•HAGAKURE•
Both the victor
and the vanquished are
but drops of dew,
but bolts of lightning,
thus should we view the world.
- The death poem of Ôuchi Yoshitaka
THE PLOT
The Grand Empire has ruled Tsukishima for thousands of years, maintaining the Bakuhatsu dynasty for generations. Their current ruler, Emperor Kaoru Bakuhatsu, has brought the empire to new heights by focusing Imperial funds on developing technology such as the steam drill, motorboat, and zeppelin. This has extended man's domain and power further than it had been intended to be by the gods, which has caused a recent uprising of spirits taking corporeal forms and killing villagers in scores.
Though this supernatural insurrection has been all but denied by shoguns and other government officials, The Grand Imperial Military has been stationed in many villages for seemingly no reason, though many suspect Emperor Kaoru has begun to take notice. Although areas occupied by The Grand Imperial Military are kept safe from demons and spirits, the soldiers and samurai employed by the government are essentially immune to most laws, and are known for their wanton cruelty, stealing goods and women alike from villages with impunity. This lack of transparency on the empire's part and anger towards the occupying army has caused a rift in Tsukishima's society, with more and more citizens fed up with the empire and turning to bandit groups to protect them. However, as the bandit groups usually require extortion payments and are oftentimes as bad as the occupying soldiers, the lives of peasants are currently much harder than they ever have been.
Our characters have all recently been imprisoned, and have nothing in common but being in the same place at the same time -- A wagon currently on its way to Okinakabe prison. During their travel, the wagon is attacked by demons on a lone stretch of road, freeing our prisoners. Out of sense of convenience, duty, or safety, the trio continues travelling together. Once the RP starts (After the initial break-out and formation), the RP will focus on the relations of our characters, their demon-hunting adventures, and being chased endlessly by Imperial samurai and other would-be bounty hunters. The overall plot will involve our group discovering more and more of The Grand Empire's secrets, and gradually attempting to stage a coup.
THE WORLD
Our story takes place in Tsukishima, a crescent-shaped continent about the size of Europe, ruled by The Grand Empire, which is as faceless and evil as it sounds. As is the case with many anime settings, the country is ambiguously Japanese without actually being set in Japan -- Characters and locations have Japanese names, spirituality is divided by nameless Buddhist and Shinto religions, and concepts like honor and filial piety have a place in everyday life. The setting will be split between rural and urban villages, with smaller villages having hand-pumped water and traditional architecture (Rice paper walls, tatami mats, squat toilets) while more urban villages have electricity, plumbing, and western-style beds.
Though one of the themes of the RP is the world's rapid industrialization, keep in mind that there aren't any crazy cyberpunk neon cities. At most, the level of the tech in our world is the same as that of the Naruto universe; In the most urban areas, Electricity, television, pre-packaged food, plastic, gunpowder, and steam-powered machinery are commonplace. Gatling guns and cannons exist, though only the highest order of The Grand Imperial Army, the Royal Guard, have access to them. Aside from the setting's vaguely steampunk technology, Tsukishima has a few other anachronisms -- Borrowing from inspirations like Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai, hip hop exists in our world, although it is rudimentary and played with the setting's available instruments. Graffiti is common in urban districts, though it is done with calligraphy brushes and paint brushes alike, and big cities usually have a few warrior-poets reciting lyrics into the butt of their katana at sake houses and brothels, if you know where to find them. Otherwise, culture in Tsukishima is a more or less that of Edo era Japan.
In terms of realism, try to consider our world low-fantasy -- Onis, Kappas, Yokai, and all other mythical creatures are just that; myths. Only recently have supernatural occurrences started happening, and that's limited to demons and other vengeful spirits like that. Magic is performed by the highest-ranking priests and monks, and is usually limited to healing wounds, ki strikes, and that cool levitating meditation trick. Otherwise, if you want to kill somebody, you're going to use a sword and not a magic missile.
The world itself is on the darker side of the sliding scale, though I didn't create it with brutal, dark concepts in mind, just with the notion that it will be fairly accurate to the setting and realistic in tone. Originally, I planned to have the RP be about as dark as Guts, but then I remembered Guts was dark enough to have it's titular character hack slowly off his own arm after watching his girlfriend get raped by a demon or some crazy shit like that, so I decided to bump it down a few notches. Our RP will be about as dark as the average 90's anime, and will borrow from a few (Most notably, Ninja Scroll). Graphic, if unrealistic violence will be the norm (Cutting off a ninja's fingers in one slash to disarm him, for example) whereas other dark themes will mostly take the side stage, or be balanced out to make the world less of a complete crapsack. (A member of the group is an alcoholic, but he's the goofy kind/Soldiers are said to rape peasants, but it is never shown in the RP/The group encounters a drug-addicted prostitute, but she turns out to be a man in drag with a deep voice, etc.)
