【Kasen Kanesada 歌仙兼定】 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
liberal_arts) wrote2017-02-19 02:47 pm
liberal_arts) wrote2017-02-19 02:47 pm
(no subject)
PLAYER
YOUR NAME: gsai
18+?: yes
CONTACT:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
gsai
CHARACTERS IN GAME: May (me_matey)
RESERVATION LINK: here
YOUR NAME: gsai
18+?: yes
CONTACT:
CHARACTERS IN GAME: May (
me_matey)RESERVATION LINK: here
CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Kasen Kanesada
AGE: 500+ years
CANON: Touken Ranbu
NAME: Kasen Kanesada
AGE: 500+ years
CANON: Touken Ranbu
CANON HISTORY: wikia link. Given the nature of the game, character's histories are literally the histories of the swords they are based on, which they consistently reference throughout the game. You can find a bit more detailed info here (warning, not a browser friendly tumblr page).
CANON PERSONALITY:
Where we begin with Kasen is his most obvious and quite frankly hammered in personality trait; his artistic nature. Based on the fact that the sword itself (especially the sheath) was considered a work of art more than a practical weapon, Kasen claims he is "of the liberal arts" and therefore pursues a lot of artistic fields and bases his primary outlook as a person around artistic perspectives. He primarily expresses himself through poetry, but he also works in other mediums as well, so long as he considers them "elegant". His way of looking at the world is also informed by this philosophy, seeing the beauty in almost all things (once again, so long as they're not "inelegant"). He could spend hours telling you about the transcendental aesthetics of, say, a leaf falling from a tree. A lot of his way of looking at the world is based around Japanese poets of the Muromachi era.
The mixing of this with the personality traits of his most famous wielder (Hosokawa Tadaoki, who was a patron of the arts, himself) leads to a very strange person. Kasen's outlook and perspectives leads him to focusing on things others do not, or becoming lost in his artistry. He even seems to disconnect from reality entirely, not really gauging a situation for its actual practical meaning or purpose. For example, when tasked with crafting armor for his troops, he opts to focus on making aesthetically beautiful armor over what is actually effective. He's the sort of person who'd think painting flames on the side of your hot rod will actually make it go faster.
However, given Tadaoki's reputation, Kasen isn't all tea ceremonies and dreamily staring at the sky. Like Tadaoki, Kasen is a ruthless, merciless man when it comes to conflict and power. Tadaoki once brought in 36 vassals and beheaded all of them (with Kasen, no less) just to demonstrate to his son what it meant to be a daimyo. His skill with the sword was considerable, and unlike most daimyo that served under Nobunaga's command, Tadaoki was a frontlines fighter, and Kasen is no different. His wrath and brutality is like a sudden exclamation on the end of an otherwise innocuous sentence. The level of violence he is capable of frightens those around him, and those who know both sides of his personality often aren't sure what to make of him, making it difficult for him to form lasting friendships.
Kasen, while he is steadfastly dedicated to artistic expression, becomes rather self conscious when his fellows don't really "get it", even if they offer him well meaning platitudes. In the anime, when presenting an empty flower vase as a way of presenting the formless flower arrangement representing the Void, or more accurately a Zen concept of Nothingness, no one else in the group gets it and just gives him confused looks. While Kasen is normally oblivious to the reactions to his weirdness, he actually shows some awareness of failing to communicate an idea here and becomes flustered.
Also in the anime, Kasen shows a keen desire to clean beautiful things that have been tarnished, such as with Yamanbagiri's cloak. He is often seen on laundry duty, taking deep satisfaction in the simply act of cleaning away filth from the various sheets and clothes all the characters wear. This is pretty in contrast to the game itself where his specialty among the citadel duties is cooking, but both kind of make sense given his dedication to aesthetics, and how both can be considered "artforms" in some way.
All of this mostly serves to reinforce that Kasen's philosophy and core expressions are really detached from what's considered normal behavior, even among a bunch of personified swords with odd and sometimes just-as-weird personality quirks. Kasen stands out for his aesthetics and his entirely steadfast obsession with them, and despite the concerns of other swords (especially Sayo, poor guy), he just has a lot of trouble relating to other people, whether it's through his artistic pursuits, or his utter merciless behavior on the battlefield.
While this is more extrapolation than what is explicitly canon, Kasen serves as something of a "big brother" role to some of the other characters, particularly Sayo, who was also owned by Tadaoki, and his actual younger brother Izumi-no-kami. While his brutality is frank and infamous, there is a real and sincere compassion within Kasen, particularly towards those who have had violent or tragic lives. He feels the need to protect others, even if they explicitly don't wish for him to. Tadaoki famously saved his sister from an abusive husband, but his sister tried to kill him in turn, angry at his insistent interference in her life. Kasen shares this same bullheaded will to protect those he cares about.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
Kasen has all of the talents of Tadaoki Hosokawa. He is a remarkable swordsman, having all around great stats in the game (though still outclassed by some of the rarer swords). Kasen also has talent in pretty much all of the arts. He can write, he can paint, he can compose music, sing, play, arrange flowers, tea ceremonies, culinary arts, everything.
