OOC: route-29 app
Player
Name: Kana
Livejournal Username: twospirit
E-mail: kana.rp@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: kana destination
Timezone: PST
Current Characters in Route: N/A
Character
Name: Mukahi Gakuto
Series: Prince of Tennis
Timeline: Post-Nationals
Canon Resource Links:
Prince of Tennis @ Wiki
Gakuto's Page @ PoT Wikia
Gakuto's Page @ FET
Personality:
Being born into an affluent family and growing up at Hyoutei has given him the sense of being better than everyone, or at least the idea that he should be. With a tennis club of over 200 members and only 8 regular spots, ruthless competition is highly encouraged to create only the finest team. Even the regulars view each other as rivals as sorts, as a disgraceful loss can get any one of them demoted. Gakuto isn't a push-over and perhaps a bit abrasive because of that environment, always looking to prove himself as being better than someone if he's put to a challenge. He won't go down without a fight, but he usually won't look to pick one unless he knows he can win or he knows he has someone watching his back. Unfortunately, his mouth sometimes gets ahead of him and creates situations he has no control over.
He's marked by his frankness; if he has an opinion about someone or something, he'll make it known sooner rather than later, and isn't afraid to speak his mind. If anything, it's more like he can't help but share this thoughts. On the court he'll taunt his opponent about how they'll lose, confident that he'll always come out the winner. If someone criticizes him or a friend, he'll be quick to get on the defense and retaliate. If he has a problem with someone, he'll go right up to them and confront them about it, telling them point blank what his issue is. Whether or how it gets resolved is another issue, as Gakuto tends to act before he thinks. It often gets him in trouble, like how he has constant fights with his father and ends up crashing at a friend's house afterward because of the consequences.
Quick-tempered, his moods are unsurprisingly mercurial. He can go from relatively happy to pissed and back in three seconds, too restless to even stay on one emotion for too long. He's very reactionary and always in motion, having to keep active in some manner, whether it's physically, verbally, or mentally. Stagnating in one place bores and annoys him, and he hates to be confined in any way. He enjoys the freedom to do what he likes and doesn't appreciate it when people try to interfere in his life or his choices. It's partly why he loves birds so much; looking up, he sees them flying unfettered of the world and feels envious.
As proud and haughty as he is, Gakuto is rather insecure, which feeds into his defensiveness. His appearance is small and girlish, something he's not too happy about, and he hates that people make assumptions about him based on that. He likes being compact, as it helps with his acrobatics, but it comes with the price of people always looking down on him because of it, both literally and figuratively. He takes to spending his free time in high places, like on the school roof, just so that he can be the one looking down on everyone else for once. While he isn't frail, he does have an issue with stamina; he needs to watch his strength during a tennis match in case he gets too tired before he's won, and it's most likely why he's a doubles player. Having someone to support him helps compensate for his stamina, though he's been training to improve it over the course of the series. It's why he can get play well with a partner he might not actually like, since he knows that he needs them to win and is willing play his best with them. He isn't putting their differences aside, as he'll still tease and taunt his unwanted partner, but if they can work together to secure victory than he can deal with it.
He's more of a realist than a dreamer, preferring things he can relate to over fantasies. His favorite subjects are all pretty straightforward and formulaic; with chemistry and English, there's always a right answer that he just has to find. He starts having problems with ambiguous things where it's not always black and white, like politics and economics. He can still form opinions about them but there's no way to check whether they're viable or not, and he dislikes that uncertainty. It's also why he hates ghosts stories, which are focused on unknown, ethereal beings that can't be pinned down, but why he enjoys things like Spider Man and shounen manga. The latter is about boys and men who still exist in modern times, like him, who receive supernatural powers from a source made known to the reader and are given obvious tasks to accomplish. He does have his moments of fancy, like his desire to grow wings and fly, and he does remain positive, despite the amount of complaining he does. Instead of focusing on his weaknesses, he prefers to build off of his strengths. Losing isn't something he's graceful about, as he'll often hang on to the idea that it should've been him that won, and while he might hold a grudge he'll generally put it behind him and focus on improving. He's too prideful to wallow or accept defeat, as much as he might complain about it, and he'll never let it hold him back.
Despite his flaws, Gakuto is good at making and keeping friends. He puts a lot of stock into his friendships and, while there will be moments of petty fighting, he doesn't let it interfere in the long run and often forgets about whatever minor rows he has with them. He keeps up with his friends, constantly making conversation to see what they're up and puts in the effort to stay connected. He'll spoil them or expect to be spoiled by them in return, depending, and he's always available to be a partner in crime for something fun and exciting. Pranks, especially to those who deserve it, are not unknown territory to him. He's incredibly loyal and doesn't let anyone talk poorly about his friends or mock them behind their backs, and he'll jump in to defend them even quicker than he'd interject to defend himself. Because he doesn't connect with his family very well, he looks to his friends and teammates as surrogate blood.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ An amazing acrobat! He can jump inhumanly high and has amazing reflexes and flexibility.
