app for somarium

[where_wicked_things_are]

[Player name] Pip
[Age] 29
[Personal Journal] simplypip
[Other characters currently played] N/A

[Character name] Yoshika Miyako
[Age] Unknown; she is immortal in her current body, though, and ZUN remarks that she is a corpse from an "ancient Japanese era" and another character speculates she had died "at a young age" from poisoning. Her body is preserved due to an anti-decomposition spell that Seiga cast on her. At one point, Yoshika worries about "another" religious war starting up, which likely refers to the war between the Soga and Mononobe clans that would have taken place somewhere between the 6th and 7th centuries — this conflict is heavily alluded to with the names and roles of other characters in the game.

TL;DR version, I'll be playing her with the appearance of a girl no older than 18.
[Canon] Touhou Project
[Point in time taken from canon] after the events of Touhou Shinreibyou (Touhou 13: Ten Desires)

[Background]
Her wiki page has an official profile, as well as a link back to the events of the game she appears in.

[Personality]
Yoshika is simple in a lot of ways. It's not entirely a matter of personality, but of her function as a guard of the graveyard and adjacent mausoleum. She was "born" -- or, rather, resurrected -- by Seiga in order to protect the resurrection of Toyasatomimi no Miko, but she does not understand the full extent of her role. Yoshika does not even fully understand what the big deal is about all the divine spirits gathering at the graveyard, or moving through it to the mausoleum. She even asks many of the protagonists exactly what spirits are; if they are tasty, or "easy to absorb". This is ironic, considering the fact that absorbing these spirits is exactly what gives her the ability to carry out her duty even when under attack.

Yoshika is scatterbrained and forgetful. It's not her fault as her mind is literally rotted away. Yoshika often misinterprets phrases and the meanings of words if there are multiples. She thought "spirits" meant beverages, rather than the divine spirits gathering at the graveyard. When Youmu said she "reeked of the possibility" of being a zombie, Yoshika thought she was saying that she stinks! She will often forget people she only just recently met, though this happens mostly after a fight or after she has been freshly resurrected. No doubt she is not kept around for her brains, but her selling point as a "cute and rotten" underling for Seiga is her toughness. Kogasa is a youkai who visits the graveyard and complains about how hardy the jiang shi is, in that she enlists outside help in order to help beat Yoshika up before "timing out" in battle.

The jiang shi has pride in her work, too. It is likely a combination of her obedience to Seiga and the ritual used to resurrect Yoshika, and how thorough her instructions were. She never gives intruders an easy time of getting through until she's been defeated; or forgets what she was doing. Unfortunately, because of her stiff body and low mobility, she is nothing more than a speedbump for the protagonists as they progress through her stage. She doesn't let it get her down. No matter how many times she arises to fight again, she goes about the situation with the same fervor as before. It is clear that Yoshika has some understanding of who is to be resurrected in the mausoleum, as Yoshika remarks that she will not let her (Miko) be trampled upon by the Myouren temple's inhabitants. ...but because of her rotten brain she forgets this detail roughly half the time in her encounters.

Functionally, Yoshika is useless without her master's instructions. The "to-do list" on her forehead serves as a reminder of those orders, though her lack of general understanding and tendency to take things literally and at face value means that unless details are given, misunderstandings could occur. An example given would be that if you tell her to watch out for a fish as it cooks, she will continue to look on even as it smolders into ash, for she doesn't know anything about cooking, and you didn't tell her to warn you if it burned.

Yoshika can be, at times, melodramatic. When intruders approached her territory, she howled at them to go away, or be warned, or things like that. Despite not feeling pain, she also yowls and groans dramatically when she is defeated and sinks back into the ground. She also seems to have some sympathy for Youmu's half-ghost self, and the fact she's not immortal, too, commenting about how "dying's no good". Also, she is somewhat proud of her complexion, as she looks rather good (if pale) for a corpse risen from the grave, which is also recognized by others. She's not particularly vain, but it seems to make her happy that others have noticed this.

[Abilities]
"The ability to consume anything," says Yoshika's official article. Super useful skill, amirite? Though beyond that, one specific use for this ability is that Yoshika is able to devour free spirits and use that energy to directly heal her injuries. This means that while she is not particularly powerful, or maneuverable, she is able to stand a chance at outlasting her opponent in a fight.

For fights, she has the usual danmaku (elemental bullet) magic that comes with just about all the other youkai in Touhou, as well as a set of more powerful "spell cards" which allow her to use specific patterns of shots and other tricks to try and blast her opponent out of the sky. Spell card rules usually govern the use of those cards to once per battle, and they come with a time limit as well, so the opponent has a chance to "time out" the spell and move on to the next part of the match. Otherwise, people would just be at it all day! A list of her spell cards is here and she is also used in conjunction with Seiga's spell cards sometimes, as seen here.

Yoshika is unable to understand pain and has no fear, and can push her body to its limits, granting her strength beyond what a girl her petite stature should be capable of. Not to mention the whole "being a zombie" thing is pretty sweet when you get past the whole "being dead" thing.

