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History:
Being raised in a clan along with the pressure of expectations, Saen'shu has an intense fear of failure. The consequence of failure in his Tengu clan was ridicule, punishment in the form of labor, and most importantly, the disappointment from his parents. He never could handle the look of his father's eyes whenever he failed to meet their expectations. The intense shame was enough to almost eat him alive.

It was during these times that he began to grow bitter towards these feelings that would ache at his heart. He did not like them, he did not want to feel them anymore. Thus he came to the conclusion that in order to counter these feelings, he simply must not care. He grew apathetic and indifferent, he chose to not grow to anymore than an acquaintance to anyone else in his clan. His parents were enough to deal with, and even towards them he became very distant over time.

The year of his fourteenth birthday he met a fellow Tengu by the name of Taeri'i. She was a white Tengu, a rare and beautiful creature within the Tengu society, and often revered. The moment he laid eyes on her, it was love. His heart which he had worked so hard to close immediately burst open, and he did everything he could to get close to her. She, too, found Saen'shu quite endearing, and was quick to reciprocate his feelings. There was a catch, however. Considering her status as a white Tengu, many did not feel that their relationship was acceptable. The leaders told him that only a very respectable demon was worthy of her, and he definitely was not. He was a punk, some kid who did nothing but disappoint. Saen'shu raged. It was not enough that this "clan" tore his own self worth limb from limb, but they would even attack his attempts at innocent love and happiness with someone who truly felt the same way.

It was within the next few days that Saen'shu's life and heart would be changed forever. He went to visit Taeri'i, and she was no where to be found. He searched everywhere, and when he inquired her location to fellow clan members, they ignored him. He grew distressed, frantically tearing through the clan's entire estate, assuming the worst. As he turned a corner to check her room once more, a servant stopped him, bowing over and over. Her voice was cracking, and she was afraid to speak. Hesitantly, her voice eventually carried towards him. "Sir, Mistress Taeri'i is... gone. She went out the other night, into the woods, and never returned." He stared at her. What? Never returned? Frantically, he grabbed the servants arms, shaking her, his silver eyes welling up with tears out of pure anger. "Why is no one searching? Why does no one care?" The servant simply stared at him, only bowing once more. "I'm sorry, sir. But that is all I know. That is all they would tell me."

It was weeks later someone came to him, a small old Tengu who barely could walk on his own. His aged claws grasped at a wooden cane, pale eyes glazed as he looked Saen'shu over. His lips opened, quietly mumbling one word: "Sacrifice."

Saen'shu was confused. "What? Sacrifice? What are you referring to, old man?" The ancient crow demon lowered his head, heaving a sigh. After a few awkwardly silent moments, he was kind enough to clarify. "The white Tengu. She was to be sacrificed. She knew all along that this was her role in our society. She never told you? I suppose I can understand her thoughts."

Stunned, the younger demon felt his heart stop. The pain was like being stabbed, aching, twisting. He clawed at his chest, his eyes wide in disbelief. Tears soaked his cheeks as he stared at the ground, unable to move. The old Tengu offered him a pat on the head, frowning. "I'm sorry no one told you. It was wrong. But this is the law of our clan. Whenever a white Tengu is born, they are to be sacrificed in order to increase the prosperity of their fellow Tengu."

He was disgusted. Restraining himself enough to not knock the wind out of the old man, his thick wings spread and shot downward as he launched himself into the air, and out of sight.

Eventually, his heart grew tired. It was empty, and closed up. There was no hope left. He became afraid of any sort of relationship with anyone, his fear of failure branching into an extreme anxiety involving being heartbroken. He could not do it again. Ever since, his natural inclination to push people away has left him alone and friendless. Instead of showing any warmth that he might possibly still possess, he sometimes finds himself spouting spiteful words as defense mechanism in order to scare people away. Despite his young age, the way his clan functioned and the way that responsibilities were laid out amongst the members, he was forced to grow up very fast. This left little room for the joy of being a child and no time for appreciation of the little things.

Afraid of his own mind and his naive heart, he decided to wear a blindfold whenever in public, not wanting the beauty of others to influence him. Many Tengu in the past were associated with Shugendo, an ascetic practice where one does not allow themselves worldly pleasures. He is aware that in order to go to a school where these pleasures might exist, he would have to sacrifice some of the strictness of this practice. He primarily wants to use it as a method to grow and mature. It was from here on he grew to use his control over the wind to sense the world around him, as well as rely on his pet crow, Yuuto.

Needless to say, Saen'shu is not a very trusting person. It would take some severe dedication for him to consider someone a true friend. Hie is slow to anger, but there are a few key subjects that will set him off. Examples include: attempting to get him to remove his blindfold, asking him about his family (unless he feels very comfortable), or if he catches someone severely belittling someone else.


