everything you ever wanted to know
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
I'm not sure of exact height and weight, but he's kind of on the short side and he has a very slight, thin build.
2. How old is he?
Almost nineteen.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He mostly stands up straight - military training will do that to you - but he has a certain tendency to carry himself in a way that gives an impression of skittishness. Leads with his shoulders a little, ducks his head forward.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Like most Mu, Matsuka is not very physically strong. He doesn't really have chronic health problems, but he's not very resilient and he tires easily. Stress also easily affects his physical well-being; he's prone to cold chills and trembling without all that much provocation.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
When he's not nervous, he can be quite graceful. Just as often, though, he moves like a prey animal - careful, self-conscious, and hesitant.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He has a pretty, large-eyed face, although he's probably a bit too feminine for some tastes. Personally, he doesn't really think of himself as attractive, which has less to do with not liking his looks and more to do with a generally low sense of self-worth.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
He's very fair-skinned, smooth and unblemished. He doesn't really tan. He's the sort who burns, peels, and starts all over again.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
His hair is grey. Oh, you can try describing it as "ash blond," but really: it's grey. It's loosely curly, soft and fluffy... basically a natural plurf.
9. What color are his eyes?
Gold. You can't make any argument about "light brown" here - they are bright gold. Or yellow, if you prefer. His odd coloring can probably be blamed on his Mu factor.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Not really. The eyes and hair are enough.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Chest and stomach.
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?
Left to his own devices, Matsuka chooses clothing that is fairly simple: usually some combination of t-shirt or long-sleeved knit shirt, button-front shirt, and jeans or slacks, mostly in solid colors. He dresses neatly - shirts always tucked in.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
His clothes usually fit pretty comfortably, neither very lose nor particularly tight. He's not uncomfortable in them, although likely as not he's uncomfortable for some other reason.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
Pretty much. His job doesn't require a particular dress code, so he just kind of wears everyday clothes all the time. If he needs to dress up, it's usually on the order of a crisp white button-front shirt and black slacks, or he might break out his National Knight Corps uniform.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Briefs.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
He has a clear treble voice.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
His normal mode of speech is soft, and he tends to speak hesitantly, often with trailing pauses.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
In keeping with his usually hesitant manner of speaking, Matsuka's more likely to question than declare; when expressing his thoughts he tends to phrase it in ways like "Don't you think...?" and "...isn't it?" He's surprisingly capable of snark, but when he does it, he says it in the same soft, almost timid manner he says everything else, and as a result it's easily overlooked.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
He speaks the universal language of the SD System, which for convenience's sake we'll say is English. He's picked up a tiny bit of Japanese from Bakura.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
No.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
He's not a very confident speaker under any circumstances, and his shyness makes him really not very good at impromptu speeches.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Matsuka can be pretty good with words, but he's hampered a lot by his own timidity, which makes him stumble over what he's saying or leave sentences trailing off unfinished. When moved by feelings strong enough to overcome this, though, he's more eloquent.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Matsuka is reasonably intelligent, but he's gotten so used to thinking of himself as useless that he rarely performs as well as he could if he had a little more confidence. He's not at all street-smart, and his education has had some weird gaps.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He's impulsive and given to acting without really thinking about it. When he actually has to think something through, he does better with a little time to deliberate, but too much time will only let him start second-guessing himself and getting frozen up in uncertainty.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He's an extremely intuitive, idealistic person, very much ruled by emotion.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
Matsuka was educated by the SD System. Up until he was fourteen, he attended a fairly normal school; after his adulthood exam he was sent to an education station in space for most of his practical education. This involved a lot of training related to living and working in space.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Matsuka has ended up with your basic lackey skillset. He's pretty good at organization and detail work and he can operate a variety of spacecraft. He's open to learning more about all kinds of things, particularly related to the humanities, which were not given much attention in the SD System's education program, but he's hampered by honestly not really being sure what's out there to learn.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Introvert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Matsuka is sensitive and prone to anxiety; he's a shy, gentle person who worries a lot.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
So timid. He's also very naive and wants to believe the best of people, so if someone manages to assuage his nervousness by being friendly and accepting, he easily comes to trust them.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
React. Matsuka's lack of self-confidence makes it very unlikely for him to be moved to take action on his own, although he can be inspired into action for the sake of someone he cares about.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight, oddly enough. When he panics, he lashes out with his Mu powers.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Matsuka doesn't like humor at the expense of other people. He appreciates silliness and wordplay, not so much gross-out humor, and nothing that involves insulting or upsetting someone else. He's capable of some darker humor - see above about his capacity for snark - but he doesn't prefer it.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
He's got a fierce case of Stockholm Syndrome thanks to Keith Anyan, who cultivated it intentionally - way to go, Keith! Right now he's mostly... not dealing with it at all, thanks.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
Awakening to his Mu powers on the way to the education station after his adulthood exam.
