To Bring the World Revolution

Player Information
Name: Elaine
Age: 27
Contact: jackabee
Current characters: n/a

Character Information
Name: Anthy Himemiya
Series: Revolutionary Girl Utena
Appearance: Her most common depiction, and how she will look upon arrival
Age: Physically 14, implied to have been alive at least since medieval times, so quite old
Canon Point: Immediately after Episode 39, "Someday, We'll Shine Together"
Canon History: A brief overview, but it's not enough in my opinion. I'll elaborate - please note that this contains major spoilers for the series:

Once upon a time, there was a Prince who traveled the world, treating every girl he met as a Princess, and saving them from calamity after calamity. The world relied on him heavily to protect their daughters, until his body could no longer go on. The Prince's sister, wanting nothing more than to spare her brother from the brink of death, shielded him from the world, and the world in turn attacked her with hatred and steel, forever impaling her for keeping their savior away, and they called her a Witch for it. This is the truth of Anthy Himemiya, a student at Ohtori Academy who serves as the trophy of an esoteric dueling game for the Student Council members and perpetuated by her brother, Akio Ohtori, under the title "End of the World".

Throughout the implied centuries, she has been worn down from the pain of hatred and kept isolated, believing her now Fallen Prince of a brother to be the only one who truly cares for her plight. Though she knows he has strayed far from the path of a true Prince, she submits to his will completely in all the worst ways, and in turn submits to the champion of the duels he orchestrates, promising "the power to revolutionize the world" to the ultimate winner and conforming to the duelists' desires to goad them into fighting. She fully believed this was the only life she could live long after she became "betrothed" to Utena Tenjou, outsider to the duels, but this was the event that would eventually show her there was more.

Over the course of numerous duels and normal school days, combating the machinations of the Student Council and various interlopers (which Anthy herself helped manipulate into such machinations!) she and Utena begin to form a deep, strange relationship. Though Utena's own desires of becoming a Prince that saves Princesses goes through its own trials, Anthy's certainty in her brother begins to shake and crumble, eroding only at the end when she sees Utena persevering beyond her limits, not to save Anthy from her isolation and torment - not to be a prince - but to offer help, to be a friend, to be someone who cares. This is the thing that gives Anthy the strength to turn her back on her brother at the end of the story, to abandon Princes and her role as Witch, and reach out in turn to search for the person who loved her as she was, pain and scars and all - as Anthy.

Personality: Anthy is a character with a very clear and conscious divide between her outward appearance and her inner thoughts and emotions. For what's implied to be thousands of years, she's had to cultivate and maintain a perfect "doormat" personality, molding to the whims and wishes of the duelists she, as the Rose Bride, became engaged to. In this, she is quiet, demure, a bit spacey, and fond of spending time with her pet monkey Chuchu more than finding company in other people. Others find themselves seeing their deep desires reflected in her in various ways, often through her being in the right place at the right time, doing something that is meaningful specifically to them, whether it's in playing a specific song on the piano or wearing a trinket only they know has incredible meaning. The amount of bullying she's been known to suffer is almost comical, as she does not dare to visibly stand up for herself. Even in this state, she appears resigned to her role as the Rose Bride, being shuffled between duelists and very rarely showing emotion over having to switch "owners". She does express a dislike of crowds, and given the turning point in her past (being brutally and repeatedly stabbed with swords by a crowd of malicious people), this may actually be a genuine fear for her.

Her inner self, however, is incredibly complex. Her desirable status is pure manipulation, expertly parroting back what others want from her and coaxing them into her brother's dueling game. A master of the "wounded gazelle" gambit, she gets her revenge through vindictive magic, heaping coincidence after coincidence onto those who show her cruelty, and does so with no remorse - though none of it is permanent. For much of her life she has had little hope for humanity; her reward for trying to protect her brother from dying due to exhaustion after having to save almost every girl in the world as the world's prince was to be brutally stabbed by multiple swords for all eternity, and to watch her brother transform into a selfish, abusive man who uses her as a pawn to regain power, forcing her to comply to an incestuous relationship and to be ultimately submissive to the participants in the dueling game. And she goes with it, out of a clinging, selfless love for the person her brother used to be and without any hope that her existence could ever change. It was Utena Tenjou, the only person who tried to break the barrier of duelist and bride, who was willing to - and did - sacrifice everything she had to save Anthy from her eternal torment, that gave her the strength to leave her brother behind.

At this point in her canon, Anthy is primarily motivated by her fervent wish to find Utena once more, the other girl's sacrifice having moved her so deeply that she feels, even after a great sacrifice, something like that is possible. She still knows fully well how to "act" as a helpless damsel, but she had allowed herself to experience life as a normal girl with Utena and thus can socialize a bit better with people and be more comfortable as Anthy. Most of the time she is soft-spoken. She gets along well with small animals, and will often do strange, silly little things on her own while no one is paying attention, like doodling little cartoons in the corners of notebooks, singing to herself, etc.

