JULY 9, 2014.
Post by Hiroko Izumi on Dec 18, 2013 4:34:09 GMT -5
NAME: Seiryū Miyoko
ALIAS: Miyo
AGE: 216
APPEARANCE: Standing in at a relatively average five foot six inches and weighing in at a fairly standard 129 pounds, Miyoko would normally not be someone to stick out of a crowd - with somewhat pale skin, black hair and aqua colored eyes, the woman would fit in almost anywhere in the Soul Society, although much of that is deliberate on her part. Clothing wise the Shinigami tends to keep it as simple as possible - the usual black and white gi, hakama, tabi socks and accompanying attire typical of most of the Gotei 13's personnel, with fairly similar clothing consisting of a white gi and hakama making up her casual wear along with a navy blue sash.
PERSONALITY: Despite hailing from one of the Seireitei's Noble families, most would never know it at first glance. Miyoko was never one to care much for rank or honorifics, and it never made sense to her that she should have to hold that over anyone else - she was born slightly luckier than most, and it wasn't something that she earned with her own hands, that was all. In large part due to that very upbringing Miyoko has come to highly respect those who have earned and honed their talents through hard work, and has grown to have a very jaded view of the world when it comes to things of materialistic nature. "Why have it if you'll never use it?"
Aside from that, however, Miyoko is quite prideful of her own abilities. While she is well aware that she is far from the best in most departments, she does hold onto the few techniques and disciplines that she has been able to completely master and will often not hesitate to put them to the test against other individuals of similar skill levels - it was through that method that she was able to reach her current level, and if she loses, so be it. People learn through failure more often than success, and Miyoko had learned that lesson a long time ago - not one to hold grudges, it isn't rare for the woman to form rivalries.
Socially speaking, Miyoko is just as open concerning this aspect of her life as she is everything else, and more than that, active. Life is meant to be lived, and while death is a very real possibility for any enlisted member of the Seireitei's guard squads Miyoko would rather go out regretting something she did rather than something that she didn't. While not a hard drinker after one particular incident following her graduation from the Academy, Miyoko will usually be the one encouraging others to spend their free time rather than wasting it, and advocating a balance of work and play - and, when possible, methods of combining the two. Incredibly perceptive of the world around her and a genius in her own right if not by what many would call conventional standards, life spent around those who have already lived one and moved onto their next tends to teach valuable lessons to those willing to listen, and Miyoko has done more than just pay attention to her surroundings.
Aside from that, however, Miyoko is quite prideful of her own abilities. While she is well aware that she is far from the best in most departments, she does hold onto the few techniques and disciplines that she has been able to completely master and will often not hesitate to put them to the test against other individuals of similar skill levels - it was through that method that she was able to reach her current level, and if she loses, so be it. People learn through failure more often than success, and Miyoko had learned that lesson a long time ago - not one to hold grudges, it isn't rare for the woman to form rivalries.
Socially speaking, Miyoko is just as open concerning this aspect of her life as she is everything else, and more than that, active. Life is meant to be lived, and while death is a very real possibility for any enlisted member of the Seireitei's guard squads Miyoko would rather go out regretting something she did rather than something that she didn't. While not a hard drinker after one particular incident following her graduation from the Academy, Miyoko will usually be the one encouraging others to spend their free time rather than wasting it, and advocating a balance of work and play - and, when possible, methods of combining the two. Incredibly perceptive of the world around her and a genius in her own right if not by what many would call conventional standards, life spent around those who have already lived one and moved onto their next tends to teach valuable lessons to those willing to listen, and Miyoko has done more than just pay attention to her surroundings.
ALLIANCE: Seireitei, Kyuubantai Lieutenant
HISTORY: Born into the prestigious Seiryū family of Seireitei nobility, Miyoko's path was decided virtually from the moment that she was born. Among the oldest and most powerful of the Seireitei's Noble houses, the bloodline ran strong in her veins even from her early years of adolescence - despite being born into what amounted to a distant corner of the family, far from the head family in both relation and rank, Miyoko had still managed to inherit the Noble line's distinct attributes, most notably their affinity for exceptionally powerful souls. Much of Miyoko's early years would be spent under first the tutelage of her parents, and then later that of other, older relatives with the intent of teaching her at least rudimentary control of her reiryoko, most notably methods of controlling how much of it manifested as reiatsu capable of influencing the world around her. Bluntly put, the lessons were things that Miyoko would find herself struggling with a great deal, not entirely helped by the family's expectations of what they saw as only natural yet evidently beyond her immediate reach.
