character survey.

[tarticious]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Fuyuko is of medium height, relatively tall for a Japanese woman, and due to her intense ballet training, she is very thin, thin enough that some might think her anorexic, although she isn't. She's got muscle tone like you wouldn't believe from dancing and particularly strong legs.

2. How old is she?
Present day, she's 28 years old. She was born on January 11th, 1990.

3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?
She's a ballerina, she has very good posture, her shoulders always pleasantly relaxed and her back kept perfectly straight. It's drilled into her brain.

4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Very fit, no physical disabilities, but she suffers from recurring pain in her right wrist after a fracture she suffered when she was seventeen.

5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Although graceful, Fuyuko's movements aren't as fluid as one might have expected of her. She has a tendency to sharp jolts and quick turns when talking to people, mostly out of excitement or irritation.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?
Fuyuko isn't a classical beauty, her features are a bit too sharp and strongly defined, she's not stereotypically soft and warm in her expression, but that said she's by no means unattractive either and there are times, like when she lets her hair hang loose, when she can look almost statuesque and very striking. She has no issues with her looks as a physical trait, but is used to always judge how she comes across in the wall-to-wall mirrors of the studio, so you can't let her near a mirror without her checking it, something which might make her come across as vain. It's pure habit, however.

7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Light and clear. She's been blessed with incredible skin.

8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.
Black, though she dyes it brown every once in a while, straight and soft.

9. What color are her eyes?
Dark brown.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Her hair, although often kept in a bun, is incredibly shiny, beautiful and soft to the touch. She's pretty proud of it, too and takes extremely good care of it. On the other end of the scale, there's always her feet that, at the end of a season, look beaten and used.

11. What are her chief tension centers?
Tension tends to go to her thighs and she can get incredibly uptight leg muscles when she's aggravated.

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?
For leisure, she's almost always in sneakers and jeans with a wide array of blouses, t-shirts and sweatshirts to match, always kept in the same cool palette as she wears at work; green, blue, purple, white. She has a broad taste in clothes, but unless she's at an official event or the yearly gala, it's all casual. During the warm Luxembourgian summers, she loves to wear light summer dresses with print.

13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?
Yes.

14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?
For work, she has a wide array of leotards, skirts, tutus, pointe shoes, etc. (She uses pointe shoes from Gaynor Minden). She likes to keep the color palette cool, so she wears a lot of greens and blues, maybe purple if she feels adventurous, but rarely pink. Beyond that, white is her standard color of choice and they call her The White Lady at the ballet.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Knickers. Though, she owns a couple of boxers that she wears on evenings when she wants it incredibly relaxed.



Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Fuyuko has a relatively light voice, but it isn't of a soft or breathy quality, it's instead very sharp around the edges.

2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?
Fuyuko has a tendency towards speaking in a loud voice, also laughing loudly and disturbing whatever situation she finds herself in where it isn't appropriate. She speaks fast, though her words never stumble over one another in their hurry. She talks easily and has to rein herself in very deliberately to actually hesitate.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Her English is of the very distinct British variety. Her Japanese holds a trace of Kyoto dialect, but since she studied most of her school years in Tokyo, it's not something she shows for outside of her family circles.

4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?
Being of mixed heritage, Fuyuko speaks both Japanese and English with equal fluency. Having only learned proper French for three-four years, she's still not very good at it, but can communicate in everyday situations, like ordering things and such.

5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Her Kyoto dialect becomes more pronounced when she's talking in Japanese with her family. She prefers talking in Japanese with her sister, although she now lives in the UK, but nevertheless prefers talking in English with her British mother, when they're just the two of them. At work, she speaks English, although French is also a predominant linguistic player.

6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?
Definitely impromptu speaker. She doesn't always consider her words very carefully or carefully enough.

7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
She's eloquent enough. She doesn't sound like a university professor, but she doesn't sound like a simpleton either. She falls somewhere in between those two extremes. When she talks about ballet, however, she sounds both very educated and enthused.



Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?
A mix. Most of her education has been centered around ballet, so when it comes to ballet history, ballet theory and technique, she's extremely smart. She also knows a lot about the literary classics, a love she's picked up from her father as she did with ballet first. When it comes to general schooling, she's gotten by pretty well, but Fuyuko isn't a genius in anything in particular. She's especially bad at chemistry and physics and hates math with a passion.

2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?
She thinks on her feet. Sometimes literally.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Intuitive, but practical. She's good at assessing situations and navigating them just by intuition, but all decisions that she makes have a practical purpose or she'll choose something else. Does it benefit her? What can she gain from it? Does she like the atmosphere? Such considerations steer her choices in whatever direction she chooses to go.

4. What kind of education has the character had?
She's followed the Japanese school system up until compulsory education ended with junior high school at age fifteen. After that, she managed to get through one and a half years of high school (until age seventeen), before she was granted a scholarship to train with the Japanese prima ballerina, Miyako Takahashi in London. Takahashi prepared her for the Prix de Lausanne dance competition where she was first singled out as a contestant, then as a finalist, before being finally deselected. However, the National Ballet of Marseille had noticed her and granted her an apprenticeship with them for two years where she danced the full repertory at their disposal. After this, she sought work with several UK companies, getting invited to dance in the corps of Birmingham Royal Ballet where she worked until Benjamin Girard in 2012 headhunted her for the BG Ballet with a vague promise of promotion, if she worked hard.

5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?
Fuyuko is professionally trained in ballet and educated out in all areas of the art form, history, theory and technique. She loves to read and is keen on literature, but doesn't have the time to dedicate herself to a real pursuit of it.

6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Mood swings, but generally cheerful. She has too much drive to handle, to be honest and sometimes her dream of succeeding in ballet clouds her judgment and can make her unpleasant and selfish.

8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Relaxed and natural.

9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?
Act.

10. Which is her default: fight or flight?
Wait.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
She loves jokes and does joke around herself. Good puns are a sure way to make her more amiable. They pull a lot of pranks at the ballet and she's used to it, but doesn't always appreciate it, if it's ill-timed. She has a sharp sense of humor herself, bordering on sarcastic, though not quite so mean as that. She loves teasing and good-natured fun.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?
N/A.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?
The first time her father took her to see a big, professional ballet performance in Tokyo when she was five and she fell in love with the shoes, the tutus and the dramatic dancing. They watched Don Quixote and ever since, Kitri has been one of Fuyuko's biggest dream roles. It was that ballet which inspired her to truly pursue ballet (which she had already been training for two years at the time) and become a professional ballerina.

Meeting Miyako Takahashi for the first time and finding a coach that truly saw her strengths and her weaknesses and who was completely aware of her potential, someone who had faith in her and believed in her. Even after Fuyuko's almost-but-not-quite-there participation in Prix de Lausanne and her subsequent move to France, the two kept in touch and to this day, Takahashi is always the first person Fuyuko seeks out with questions or worries or rehearsal videos for assessment.

14. What does she fear?
Injury. As a general thing, though, Fuyuko is a bit obsessed with her physical health and sometimes eats "healthy" and works out to excess. On a more personal note, she fears that she'll end up alone forever without finding someone to love who will love her back.

15. What are her hopes or aspirations?
She has several roles that she dreams of dancing, Nikiya being the biggest dream role in her arsenal and Kitri not far behind. Overall, though, her dream is to eventually be promoted to principal with BG Ballet and get the recognition that she thinks she deserves for her dancing and artistry. She also hopes to one day find a person to truly connect with and be in a stable relationship to.

16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?
That she's in love with Claude Bérubé. And that she's bisexual.



Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.
Fuyuko has a really great relationship to both her parents, though she's particularly close to her father. They've been there for her through thick and thin and really supported her choice to pursue ballet as her calling. Her mother has sat with her through rehearsals and recitals, driven her to and from class and been a true ballet mom in every sense, except the crazy pacing tendencies. Her father has been the intellectual support, the one she's discussed interpretation and technique with - as well as the one who took her to see the world's greatest ballet companies in the US, in Europe and in Russia. They talk very freely among themselves in her family and are all very artistically inclined, her parents in language and literature, her sister in music and herself in dance. They are tight-knit, even now when they live in different parts of the world.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
She has one sister, Chinatsu, who plays the flute with one of the most prominent philharmonic orchestras in the UK and is sought out world-wide for her talent on her instrument. They both studied music as children, Fuyuko playing the piano, though only Chinatsu stuck to it to the end. They're very close and Fuyuko often relies on Chinatsu as her closest friend, telling her about her worries and concerns and fears before she tells anyone else, even her best friend, Rose. At the same time, she also envies Chinatsu the life she leads with a husband and children while at the same time being able to have a career. On one hand, Fuyuko wants that for herself, but she isn't willing to pay the price it would take.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?
N/A. Since Fuyuko was away from home a lot growing up, she is only close with her immediate family at this point, having grown estranged from the rest of them.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?
Miyako Takahashi, her coach and ballet inspiration. Dupont-obasan, the old woman whose attic she lives in in Luxembourg, who has taken her in and been like a granny for her when she had no one else.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Rose Delaney, an American concert pianist playing with the orchestra who accompanies all BG Ballet's performances. They met at a function for the arts in Luxembourg City and Rose recognised Fuyuko from the stage (she had just danced Olympia in Lady of the Camellias). Fuyuko told her about how she used to play the piano and a discussion about the instrument led to a coffee date and their relationship has progressed from there. Rose is the second in line to hear all Fuyuko's secrets and is actually the only one who knows that she has a crush on Claude.

6. Does she have other close friends?
Although not all equally close to her, almost all her colleagues at the ballet count as friends or extended family for her.

7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?
She makes acquaintances very easily, but it takes the alignment of certain stars for Fuyuko to call someone a friend. They have to be of a certain type and spirit for her to truly get along with them, mostly they have to be very tolerant and flexible people to be able to embrace her fully as she is, she knows. She's mostly friendly and amiable, but there's a certain distance there until she starts trusting others and opening up.

8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?
Tough call. Her friends are her family, but by that definition, probably family, counting the extended family as well.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?
Single.

10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.

11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?
Her first crush, although she doesn't think about it as such, was a girl in her ballet class called Yuri. She was thirteen years old and never told anyone about it and eventually Yuri gave up ballet, but it was hell while it lasted. Her latest is Claude Bérubé, star dancer with the BG Ballet and very gay. It's the unhappiest crush she's had yet and she hates herself for it, but can't help pining and hoping and daydreaming about him anyway.

12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?
Loyalty. Devotion. Looks are a plus, but some of her crushes throughout her life have had a certain plainness in common. She's very attracted to strength and willfulness. Temper. Both in women and men.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?
N/A.

14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?
She dislikes Heidi Dehne, star dancer at the BG Ballet, but doesn't have any true enemies. Every single of the company's other ballerinas are her rivals, while simultaneously being her friends and this is a very complicated thing to navigate.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?
Bisexual.

16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?
Fuyuko likes sex, but it doesn't make her world spin around. She prefers sleeping with people when in a relationship to them, but has had some one-night stands both with guys from the ballet and strangers she met out on the town. In the sexual sense, she's probably more or a romantic than she's the kinky type.

17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Fuyuko is very vanilla in bed. She likes all the usual stuff and none of the kink. You might be able to talk her into using a blindfold or someone being tied up (though, she'll prefer tying up her partner over being tied up herself), but in reality she just likes the old-fashioned, romantic kind of sex. If she should explore, it would be sensory exploration. Using ice cubes and maybe, maybe candle wax. Things that change the sensations surrounding sex in unexpected ways.



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?

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? Bottle green.
2. Smell? ... Sweat, honestly.
3. Time of day? Morning.
4. Season? Winter.
5. Book? Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima.
6. Music? Minkus or anything by Rie Fu.
7. Place? Europe at large.
8. Substance? Rock or salt crystals.
9. Plant? Thistle.
10. Animal? Blackbird.