Post by The Doctor plus one on Mar 9, 2008 18:29:15 GMT -5
Player Information
Players Name: AKM
Age: 32
E-mail Address: takekaze(dot)50(at)gmail(dot)com
Instant Messengers: YIM takekaze50; AIM Takekaze
Character Information:
Name: O-Suzu
Rank: -
Occupation: a modern term would be receptionist or even nurse, though she's more of an assistant to doctor Franklin.
Nick Names/Aliases: none, though it's likely that some people might call her Suzie, even though her actual name has nothing to do with “Susanna”. In fact, her names was taken from the suzu, also known as Sasamorpha borealis, a cold-hardy type of bamboo native to Hokkaido. In the 1930s her name would have been Suzuko.
Age: 24, born on July 22nd, 1856
Appearance: 5'1'' (barely), dark hair and brown eyes. Her mentor and teacher always describes them as curious and intelligent. Her hairstyles vary depending on the occasion, but usually she wears her hair in a rather simple style, that is typical for Japanese women of those days. Apart from that, it's easier and cheaper to keep the hair like that, when compared to the fanzy hairstyles that come from Europe and which change every month.
Belongings/Equipment: a couple of western-style clothes, which doctor Franklin bought her. However, she doesn't wear them often. For the daily chores O-Suzu sticks to simple cotton kimono. Due to the fact that there are no such clothes in America, she might be forced to sew them herself. While she doesn't really own anything else, she has her own stethoscope, which had been a present for her 20th birthday.
Any distinguishing features: jug ears
Place of Birth: Edo
Family:
Father: Gen'ichiro
Mother: Otsu
Brother: Takezo
Sister: Mitsu
Brief Personal History: O-Suzu was born in Edo, today's Tokyo, in 1856, just two years after Perry had forced Japan to open herself. Her parents were normal people, commoners, peasants. They played no part in the politics that soon brought the country towards civil war. Instead her father was a hardworking craftsman, a carpenter. Her mother helped supporting the family with needlework -she was quite skilled- and also helped her husband in their small shop. They had one apprentice, who lived with them -as it was common in Japan. But in 1864 the small, somewhat idyllic life that O-Suzu knew, came to an end. Idyllic really depended on the point of view, because compared to the lives of samurai daughters it was far from perfect. They were commoners and as such any samurai or even ronin could simply kill them for whatever reason he liked. Luckily, though, the use of “kirisute gomen” as this right was called, was the exception in daily life.
It was in a night in 1864 when a fire broke out in one of the houses in the neighborhood. O-Suzu was the only one from her family to escape the flames. The others, her parents and her two younger siblings, died that night, together with twenty five other commoners.
Life moved on and the local official handed O-Suzu over to her uncle, a rice merchant. The first few days seemed to be alright, but soon the man showed that his interest in O-Suzu was more than just that of an uncle. It seemed that he had a certain need for young girls. He was a pedophile. For almost a year O-Suzu managed to defend herself against his attempts of molesting her. Eventually, though, she had enough and took a run. She fled the house and ended up on the streets. At the age of nine that was a cruel strike by fate and O-Suzu soon learned that because of her young age and the fact that she was a girl she was very low in the hierarchy of the other orphans in Edo. It only took a couple of days for her to become dirty and starving.
Then, after two weeks on the streets, O-Suzu literally stumbled over a strange foreigner and the woman who was running the place he lived at. She had met doctor Franklin and O-Hina. Those two people would soon change her life. At first O-Hina was definitely not happy of having this smelly little orphan around, but after a long quarrel between those two O-Suzu was allowed to stay. What began as a temporary arrangement soon turned into her new life.
O-Suzu had always been rather curious and it didn't take long for her to find out more about doctor Franklin's work. At first she was appalled at the thought of dealing with the sick and dying, after all Shinto prohibited that. But soon she found similarities with Buddhism, at least... similarities to what she knew of Buddhism, which wasn't really much. And soon after that the doctor's work began to fascinate her.
