{ "I have nothing against respecting people who lived before, but we have no responsibility toward them." }Got heart, got style, got a lot of mouth. Do ya, do ya? Lock & load, fire. Cause life's a vicious cycle, as toddlers, played with Tyco; Now we robbers goin' psycho and shootin' at our rivals ||
Nobody speak, nobody get choked. I just want the bread and bologna bundles to tuck away. I don't work for free, I am barely giving a fuck away ||
I need someone else To look into my eyes and tell me "Girl, you know you've got to watch your health". See you on a dark night.Raini Ren Yilmaz
| {Nickname} |"Rainy". It's an intentional mispronunciation of her name, which is 'Rain-eye'. It was originally assumed by Raini to be done simply to annoy her; it was only recently that she realized it was a term of endearment. She would prefer people not using it.
| {Date of Birth} |November 14.
| {Age} |35
| {Gender} |Female
| {Sexuality} |Bisexual
| {Relationship Status} |Recently Single
| {Role} |Hunter. Head Hunter.
| {Occupation} |Phlebotomist
| {Face Claim} |Diechen Lahman
| {Dialogue Color} |It's this color
| {Appearance} |Raini doesn't stand out much at all and that is clearly by design. Drawing attention to yourself is what inexperienced people do, and that extends to the hunters just as much as it does their prey. Of course, her standing out happens often enough due to her more...exotic features, though with enough diversity comes the ability to blend. Raini's of an average height, standing at just shy of five-nine, with a build that is athletic in tone. Muscles need not be bulging to be present, nor does the lack of them from a glance mean a lack of strength or stamina. Rarely does Raini dabble in cosmetics other than for blemishes or if she's out to impress someone with her awkward feminine wiles.
The exception to that rule is in how she treats her hair, dirty blonde in color and soft to the touch, it's the one aspect of her, other than keeping in shape, that she takes an excessive amount of care in. She won't berate someone for 'messing up' her hair, but she believes she has earned a little bit of vanity in her life every now and then. With how often things get messy...it's mostly something to keep her grounded.
In her day to day, when she isn't wearing the white coat in the doctor's office, skews more casual than anything else. Jeans for walking. Boots for stepping. White shirts for comfort and always a black jacket for completion of the outfit. In warmer weather the jacket will be left at home and she'll favor shorter sleeved shirts but never shorts or skirts. Anything other than pants would show the scars she's accrued over the years; most have healed, but scars linger and questions get asked. She goes for more neutral clothing in her day-to-day. Blues and whites, neutrals, all a part of looking the part. It's a lot harder than she ever thought to intentionally make herself look ordinary.
Harder, still, because of her background - She has the features of her mother, the pronounced cheekbones and almond eyes, and the skin tone of her mixed heritage - she's on a short list of people that come from similar backgrounds.
She had a tattoo once, on her right arm, but it's been removed, The tattoo was of a rain cloud, an inside joke that stopped being funny.
| {Habits & Quirks} |When faced with downtime, Raini will observe herself in a compact to ensure that the day's stress hasn't ruined her hair. Which is to say she'll often straighten it out or fix it up as the day goes on. Again, she believes her little trip to vanity avenue is well earned, even if it's something she believes that only younger people should do.
Whenever she uses profanity, which is more often than she'd care to admit, she only does so in Arabic. It's one of the three languages she speaks and it's the only one she can be certain that most people she uses it around won't understand. 'Ya Ibn el Sharmouta' is a particular favorite of hers but they're all so colorful and varied, as language typically is.
Raini intentionally mispronounces people's names (though gets upset when others do it to her). It's a quirk she picked up from someone important to her. However, it's not something she does to everyone at first. People know that they have Raini's respect when she starts saying their name incorrectly. Until then, she'll always be asking for their name or calling them things like 'kid'.
| {Hobbies} |Raini has a bit of a soft spot for jazz music and has quite the collection of vinyl and albums. She'll listen to it to unwind or to prepare for a fight/patrol/whatnot. Her regret in life was never learning to play an instrument and jazz is sort of an escape.
Candle Making. Something she learned from her mother as a child, Raini enjoys making candles when she has free time. She sells them through Etsy and at a corner store in Salem that gives her a cut of profits from her sales. Nothing relaxes her more than putting on Dave Brubeck and making an order of candles as the sun goes down. It's zen-like at times. That her candles can also be beneficial in her rela job doesn't hurt.
Cooking. Raini isn't exactly a master chef as she can barely handle making a prepared meal in the microwave. But she likes making the attempt either way. It's almost a right of passage for hunters in her charge to endure a dinner cooked by Raini; if they can survive that they can survive whatever comes their way.
| {Likes} |β Though she doesn't make them, she does enjoy candle wax figures, such as people who make cats or people and put a wick in them. There's shelf space in her place that is reserved for ones she liked enough to buy.
