrupt way of life, he wants nothing more than to enact a complete overthrow of Ivona's political structure. To that end, he is constantly spreading his extremist beliefs, and, through use of considerable charisma, has gathered a small group of like-minded people to help him further this cause, though he is careful to keep himself from being directly tied with any of his followers' acts in order to keep his position in the Ivonan military secure.
While he possesses the intelligence and strategical know-how to theoretically see these dreams to fruition, several things hamper him. For one, he is a hopeless traditionalist, out of touch with current trends, and thus occasionally has difficulty relating to those around him on some levels. He's also unfortunately prone to outlandish and absurd outbursts that lead many to question Katsura's grip on reality. It certainly seems that his sanity is tenuous, at best, though whether this is due to some organic problem or the trauma of losing his beloved teacher to the bloody logging conflict in Bydan at impressionable age is difficult to say. He remains coherent enough to keep from being discharged from his military post, though it's unlikely that further promotion would occur without some serious bribes.
Despite the fanaticism and angry, bizarre outbursts, Katsura can be extremely kind to those he holds some affection for, and is not, in general a cruel man, though those who know him only passingly are likely to consider him something of a jerk. He disdains ostentatious things, preferring to live a simple, uncomplicated life. Unfortunately, he's also very fond of trying to force his views upon anyone else in the general vicinity. He enjoys cute things, is fanatically devoted to his pet duck, Elizabeth, and eats soba to the exclusion of nearly anything else. He loudly protests being called anything but 'Katsura,' regardless of how ridiculous his protestations may be.
Abilities/Weapons: Katsura carries a katana on him at all times, and is quite well trained with it, having studied his swordsmanship religiously. He is also well educated when it comes to military tactics, and his more subversive activities have gained him a working knowledge of crude explosive devices. He can be quite devastating when employing a surprise uppercut, but that is about the limit of his hand-to-hand fighting abilities.
How well can your character hack?: He's not particularly skilled at it.
Weaknesses: Katsura is very slightly built, and relies heavily on his sword for personal defense, though he is capable of throwing a surprisingly strong punch, though this only really works if his opponent is off-guard and is unlikely to serve him particularly well in unarmed combat. He is also prone to fits of illogical behavior, and generally gloomy in disposition, often imagining outlandish worst-case scenarios for even very mundane situations. Having seemingly reached the limits of his military career, and losing control of the terrorist organization that he worked tirelessly to build, he is prone to occasional bouts of melancholy. He is also highly susceptible to 'cute things' often reduced to a blushing, stammering wreck in the face of things like puppies and kittens. Lastly, he his highly attached to his pet duck, Elizabeth, and can be thrown into fits of worry and despair should she vanish from his sight.
History: Born in Melior, the son of a doctor, Zura was sent at a young age by his liberal-leaning parents to study with an Ivonan ex-patriot living in seclusion near Bydan in Vohemar, by the name of Shoyou Yoshida. It was hoped that the young boy would be able to learn from the man's more radical ways of thinking, and come home ready to enact changes that his family and several other like-minded houses felt were needed in Ivona's government.
Katsura took this duty seriously and studied hard to learn political and military matters from his teacher, while also rigorously studying swordsmanship. He greatly enjoyed the calm of the forests after the chaos of city life in Melior, and became greatly devoted to his teacher.
These idyllic school days were cut short when conflict broke out over logging activities in the villages near Bydan. The forests began to burn, and conflicts between village militia and the instigators of the scheme brought violence to the front door of the quiet little compound. Amidst chaos and flame, Shoyou was killed (though whether his death was a byproduct of the conflict, or a well times assassination by Ivonan forces looking to keep the man from spreading his radical ideas remains unknown). Grief stricken and alone, Katsura joined in the conflict, siding with the beleaguered villagers of the area who believed they had been betrayed by Bydan's officials. Though young, Katsura was well trained, and proved himself both a clear headed military organizer and able swordsman, diving head first into the skirmishes, fueled by rage and despair over the loss of his beloved teacher.
In the end, however, the reality of Bydan's much greater force made it clear that the conflict could not be won. Still distraught, both at the death of his teacher and those of the people he had helped command in the dispute, Katsura sought to end his life in the last skirmish of the conflict, though the simple but motivation words of a friend helped to convince the young man not to throw his life away.