And there O-Suzu began to learn. Small parts at first, then bigger ones and soon even more. Latin, the language of the doctors, and English, the doctor's own language, were also on her schedule. It took a couple of years, but eventually O-Suzu managed to achieve a certain level in both. In the end she was almost fluent.
As the years passed O-Suzu learned more and more of the doctor's arts, and she also realized that there was something going on between him and O-Hina. But eventually O-Hina's health deteriorated and she passed away in 1875. O-Suzu witnessed the painful experience that the doctor went through. He didn't show it, but for her it was clear that the death of the woman he had loved was taking its toll on him. Then, when the samurai of Satsuma finally rebelled in 1877 -she didn't understand them, why join a rebellion when the emperor is opting for peace?-, the doctor and even O-Suzu had enough.
It was time to leave and O-Suzu decided to go with him. After all, what future did she have in Japan? None. She was too old -at 24, under normal circumstances- she would have been married for a few years already- and lacked the money for a suitable marriage. She was a nobody. The imperial restoration hadn't changed much for normal people such as herself. The Tokugawa and their allies had simply been replaced by the emperor and his allies. And then there was the little problem of her having been influenced by the foreigner and his ideas. O-Suzu simply considered what she had learned to be more important than being a mother and housewife just yet.
And thus, in 1879, doctor Franklin and O-Suzu left Japan and the young woman would embark on the biggest adventure of her life.
Personality/Quirks: O-Suzu has a very strongly developed personality. She knows what she wants and she's willing to work for it. She has copied some of O-Hina's strictness, and is using it on doctor Franklin whenever it may seem to be necessary.
Other important notes: O-Suzu is skilled in different ways. For once she inherited her mother's skills with needlework -which is not only useful for making clothes for herself-, she also learned how to run an inn from O-Hina, while her medical knowledge is on par with that of a student in his last few semesters in Berlin or Paris. Her memory of her parents and siblings has faded, just like the glass negatives of photographs do over time. The people who really influenced her life were O-Hina and doctor Franklin. Somehow those two had turned into her parents.
Audition Piece:
The waves were pounding against the hull of the ship. She had never seen such a ship before. The doctor had called it a “clipper” and it was a lot different than the normal ships, Japanese and foreign ones alike. The young woman closed her eyes and listened. She could feel the movement of the ship through the vast ocean, she could smell the salt in the air and could hear the movement of the sailors. There weren't many people on the ship, just herself, the doctor and a handful of passengers. The crew wasn't part of that equation, but they were part of the ship, so O-Suzu didn't want to include them. The doctor had also told her, that the clippers were a dying breed. Steam ships, those ugly black monsters of the seas, were the future.
She remembered the steam ships in Japan. They had always been sitting there, in Yokohama, and soon the Japanese had also built them. O-Suzu didn't like those ships. This clipper, though, was a lot different. It was light, silent and didn't stink, yet it was extremely fast, at least from what she could tell. It was really a pity that the era of such ships was about to end.
O-Suzu sighed then she opened her eyes again. The horizon had finally turned completely dark. Night was falling and this amazing ship seemed to be grey right now. A grey ship heading into the west. How would America be? She had no idea. She only knew that Europe had been great. Vienna, Berlin, Paris and finally London. But the best had been meeting the men she had read about. The men who had created all those amazing guidelines which made the doctor's work a bit easier and which also helped their patients. Lister, Pasteur and Virchow were very interesting men, dedicated and hardworking and her own teacher knew them in person. In fact, O-Suzu felt very proud and she was glad of having met them.
After taking a deep breath she turned her head and looked at the area with the cabins. Lights were already burning there, people would soon assemble for dinner. Honestly, she hated those and if she could, she would be spending the whole trip either out here or in her own cabin. She attracted looks, of course, how many of them had ever met a Japanese person? Hardly anyone. And then came the questions, often spoken very slowly as if people thought her to be stupid. Or it turned even worse and people assumed that she didn't speak English, so they simply ignored her.
Again she sighed. Oh well, soon she would be exploring a whole new country! A land of opportunities. Her teacher's homeland. A smile appeared on her face and then she turned away from the sea completely. While heading towards the dining room she wondered how European and American women could move in those dresses. They were extremely uncomfortable.
