#enm:neutral

[enmitykrp]

✩ ⋆* ☾ I’VE HEARD MANY THINGS ABOUT THAT KITAGAWA NATSUME …

A JAPANESE NOBLE of the palace, they are a THIRTY-SEVEN YEAR OLD NEUTRAL and the uncle of Niece and Nephew #NT. In another life, I imagine they would look a lot like KORA KENGO. What a shame that such a person faces such adversity …

HISTORY:

war.

he hears it first from the lips of his teacher, pronouncing each syllable like he was dropping a boulder atop natsume’s shoulders. his siblings have learned these lessons already, practice their court mannerisms with the most refined of gestures, are old enough to stand before their superiors without cowering in childlike cowardice. they are eager, ambitious, meant for great things.

natsume is not like them.

this is not to say natsume is not eager nor ambitious not meant for great things, but he is far more interested in reading his books than applying anything he’s learned. history, art, a failed attempt at playing fue and a rotating pool of tutors who try and fail to make him competent with any sort of weapon are what occupy his time.

as the youngest of three and the son of a parents too busy climbing a social ladder to do any more than make sure their children aren’t embarrassments, natsume gets away with this.

he’s quiet, polite, appears with his family when he needs to, but he is far more entranced by the delicate stroke of a painter’s brush than the nuances of court behavior and the legacy he’s destined to inherit. his childhood is ignoring the inevitable, as it should be.

war.

natsume has not once been allowed to read the messages that come for his father, but he’s often managed to sneak peeks anyway. call it curiosity, childish impotence, but he likes to know, he likes to learn, and he’s never been good at listening to his parents anyway.

but when he is thirteen, a letter comes, it’s bearer clad in white, face solemn.

natsume’s parents stay locked in their rooms for three days and three nights, and not once does he manage to speak to them in that time. his sister is seven years older than him, but when she meets his eyes, she seems so small, so scared.

he suddenly does not want to know.

his brother is just one of many caught in the middle. his death means nothing to anyone but them. he is inconsequential, a noble too good to fight but not important enough to draw outrage, to change anything in the grand fight for control over the nation.

war.

his sister was supposed to marry a man with royal blood, nearly a prince but not quite - she was going to elevate all of them. natsume had met the man on only one equation, but the excitement in his sister’s voice meant that it should have been good.

court is not what is was before the war. his sister’s eyes are like daggers behind the flutter of her fan.

she marries a man of that is beneath her. she must survive: for him, for their parents, for herself.

war.

the nation is consumed by it. the people are starving. the nobles retreat to their high towers, to their art and their poetry and their useless hobbies and natsume feels choked. he is nineteen and useless. he is preparing for a future he’s not sure he will have.

he closes his eyes. he cannot bear to watch. he does not want to know.

he is twenty four. his parents have fallen to illness, his sister’s children clinging to his legs. they are small and scared and know nothing of the life they’ve been thrown into. his heart is too soft for all of this.

war.

he was raised on it, born into a land thick with conflict and overflowing with blood. his nephew and niece are safer here, in goryeo, with him, but he is worried.

war is coming.

PERSONALITY:

some say natsume’s heart is too soft - he is kind, dislikes the strictness of court life, and hates the political game that he’s forced to take part of. he is the opposite of his family, but he’s slowly becoming them.

or at least, he’s trying to.

he is shrewd and says little, preferring to observe the dynamics of goryeo’s court than take part in the inevitable bloodshed. he’s spent a lifetime studying politics and war and knows better than to rush into anything, especially when the situation is so tense. his nephew and niece are the only family he has left and he’s had to raise them since they were children and now sees them as his own. as such, he’s got additional reasons to be cautious about everything - he is not just risking his own life with a mistake, but those of his children and his country.

he’s an introverted person, and though he does enjoy conversation and performs the role of an ambassador well, he prefers his own company. he’s far more interested in studying the art and literature of goryeo than he is socializing with it’s royal family (at least, any more than is polite).

natsume has been called unambitious most of his life, but he’s seen first hand what the struggle for power looks like and how horrific it can become. he’s not interested in anything of the sort - the safety of his people and his family are what come first. as such, he refuses to take sides in the battle for power in goryeo - he assumes the position of neutrality till one can prove to him that siding with them will benefit his nation.

