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Player Name: Ashley

Age: 27

Timezone: CST

Personal Journal: ashiri_chan

Contact Information:

Instant Messenger: FiendishFanfares

Email: ashleylabrasseur@gmail.com

Current Characters: Yuna, Aerith, Lady, Tsubaki, Maka

[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]

Name: Kawakami Bansai, “Tsunpo”

Age: 29

Gender: Male

Fandom: Gintama

Timeline: Post Episode 105

History:

There is very little information on Bansai’s past, so I will briefly go over what I think may have happened.

Bansai was an only child, born to relatively wealthy parents. He received sword training as a child and young man, having been around in a time where this was far more common. His father had received such training, and so he did as well.

Though he was incredibly talented with a sword, Bansai’s true love turned out to be music. He taught himself how to play the shamisen, and seemed to constantly be composing in his free time. It seemed to be something of an obsession, as he talked constantly about the tunes that other people around him gave off, how their music ‘changed’ under certain situations. In reality, Bansai had a form of synesthesia, his brain converting people, objects, and emotions into sounds and music he could physically hear. Learning to play the shamisen allowed him to focus on one tune, blocking out the music of others in an attempt to keep himself from being overwhelmed.

His parents did not understand this condition, and berated him for his apparent obsession with music, urging him to be more dedicated to something more worthwhile. Things grew tense, arguments escalated, and the pitches he heard off of them began to peak and cause him pain. In the end, he took up his sword and cut them both down before taking off by himself.

Afterward, the Amanto invaded, making survival for a young man difficult alone. He worked with one of the Joui factions, though not the same one as they main characters, since he had skill with a blade. They paid him to assassinate Amanto enemies, which he found he could do with relative ease. Eventually, though, Bansai could see the futility in their cause, and he left the group to go into general business as an assassin in the shadows. He knew things were going to get ugly, and he didn’t want to be there for the fallout.

After the war ended and the aliens took over, Bansai began to slowly reintegrate himself into the new society by producing music for pop stars and other musical talents. He took on the alias ‘Tsunpo’ so that he could effectively juggle his other profession, which he hadn’t left behind even after the war ended. People still wanted other people dead, and they paid well for it. He killed many behind the scenes; some more important than others, some for money, and some just to rid the world of ugly and disharmonious noises.

Somewhere during this time, Bansai was approached by Takasugi Shinsuke. It is obvious that they have an interesting relationship, due to the fact that Bansai is the only person to refer to him simply by his first name. The musician was immediately attracted to the man’s song. He also quickly showed the ability to change the music of others around him, and Bansai agreed to follow him and his cause. For him, though, it was never really about bringing down the world around them; it was about changing the music, making it more beautiful, and Takasugi would surely make a beautiful opus.

Bansai became Takasugi’s right hand man and public face. He was sent out as an ambassador, as well as given the task of assuring that his master’s plans went well. He was generally given more difficult and essential tasks than the others, though he more often than not worked alone.

This is the position he holds once the series begins. Bansai’s actions during the actual show can be found here: http://gintama.wikia.com/wiki/Kawakami_Bansai

Character Personality:

First and foremost, Bansai has a form of synesthesia, which can be read about in detail here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia. In essence, he associates objects, people and situations in the form of sounds, which are then physically projected into his mind as music. He physically hears these things; they aren’t just simple associations. Because of this, the world IS music to Bansai. The entire world in a complex composition, each thing within it is a tune or an instrument. The majority of these individual’s sounds he finds boring and repetitive, unable to affect him in a way he finds enjoyable. Some are almost painful for him to hear, and he generally will react poorly in those instances, though it may not be noticeable. Others will instantly attract him; those that attract him the most are those with particularly strong and beautiful music, able to infect and influence the songs of those around them. He also loves the sounds that a good fight makes, which he generally hears as something close to rock or metal.

He also does what he wants the majority of the time, and only takes orders from one man; Takasugi Shinsuke. Even then, he will disobey orders if he doesn’t find the beat or the tune acceptable; if he can’t get into the music, then he immediately backs out.

Bansai is most certainly not an idealist. He sees the words as stagnant and rotting, but he doesn’t want to save it. He simply wants to be around to try and control the music; harmony and dissonance can both be beautiful, it is simply a matter of control. He follows Takasugi because of this control; people are attracted to him, and thus he has an effect on the composition of groups of people. It fascinates Bansai, and he stays close because of those reasons.