By this time, news of the conflict had reached even distant Melior, and as talks were underway to turn over rebellion leaders, heavy bribes were placed in the hands of Bydan's leaders to ensure that Katsura was placed on the next airship across the badlands, instead of being sent to a Vohemar prison.
Pains were taken to cover up the young man's roll in the conflict, at least in Ivona, and after spending some time in his family home, recovering physically--if not psychologically--from the conflict, the young man was sent to Bellcius military academy. It was not the political career his family had originally hoped for him, but would, they felt, be better for his fragile state of mind. Indeed, the rigors and order of military life seemed to do the boy good, and his earnest devotion to his studies saw him graduating with flying colors. It seemed that all had been returned to its proper state, and that Katsura could look forward to a long and prosperous military career.
What most people did not realize was that far from being one of Ivona's loyal sons, Katsura had been growing more and more agitated with the country of his birth since his return. The ease with which his family had been able to bribe and cajole their way into hiding the Bydan conflict from the prying eyes of their fellow countrymen disgusted him, and he saw even his family's rather liberal views too stifling. He wanted to carve the corrupted heart from the nation, and set about doing so in a quietly subversive way.
Gifted with a certain amount of natural charisma, Katsura was able to slowly gather a group of followers beneath him, many of them coming from disillusioned intellectuals in Melior, while others came from lower classes who found themselves unable to move upward in Ivona's stratified society. In order to keep from being connected with these subversive activities, he used the alias Matsusuke Niibori while meeting with these rebellious factions, who's strident desire became no less than a complete overthrow of Ivona's government and a radical restructuring which would ensure a more fair way of life for all of its citizens, not just those rich enough to buy their way in. This group has been responsible for various terrorist acts throughout Ivona, though, fortunately for them, the attacks have been laid largely at the feet of Vohemar radicals, due to Ivona's refusal to admit to any home-grown civil unrest.
After his graduation from the academy, Katsura served in a number of distinguished posts, seeming, on the surface, at least, to be the epitome of a loyal military man, though he continued to spread his treasonous philosophy whenever possible. In the last few years, however, his promotional opportunities have grown slim, due to increasingly erratic behavior on his part. Having achieved the rank of Lt. Commander, however, his career seems to have stalled out, and his current transfer to the Victoria II is largely owing to an incident during his previous assignment where he declared himself 'Captain Katsura' and attempted to install his pet duck, Elizabeth, as first mate. Having spent the last few months on 'medical leave' he is ready to rejoin military life, though whether his assignment to the Victoria II was meant as a punishment to Katsura or the ship's crew is open for debate. Of late, control of his underground terrorist group has passed largely out of his hands, as he's become less capable of commanding them, which has lead to the group taking on an even more extremist philosophy than the one Katsura espouses.
SAMPLES-
Third Person (roleplay): In his mind, he wasn't doing anything wrong, really. After the last failed skirmish with Vohemaro pirates, it was clear the Captain had no idea what he was doing, and while Katsura did not want to aid in the improvement of the Ivonan fleet particularly, it would be troublesome if he died before he could put his intricate plans into motion. Of course it would be. So he saw nothing particularly wrong with waiting, quietly and stealthily, until the Captain and First mate were unawares, tying them up, and dangling them from the bow of the ship.
That he'd done so while decked out in full pirate regalia just proved he had style. The fact that he'd declared his duck First Mate... well. She was the only one he could truly trust, wasn't she?
"Lieutenant Commander, if you could please just come down, I'm sure we could talk this--"
"It's not Lieutenant Commander!" He shouted down to the poor, beleaguered boatswain who'd been trying to coax him down from his perch in the crows nest for the past three hours. "It's Captain Katsura!" Why they had to be so difficult about the whole thing, he just couldn't understand. "It's all right," he commented to the white duck tucked safely under one arm. "They'll see the error of their ways eventually." If not, they'd simply have to go to Boston in the fall, instead.
First Person (journal):
Hello? Ah... I'm not [sounds of fumbling] I'm not too familiar with these devices, but I believe I'm joining your ship. I've been assured it's a very fine vessel, and I look for ward to--no, Elizabeth, please don't eat-- [something like quacking in the background before the transmission cuts out]