Post by KARINA LI ITO on Jul 30, 2013 9:48:16 GMT -5
KARINA LI ITO
--GENERAL INFO--
i wanna talk about me, wanna talk about i
Name -- Karina Li Ito
Canon or Original -- Original
Gender -- Female
Age -- 22
Membergroup -- CITIZEN
--APPEARANCE--
don't be fooled by the mask i wear
Face Claim -- NATALYIA PIRO
Eyes -- Blue
Hair -- Red
Build -- Slender
Other -- Karina is part what would have been considered 'Asian' on earth that was. Her coloring quite obviously comes from her mother's side, but her high cheekbones and slightly slanted eyes make her an oddity of her father's mixed heritage.
--DEMEANOR AND PERSONALITY--
feel it rushing over you, like boiling water
General --
Kara is a somewhat brash woman. She's loud, and feisty, though for the most part this is all just a front. She's realized over the years that if you act like a lady, you're more like to get victimized. So she doesn't act like one. Her manners seem to be lacking quite fantastically, as is often the case in having grown up in a back water system-- once again, a complete front. Kara knows what damn fork to use. There is a time and place for all that Core World nonsense though. Karina can be quite wary of men, it doesn't matter if they haven't done anything wrong, her experiences with her father and mother's relationship suggests that they WILL. If not now, then eventually.
Weaknesses -- Fear of flying, prejudice against men, POOR, struggles in Mandarin. (ironically) she can cuss at you.
Strengths -- Opinionated, unfaltering. A talented thief.
Secrets -- Believes deep down that she's part of the reason her father was so cruel to her mother. He loved her once. And then he didn't. Deitra thinks she's the reason.
--ITS MY LIFE--
my life is a jigsaw puzzle
Marital Status -- Single
Lovers -- None of note
Family --
Ito, Feng -- The sperm donor.
Campbell, Marie -- Mother.
Brief History --
Karina's mother fell into debt at a very young age. An orphan, she had no where to turn, and ended up as a Sex worker, to work off what she owed. At sixteen she was one of the brothel's youngest (youngest they advertised anyway) and it was not long before she had several regulars. One of these regulars developed actual feelings for the young woman, and offered to pay off her debt, if she'd stay with him. Ecstatic, the now seventeen year old did not realize she was trading one whore house for another. She was for all intents and purposes, bought by a wealthy business man by the name of Feng Li Ito, her most regular customer.
Perhaps he was in love with the woman, after all, he could have had many women to choose from. Why choose a lowly brothel whore when you could have a companion on your arm?
Either way, for many years they were very happy. And then things changed. It was not actually in conjunction with Kara's birth as she believes, but in conjunction with a downturn in the system's economy. Civil wars tend to do that.
His company was struggling, his properties and holdings becoming much to expensive for his dwindling assets, very quickly. The man took to drinking and was a MEAN drunk. The relationship between Marie and Feng dissolved very quickly, from loving caresses to screaming matches. And a baby frayed the man's temper even more.
He kicked them out when Karina was seven years old, but not before doing a bundle of emotional damage to the child, and far worse to her mother. With a scarred face, and a broken spirit, the woman was pressed to get a job anywhere. They lived in squalor for years before Marie finally gave in and died of what Kara believed to be a broken heart (in actuality, malnutrition). It was that same week, ironically, that a letter from Feng arrived, with a long apology, asking the two of them to return home.
Kara did not return home, instead surviving as one of the many street children on Persephone. She spent her days picking pockets and scrapping over food and territory, or begging for scraps from street carts. She was barely literate, and knew that she had very few prospects aside from law breaking or whoring.
Her saving grace came when she was 17, just as she was getting too old for the begging game-- and possibly would have ended up in the same situation as her mother before her. Food was in short supply, so when the scrawny girl was approached by an off-world businessman and asked to dine with him, she jumped at the chance of a real meal. The man was quite taken with the redheaded girl. She was exotic and (to him) charming as she unabashedly stuffed her face, ready to bolt at the first sign of any funny business.
The man made her an offer. She could come live with him, on Shinon-- a core world. She would have anything she could want for, all sorts of food, clothing, comforts, and of course money. All in exchange for a certain relationship. Karina was intrigued as much as she was appalled by the idea. She was no whore! He laughed at her affront, and told her she had two days to make up her mind, and gave her his ship's name-- should she change her mind.
And change her mind she did.
She showed up at his ship on the last day of her offer, and that was the end of her life as a beggar.
On Shinon, Kara was cleaned up and sent to one of the most expensive spa and salons on planet. She went in with dull, split hair, calloused hands and a dirty face and came back out looking like a core-world lady. Kara almost couldn't believe the reflection staring back at her. She was given her own flat in the great city, and for the most part left to her own devices.
Her patron didn't touch her for several weeks, allowing her to acclimate to her new life. Eventually a sexual relationship was affirmed, but to Karina the price was right. She was taught to read and write at more than a first grade level, she was taught history, sciences, math, politics, and etiquette. She always had enough to eat, and money to spend, she always had clean clothes and access to a real bath. Quickly, the street child began to vanish, and be replaced by a lady of class.
3 years went by like this, but Kara began to become restless, not content to be a kept woman until such a time when she was replaced, as she was not his only lover-- with education came understanding, and Kara realized that she was in fact a mistress to a married man. Something that shook her more than she realized it would.
Karina had to leave.
After several years, she had a fair amount of money saved up-- but it wasn't enough to live forever. She secured transport off Shinon, with a bit of sadness as the world was one she'd likely never be able to afford to live on again.
Back on Persephone, Kara realized how easy it was to shed the role of a lady, and fall back into her old habits. She now does odd work, picks pockets and lives within her means. It's not enough though. Karina longs to be doing something of some value. Now that she knows so much about the world, she hates being such an insignificant part of it.
--EVERYTHING ELSE--
reading between the lines
"Shit." Artemis' head snapped around so fast that had she not been an immortal it very well may have popped off. Shit was right. Her gaze raked across the foliage, one red eye, and the other blue-- but both seeking out the same thing. Who, where? A growl rumbled in her chest as she caught the smell of another like her. Luna's doing, not hers. This was bad. So close to the full moon, her control was limited, even while she was still in human form Artemis felt the tug of her lips as the monster bared its teeth-- no doubt the white of them glinting in the fading light. Luna was hunting.
"I can smell you, you know." Luna intoned, moving Missy's mouth as if it were her own. The voice was a few octaves lower than Artemis', like gravel, mixed with honey and then tossed around-- rough from disuse. "You can come out. We wont hurt you." Artemis could hear the 'much' tagged onto the end of that statement, jerking her head from side to side...but never affecting their physical body. Too close to the moon...too close.
And then suddenly, a gap. Missy raced for it, reclaiming control of their body and shoving the monster she sometimes grudgingly realized was also her best friend back roughly. "I'd suggest you run." The woman panted. Winded from her efforts. It wouldn't be long now. Luna had no intention of killing the other child of the moon. But she was spoiling for a fight. And maiming or accidental death weren't exactly unheard of. "My...Wolf," Missy felt rather awkward trying to explain this to a bush, and a person she couldn't quite see in the darkness. "She's rather...temperamental around this time of the month." A soft chuckle, it was like pmsing...but worse.
"I'm gonna run this way..." Missy started to jog away, trying to stay calm. Only minutes left now. "You go that way, and maybe we won't hunt each other down in oh...say ten minutes?"
And with that, she ran. Harder than before. The cuts on her feet were ignored, and the woman didn't pause as she'd planned to remove her clothes, simply running. She didn't want to die tonight, and she didn't want to kill tonight. Neither were in her control once the moon turned.