He can always be seen wearing his signature headphones when he’s out in public; there is a very good reason as to why this is the case. Because of his condition, when he’s around a vast majority of people, it is possible for all of the music created around him to overwhelm him. He has broken under this pressure before, such as when he killed his parents, and he does not want to do so again, moreso to keep his public reputation intact than anything else. The heavy beats he plays can often help drown out some of the noise that his mind creates, letting him focus on something uniform. It also allows him some additional control, letting him listen to things he wants, and block out things he doesn’t.

All of the above are internal emotions and issues that he deals with in his mind and in private. Very few are privy to this information. Bansai is, in truth, an unhinged and violent man. He enjoys killing those he hunts after, and he feels no guilt for what he does. He also much prefers the personal feel of killing with a sword; a gun is something he would never use for an assassination, as it cheapens the experience and prevents him from fully enjoying the tones that can be created only by a person drawing his last few breathes.

In the public eye, however, Bansai is a charming, though humble and polite, man. He is very good at hiding who and what he is, and his clients find him to be a very honorable and professional person. He is very intelligent, almost always one step ahead, and he makes good business deals. There is a reason that Takasugi made him his public face when negotiating with other groups on the Kiheitai’s behalf. Very rarely has he been unsuccessful on gaining good conditions for his organization, and he is also smart enough to know when to back out. He has, however, had less of a chance to adjust to the changing times due to most of his upbringing occurring before the Amanto invaded, and so he is somewhat old-fashioned in how he speaks and acts.

Bansai has spent a good long while since leaving his home behind perfecting his mask and distractions so that he can function properly around normal people. What is more important that this fact is why he’s done it in the first place? The truth is that he doesn’t want to be seen as a sociopath; it is much easier to get the things he wants and to get things done for the Kiheitai by being able to do things publicly. It gives him a proper cover for his activities, as no one would ever believe that Edo’s most successful music producer could possibly be the right hand man of the most dangerous terrorist. It is impossible for him to prevent people from believing he is strange, but his ticks and distractions (mainly his headphones and his musical instruments) are so much a part of what he does publicly that no one seems to relate it to anything other than a love for music.

In essence, he is a social chameleon. He adjusts his tactics and personality to fit the person he is interacting with and what he wants out of it. He is polite and kind to those that require a softer hand, and firm and demanding, yet humble when dealing with space pirates. His incredibly good skills at reading people come in handy here, as he easily walks around social mine fields. He is constantly adjusting to the people around him in order to blend in, to look sane.

In private or with those that know him well, Bansai is generally a very quiet individual. He turns inward a lot, visibly ignoring things that are going on around him. He is always aware of his surroundings, since he is nearly constantly in some danger of being attacked, but he tends to be a much more introspective individual than one would guess based on his masks.

Though he sees very little in the world of any value, and thus seeks to bring it to ruin at Takasugi’s side, there are things that he values. People that provide him with beautiful music and entertainment are the most important thing to him; without them, his life is bland, boring, and intolerable. He has been seen specifically going against supposed orders by not killing those that he finds interesting. He also backs out of anything that he can’t get into the groove of, as it makes him uncomfortable.

He also has a lot of conviction and loyalty toward his leader, and it’s something he values very, very highly. Publicly speaking ill of those you claim loyalty too is something that simply shouldn’t be done. He will not hesitate to cut down those that threaten or speak poorly of his younger master, as he will instantly deem them unworthy of the cause. His intensity in this value is likely due to the fact that Bansai doesn’t give his loyalty easily; Takasugi is the first to have truly claimed it in Bansai’s entire life.

The one thing that Bansai likes almost as much as music is sword fighting, though not against a weak opponent. Going up against someone worthy, being able to have a proper fight against them, it brings out a sort of fire within him that is often seemingly missing. Perhaps it is because of the music it brings out, perhaps it is simply the rush of adrenaline that being in danger brings, but Bansai feels at home on the battlefield, and is almost more comfortable there than anywhere else. It’s a place where he can release those inner sociopathic tendencies that he almost constantly has to keep hidden, and it feels good to be able to let go now and again; it gives him balance.

Character Abilities:

Bansai is incredibly skilled with a blade. The weapon he uses in the series is a sword hidden with a shamisen that he carries on his back. His abilities with a blade are especially obvious when he fights Gintoki, since he manages to keep up with his attacks despite him being likely the most powerful character in the series.