CANON PERSONALITY:
Where we begin with Kasen is his most obvious and quite frankly hammered in personality trait; his artistic nature. Based on the fact that the sword itself (especially the sheath) was considered a work of art more than a practical weapon, Kasen claims he is "of the liberal arts" and therefore pursues a lot of artistic fields and bases his primary outlook as a person around artistic perspectives. He primarily expresses himself through poetry, but he also works in other mediums as well, so long as he considers them "elegant". His way of looking at the world is also informed by this philosophy, seeing the beauty in almost all things (once again, so long as they're not "inelegant"). He could spend hours telling you about the transcendental aesthetics of, say, a leaf falling from a tree. A lot of his way of looking at the world is based around Japanese poets of the Muromachi era.
The mixing of this with the personality traits of his most famous wielder (Hosokawa Tadaoki, who was a patron of the arts, himself) leads to a very strange person. Kasen's outlook and perspectives leads him to focusing on things others do not, or becoming lost in his artistry. He even seems to disconnect from reality entirely, not really gauging a situation for its actual practical meaning or purpose. For example, when tasked with crafting armor for his troops, he opts to focus on making aesthetically beautiful armor over what is actually effective. He's the sort of person who'd think painting flames on the side of your hot rod will actually make it go faster.
However, given Tadaoki's reputation, Kasen isn't all tea ceremonies and dreamily staring at the sky. Like Tadaoki, Kasen is a ruthless, merciless man when it comes to conflict and power. Tadaoki once brought in 36 vassals and beheaded all of them (with Kasen, no less) just to demonstrate to his son what it meant to be a daimyo. His skill with the sword was considerable, and unlike most daimyo that served under Nobunaga's command, Tadaoki was a frontlines fighter, and Kasen is no different. His wrath and brutality is like a sudden exclamation on the end of an otherwise innocuous sentence. The level of violence he is capable of frightens those around him, and those who know both sides of his personality often aren't sure what to make of him, making it difficult for him to form lasting friendships.
Kasen, while he is steadfastly dedicated to artistic expression, becomes rather self conscious when his fellows don't really "get it", even if they offer him well meaning platitudes. In the anime, when presenting an empty flower vase as a way of presenting the formless flower arrangement representing the Void, or more accurately a Zen concept of Nothingness, no one else in the group gets it and just gives him confused looks. While Kasen is normally oblivious to the reactions to his weirdness, he actually shows some awareness of failing to communicate an idea here and becomes flustered.
Also in the anime, Kasen shows a keen desire to clean beautiful things that have been tarnished, such as with Yamanbagiri's cloak. He is often seen on laundry duty, taking deep satisfaction in the simply act of cleaning away filth from the various sheets and clothes all the characters wear. This is pretty in contrast to the game itself where his specialty among the citadel duties is cooking, but both kind of make sense given his dedication to aesthetics, and how both can be considered "artforms" in some way.
All of this mostly serves to reinforce that Kasen's philosophy and core expressions are really detached from what's considered normal behavior, even among a bunch of personified swords with odd and sometimes just-as-weird personality quirks. Kasen stands out for his aesthetics and his entirely steadfast obsession with them, and despite the concerns of other swords (especially Sayo, poor guy), he just has a lot of trouble relating to other people, whether it's through his artistic pursuits, or his utter merciless behavior on the battlefield.
While this is more extrapolation than what is explicitly canon, Kasen serves as something of a "big brother" role to some of the other characters, particularly Sayo, who was also owned by Tadaoki, and his actual younger brother Izumi-no-kami. While his brutality is frank and infamous, there is a real and sincere compassion within Kasen, particularly towards those who have had violent or tragic lives. He feels the need to protect others, even if they explicitly don't wish for him to. Tadaoki famously saved his sister from an abusive husband, but his sister tried to kill him in turn, angry at his insistent interference in her life. Kasen shares this same bullheaded will to protect those he cares about.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
Kasen has all of the talents of Tadaoki Hosokawa. He is a remarkable swordsman, having all around great stats in the game (though still outclassed by some of the rarer swords). Kasen also has talent in pretty much all of the arts. He can write, he can paint, he can compose music, sing, play, arrange flowers, tea ceremonies, culinary arts, everything.
CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Kasen Kaneda
AU AGE: 34
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES:
His hair is dyed, rather than naturally that color, but it will eventually get there. Other than that, he's still the same old him, just not a tsukumogami.
