Character Survey - Very Much In Progress
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy? Kuri is quite tall, five foot nine, and loves it. She lords over short people and adores her height. Her build is... skinny. Really skinny. No muscle or anything.
2. How old is she? 16
3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch? She slouches most of the time - she leans on things and generally doesn't have good posture unless she's mocking the rich.
4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? Her health is okay - she doesn't have any illnesses or anything, or physical disabilities. She's pretty fit, but doesn't have much muscle.
5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? She's very graceful, though unconsciously. However, she tenses up quickly when someone talks to her or startles her.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror? She's very 'pretty', but not really beautiful or sexy. She has petite facial features, mostly Japanese looking except with big blue eyes. However, she has absolutely no curves and is as flat as an ironing board. She doesn't see her 'prettiness' and doesn't take compliments well at all.
7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Very light, but she has lots of scars on her back, arms, and front. It's one of the major reasons that she always wears long-sleeved clothes and pants, even in the summer.
8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style. Her hair is black, very thin, and sort of left by itself. She doesn't mess with it besides brushing it occasionally.
9. What color are her eyes? Big, blue, and expressive. They're the only part of her that she gets from her mother, besides her slim figure.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Not really.
11. What are her chief tension centers? Her shoulders tighten easily, as do her arms. When she's startled, she gets ready to fight, basically..
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit? Um... it's totally random clothing. She likes leather jackets, jeans, high-top sneakers, hats... basically, that's it.
13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them? She wouldn't look comfortable in anything else. Some of her clothes do look a bit big on her, though.
14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences? She doesn't have a job currently, besides being a student. She wears a boy's uniform at school that's rather messy.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Rather low for a girl, brash, loud.
2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate? She talks fast, easily, and impulsively. As she says, she doesn't have the filter between her brain and her mouth.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? She has a British accent, and she uses slang a lot. She also slurs together words just cause, and leaves off letters in other words.
4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency? She speaks the Queen's English and totally slang English with the best fluency - she almost always speaks in slang. She learned a bit of French, but didn't pick it up at all and hates the language. She totally doesn't know Japanese, even though her father was Japanese.
5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Yes - switches from slang to the Queen's English when she's mocking the rich.
6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words? She's always an impromptu speaker - she never thinks about what she says.
7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? She's almost always able to articulate her thoughts (though sometimes she'll ask whether her ramblings make sense) - the only time she's inarticulate is when she's complimented. She gets easily flustered then.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart? She's really good at reading people, remembering things and other street-smarts. She's of average intelligence school-wise; the only classes she actually excels in are Literature, History, and any music courses she takes.
2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate? She always thinks on her feet. Never deliberates. Ever.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? It's all intuition, impulse, and imagination. She's as practical as a person who says everything that pops into her mind can be.
4. What kind of education has the character had? She's had the best of education since she was young until she was fourteen. She ran away from home at fourteen and effectively missed two years of school - but she's quite adaptable and ready to catch up.
5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about? Her area of expertise is probably history or language, not to mention her undying love and talent in music. She'd probably like learning about linguistics and, y'know, more history. You can never get enough history.
6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert? So extroverted. That's... not even a question. She's definitely extroverted.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? She's pretty even-tempered. Not necessarily cheerful, but blunt. She likes arguing with people, and she has a pretty bad temper.
8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? She loves new people. She wants to go around meeting them all. However, if she has a preconceived image of a person (ex. all you rich snots at Reims), well, she's not gonna give up that notion too easily.
9. Is she more likely to act, or to react? Both. She instigates stuff, but she's just as likely to go with the flow.
10. Which is her default: fight or flight? Fight. Fight, fight, fight. To the bitter death, if need be. She is very disdainful of cowards.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? So, so dry and sarcastic. She also likes rhymes and puns, and isn't too mature for a 'that's what she said'.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them? She's slightly affected with extended grief, but she's managed to pull herself almost completely out of that. Her mum's words are probably the only reason for her getting out of it - Grief doesn't remember a person any better than acceptance does.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person? Her mother's death and her running away to join a gang. If it wasn't for these moments... her brash nature would be her only side to her. Now she's street-smart and cynical, with her deeper moments. She's actually a very good person to go to for advice - only problem is, she's a total hypocrite.