In addition, he can use the strings of his shamisen as a weapon as well. By wrapping the wires around the body of an enemy, he can effectively shred flesh and bone if they struggle too much, since the wires are supposedly as strong as steel.

His mental condition helps him read people and sense their emotions and intentions based on the sounds or song they produce in his mind. Reading others in a fight is generally easy for him, especially if they’re song is straightforward. There are those who can change their own song and affect the songs of others, and those people can complicate things. In particular, these people are Takasugi and Gintoki.

His experience as an assassin also helps him stay hidden an unseen, even when he’s out in public. Bansai is only noticed when he wants to be noticed; otherwise he blends into crowds very well or sticks to the shadows completely.

Though not a special ability, Bansai is also an incredibly talented musician and composer. He can write songs with ease, and has written a great number of hits. Music is second nature to him; he sees it in everything, and he can produce it as well as he can sense it around him.

Character Weaknesses:

Bansai’s most glaring weakness is his dependence on music. He has stated that if he can’t get into the beat or the groove of the music in a given situation, he immediately backs out. Many of his actions are directly related to the music going on inside his head, and that can sometimes leave things out of his control; he simply can’t function well if the sounds he hears from a given situation is off to him. It has caused him to lose fights and sometimes fail in his missions, though the majority of the time he is able to avoid such predicaments by attempting to control the flow of the music on his own.

Bansai is emotionally weak as well; he knows very few emotions, and he feels music more strongly than he does the people that they come from. Takasugi is the closest thing he has to anything like a friend, though even that relationship is more based on simple loyalty and relative trust rather than normal friendship. To others he is either deceptively charming, or simply cold and distant; how it feels to the other is up to him. Internally, he feels very little for the people around him beyond the music they produce, and it keeps him from forming any true connections, since they can’t relate to his views.

It doesn’t help that he doesn’t trust easily, so he lets no one know about his literal condition. The only one aware of the true effect it has on him is his leader. Otherwise, others think he just has a fixation on music. Bansai has difficulty even trusting himself; he is all too aware that he could someday lose control and snap again, as he did the first time it all became too much, and that would completely shatter his reputation.

[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]

What are the abilities that your character will retain in Soul Campaign?

-his skills with a blade/his fighting ability

-his talent for composing music and knowledge of music in general

-his ability to play the shamisen very well

-his spying capabilities, keeping hidden and unseen

-his synesthesia, for better or for worse

What are the weaknesses that your character will lose or gain in Soul Campaign?

-The main thing that will effect Bansai the most is his lack of purpose. He’s been following Takasugi for quite a while, and finding him very different will throw him for a loop.

-Also, Death City is a small place. It is unlikely that he will be able to keep his pseudonym for long, if at all. That will make maneuvering difficult, and he will not be able to act nearly as freely as he would in Edo. He’s used to being able to kill and fight who he wants and when, and that will not be easy here.

Keeping the game’s premise in mind, please give us a brief explanation of your plans for your character in Soul Campaign.

Bansai has a very different and interesting personality, and it will be fun to see how others play off his two different natures. I’m also excited to see how he will react to a younger Takasugi, as well as being in such close quarters with his other castmates. There’s not a lot of canon for his character, so expanding on his personality will be enjoyable as well.

If your character has difficulty communicating (or can't communicate at all, e.g., most animal characters), we require you to please elaborate on how you intend to treat this in the game.

n/a

[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]

Why your character should be a Weapon: As an assassin, Bansai is more often than not the extension of someone else’s will. He is one of the main weapons of the organization he belongs to, the Kiheitai, and thus it is not at all strange for him to be a Weapon in this world as well.

What is your character's Weapon form?:

Bansai’s Weapon form is that of a katana with some very special properties. On the outside, it looks like a completely normal, if incredibly well made, blade, but when it is used, the differences become obvious.

When attacking an opponent, the blade will actually ‘sing,’ giving off tones. Bansai can directly impact what these tones sound like, and his ability to alter them, as well as their volume, will depend upon resonance.

The most obvious effect of these tones is when he is used against another partnered pair; by creating opposite tones, they can interfere with the enemy’s wavelength and, thus, resonance with their partner, though it cannot attack the soul directly. They can also be used to interfere with some of the enemy’s senses, causing some hearing loss and internal disorientation, which can lead to loss of balance and other equally adequate distractions.  At high enough resonance, the tones can also become loud enough to cause physical pain and blow eardrums and the like. Using this power to this kind of extent, though, will quickly drain the Weapon’s strength, and recovery afterwards will be longer.