The next several decades with her family would be less than easy, for both sides - in a family where excellence was expected as the norm and given the sheer potential that Miyoko carried within her it was more than frustrating for her parents and elders to see her fall short of those expectations, while she would feel increasingly alienated and separated from those who had been raising her. By the time the first decade had passed, whatever familial bond that had existed between Miyoko and the Seiryū family members that she had grown up knowing was gone, and while the girl was not one to hold grudges, they were a special case - as she grew older and learned more of the world around her, it slowly began to become clear to Miyoko just how unusual their family dynamic was, as well as the fact that in their expectations of her they saw not their child, but a simply continuation of their legacy. Or so Miyoko would think - regardless of how her parents and elders felt, the young woman would be sent off to the Academy around the age of one hundred with a strong resentment of them.
More than anything it was that mindset that allowed Miyoko to start anew at the Academy. Having been raised in an environment that she wanted no part of, the student had been more than ready to discard that life for another - along with everything that came with it, and it was only due to what little respect Miyoko felt that she owed her parents that she stopped just short of disowning the family as a whole. With the customs of one life thrown aside, Miyoko would embrace the life of the Academy whole heartedly - as well as those in it. Having been raised in what might have been wryly described as a rather "unique" environment, Miyoko would take great delight in listening to the stories of those from the Rukongai - of their everyday trials and tribulations, things that were completely foreign to her. More than that, she learned from those stories - of what she had taken for granted as a Seiryū, as well as the fact that it was only a product of chance that she had been the one to benefit from the family's wealth and influence while being raised. Had fate conspired otherwise it could just as easily had been her sitting in any of her classmates' seats - many of whom had come from lives of poverty, which while survivable in the Soul Society was still far from pleasant or easy. Beyond that, many of them had been forced to earn their way into the prestigious school - unlike her, they had needed to hone their skills, and prove that they belonged there, a mentality that Miyoko could not help but admire. Save for a few select people, nearly every student there was a self made individual.
Adopting the policy of self improvement herself not long after that epiphany, Miyoko would ironically find herself struggling with many of the same studies that she had back home under her family's tutelage - namely with the control and suppression of her reiatsu and reiryoko. There were, however, other courses of study at the Academy that Miyoko found herself taking to like a fish to water. While she was able to understand the theory behind Kido just fine, her temperamental control made such studies dangerous at best - Zanjutsu and Hohō, however, were completely different matters, and the prospective Shinigami soon found herself immersed in her studies of the disciplines. In keeping with her relatively new philosophy, Miyoko would devote as much of her time as possible to schooling herself in their theory and use outside of what the classes covered - unfortunately, however, it would often be at the expense of her other studies. As a result the normal six years required to graduate from the Academy would be stretched out over a long, grueling three thousand, two hundred and eighty five days - nine full years from start to finish, with two missed graduation exams and one with a score barely good enough to keep her in the Academy at all. Her time at the Academy would not be all failures and barely met expectations, however. In her obsession over her two chosen subjects Miyoko had become something of an expert in her nine years of trial and error, honing and perfection - and as Kido was not a particularly sought after skill in the division, her over specialization in Hohō in particular would catch the eyes of the Nibantai, more specifically the Onmitsukidō, where speed and the ability to act on a moment's notice were sought after skills above all else save discretion.
Graduating from the Academy at the age of 112, Miyoko would find herself integrated directly into the Onmitsukidō and tied to the Nibantai - at least to begin with. In spite of her potential and the abilities that Miyoko had learned to use - and would continue to perfect and improve on for the next century - the Onmitsukidō itself was far different from the Academy. Where creative freedom had once been encouraged to a certain degree, there was now only strict regiments and paths to follow - where curiosity had been rewarded with answers and praise, there was now admonishment and disciplinary action. The later of which Miyoko would see a great deal of as the years wore on - while competent enough that many of her smaller infractions concerning Onmitsukidō regulations could be looked over, there were a number of incidents where she would act in direct violation of the organization's policy of discretion and cut throat strategies. Simply put, the issue as a whole would be that Miyoko would care too much - where Onmitsukidō doctrine preached that it was not only acceptable to sacrifice comrades for the sake of an objective but actively encouraged it, Miyoko wouldn't be able to allow herself to do so, and after forty years of a mixed record showing exemplary performance mired by multiple regulation infractions and disobeyed orders the Shinigami would be transferred out of the Onmitsukidō and into the Nibantai proper, before being transferred again less than a year later to the Rokubantai under the belief that the division's reputation for strict adherence to rules and regulations might be able to instill the same habit in her.
