Post by Kiku Honda on Jan 1, 2011 2:43:37 GMT -5
Name: 本田菊 ; Honda Kiku
Country/ Code Name: Empire of Japan / Nihon
Age: 23. However, because of his slender built and youthful face, he’s often mistaken to be much younger
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Civilian/Support - Weaponsmith’s apprentice. Kiku will eventually become a master weaponsmith himself, and offer contract services to the military (if that’s okay with you, Prudck?), besides services to his regular clients and merchants.
Likes:
Food: He is very fond of fish (salmon and soused mackerel being his favourite), pickled vegetables and mandarin oranges. He also enjoys most Western cuisine, although he gets squicked by the idea of eating garden snails (because frankly, he’d rather keep those poor creatures as pets). Oftentimes he would prepare his own meals and try out new recipes, fusing East and West.
Reading: When he isn’t busy experimenting in the kitchen, he would be engrossed in books and news clippings, reading about current worldly affairs or lost somewhere in some made-up land far, far away
Learning: He is naturally curious and likes learning about and experiencing new things such as, different culture, ideas, histories, etc.
Animals: He loves animals, having an especially soft spot for cats. As a child in the Imperial Court, he kept several pets, including rabbits and a guinea pig, as well as an Akita dog named Hachiko. When he moved to Londinium, he picked a stray Shiba puppy and a stray kitten off the streets, naming them Pochi and Tama respectively.
Creative arts: He has great appreciation for music, stories and paintings and will sometime spend his free time drawing or painting. He also has a habit of drawing comic strips.
Technology/Games: A technophile at heart, Kiku enjoys tinkering around with gadgets and weapons, and playing games.
Dislikes:
Extremely loud people: While he doesn’t mind the occasional banter and boisterousness, Kiku gets easily annoyed when people get too loud for his comfort
Being bossed around: He is easily miffed by bossy people, and will try to distance himself when they get too overbearing
Physical contact: Kiku gets extremely uncomfortable whenever his Western friends publicly display their affections through hugs and sometimes kisses. To him, physical intimacy is sacred, and only shared between lovers and behind closed doors.
Overly sweet candies: He prefers salty food over sweet things, especially if it is sugary enough to make one diabetic with a single bite. And while he would not say no to desserts and pastries, he would politely pass at having to eat fluorescent blue cakes.
Cockroaches: With extremely manry tears, Kiku would go to great lengths to either avoid these nasty creatures or declare war upon them with a particle-beam bazooka.
Job Skills:
Kiku is skilled at fixing and making weaponry, and generally in mechanics, which helped him secure a job as a weaponsmith’s apprentice upon his arrival in Londinium, his specialty being blade-smithing, Each blade he makes is engraved with his signature “Zipangu”, an old European name for his homeland. He is also skilled in combat, his choice weapon being the katana or Japanese sword. Even if he loses his sword, one should still proceed with caution
Because of his keen interest in learning new things, he is adaptable to most situations and is a fast learner. He is good at observing in the mood and body language of others while being guarded of his own true intentions. This is helps him in analyzing the big picture, and in deciding his next course of action in most given situations.
Personality and background:
Kiku is a shy, quiet and diligent young man. He is not very expressive as he tends to keep his thoughts and feelings hidden. People initially view him as a serious and calm person upon the first meeting. However, once he gets to know a person better, he opens up more. He is a good listener and is mindful of what he says to people. This however, can be a great headache to others as they can’t tell what exactly he is feeling/thinking and it sometimes leads them to misunderstand him altogether.
When angered, he can be terrifying. It is also unwise to have him bear a grudge, as he can be viciously vindictive. However, due to his quiet and patient nature, Kiku is not easily angered and is usually only ever “upset” or “displeased”.
Descended from a long line of nobility and religious priests, Kiku grew up within the Imperial Court and did not have much contact with the world outside of Court. His father is one of the Emperor’s samurai bodyguards and from his sire, Kiku learnt much about combat and thus developed an interest in weaponry. His mother, being the court musician and poet, taught him to appreciate the beauty in all things surrounding him. From her came his love for nature and the creative arts.
Despite being isolated from the outside world during much of his childhood, Kiku is certainly not unaware of occurrences beyond his land; his father made sure of that by encouraging him to listen /read whatever news that came their way either by a messenger or by print. Occasionally, his father would bring him along for the Court meetings and young Kiku would sit quietly by a corner, listening and absorbing with keen ears all that were discussed among the elders.