Though he can’t directly hear or see soul wavelengths, the music that he perceives normally can clue him in to the kinds of tones he needs to use in order to be effective.  This can only be done through resonance with a partner and proper focus, and the effect is still more instinctual than anything else, which means it could also be wrong.  Adjusting the sound of the blade will likely be more effective, this just gives him a decent starting point.

Lastly, the hilt of the katana can produce strings that can extend out and wrap around the target to immobilize them. These strings are as tough as steel and are incredibly hard to break at first. Struggling against them will likely cause them to cut deeply into the skin.  The longer the strings are in place, the more brittle they become until they become until the enemy can easily break free. A high amount of resonance is required to activate this ability, and it cannot be used more than once during any encounter.  It can also be dangerous to use because if the enemy does break free, the wires can last back and hit the Meister instead, causing injury.

[ SOUL INFORMATION ]

Soul Description: Professional, Musical, Old-Fashioned, Violent, Focused, Patient

Soul Appearance: Bansai’s soul has partially slicked back and spiky hair, and is wearing sunglasses and his signature headphones. It is dark teal in color.

OOC

Name: Ashley
Contact: AIM: FiendishFanfares
Age: 27
Current characters: n/a

IC

Name: Kawakami Bansai
Fandom: Gintama

History link:
There is very little information on Bansai’s past, so I will briefly go over what I think may have happened.

Bansai was an only child, born to relatively wealthy parents. He received sword training as a child and young man, having been around in a time where this was far more common. His father had received such training, and so he did as well.

Though he was incredibly talented with a sword, Bansai’s true love turned out to be music. He taught himself how to play the shamisen, and seemed to constantly be composing in his free time. It seemed to be something of an obsession, as he talked constantly about the tunes that other people around him gave off, how their music ‘changed’ under certain situations. In reality, Bansai had a form of synesthesia, his brain converting people, objects, and emotions into sounds and music he could physically hear. Learning to play the shamisen allowed him to focus on one tune, blocking out the music of others in an attempt to keep himself from being overwhelmed.

His parents did not understand this condition, and berated him for his apparent obsession with music, urging him to be more dedicated to something more worthwhile. Things grew tense, arguments escalated, and the pitches he heard off of them began to peak and cause him pain. In the end, he took up his sword and cut them both down, discovering afterwards that he…wasn’t as disturbed as he likely should have been. In addition, the music they’d made in their death throes had been much lovelier than the music they gave off when they were alive. After that, leaving his life behind was easy, and he headed off by himself.

Not long afterward, the Amanto invaded, making survival alone for a young man difficult. He worked with one of the Joui factions, though not the same one as they main characters, since he had skill with a blade. They paid him to assassinate Amanto enemies, which he found he could do with relative ease. Eventually, though, Bansai could see the futility in their cause, and he left the group to go into general business as an assassin in the shadows. He knew things were going to get ugly, and he didn’t want to be there for the fallout.

After the war ended, and the aliens took over, Bansai began to slowly reintegrate himself into the new society by producing music for pop stars and other musical talents. He took on the alias ‘Tsunpo’ so that he could effectively juggle his other profession, which he hadn’t left behind even after the war ended. People still wanted other people dead, and they paid well for it. He killed many behind the scenes; some more important than others, some for money, and some just to rid the world of ugly and disharmonious noises.

Somewhere during this time, Bansai was approached by Takasugi Shinsuke. It is obvious that they have an interesting relationship, due to the fact that Bansai is the only person to refer to him simply by his first name. The musician was immediately attracted to the man’s song. He also quickly showed the ability to change the music of others around him, and Bansai agreed to follow him and his cause. For him, though, it was never really about bringing down the world around them; it was about changing the music, making it more beautiful, and Takasugi would surely make a beautiful opus.

Bansai became Takasugi’s right hand man and public face. He was sent out as an ambassador, as well as given the task of assuring that his master’s plans went well. He was generally given more difficult and essential tasks than the others, though he more often than not worked alone.

This is the position he holds once the series begins. Bansai’s actions during the actual show can be found here:

http://gintama.wikia.com/wiki/Kawakami_Bansai

Age: 29
Canon point: After the Shinsengumi Rebellion arc, where Bansai loses to Gintoki and reports back to Takasugi.

