InsaneJournal

NAME: Ryoko Miyaichi.
AGE/BIRTHDAY: 46; December 31st, 1934.
BLOOD STATUS/RACE: Pureblood, five generations back. 100% human. Her son, Sho, is half Kitsune, after a rather foolish mistake Ryoko made in her youth. He's also Yakuza. It's unclear which causes her more trouble.
OCCUPATION: Ryoko owns a slightly dodgy shop in the backwaters of what we would call Knockturn Alley if we were in London. It has been in her family for generations; she is however the first woman to own it. Her father did not appreciate her inheriting it, but Ryoko and her son were the only remaining relatives. Ryoko still finds it hilarious that he had to suck it up and hand it over to her on his death bed.

Ryoko is the sort of woman who can be mistaken for a matron; hair carefully arranged, a smile on her face and clothes that are most definitely halfway into spinster territory. Most people who enter her shop for the first time are, in roughly this order: a) surprised, b) amused, c) overcome with the urge to mess with her. It usually takes her all of thirty seconds to make them regret it. Looks are deceiving and all that.

Nobody who knew her when she was younger would've thought it either. She was a sweet girl, back then, not quite fitting into her family, which had been dealing with shady business for centuries. At least until she, at age seventeen, met a Kitsune, that is, a shapeshifting fox. They usually take the shape of a beautiful woman, but this one instead presented himself as a very pretty man, intent on luring the young, innocent girl astray. One thing led to another and soon Ryoko found herself pregnant. She hasn't seen this creature since, and she has no desire to. One Kitsune in her life is quite enough, thank you. (Or maybe he's a Yakuza, and that's why her son ended up with them? IDK.)

Giving birth to a halfbreed wasn't easy (in fact, it nearly killed her) and being a single mother in the early fifties wasn't either. Ryoko grew a tough skin, dealing with the consequences of her son's heritage, and when it was time for her to take over the shop she was ready for anything.

Or so she thought.

At least until her lovely Sho came home with a finger chopped of. She had long since learned to deal with him being a Kitsune, but bottom of the food chain in the mob? That just wasn't acceptable. One does not mess with the Yakuza, but Ryoko, furious for not having noticed what her son was mixed up in, did what any (insane) mother would do. She found out who the Yazuka boss was, where she could find him, and went straight there and told him they could have anything they pleased as long as they left her baby alone.

That night Sho came home with another finger missing and Ryoko realised that there was no such thing as bargaining with the Yazuka. Which really isn't a lesson you should have to learn the hard way. Everyone knows it. Ryoko did too, even if it didn't stop her. Basically there's nothing she wouldn't do for her son. She owes it to him, for not only making him grow up as the only child of a single woman, but also as a Youkai. Yes, she feels guilty. She always has.

As time passed the Yazuka, who now had Ryoko and her shop on their radar, started to come with demands. At this point in time, about three years later, Ryoko is as deep into the Yazuka as her son, with them using her shop as a base of sorts, buying and selling all manners of objects. They're not nice to deal with and mistakes are not permitted, but it could be worse. Really. It wasn't as if the shop only sold sunshine and kittens before, and at least she can keep an eye on Sho while she does their bidding. And besides, she'd been dealing with wizards of all kinds, with more Youkai than one could ever imagine and everything inbetween, for years before they came along. Adding Yakuza to the mix isn't nearly as bad as one would think.

Simply put, there's very little that would faze her. The Order and the Death Eaters will most definitely have their work cut out for them if they want to brave her shop, that much is for sure. They just won't know it from the start.

FIVE THINGS:
• Sarah tempted me! I long since decided that I wouldn't do temps because I tend to get attached to my characters, but I'm weak and easily swayed. Or maybe, just maybe, I like to collect more characters than I should. Like Pokemon.

• I've never been to Japan, or Asia for that matter, and the thought of playing a character from a culture I know nothing about is absolutely terrifying. So naturally I have to try it.

• I love the idea of a mumsy type who looks kind and innocent, but who will hand your arse to you with a smile and happily pretend to form allegiances with Death Eaters and Order alike, while actually having an agenda of her own. That is, to protect her son at any price. He may be twenty-eight years old, but he's still her baby.

• I've never played a mother before. I see it as a challenge. Especially considering that she's a complete mama bear, who could throw herself into any danger just to protect her son. I'm guessing most mothers would do anything for their children, but joining the mob? That's a bit steep for most parents.

• I'd like a character who can be more than occasionally useful, that can provide whatever artefacts the different organisations may look for (most of them will obviously be fake; she's a businesswoman after all), and if there's other plans on how the next horcrux will be acquired she'll still have a lot of fun cheering these fools on.