Players Name: AKM
Age: 32
E-mail Address: takekaze(dot)50(at)gmail(dot)com
Instant Messengers: YIM takekaze50; AIM Takekaze
Character Information:
Name: O-Suzu
Rank: -
Occupation: a modern term would be receptionist or even nurse, though she's more of an assistant to doctor Franklin.
Nick Names/Aliases: none, though it's likely that some people might call her Suzie, even though her actual name has nothing to do with “Susanna”. In fact, her names was taken from the suzu, also known as Sasamorpha borealis, a cold-hardy type of bamboo native to Hokkaido. In the 1930s her name would have been Suzuko.
Age: 24, born on July 22nd, 1856
Appearance: 5'1'' (barely), dark hair and brown eyes. Her mentor and teacher always describes them as curious and intelligent. Her hairstyles vary depending on the occasion, but usually she wears her hair in a rather simple style, that is typical for Japanese women of those days. Apart from that, it's easier and cheaper to keep the hair like that, when compared to the fanzy hairstyles that come from Europe and which change every month.
Belongings/Equipment: a couple of western-style clothes, which doctor Franklin bought her. However, she doesn't wear them often. For the daily chores O-Suzu sticks to simple cotton kimono. Due to the fact that there are no such clothes in America, she might be forced to sew them herself. While she doesn't really own anything else, she has her own stethoscope, which had been a present for her 20th birthday.
Any distinguishing features: jug ears
Place of Birth: Edo
Family:
Father: Gen'ichiro
Mother: Otsu
Brother: Takezo
Sister: Mitsu
Brief Personal History: O-Suzu was born in Edo, today's Tokyo, in 1856, just two years after Perry had forced Japan to open herself. Her parents were normal people, commoners, peasants. They played no part in the politics that soon brought the country towards civil war. Instead her father was a hardworking craftsman, a carpenter. Her mother helped supporting the family with needlework -she was quite skilled- and also helped her husband in their small shop. They had one apprentice, who lived with them -as it was common in Japan. But in 1864 the small, somewhat idyllic life that O-Suzu knew, came to an end. Idyllic really depended on the point of view, because compared to the lives of samurai daughters it was far from perfect. They were commoners and as such any samurai or even ronin could simply kill them for whatever reason he liked. Luckily, though, the use of “kirisute gomen” as this right was called, was the exception in daily life.
It was in a night in 1864 when a fire broke out in one of the houses in the neighborhood. O-Suzu was the only one from her family to escape the flames. The others, her parents and her two younger siblings, died that night, together with twenty five other commoners.
Life moved on and the local official handed O-Suzu over to her uncle, a rice merchant. The first few days seemed to be alright, but soon the man showed that his interest in O-Suzu was more than just that of an uncle. It seemed that he had a certain need for young girls. He was a pedophile. For almost a year O-Suzu managed to defend herself against his attempts of molesting her. Eventually, though, she had enough and took a run. She fled the house and ended up on the streets. At the age of nine that was a cruel strike by fate and O-Suzu soon learned that because of her young age and the fact that she was a girl she was very low in the hierarchy of the other orphans in Edo. It only took a couple of days for her to become dirty and starving.
Then, after two weeks on the streets, O-Suzu literally stumbled over a strange foreigner and the woman who was running the place he lived at. She had met doctor Franklin and O-Hina. Those two people would soon change her life. At first O-Hina was definitely not happy of having this smelly little orphan around, but after a long quarrel between those two O-Suzu was allowed to stay. What began as a temporary arrangement soon turned into her new life.
O-Suzu had always been rather curious and it didn't take long for her to find out more about doctor Franklin's work. At first she was appalled at the thought of dealing with the sick and dying, after all Shinto prohibited that. But soon she found similarities with Buddhism, at least... similarities to what she knew of Buddhism, which wasn't really much. And soon after that the doctor's work began to fascinate her.
And there O-Suzu began to learn. Small parts at first, then bigger ones and soon even more. Latin, the language of the doctors, and English, the doctor's own language, were also on her schedule. It took a couple of years, but eventually O-Suzu managed to achieve a certain level in both. In the end she was almost fluent.
