"Don't Fear the Reaper" - Main Character Introductions

Konichiwa!  Turtle-chan here to discuss her current pet project!  I talked about the three main stories I'm working on right now, but I didn't talk about how "Don't Fear the Reaper," the one about the grim reaper and shinigami, is my pet project.  Well, it is.  For some reason, this idea has lodged itself in my head and I have absolutely fallen in love with it.  The characters are so different from the ones I usually write and it has this great gothic feel to it.  I just love it!  So anyway, I'm going to show you the pictures I got my inspiration for the characters' appearances from and tell you some things about them so you can get a feel for their personalities!  Woohoo!  By the way, this is sort of an exercise to help me with character development (I always have problems with that).

Name: Absinthe Graves
Species: Grim Reaper
Appearance: Albino (white hair, white skin), heterochromic (blue-red), hair down to waistline of pants (if she were to wear pants), wears black lace dresses (ballroom length), tall end of average height (5'6"), very slender, surprisingly muscular (as in toned muscles, not super manly muscles)
Personality: Logical, calculating, emotionally detached, introverted, laconic, professional, romantic, loyal, honest, stoical
Likes: Cemeteries, cold weather, rain, music, roses, black lace, solitude, poetry
Dislikes: Speaking, the sun, disobeying orders, men, snow (makes the sun feel brighter)
Weapon: Death scythe disguised as a black parasol
Fear: Emotional contact with other beings (basically, vulnerability)
Other: Celeste Summers is her best friend, lives in a cemetery, brilliant poet but no one knows about it



Name: Akiyama Tomoe (Japanese style) or Tomoe Akiyama (English style)
Species: Shinigami (Japanese death god)
Appearance: Japanese, grey eyes, black hair, olive-toned skin, very muscular, hair 3/4 down back (usually in a ponytail), wears dark green kimono, very tall (6'1")
Personality: Respectful to authority, confident, a touch of a player, narcissistic, cold, logical, hardworking, loyal, manipulative, impulsive, appears extroverted (is actually introverted)
Likes: Sake, fighting, women, music, hot baths, himself (or so it appears)
Dislikes: Failure, obnoxious people, clingy women, cold weather, rain
Weapon: Samurai swords (one long one for fighting and one short one for hara-kiri)
Fear: Himself (a fear of not living up to people's expectations)
Other: Attracted to Absinthe, lives in a Japanese-style manor, no known friends


So yeah, those two are my babies.  They're probably the most complex characters I've ever come up with except maybe for my Alice in Wonderland story which I need to work on eventually.  Isn't Absinthe beautiful, though?  I just love her name (if you don't know, absinthe is an extremely strong alcoholic beverage which is largely illegal in the U.S. and Edgar Allan Poe used to drink a lot of it).  Absinthe is kind of my baby.  And Tomoe is just super sexy!  He's an interesting dude, too.  I know that just reading about him he sounds like a horrible person (shinigami...), and he is to an extent, but that's what makes him so interesting.  I don't know, I'm just really enjoying writing this!  By the way, the first picture is by asuka111 on Deviant Art and it is called "Ruby Eyes."  The second is by heise on Deviant Art and it is called "A Drop of Green."  I found both of them on Pinterest and I think they're both lovely.
Anyway, I'm going to go and continue writing, so I'll catch you guys later.  Hopefully I'll have something for you guys to read before too long.


- Turtle-chan