User Profile

Basic Character Info

Character's LJ Username: primos_ame
Name: Takashima Ryu
Age:
Gender: Male
Nationality: Japan
Mafia Family: Vongola
Generation: First
Main Flame Attribute: Rain
Secondary Flame Attribute/s: N/A
Weapon of Choice: Shigure Kintoki and it’s companions
Secondary Weapon: N/A
Special Abilities: Similarly to the Canon presented for Yamamoto Takashi; Ryu uses his flame to slow his opponent or dull their senses. He can also take sensation away from people but it’s rare that he has to use his flames at all.
Appearance: (As presented in Canon) Dark brown hair, carmel-ish eyes, about 5’11’’ and lanky. In down time he’ll wear traditional Japanese clothing that he brought to Italy but when expected to represent the Vongola he wears western attire. Also, if called upon he can crossdress excellently and believably.
Clothing: (See appearance.)

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In-Depth Character Info

Personality: Ryu has two layers to himself. The first is deceptively somber. He is very reserved except for in the presence of his absolute closest friends. He holds himself to an extreme moral high but does not hold others to the same. He keeps a rigid discipline and prefers flutes to swords. He is friendly and helpful to anyone he believes is worth time (which is almost anyone), but he is far more willing to talk to others about things that happened to them than about things that happened to him. It shows in his eyes. His face remains passive but his eyes are incredibly expressive, if you happen to observe him.
The second inner part of his personality is one that most do not even glimpse. Beneath his discipline and blank face Ryu is very insecrure on the social level. He has no problem when it comes to fighting or playing the flute even with an audience but when it comes to one on one or group interactions he is terrified of disappointing Giotto. Because of his past Ryu does not know how to react in proper civilized settings. He knows how to be an entertainer or an object but he does not always know how to be his own man. An offshoot of this is his dislike for personal contact. He is deeply ashamed of his past and sometimes pushes harder on himself because he feels inferior or unclean compared to the other Guardians.
As he ages (and raises Vianca) he develops a hard fought inner peace that he constantly struggles to maintain. He enjoys any sort of music and animals are the one thing almost guaranteed to bring a smile to his face. He’s fiercely loyal to Giotto and eventually to the fellow guardians. He does what he does for them…not for the actual Family itself. He understands the concept but sacrificing for the whole is what he was forced to live by his entire life so instead he chooses to sacrifice for Giotto, his first real friend.

History: Takashima Ryu was born to a prostitute in a small port city in Japan. It was a rough city used for shadier deals than the larger ports. His mother, Takashima Hikari, lived for only three years after his birth. She was killed in a fight between patrons. He was taken care of by the other women collectively, but especially by Hiwatari Arisa. She was one of the most respected and protected women in the brothel because she could play the flute.
As he grew older the master demanded he make himself useful by running errands and doing odd jobs around the place. Arisa taught him to play the flute and the other women taught him how to dance and aide them in dressing, or whatever else they wished.
One day when he was about eleven a sickness had been sweeping through the city and many of the women were stricken making their presentation room look emptier than it should. To keep up appearances the master ordered Ryu dressed as a woman and set out amongst the others. Unfortunately, he was chosen by a foreigner whom, upon finding out he was a male, proceeded to rape him. Word spread about that house catering to all preferences and soon Ryu was popular. The master expanded into both sexes and Ryu was showcased and abused awfully.
After about four years of this a fresh breeze in the form of ten year old Giotto swept through the port befriending Ryu when he found him just outside the brothel. They wrote to each other even after Giotto left and he gave Ryu ideas. He showed Ryu that there was more to the world than whoring. What he didn’t know was at the same time one of the foreign sailors had taken an extreme liking to Arisa and was offering to buy her out of the brothel. The master accepts the offer and Arisa moves out with her Italian man. Ryu begs to go with them but is not allowed because of the revenue he generates.
He believes that the things Giotto told him about will never work for a boy like him. He’s almost seventeen and lost when Arisa dies and sends her man back for him. The man kidnaps him one night after he’s been particularly ill used and teaches him how to fight back. At first it’s just his feet and eventually their visits evolve into sword fighting. His sensei talked to him, treated him like a person with a chance and with Giotto’s letters growing increasingly worrisome he began filching money from the master to pay for passage to Italy.
When Giotto seemed to be having problems Ryu sucked up his problem and stole the rest of what he needed in one fell swoop before trading his master the flutes Arisa had given him for the four swords the man had taught him with. He only managed to keep one flute, and treats it as his most prized possession. He got passage to Italy and arrived half starved and unable to speak the language because he refused to sell himself any longer. It took him three months to learn how to speak enough Italian to find Giotto and his band of vigilantes.
The other notable thing in his past is when he takes in Vianca. It was a few years after he arrived in Italy shortly after Giotto adopts the weather code but before the Vongola is a fully recognized family. (For a detailed description of their meeting see Vianca’s app. It’s better than I could have written.) Ryu took Vianca in because he saw a frightening similarity between her and his former teacher and because he had seen her circumstances so many times in Japan. He wants to give her what his teacher gave him as early in life as possible. However he hides his past the most diligently from her terrified that she would feel ashamed to have him as a teacher.

Canon Point: Training Vianca sometimes after the Vongola has been recognized.

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