Welcome to Gaia! ::

Name: Naoki Tanaka

Nickname: Nao

Age: 18

Birthday: September 2nd

Sign: Virgo

Gemstone: Sapphire

Blood Type: O

Fav. Food: He doesn't like to admit it, but Nao is weak to any and all varieties of ice cream. He's also weak to noodles, everything from udon to pasta.

Hated Food: Niboshi - don't know what that is? How fortunate for you.

School: Meadowview High School

Hobbies:

Modeling – This isn't so much a "hobby" as a source of income for him - and a way to get some neat clothes for free. Nao's not exactly mainstream, too short and not nearly caucasian enough, but he appeals to certain kinds of aesthetics - key fashion trends, conventions, that sort of thing. He's mostly an internet thing, but he's been cropping up in a few more magazines lately. Nao's very fond of the artistic angles of some of the shoots, especially for the work he usually does, but he does and doesn't appreciate the fan base that comes with it.

Art Creeper – His favorite pastime ever since he was a child, Nao is rarely found without a sketchbook either in hand or in his bag. He’s constantly looking for subjects to draw, be they human, made-man, nature, or sometimes simply imagined (and often disturbing). Most of the time though, with live subjects, they have no idea they are in fact that; Nao not only keeps to himself as a rule, but he prefers it when his subjects are more 'natural' and just doing their own thing instead of posing for him. So he's prone to watching from a distance and sketching that way - because in his book it's not creepy at all. Also some of the graffiti on school grounds might or might not be his. And by might it means yes, yes it is.

Tattoos - Nao's favorite kind of art by far. He harbors a huge appreciation not only for the visual aspect of tattoos, but also the dedication behind them, the permanence, the story that he may or may not even learn. He's got a special sketchbook especially for his own tattoo designs, ones he wants and ones he'd love to see on other people - and it's almost a given that his favorite subjects to sketch are those with tattoos of their own, art within art. Given a choice, Nao would love to be able to pursue a career as a tattoo artist - but it's something much easier said than done in his case.

Virtues:

Thoughtful - "Here, I thought of you, " while shoving an idle trinket into the person's hand in only the tip of the iceberg that is Nao. He is constantly thinking of other people and what they might like, what they might need, what they may not know that they need. This ranges from the small, to holding a door open for someone with their arms full, to the big, such as gifts, his time, even his precious few words to try and provide for the people that matter to him. This isn't exactly to say that he is selfless - once, he was, and sometimes still slides back into that trap. But he has been taken advantage of in the past, and so although he cannot help being generous and considerate, he is trying much harder to take care of himself.

Creative - There is no one singular way to solve a problem in Nao's book, just as there is no singular way to look at the world. He refuses to take anything simply as it is, and adamantly rejects boredom in his life. Sometimes, this means making something simple into something unnecessarily complicated - taking a simple walk home and deliberately taking a wrong turn or five so he can get himself hopelessly lost and then taking some time to people watch and sketch before dropping into a restaurant he's never seen before, and it continues on.

Sincere - Nao is not a man that will sugarcoat things for you, but he is also not the type of man that will look you in the face and lie to you. He has no interest in half-truths and mind games. His struggles to express himself are purely based in lack of interest and technicalities (see below); break past that and Nao is, sometimes to a fault, completely honest and open about what he thinks and how he feels.

Flaws:

Pessimistic - Although he can come off as intimidating at a glance, more prone to deadpan looks than to smiles, anyone who's ever meant anything to Naoki knows that even if he may be curt and to the point, he is very much soft-hearted and gives without expecting much in return. This is something that has been taken advantage of, a lot. In both Japan and the States, Nao has been used, abused, and bullied by people that had called themselves friends. The essence of who Nao is isn't so easily changed, but rather, he just anticipates the worst from people, and he makes attempts to protect himself when he can. Nao's increasingly dark outlook on people has also had a decidedly dark impact on his art, too.

Quiet - As said above, Nao expects the worst from people; so why on earth would he have any desire to speak to them? Why would they have any interest in what he had to say? That seems straightforward enough, and it would probably be a perfectly good explanation for Nao's stoic silence and intense eyes. Which it is... but it's not the only one. Honestly, although he would never admit to it, a lot of it stems from his insecurity with English. He has enough to get by, but he's never been an especially great student, and even three years later his accent is thick and he struggles to express much deeper than the basics. To him, it's much preferable to stay silent than to make a fool of himself or be misunderstood. (Still. Give him a native speaker of Japanese and Nao will suddenly have plenty to say.)

Brutally ********> Honest - In any language, Nao is blunt. That's just all there is to it. Back home with his parents, he was routinely punished or ridiculed for being rude - for never really mastering the art of being subtle about how he felt. Couple that with a language where he can barely scrape by and you want his opinion? Be ready for it in its most condensed form. Yes, your dress is ugly, yes, you're being a ******** idiot, and no, he doesn't like you.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Eyes: Talk to me.

Hair: Talk to me.

Face: Talk to me.

Clothes: Meadowview uniform; talk to me.

More information version of the kamaitachi legend I am drawing on; there may be variations, but this is the one I am most familiar with and fond of so I'll be sticking to it!

- Kamaitachi are part of Japanese mythology, and their name translates to 'sickle weasels'. The name is pretty literal.
- They generally only dwell in forests/deep within nature, and don't really appreciate humans going there.
- They run three to a pack; two brothers, one younger, one older, and a sister.
- The first brother trips the target, the second cuts the target, and the third puts medicine on the wound as it's intended to be a warning, not an attempt on anyone's lives.
- The first two roles can vary between the younger and older brother, but the third is always the sister.

Other notes:
- Nao lives in an apartment with his older brother and his wife; they are expecting a baby sometime this year. The rest of his family is back in Japan, and they do not keep in contact.
- His brother is (or was, now that he's 1 cool his legal guardian.
- He has lived in the States for the past two years, but he and his brother's family lived in a neighboring city until his brother's wife was offered a big promotion with a big raise, and well, here they are.
- Nao stands at a whopping 5'1"
- He is originally from Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture
- Nao wears glasses on and off, but doesn't actually need them; likewise, he has a plethora of colored contacts and is rarely seen without them (his eyes are naturally dark brown)

Okay so I sorta changed all of Izu a lot. :'D Hi there.

He seems interesting! Very neat sphere!