Post by Kiku Honda on Nov 18, 2010 23:45:55 GMT -5
Character Name: Kiku Honda
Country: Japan
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Staff or tourist: Tourist
Likes:
- Quiet afternoons. Especially when they include a hot cup of tea and his dog Pochi. (It’s not unusual to find him spending these afternoons at his parents house or an internet café.)
- Taking walks. Above anything else Kiku is a people watcher (though if you called him one he would blush, stutter, and attempt to explain himself.) He tends to walk around Tokyo’s suburbs observing everyday life with Pochi.
- Early mornings. He knows it’s a little weird, but he loves the feeling of fresh morning air.
- Arcades. Like almost every other Japanese elementary school kids he used to visit them obsessively in his youth.
- Learning knew things. Ever since attending college Kiku has opened himself to the of the world, and he secretly delights in seeing new things.
- Animals. Especially those that are cute and fluffy.
- Anime, manga, and video games. He’s secretly an otaku.
Dislikes:
- The heat. Kiku has lived through many humid Japanese summers and dislikes how unappealing doing anything becomes under the hot summer sun.
- Breaking the rules, they were not “meant to be broken.”
- Speaking out, Kiku prefers to keep to himself and always tries to seem amiable.
- Public Displays of Affection. “They’re indecent!” (Secretly they make him feel lonely.)
- Emotional Displays, whether they are happy or sad. They leave him feeling helpless and displaced.
- Visiting family. They’re always obnoxious, especially his younger cousins.
- Insults on his integrity. Kiku prides himself in his honor.
Personality:
Kiku often leaves the impression of being shy, quiet, polite, and hardworking. And, to be quite honest, he is all those things, but with a lot of work one may discover the curious, competitive, irritable, and slightly perverted side of Kiku Honda.
Kiku was raised to be a perfectly polite and respectful son and, more often than not, this affects his everyday mannerisms. He actively uses bowing as a form of greeting (even when the situation doesn’t call for it) and insists on both using formal titles and addressing people by their last names. He also tends to apologize for almost everything and anything, even when it’s not his fault.
He tends to keep to himself and has a very reserved nature, making him uncomfortable with blatant displays of emotion. In addition to his already conservative behavior, over the years Kiku has also begun to adopt the hobbies and personality of an old man (it’s not uncommon for the phrase “...kids these days” to show up in his inner monologue.) He takes confront in the simple things like playing with Pochi, reading the newspaper, and a good cup of tea.
Kiku certainly enjoys solidarity, but recently he finds himself wanting more company at home than Pochi.
History:
Kiku was born in Tokyo, Japan, but was raised in one of the many peaceful prefectures. As a child he was just as quiet and polite as he is today, and as cute as could be. He had a relatively normal childhood, that is, until he hit his teen years.
As Kiku grew older he began to isolate himself from his friends and family, and by the time he was sixteen he only ever left his house to go to school (and sometimes he wouldn’t show up there for days.) He had completely immersed himself in the world of dating sims and fantasy rpgs. His mother worried endlessly about him, at a loss of how to help her son; while, his father was in a severe state of denial and as a result the relationship between him and his parents wore thin and is still very fragile today. It was only through a series of several overall “weird” events that Kiku abandoned his shut in status and attended college.
During college he made a few “not quite” friends, but because of his introverted nature he never formed a true social life outside of the typical college scene.
Immediately after college, with the help of his father’s recommendation, he scored a boring cubicle job at a major company; and he’s worked there since. Recently though it was brought to his attention that he had never taken a vacation, and was to be put on forced leave for the majority of December and a little of January. His parents took this chance to send him on a vacation to the Swiss Alps as a “you’re doing great” kind of present. Kiku is nervous to travel so far (he’s never been far out of Tokyo), but he has assured himself that the Resort Du Lucerne is an amazing place.