β Spicy food. She's not yet found a place in town that can really hit that sweet spot of spicy. She'd make her own but cooking is not something she's particularly great at.
β Long winters. She grew up in warm weather and had enough of it to fill a lifetime. Winters are welcome and snow still makes her smile when its fresh.
β Seafood. Sometimes she wishes she was located on the coast just to get fresher fish on the regular, but she'll take a grilled salmon or some ahi tuna no matter how it comes.
β People that listen. She's constantly amazed in her daily life the number of people who can't fill out a simple form in the blood lab. "Please stick out your right hand", a request she makes often, is often followed up with "Your OTHER right" or "Please stick out your right hand". But she might be projecting, since not listening has led some people she knew to their early end.
β Crossword puzzles. It's something to do during shifts that also has the benefit of keeping her mind sharp.
β Jazz Music.
| {Dislikes} |β People that DON'T listen, to follow up on a like.
β Summer. The warmth and the more relaxed atmosphere doesn't sit well with her. Plus she gets real hot in her jeans which is just uncomfortable.
β Coffee. She hates the taste. Really caffeine does nothing for her other than make her want to spit it into the nearest drain.
β Rain clouds. More often than not they signal rain or worse.
β Games of chance. She doesn't gamble with anything, from money down to her life, preferring to do things that she at least has some modicum of control over.
β Sweets. She never much cared for pastries or cakes or things like that. Even as a child her idea of a dessert was more along the lines of a simple pudding or fruit.
β Museums. It's a bit odd but she just has a strong dislike for museums. It probably has something to do with her dislike of focusing on the past as well as the misinformation present in certain specialist museums.
| {Fears} |Raini hates the rain, specifically she hates thunderstorms. Even into her thirties stormy weather makes her have difficulty sleeping or functioning. It's a fear, a phobia if you will.
While she doesn't fear her own death she does fear others she works with dying under her watch or else being converted to the ranks of the ones they hunt. A loss of a hunter under her care is a failure in her command. In that way, perhaps it's better to say that she fears failure.
Which also means a fear of death, not her own, but preventable ones. Survivor's guilt is a hell of a thing.
| {Secrets} |Her mother was a witch and it's something Raini's never quite forgiven. Raini can't use magic which she sees as the final mocking laugh from her mom. She keeps this information to herself.
Might have a blood disease that she treats with constant transfusions - thanks to her profession she is able to keep it mostly under wraps. But she's well aware she's been on borrowed time for years.
| {Abilities} |Raini is quite agile and physically capable even still; while she isn't capable of superhuman feats of strength, she does use her weapons of choice (a special knife and a blessed sidearm - in addition to various traps and tools) with a honed precision only possible after years of dedication.
Having been a hunter for half of her life, Raini is well versed in the tactics and movements of the supernatural with a specialty in dealing with those with an affinity for blood. While not always correct in her hunches, Raini's knowledge of the supernatural is nothing to scoff at.
| {Limitations} |The limitations of being a human trying to deal with a blood disease and age. While thirty five might seem young, it's a rough thirty five for a hunter given that the lifespan of theirs is often so brief. Though she tries to hide it, Raini is losing speed in pursuits and she worries that her mind or eyesight will soon follow.
| {Personality} |β¦ Patient. Though Raini hates people that don't listen, she puts up with them in the hope that they'll learn sooner or later. On that same token, Raini is someone that will wait and wait until the moment is right before springing into action. Patience is a virtue that gets rewarded. Impatience gets people injured or worse. β¦ Disaffected. While losing someone among her ranks gets her where it counts, after the things she's experienced and done nothing really concerns her anymore. Yes, she obviously doesn't like it when innocents die due to the supernatural, but the news of a death or the sight of blood or bodies doesn't fuel her into action. She's desensitized and cautions others to hold onto their strong feelings on the matter. β¦ Motherly. Raini had a strong bond with her mother for the short time they were a family and she found a father figure in her training days. As such, any hunter that works with her is seen as something close to family, not all that dissimilar to wolves and their pack or vampires and their brood or a witch and her coven. β¦ Hard. Raini, despite her motherly tendencies, is still a hard person to bond with. But in her mind, she doesn't have to be liked so long as she has respect. The fact that getting her to 'remember' your name is a rite of passage shows how difficult it is to earn her trust and friendship. Ostensibly it's so she can feel less on the off chance that one of them dies, but there's sure to be a deeper reason. β¦
To hear Raini describe it, she's a hunter second and a person first, but that doesn't stop elements of who she is in the 'fight' from seeping into her attempts to be a more 'ordinary' citizen. Around children and the like, such as those who come to the lab for shots or blood work, she's always friendly and smiling, like a motherly sort would be, but she rarely, if ever, speaks to adult patients about anything other than the reason for their visit to the lab. Few would describe her as 'friendly' but many would consider her 'nice'. Raini isn't a mean person and doesn't have near the outright hatred towards the hunter's prey as some do.
