the dog diaries.

sideblog to hachikoes.

[wecsper]

ill meta about this later but y’all should know: michio IS japanese but he didn’t grow up with japanese culture . his education was purely multicultural , covering mostly bases like languages , phrases , calligraphy , history , and so on . at ivory , most of the doctors covered an array of ethnicity’s for him to learn from and it’s accumulated into the sweet , sweet dog boy u see today . 

P.S. mitch is his chosen english name to make it easier for people to ?? pronounce it . yup

[hachiko2go]

17. relationships.

michio bonds for life . i cannot stress this enough . once he finds a partner he sees is genuine and trustworthy , he sees it through 100% . he also doesn’t realize that usual relationships aren’t so set in stone , so his bonding thing is something that’ll probably be revealed pretty late in the game

michio takes on different behaviors with whomever he’s with , but there’s a couple particular constants— he’s always doing really , really cliche stuff . he’ll always walk his partners home , want to pay for their meals , and engage in scenting behavior that wards off other inhumans ( like getting them to wear his clothes , or nuzzling his face into their neck when he’s in close proximity )

michio’s parents did this thing in his childhood he doesn’t consciously remember but his body does . it’s a greeting/goodbye gesture that’s just . simply . touching foreheads . he might cup the back of your neck to bring you in ? you might bump noses . the closer to someone he is , the more often he initiates it .

michio CANNOT stand liars . if you lie to him without a very good , very probable reason , you’ve simply lost his trust forever .

he will not engage in a relationship with people who do not know he is a werewolf . he assumes that most inhumans do , but if he realizes they don’t he has no problem telling them . humans are another story ! he will always , always worry about putting them in danger . only in strenuous circumstances will he reveal his truth , but once its out there ?? it’s layers and layers of painful past from thereon out

it’s not unusual for him to not let others see his apartment . not because he’s territorial , but because he feels like it doesn’t belong to him and he truly wants nothing to do with it . the reason why is because he received it from ivory purely for convenience , and it’s all chipped paint and iron bed frames and essentials . the only personalized belongings michio owns are his stim toys , luxurious toiletries , and clothes . you won’t find a single picture or trinket in that apartment .

[hachiko2go]

16. MISCELLANEOUS. 

prefers hot chocolate over coffee

michio has two official canons . one where he dies before he reaches 30 , and one when where he survives . hmu if u want details tho

never actually ends up going to college , but takes online classes like forensics , psychology , and sociology to boost his resume for the job he’s aiming for

he’s kind of divided himself from his wolf ? has actually initiated arguments with it ? it just kind of sparingly listens to reason , but usually gets just as attached to people as mi gets attached 

a major pacifist and has never thrown the first punch buuut ,, ,,, 

ever had a ‘ murder relapse ‘ ? mi has . don’t worry , we’ve all been there . his trigger is usually hunters attempting to collar him .

doesn’t have a favorite genre . he just likes animated movies . ALL animated movies 

can’t watch zootopia because he was warned of the muzzling scene , though

has very little idea about his own history . what he knows about himself as a shifter is what he’s figured out on his own , and what the white coats and ivory told him

every supernatural has a distinct smell to mi , as well as their personal scent . he can differentiate between vampires , werecoyotes , immortal gods by nose only if he’s been around them before 

[hachiko2go]

15. LOCATION//LANGUAGE .

     where michio was for most of his life was left pretty open ended ; mostly because half of his life he was either hidden , captured , or transported without his knowledge . his basic understanding is that he came from japan , but without any idea as to where in japan , exactly--- he was too young to remember , taken before he could outrun the trees surrounding his parents’ cabin . 

     the funny part is , being in ivory made it all the more confusing . he was introduced to several new ethnicity's and languages , blank-faced doctors with a salvo of varying surnames he knew them by . professors chen , watanabe , and sato , doctors vasvilev and evans , counselor ito . the list went on . 

     michio , at his age , had exceptionally developed motor skills from the particularly trying environment of the arena . his language skills , however ? null . he could barely form noises , let alone talk . he caught on faster to both asl and jsl than anything else they taught him , but he was quick learner regardless . he had reached an advanced educational level by the time they were done with him , and he mostly breezed through school and met all expectations ; until he didn’t . 

     what they expected was a non-socialite . someone to carry out onerous tasks . a one-man army . a strategist . but michio had so much sympathy and empathy and emotions , and he ended up not staying their puppy project for much longer afterwards .

