INOUE, Suzume

[Suzume Inoue]

SUZUME INOUE

Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
take these sunken eyes and learn to see.

NAME: INOUE, Suzume (above the well | sparrow)
AGE: 19
GENDER: Female
RACE: Human
OCCUPATION: Geisha
REGION: Japanese Empire
ERA: Feudal Japan
POWER: Besides being able to win a man's affections with a glance? No. But she knows many secrets of the nation from the many nobles, daimyos, and warlords she has entertained
EQUIPMENT: Her fans that she uses for dancing and her shamisen she plays to entertain her guests.

LIKES:

• Ramen noodles. They’re delicious 
  
• Attending the cherry festival.
  
• Skipping out on her geisha duties
  
• Feeding birds
  
• Playing the shamisen
  
• Attending the Kabuki theatre.
  
• Visiting the onsen
  

DISLIKES:

• Having to visit the nihon gami. They hurt her head!
  
• Ozashikis. They’re annoying, especially when she’s stuck with old men.
  
• Mizuage. She always feels so terrible for the young geiko. They’re always so embarrassed.
  
• Ikebana. She can never get it right!
  
• Wearing Okobo. After ten years, she still hates walking in them.
  
• Chirimen fabric. It itches!
  
• Blood. She literally faints at the sight of it, even her own.
  
• Being told no.
  

FEARS:

• Being stuck with a terrible and ugly danna
  
• Her okasan. She’s scary.
  
• Heights. She’s scared of them more than she’s scared of blood.
  

SECRET: She sometimes wishes that she never became a geisha. It’s why she sometimes sneaks away from the okiya

PERSONALITY:
As a Geisha
As a geisha, Suzume is fairly serious. If she does smile, she does it with closed lips. She laughs quietly and bows her head respectfully, never looking her guests directly in the eye. Of course, she does all of the normal flirting. Stretching her arms when pouring tea to slip her wrists out of the cover of her sleeves, coyly smiling while bowing her head, and the slight glances that can send chills down a man’s spine, and jealousy into a woman’s heart. She’s like her name, a tiny sparrow. She lets others hold her in their hands, quietly listening to conversations and musing softly where she could put in a good opinion – and by a good opinion, basically repeating what they had already said, in a different voice. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any opinion in things like government, military and culture. As a geisha, she is required to have a basic knowledge of the world around her. As _______ said, “A man should gain knowledge to make himself a better companion to his fellow men”. Because who wants to talk politics to a person that has no clue on the subject? This said, it can be inferred that Suzume is an intelligent young woman that understands her world and position in it. She is also talented at fan dancing, and playing the shamisen.

As a Person…
She is the complete opposite of her geisha mask. She’s always and forever smiling, never afraid to open her mouth and laugh out loud. When she laughs, she throws her head back with a huge smile. She’s unafraid to look people in the eye, and she constantly has an opinion on everything, even if she doesn’t know much on the subject. She can usually gain enough information from listening to arguments on which side she agrees most with. Even though she’s like a little sparrow when she’s a geisha, she’s like a wild sparrow when she’s out of her geisha wear. She’s constantly chippering away, and she can be very flighty, always jumping from one thing to another, and moving as fast she can. Still, despite her constant disappearance from the geisha house, Suzume can be serious even at these times. She’s constantly looking out for others, and she’s not afraid to step in for others, even though she has such a tiny body.

HISTORY: Suzume was born into the world of the geisha, her mother, Ran, being a very popular and was constantly being called to the teahouses. Suzume was raised from birth to be a geisha, and she saw all sides of it, the good and the bad. She saw the tears of the young geishas when they came home with broken hearts after their danna had decided to move on to another girl. She also saw those same girls come home, beaming with pride as everyone gushed over a new, beautiful kimono their danna had bought for them. As much as Suzume loved the geisha life, she also wanted to be able to run and play in the mud and rain.

When Suzume was ten, she began her training. Every morning, she woke up early to be dressed, had her hair put into the style typical of meikos, or geishas-in-training. At school, she learned how to dance, play the flute and shamisen, and how to sing. She also learned typical plays that could be put on with even only a few geisha. Because of her parentage, she received both special attention and more pressure to do well in her studies. Because of all this added pressure, Suzume became like a diamond and was created under the pressure, growing into a beautiful bud of a woman.

After five years, Suzume graduated with the highest praise, and with many experienced young geishas vying to be her chiyo, or ‘older sister’, someone to show her the ropes. This was mostly because of her connections with her mother, and the fame it would bring them to be a chiyo to Ran’s daughter. There were a few that recognized Suzume’s talent, and she eventually found a very good sister. She had her mizuage at the age of 16, with the highest price for her mizuage in her class.

ROLE-PLAY SAMPLE: Go look at Annaliese.
OTHER: NOPE!
~~~~~~~~~
ALIAS: Leice, Mattaki.

[MIKA]

I like her! Accepted!