14. What does she fear? Death. Not her own death, but someone that she knows dying. Anyone, in fact. Though she puts on a brave face when it comes to dying, she's really quite frightened of it.
15. What are her hopes or aspirations? She wants to be like her mum. It's pretty much her only driving force in life.
16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her? Her relationship with Kenny Maycott. It's something she's ashamed of - she feels like an idiot for ever falling for his wiles. Also, the fact that her mum died of lung cancer. Though the doctors said it wasn't so, there is an undeniable connection between her mum dying of disease of the lungs while she's a smoker.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents. She idolizes her mother - in her eyes, good old Mum can do no wrong. Literally, no wrong. She quotes her mum often and will ramble about her amazingness to anyone who'll listen. She detests her father almost as much as she loves her mother. He abandoned his children when they needed him the most and he instigated the biggest mistake of her life - running away.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? Kuri has twin older brothers, Aidan and Avery, and a younger brother, Chen. She idolizes them all as well, calling them the only truly 'good' people she knows. If she calls you 'good', that's the best compliment she can give. On a more individual level, Kuri is disdainful of her older brothers' overprotectiveness of her - she believes they mother her too much. Aidan is definitely the more fun-loving of the two while Avery is more uptight, but they can both be very strict when it comes to it. Kuri has a twin-like relationship with Chen, even though the boy is three years younger than her. Chen, the only one in the family struck with PTSD by the events, has lost most of his ability to speak and express himself. Kuri, as the closest person to Chen, can read his mind the best.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand? N/A.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them? Not really. She's really bad at this whole 'make a friend' thing.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? Kenny Maycott was her best friend besides her brothers. They met when she was in elementary school, and he was definitely inspiring, even though he was a 'bad' kid. She sort of idolized him as well, though not to the same extent as she did her family, and then she fell in love with him. And he betrayed her. She'll never forgive him.
6. Does she have other close friends? Nope. Besides her gang, and they were never really her friends, so they don't count.
7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people? She has trouble getting along with people - as you can see from the above questions... she really doesn't make friends. At all.
8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends? Family. Undoubtedly. Always. No question.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once? Single and loving it. And never wanting to give it up. But sort of curious as to how a true relationship would be like.
10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? Nope.
11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest? Kenny Maycott, and now she doesn't crush on anyone. She is very against relationships now.
12. What does she look for in a romantic partner? Someone who'll love her unconditionally and show that love. She needs to be constantly reminded of his affection.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any? Nope~ she might want kids, but that's really far in the future. A bit too far for her to think about.
14. Does she have any rivals or enemies? Her gang is probably out to get her right now, but besides that, she hasn't got any enemies. There are probably people who hate her, but she doesn't really care.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale? A 0. Maybe even an X. She's pretty unsure of her sexual orientation, and she doesn't really want to think about it too much.
16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her? She's waiting for the right guy. She's a romantic in that sense. Pretty much, she doesn't want to screw up anymore.
17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (Leo or Boar) sign? How well does she fit type? She doesn't fit Leo at all, except on two points - she can be patronizing of those shorter than her, and she's a loyal person to her close friends. She doesn't fit some aspects of a Boar either, as she loves arguments and doesn't mind tense situations. However, she is like a Boar in that she looks for long-lasting relationships and nothing less.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her? Ho boy. This is a big part of her personality.
Kuri is the daughter of a rich Japanese man and a rich English woman. In other words, at birth, she was ultra influential and important. As she grew older, she became more like the scum of the upper class - as low as one could get and still be considered an elite. She was fine with this title for most of her life - it didn't really effect her.
Then, when she ran away, she became nothing more than a street girl.
The biggest point is here. When she came back to her family and resumed living with them, she refused to give up her gang mentality. She identifies herself as a street girl still, even though she is technically influential again. In this way, she speaks in slang rather than proper English, continues to smoke, and emphasizes the fact that though she is born in a rich family, she is not one of them.
3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?
5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?
6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?
7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:
1. Color? Blue
2. Smell? Viola bow rosin
3. Time of day? Late at night
4. Season? Autumn
5. Book? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6. Music? The Beatles
7. Place? Edinburgh Castle
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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