[hachiko2go]

14. WOLFSBANE .

    let’s talk about wolfsbane . for humans , it’s your basic run-of-the-mill poison ( causing nausea , vomiting , and diarrhea ) . for michio , a shapeshifter , circumstances are a little different .

    coming into contact with his bloodstream , it saps the oxygen from it entirely hence the black appearance it has when it oozes out of wounds ( wolfsbane usually administered through bullets and arrows ; but there have been more unique methods ) , and then it proceeds to literally eat away at anything it can ; flesh , bone , organs . kind of like a deteriorating virus , and if the wolfsbane stays in the body long enough ( even after death ) the body will dissolve completely .

    there’s namely two ways to go about curing oneself ; bloodletting and ashes . most werewolves have a regenerative factor that allow them to bleed the wolfsbane out of their system with a large enough cut , but they’re only bleeding themselves into their grave if they don’t catch the poisoning soon enough . ashes are the safer option , but are harder to get a hold of . you need to know the type of wolfsbane you’ve been shot up with , and the chances of actually finding it are a million to one .

    burning the wolfsbane you’ve been poisoned with and smothering your wound with the ashes will eliminate the poison and really , that’s that .

    but the symptoms of wolfsbane poisoning for a shapeshifter aren’t only physical .

    along with the flesh eating and drowsiness , a werebreed extremely close to death will start to experience hallucinations . of the past , present , and future . of what they want and don’t want to see .

    luckily , michio himself hasn’t been pushed that far .

[hachiko2go]

13. RABID .

    there’s a lot of details behind ‘ rabid ‘ that i haven’t disclosed yet . namely that it’s regarded as an illness and is considered incurable past the ages 15-16. rabid entails that a werewolf has lost their humanity ( and is indefinitely/permanently stuck in their shifted form ) , but younger werewolves have the tendency to bounce back because of their inherent curiosity of humans . shifting back becomes a possibility when they reconnect with their human side ( I.E. remake connections with humans/their human side ) , but not all instances are so sweet .

     prior to maturity, young werewolves are the average size of a large dog . there’s nothing initially special about them , aside from the enhanced speed , agility , senses , and hearing . after maturity ( 15-16 years old ), they hit a growth spurt in their shifted form and double in size .

    michio’s situation was a little different .

    many forced shifts off of a full moon not only caused mutations , but caused him to mature much , much earlier than a majority of wolf folk . it was his first growth spurt and at the age of 10 he had already doubled in size , but by the time he turned 15 ?

    it happened again . his body, confused , went through the maturity stages twice which is why michio is so disproportionately large as a wolf ( 5-6.5 ft tall ) .

    rabid happens to be a very common fate for all werewolves ( it’s a curse, after all  ), whether it be for their own selfish reasons , because of ignorance, or because they’re forced to . the worst cases are young werewolves gone rabid that are curable , but are put in a position where they cannot reform the bonds that would allow them to return to being human .

    forced captivity , for example . or imminent isolation . more werewolves live far from civilization , much like michio’s parents , and have either seen very few , or no humans at all.