Abilities: Considered a "Witch" in canon - nay, the Witch - Anthy is naturally imbued with a vague sort of supernatural power. In series, she has been known to rig coincidences to turn out in her favor (ex: having animals manifest in her room to counter mean prank attempts, attack other people, etc), disguise herself to act as another person (ex: become Mamiya in the Black Rose Arc when needed), alter herself and others in appearance (providing Utena's dueling outfit embellishments throughout the series) and manifested swords from both herself and Utena. She also has a significant kinship with animals, being able to easily get along with them and understand how they feel, and her magic can also cause wacky and nonsensical things to happen, like exploding curry triggering Freaky Friday situations or turning someone into a cow through prolonged exposure to a cow bell, so long as these things lead to the comeuppance of those who have wronged her without them knowing she is the cause. While it can be argued that much of what happens in the series is through illusion, the general consensus is that Anthy's powers are legitimate, even if they are not solidified through naming them.

I would be more than happy to tone down these powers significantly, since they are so vague, but I would request she be allowed to keep her empathy towards animals in a limited capacity. Perhaps, with enough time and patience, she might be able to domesticate small, less dangerous creatures on the islands and have them do small things for her? Nothing to the extent of siccing a kangaroo on someone, but more benign animal friends.

As for mundane skills, she is very good at cleaning and keeping things tidy, and can make tea and snacks with ease. She's experienced with gardening, and has a penchant for taking care of roses. Her ability to observe others and understand their desires is frighteningly honed to a point, and while she may hesitate to manipulate others to keep herself safe, she is more than able to do so if needed.

Inventory:

- One (1) Chuchu, sans tie and earring. He's a tiny monkey, mouselike almost, with no magical powers of any kind. He is very dedicated to Anthy and has long served as her only friend, companion, and protector. All he can really do is serve as comic relief, though, and he's somewhat of a glutton, enjoying snacks and often eating things thinking they're food, when they are not.

- One (1) set of travelling clothes, currently wearing, including:
* A pink dress
* A white undershirt
* A pink jacket with white buttons
* A pair of white low-heeled shoes

- One (1) Ohtori Academy girls' uniform, plus one (1) pair of brown loafers and one (1) pair of white socks.

- One (1) framed photograph of two girls holding hands. Someone else seems to be in the picture, but they've been cropped out. This is purely for sentimental value.

Sample

Thread Sample: TDM Thread, and as requested, the Q&A is below.

Q&A: What’s more important: love or duty? Oh my, that is a bit difficult to answer. What if it was one's duty to love? I don't think you could say one or the other was more important, if that was the case.
How valuable do you consider your own life to be? Mine? Well...it isn't something I'm used to thinking of in that way. Does mine really have value? I think...I would need more time to decide on something like that.
What qualities do you look for in a friend? A friend should be easy to speak to, and have an open heart. Animals are perfect in that way. They are so uncomplicated...if I could make friends with every animal, I think I would be the happiest person in the world.
If you could change something about a person you love, would you do it? Why or why not? No, I wouldn't change a thing. Flaws are part of growing, and learning, aren't they? She is exactly who she needs to be because of those things.
Do you ever wish you were an only child? ...Not for a moment. No matter what has happened, I...cherish every moment I shared with my brother. And I cherish being able to leave him, too. If I hadn't made my choices for his sake, then who would I be today? I don't think I would be myself.
What do you think your friends like about you? That I feed them, and take care of them the best I can. Chuchu is always grateful for snacks and company. And in return, I...I'm glad that, through all of my troubles, he's been there for me even when things were difficult for him, too.
Do you think things like art, music, and literature are important? Why or why not? Not really. Those are just things you do to pass the time, after all. But if others like them, then, it's good to know about them. That's a way you can make friends, isn't it?

Anthy is a pivotal character in Revolutionary Girl Utena, and thus is subject to immense amounts of abuse and dark machinations, including but not limited to:

- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Sexual abuse

She is also very skilled at emotional manipulation in order to twist events to specific outcomes. If you would rather Anthy NOT subject your character to deeper knowledge of her canon or try anything particularly emotionally manipulative, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW.

If you DO want to play out some sort of manipulation, please PM this journal and we can plot something out.

ADDITIONALLY, as per LifeAftr rules, her powers shall be nerfed in the following ways:

- Anthy's affinity for animals will extend to smaller bestiary NPCs for a limited duration. We recommend rolling a d20; she will succeed in her efforts if she rolls higher than 7 for prey animals, and higher than 14 for predators. For catastrophes, these powers will have no effect.

- Incidents of polymorphism will only affect other PCs with player permission. Anthy cannot turn anyone into anything larger than a grizzly bear, and this transformation will last for one hour at most.

- In regards to any other powers that involve coincidental comeuppance, we recommend use of a permissions post.

- Anthy will not be able to manifest weapons at will. If you would like her to keep a sword, such as the one she pulls from herself or Utena, she may arrive with one as a physical object that she will have to keep on her person.

If there is anything you would like to opt out of or plot regarding any of Anthy's powers, particularly polymorphism and coincidental comeuppance, please comment below! Let me know if there's anything you are uncomfortable with and I will do my utmost to accommodate any and all requests.