#enmnatsume #enm:accepted #enm:neutral #enm:natsume

[enmitykrp]

✩ ⋆* ☾ I’VE HEARD MANY THINGS ABOUT THAT HAN YEONG HWAN …

An ILLEGITIMATE PRINCE of the palace, they are a TWENTY-FOUR YEAR OLD NEUTRAL and the son of Court Lady Han (Prince #CLH). In another life, I imagine they would look a lot like KANG HANEUL. What a shame that such a person faces such adversity …

HISTORY: 

Yeong Hwan has been misunderstood since his illegitimate birth. When he was young, his reserved and introverted demeanor was often mistaken as resentment and disrespect for the king and his own siblings. Truth be told, he did always feel like the odd one out when it came to him and his siblings. He knew that his mother wasn’t a queen and that his parents weren’t married, but he never felt any resentment towards his family because of this. As people made assumptions about him, however, he started to feel alienated from the royal family, even though he carried the title of a prince.

When he was 16 and people’s doubts about him still hadn’t subsided, he voiced his thoughts to his mother. He felt like he didn’t belong in the palace, that he was a prince just by title–which was a meaningless title at that. That’s when his mother reminded him that king Hyeonjong was also considered illegitimate by his own mother. This gave him strength–for the first time he felt like he had a unique connection to his father that none of his siblings could relate to. It allowed him to dream, that maybe one day, if fate decided it, he could continue his father’s legacy even though the odds were against him. That way he could still be somebody.

Yes, he often felt like his life didn’t have purpose. Why was he here when he was so obviously not the same status as his siblings? The prospect of making something bigger of his life, of taking matters into his own hands, steered him towards martial arts, archery and sword fighting. He discovered that the physical exercise was not only a great way to let out his frustrations and stress, but he started loving having meticulous control over his body. It was the one thing he had complete say over. He grew up to be a talented swordsman and still devotes a lot of time to perfecting his ever growing skills.

His youth was a never-ending struggle with his self worth. He thought himself weak for being so bothered by it in the first place. He often told himself not to be so sensitive, that he was only as worthless as he made himself to be. He grew a lot in his late teens, in both build and confidence. His physical strength was quickly followed by blossoming confidence and determination that he could do anything he set his mind to, as long as he gave himself the time to do so. He admired his father, who he believed also did this for himself, though he never got a chance to tell him this. It devastated him when people suspected him of being the one behind the murder, but because of his personality, he didn’t know how to make people believe otherwise. He has always denied it, but his stubborn and seemingly cold personality left him not very likeable for a lot of people. Aware of this fact but unwilling to pretend to be different, he has given up on trying to convince people it wasn’t him.

PERSONALITY:

Yeong Hwan is a person who believes in hard work, perseverance and relying on yourself rather than other people. He believes he won’t get anywhere in life if he doesn’t put in the maximum amount of effort, and doesn’t mind doing so either. He’ll look down on anyone who takes life for granted, but isn’t someone to quickly call people out when they do. He thinks quitting before getting something done, whether it is perfecting a fighting technique or showing up at an extremely tedious royal event that he really doesn’t want to go to, is not an option for him. He has also taken it upon himself to not get too attached to anyone in the palace. He knows that he is at a disadvantage when it comes to his status, and that some people don’t even consider him a prince, because of his mother. He always expects the worst in people, that way it can only get better. The only person he wholeheartedly trusts is his mother, who doesn’t live in the palace anymore. It would take a tremendous amount of effort to get him to trust a person, and even then, the chance that he has no doubts about said person, is extremely small.

#enmyeonghwan #enm:accepted #enm:neutral #enm:clh

[enmitykrp]

✩ ⋆* ☾ I’VE HEARD MANY THINGS ABOUT THAT CHEN ZHAOTING …

A CHINESE NOBLE of the palace, they are a TWENTY-SEVEN YEAR OLD NEUTRAL and the first son of Chen Biming (SON #BM). In another life, I imagine they would look a lot like DAVID YANG. What a shame that such a person faces such adversity …

HISTORY:

 “in today’s discussion we will be covering some main aspects overlooking china during the kingdom of goryeo.” a professor in a lecture hall prepares her slides in a preeminent university. the attending students highlight in either their notebooks or laptops. course? asian history two.

“to refresh your minds after thanksgiving break,” she begins as light chuckles filtered between seats, “the goryeo dynasty was established in the early tenth century which lapsed over into the late fourteenth century. refined by religion, the highest ranking to the lowest on the caste system turned their faith towards buddhism,” she paces herself in front of the note enthralled, picture organized powerpoint. “as we’ve covered last time, king hyeonjong was the eighth who was assigned to the throne. he preceded his father, king taejo and was crowned as the prince in 1022. a benevolent leader he was, many of the civilians praised him whereas many of his officials sought otherwise, which lead to much suspicion of his assassination in 1034.” keyboards clicking, pens scrawling, half-responsive and half-attentive eyes of a multitude of students gaze onwards as the instructor continued. “during this time of distress as king hyeonjong was murdered fumed a great deal of chaos and instability, which lead to the intervening of foreign affairs advocated by a number of high ranking chinese and japanese nobles.”

