character memes/surveys/extended info WHAT HAVE YOU
SOUMA MOMIJI or 草摩 紅葉 if you prefer dat moonspeak
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
I've estimated his height using relative heights within the manga and plain old bullshit on my part. Unlike most modern manga, the kids in Fruits Basket actually grow; Momiji in particular starts out eyes to chin on the heroine when he's fifteen and ends up towering over her by age seventeen (and Tohru grows a bit herself, so he really does get significantly taller!) It's quite the subtle growth spurt, something you don't really notice until about halfway through. That said, he's 173 cm (or about 5"8') in Bete Noire, a bit taller than the average height for a Japanese male. He's somewhat skinny and lanky, but not disturbingly or overwhelmingly so. He's the proud owner an extremely efficient metabolism. He's on his way to looking like a very mature young man. He's very happy about this.
2. How old is he?
Seventeen by the time his canon ends, but he's eighteen for the purposes of this RP. He was (mun-fudged) born on March 19, 1984.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Back straight and shoulders back 75% of the time; the other 25% is used for hugging people or draping over them. He was born to Japanese high society, so he's used to having very good posture. It's unconscious, though; he's never stiffly at attention.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Pretty decent! He's energetic in a boisterous sort of way; while he may not be as athletic as some of his cousins, he takes good care of himself.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
With ~*energy*~! I'm not kidding; he's borderline twitchy, but fortunately, is too easygoing to really be manic or nervous. He's not the skipping sort, which is a little surprising, but he is the sort to slip ahead of the pack during an outing without... putting much thought or effort into it, sob. He's bombastic and very theatrical; all of his movements have a bit of an exaggerated punch, as though he's performing on stage.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive herself in the mirror?
Frankly? Momiji is extremely good looking. Like, first crush weak in the knees my god is that person real beautiful. He has canonically done incredibly weird, funny, and stupid things and gotten away with it simply because he is too damn good-looking to be reprimanded. And now that he's grown up and doesn't look like he's five anymore, he's only gotten hotter. It runs in his particular area of his clan; all members of the zodiac curse are blessed with drop dead gorgeous model features. I wish I were joking.
And even if he hadn't been born to the zodiac curse, he takes almost solely after his hot German mother, whom I am ninety percent sure is based off of Heidi Klum. Fuck yeah, Momiji is killer fine.
However, if you asked him about his looks, he's got a very realistic opinion about them. He knows he looks good, and he likes to dress himself up in flattering clothes, but he doesn't draw attention to it (unless he's trying to be ridiculous... which is pretty much all the time, rofl). Kid isn't vain at all.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Fair and clear, like a model. Not at all olive or golden-toned; he really takes after his mother.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Fluffy blonde hair all around! It's nice and thick and shiny, and he lets it clump naturally. It's a bit long, but seems to be trimmed that way.
9. What color are his eyes?
Hazel brown; they're a bit green when he's happy.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
None to speak of! Unless Akito was secretly more abusive towards him than the manga implied she was... sob. HE GETS USED AS A PUNCHING BAG A LOT.
At Bete Noire, he's got some scars from where Tyki's Tease nommed at him, the most significant of which are on his right ear (starting from behind the top curve of it and ending near the second little ridge right before the ear hole), the back of his neck (which looks like it must have looked particularly nasty looking once upon a time), and the back of his hands and fingers (which definitely look the most like bite marks).
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Neck and back behind the shoulders, generally. He's always looking around at things, so any bit of you you'd stretch or crane is pretty much a given.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
~*FASHIONABLE*~
momiji what is that shit i will disown you
With all due seriousness, he is VERY well dressed. Word of god says that he has a wardrobe filled with more clothes than he'd ever be able to wear (word of god also says that she uses him as a doll to show off all the cute clothes that she'd love to wear, so there's that). He's forgotten what most of it looks like. Headcanon dictates that it's his dad that keeps buying him all of those clothes so Momiji doesn't feel abandoned BUT DADDY NEVER COMES BACK TO SEE HIM, THAT ASSHOLE.
