G O U (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gouforgold) wrote1994-10-06 05:49 pm
gouforgold) wrote1994-10-06 05:49 pm
[ app ]
Name: Haku
Contact Info:
Other Characters Played: tetsuya kuroko | kuroko no basuke |horizontals & kimihiro watanuki | xxxholic | fatally
Requested apartment: n/a
Character Name: Gou Matsuoka
Canon: Free!
Canon Point: End of Season 1
Background/History: Gou Matsuoka
Personality: For Gou Matsuoka, personality is not something one necessarily notices first. More likely, one is bound to notice her actions -- peculiar ones perhaps for a decidedly not athletic girl, considering said actions culminate in her joining the Swim Club. Granted, she joins as a manager, but even so it makes one's head tilt until the reason of why comes into play.
Exhibit A: Rin Matsuoka, older (though not by much) brother, and object of much worry for Gou over the years. Despite being the slightly younger sibling, Gou has reputedly been the one in the vantage of Worried and Watchful since her brother left for Australia and each year that he came home. Having witnessed his shift from joy to something burdened and unhappy, when Rin finally returned 'for good' Gou made a decision: to see him smile again.
It's over simplifying to say she joined and then saw the Swim Club through for Rin alone. That would be inaccurate; Gou is a bridge between her brother and his friends, but Gou is also her own person. She has her own investments and commitments to the team, and demonstrates all of this by working out their regimens for them, as well as working hard to keep the Club alive at all. She is open and inclined to connecting with the team members not just as memories but as people who are important in the present, and she believes in her team with all her heart.
Interestingly enough, at one point Gou expresses that she had wanted -- truly -- to se her brother swim with Haruka and the others, rather than against them, but considering her contribution and time with the team, she also understands the good even the latter might do. She knows Rin is missing something or had been, and she facilitates the act of finding whatever it is he lost as best she can while comprehending that it is not something she herself can give him directly. This seems to be something Rei understands too, and worth noting since in the end both of them are more or less audience-members to a finale long in the making.
Gou's directness is subtle at times -- reconnaissance on her brother (or something) mostly -- and a hammer-to-the-head at others -- swim practice mostly. Stubborn and insistent, she is not the person likely to let people slide away from things she thinks they need to face. Her ability to read subtleties is more finely attuned to Rin, courtesy of knowing him their whole lives and also living on the outskirts of his intents anyway, but given enough time with people, they can be applied elsewhere too. An over-arching significance about Gou however is that despite being (like most everyone else in this series) a high school kid, she will shift from 4-year old mode (mostly with Nagisa) to someone rather older than her given 16. This can be attributed arguably to a few things, but mostly it seems fair to say some of it is due to the early loss of their father and the quiet independence of a house occupied only by herself and their mother for some years.
That all said, Gou has an overall buoyant sensibility. She would rather believe something is possible than count anyone out, and she will fight for that particular liberty -- not just for herself but for others she cares about. Sometimes it is a simultaneously covert/overt operation as it was with Rin's happiness, but other times it is as simple as encouraging her team. She has a sense of self and an air of being grounded, even while demonstrating such a bright sensibility.
Side notes: she has one friend outside of the club and her brother's teammates named Chigusa Hanamura. They are often seen together and Chigusa even attends the competitions with her. Their relationship is not much gone into other than the showing rather than telling of their interactions, but the fact that Gou only seems to keep one specific friend outside of the others suggests that she 1. is not exactly a social butterfly; and/or 2. that even if she was, her choice to dedicate herself to the Swim Club (and presumably her own studies) takes precedent. Another thing: several times Gou is complimented as 'cute' but both in season one and two she seems to accept this politely and wide eyed but nothing much else. This isn't to say she's unfeeling or unreceptive, but only that again it seems being complimented as such (or even potentially sought after) is not high on her agenda -- little specifics to make up Gou's character. Finally, she does have her own superficiality in her admiration of muscles; it doesn't have to be anyone she knows. If you have nice ones, she will not only notice but probably comment too, herself, but it's funny and probably important to note that it's never more than a sparkling applause -- never a come-on, never an askance to be noticed for having given said compliments. She just thinks you're super fit and isn't that lovely....!