Roleplay Sample:
Kiku sat alone in the living room of his parents home and stared out of the glass sliding doors that led to their petite backyard. The leaves of their small trees had begun to turn shades of brown, orange, and gold two months ago as the seasons shifted and large leaves covered the grass he had played in as a child. He could faintly hear the scrapes of his father raking the leaves, a determined look on his face. Kiku had offered to help, but his mother insisted he relax. He could feel the heat of his parents’ kotatsu radiate around his legs and pulled his sweater tighter around his hunched form. A soft voice broke him from his thoughts.
“Kiku?”
He craned his neck in order to glance at his mother in the doorway, her hair was greyer then when he last saw her and she seemed much smaller then he remembered. He eyed the tray of baked sweet potatoes she was carrying, and lifted himself from the floor as she fretted over him, he gently took the plate from her, and gestured for her to sit, he would get the rest. She sent him a gentle smile and eased herself onto a cushion. Kiku headed to the kitchen and grabbed the kettle of hot tea his mother had started when he has first shown up at their doorstep bundled up and clutching a box of foreign tealeaves. He silently felt for the teacups on the lowest shelf and returned to the sitting room with his finds. His mother had already distributed the meal and his father sat straight backed at the table, watching his mother as she prattled on about the neighborhood gossip with a small smile tugging at his lips. Kiku sat and placed both the kettle and the cups upon the dark wooden surface of the table, his mother continued chatting and both he and his father interjected when appropriate, as she began to pour tea. Kiku shivered as a cold blast of air came from the now open sliding doors. His father cleared his throat.
“Kiku, your mother and I are very proud of what you have accomplished since high school,” he cleared his throat again and sent a glance to his wife.
“And we wanted to give you a gift,” his mother picked up eagerly where his father left off.
“Your mother-“ a jab to his side, “I mean, we have decided to send you on vacation.”
Kiku’s eyes widened in excitement and a true grin broke out across his face. A vacation? Maybe to the northern resorts? Or even the southern islands? Images of hot springs and endless food raced through his mind.
“But, the place we choose is a little far away...” Both of his parents sent him worried glances and his smiled dimmed. Far away? How far away? He wasn’t completely sure he could cope with “far away” just yet. His eyebrows furrowed together and the corners of his mouth turned down for the briefest second. Then he remembered he was receiving a gift. He should be grateful! His face was soon schooled into a pleasant smile, his eyes scrunched in appreciation, and his head tilted slightly to one side.
“I’m sure the destination you’ve chosen is wonderful and reasonable, mother, father.” He nodded at both of his parents respectively. His mother visibly perked up by his father shot him another worried glance.
His mother continued happily, “Well a co-worker of your father was able to get us a discount, so don’t worry about the price.” He hadn’t even considered the financial burden this would place on his parents, he opened his mouth to politely decline the offer, but was deftly shushed by his mother. She clasped his hands, “We want to do this for you Kiku, you’ve made us so proud and you’ve gotten so much better,” there were tears in her eyes, Kiku began to panice. His father cut in, while his mother composed herself. Placing a hand on his sons’ shoulder he continued, “We love you very much. Please let us do this.” Now Kiku was completely flustered, he bit his lip in contemplation; there was no way he could possibly say no to his parents now... he nodded.
“We found a wonderful resort in the Swiss Alps called the ‘Resort Du Lucerne’,” his mother stumbled over the foreign words, but she smiled brightly.
The Swiss Alps! That was halfway across the world.
His father noticed his rising panic, “It’s where all the hip and cool young people go!”
Kiku winced, his panic forgotten.
“I guess I should brush up on my German then,” a small smile appeared on his face.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
OoC Information
Name: Whatever you feel like calling me ;) jk jk Blaze (my real name fosho)
Timezone: California? Pacific?
Experience: Absolutely none. :D (Okay that's lies, I've rped in WoW, don't laugh)
Contact information: nerdyglasses@ymail.com, feel free to pm me too.
Anything else? Don't marshmallows go in smores?
Read more: snowtalia.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=applications&action=display&thread=4#ixzz15hRXMtDA