Although he was raised to conduct himself with grace and courtesy, Kiku is not immune to anger and the occasional snark, especially towards people he finds somewhat irritating, such as the sons of the diplomats and nobles of the other Asiatic nations. He does not hate them, but he does not like them that much either; every time the Chinese and the Korean diplomats pay visit to the Emperor and his Court, their children often tease him for his size and how he was “way too serious” and “acting like an old man”. He seldom loses his temper with them, preferring instead to be politely rude and cold. Sometimes it works to his advantage; when it doesn’t, he just sighs and puts up with getting groped by the Koreans or getting pushed and accidentally sat on by the Chinese.
When Kiku turned 17, he met a European for the first time. It was a young Dutch courier from Heta Empire who was carrying messages to China. From him, Kiku listened to stories about the bustling cities and wonders of Heta Empire, about the military and pirates and of the many different kinds of air ships he hasn’t heard of or seen before. His encounter with the Dutchman woke up the wanderlust in him. Around the same time, Kiku encountered yet another Westerner – this time, it was an American explorer, who managed to convince Kiku to take short ride in his glider. This incident with the American fuelled his curiosity further, and at his coming-of-age ceremony the year after, Kiku made the decision to travel to Heta Empire to learn and experience more about this exotic, new land.
With blessings from his family and the Emperor, Kiku Honda left home with only his father’s treasured katana, Kusanagi, and headed towards Heta Empire.
Other:
Kiku secretly subscribes to Steampr0nz Weekly, an R-rated erotic magazine. Of course, he denies having anything to do with it.
He also has an overactive imagination and a strange fascination with bizarre things such as larger -than-life-sized mecha-robots and square watermelons. Because of this, he may seem a little weird and eccentric at times to his Western friends, although he sees himself to be perfectly normal.
RP sample:
(from one of the old threads here on AT... sorry I'm lazy in writing up a new scenario >_>)
Why is he here? ... Why did it had to be him of all persons?!
As much as he'd like to deny it, there was no doubt in the Japanese youth's mind now that the Chinese man sitting at the table was none other than Wang Yao, son of a merchant family who had visited Japan a number of times when Kiku was just a boy. Their fathers were friendly to each other and Kiku's sire had often invited Yao and his father to the Imperial Palace for tea, and to discuss worldly issues, while Kiku and Yao played in the garden. Kiku didn't hate Yao, but he wouldn't readily admit that they were friends either.
While he was grateful to have the occasional playmate (growing up as the only child got rather lonesome after a while, even for one such as Kiku), there were many times where Yao annoyed him to no end because he was older and therefore tend to be somewhat overbearing. He even remembered it got so out of hand that both ended up in a scuffle which resulted in Kiku getting a cut lip and Yao getting one black eye and wailing to his parents about how Kiku had changed and didn't like him anymore. Kiku was of course, severely punished by his father, and was made to apologized. He did not see Yao anymore after that incident... well, until now, that is.
He was still somewhat staring down at Yao when he heard another voice - was that a British accent? - and he turned to see a blonde-haired man standing behind him. The man's eyes were as green as emeralds, and he had a hard, cold expression, made sterner by his thick brows. The newcomer had politely requested Kiku to move aside (although the youth detected a slight note of curtness in his words) and then greeted Yao. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had business with Yao.
He bowed his head slightly to the blonde, acknowledging the newcomer. "My apologies, sir. I had not realized you were there." He began slowly, his voice soft but firm. He paused for a while, regarding the man. "It surprises me though, that one as stern as you could move with such quiet grace."
Kiku didn't know what made him particularly bold today, especially when his instincts told him this stranger was one to be wary of. It was the same feeling he had felt initially with Norway, only this time, it was ten times stronger. Perhaps he was just bothered by Yao's sudden appearance, perhaps he didn't want Yao to see him as that "little kid brother" still. Or perhaps just seeing Yao brought out the hidden snarkiness in him. Either way, Kiku was not ready to be pushed aside so easily since he too had an appointment, and therefore had as much right to be there as said gentleman.
Meeting the other man's fiery gaze, he bowed once more and politely continued, "Anyways, it would seem both of us have business with -" he glanced at his paper - "China... san. Perhaps it would be easier if we all just sit down first? And..."
As if on cue, the waiter appeared with their tea and placed all three cups onto the table.
"... I suppose it is best not to let our tea go cold either," Kiku looked back at the Briton, waiting for his reply to his invitation to sit.
OOC Information
Name: Charliez, but I suppose everyone just calls me Kiku here, lol
Timezone: GMT +8
Email: PM me for this