Meeting Keith Anyan and being discovered as a Mu.
Keith insisting on Matsuka accompanying him to investigate Silvester 7; Keith being abandoned there, and Matsuka's decision to go back and rescue him.
Recognizing Keith's grief over Sam's death.
Keith's breakdown, homicidal rampage, and death.
14. What does he fear?
He's afraid that he really is a monster; he's afraid of being seen as and treated like a monster by others.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He very much hopes to stay in the City and never go back to his own world and the SD System.
Up until very recently, he hoped to be able to save Keith and get him to give up on the Mother System, accept the Mu, and be able to open up his heart a little. That's kind of buried under a whole lot of trauma at the moment.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
It's not exactly on the level of something No One Must Ever Know, but for the most part he doesn't really want most people to know the role he played in the destruction of Silvester 7.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Oh, boy. Basically: like everyone else under the SD System, Matsuka is a test tube baby. He was concieved in vitro and given to a pre-screened couple with no blood relation to him to raise. And then when he turned fourteen his memory was wiped and he never saw them again. His parents took reasonably good care of him and he vaguely remembers caring about them, but he doesn't remember their names or what they looked like or much else about them.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Every child in the SD system is an only child. No siblings.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
See above. No blood relatives or extended family at all.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Bakura Ryou has effectively adopted him as a younger twin brother. It's Matsuka's first real experience with having a family aside from his few nebulous memories of his parents, so he's still not really sure exactly how to approach it, but Bakura is the person he's most comfortable being around and opening himself up to, and he'd do anything he could for him.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Still Bakura. They'd met previously during an earlier visit to the City which Matsuka doesn't remember, and hit it off fairly well; when Matsuka arrived this time, Bakura greeted him and helped him get used to the City (again), and gave him a job in the office at this toy store. They've been close ever since.
6. Does he have other close friends?
After Bakura, the closest relationship Matsuka has is with Keith Anyan, which is... complicated, what with the Stockholm Syndrome. That's prevented Matsuka from really being able to socialize a lot and has created barriers between him and other people that he'd otherwise be close to: Soldier Blue and Leo top that list, as they've both shown Matsuka a lot of caring and concern but he's continued to stay with their worst enemy, so... yeah.
He also has important relationships with Kurama and Beatrice, both of whom have shown him the kind of kindness and acceptance that he craves. He has a more tentative friendship with Terra as well, made awkward by the whole Keith thing.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Yes and no... Keith's influence and his own timidity greatly hamper his ability to make friends, but he responds very easily to overtures from others. He's sensitive to other people's feelings and doesn't want them to be uncomfortable or unhappy, so he does his best to be accommodating and he's very easy to get along with, albeit shy.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
His concept of "family" is pretty limited and mostly overlaps with "friends" anyhow thanks to Bakura. So, friends.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
He had a couple of early, shy little crushes on the prettiest, friendliest and most outgoing kids in his class back before his adulthood exam. He doesn't remember these at all. After the adulthood exam he was really too withdrawn from others to feel that way about anyone up until Keith, who he loves desperately.
