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Name: Miu - "Beautiful Feather"
Nickname(s): Miu

Age (Appearance Wise):
Early-Mid Twenties

Age (Actual):
24 Years
It's difficult for her to pin an accurate age down as she struggles to pay attention to how much time has passed by. However, asking her adoptive 'parent' might herald a clearer answer!

Occupation:
Assists her adoptive 'father' in the creation of automatons, especially tiny animals as these appear to be her specialty. She aspires towards becoming a master of their construction but at her young age, she still has much to learn from him.

Household:
Average Middleclass - She and her father make enough money to survive comfortably, but have very little to spend on frivolities. She aspires to increase their income a little higher through acquiring greater commissions for more complex clockwork creations, but at this time, her options are limited.



Personality:
Key Words: Analytical, Inquisitive, Dedicated, Creative, Obsessive (automatons) - Unfortunately, may be liable to appear rude, inconsiderate or isolated if caught in the wrong circumstances. This is unintentional, but unavoidable as most individuals judge by immediate impressions!

Miu is often at risk at being mistaken as an oxymoron on occasions - I say this as she has a tendency to be very focused one moment and then easily distracted the next. I wouldn't blame you for confusion in this respect and many of you would point out that these do not compliment one another, however, allow me to explain in further detail.

In a general sense, Miu is renowned for her love of puzzles and automatons - whether she be solving, building or designing, the moment she becomes attached to a concept she is unlikely to abandon it. The same could apply for the commissions she regularly takes to assist her adoptive 'father', whereby she will pour all her effort into the mechanical being regardless of what other work might need done. Once the book child is in this mindset it is exceedingly difficult to distract her from her work.

However, keeping this in mind, even while away from work, Miu's fondness for these little mechanical beings is so ridiculous that the moment she spots a cogwheel, spring or something she can put to use, she will immediately cease in her conversation for a brief period of time. In this respect the girl is easily distracted, in fact, one might say that through this distraction her potential obsessions are revealed.

There is no denying it, that this girl is in love with automatons to the point of obsession. This can be attributed to the fact that within the city there are no truly living beings beyond her kind and that of the City People. With no animals to play with, she holds a very special place in her heart for the automatons that bring enjoyment, entertainment and assistance in everyday life - they may not be sentient but they are special.

Placing her obsessions aside, if an individual is capable of separating her from her work or holding her attention in the midst of it (which is no mean feat), then she is a very approachable and benevolent being. As an individual who prefers to be open minded, she will attempt to give others the benefit of the doubt until they give her a reason to treat them otherwise - races and species are irrelevant.

Analytical and as a lover of puzzles, she is naturally inquisitive and can prove a valuable individual for insightful information. Alas, there are occasions when she might sound as though she's speaking in riddles - afterall, there are times when she might understand the subject while another person does not!

She also possesses a musical ear, a nod to her origins and as such, as a great love for music, particularly string instruments such as the Erhu. Such is her appreciation, that from the moment she could communicate with her 'father', she sought out a manner in which to construct one and learn how to play it!

In summary, Miu is a pleasant individual with relatively modest quirks. When she is in the mood and separated from her work or automatons she is a very sociable and optimistic individual. Possessing a creative flare, she excels in both her skill with her Erhu and with her automatons, though she will profess to requiring more training for more complex designs. Alas, one of her major downfalls and a key point of frustration to many is likely to be her very dedicated and focused behaviour to both work and her hobbies. If the individual didn't know her or take the time to try and understand this behaviour, then they are liable to regard her with slight hostility or have a negative impression...Afterall, if an individual is so focused on their task to the point that they might fail to acknowledge you then they could stand the risk of being rude, aloof or isolated!



Thoughts on the Forest:
Miu's thoughts upon her birthplace are rather modest; she regards it with a healthy level of curiosity but exposure to City People has ensured she is well aware that re-entry is not an option. She possesses vague memories of her brief time within, including the Guardian that gently nudged her into the wider world. Consequently, this young Book Child could be considered 'neutral' towards the forest though further exposure or revelations regarding its nature, purpose and so forth would certainly cause her to re-evaluate!

Thoughts of Book Children:
Miu remains open minded and generally positive towards her fellow Book Children and can appreciate both her origins and the things she has in common with them. However, she prefers to treat Book Children in the same fashion she treats the City People - while they might be immortal they are still people and as such, will be dealt with in the same way.

She is firm in her belief that everyone must be treated with respect, however, she can also appreciate that Book Children might be frightened upon arrival and as such, is more than prepared to greet them with an open embrace and a warm smile. After all, empathy is a powerful thing and she went through the same issues, it's only fair that she offer the same assistance that she received on her arrival.

Thoughts on City People:
Miu absolutely adores the people of the City! For all their shadowed and veiled appearance, they bring a level of 'colour' and depth to her life. It was a City Person who opened his door to her when she first stumbled into the city and from that point on, her opinions were set. She finds them fascinating, amusing and thoroughly enjoys their company. Admittedly there are occasions when they might struggle to get her attention but such limitations can be overcome.

If anything, Miu has such a love for the City People that she might sometimes be accused of enjoying their company more than her fellow book children! This isn't strictly true, but one could see where the accusations might come from.




Physical Appearance:
Premade by the lovely Mundane Egg - she's the Golden/Mechanical Nightingale.

However, height wise she would be approximately 5'2" and is very partial to maintaining a neat and tidy appearance, even while working. As a consequence she is rarely seen without pretty clothes and costume jewellery - admittedly she would always aspire to seek out real jewels but such things require money and as such, she settles for replicas.