Pet:
Name: Yuuto
Specie: Crow
Color: Black
Eye color: Blue
Personality: Yuuto is a crow who Saen'shu is never without. He has been around since he was a child, but the recent events involving his vision has increased the bond between the two tenfold. The crow helps him see by making noise in directions of interest.

Thanks for the tips! I actually was considering giving him a crow familiar that would help him with sight. I suppose that could work?

As for not coming to the Halloween World, I forgot to think of it that way. I only recalled students not knowing of the human world. I've had a back up scenario in mind, so I'll definitely try it out instead.

I'm also currently editing the main form to mostly include personality traits and will have his past on another post.

Thanks a lot!


EDIT: changed history and moved it to its own post, added Yuuto, his crow familiar.

Ah! I wasn't aware. I'll change it. Thanks.

I'll use the word "pet" until I think of something else that works. If not, it can stay that way.

Hey there! : D

Before I start off, I want to say that for someone who's new to the B/C business, you did pretty well creating a whole profile! However, I do have a few concerns about your quest; I'm hoping that these questions/thoughts will help you into making him a more well-rounded character!

His backstory/history is pretty detailed, but try to remember that while this is a 'Halloween' shop, their emotions are still very "human" in the sense that they do feel heartache, happiness, sadness, etc. This also applies to their thought process; he was heartbroken as a 14 year old... Him gorging out his own eyes seem a little exaggerated to me? It feels like the equivalent of someone slashing their wrist... Almost like it was inserted just to make him "special" or "stand out", when I think that the best way to stand out is through roleplay. HOWEVER, this is merely my personal opinion, however, so it's just food for thought!

I know he relies on his pet a lot, but do remember that as a pet, the crow is like a minipet - which means that they cannot really talk... Much less 'help him see or read necessary things, transmitting the words or images to Saen'shu's thoughts'; the best he could do would be to do what a guide dog does for a blind person irl; guide via barks, leading the person, etc!

Anyway, I found a couple of conflicting personality traits you might want to rethink on...
"It became a hobby of Saen'shu's to read at least one book a day-" and "-the kind of stuff you see in story books. Not surprising considering books are his closest companions."
Since he is blind, how does he read? If he is read to, that would mean that someone is reading to him... But he doesn't go out there to socialize? His pet can't read to him either, since pets and "people" can't communicate through words!
"-the massive amount of time he has spent observing people has given him the ability be a good judge of how and why people act the way they do."
Again, how do you observe without sight?
Indifference/apathy (from his history) vs untrusting vs social anxiety
Social anxiety stems from the fact that you WANT people to accept you, and thus, actually CARE about what they think.

It might be able to walk hand in hand with untrusting since he had spent so much time with people who were unkind to him that he never learnt to communicate with others, thus making him anxious around people since he doesn't know what to do. However, indifference/apathy would mean that he won't even bother. He doesn't care about what anyone thinks about him. As a friend of mine said:

Anxiety = act of caring
Indifference/Apathy = act of not caring

You can't be both! You might want to reword it; if you're trying to say that he doesn't interact well with people, you might want to say socially AWKWARD rather than anxious! (:

I realized that a lot of things I touched on ended up connected to his sight; I would suggest playing on the aspects of his story which talks about a teen who was neglected and had too much pressure put on him, rather than on him gorging his eyes out due to losing his first love. He would be a more believable character that way! GOOD LUCK!

First off, thanks a lot for the critique! This is exactly what I needed.

I guess with all the things involving his sight, like reading, observing people, etc. in my mind were things he did before losing his sight, but I never really specified. I'll definitely fix that. But, I agree that the fact he's a 14 year old doing this does seem a little like pushing it, I've been debating it for a while. Hmm.. what if I made it that he's not blind, but he chooses to wear a blindfold to not let other people's beauty persuade him? (as a kid he hasn't figured out that just personalities alone can create love). That way he can choose to remove it later when he matures and realizes he's being kind of an idiot.

As for anxious vs. apathy, I agree. I think socially awkward would suit him better. I don't want him to be completely heartless, but I want him to totally suck at expressing emotions, so I think I'll alter the apathy to that.

Also, I wasn't sure what pets could do, I'll make him more of a seeing-eye bird.

@Bilious xD Well, his natural form will definitely have a big beak/nose, but I wanted him to have a more humanoid look at the school? And from what I've read, Tengu have the ability to take on a normal humanoid shape naturally. Although I don't know if I'm allowed to use that.

Alright, altered the reason for his blindfold. I'll paste the passage here so no one has to sort through it all:

"Afraid of his own mind and his naive heart, he decided to wear a blindfold whenever in public, not wanting the beauty of others to influence him. Many Tengu in the past were associated with Shugendo, an ascetic practice where one does not allow themselves worldly pleasures. He is aware that in order to go to a school where these pleasures might exist, he would have to sacrifice some of the strictness of this practice. He primarily wants to use it as a method to grow and mature."

This allows him to eventually grow out of it.