But back on topic: he knows how to dress himself well, both when he was dressing like a ten year old girl and now that he's dressing like a seventeen year old boy. All of his clothes are well kept and hung in an organized fashion. Lots of colors in his wardrobe, mostly pastels and bright colors, but with lots of neutrals too. He likes to mix and match a lot. He just keeps closet diving in the morning with his eyes closed until he comes out looking like he stepped out of a magazine. It happens.
As for the style themselves… Well, he used to dress like a ridiculous shota. Lots of floofy shorts and shirts, lots of puffs and ruffles and lace and rings and necklaces and I don't even know, he looked adorable and very, very much not his age. After a certain point, he suddenly switched over to a much more mature wardrobe; lots of collared shirts, polos, sweatervests (SWEATERVESTS OMNOMNOM - I'll stop), and dark slacks. That's when that he considers himself a rival in Tohru's affections, and it's pretty damn hot.
I imagine he burned all of his old clothes. FUCK YOUR NEGOTIATIONS DAD. Although not really, he's too nice to do that, hahaha.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Yeah! Like I said, he comes from a rich old family, and one of the zodiac members is a very skilled tailor. I imagine all of his clothing is generally made to fit him, and if they aren't, he knows his size well enough to adequately pick out mass-produced clothing that fits him. However, they might be a tiny bit big for him to make him seem even more tiny and pocket-sized.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as she does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He's had two school uniforms: the first, when he was smaller, was basically the girl's uniform with puffy shorts. (He… really has a thing for puffy shorts. Canonically.) His reasoning? "The girl's uniform is cuter on me…" Fucking weirdo. Then he grew up and put on the boy's uniform, and sure enough, he turned heads aaaall around campus (although it was more of a "OUR LITTLE BABY GREW UP WE'RE SO PROUD" sort of reaction (then again, most of the girls were doing the grabbing each other hands and squealing thing…))
In Bete Noire, he has a pair of coveralls for his janitorial work at the Le Gode hostel. Because he is a child of the nineties and coveralls are awesome.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Briefs! It… used to be commando, ahaha, to cut down on extra clothing he had to put back on if he accidentally transformed.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
It used to be pretty high! Little boyish and sweet, as per his keet image. Now, though, his voice is dropping to less than dogwhistle frequencies, so he's sounding pretty much like his age now. (I feel like I say this a lot… but I am taking him from post manga and I really feel like I have to make these distinctions. OTL sorry). It still does have that cute little cracking quality to it, but it's matured to more of a husky effect. Heh…
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Loud, with lots of gusto and emphasis! If he's happy, you can hear it, even when he's speaking in German. He does speak a little slowly, just to emphasize WORDS. He chatters like a very small girl, innocent inflections all around.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Well, you know, he has to speak like this, kyaha! He speaks like he moves like he walks, with a rhythm, like every word is a delicious treat to be fluffed up with tics and giggles galore. It's very... cute. Weird. Pretty unnatural. Mostly adorable. It's an image thing; he does drop it whenever he's talking very seriously about something.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Japanese and German! He's completely fluent in both. He does learn English at high school, but he's never spoken to a native English speaker, so his knowledge of it is incomplete at best.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
He drops into German all the time, mostly for exclamations and off the cuff remarks. Germanese, if you will. He keeps it down to phrases that don't really need to be translated due to context, and willingly translates whenever someone asks him to.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
He makes it out as though he's a good thinker on his feet, but in actuality, he thinks for a really long time before he says anything. He starts thinking about what he's going to say before he even steps up to greet you. He can be rendered speechless if you catch him with something completely out of right wing left field. THAT'S THE OTHER THING, he gets idioms and turns of phrase mixed up... all the time. I still don't know if that's deliberate or not.
One thing he can think up quickly is a good tease. He makes fun of everyone. EVERYONE.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Eloquent! He's extremely good with words, due to the whole thinking really really hard before saying anything thing, and although the vocabulary he uses tends to be simple, he can convey very, very nuanced ideas through them. If anything he says seems easy to swallow, think about it twice.
