Again, I apologize for the sporadic updates, but getting ready for my move to China is taking priority, as it should. When I go to China, updates likely will continue until we reach the conclusion, however I will probably have to have them posted via a friend, since blogger is blocked there. Anyway. I don't have much to say other than I have finished the latest chapter and it is now going through revisions. Went in another direction than I thought it would, since this is an addition to a chapter I wrote almost two years ago, but still I kinda like it. Also been taking some seminars to help with my writing, but might not be apparent until I can get all my thoughts organized and get the time I need to put it into action. Either way, progress is being made. Now, without further ado, let me give you a quick character spotlight. This week, we're talking about our favorite neeg, Yuka.
Character Spotlight: Yuka
Character Spotlight: Yuka
Since Yuka
has kind of risen in importance lately, I suppose it would be wise to give her
a bit of a look. Yuka has always, in
this narrative, held her current role.
She acts as something of a big sister figure, not quite fully grown, but
noticeably more mature than the rest of the young cast, including the three
girls and Deminos.
Yuka is 18
years old, almost 19, and has olive green skin, as is common with all
neeg. Her mouth has clean teeth with
tusk-like fangs that jut out of her bottom jaw, though they are somewhat
small. Yuka's body is lanky and
muscular, owing to her work with heavy machines in Merkel's workshop. Her hair is almost all shaved off save for a
long, braided, brown pony tail which she has kept. It can be tucked around her neck or covered
in a hair net to keep out of the way when she is working with machines. Yuka's fingers are slender and very nimble,
allowing her to manipulate small parts with ease. She perpetually wears rather slovenly
clothes, usually tunics of sleeveless white shirts and burlap pants that are
covered with soot, oil, dirt, or even scorch marks.
Yuka is an
adopted child, who was taken in by her "uncle" Merkel and Aeon when
she was 3 year old. Her upbringing
before then was a harsh one, where the only way to eat was to work, even for
children. Since she had no skills at
that time, she was forced to do manual labor from the moment she could walk and
fell sick as a result, leading to her adoption.
Yuka speaks with a mix of proper English and slang to show that she has
had both neeg colloquialisms growing up from Merkel, but also proper speak from
Aeon and the others. While living in
Acacia, Yuka was encouraged to explore her interests and became Merkel's
unofficial assistant. This gave her an
interest in mechanics and began inventing things on her own, the most notable
is the weapon she wields on her wrist, a spinning saw blade on a wire.
While
unable to use magic, Yuka was trained by Dakon to be able to defend herself and
is able to dodge and evade better than almost any soldier and many
assassins. Her unusual mix of using
mechanical devices like her saw blade and bombs coupled with her traditional
fighting allows her to be quite effective against enemies her own size and even
some that are larger. Yuka is muscular
and can overpower many of her male opponents.
Personality
wise, Yuka is quite personable, owing to her not caring for Merkel's
misanthropic attitude. She explored
Acacia frequently growing up and found friends among the apocra and other
members of Aeon's group. She is easy
going most of the time, however is able to empathize with the abandoned,
scared, or put out because of her childhood experiences. Yuka tends to show affection through a small
act of physical violence, but is not above giving hugs to those she cares
about. She has a snarky sense of humor,
but also proves to be a reliable friend, willing to cover for those who she
cares for, like Deminos, and trying to be there for those who are hurt. Yuka is knowledgeable on most things
mechanical however does not lord her knowledge over others. She enjoys explaining how things work, to the
point where she can block out all other distractions if she gets too deeply
into her explanation. Yuka makes friends
easily and is able to overlook most prejudice aimed towards her, because she
has grown up in an environment of equality amongst races, however will not
tolerate prejudice aimed at others. Yuka
is not kind to a fault though. She is
frequently snarking or being sardonic in regards to the faults of those who are
acting too haughty, idiotic, or who are inconveniencing her unnecessarily. Yuka has little interest in modesty and
doesn't care about showing her body or not.
She has not had enough serious interest in her besides Canak to be
worried about such things and while she was with Canak, she cared very little
because he was easygoing about it.
While only
briefly shown, Yuka tends to be very physical when it comes to romance,
frequently hugging Canak and being swept up in acts of close contact, such as
kissing, to the point where she will ignore her own sarcasm or sardonic
remarks. Despite her upbringing, it is
also shown that she holds great pride in her race as a neeg and does not see
their inability to use magic as a hindrance, but an opportunity. Yuka is also fiercely loyal to her friends,
which can sometimes lead to her being pulled in different directions if her
friends clash or have differing desires from her own. In spite of this, she acts with confidence in
her actions unless caught off guard, in which case she may follow her passions
or her heart. Yuka is not prone to
panic, save for the most serious situations.
Yuka's
strongest loyalties lie with Merkel and Aeon.