[Other important stuff]
It is mentioned in the canon article on Yoshika that she has exhibited signs of reverting to her original, living personality upon the removal of the charm on her forehead that binds her to Seiga's command, and also reminds her of her duties. It is my intent to have that effect not carry over into any dreaming activities, so that she is more aware of herself, able to experience feelings she might ordinarily not, and in essence live a life separate from her waking existence as a zombie meatshield in thrall to Seiga. (This also will help keep her active in case something were to happen to Seiga in-game, such as being incapacitated for a long period of time, going on hiatus, or being dropped. Just covering my bases, so the character isn't 300% dependant on another!)

[Sample post]
[First Person]
Would you consider yourself a power hungry individual?
"Um, I'm pretty strong and I eat a lot of things. Is that what you mean?"

If someone provoked or attacked you, what would you do?
"If they're trying to get past me, I'd attack them! And then turn them into a jiang shi like me!!"

You see a bloody knife on the floor. What do you do or think?
"Did someone stab me?
...oh... I can't bleed.
........did someone hurt Lady Seiga?!"

Some angry birds come to you to help them defeat some evil green pigs. Do you help them out?
"Wait! Why are birds and pigs fighting?!?"

Is the best part of waking up having Folger's in your cup?
"Who's that and why are they in my cup? Did someone grind them up?? I guess that works but I can chew just fine on my own."

How is space?
"My grave doesn't have a lot of spaaace. It's actually really cramped."

You discover someone stalking you. Do you call the police or deal with it yourself?
"Is it that umbrella agaaain? She's always challenging me and then runs away a few minutes later! She's not very good at fighting."

There is a cake in the rain. What do you do?
"Eat it! I don't know why no one else is touching it..."

If I offered to save your soul for a price, would you go with it and why?
"I'm already dead! ...wait... is a soul like a spirit? Could I eat it?"

Also, your thoughts on symmetry?
"I'm supposed to be in the cemetery right nooow. Which way is it? Lady Seiga's not going to like it if I don't get back to it."

[Third Person]
"...huh?" Yoshika doesn't know if she heard the question right at all. She stared down at the young boy, though because he was so short she had to pivot her out-stretched arms out of the way to do it.

"Miss, can you pull my sweater over my arm, please?" He repeated, his voice timid. This could not have been an easy request for him to make.

She continued to stare. "Why?"

Now he was just feeling embarrassed. The streets were crowded, but no one paid him any attention at all. Yoshika was the only one who was idle, and that was only because she had forgotten what she had come here to do.

All the boy did was turn his body a bit and gesture with his right hand to the stump of his left shoulder, where an empty sleeve dangled in the cold breeze. His coat had slipped off of his shoulder and he couldn't reach it on his own to pull it over.

You could practically hear the gears in Yoshika's rotted brain turning. Did he need help getting dressed so badly? She couldn't dress herself either, but she rarely had to undress to begin with. Despite that, there isn't any sympathy to be found in her expression nor her voice. "Where's your arm?"

The kid was seriously contemplating trying his luck somewhere else, instead, when a strong tug nearly pulled him off-balance. Looking over, he saw the pale woman's hands pulling on his coat, trying to get it up and over his shoulder. It might be easier if she bent her elbows, and it's not that the thought doesn't occur to her (okay, it doesn't) but that it's too hard to do. Then she'll be walking around everywhere with elbows askance and what kind of zombie would she be?

The point here is that Yoshika kind of sympathizes in her own weird way. Once the task is complete, the boy looks rather surprised, but pleased. He stutters an awkward thank-you and smiles.

Yoshika just tilts her head. "So wheeere's your arm? Do you need help looking for it?" Without taking in his befuddled expression, she pivots her torso and looks left and right with as much dexterity as she can manage. "If you drooopped it, I hope no one stepped on it."

When she turned back, the boy was backing away. She titled her body so that she was able to tilt her head a bit. "...hellooo?" she asked, thinking the boy was having trouble hearing her? Maybe?

Whatever was the matter didn't click inside her mind, as the boy had just hurriedly thanked her once more and, clutching his coat closed with his hand, rushed off.

Oh well. Yoshika turned from the direction he had disappeared in and looked back down to her empty space in the market, given by the crowd because no one wanted to walk too close to the walking corpse; even if she didn't smell bad at all, and her skin was quite fair, there was a lot about her that was unsettling.

Now... what did she come here to do, again??


[Why do you want to play this character in Somarium?] I think the dreaming aspect of the game will allow me to explore Yoshika as a character deeper than I have previously. In another game, she was made human, and that made for some interesting CR, but that was before new information came to light about how she functioned, and now I will be able to do this without her body and role altered... while she's awake, anyway.
[Which rule was your favorite and why?] Honestly, the entire break-down about how to go about handling the situation if one believes a character to be OOC. I dig the list because I feel communication is key, and a dialogue between players about their differences of opinion on interpretation, canon facts, etc, can get pretty heated, so it's nice to see an action plan in place!
[Where did you hear about Somarium?] Stalked some castmates in the game for a few weeks.
[Any questions?] Can I just apologize in advance for how dumb Yoshika is? I'm so sorry.