Application
[ Player Name ] : Aza
[ Personal LJ ] : azarann
[ Age ] : 20
[ Timezone ] : Pacific
[ Other Characters ] : N/A
[ Character's Name ] : Tohru Honda
[ Character's Age ] : 16
[ Series ] : Fruits Basket
[ Canon Point ] : End of Vol. 17, manga
[ History ] :
When Tohru was very little, her father died. He believed he simply had a cold, a fever, and with some rest he’d be fine. He wanted to finish up his business trip quickly so he could come home to see his wife and little girl, so he skipped bothering with a doctor’s visit. He died of pneumonia not long after. Tohru can barely remember what her father looks like, she did pick up his unique way of speaking; she’s overly polite, even in odd circumstances.
So for most of her life, it was just the two of them; Tohru and her mother. She was young but, Tohru understood how very hard her mother worked to support the two of them, and witnessed first hand her mother’s grief after her father’s death. As soon as she was able, Tohru decided to take on all the housework on herself, to give her mother a bit of a break. She cooked all their meals, and even considered dropping out of school and getting a job to help out. But her mother always insisted otherwise, encouraging Tohru to continue with school so that she could lead an easier life, so she could tell her what it was like to hold a diploma in her hands.
But then there came the accident. Tohru’s mother was struck by an oncoming vehicle, and after much arguing among her surviving family, Tohru was arranged to stay with her Grandfather. However, Tohru’s aunt and her cousins were also living with him at the time, so her grandfather decided to do some renovations to make more room for everyone. Tohru was supposed to stay with one of her friends, but instead of imposing on them, she decided that she could live on her own in a tent until the renovations were finished.
However, Tohru set up her little camp site on Sohma property, and thus (nearly literally) stumbles into their lives, and onto the secret of their curse. She is allowed to stay with them as a housekeeper (in exchange for her room and board) so long as she keeps their secret. But the more she learns of the Sohma’s and their curse, the more she wants to break it, for their sake.
[ Personality ] :
Tohru is a very kind girl, who always thinks of others before herself. She’s so kind in fact, that she can’t even bring herself to think cruel things of others, let alone say them, even as lines in a school play. There’s not a mean bone in this girl’s entire body.
Although Tohru does have a tendency to be flaky and absent-minded, she insists on being self-reliant. She secures a part-time job to pay for all of her school expenses on her own, and doesn’t want impose on anyone. (Even if this means living in a tent.) She is a hard-worker, and far too concerned with making things easier on others.
Yet, despite her hard work and dedicated attitude, studying doesn’t come easy to her. She re-takes tests far too often for her liking. It may take her a while to get certain things, and she’s a bit oblivious too. She’s not technologically informed either, despite being from a canon set pretty currently. (They had to explain to her just what a DVD was.) That said, she does seem to have a good grasp on reading people. She’s trained to look for the good in everyone, so she may trust others too quickly.
She’d rather take on things herself than trouble others, which incidentally can cause others to only worry more if they know her well enough.She tends to keep her negative feelings locked tightly away, so it can be difficult to tell if she’s hurting, or if anything is wrong at all really. She doesn’t ask for things, she doesn’t let on when she’s tired or sad. She only wants people to see the happy side of her, to worry more about themselves. Tohru herself has said that her greatest strength is her ability to never get depressed, no matter what happens in life. This is unfortunately less true than she would like to believe.
That said, she is a very strong individual. Though her life has been full of many sad things, and she carries the burdens of many others, she’s always smiling. She’ll smile for people, go that extra mile to make sure that they’re happy, that they keep smiling, even when she herself might be reaching the end of her rope. She thinks she’s very lucky, to have so many people that care for her, so many people to be worried for her. She’s always grateful for that.
On occasions,when these ‘sad things’ involve people she cares about, she will fight tooth and nail to prevent them from happening, or to help or comfort these people with everything she has at her disposal. Which, admittedly, may not be much on the outside. She’s not super strong, or super intelligent. She has no special abilities, no special looks. She’s just herself.
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Strengths
-Tohru’s main strength is her ability to empathize with others. She can easily put herself in other’s shoes, and sees things from their perspective.
-She always looks for the kindness in other people, and thus is kind to others, even complete strangers.
-She tries to think of things positively at all times.
-She takes care herself to the best of her ability. Although she is rarely alone, she has proven that she can manage by herself, at least with the essentials.
-She is a hard-worker, and throws herself into the tasks at hand.
Weaknesses
-Often her positive outlook on life and on others can be viewed as naive, and her willingness to trust and look for the kindness in others could be easily manipulated.
-Tohru isn’t the smartest of all people, and it takes her a while to learn things academically.
-The fact that she tries to take on everything on her own can take a major toll on her. She won’t ask for help when she needs it, and won’t let on when she is depressed.
-Tohru isn’t very strong physically. She is a normal sixteen year old girl, with normal sixteen year old girl abilities.
-Tohru doesn’t stand up for herself. When she is insulted, she simply takes it. And can sometimes take what people say right to heart.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
~Tohru chooses clothing for their practicality rather than their appearance. Cute things she wears are always gifts from other people.
~Tohru can cook nearly anything if given the recipe, both Western and Eastern dishes, and makes nearly everything from scratch. Since her mother worked so hard when she was younger, Tohru took it upon herself to do all of the cooking and the housework. She’s had lots of practice.
[ Sample ] :
“Oh Mom, what am I going to do? I don’t think I’ve been this lost since... Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever been this lost. Ehhhnn~....” Tohru placed her hands on either side of her head from her position on the ground. She was trying to stay calm, but her thoughts kept spinning around and around in her head. She was supposed to make it home in time for dinner tonight, and Yuki and Kyo and Shigure didn’t know where she’d gone--What were they going to do when they couldn’t find her? And school! She had an essay that was due tomorrow, and she hadn’t called in to work. What if she lost her job?!
“I know! I’ll find a map! Or... maybe they’ll have a phone! Or at least a towel I could use. I mean, I couldn’t have gone too far right? ...Right?” But, well, she couldn’t even remember how she had gotten here, let alone how far this place was from home. It was... some sort of theme park, right? Maybe if she could find a sign... Maybe she’d heard of it. Tohru got carefully to her feet and tried to wipe some of the moisture off her clothes. “Maybe... Maybe no one will notice?”
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : None!