Ophiuchus application

[tsunverde]

✖ PLAYER:
Name & DW Journal: Lorie, personal journal is http://lorie.dreamwidth.org/, but you'll see it's rarely used, and reserved with http://tsunverde.dreamwidth.org/
Plurk: nolno
Birthdate & Age: August 31, 34
Characters played in Ophiuchus: none

✖ CHARACTER:
Name: Shintarou Midorima
Canon: Kuroko no Basket
PB/Image: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121105202436/kurokonobasuke/images/7/77/Shintaro_Midorima_anime.png
Info links: http://kurokonobasuke.wikia.com/wiki/Shintarō_Midorima
Canon Point: current canon, chapter 269 while the game between Seirin and Rakuzan is still going on
Gender & Sex: male for both
Age: 16, aged up to 18 for the game
Birthdate/Sign: July 7, Cancer - canon
Tattoo: On his left hip, about three inches in length
Suitability: Midorima lives by the zodiac, following his horoscope so far as to always carry the day's lucky item with him. That this is a world founded on the zodiac will lend the command to go forth and worship a legitimacy that little else could.

He is a top athlete, so physically, he has what it takes to survive in rough conditions and to be able to do the work necessary to build their new world.

Midorima is meticulous and exacting to the point of compulsion. It's mentioned in passing that he's a good student, and during their middle school days, he continued to practice past the point when others in the Generation of Miracles gave up. He will do whatever it takes to exceed any requirements put in front of him and probably create a few strange rituals in the process.

Although he is quick to call someone an idiot, he has a basic maturity and seriousness that show through in his determination. His powers of observation make him very aware of others and while he may offer help in roundabout, tsundere ways, he isn't one to leave someone in need.

I'm by no means claiming that he will fuck the first person he sees up against the nearest wall, or that he will be smooth in his attempts at sex, but he has proven again and again that he will do what is necessary to meet a goal. If those goals suddenly turn sexual, so be it.

Power: He has no canon powers. He's just really good at basketball. I will give him Water Healing.
Personality: In the world of manga and anime, if you've seen one guy who coldly pushes up his glasses while treating the rest of the characters on-screen to a "better than you" stare, you've seen them all. Yet in Midorima's first appearance in the series there is just as much ridiculousness as icy glare. He's riding in the back of a rickshaw pedaled by Takao, saying it's the lucky day for his sign, and winning games of rock, paper, scissors at every stop light to secure his right to a free ride. Moments like this make it easy to see why other characters outright call Midorima a weirdo.

That isn't to say that he doesn't have a cold demeanor. He is quiet and doesn't go out of his way to interact with others. When he does interact with them, he is likely to be calling someone an idiot and looking down on him. His quickness to get frustrated with others shows that cold doesn't always mean calm, though. In the scene where members of various teams gather at an okonomiyaki restaurant, when Takao flips his food onto Midorima's head, he immediately drags him outside to beat him up. At the same time, he isn't completely unsocial. Flashbacks to their middle school days show Midorima playing shogi with Akashi and conversing normally with him. He's just never going to be the life of the party.

If he isn't getting frustrated with them and letting them know how stupid they are, his interest in the zodiac is one of the first things others might notice about him, simply because it causes him to carry around his lucky item each day, regardless of how crazy he may look carrying a tanuki statue or a cactus in daily life. Or maybe they notice it when he informs them of their horoscope for the day and whether they are fated to have good fortune or if he's the only lucky one. Although he doesn't give it as much focus as daily horoscopes, he also believes in blood type personality profiles, mentioning that he's not compatible with Kuroko because they're blood type B and A.

This is only likely to be someone's first impression if he's met off the court. As a member of the Generation of Miracles, a group of five players (plus a "phantom" sixth member) who rose to prominence in middle school with a level of skill that can only be found once a generation, Midorima is a genius-level basketball player. Long-range shots are his specialty. Despite being a first-year student, he is the star of the Shuutoku High basketball team. Because of this, his captain and teammates allow him three selfish requests each day, such as being the only one who gets the ball during a quarter. That he is someone who would make these kinds of requests to the point that a limit would be imposed reveals other facets of his personality beyond selfishness: Midorima is confident and proud enough to believe that things should be done his way.