As the years passed O-Suzu learned more and more of the doctor's arts, and she also realized that there was something going on between him and O-Hina. But eventually O-Hina's health deteriorated and she passed away in 1875. O-Suzu witnessed the painful experience that the doctor went through. He didn't show it, but for her it was clear that the death of the woman he had loved was taking its toll on him. Then, when the samurai of Satsuma finally rebelled in 1877 -she didn't understand them, why join a rebellion when the emperor is opting for peace?-, the doctor and even O-Suzu had enough.
It was time to leave and O-Suzu decided to go with him. After all, what future did she have in Japan? None. She was too old -at 24, under normal circumstances- she would have been married for a few years already- and lacked the money for a suitable marriage. She was a nobody. The imperial restoration hadn't changed much for normal people such as herself. The Tokugawa and their allies had simply been replaced by the emperor and his allies. And then there was the little problem of her having been influenced by the foreigner and his ideas. O-Suzu simply considered what she had learned to be more important than being a mother and housewife just yet.
And thus, in 1879, doctor Franklin and O-Suzu left Japan and the young woman would embark on the biggest adventure of her life.
Personality/Quirks: O-Suzu has a very strongly developed personality. She knows what she wants and she's willing to work for it. She has copied some of O-Hina's strictness, and is using it on doctor Franklin whenever it may seem to be necessary.
Other important notes: O-Suzu is skilled in different ways. For once she inherited her mother's skills with needlework -which is not only useful for making clothes for herself-, she also learned how to run an inn from O-Hina, while her medical knowledge is on par with that of a student in his last few semesters in Berlin or Paris. Her memory of her parents and siblings has faded, just like the glass negatives of photographs do over time. The people who really influenced her life were O-Hina and doctor Franklin. Somehow those two had turned into her parents.
Audition Piece:
The waves were pounding against the hull of the ship. She had never seen such a ship before. The doctor had called it a “clipper” and it was a lot different than the normal ships, Japanese and foreign ones alike. The young woman closed her eyes and listened. She could feel the movement of the ship through the vast ocean, she could smell the salt in the air and could hear the movement of the sailors. There weren't many people on the ship, just herself, the doctor and a handful of passengers. The crew wasn't part of that equation, but they were part of the ship, so O-Suzu didn't want to include them. The doctor had also told her, that the clippers were a dying breed. Steam ships, those ugly black monsters of the seas, were the future.
She remembered the steam ships in Japan. They had always been sitting there, in Yokohama, and soon the Japanese had also built them. O-Suzu didn't like those ships. This clipper, though, was a lot different. It was light, silent and didn't stink, yet it was extremely fast, at least from what she could tell. It was really a pity that the era of such ships was about to end.
O-Suzu sighed then she opened her eyes again. The horizon had finally turned completely dark. Night was falling and this amazing ship seemed to be grey right now. A grey ship heading into the west. How would America be? She had no idea. She only knew that Europe had been great. Vienna, Berlin, Paris and finally London. But the best had been meeting the men she had read about. The men who had created all those amazing guidelines which made the doctor's work a bit easier and which also helped their patients. Lister, Pasteur and Virchow were very interesting men, dedicated and hardworking and her own teacher knew them in person. In fact, O-Suzu felt very proud and she was glad of having met them.
After taking a deep breath she turned her head and looked at the area with the cabins. Lights were already burning there, people would soon assemble for dinner. Honestly, she hated those and if she could, she would be spending the whole trip either out here or in her own cabin. She attracted looks, of course, how many of them had ever met a Japanese person? Hardly anyone. And then came the questions, often spoken very slowly as if people thought her to be stupid. Or it turned even worse and people assumed that she didn't speak English, so they simply ignored her.
Again she sighed. Oh well, soon she would be exploring a whole new country! A land of opportunities. Her teacher's homeland. A smile appeared on her face and then she turned away from the sea completely. While heading towards the dining room she wondered how European and American women could move in those dresses. They were extremely uncomfortable.