[hachiko2go]

12. ATYPICAL . 

    it’s no secret that michio was bullied and ostracized a lot during his time in school , but it wasn’t just for one reason . kids were cruel throughout junior and high school for several of them--- he fit in a category because of his anti-social tendencies and irritable attitude ( trouble maker ) , and cliques were usually between dragging him into their antics , or hurting him because of i t. he also had very physical traits that usually set people off ; typically, his tendency to glare , a deep-set frown , and his teeth .

     boy , did people hate his teeth .

    in the past , the arena had brought on series of unintentional shifts that came with negative side effects , which were decidedly better than going rabid , but still made peaceful living difficult .

    his nails had permanently dark , charcoal color he couldn’t scrub off , and his teeth ? a million little razors , ripe for biting . such an appearance caused so much trouble for him in school , he seldom went a day without filing them down . usually his regenerative factor wouldn’t apply to things like chips in teeth ( except for those very unique, very situational circumstances with his growing factor ), but sharp teeth ( when human ) wasn’t typical for a werewolf , and they would come back at full-force after the end of a month .

     this is what you’d call a mutation .

[hachiko2go]

11. FAMILY .

    he won’t admit it out loud , but michio views families like miracles .

    the idea of parents and siblings is just so bizarre to him , that there’s people out there that have relations bound by blood , mostly because his own parents have been completely erased from his mind ( replaced by traumatic memories and years of abuse ) . and being included in a family ?? would completely and totally blow his mind .

    he’d be nervous , he’d be excited , he’d do virtually anything for them .

    god forbid anyone who accepts him into their family for some reason takes it back .

[hachiko2go]

10. JOBS .

    michio juggles jobs . his current and most permanent is as a barkeep at a high-class establishment called skala , that he honestly has no business working in . more often than not, his talents are used elsewhere in places like the unloading deck , the kitchen , and the back room . very scarcely do they actually let him handle drinks , but when they do , it’s on their busiest nights .

    but because of their fickle attitude ( and oddball schedules ) , he’s taken up some non-permanent jobs , too . things like window painting ( he’s city-famous for his calligraphy and script ) , dog walking , and personal shopping . mostly things that don’t require him to come face-to-face with his employers--- unless he wants to risk scaring them off .

[hachiko2go]

o9. GROWING FACTOR . 

    it’s been established that as a supernatural creature , michio possesses supernatural abilities. his healing factor , for example.

    but what it carves way for is this : his growing factor . ( alt. a regenerative factor ) .

    he’s survived all kinds of wounds ( stab, gunshot, arrow---  ), but i think it goes without saying that his ability to heal has his limits.  for example , if he lost a limb , a finger , a tooth , or an eye ? that’s something his body can’t just conjure out of the blue .

    but he can in very situational circumstances !!!

    every full moon , michio’s body succumbs to a curse that basically rewrites his bone and body structure . hence the fur , the dramatic increase in size , and . . . paws. should he lose anything , the process should naturally bring it back !!

     but only if it’s incurred on the night of the full moon , and not a day earlier .

    so . situational .

[hachiko2go]

o8. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT .

   forming relationships was near impossible for michio when he was younger . the only affectionate touch he knew were from his parents , and they seemed more like a dream than an actual reality ( which he was extremely out of touch with for several years; the dissociation is strong with this one ) . he initially perceived doctors poking and prodding at him as an attack and the trust issues just kept growing the more they did it . Their interest was born from his accelerated healing abilities , which they fought tooth and nail to replicate , and never did.  

    he only got better when he learned to properly communicate , and it was extremely slow going . he made a few positive relationships with the doctors treating him , but when he was finally released into the public he faced things like bullying , alienation , and the constant fear that he’d somehow get taken again.

   the sterile white rooms didn’t help, and they eventually got him a room in a government-controlled apartment building . he wasn’t legally allowed to live on his alone , but without an official guardian and the even less legal treatment of an orphan boy , the documents kind of unrolled on their own .

   what i really want to get at is michio takes every act of volatile intent or affection and takes it wholly to heart . he’s a type of sensitive that craves different types of treatment so he knows what feels wrong and what feels right .

   bottom line : the first person who was truly kind to him was the police officer that got him out of that whole mess . he literally showed him a whole new world . he humanized him. he wasn’t a deranged mutt, or a test subject. he was a kid talking to his hero.