The only ways I think there are to shut him up are to 1) hit him in earnest (as in, you are beating him because you honestly want him to feel like shit), 2) Have an extremely serious conversation with him, or 3) be God actually, no, not even that would work.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
He's pretty intelligent all around. He gets his homework done early and never seems to need help with it. He's likely had a tutor once or twice in his life, but his good grades he gets on his own.
Momiji is really sheltered. Not to the point where he can't function in society, and he may in fact be the best at social interaction in comparison to some of his other cousins (let me think... one's bipolar schizophrenic, one's a victim of severe emotional abuse, one has crippling social phobias, two are victims of acute social abandonment, one of whom is a part of a trio who are victims of severe physical abuse... Uh, Momiji has had it easy. Sort of.) Most of the gaps in his street smarts education seem to come from his family's social position rather than a lack of motivation on his part. Still, he has rich boy problems, and it really shows.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
See the above; he does well enough in situations where he doesn't need to think too deeply, but whenever he's shaken or caught off guard, he usually has to excuse himself so people don't catch him being completely at a loss for what to say.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He's a healthy mix of logical and intuitive, idealistic and practical. He tends towards intuition, but won't intuit his way into a situation he knows he can't handle. He can get extremely idealistic, but is usually held back by his very firm grasp on reality. I wouldn't call him a cynic, but he does concede defeat to human failure more often than you'd think he would. I like to think he has a very realistic outlook about his hopes for an idealistic future, haha.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
He spent his elementary school years in a private school with his cousins, then went to a boy's international school for his intermediate grades. He finally had a taste of public school in his high school years when he enrolled at Kaibara High, but he still had to get permission from the head of his clan in order to go there. He's had a few private tutors for various subjects, like German and general studies and most significantly the violin (his violin teacher is apparently the best in Japan). He's had a pretty prestigious educational background, barring Kaibara High, and he could probably get into any college in Japan he wanted on the strength of his grades alone.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
PEOPLE! He loves meeting people, getting to know people, watching people, learning about people, will probably minor in the social sciences when he gets into college. Yes, all of them. He reaaally wants to pick you guys apart to see how your brains work. Don't worry, he is the cutest, most harmless Dr. Jekyll you will ever ever meet unless you get on his bad side, which is impossible.
Obligatory violin paragraph: He wants to become a professional violinist when he grows up. He's very, very talented, but keeps the fact that he can play it close to himself. To him, playing the violin is the equivalent of writing in a diary.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
SO EXTROVERTED. LOVES LOVES LOVES MEETING NEW PEOPLE, hugs and kisses and snuggling and chatting and hugs and hugs and HUGS. And going out to new places to meet new people (or sharing time with older friends). And hugs.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Cheerful, peppy, easy-going, adorable, lighthearted exterior, intensely passionate interior. He does get sad and melancholic, and he has been known to start crying for no apparent reason other than the simple fact that he had been imagining another person in pain. Yeah, he's a bighearted kind of guy. But mostly, he's fun and cheerful and energetic, constantly curious and hungry for interaction.
The only way to make him drop this temperament is to either freak him out or get him to talk seriously. The former will just... scare him to death, honestly, and the latter will make him reveal a calmer, almost eerily mature side. He trolls the best during these moments, getting very self-satisfied pleasure out of reverse psychology. He's good at it.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Enthusiastic! Adventuresome! Seriously. Think Curious George. Think "STOP EATING THAT THAT IT'S FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD". He tends to get overexcited about the littlest things, and fears... very, very few things.
He's also a GOD DAMN TROLL. The first time he met someone outside of the clan that knew about the curse? He started flirting with her in German and kissed her before waltzing his way out of there without a single introduction. SMOOTH ASS CRIMINAL GOT SOME SUGAR BEFORE ANY OF THEM OTHER FUCKERS
okay i'm done
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Act! Do you want to go to a swanky fine lake house for the weekend? He made reservations! Thought about going to a nice little retreat? He's two steps ahead of you; he's hired out the entire inn and reserved the hot tubs. The beach? He bought fireworks and a dozen watermelons. His initiative has only gotten stronger by the end of the manga; he grows into a very active character, and ends up being the second Souma to get rid of his curse.