Hobbies: Puzzle solving, playing the Erhu and automaton design (especially blueprints).
Birthday: 23rd January
Favorite Things: Cogwheels, kaleidoscopes, puzzles and string instruments
Hated Things: Firm dealines, daunting challenges and strong winds

Pre- Final Approval Critique:

LOL approval requirements.
You mention her adoptive father, and her coming into the city. So I'm curious as to those aspects as minor as they might be. Also what might occur if she found an automation designed to cause annoyance, or, one that was malfunctioning?


((Just need a response before I can issue a stamp))

This isn't really a crit, just a few little things I've been wondering about. XD

1. Is she supposed to evoke a certain Asian culture, or just a general feel of it? I just wonder because her name is Japanese, though the original tale was (ostensibly, oh, Hans) set in China - and she has an affinity for the Erhu. (As a minor note - Miu is typo'd Xiu in her personality summary.)
2. I'm assuming it's the Erhu, by the way! Just ignore me if there's actually a musical instrument called the Ehru that I don't know of. ^^;; I'm curious about her love for the Erhu - is it something she innately harbours from her tale (I don't recall any specific refs to it in the fairytale, but maybe her story isn't the HCA version?), or did she encounter mention of it somewhere? I love the thought of her playing the Erhu, by the way - my dad was boss at it, I grew up listening to it.
3. Similarly, I'm curious about the rationale for her love for automatons, that there are no animals to play with. Since she wouldn't know the loss of not having animals from life in the Library City, is this comparison something that she carries from her tale? I'd be interested to see how this works, considering that she represents the Mechanical counterpart - though now that Egg has eaten the Green nightingale, she may be the tale's only representative now, aah.
4. You mentioned that she and her father live comfortably, but have little to spend on frivolities - should I presume that the little they have to spend on frivolities go in part to her pretty clothes and costume jewelry? XD
5. Finally, this is a silly point but - on the overall, Miu seems a lovely happy sparkly loving girl, but her character art has a decidedly severe expression. Would you say the character art captures her at the moments where she is thoroughly distracted by her obsessions? If this is the case, I can see why people might think she doesn't care for them ahahahah...

I'll tackle this as a set of four questions to make it easier for myself! If I haven't answered these exactly as you would like, then slap me upside the head and tell me what I've missed out. 8D

1. Her approach to the city and entering wasn't of any immediate interest as it wasn't filled with drama or excitement. When she was 'born', she wasn't allowed to wander for long and was carefully nudged out by the guardians and directed to the city by their expectant gaze. When she first arrived it took a little while for a Book Child to pick her up and lead her into the centre and as a consequence, she was left to be a little spooked by everything she saw. Objects moved by themselves, doors opened and closed without a breeze - suffice to say she was a touch unsettled. However, the Book Child did eventually arrive and led her into the city, giving her a rough explanation of how things worked as he went.

After she had slept she really was expected to fly the nest and was left to her own devices with only an address to go on. Nevertheless, with clarification on what she had been seeing and what she would see from this point on, she wasn't as spooked when she next stepped out into the city. Well, she wasn't spooked by the City People (she found them rather fascinating) but she was still a little intimidated by the sheer size of the place she was in...

2. In chronological order, her father will have seen her first but assisted her second. This might sound bizarre, but with his inability to communicate with her immediately, he had to wait until she had been assisted by a book child. His first encounter with her was when she accidentally walked through him and caught him by surprise. Up until this point, he had never really encountered a Book Child up close! He was intrigued, and aware that she wouldn't have any means of supporting herself, volunteered to house her. This was primarily done out of curiosity to begin with (he's the inquisitive sort) but would develop into a deeper sense of love later whenever he got to know her

With this in mind, after she'd eaten and slept for a night in the city she was provided with the address of this City Person and set about finding it. For someone so unfamiliar to the city this took longer than anticipated and she did literally stumble to his doorstep in weariness. It was his kind face and welcoming words that allowed her to settle so quickly, even if he took a while to get used to in terms of how he spoke.

3. Does the automaton have a true purpose for causing annoyance e.g. is it a burgurlar alarm? If the true purpose of that automaton is to be a pain in order to protect an individual, then she's most likely going to leave it alone. However, if the automaton was designed to be a prankster then things might be a little different. In a general sense, if the automaton isn't causing any lasting damage or frustration in great amounts then she's inclined to leave it alone as everyone needs a little fun in their life (no matter how strange), but, if it's causing significant discomfort, damage or exasperation then she's liable to turn it off.

She won't necessarily break the automaton, but she might 'reprogram' it to make it more pleasant. For example, if it's designed to make a loud, permanent wailing noise (much like a siren) for no other reason than it could be made to do so, then she would be highly likely to turn it off and change the noise to something more pleasant...whether this be music, bird song, the sound of crickets, it remains open to debate. However, she will rarely interfere with a fully operating automaton if it isn't causing significant issues, even if it is annoying on a long term basis - it's just doing its job and the owner should be pulled to the side and warned.

4. Easy! If it's a malfunctioning automaton she's highly likely to try and fix it. However, she does have a healthy level of self preservation and isn't likely to run up to something large enough to crush her, in those moments she would probably try to find a way to shut it off from a distance. She doesn't like the idea of an automaton being destroyed - she knows that with a little effort it can be fixed and as such, would offer up her own services to do this. Admittedly, at this time her level of expertise might be lacking depending on the automaton in question but she would at least wanted to give it a shot.

This is one of the things she would be insistant upon - if an automaton isn't functioning in the manner it was designed for then it needs to be fixed. This is in contrast to if an automaton is simply designed to be a pain in the a**, it's designed to be that way, so it's functioning as intended!