Personality:
First and foremost, Bansai has a form of synesthesia, which can be read about in detail here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia.

In essence, he associates objects, people and situations in the form of sounds, which are then physically projected into his mind as music. He physically hears these things; they aren’t just simple associations. Because of this, the world IS music to Bansai. The entire world in a complex composition, each thing within it is a tune or an instrument. The majority of these individual’s sounds he finds boring and repetitive, unable to affect him in a way he finds enjoyable. Some are almost painful for him to hear, and he generally will react poorly in those instances, though it may not be noticeable. A rare few will instantly attract him; those that attract him the most are those with particularly strong and beautiful music, able to infect and influence the songs of those around them. He also loves the sounds that a good fight makes, which he generally hears as something close to rock or metal.

He also does what he wants the majority of the time, and only takes orders from one man; Takasugi Shinsuke. Even then, he will disobey orders if he doesn’t find the beat or the tune acceptable; if he can’t get into the music, then he immediately backs out.

Bansai is most certainly not an idealist. He sees the words as stagnant and rotting, but he doesn’t want to save it. He simply wants to be around to try and control the music; harmony and dissonance can both be beautiful, it is simply a matter of control. He follows Takasugi because of this control; people are attracted to him, and thus he has an effect on the composition of groups of people. It fascinates Bansai, and this is one of the main reasons why he stays so close.

He can always be seen wearing his signature headphones when he’s out in public; there is a very good reason as to why this is the case. Because of his condition, when he’s around a vast majority of people, it is possible for all of the music created around him to overwhelm him. He has broken under this pressure before, such as when he killed his parents, and he does not want to do so again, moreso to keep his public reputation intact than anything else. The heavy beats he plays can often help drown out some of the noise that his mind creates, letting him focus on something uniform. It also allows him some additional control, letting him listen to things he wants, and block out things he doesn’t.

All of the above are internal emotions and issues that he deals with in his mind and in private. Very few are privy to this information. Bansai is, in truth, an unhinged and violent man; he is simply good at hiding it. He enjoys killing those he hunts after, and he feels no guilt for what he does. He also much prefers the personal feel of killing with a sword; a gun is something he would never use for an assassination, as it cheapens the experience and prevents him from fully enjoying the tones that can be created only by a person drawing his last few breathes.

In the public eye, however, Bansai is a charming, though humble and polite man. He is very good at hiding who and what he is, and his clients find him to be a very honorable and professional person. He is very intelligent, almost always one step ahead, and he makes good business deals. There is a reason that Takasugi made him his public face when negotiating with other groups on the Kiheitai’s behalf. Very rarely has he been unsuccessful on gaining good conditions for his organization, and he is also smart enough to know when to back out. He has, however, had less of a chance to adjust to the changing times due to most of his upbringing occurring before the Amanto invaded, and so he is somewhat old-fashioned in how he speaks and acts.

Powers/Abilities:
Bansai is incredibly skilled with a blade. The weapon he uses in the series is a sword hidden with a shamisen that he carries on his back. His abilities with a blade are especially obvious when he fight Gintoki, since he manages to keep up with his attacks despite him being likely the most powerful character in the series.

In addition, he can use the strings of his shamisen as a weapon as well. By wrapping the wires around the body of an enemy, he can effectively shred flesh and bone if they struggle too much, since the wires are supposedly as strong as steel.

His mental condition helps him read people and sense their emotions and intentions based on the sounds or song they produce in his mind. Reading others in a fight is generally easy for him, especially if they’re song is straightforward. There are those who can change their own song and affect the songs of others, and those people can complicate things. In particular, these people are Takasugi and Gintoki.

Though not a special ability, Bansai is also an incredibly talented musician and composer. He can write songs with ease, and has written a great number of hits. Music is second nature to him; he sees it in everything, and he can produce it as well as he can sense it around him.

PERMISSIONS

Types of sex I am OK with: oral, anal, non/dubcon
Kinks or practices I enjoy: biting, blindness, blood play, hurt/comfort, intoxication/altered states, loss of control, mindfuck/mindgames, rough sex, shower sex, threesomes, vulnerability
Types of sex I'm not OK with: Vore, wet & messy, watersports, things of that nature.
Kinks or practices I don't enjoy: Mutilation/amputation/castration, enemas, diapers, scat, swallowing feces/urine/vomit
Willing to write rape or dubcon?: Yes.
Is fade to black OK?: Of course!