Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 20:17:06 GMT -5
Phillipa Akutagawa Seventeen · Female · Japanese-Canadian · Writer
appearance
|
- Things Pippa Hates
- Being called "Pippy". You can call her Phillipa, Pip, Pippa, even Phil, but do not call her Pippy.
- Writing
- Painting
- Sour foods
- Pineapple
- Biking
- Pippa's Habits
- Hardly ever uses honorifics. Not because she's rude (although she can be) but just because she forgets them. Constantly.
- Has a terrible habit of chewing on the back of her pencils and pens when thinking. Nobody borrows writing utensils from her because of this.
- She picks at her nails or scratches her ears when she gets nervous.
- Pippa's Positive Traits
- Hard worker
- Passionate
- Friendly
- Eager to learn
- Compassionate
- Resourceful
- Quick thinker
- Doesn't crack easily under pressure
- Pippa's Negative Traits
- Not the brightest academically
- Thinks with her heart, never her head
- Can be pretty nosy
- Socially awkward
- Your Own Section
- Pip is terrified of heights. Of course, she never seems to remember this until she's actually off the ground, which makes getting back down a bit tricky. There have been several instances where she's climbed a tree, only to freak out and get stuck in it after realizing how high up she is.
- Pip is an accomplished boxer, and has been training since the age of seven, and competing since the age of eleven. She's primarily a counter puncher, as her slimmer build doesn't lend itself to well to the more aggressive styles.
- While she has the most experience in boxing, she is somewhat well-versed with other sports. She's an all-round athletic individual, though sports that have heavier emphasis on the "finer" aspects--i.e. footwork and technique over sheer power or speed--are the ones she's best at.
- A huge advocate of peace, the only people Pippa will ever lash out at are the people she's pitted up against in the ring, or those that are endangering her or those around her.
personality
- History: Born and raised in a small town just outside of Toronto, Pip had a fairly standard childhood. Her father Phillip--the son of a Japanese immigrant and a caucasian woman--ran a fairly successful boxing gym, while her mother--a Japanese immigrant herself--worked at a law firm in Toronto. Due to their shared heritage and a healthy respect for their roots, both Phillip and Sayuri decided to teach their children about the Japanese culture and language (admittedly, it was mostly Sayuri doing the teaching; Phillip knew the language, but his experience with the culture was limited to infrequent visits to see the Japanese side of his family).
However, Phillip would make up for his lack of involvement by teaching his children something else--how to box.
From an early age, Pip had been fascinated with her father's profession, and could often be found loitering around the gym whenever she had the free time. John would often tag along as well, and this delighted Phillip. He was very pleased by his children's interest in boxing, although Sayuri was a little less so; she was fine with John learning it, but Pippa? Girls weren't supposed to be interested in such... brutish sports. She started trying to distract her daughter from it with other things--even just another fighting style, albeit something with a little more finesse--but Pippa stood firm. She was going to box like her dad if it was the last thing she did. Sayuri eventually realized this, and begrudgingly relented. Her children's happiness was more important than some notion about what girls should and should not do.
For her seventh birthday, Pip got a pair of boxing gloves, a mouthguard, and "boxing shorts" (because regular shorts just weren't the same). Her training began then, though it wouldn't be for another five years until she first stepped into the ring for a real competition. John was quick to follow in her footsteps, although he didn't take the sport quite as seriously as Pip ever did.
Pippa's interest in investigative journalism was kickstarted after her teacher gave the class a project where they had to research a particular world issue, and then write a report on it. Most of her classmates were quick to complain, but Pip? She was fascinated by what she found. Up until that point, she, like the average child, had never really thought much about what lay outside her life. Learning about world issues, about what other people went through--that was interesting. Especially when she realized that there were certain things that people with power were trying to cover up.
Pippa started trying to practice investigating and reporting by butting her head into the affairs of her classmates. Now, she was already sorely lacking when it came to understanding where boundaries lay, and wound up being just a bit too pushy. A few scuffles and calls home later, and Pippa was forced to call off her "investigations" (which was most certainly a good thing). It was still disheartening for her, though, and in an attempt to fuel her passion for writing, Sayuri started giving Pip some side-projects to write about. The young girl took to it like a fish to water, quickly forgetting about her previous failure.
Now, between boxing, writing, chores, homework, and school, Pippa didn't have much time for a social life. She also wasn't the most popular kid; sure, she was nice, but she was goofy, socially awkward, and lacked any kind of a filter when it came to saying what she thought, none of which lent too well to the whole concept of making friends. But in Pippa's eyes, that was fine--she had her hobbies, her family, and could hang out with the other kids at her father's gym if she really needed social interaction. ...Or so she thought, anyway. Sayuri was quite concerned with her daughter's lack of friends, and as time went on, Phillip became more and more worried about the issue as well. Pippa's life revolved around her hobbies, and... nothing else. And that wasn't good.
After much discussion, Phillip and Sayuri decided that, for Pip's own good, she needed a serious change of pace. They explored their options, and figured that their best course of action, although a little drastic, was to send Pippa off to Japan... Specifically, Fukui Academy. This would curb the amount of time she could spend boxing--the sport was admittedly taking over her life--and help her to not only work on her writing skills, but her social skills as well.
They were careful when it came to breaking the news to Pip, who didn't take to it well. For as gentle as her parents were when presenting the news, she was still getting shipped off to some foreign country. The only thing that made it slightly better was that she at least knew the language, and enough of the culture that she wouldn't make a total fool of herself.
Understanding that there was no way to change her parents' mind about this, Pip begrudgingly accepted their decision. She managed to spend the first month at Fukui sulking and moping about, but she did eventually adjust. Unfortunately, she still found a way to occupy her time with everything else but people--a pattern that has continued up until today. Her parents, growing increasingly concerned with their daughter's lack of a social life, hope that this will be the year that this changes.
- Family/Relatives
- Phillip Akutagawa: father, alive
- Sayuri Akutagawa: mother, alive
- John Akutagawa: younger brother, alive
- Face Claim: Rachel from Baccano! - Phillipa Akutagawa (This will be taken from your profile once accepted and added to the FC list)
background
- Grade Level: Third year
- Future Plans: Pip intends to become a successful investigative journalist at some point, and help her dad's gym on the side until he retires, at which point she will forgo her writing career and take over the gym completely.
- Housing: Dorms
-x- - Alias: Kaz
extra
[/div][/td][/tr][/tbody][/table][/div]