[hachiko2go]

o7. THE ARENA .

    ‘ the arena ‘ is a fighting ring for ( mostly ) mutts . but not just your average range of dogs ; there’s a pretty dense mixture of the supernatural in there too , mostly shifters like michio , made possible by people like the ones that kidnapped him , who were actually werewolf hunters.

   his telltale signs of waking up disoriented in a forest surrounded by a bunch of dead animals tipped them off , which was why he was captured and cuffed .

   fights took place whether there was a full moon or not , which brought most werecreatures to the cusp of insanity . In michio’s case , he was just shy of going what other wolves called rabid . It’s basically a condition brought on by forced shifting , and ends in a psychotic break and the inability to return to a human state .

   he’d been unknowingly doing it every fight ( hence the blackouts ) and if he’d been found any later, he’d have succumbed .

[hachiko2go]

o6 . MUSIC//PLAYLIST .

o1. river - bishop briggs o2. tearing me up - bob moses o3. miracle - the score o4. howling moon - coleman hell o5. run wild - jon bellion o6. black mambo - glass animals o7. ghostwriter - rjd2 o8. rise up - imagine dragons o9. feel again - onerepublic 10. lasso - phoenix 11. the good part - ajr 12. way down we go - kaleo (stripped audio) 13. freedom - pharrell williams 14. armistice - phoenix 15. talking to myself - watsky 16. fairtytale - milky chance 17. wild one - lucky rose (ft. tep no) // art mix; vito kaleidoscope 18. songbird - aer 19. keep on - portugal. the man ***more tba.

[hachiko2go]

o5. MISCELLANEOUS .

he hasn’t gone to college ( yet )

he doesn’t know how to swim

he’s actually pretty indifferent towards animals ! but shows an unnecessary amount of concern if he finds one has been injured :’))

his exercise consists mostly of excessive amounts of running

michio is a very quiet , very cuddly drunk

when he got to participate , michio was an elite in most high school sports . no one wanted him in their club , unfortunately

michio’s memories of the arena are really hazy and mostly come to him in dreams . they were the most frequent in high school

michio secretly wears fishnets under 80% of his outfits . u never kno when

[hachiko2go]

o4 . NECK TRAUMA . 

i haven’t talked much about his neck thing outside of IMs so---

it’s about being collared . he was demeaned to being an animal and didn’t learn how to be a human being until he was almost 13 years old ? they used the collar as a way to coax and pull him around and his neck would always chafe and bleed and that’s why there should be a glowing red sign above michio that says :

DON’T!!! TOUCH!!! MY NECK!!!

he’ll violently flinch away and revert to his inherent reclusive behavior . in most cases, it’ll only last a day . closer to a full moon when he’s skittish and wary and refusing to sleep ? it might become a huge issue .

but if he trusts you ? would place his life in your hands ? that day of withdrawn behavior will come and go and he’ll come back to you , bring your fingers to his neck , and tell you that it’s okay .

because he trusts you , so it is .

[hachiko2go]

o3. TEETH . 

y’all know about michio’s fangs and they’re kind of a safety hazard when it comes to his oral fixation because if he doesn’t have something to snack on and the need arises , his fingertips/nails and lips usually fall victim to teething .

there’s usually tearing and blood ? but the enhanced healing factor doesn’t make it that big a deal--- just an unhealthy habit

[hachiko2go]

o2. SCENTING .

it’s not even a romantic or sexual thing, just consider michio scenting someone ( could be rubbing his face against their neck or hands, or deliberately napping on top of their clothes so they smell like him ) because he wants them to smell like family ( ? ) and is Protective and wants them Safe ( and usually werewolf Stank wards off other supernaturals ) and just in general enjoys when others smell like him because it means they’ve spent enough time with him that it’s a thing .