Needless to say, it did not work. While mildly irritated with the blots on her record, Miyoko understood why they were there - that being said, however, she would not apologize as a number of them were a result of doing what she had felt was right at the time, but neither would she actively oppose the Onmitsukidō's Commander to "curb her back on track". Instead she simply clung to her individualism, and would find herself transferred out of the Rokubantai within another three years to the Sanbantai, in which she would stay for another two years before being transferred again. All in all the pattern would repeat itself for a number of times - the Gobantai, Hachibantai and Juubantai - before she would finally find her niche in the Nanabantai, many of its members of like mind to herself. Rather than being forced to conform to the stifling degree that the other squads had attempted, her views were more than accepted within the ranks of the Nanabantai, and it would be that squad that Miyoko would remain in for the next 47 years. During that time she would merely continue to improve, even going so far as to unleash her Zanpakuto's Shikai form, in the process earning a seat within the division, and the marks on her record, while not forgotten, would slowly but steadily begin to be balanced out by more positive than negative additions to her file.
With those next several decades of service to the Gotei 13 and with her steadily improving skillset and record Miyoko would finally find herself beginning to earn recognition for her talents, and while the progress itself would be slow the Shinigami would find herself slowly climbing the ranks within the Nanabantai, plateauing at the division's Third Seat after roughly thirty years of service spent in the squad. The next decade and a half following her appointment to the rank would pass fairly slowly - with little to do aside from the day to day duties of the division and the occasional posting in the human world for anti-Hollow duty her responsibilities would not vary much over time, but Miyoko wouldn't particularly care. She'd found her niche, and it was a job that she enjoyed. It wouldn't be until her name was forwarded by, surprisingly, a former captain from one of her former divisions as a possible candidate for the Kyuubantai's open Lieutenant position that her life would change again, and for the first time in her life Miyoko found herself heavily contemplating a decision until finally accepting the role.
DIFFICULTY: Hard
OOC Name: Murder Cat
The next several decades with her family would be less than easy, for both sides - in a family where excellence was expected as the norm and given the sheer potential that Miyoko carried within her it was more than frustrating for her parents and elders to see her fall short of those expectations, while she would feel increasingly alienated and separated from those who had been raising her. By the time the first decade had passed, whatever familial bond that had existed between Miyoko and the Seiryū family members that she had grown up knowing was gone, and while the girl was not one to hold grudges, they were a special case - as she grew older and learned more of the world around her, it slowly began to become clear to Miyoko just how unusual their family dynamic was, as well as the fact that in their expectations of her they saw not their child, but a simply continuation of their legacy. Or so Miyoko would think - regardless of how her parents and elders felt, the young woman would be sent off to the Academy around the age of one hundred with a strong resentment of them.
More than anything it was that mindset that allowed Miyoko to start anew at the Academy. Having been raised in an environment that she wanted no part of, the student had been more than ready to discard that life for another - along with everything that came with it, and it was only due to what little respect Miyoko felt that she owed her parents that she stopped just short of disowning the family as a whole. With the customs of one life thrown aside, Miyoko would embrace the life of the Academy whole heartedly - as well as those in it. Having been raised in what might have been wryly described as a rather "unique" environment, Miyoko would take great delight in listening to the stories of those from the Rukongai - of their everyday trials and tribulations, things that were completely foreign to her. More than that, she learned from those stories - of what she had taken for granted as a Seiryū, as well as the fact that it was only a product of chance that she had been the one to benefit from the family's wealth and influence while being raised. Had fate conspired otherwise it could just as easily had been her sitting in any of her classmates' seats - many of whom had come from lives of poverty, which while survivable in the Soul Society was still far from pleasant or easy. Beyond that, many of them had been forced to earn their way into the prestigious school - unlike her, they had needed to hone their skills, and prove that they belonged there, a mentality that Miyoko could not help but admire. Save for a few select people, nearly every student there was a self made individual.