Fortunately, this initiative extends to more serious situations as well; he will do more and go farther for someone he loves than anyone in his family. Fact.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Flight. If he's forced into a situation where he must argue his point, he'll do his best and will be able to keep his head, but he will have a brief meltdown afterwards. Confrontation of any kind is extremely stressful for him.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
REALLY DUMB. He thinks everything is funny (except for radically unfunny things, of course; he's not a complete moron). The first time he ever went into a haunted house was like a complete comedy run for him. His sense of fear for most conventional phobias got turned off a long time ago, apparently. He's cool with grossness (although he may not get why everyone is like EWWWWWW), participates willingly in pranks (and loves them to bits) and he's recently been dabbling in deadpan humor. "You're a bad man, Kyo Souma."
I don't see him appreciating gallows humor or dead baby jokes, though. 8|a He'd act oblivious about it, but he'd secretly just not appreciate it at all.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Nope! Well... if there's a confrontational disorder, that would probably be it. He's got an aversion to confrontation like you would not believe.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
... Jesus fucking CHRIST, where do I begin? You know what, I'm skipping this until the end for miscellaneous moments I might have missed in the relationships section, because this kid's life has been one giant soap opera.
14. What does he fear?
His mother remembering his existence. So terrified that the hypnosis might wear off someday. Details in the parents section of his relationships. Other than that... he probably fears that someone he loves will get hurt or killed because of him; it's happened before to him and to several members of his family and he hates it so much. He actually has one more fear which is kind of secondary to the first two, but he does fear that he will never be able to adjust to being a normal human being. Not as immediate or terrifying as the first two, but it does keep him up at night.
And... all other fears sort of get overshadowed by those three. Any other fear is diddly-squat in comparison to living alone for the rest of his life.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He's got some… very ordinary hopes and dreams for someone so eccentric. Basically, he wants to find a nice girlfriend, date for a little while, have fun at college, learn new things, then get married and have a family. He definitely wants at least two children. He also has his future violin career ahead of him. And someday, he wants to hold a private violin concert for his mother and sister.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
That he was cursed and only had the vaguest idea of what normal human interaction was like before a few months ago. Seriously. Also, he'd really like it if no one figured out how incredibly "selfish" he can be. If he can keep his past under wraps and survive long enough to adjust to normal society without getting called out on his neuroses, the rest will be gravy.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
/SHAKES AND CRIES
right now, his mother has no idea that he exists, and his father sees him once every few months. Yeah. I'm going to delete this atm 8|a I'll put it back up once he gets more situated in Bete Noire. if you wanna know, go read the manga/ask me and i'll message it to you. because it's COMPLICATED.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
/SHAKES AND CRIES MORE
One little sister, Momo. Has only met her a few times, loves her to itty bitty bits and thinks she's the most adorable little girl in the world. She doesn't know he's her real big brother. IT'S COMPLICATED. MASSIVELY.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
None he can't stand, fortunately, but it's going to take me a YEAR to summarize all of his relationships with his family. IT'S COMPLICATED.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of her family? What are his relationships with them?
TOOOOOHRUUUUUUUUUUUUU~~! It's. Complicated.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Hatsuharu Souma. I'll go into more detail later.
6. Does he have other close friends?
None whatsoever! IT'S COMPLICATED
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Hmmm... It depends on what you mean by friends. Casual friends, people that you'd play games with or go eat out with - yeah, he's got loads and loads of those. But real friends, people that he'd count on? Those are EXTREMELY difficult for him to make.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
COMPLICATED. Friends, I think. You can't choose family, and his farther relatives have been the closest to his heart.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single! He's still too young to get married, lol. No boyfriends or girlfriends either; Akito would have shanked him (and his loved one) hard if he did.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Nope!
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
Tohru Honda, in a way that hurts. Hasn't fallen in love since.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
A sensible, down to earth kind of girl. Sweet, maybe a little shy. Determination and strength is a plus. Someone who wouldn't mind him spoiling her silly. Someone whom he can trust absolutely, even if he might not know what he's in for.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
Doesn't have any children, but boy does he ever want a few. Is he way too young to want to settle down? Hells yes. But that's just the way he is.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological sign? How well does he fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his 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 he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend her money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he 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?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?