OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: ree
Personal Journal: pontaneous
Age: old as the hills
Contact: aim + plurk: pontaneous ; skype: wondering.what.breakfast.is
Characters Played: n/a

IN CHARACTER

Name: Renge Houshakouji
Canon: Ouran High School Host Club
Age: 16
Timeline: post-anime

Background: come on and SLAM and welcome to JAPAN

Personality: To really understand Renge, it's easier to break her down into two parts. One being a child raised as an heir to a first-class company, and the other being a teenage fangirl. These two parts of her overlap quite often, but it's better if they stand alone for the time being.

The company her father runs isn't talked about much, just that he has business with the Ootori Medical Conglomerate. As they are in, if not running the, Big Leagues, it's only fair to assume that the Houshakuji business is in that same tier. As the daughter of such a businessman, it's also fair to say that she was raised with the same values that other CEO's children were. Each of the hosts are well-bred, with manners, class, elegance in certain situations, eloquence, and intelligence. While Renge herself is not a host, she is not lacking in any of these traits. She is not the pinnacle of the upper class, but she's not its black sheep either. She is a shrewd businesswoman, extremely observant and knowledgeable in subjects she takes an interest in-- whatever she chooses, she becomes an encyclopaedia for it. If she is not interested in it, it is painfully obvious. Her father arriving home from Japan was a shining example: she was deeply invested in her dating simulator game, and very focused on it, so when he arrived home, she was blatantly disinterested in him, almost ignoring him entirely. While being in Japan has softened that a bit, and she has better people skills now, choosing ignorance for her own gain has not disappeared entirely. While it was most evident with calling Kyouya her fiancé even though they had never met, and she latched onto the idea when she realised he looked like Ichijo Miyabi, a character in her dating sim, Uki Doki Memorial, it shows up in other places (likely when dealing with the twins and their venom). It serves as a defence, as well as a decoy-- it's easy to think that Renge is nothing but a shallow, delusional, severely misguided heiress with no grasp of how the real world works. But Renge is so much smarter than that. She's in the top classes with the Hitachiin brothers and Haruhi, speaking for both her wealth and her own intelligence. She was raised as the sole heir to a first-class company-- there is no doubt she received the best education money could afford, and that she absorbed it like a sponge. Renge has shown herself to be resourceful and willing to obtain information, benign as it all is, through bribery, dedicated to her goals. As it goes, "money talks, shit walks." Her financial standing gets her halfway to whatever she wants, but she manages the other half on her own. This may not always be evident, nor will her cunning and slyness, but it is ever-present. It just tends to be buried.

What it is buried under, though, is the youthful fangirl side of her. Renge is gung-ho about most things she likes-- most notably her beloved video game, Uki Doki Memorial. Before Japan, she was an otaku, and not the Western definition of it. She was an otaku that was so obsessed with her fandom of choice, and projected desires of hers onto other people. (She's done with that, for the most part...) In this, she managed to recast the Host Club in roles with depth she thought suited them. (While they said it was absurd and it wasn't like them at all, she was spot on in which character traits she added to them: e.g. Tamaki as a lonely prince, adored by all, but loved by none, harbouring secrets and a tragic past.) Renge has ideas, and by god, she will see them through to the end. Reinventing the hosts was not just recasting them, but coaching them into their roles, then creating a dramatic film starring all of them which was directed and filmed by the best people in Hollywood. "Go big or go home" is truly her motto. She understands how to cater to the host club customers, and after appointing herself as their manager (originally, none of the hosts wanted her around and waited for her to disappear out of their lives, but she stuck around.) their business boomed. When the host club cosplayed as members of the Shinsengumi, she told them not to cast themselves, and let the customers imagine who they could be. She started a magazine that many of the girls bought, bringing in even more cash for "her" Kyouya, who she believes is really in charge of the host club. She's really not that far off... When she is struck with an idea, she has the charisma to get people behind it, like the Halloween Scare Challenge, rallying her entire class into an event that they'd never consider if it wasn't for her. She has energy that's infectious, and certainly exhausting. Not everyone in the host club can keep up with her, nor do most of them wish to try. After all, with the aid of her High-powered Motor Platform (that shows up in places it shouldn't be able to), she ends up with her nose in everything. No one wants to keep up with THAT. Her exuberance is nothing more than mildly obnoxious at worst, but if channelled correctly, it is a powerful tool. Renge has been shown to coach people into a character type that could help them with the issue at hand. Examples include Shiro into the naughty type to make women happy, as he asked, and Nekozawa in a dark princely sort so that he could be closer to his sister. Renge gives tough love, yes, but she is caring, doing her best for these people so that they have a shot at finding the happiness they seek. She's talented as well, writing and performing a show for children at an expo in the main city. She loves the spotlight, sure, but a performance like that definitely helps show a bit of her gentle side.

Renge is most certainly a teenage girl, willing to travel halfway across the world in the pursuit of a dream, in the name of love, and willing to stay to live her life in a way she saw fit. She is incredibly bright, creative, with the ability to make something special out of absolutely nothing. While she can be insensitive and naive, and on occasion, incredibly aggressive, she is mostly harmless, a spoiled little rich girl who lets visions of grandeur cloud reality sometimes. But she has a good heart with good intentions, seeing the world as a playground and ready to be enjoyed.

Powers: The only power she could possibly have is that of The High-Powered Motor Platform? (????)
Do you want a power wipe? n/a

Suitcase: a picture of her parents, several photos of the Host Club, a sketchbook + pencils and pens, as many dresses as she can fit in there, a few manga volumes, and one of her cosplay costumes.
Surprise? ABSOLUTELY.
Other Notables: n/a

SAMPLES

Network Sample:
[the feed begins, and in front of the camera is a slightly dishevelled blonde girl-- her hair bow is lopsided, her face blemished only by a smudge of dirt and a frown, but it's enough. the message is clear. it's not been a good day, and she's certainly not happy about it. it's not anger, no. more like disappointment.]

I've had more turbulent landings in planes. I've been more scared by low-budget horror movies. Whatever this place is doesn't worry me-- at least, not for myself. I'm more concerned about who the interior designer is, and how they could've fallen so far. And the building inspector! He's got to be hospitalised after seeing this mess.

But I'll give this place an A for aesthetic. It could work as a movie set, for sure. [a light goes off in her brain, and shows in her eyes.] A dark and stormy night, where the rain won't let up, and unfortunate travelling souls end up here, in a room that looks as sad as their condition. A handsome butler comes to make sure that their visitors are alright, and right when everything is calm... The lightning crashes! The lights go out! The guests scream and the true fun begins!!! WHO WILL SURVIVE THE NIGHT?! WHO WILL SEE THE LIGHT AGAIN?! Coming soon to a theatre near you... [she laughs excitedly, holding her chin in her hand as she considers the circumstances.] It could happen. I could make this movie... Being here has got to be all thanks to the Hitachiins, and their devilish ways... HEAR THAT, BOYS? I'm about to become a world-famous director, thanks to you! Any actors interested in becoming the next sensation/Oscar winner, the name you're looking to work with is Renge Houshakouji!!! Don't keep me waiting! The rain might not stay!

[and in the mad dash to find her perfect film crew, the feed is cut off.]

Threads: one. two. three. four.