Once someone has earned her respect she treats them no differently than she expects them to treat her. Everyone, once proven they can hang in the hunters of Salem, is seen as equals. It is, to her, the best way to foster camaraderie and instill the notion that no one is expendable. Raini may take a while to consider someone, but even those whose name she hasn't said are still part of the team. Raini is practical when making decisions and often will opt to take less favorable choices rather than the more immediate 'positive' ones. She won't be the one to rush in and help someone in danger and she'd be willing to let innocents die if it meant it would lead to something more substantial in the long run. Her casual disregard for the lives of innocents - or the seeming disregard - makes some believe her to be emotionless, heartless, cruel.
But she isn't. She just understands that not everyone can be saved. The more moral people around her are people she trusts to keep her in check. Raini doesn't want other hunters to lose their humanity and empathy and encourages them to 'remain as innocent as possible'.
Anyone who knows Raini, be it a fellow hunter or a friend in Salem, knows that she is there in case someone needs an ear to vent their problems. Raini wants very much to be seen as something of a motherly presence among her charges, loving and caring but also willing to lay down the law and take control of a situation. She might be strict, but if it keeps people alive it's worth it in the end.
Just don't ACTUALLY call her mom.
| {Place of Origin} |Thimphu, Bhutan
| {Background} |Raini was born in Bhutan to a father of South Asian heritage and a mother from China. Though Bhutan is where she was born it wasn't where she lived; at a young age, before Raini could walk, she and her parents settled in Egypt, in Cairo. Raini bonded with her mother, who she remembered being incredibly affectionate and caring which was in direct contrast to her father, who was aloof and worked abnormal hours which meant Raini rarely got to spend time with him. As Raini grew into a child, she noticed that her father was often talking of relocation, of staying mobile, but her mother wanted a home. A permanent one. Her parents spoke in whispers often.
Raini's mother was also her educator, teaching her both Arabic and Mandarin and how to read the written word. She never felt coddled, but it was obvious that Raini was fond of her mother. When she was thirteen she started to notice more oddities with her father. He always seemed to be on edge, nervous, and would often lash out against his wife. Any attempt to find out what was wrong was met with anger from her father and near sobs from her mother.
At age fourteen, Raini lost both of her parents.
It happened slowly, building up over the course of months. Suddenly Raini had a new family member, an Uncle Jabari that made frequent trips to the family home. Jabari was a man of few words but always came with a gift for Raini, some trinket or bauble, one time a cool pocket knife, but he didn't say a word to the girl otherwise. One week after Raini's fourteenth birthday, their home was broken into at night. Raini hid in a cupboard and watched as a strange figure accused her mother of 'betrayal'. The figure snapped her father's neck and Raini was forced to watch a different side of her mother.
The mother she loved shrieked and attacked the mysterious figure, a fight that stopped after her mother summoned forth burning magic to sear the figure to ash. Of course Raini screamed, what person wouldn't after witnessing such a thing? But before her bloody, ashen mother could reveal her true nature to her daughter, Uncle Jabari arrived and delivered a similar fate: immolating Raini's mother. "Your mother was on the run from her coven," Jabari went on to explain as he introduced Raini to the world of hunters and the supernatural.
Jabari was a hunter named Eric and he was hunting the one that was hunting Raini's mother at the request of her mother's former coven, arriving too late to save her father. Eric, against his better judgment, took Raini along to be trained as a hunter, which took some convincing on his end as Raini was still in shock over the sudden loss of her mother. Of her parents. Studying under Eric became the replacement of studying languages with her mom. Eric started calling her Rainy as she started taking her training more seriously. When she became a full fledged hunter, Eric was there to welcome her to the fold. She requested to serve with him but he refused, saying that she had to become her own person now. Eric went off to his own posting. News of his death reached her three months after the fact. Werewolf attack.
Raini models a lot of herself after Eric, keeping the little nickname mispronunciation thing alive as sort of a tribute to his memory. As he requested, Raini has become her own hunter, even being assigned to Salem where she's integrated herself into the community as a phlebotomist, working in the blood work lab at a doctor's office. The job is one way she monitors the activity of supernatural beings, and it allows her to keep tabs on the blood supply in case some hungry sorts get a little bold in their quest for human blood.
To the residents of Salem, Raini is the blood doctor who gives the children coming for shots a lollipop if they don't squirm. To others, she's a threat. A hunter through and through.
| {Extra} |She speaks English, Arabic, and Mandarin. She speaks with a noticeable accent though it's not as heavy these days.
Nightwing95,
ivoryrolland95
