OOC
Player Name: owlie!
Age: 23
Preferred Contact: liberos
Existing Characters: n/a


IC
Character Name: wakatoshi ushijima
Canon: haikyuu!!
Canon Point: chapter 212

About:

One look at Ushijima Wakatoshi and most, if not all experienced players in the field of volleyball definitely know who he is by both appearance and name. He shows up in volleyball magazines. He's on the Youth World Champion Team representing Japan. He's one of the top three aces and most noticeable in the nation, known not just for his amazing strength, but his differential— he's left handed, which causes a spiked or hit ball to spin differently compared to someone who uses their right, constantly throwing players off course and getting an amazing upper hand. Together with a powerful team and powerhouse school, Shiratorizawa Academy, Wakatoshi is given all the support needed to be a massive force in the athletic field.

People usually find him intimidating— he's tall, has a fairly tough and muscular build, and to top it off his expression is usually kept stoic and penetrating. He's got a stare that could send the weak-hearted running for barriers to hide behind, and an aura that can feel like weights thrusting people to the ground. What possibly makes Wakatoshi seem even more intimidating is his silence, matched together with his hawk-like glance. He's not all that talkative, and most of the time interaction with other people happens because of the second party picking up conversation. That doesn't mean that Wakatoshi is completely dull in this department; If something is interesting enough, he'll be sure to approach it.


When Wakatoshi does speak, he's famous for being extraordinarily blunt. The captain speaks his mind without a filter, and this usually ends with him being tactless— it's not because he's deliberately rude, this is proven when he usually apologizes after noticing he's offended someone with his words. His opinions are based on solid facts, and thus voices them as they are: supported facts, and even when disagreed with, he sticks by what he thinks without much change in thought. A blessing and a curse, Wakatoshi is sincere to the very last decimal and hides nothing; together with a seriousness that almost turns comical at times, he can be a bit of a treasure— he takes what he says seriously as well as what's said to him seriously and reacts accordingly, leading to muffled laughs all around ( For example, when Tendou asks if he's "afraid of hinata" because of his rising discomfort in relation to the boy's unpredictable nature in volleyball, he replies with an irritated "I'm not afraid of him", as if he had taken the literal meaning of fear to mind instead of what Tendou actually meant).

Wakatoshi is a powerful man and extremely well rounded in many aspects, to the point that he could look and seem frustratingly perfect. He obviously has his flaws (see above and below), but he still works hard in always giving his utmost best. When he does something, Wakatoshi makes it a goal to always use only what's necessary, from time to his movements. They're precise and not a moment or drop of energy is unnecessarily wasted, perhaps one of the reasons why he has such monstrous stamina throughout matches (well, that and his more than apparent physical conditioning).

Take into mind that Wakatoshi is very, very competitive during volleyball. His notion to how things work are straightforward: if you have skill, the knowledge, if you have the talent and the hard work to polish said talent, you're sure to be a good player with skills to show for. Wakatoshi has a lot confidence in himself and what he does— and all that, in his mind, is with reason. He has the sturdy support to prove it, the "soil" to cultivate his base and only improve what's already good. He has a rational base to his confidence, which brings us to what he dislikes: those with no skill, no talent, no knowledge, and yet still hold onto confidence as if it's the last thing they had, when to Wakatoshi, it's something that doesn't exist. "Baseless confidence", which is seen in Hinata Shouyou and what Wakatoshi heavily dislikes in him, irritation rising to a high point during their match because it didn't make sense. When Wakatoshi isn't in control of the situation, if he can't predict or know what'll happen because facts don't align . . . it's certainly one of the things to truly tick him off.

Wakatoshi's competitiveness in volleyball as well as his ideals stem from his upbringing— His father, Takashi Utsui, was a player in Shiratorizawa where their generation won nationals, and retired due to an injury. His father would encourage him to play and love volleyball as he did, and was the one who encouraged Wakatoshi's mother's side of the family to keep his left-handedness intact (they wanted to correct it due to it not running in the family), and described that his difference would one day become his strength (and boy did it). This is a point that would also support the reason why most of his interactions with his teammates are with Tendou— mostly because Tendou seeks him out, but we could deduce that, as a child who was also an outcast because of a difference, Wakatoshi was one able to see his strength and look past what others thought of him, accepting him onto the team and earning respect and trust just as his father had described in a team's ace. Today, Takashi is the type of person he aspires to become, and this shows just how much importance he carries in his father for his life, even when he's overseas and doesn't see him much because of a divorce.

Despite being the scary grand ace, Wakatoshi is an oddball. He's dry, serious enough that he's more than socially awkward (without noticing it), and some might say he's so deadpan with his sincerity it's almost alien. Think of one Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory with a little less energy and you may see a bit of Wakatoshi in him, this is no lie. He isn't one to usually smile, but that doesn't mean he can't or doesn't— he just doesn't see much necessity to do so constantly. When Shiratorizawa lost the match against Karasuno, it's noticed that he doesn't look at all upset while his teammates are on the verge of tears, confronting Hinata and telling him of Karasuno's defeat "next time". Some may go as far to call him emotionless, but it's far from that. Wakatoshi is simply very, very rational in my point of view and relies very little on his emotional side, or rather, doesn't allow it to get in the way in favor of keeping a leveled head. After their game with Karasuno and during a stretching exercise, Wakatoshi enlightens Tendou on his behavior during the game and wanting to say to their (Karasuno's) faces that he was stronger than them, reacting the way he did, then later calling it "immature", but that he still wanted to do it.

Wakatoshi is still a growing young man with a few eccentric, ah, habits. He drinks juice boxes. He's shown to be fairly proper with all the things he does. He enjoys reading the ads in magazines and Weekly Jump instead of the articles and comics. He's completely blind to contemporary pop culture (films, tv shows, actors/actresses, ect) and keeps a volleyball next to his pillow— literally, ball is life, and this only points to how focused Wakatoshi can be with the importance of volleyball and achieving his goals that he cares very little for what's happening in the outside world. To further strengthen the point, this has probably been going on since childhood, for Wakatoshi didn't know about nor had he ever tried pudding until Tendou purchased some and wanted to show him how to flip it onto a plate. Who's eighteen years old and doesn't know the wonders of pudding? Ushijima Wakatoshi (and he liked it enough that he wanted seconds).

He's intimidating and well known, but fairly misunderstood by many. Wakatoshi is respected by his teammates, and they're devoted enough to focus and mold their strengths to his needs, automatically letting him lead them forward (why Shiratorizawa's team is symbolized by one single eagle, Ushijima, while other teams are symbolized by numerous animals to signify teamwork, such as the crows of Karasuno and the cats of Nekoma). He's a man of few words, but being upfront with his feelings is something he does more than anyone throughout the series— he just expresses them differently compared to those that yell and grin, or scoff and cry.

Inventory: loose gym clothes, his volleyball club jersey, his gym bag (with things such as extra spares of clothes, socks, ect), a basic cell phone, a water bottle, and his school uniform.
Feature Type: the golden eagle. ushijima will have large, brownish wings and some small light brown/goldish feathers where he has hair. beautiful golden brown eyes will also give him that excellent eagle vision.
What are your plans with this character? ushijima is a pretty socially awkward character, so much that not even he realizes it— but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of interaction or making friends, and i'd like to explore that as much as i can! i feel utopique will give me just the right setting and characters to put him out there and interact.

Sample: test drive!