This pride comes with high standards and further confidence in upholding them. In a flashback, he tells Murasakibara not to walk while eating because it's bad manners, and it comes up that they clash a lot because Midorima wants everything done properly and Murasakibara is too casual. It's likely no surprise that he sets the bar highest in matters of basketball. He doesn't like Hanamiya Makoto and his dirty style of play. He disapproves of their middle school bets to see who could score the most points in a game. He's dismissive of the practice match between Kaijou and Seirin because he feels that kind of dunking match doesn't leave anything to fate; in his opinion, a shot scored from farther away is more worthy. He recognizes Kuroko's strength but thinks less of him for going to Seirin because it isn't a school with a top team. During the height of their Teiko Middle School power, he keeps practicing, even after Akashi tells them they don't need to come to practice if they don't want to. He also expresses displeasure with Murasakibara and Aomine for not showing up. The downside to these standards is that they can result in a haughty attitude as if he is above the lowly people who don't meet them.

Then again, most anyone will seem lowly compared to the higher power on which he relies. His motto is "Man proposes, God disposes." He believes in fate, but nothing is left to chance. As mentioned in the suitability section, Midorima is meticulous and exacting to the point of compulsion. Before the first game with Seirin, he goes over everything he's done to ensure his success. This includes not missing a shot in the previous game, practicing hard during training, taking care of his nails, noting that Cancer's daily horoscope is the best, having the day's lucky item in his possession, and lacing his shoes starting from the right. Another ritual he engages in is taping the fingers of his left hand to keep them in perfect condition for his left-handed shots. He believes that he must do everything possible to prepare and do his best and then fate will take care of the rest. In games, the end result is making seemingly impossible three-point shots from great distances and walking away without watching the ball go in; he's that secure in his preparation and abilities.

The characters who watch each match from the sidelines and comment on the action serve a narrative purpose, but Midorima's powers of observation go beyond that. He is able to read a situation or a person and come to correct conclusions about a potential problem. When their teams end up at the same inn for training camp, in challenging Kagami to a one-on-one, he helps him figure out that he needs to work on other aerial skills besides just jumping high. Talking with Takao afterwards, it's clear that he had a good sense of Kagami's weakness. During the second Shuutoku/Seirin game, while other Shuutoku players are saying that Kuroko's misdirection won't work anymore when he comes out late in the game, Midorima instantly knows that he must have something planned. In a middle school flashback, he recognizes when Aomine has become so strong that it's affecting his enjoyment of the game. However, his ability to read a person doesn't just apply to basketball. Watching Akashi's eyes suddenly go cold during a few conversations, he's the first person to realize the dual nature of their middle school team captain. Of course, while he has a knack for knowing exactly what advice or assistance to offer to a fellow basketball player, he rarely offers it in a straightforward manner.

Even in other situations, Midorima goes to great lengths to hide that he cares. He tells his teammates he isn't coming to the Seirin/Touou game but shows up anyway wearing sunglasses as a disguise and when the game is over makes a point of saying he can't believe he was so bored he watched the entire match. The fact remains that he does care, though. Following this same match, he expresses concern over Kuroko's state of mind after the loss.

His begrudging concern isn't perfect. The more bright and cheerful a person is, the more reluctant he appears to be to engage. After Shuutoku first loses to Seirin, he won't talk to Momoi on the phone, but he does respond to Aomine. Kise sends him a message wishing him good luck before a game, and he responds, "Die". Takao seems to be an exception. They're always together, regardless of Midorima's frustration with his light-hearted attitude and his insistence on calling him Shin-chan.

During the Seirin/Shuutoku rematch, Takao offers a straightforward assessment of how others see Midorima. He says the team members don't particularly like him and "he's always floating alone" while he practices his shots without speaking. Despite the fact that he's an "irritating bastard", they "can't bring [themselves] to hate him." Most importantly, he notices that he's started smiling when they play basketball together.

That isn't all there is to be said about how Midorima relates to Takao, though, and their strange companionship is arguably his most important relationship outside of the Generation of Miracles. A flashback chapter reveals that they both stay after for extra practice, and Takao admits that he started doing it because he lost to him in middle school. However, his thoughts of beating him for revenge have changed to getting him to notice him. That work ethic and determination may be what help him win Midorima over.