+ Tennis. It's sort of what he does, and he does it pretty damn well. His specialty is doubles.
- His stamina isn't the greatest and he can get tired easily if he doesn't conserve his strength.
+ He's also a good skateboarder and a mighty fine street dancer.
+ He can make pretty accessories out of feathers.
+/- Straightforward. Like, REALLY straightforward. He hides his opinion from NO ONE.
+/- He wears his emotions for all to see.
- Though he'll hide any weakness and insecurity behind defensiveness.
+/- This kid fears nothing. High places? Yawn. Bungee jumping? OH SIGN ME UP.
- Actually, he is afraid of ghosts and ghost stories.
- And he doesn't like his dad.
- Restlessly impulsive. He acts before he thinks and it gets him into trouble a lot.
- Stubborn
- Quick-tempered and mercurial. At least you're able to tell what mood he's in rather easily?
+Loyal and good friend, he will keep you from getting your ass kicked and watch your back for you. No one will talk shit about you if he's around.
+ An intuitive thinker, he's fairly people smart and good at judging others' moods.
+ He's energetic and fun, and will keep this party rolling.
- A sucker for sweets.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Togepi ♂ ("Kanye")
Password: Taco Bell
Samples
First Person Sample:
[The Gear has been propped up on something prior to being turned on, allowing Gakuto to freely stand there with his arms crossed and irritation clear on his face. He's not happy about something and everyone is about to know about it. It made have something to do with the barely audible cooing noises coming off camera.]
This is totally bullshit. I was told we were getting monsters that could fight, and this? [He breaks his posture to reach down with a disgruntled sigh, practically shoving the gleeful Togepi into the Gear's lens. For some reason, it seems to like this and waves its stubby arms happily, which only sours Gakuto's mood.] Is a fucking egg. What am I suppose to do with it, use it like a projectile or go egg Seigaku?
[He's pacing now, the Togepi in one arm as the other settles on his hips.] Someone clearly made a mistake over here and I need it fixed now. If I'm gonna be stuck with some monster thing, it needs to be big and cool and have wings and maybe, I dunno, shoot lightning or something. I have better things to do with my time then to wait on this guy to hatch, cuz screw that, who even knows if it'll be into something I can use.
[A pause, and he glances down at the cheerfully unaware Pokémon, his mouth downturned somewhat reluctantly.]
Though... I guess you're sorta cute. And maybe you'll grow up into something cool. But until then- [And his attention goes right back to the Gear, his mood flaring up.] I need another Pokémon, STAT, so send one over. And make sure it’s awesome.
Third Person Sample:
The second his Pidgeot learned Fly, Gakuto took back every terrible thing he’d said about Johto. For the moment, at least.
Whenever his Pokémon learned a new move, he always prompted them to use it so he could see it in action. Sometimes he was disappointed, but sometimes the little fuckers managed to exceed his imagination, conjuring up the sort of the power only seen in high-budget movies. It was important not only that he knew what his team was capable of, but also what moves they had were the most useful and impressive so he could drill them on those; winning with style had an appeal he couldn’t resist.
But this… this was a whole different ballgame.
After finally beating that loser Falkner (seriously, Gakuto would make a way better Gym leader than him, if it was worth his time), it had only been a matter of seeing which of his friends had Fly for him to borrow for a moment. Some might’ve called it cheating, but the redhead was pretty sure whoever said that probably thought saving kittens from a burning building was a good idea, and besides, why bother to make it the HMs reusable if they weren’t meant to be shared? In his mind it was all fair game.
The HM had hardly finished its magic before Gakuto was already performing a handspring vault onto Pigeot’s back, impatiently urging it upward the moment he settled. And finally, finally, he was soaring up in the air, the wind whipping past him as the ground grew smaller and smaller, the people below little more than ants. It didn’t matter that he probably had the dumbest grin on his face, because no one up here could see it. This space was for him and him alone, and he was free to laugh into the sky as loudly as he wanted.
It didn’t take long before he was doing loops and spins, the thrill even better than he’d hoped. But such constant, rigorous performing, even with a rider as small as him, was tiring his Pokémon out. He recognized the signs early on, too used to having to watch out for them in himself, and despite being a bit annoyed that his fun was over, Gakuto could empathize. The flight back to town was leisurely, both to let his Pokémon cool down and to drag out the moment as long as he could, and touching back down onto ground had never felt so disappointing.