User:Kari Inihara

Benji Powell is one of the creators of the Clouded Horizons series of stories and an administrator of the Clouded Horizons wiki.

Background

As one of the creators of the Clouded Horizons series, Ben's written more than he'd ever care to admit. This has spilled over into other authors' stories in the form of cameos and mentions of characters, places, and events - as will likely be detailed more both in this wiki and on that of the Clouded Horizons extended universe.

Personality

Ben's personality is usually mostly apathetic, though varies anywhere from upset to giddy depending on the circumstances. Spending most of his time trying to figure out a way to work around and undermine the current plot, Ben also simply likes to sit back and watch as the plot unfolds itself.

Roleplaying Style

All things equal, Ben's roleplaying style is fairly passive - often, he likes being a passive observer in things unless explicitly mentioned or dragged back into the plot. He also enjoys creating background stories for things without them or with small background entries. One thing that is constant, however, is that Ben has a penchant for never giving up and finding a way out of absolutely any situation he's dragged into. Another is his love of and skill at portraying female characters. He has more female characters than male ones, and is typically better at playing them than male characters, with certain exceptions.

Character Listing

Over the years of roleplaying in the Clouded Horizons project, Ben has amassed a rather sizable character base. A list of the characters he plays or has played is below, sorted by realm.

Eighth Realm

• Benji Powell
• Tetsuya Kurabasa
• Yuki Kurabasa
• Uriko Kurabasa
• Naoki Ishida
• Sumiko Remiere
• James Alnon
• Hikari Tanaka
• Daniel Margulis
• Freya (originally played by Darius)
• Odin (originally played by Darius)
• Xeios
• Kisara
• Kari Inihara
• Chieko Murakami (not played in roleplay)
• Ma'at
• Manes
• Xeria

Ninth Realm

• Carrie Tremont
• Kei Aliana

Tenth Realm

• Yuna Kaname (now played by Angel)
• Rikku Katsuragi
• Paine Zaraki
• Tidus Kuroda
• Shuyin Mishima
• Lenne Kaibara

On Characters

Benji Powell

• Both my hardest and easiest character to play, unsurprisingly. My character started out brash and with very little actual experience, but has shifted over time into someone who knows the ins and outs (or so he thinks) of both combat and diplomacy. Personality-wise, it's been quite hard figuring out how I might've reacted to all of this, but it's also been worth it. Normally, my character is rather calm and serious when dealing with people both in and out of combat, but when Angel (the character) is around, a lot more of the silliness and playing around comes out because of both how the characters and players interact.

Tetsuya Kurabasa

• Tetsuya started out almost the complete opposite of who he is now - stern, focused, and generally averse to humor. Flash forward to the present time - he's one of the most lighthearted characters I play, always ready with a friendly jab or a joke no matter who he's talking to. Even authority figures don't get away from it - see the story Affinity for more on that. He has a running relationship with Hikari Tanaka that I truly wish I could've gone more in-depth with in the roleplays, mostly because of how different they really are in terms of personality (something I'll get to in her entry).

Yuki Kurabasa

• I almost don't know where to begin with Yuki. Where Darius has Ein Beoulve, I have Yuki, the requisite "innocent, young, and incorruptible" character in fantasy. She's the youngest of my characters by a few years (Carrie Tremont from the Runic Legacy roleplay being the nearest in age), and I try to play that up when I can. She's sweet, shy, and yet remarkably wise for her age, something which stems partly from having to keep her rather brash older brother in check. She doesn't speak often unless she's around Tetsuya, but it's usually important when she does; her relative shyness gives her some difficulty with more social things.

Uriko Kurabasa

• Uriko is one of my characters that is completely playing against type for me. She's loud, brash, rude, prone to mood swings, and sarcastic, all of which (except for the last one) I am not. It gets her into a lot of trouble (the SeeD field exam being one such example), but she refuses to tone it down any more than she has to, having been raised in the Galbadia region where such attitudes seem rather prevalent. Nevertheless, she does show a bit more tact and friendliness around Naoki Ishida and Sumiko Remiere, which is generally the only time anyone ever sees such a thing from her.

Naoki Ishida

• Ah, Naoki - Darius, for some odd reason, thinks he's a neat character, and I'm not going to argue with the first such admission I've ever gotten from him. He's the one that almost never seems to crack under pressure, cool and collected even if an orphanage full of innocent children were to explode in front of him, as is his friend Sumiko to a lesser degree. Part of this comes from being raised in Areyn; his family is one of the more prominent in the village, and they put those members of their family who decide to actively continue the family arts through strict and unyielding training for years in order to ensure they are strong in both mind and body.

Sumiko Remiere

• Sumiko is, in my own words, the "thoughtful one," always ready with a kind word or a comment tailored to whatever situation she finds herself in. She's loyal, trustworthy, and like Naoki, keeps a cool head in almost any situation - something which also makes her a fine tactician. She's also from Areyn, and as such, has gone through many of the same things that Naoki has; they understand each other on a deep level, being friends from early childhood. I've hinted at the two of them being romantically involved, which is certainly a possibility, but have never shown anything of the sort in roleplay or otherwise.

Daniel Margulis

• Margulis is one of those characters that doesn't fit his job, but rather makes his job fit him. He's gruff, no-nonsense, and gets straight to the point with everyone, which is reflected in his job as the Division Commander of the Estharian Presidential Guard. If immediate action is needed, he's your go-to guy within the Guard, because he will make sure it gets done with both haste and efficiency. He also has a long-standing friendship with James Alnon, something which seems to date back to even before Margulis joined the Presidential Guard.

Freya

• Freya actually used to be Darius' character, back when Dimensional Legend first began. After the first few times we saw her, he handed the reins over to me, as well as those of the Ethereal Plane in general. Freya has a rather distinctive personality, even among the Ethereal characters I play - she has a very proper manner of speaking, something I've represented in roleplay itself by having her never use contractions in her speech (with one exception, to Hyne, while mildly irritated). She is very polite and yielding, giving a keen ear to her two advisers, Odin and Xeios. However, that facet of her personality works against her often, most notably during the last Ethereal war, where she refused to step in directly and end things for fear of simply making them worse and risking a repeat occurrence later.