Additionally, though the RP will have realistic occurrences and consequences, I'll admit that the main group will have a level of plot armor. Feel free to be a bit more brave or outspoken in your actions, as I guarantee you won't die. I won't guarantee nobody's getting maimed or psychologically damaged if they take unnecessary risks, but know from here on out that your character won't die, which seems a good segway to mention all the lighter elements of the RP -- As with the thematic sources, comedic relief will be fairly frequent, so don't worry about the world getting too depressing. Anime themes like the The Power of Friendship® and defiance against an evil authority will be invoked, and we may pick up a cute animal sidekick or two on the way.
CHARACTER SHEET
I love an individual character sheet as much as the next guy, so feel free to fiddle with your CS's formatting, or add sections for stuff I haven't covered if you feel like it, just don't get rid of any sections and we should be good. As this is an Anime RP, feel free to include a few anime tropes (For example, my character has a prominent animal motif), but try not to make your character too much of a cliche. Aim for a balance between "Real Person" and "Cool Anime Person".
[img]Image[/img]
As you weeaboos know, this is an anime RP, so stick with anime faceclaims. If you're having trouble finding a suitable one, PM me and I'll try to help you out.
[u][b]Name[/b][/u]
Surnames go before first names, because Japan. Everyone gets a title/nickname that follows a simple formula: The [descriptive word] [noun]. All in all, your name should look a little like this: Son Goku, The Last Saiyan/Uzumaki Naruto, The Nine-Tailed Fox/
Names should also include meanings, and be in [sub][/sub] tags underneath their name. They don't have to be complete puns/translations, but shouldn't be without meaning.
[u][b]Age[/b][/u]
This speaks for itself, but the character sheet looked weird with one section having no description, so here we are.
[u][b]Appearance[/b][/u]
Their physicality, and any details you'd notice being around him (Smell, particular walk/voice, etc.) Don't use specific descriptors you'd need a medical chart to know (5'7, 154 lbs, AB+), or physical descriptions they hide (Full yakuza tattoos kept under clothing, scars anywhere but their face, etc.) Their outfit should be included too (This is an anime and nobody in anime changes their clothes until a timeskip, so just go with the outfit their picture has.)
[u][b]Personality[/b][/u]
You've filled out a CS before, you know what to put here. Mannerisms, world views, whether they're smart or dumb, their likes and dislikes, and so on. Because this RP will be focused on character development and character relations, this will gradually grow over time with their experiences.
[u][b]History[/b][/u]
It doesn't have to be a detailed description of their entire life, but a summary and what got them arrested in the first place should do fine. I'm a fan of flashback scenes and exposition in the RP instead of knowing everything about everybody right off the bat.
[u][b]Strengths[/b][/u]
A detailed list of things your character is good at. It should be noted that everyone in the group should be a skilled warrior in their field, so feel free to list combative skills here, but it would help to not only be useful in a fight.
[u][b]Weaknesses[/b][/u]
Try to give your character an equal number of strengths and weaknesses, or at least give them one big weakness to balance out a bunch of strengths.
[u][b]Likes[/b][/u]
A short list of things your character likes that hasn't already been covered or mentioned. If your character's life has revolved around sailing in their CS up to this point, you don't have to mention it again. Gimme some little details about your character here. Favorite foods, hobbies, and so on.
[u][b]Dislikes[/b][/u]
See above.
[u][b]Theme[/b][/u]
An optional song.
THE RULES
They're more like guidelines, really.
1. I mentioned this in the initial interest check, and I'll mention it again: Aside from just being an RP, I want this to be a long-term group of friends we can all get to know and talk to about character development, plot arcs, and just general shit-shooting. In other words, don't join this RP if you're not looking for some cool pals to talk to on the internet.
2. Try to not use a well-known anime character as your character's image. In the same vein, try not to go with tropes other characters hit, or having a similar backstory to the other characters. I guess rule two is just "Be original".
3. Be cool like the Fonz. There should only be three or four of us, so it's unlikely there'll be any in-fighting, but in the event that there is, try to be mature and respectful to one another. If you ask for criticism, don't rebuke it immediately, and if you point something out a player got wrong/could work on, don't be too much of a dick about it.
4. This RP is about character development first and foremost, while the other half is plot advancement. Your character should slowly change over time, for better or worse. This can include cool new abilities, but should also be psychological in nature.
5. Last but not least, this is an advanced RP. I'm no stickler, but posts should have some effort put into them. For what that entails, I'll be borrowing a quote from my homeboy @Gowi.
"Advanced roleplaying should focus on developing interesting and complex characters that become part of plot-lines which catch the imagination and inspire the writer behind them to exercise creativity. It is mature, humorous, imaginative, tragic, terrifying, passionate, and rife with descriptive language and characters with real personality and relatable cares. Quality posting is far better than needless novels, yet one should never neglect detail when one feels the need. However, while word and paragraph requirements ought to be unnecessary, single paragraphs cannot contain enough detail to suffice."
Any interest/responses should go to the original thread here, though I'll bump this thread every now and then until we have all the characters we need.
╰(°ㅂ°)╯
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