Pulme Mushi

## *Monster High Student*

### Age

156. Gone through two life cycles and hibernated the rest of the time. Don't question my unlife choices!

### Killer Style

Cyber Goth. We're all runnin around tryna cure diseases with lasers and machines, I want in on that!

### Monster Quirk

When I get upset I have a tendency to freak out and turn into a will o wisp. Life's just stressful ok?

### Pet

Pnewman, my lobster! He's trash but I'm also trash so we match!

### Favorite Activity

I like doing cool things and looking cool! And uh like spraypaintin things.

### Fav School Subject

Monster Anatomy! Bodies are really cool why so many bodies aaaaugh!!!

### Least Fav Subject

Orientfearing, I can't even figure out where north is!

### BFFs

OPEN

Pulme Mushi (she/her) is the daughter of a Haimushi. A tough rebellious trickster with a penchant for graffiti, having to keep up with her will leave you exhausted and completely out of breath (or is that lung problems?)

## Character

### Personality

Pulme always has a skittish but electric energy to her, flitting around and looking like she's always trying to hide something. She's a trickster, but she does very little harm. In fact whatever pranks she tries to do usually backfire and she's the one who gets caught in them instead.

Her worldview is rather nihilistic, with a belief that the System is rotten and needs to be overhauled. She has trouble articulating or explaining why she believes this or even what the actual issue is but she's very passionate about fixing it.

Pulme can be seen as a bit high strung, she's very excitable, but also gets panicky and stressed just as often as she is happy. She does not cope with any stress or failure well, and often lies on the ground, trying to turn into a ball of fire so she doesn't have to be in the situation anymore.

Despite appearing cool at first glance, ultimately she's viewed as a bit of a loser, but she tries her best with what she's got, and she can't be faulted for that.

### Interests

* **Graffiti**- Pulme will spray paint any surface she can access, usually with some politically motivated art that's meant to inspire others to think. She's not an awful artist.
* **Pranking others**-She tries.
* **Biteology**-Pulme has an almost morbid appreciation of biology and is very excited by petri dishes.

### Abilities

* **Flight**- she has multiple wings allowing her to fly around the place.
* **Two forms**- She can alternate between a humanoid form and a microscopic haimushi form..
* **Entering other's bodies and causing diseases**-She could, but she won't. She'll sometimes use this to hide from people she doesn't like or to spy on others but on the whole she'd rather not.
* **Transforming into a hitodama**- When she gets stressed her first solution is to transform into a glowing ball of fire, until someone shoves ice cream into the flame and she transforms back and cries.

## Monster-Yakubyogami

Up to the 19th Century, it was believed that illnesses were caused by yakubyogami. These were kami originally believed to be human in form but this belief changed over the years and they were later thought to be small creatures that could enter the body to cause diseases.

A 16th century text called the Harikikigaki illustrated 63 of these.

One of them, the haimushi was said to cause lung illnesses and have an appetite for rice. If it left the lungs and couldn't find its way back, it would transform into a hitodama (will o wisp) , killing the host.

### Parallels

* A fondness for rice and other staple foods.
* Being bad at directions and turning to a flame when stressed parallels the haimushi's reaction to getting lost.
* Her pet being a lobster relates to how the haimushi somewhat resembles a winged shrimp.
* Hitodama folklore is markedly similar to will-o-wisp folklore. The alternate name of will o wisps which means 'foolish flame' somewhat inspired her less cool characteristics.

## Trivia

* Pulm- is the prefix for things relating to the lungs in medical terminology.
* Her name was derived from the name Plume.
* If she were to become a hitodama, it'd be a semi permanent transformation, it'd take her several decades to revert back, with her forming a chrysalis before she can properly become a haimushi again.