Adopting the policy of self improvement herself not long after that epiphany, Miyoko would ironically find herself struggling with many of the same studies that she had back home under her family's tutelage - namely with the control and suppression of her reiatsu and reiryoko. There were, however, other courses of study at the Academy that Miyoko found herself taking to like a fish to water. While she was able to understand the theory behind Kido just fine, her temperamental control made such studies dangerous at best - Zanjutsu and Hohō, however, were completely different matters, and the prospective Shinigami soon found herself immersed in her studies of the disciplines. In keeping with her relatively new philosophy, Miyoko would devote as much of her time as possible to schooling herself in their theory and use outside of what the classes covered - unfortunately, however, it would often be at the expense of her other studies. As a result the normal six years required to graduate from the Academy would be stretched out over a long, grueling three thousand, two hundred and eighty five days - nine full years from start to finish, with two missed graduation exams and one with a score barely good enough to keep her in the Academy at all. Her time at the Academy would not be all failures and barely met expectations, however. In her obsession over her two chosen subjects Miyoko had become something of an expert in her nine years of trial and error, honing and perfection - and as Kido was not a particularly sought after skill in the division, her over specialization in Hohō in particular would catch the eyes of the Nibantai, more specifically the Onmitsukidō, where speed and the ability to act on a moment's notice were sought after skills above all else save discretion.
Graduating from the Academy at the age of 112, Miyoko would find herself integrated directly into the Onmitsukidō and tied to the Nibantai - at least to begin with. In spite of her potential and the abilities that Miyoko had learned to use - and would continue to perfect and improve on for the next century - the Onmitsukidō itself was far different from the Academy. Where creative freedom had once been encouraged to a certain degree, there was now only strict regiments and paths to follow - where curiosity had been rewarded with answers and praise, there was now admonishment and disciplinary action. The later of which Miyoko would see a great deal of as the years wore on - while competent enough that many of her smaller infractions concerning Onmitsukidō regulations could be looked over, there were a number of incidents where she would act in direct violation of the organization's policy of discretion and cut throat strategies. Simply put, the issue as a whole would be that Miyoko would care too much - where Onmitsukidō doctrine preached that it was not only acceptable to sacrifice comrades for the sake of an objective but actively encouraged it, Miyoko wouldn't be able to allow herself to do so, and after forty years of a mixed record showing exemplary performance mired by multiple regulation infractions and disobeyed orders the Shinigami would be transferred out of the Onmitsukidō and into the Nibantai proper, before being transferred again less than a year later to the Rokubantai under the belief that the division's reputation for strict adherence to rules and regulations might be able to instill the same habit in her.
Needless to say, it did not work. While mildly irritated with the blots on her record, Miyoko understood why they were there - that being said, however, she would not apologize as a number of them were a result of doing what she had felt was right at the time, but neither would she actively oppose the Onmitsukidō's Commander to "curb her back on track". Instead she simply clung to her individualism, and would find herself transferred out of the Rokubantai within another three years to the Sanbantai, in which she would stay for another two years before being transferred again. All in all the pattern would repeat itself for a number of times - the Gobantai, Hachibantai and Juubantai - before she would finally find her niche in the Nanabantai, many of its members of like mind to herself. Rather than being forced to conform to the stifling degree that the other squads had attempted, her views were more than accepted within the ranks of the Nanabantai, and it would be that squad that Miyoko would remain in for the next 47 years. During that time she would merely continue to improve, even going so far as to unleash her Zanpakuto's Shikai form, in the process earning a seat within the division, and the marks on her record, while not forgotten, would slowly but steadily begin to be balanced out by more positive than negative additions to her file.
With those next several decades of service to the Gotei 13 and with her steadily improving skillset and record Miyoko would finally find herself beginning to earn recognition for her talents, and while the progress itself would be slow the Shinigami would find herself slowly climbing the ranks within the Nanabantai, plateauing at the division's Third Seat after roughly thirty years of service spent in the squad. The next decade and a half following her appointment to the rank would pass fairly slowly - with little to do aside from the day to day duties of the division and the occasional posting in the human world for anti-Hollow duty her responsibilities would not vary much over time, but Miyoko wouldn't particularly care. She'd found her niche, and it was a job that she enjoyed. It wouldn't be until her name was forwarded by, surprisingly, a former captain from one of her former divisions as a possible candidate for the Kyuubantai's open Lieutenant position that her life would change again, and for the first time in her life Miyoko found herself heavily contemplating a decision until finally accepting the role.
DIFFICULTY: Hard
OOC Name: Murder Cat