the professor swiftly makes her way back to the computer to enable a slide, “photography wasn’t a thing of the past, however, historians argued that the chinese military officer chen biming was depicted such as this, by artists.” she allows some room for comfort as students begin organizing their notes into sections, cornell format or what have you. “respectively, chen biming was a warlord praised for his approach to military tactics and warfare, but also preached order between affairs concerning korea and china at the time.” she witnesses as eyebrows raise and lecture goers look among themselves, “i know, it’s completely contradictory and hypocritical to be a military leader with hopes that your children would be diplomats. nonetheless, he took a voyage to korea with his two sons with an objective, which was to capture those responsible for hyeonjong’s assassination. the problem in itself wasn’t entirely chen biming, but, his eldest son,” she pauses as the powerpoint focuses on another piece of artwork, “chen zhaoting.”

“just like his father, wasn’t he also really militaristic and shared common interests in war?”

despite encouraging open discussion throughout the lecture, the professor was appalled as she acknowledged the pupil. “that is correct,” she responds, “he very much favored defense tactics and dedicated a good portion of his life training besides his father and some of his best, equipped men. before their journey to korea, they lived under the law governed by the song dynasty. during the year 1034, china was east asia’s iron fist with the economy. the country was split between two different dynasties; the kingdoms of song and liao dynasty, also known as the khitan empire. then, of course, in 1038 was the establishment of the xi xia kingdom. chen zhaoting was born in modern-day shanghai, located in the northernmost part of the song dynasty in 1007. he, his younger brother and father then had to relocate since chen biming’s career was based in hangzhou.” she noted the scribbling of pens against notebooks, the turning of pages and quick glances as the projector spun.

“chen zhaoting was born of flourishing wealth. the birth of children during the song dynasty was observed as a gift, as children was a symbol of ancestral progression. he valued education and was noted to be a bright student who dwelled in the development of neo-confucianism and poetry. growing up, he didn’t display a fond liking towards warfare and spent a lot of his childhood reading and writing about the wonders of the world,” a relaxed sigh fell from her lips, recalling some of chen zhaoting’s most harmonious beginnings. “into his teenage years, zhaoting studied in india and sri lanka with trusted educators and learned commerce and economics with honorable merchants. it was accessible to travel to south and south-east asia during the time, offered by traders. historians documented that the eldest son journeyed to east africa through sea routes and published a series of writings based on foreign communications, east african civilizations and so forth. he returned to hangzhou, china, with great aspirations to be an explorer and scholar, in spite of knowing the importance of his father’s military legacy.”

the professor became stern as she stood centering the front of the room. “he wasn’t always known to be hostile and malicious as portrayed in some of your high school history textbooks. he was a kind child, yet, historiographers could reason that the intensive training with his father after returning from somalia worsened his behavior.” a student who was once buried in the confines of their laptop raised their hand. called on, they spoke hesitantly, “i understood that at the time, china wasn’t efficient with their armies and struggled to keep their units unified, right?”

“and that is very true.”

“so.. could it be the civil unrest, the tension between neighboring countries and stress that ultimately changed how he acted as a person?”

“yes.”

the professor’s smile gleamed, “the song dynasty wasn’t a military powerhouse. due to his father’s harsh expectations to keep the army together, chen zhaoting manifested an obstinate mentality. he was well dignified to protect his country, and he loved it with all his heart, which drove him to incredible aggression. with the way he had to be reprimanded by his advisors, it was more promising that his younger brother would be favorable to a position as a diplomat in korea. even though chen zhaoting was passionate about worldly pursuits and expeditions, he felt the need to fulfill his father’s military agenda.”

bags begin shifting, zippers echoing into the high ceiling of the hall and a mass of students begin rising out of their seats. “next time we meet after class, we’ll discuss the other foreign figures during the kingdom of goryeo. don’t forget that we have a quiz on the last few lectures the next time we meet!”

PERSONALITY:

 he’s a person unable to be read completely, being quite an enigma with his secrets kept away from the general public. he shows difficulty in opening up to others without prolonging trust, though doesn’t inhibit himself in a work environment. engaging with his surroundings, his ambition ties in with his confidence which draws stability to those working in cooperation.

as positive as they come, chen zhaoting is faithful, focused, and brave. in contrast, the son of china’s military general is also known to be hostile, manipulative, and antagonistic.

#enmzhaoting #enm:accepted #enm:neutral #enm:biming