During the course of the series, the largest shift in Midorima's personality and how he relates to others occurs in his attitude toward teamwork. During the flashback chapters to their days at Teiko Middle School, the more skilled and powerful the Generation of Miracles become, the more they fall apart as a team. The end result is a team of super-skilled players with an "every man for himself" attitude. When they step out on to the court, they're only doing what they can to score points by themselves.

In the first game against Seirin, Midorima moves beyond his old attitude and passes the ball instead of taking a shot himself, showing a willingness to rely on his teammates. Another turning point comes in the game against Razukan, when he takes offense at Mibuchi saying that he's the only player who isn't a hindrance. He thinks back to how hard he's worked with Takao and how much the older teammates have put into the game, and he's inspired to keep going in a disheartening situation by his teammates. He and Takao employ a play that relies on Takao's skill at passing and his shooting. It's such an impressive combined effort that it earns them the title of Shuutoku's light and shadow, the ultimate sign of his willingness to rely on someone besides himself during a game.

Takao isn't the only person to notice the change in Midorima. While watching the game together, Momoi comments on it, and Kise says that "he made us change", referring to Kuroko. He is yet another person who finally understands Kuroko's style of basketball and realizes it's not weak to rely on others.

Unfortunately, the shift isn't enough to keep him from one more negative change. Losing is a new experience that is far from enjoyable. After the first loss, Aomine says he sounds depressed. After the second loss, Midorima cries and says it's frustrating. But there are no signs that he intends to give up or regress back to old ways. Between the first and second games, his teamwork increases, and it seems likely that he will only grow to new heights of playing cooperatively and enjoying basketball – an approach Kuroko would appreciate.

✖ SAMPLES:
"Ophiuchus" First-Person Network Entry:
meme thread - http://221-b.dreamwidth.org/2668.html?thread=631148#cmt631148
(which follows from the end of this thread if you would like some context - http://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/1849202.html?thread=1009041778#cmt1009041778)
"Cebalrai (logs)" Third-Person Prose Entry:
Takao was playing a joke on him. That was Midorima's first assumption when he read the letter. Even the presentation of the joke made him feel annoyed with the idiot. He could forgive him the wrinkling, given that he had found it in the pocket of his warm-up jacket. He probably had to hastily shove it in there while his attention was elsewhere. The shoddy printing job was inexcusable, though, like he had never heard of a laser printer.

The theory fell apart almost immediately. First, there was the stabbing pain over his hip, which revealed itself to be caused by a tattoo of the symbol for Cancer. While a part of him felt the concern that acting too friendly towards light-hearted people was the path to waking up with strange tattoos, it wasn't the only thing that made him question his initial idea. The atmosphere in the cavern was foreign. This wasn't some forgotten room in the basement of Shuutoku. What man-made structures he could see, a few carved surfaces and broken pillars, felt ancient.

Midorima took himself through a basic assessment. What did he last remember? Watching the final game of the Winter Cup. Did Seirin or Rakuzan win? He didn't know. That was all he needed. He wouldn't forget that detail under any normal circumstances. Not that he was that concerned about whether Kuroko's team won (he explained away his interest to absolutely no one at all), but it was an important fact that he would have noted and remembered.

Which left him with no choice but to believe the letter. He recognized the symbols instantly, so "The Twelve" must be connected to the twelve signs of the zodiac. Somehow they had brought him to a new world called Ophiuchus to worship them. That was the easiest part of the entire situation to believe. After all, they said they had chosen him for his "devotion and diligence." He was meant to be here. His careful consideration of horoscopes, his dogged pursuit of each day's lucky item, his tireless preparation for every important task - they had all led him to this moment.

For the first time in his life, Midorima questioned fate.

It was only a momentary slip. When it passed, he returned the letter – now carefully folded – to his pocket, checked his other pocket to make sure the eraser shaped like a hamster, the day's lucky item, was still there, and walked forward in hopes of finding a way out. No one around him looked any more knowledgeable, so he set off alone. Midorima wanted to start his task of worshiping as soon as possible.