AU NAME: Kasen Kaneda
AU AGE: 34
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES:
His hair is dyed, rather than naturally that color, but it will eventually get there. Other than that, he's still the same old him, just not a tsukumogami.
AU HISTORY:
Kasen had a fairly normal childhood, all things considered. He showed a passion for the arts at a young age and his elective activities since entering middle school all focused on them, though he didn't dedicate himself to any one medium. He entered poetry contests, submitted paintings to student galleries, performed with contemporary music clubs in high school, all kinds of stuff. His inability to focus on a specific artform made it very difficult, however, to get into University back in Japan. When his family made the decision to move to the US, despite already being an adult and capable of remaining in Japan, he left with them so that he could attend Recolle University, who had accepted him on his merits alone and didn't seem to care he hadn't chosen a medium to focus on.
Briefly mentioned before, but most of Kasen's life outside the arts (for what little life he does have outside of it) is focused on charity work and helping out those less fortunate, or even politicizing himself and organizing demonstrations or even protests. He famously participated in a hunger strike to demand better working conditions for local farm laborers, for example. His political ideals have always leaned socialist (like his canon wielder), and despite having mostly participated in peaceful demonstrations, he is not a full supporter of the traditional philosophies of non-violent protest either, but some may think this just has to do with his temper being a bit of a thin trigger for him.
Kasen was already nearly an adult when his family moved to Recolle, while Izumi was fairly young, but Kasen had already made a name for himself as a young and aspiring artist in Japan, supported by their uncle from a young age and thus was able to become independently wealthy fairly quickly as soon as he graduated from Recolle University on both his own artwork and also playing the art trade game exceptionally well. Kasen's eye for value in the creative world was remarkable, and in the next ten years he made himself a hell of a fortune by simply supporting the right people at the right time, and selling works he had inherited early on for tremendous sums. And his support of the arts in Recolle didn't end there. He soon enough became one of the most famous patrons in the city, appearing at galas and museums and various gallery openings. There's even a building at Recolle University's art department named in his honor, which is pretty amazing for a guy in his mid-30s.
Kasen's own creations range from expressionist paintings to dadaist plays to even recording at least two progressive rock albums under the name "Nosada" that all did moderately well. But despite all of this, his connection with his little brother is... well, it exists, but there's not much to it, and this has always depressed him. Recently he's been trying to reconnect with him, but it doesn't seem to be working. He and Izumi are just such different people, it's hard for them to find a common ground, on top of their sizeable age gap. Kasen hopes that supporting Izumi's doomed aspirations for poetry may help, but... probably not.
Kasen's dated, but never married, or even expressed much of a desire to start a family, much to the chagrin of his father. Kasen's idea is that Izumi, being very popular with the girls, is much more likely to settle down and become a family man, and in his mid 30s, it's probably too late to expect that much out of himself. But he's open to the idea of he can find the right person to settle down with. The problem is just finding someone willing to do so with a personality like his...
AU PERSONALITY:
And speaking of.
Kasen finds it just as difficult to relate to normal people as his canon counterpart does. It seems like just about everything he says or does is alienating to most others, even sometimes his fellow artists, in some way. While he doesn't quite have the same Zen Void based philosophy of his canon self, nor the influence of Muromachi-era poets, he still has trouble expressing himself in ways that can be understood by lay-people. He still has a tendency to pontificate about the deeper meaning of a leaf falling from a tree, for example. All the pieces are still there, just more muted. This started early in his life, and only got worse as he moved into adulthood. He's never quite been able to grasp the same social skills his peers have.
Their are a few major differences in terms of identity with this version of Kasen. He has no inclination towards swordsmanship or any kind of combat, despite his temper still being present. Not once has he even held a katana, only a kitchen knife at sharpest. He's physically fit, taking good care of himself, but no one could consider him athletic or strong in any way, and he sees no need to do so. While canon Kasen takes the philosophical stance of "the purpose of all swords is to cut", this Kasen has zero reason to even think about that kind of thing.
The fact that Kasen has spent half his life in Japan and the other half in Recolle has also shaped him into a much more cosmopolitan person than he was in canon. He's still fond of esoteric Japanese arts, but as said before, his appreciation of modern, Western artforms has significantly grown. Romanticism, Dadaism, Impressionism, all kinds of Western art philosophies have melded with his own and created a much more well rounded skill set as well as world view. Despite this, because he's still full on #aesthetic, he still has the aforementioned trouble relating to normal people. His art actually kind of suffers a bit as a result, some critics have said. And just like his canon self, he's a little self-conscious about it.
In general, much of Kasen's personality traits in canon are still present but significantly more subdued. He's still an esoteric weirdo artist, but he's less obsessed with elegance as he was in canon, and while he has a temper, he's not about to scream at you to present your neck if you offend him, or swear bloody revenge if he gets dirty. His artistic interests are less focused on the traditional Japanese liberal arts, as well, being more westernized in this version, though as he regains himself, his interests will lean more that way.