Abilities/Powers: just a regular human here!
Items/Weapons: iwatobi bag, a hairpin, a bundle of small towels (inside the bag)
Sample Entry: 1800 FLOWERS
Sample Entry Two:
Trust the water. These are words that better suit Nanase Haruka, but she hears them in her brother's voice -- her brother's voice no longer so overwrought by their late father's dream, her brother's voice now more his own than it has been in ages. Gou watches the joint-practice with Samezuka and Iwatobi critically, watching for the weaknesses and strengths she both knows are there and perhaps has never noticed before. This is what managing comes down to. Ideally, one day, she would like to learn for herself, but as things stand, it serves her purpose to simply apply what she has long-learned from watching her brother.
Rin is not that much older than her. Maybe, she supposes distantly sometimes, this is why it is so easy to slip into a role otherwise suited for an elder sibling. Between the two of them, growing up had more to do with independence than reliance, somehow managing to be aware and caring without holding hands. Her hands adjust absently on the clipboard, one picking at the pen chained to it as if considering a note worth adding. It is incredible, the difference in her brother now from only months ago, and here her eyes slide softly from Rin to Rin's rival and friend, Haru.
To Gou, Haru is 'Haruka-senpai', and to Rin, he is something else altogether; she knows. It is part of why she is here at all. For one reason or another -- incomparable swimming talent and aptitude surely being one of those -- Rin seems to have catalyzed most strongly with, or because of, Haru. On the surface, a stranger might not understand, but Gou sees it clearly enough: her brother has long sought to become the best and Haru in many ways embodies this. Shy of racing the water itself, Rin probably could not do much better than this.
She refocuses back on Rin and looks for their father in him, but she is not the least bit surprised to find the big picture looking only like Rin. It's not her soft memory in regards to dad; for all his brevity in their life, she somehow recalls him quite sharply. But that's how some memories are: short, real, permanent. To take the place of all that time where they do not exist at all.
Her brother's dream is his own; Rin is his own. Father rest in peace, she thinks; he's going to be alright.
Brow raising as she watches Haru's turnaround, she can't help the wide smile lighting up her own features. It's true what Rei has said on multiple occasions -- how striking, how stunning the swimming natural's entire way is. It has no better word, she thinks, than that -- not just a style but a way the manner in which people often refer to a 'way' of life. Without looking at her brother's lane, she knows he's keeping pace. Haru seems to be a smidgeon ahead; good, she thinks. After all, brother or not, Rin can't forget this: Gou is Iwatobi's manager, and there is no point in a manager of any club whose goal is anything other than to win. Granted, not at the sacrifice of other things -- joy, foremost -- but prevalent. Very.
In her bag: a book on swimming -- her fifth of the year so far, a spiral notebook of regimen plans, an Iwatobi bird mascot-toy-thing which she keeps meaning to turn into a keychain, and a photograph pinned to the inside of the notebook. That picture frames all the swim club members, plus her brother. She keeps meaning to get one of all of them with Ama-chan and Sasabe-san too...soon. Soon.
She blinks and this set is over in that split second, Haru suddenly lifting himself out of the water with the hand proffered by Makoto -- something which, at this point, seems to Gou a sort of tradition she would feel strange to go without. Funny how even on the sidelines, investment can be a hundred percent. She wonders if Rei has any of that sentiment, despite being an actual swimming participant; she wonders if he's alright with that. Offside, Nagisa launches himself at Makoto's side and almost sends both the backstroke expert and Haru back into the pool tangled and triple-limbed. As it is, they stumble in the huddle and then break into laughter which has Gou smiling all over again.
When Rei joins, and her brother too, she can't help it, she slips her phone out to snap a quick picture. As many times as the lot of them are happy -- to swim, to swim together -- she wants to treasure it as is appropriate of precious things. Photos, even taken on questionable phone cameras, equate to one such way of doing this.