He also kind of sort of almost could have a crush on Kurama, if Kurama let him, but so far he hasn't.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
He's too shy to really look for romance, but what attracts him is primarily strength of personality, and the capacity for kindness and deep emotion. He's also drawn to lonely people, because it's a feeling he's familiar with himself and wants very much to ease when he senses it in other people.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
Having children is a completely foreign notion to Matsuka. He's still baffled by the idea of natural childbirth at all, and couldn't possibly concieve of himself as ever being able to take care of a child.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Not really. His relationship with Keith is, as always, complicated as hell, but he's otherwise mostly too inoffensive to earn himself any enemies. His commanding officer back before Keith stole him, Glaive Murdock, kind of had it in for him a little at times, but that was mostly because Matsuka was more or less useless as a soldier; it wasn't personal.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
He's more or less a 4. Ultimately, he's much more concerned with a person's heart than with their physical shell, but most of his significant interactions have been with men and he has less experience interacting with women in general, and as a result he's more easily attracted to men.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Sex is barely even on Matsuka's radar a lot of the time. He's never had any experience with it himself, although he hasn't been able to help picking up some things thanks to his empathy - always awkward. He enjoys hugs and other chaste displays of physical affection a lot (although he doesn't usually feel able to give that sort of thing without an invitation), but thus far sex is mostly something other people do. He hasn't felt the need or had the confidence to really think about experiencing it himself.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Since he's very much an emotional person rather than a physical one, his turn-ons are mostly the same as the qualities listed as the ones that attract him romantically, with gentleness added to the list. If he ever does experience sex firsthand, he will prove, unsurprisingly, to be a submissive lover who follows his partner's lead - partly because he's timid and inexperienced, but also because his empathy means that he automatically picks up his partner's thoughts and feelings and responds to them. Physical contact lets him directly into someone's mind past all kinds of barriers, which means that sex is even more intimate an act for him than it is to begin with. Also: empathic feedback loops. Hi.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
I've concluded that he's a Pisces. Water signs are primarily associated with emotion and sensitivity, and mutable signs are associated with adaptability and the providing of service, all of which characterizes Matsuka.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
There's really no religious or spiritual culture in the SD System; the space it would occupy is occupied instead by the drive to return to and restore Terra. So that sort of thing is all really new to Matsuka and he hasn't yet had much exposure to it.
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?
Rather than an ethical or moral code, Matsuka is driven by empathy for others. He can almost always feel if someone is suffering, and because he can feel it personally, it's important to him not to do anything that causes others pain and to try to ease their suffering as much as he can.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
He's a highly tolerant person. Again, this is in no small part due to his empathy; he can usually feel the emotions behind people's actions, and that makes it a lot easier for him to accept and to be understanding. He's kind of curious about other people's beliefs, but very shy about asking.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He doesn't really have any prejudices. He's an accepting person who believes that everyone has reasons for what they do rooted in their feelings, and if anything he's more forgiving than he should be.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
He's pretty comfortable thanks mostly to not spending a whole lot of money. Between the import stipend and his pay from the toy store, he has a comfortable savings that, so far, he hasn't felt the need to tap into much.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
His social status in the City is basically "Import." This is an improvement from back in his own world, where he was the low man on the totem pole pretty much all the time, even though being in the military should have been worth something.
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?
Currently he bounces erratically between a private apartment in the MAC, taking up space in Bakura's studio or on his couch, and his own apartment on the 10th floor of Hell Towers. He keeps his space tidy, and although he's made a few cautious efforts at making his MAC apartment comfortable, this far it's still pretty sparse. He won't really begin venturing into personalizing his space until he feels ready to move back into the Hell Towers apartment, at which point he's got some colorful curtains and a few other decorations given to him by Bakura to start him off.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Not a whole lot! His biggest luxury expense thus far has been on the borderline between luxury and expense: he and Bakura have, over the past almost a year, eaten lunch out at damn near every restaurant in the West End and probably a good few in other parts of the City as well.
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?
He works in the office of West End Toys, mostly doing record-keeping and making sure all the necessary numbers are put into the right databases and everything stays organized. He enjoys it, not so much because of the work (which he doesn't mind) as because of the company. It's nice being able to work with friends.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Hobbies are something else that Matsuka is only beginning to explore since arriving in the City. Most of his time prior to coming to the City was occupied first by hiding his Mu nature from the system and later dealing with Keith full-time. Bakura has gotten him into chess and a couple of other games, but none of them have really caught on with him as hobbies; getting him into reading is the next step and will be more successful.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Matsuka has discovered, again thanks to Bakura, that he likes to cook. He's still learning, but he's gained a pretty good sense of what's healthy and unless he's eating out with Bakura or other friends, he cooks his own meals. Mostly simple fare for now, but he's gradually expanding and trying out new things to figure out what he likes.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Green.
2. Smell? Rain.
3. Time of day? Dawn.
4. Season? Spring.
5. Book? ...none yet, but check back in a few months!
6. Music? Piano.
7. Place? The park.
8. Substance? ...Coffee.
9. Plant? Claytonia virginica.
10. Animal? A dove, which is the fault of my finding out what his name means. Cats are his favorite so far, though.
END
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