Kasen had a fairly normal childhood, all things considered. He showed a passion for the arts at a young age and his elective activities since entering middle school all focused on them, though he didn't dedicate himself to any one medium. He entered poetry contests, submitted paintings to student galleries, performed with contemporary music clubs in high school, all kinds of stuff. His inability to focus on a specific artform made it very difficult, however, to get into University back in Japan. When his family made the decision to move to the US, despite already being an adult and capable of remaining in Japan, he left with them so that he could attend Recolle University, who had accepted him on his merits alone and didn't seem to care he hadn't chosen a medium to focus on.
Briefly mentioned before, but most of Kasen's life outside the arts (for what little life he does have outside of it) is focused on charity work and helping out those less fortunate, or even politicizing himself and organizing demonstrations or even protests. He famously participated in a hunger strike to demand better working conditions for local farm laborers, for example. His political ideals have always leaned socialist (like his canon wielder), and despite having mostly participated in peaceful demonstrations, he is not a full supporter of the traditional philosophies of non-violent protest either, but some may think this just has to do with his temper being a bit of a thin trigger for him.
Kasen was already nearly an adult when his family moved to Recolle, while Izumi was fairly young, but Kasen had already made a name for himself as a young and aspiring artist in Japan, supported by their uncle from a young age and thus was able to become independently wealthy fairly quickly as soon as he graduated from Recolle University on both his own artwork and also playing the art trade game exceptionally well. Kasen's eye for value in the creative world was remarkable, and in the next ten years he made himself a hell of a fortune by simply supporting the right people at the right time, and selling works he had inherited early on for tremendous sums. And his support of the arts in Recolle didn't end there. He soon enough became one of the most famous patrons in the city, appearing at galas and museums and various gallery openings. There's even a building at Recolle University's art department named in his honor, which is pretty amazing for a guy in his mid-30s.
Kasen's own creations range from expressionist paintings to dadaist plays to even recording at least two progressive rock albums under the name "Nosada" that all did moderately well. But despite all of this, his connection with his little brother is... well, it exists, but there's not much to it, and this has always depressed him. Recently he's been trying to reconnect with him, but it doesn't seem to be working. He and Izumi are just such different people, it's hard for them to find a common ground, on top of their sizeable age gap. Kasen hopes that supporting Izumi's doomed aspirations for poetry may help, but... probably not.
Kasen's dated, but never married, or even expressed much of a desire to start a family, much to the chagrin of his father. Kasen's idea is that Izumi, being very popular with the girls, is much more likely to settle down and become a family man, and in his mid 30s, it's probably too late to expect that much out of himself. But he's open to the idea of he can find the right person to settle down with. The problem is just finding someone willing to do so with a personality like his...
AU PERSONALITY:
And speaking of.
Kasen finds it just as difficult to relate to normal people as his canon counterpart does. It seems like just about everything he says or does is alienating to most others, even sometimes his fellow artists, in some way. While he doesn't quite have the same Zen Void based philosophy of his canon self, nor the influence of Muromachi-era poets, he still has trouble expressing himself in ways that can be understood by lay-people. He still has a tendency to pontificate about the deeper meaning of a leaf falling from a tree, for example. All the pieces are still there, just more muted. This started early in his life, and only got worse as he moved into adulthood. He's never quite been able to grasp the same social skills his peers have.
Their are a few major differences in terms of identity with this version of Kasen. He has no inclination towards swordsmanship or any kind of combat, despite his temper still being present. Not once has he even held a katana, only a kitchen knife at sharpest. He's physically fit, taking good care of himself, but no one could consider him athletic or strong in any way, and he sees no need to do so. While canon Kasen takes the philosophical stance of "the purpose of all swords is to cut", this Kasen has zero reason to even think about that kind of thing.
The fact that Kasen has spent half his life in Japan and the other half in Recolle has also shaped him into a much more cosmopolitan person than he was in canon. He's still fond of esoteric Japanese arts, but as said before, his appreciation of modern, Western artforms has significantly grown. Romanticism, Dadaism, Impressionism, all kinds of Western art philosophies have melded with his own and created a much more well rounded skill set as well as world view. Despite this, because he's still full on #aesthetic, he still has the aforementioned trouble relating to normal people. His art actually kind of suffers a bit as a result, some critics have said. And just like his canon self, he's a little self-conscious about it.
In general, much of Kasen's personality traits in canon are still present but significantly more subdued. He's still an esoteric weirdo artist, but he's less obsessed with elegance as he was in canon, and while he has a temper, he's not about to scream at you to present your neck if you offend him, or swear bloody revenge if he gets dirty. His artistic interests are less focused on the traditional Japanese liberal arts, as well, being more westernized in this version, though as he regains himself, his interests will lean more that way.