So, naturally, she takes one more for good measure.
Contact Info:
Other Characters Played: tetsuya kuroko | kuroko no basuke |
horizontals & kimihiro watanuki | xxxholic | fatallyRequested apartment: n/a
Character Name: Gou Matsuoka
Canon: Free!
Canon Point: End of Season 1
Background/History: Gou Matsuoka
Personality: For Gou Matsuoka, personality is not something one necessarily notices first. More likely, one is bound to notice her actions -- peculiar ones perhaps for a decidedly not athletic girl, considering said actions culminate in her joining the Swim Club. Granted, she joins as a manager, but even so it makes one's head tilt until the reason of why comes into play.
Exhibit A: Rin Matsuoka, older (though not by much) brother, and object of much worry for Gou over the years. Despite being the slightly younger sibling, Gou has reputedly been the one in the vantage of Worried and Watchful since her brother left for Australia and each year that he came home. Having witnessed his shift from joy to something burdened and unhappy, when Rin finally returned 'for good' Gou made a decision: to see him smile again.
It's over simplifying to say she joined and then saw the Swim Club through for Rin alone. That would be inaccurate; Gou is a bridge between her brother and his friends, but Gou is also her own person. She has her own investments and commitments to the team, and demonstrates all of this by working out their regimens for them, as well as working hard to keep the Club alive at all. She is open and inclined to connecting with the team members not just as memories but as people who are important in the present, and she believes in her team with all her heart.
Interestingly enough, at one point Gou expresses that she had wanted -- truly -- to se her brother swim with Haruka and the others, rather than against them, but considering her contribution and time with the team, she also understands the good even the latter might do. She knows Rin is missing something or had been, and she facilitates the act of finding whatever it is he lost as best she can while comprehending that it is not something she herself can give him directly. This seems to be something Rei understands too, and worth noting since in the end both of them are more or less audience-members to a finale long in the making.
Gou's directness is subtle at times -- reconnaissance on her brother (or something) mostly -- and a hammer-to-the-head at others -- swim practice mostly. Stubborn and insistent, she is not the person likely to let people slide away from things she thinks they need to face. Her ability to read subtleties is more finely attuned to Rin, courtesy of knowing him their whole lives and also living on the outskirts of his intents anyway, but given enough time with people, they can be applied elsewhere too. An over-arching significance about Gou however is that despite being (like most everyone else in this series) a high school kid, she will shift from 4-year old mode (mostly with Nagisa) to someone rather older than her given 16. This can be attributed arguably to a few things, but mostly it seems fair to say some of it is due to the early loss of their father and the quiet independence of a house occupied only by herself and their mother for some years.
That all said, Gou has an overall buoyant sensibility. She would rather believe something is possible than count anyone out, and she will fight for that particular liberty -- not just for herself but for others she cares about. Sometimes it is a simultaneously covert/overt operation as it was with Rin's happiness, but other times it is as simple as encouraging her team. She has a sense of self and an air of being grounded, even while demonstrating such a bright sensibility.
Side notes: she has one friend outside of the club and her brother's teammates named Chigusa Hanamura. They are often seen together and Chigusa even attends the competitions with her. Their relationship is not much gone into other than the showing rather than telling of their interactions, but the fact that Gou only seems to keep one specific friend outside of the others suggests that she 1. is not exactly a social butterfly; and/or 2. that even if she was, her choice to dedicate herself to the Swim Club (and presumably her own studies) takes precedent. Another thing: several times Gou is complimented as 'cute' but both in season one and two she seems to accept this politely and wide eyed but nothing much else. This isn't to say she's unfeeling or unreceptive, but only that again it seems being complimented as such (or even potentially sought after) is not high on her agenda -- little specifics to make up Gou's character. Finally, she does have her own superficiality in her admiration of muscles; it doesn't have to be anyone she knows. If you have nice ones, she will not only notice but probably comment too, herself, but it's funny and probably important to note that it's never more than a sparkling applause -- never a come-on, never an askance to be noticed for having given said compliments. She just thinks you're super fit and isn't that lovely....!