Despite Merkel's abuse of her, verbal or otherwise, Yuka recognizes his
talents as an inventor and while she may hurl her own verbal abuse at him for
his mistakes, she admires his ability to create and to not be intimidated by
his failure. She also knows that deep
down, the old neeg cares for her and will be there for her if necessary. Her loyalty to Aeon is due not only to him
taking her in, but always making time for her.
From youth to adulthood, whenever Yuka needed to show off one of her
creations or get tools to learn or advance herself, Aeon supported her fully
and placed a huge amount of trust in her, which she returns. Yuka is friendly with Kinana, if a bit
jealous at times as she takes Aeon's attention.
She does not feel any fear or prejudice for the Goetian and while a bit
embarrassed by Kinana's frequent displays of affection, does not feel any ill
will towards her. Following Aeon, Yuka
feels closest to Deminos, having sympathy for his situation as she was in a
similar place. As such, she goes out of
her way to make him feel welcome and to be there for him. Deminos, at first, does not know what to make
of this, but later realizes how valuable Yuka's friendship is. Because of their closeness in age, there is a
little more than platonic affection, however neither has had the time or
inclination to act upon it.
Nerise and
Yuka, while having little time together, are quite close. Nerise sees Yuka as a big sister and Yuka
enjoys playing with Nerise, however Yuka is unnerved somewhat by Weiss, because
of how similar and yet different from Aeon he is. Yuka feels a mix of playful affection and
scorn for Gadius. She has known him
since childhood and takes him to be a rascal of sorts, even overlooking his
hitting on her in the past. They get
along well enough, however because of her affinity for Deminos, she can be
quite harsh on the jela-vey, calling him on his idiocy or his lechery at times. Vincent and Yuka are very close, to the point
where they feel perfectly at ease being casual with one another, even in
situations that might require a more serious approach. Vincent believes in Yuka and Yuka respects
the teythen, because he has been a retainer in Acacia and when Aeon left, Yuka
went to him if there were any problems.
They have trained together in the past.
Dakon was Yuka's trainer when it came to combat and weaponry. They have a casual relationship, not unlike
the one Yuka shares with Vincent, however it might be fair to say she respects
Dakon because of his unique skin color and stance on prejudice. Since he trained her, she views him as a
bigger brother figure, despite the difference in their age. Echidna and Yuka get along quite well, though
their interests diverge enough that they have little in common. Yuka enjoys spending time with the apocra
when she is not working and Echidna sees her as yet another child whom she can
care for. She recognizes Yuka is
independent, however, and is caring, but gives her space.
In regards
to our heroines, Yuka initially feels closest to Daryl, as the girl shows an
interest in Yuka's machinery and does not treat her as weak or wicked based on
her race. However, her affection slowly
shifts to Celine when she learns about her past and how, in that regard, they
have a fair amount in common. Yuka has a
desire to help Celine overcome her fear and her prejudice so that they can be
as casual as she is with Mina and Daryl.
Speaking of Mina, Yuka feels similar to her as she does with
Nerise. She treats Mina like a little
sister and enjoys her company, encouraging her when appropriate and taking a
step back if that is what is needed. She
encourages Mina to work with Aeon, as Yuka has seen what she believes to be
Aeon's true nature and when Mina is scared or apprehensive, she wants her to
get over it as well, and strives to help do that. After Yuka leaves Acacia, she gains greater
respect for Mina, as she sees how hard Mina herself took the incident and how
much she cares for individual people.
They have grown close.
Yuka was
always meant to be a sort of big sister influence in this story. A big sister to a big sister, as Celine was
meant to be a big sister at points. Yuka
has changed very little save perhaps for her dialect, which has more
colloquialisms than I originally intended.
This is not to show her as uneducated, but rather to show consistency
with character traits, as if you speak one way for long enough, it becomes a
habit that you will likely repeat. I
enjoy Yuka and find that her loyalty in Aeon, which has been unquestioned since
she was a girl, a very interesting space for development, because she struggles
with the idea of knowing that Aeon probably had the best of intentions in mind
compared to the actual results. Yuka
has, herself, actually killed a person, like most of Aeon's group, so she
understands the idea of having to kill in order to protect, but when it is so
close and personal, she feels conflicted.
I do have more plans for Yuka in the future, but ultimately, I like the
idea that you don't need magic or to be a giant monster to fight. Yuka with her bombs, her aquades, or her saw
blade proves that undead or apocra can be taken down easily enough by a well
trained warrior, though that can get muddled what with all the explosions being
thrown around.
Yuka is
sometimes hard to write for because she IS very straightforward as a person
without much personal grief save for Canak.
She feels sad about what happened with her parents, certainly, but it
was so long ago that she cares very little, as Aeon and Merkel gave her a family
that cared for her. Yuka's a fun character
though, because she is so sardonic, but also caring and not at all
insincere. To me, it is an interesting
testament to what Aeon and the others in Acacia can do for a child when they
don't come with trauma or baggage already.
Either way,
Yuka has more coming her way, for better or for worse. I hope everyone has enjoyed this look at her.