Abilities/Powers: just a regular human here!
Items/Weapons: iwatobi bag, a hairpin, a bundle of small towels (inside the bag)
Sample Entry: 1800 FLOWERS
Sample Entry Two:
Trust the water. These are words that better suit Nanase Haruka, but she hears them in her brother's voice -- her brother's voice no longer so overwrought by their late father's dream, her brother's voice now more his own than it has been in ages. Gou watches the joint-practice with Samezuka and Iwatobi critically, watching for the weaknesses and strengths she both knows are there and perhaps has never noticed before. This is what managing comes down to. Ideally, one day, she would like to learn for herself, but as things stand, it serves her purpose to simply apply what she has long-learned from watching her brother.
Rin is not that much older than her. Maybe, she supposes distantly sometimes, this is why it is so easy to slip into a role otherwise suited for an elder sibling. Between the two of them, growing up had more to do with independence than reliance, somehow managing to be aware and caring without holding hands. Her hands adjust absently on the clipboard, one picking at the pen chained to it as if considering a note worth adding. It is incredible, the difference in her brother now from only months ago, and here her eyes slide softly from Rin to Rin's rival and friend, Haru.
To Gou, Haru is 'Haruka-senpai', and to Rin, he is something else altogether; she knows. It is part of why she is here at all. For one reason or another -- incomparable swimming talent and aptitude surely being one of those -- Rin seems to have catalyzed most strongly with, or because of, Haru. On the surface, a stranger might not understand, but Gou sees it clearly enough: her brother has long sought to become the best and Haru in many ways embodies this. Shy of racing the water itself, Rin probably could not do much better than this.
She refocuses back on Rin and looks for their father in him, but she is not the least bit surprised to find the big picture looking only like Rin. It's not her soft memory in regards to dad; for all his brevity in their life, she somehow recalls him quite sharply. But that's how some memories are: short, real, permanent. To take the place of all that time where they do not exist at all.
Her brother's dream is his own; Rin is his own. Father rest in peace, she thinks; he's going to be alright.
Brow raising as she watches Haru's turnaround, she can't help the wide smile lighting up her own features. It's true what Rei has said on multiple occasions -- how striking, how stunning the swimming natural's entire way is. It has no better word, she thinks, than that -- not just a style but a way the manner in which people often refer to a 'way' of life. Without looking at her brother's lane, she knows he's keeping pace. Haru seems to be a smidgeon ahead; good, she thinks. After all, brother or not, Rin can't forget this: Gou is Iwatobi's manager, and there is no point in a manager of any club whose goal is anything other than to win. Granted, not at the sacrifice of other things -- joy, foremost -- but prevalent. Very.
In her bag: a book on swimming -- her fifth of the year so far, a spiral notebook of regimen plans, an Iwatobi bird mascot-toy-thing which she keeps meaning to turn into a keychain, and a photograph pinned to the inside of the notebook. That picture frames all the swim club members, plus her brother. She keeps meaning to get one of all of them with Ama-chan and Sasabe-san too...soon. Soon.
She blinks and this set is over in that split second, Haru suddenly lifting himself out of the water with the hand proffered by Makoto -- something which, at this point, seems to Gou a sort of tradition she would feel strange to go without. Funny how even on the sidelines, investment can be a hundred percent. She wonders if Rei has any of that sentiment, despite being an actual swimming participant; she wonders if he's alright with that. Offside, Nagisa launches himself at Makoto's side and almost sends both the backstroke expert and Haru back into the pool tangled and triple-limbed. As it is, they stumble in the huddle and then break into laughter which has Gou smiling all over again.
When Rei joins, and her brother too, she can't help it, she slips her phone out to snap a quick picture. As many times as the lot of them are happy -- to swim, to swim together -- she wants to treasure it as is appropriate of precious things. Photos, even taken on questionable phone cameras, equate to one such way of doing this.
So, naturally, she takes one more for good measure.