Application @empatheias

[zeropain]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Ginshi
Contact: ginshi or PMing this journal
Age: 19
Current Characters: Basil | KHR | hyper_rain


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Youji Sagan
Age: 12
Canon: Loveless
Canon Point: chapter 119

Background:

In the Loveless canon there are groups of people that share a ‘name.’ This name is referred to as their ‘true name’ and the name shows a part of the pair’s personality and often what their fighting strategy is. Each person in a pair has a different role, either as a sacrifice or a fighter. These roles play a part in the fights that take place in this canon, which are called spell battles. Youji is a sacrifice, meaning when his pair engages in battle, Youji is the one to receive the damage dealt by the opponent. His partner, Natsuo, is the fighter. He is the one that deals the damage to the other team, or casts a spell with words. Youji and Natsuo’s name is Zero.

Youji is a genetically modified human. He was entirely created (presumably before birth) by Nagisa Sagan so he doesn’t have pain sensors, to make a better fighting pair in battles. He can’t feel pain or temperatures. Because of this, he cannot regulate his temperature through sweating or shivering. He was originally beaten in a fight by Soubi (the fighter of Loveless) because Soubi used the cold against Youji –he made Youji freeze and collapse from hypothermia.

At one point Youji says “Oh well. Lately we haven’t been breaking our bones so much, so isn’t that good?” implying, as a Zero, who can’t feel his body’s limits, that he used to break his bones often. This presumably changed after he fought Soubi and became more aware of what happens to his body. He and Natsuo also become more aware of the temperature, saying things like “The temp is 9ºC (48ºF). Isn’t that dangerous?” “Let’s drink some hot chocolate. That should bring our temperature up.”

There are two known Zero pairs. (Because they are a ‘created’ name, there is more than one. Any team that cannot feel pain is a ‘Zero.’) The first set is made up of Kouya (fighter) and Yamato (sacrifice), and are the girl Zero pair. Youji and Natsuo are the second (male) pair. The Zero series was made by Nagisa Sagan and are her personal projects in the Seven Moons Academy, the school for fighters and, later, sacrifices. Youji and Natsuo were in a specifically Zero oriented training program run by Nagisa, and didn’t go to the academy except for a very brief period later in the manga.

After being defeated by Soubi, Youji and Natsuo stayed with him because they couldn’t go back to Nagisa as failures in their mission, stating Nagisa wouldn’t want them because they lost. When they did get called back, it was because the other Zeros fled the life of fighter and sacrifice. This point in time was when they were sent to the academy. After a brief encounter with Ritsuka (Loveless’s sacrifice)’s brother Seimei (the main antagonist of the series), Youji and Natsuo left to go back to Soubi’s house to be with him and Ritsuka. When the Zero arrived back at Soubi’s house, they joined Ritsuka’s class in his elementary school. Seimei also appeared when Soubi took Ritsuka to visit Soubi’s parents’ grave and managed to convince Soubi to rejoin him, leaving Ritsuka with only the Zero.

After Soubi left, the two Zero decided they would investigate Seimei, bringing Ritsuka into the rabbit hole with them.


Personality:

For Youji being a Zero is a defining part of his personality.

He doesn’t feel pain and has developed a sadistic streak in response: he wants to watch others be in pain. He doesn’t understand pain, and seems to be constantly learning his limits in regards to what he doesn’t have and others are born with: pain sensors and the ability to differentiate temperatures. Without these, living becomes a great struggle. The Zeros say they “won’t last long” because of the “’painless’ illness” they have. He must always be thinking “What will I do in order not to die?” because his body doesn’t tell him when something is wrong. His carelessness with his body has gotten better during the series, as implied by the statement of “Oh well. Lately we haven’t been breaking our bones so much, so isn’t that good?” Youji has also increased his awareness of his body to include temperature: “The temp is 9ºC (48ºF). Isn’t that dangerous?” “Let’s drink some hot chocolate. That should bring our temperature up.” Because Youji froze during his fight with Soubi he has developed an aversion and hatred of winter. This, you can use to infer that he doesn’t like extreme temperature days, very hot summer days as well as cold snowy winter ones. Both types of days can be dangerous, deathly so, especially for Zero who can’t regulate their temperature.

Youji developed trust issues shown in his interactions with people, either ones he trusts or ones he doesn’t. This difference in trust and attitude is thrown into relief when Youji and Natsuo transfer into Ritsuka’s class later in the series. He and Natuso both share a text book with Ritsuka even though it hampers all threes’ reading of the book. When Ritsuka’s friend Yuiko offers to share her book with one of them, he declines, saying it is better this way though everyone can see it’s not. The night before they go to this new school Youji also shows his insecurities by talking with Natsuo about getting bullied, ”What if we’re targeted by bullies?” “Bully them back?” This insecurity is also shown in his greatest fear, revealed by Bloodless, which is to be abandoned by his teacher Nagisa permanently and to only be spare parts for the other Zero pair. When Youji first comes to stay at Soubi’s house, Youji couldn’t sleep and he confessed to Soubi that he didn’t want to be abandoned. This was probably the first reference to his trust issues and was further emphasized when Soubi was putting him to bed (after giving him alcohol to sleep) Youji claimed Soubi used some “suggestive power” to put him to sleep, an idea that shows a distinct lack of trust.

Something that interweaves with how he trusts others is Youji’s opinion on friends. He doesn’t make friends easy and as a rule is rude or aggressive with them until they earn his trust, or has the trust of another person that he trusts, which namely means Ritsuka, since Natsuo and Youji know the exact same people. This is shown when Youji meets Ritsuka’s classmates. When he joins the class, Youji insults various students by using insulting nicknames like “fugly” or “four eyes.” Youji then told the teacher “We choose our friends for ourselves,” meaning she couldn’t make them be friends, just because they were in the same class. He didn’t stop or try to be nice until Ritsuka introduced those two as his friends, earning them some leeway in Youji’s mind. In apology Youji says “We were quick to fly into a rage. Because we’re the type to attack first.” This is a major tie in to the insecure section. They attack first because they will try to take a threat out before they themselves can be taken out. He goes as far as to say his dream for the future is “in my opinion, living with everyone is fine too” referencing his strong bonds with Natsuo, Ritsuka and Soubi. He also insults the other Zero pair when they meet, calling them “old hags”. This shows a certain amount of bitterness to the replaceability (fighters or sacrifices being switched around with others, forming new pairs) the Zero series has.

Youji is also a very prideful person. And he often uses his pride as a cover for what he feels towards other people. He told Soubi he couldn’t put blame on himself, it was Youji’s fault, and Youji’s alone. He and Natsuo also told Nagisa that they wanted to go back and stay with Soubi and Ritsuka because they “owed him” when, in reality, they didn’t. They just wanted to be close to their friends and to help them. He plays up his pride in a way to make people he likes feel better, similar to his aforementioned comment to Soubi.

Youji has a philosophy of “if you can do something, you should.” He also doesn’t like indecisiveness; both of these are probably the most infuriating, to him, aspects of Ritsuka’s personality. He doesn’t like Ritsuka’s, in the earlier chapters, hesitance to control and order Soubi. Youji says: “I’m of the crowd that thinks in black and white” when he was talking about how he handles decisions. No room for indecision or second guessing. Youji also shows, in some commentary he had with Natsuo, his distaste for Ritsuka’s apathy towards being beaten by his mother; “It’s so stupid. It’s over once you kill the parent.” ”Can’t stand it. You’re being beaten and you don’t do something about it.” “You got yourself injured.”

Since Youji was raised in/around the Seven Moons Academy he understands the power of words and what they can do. Because of the school, he also knows and respects the proper hierarchy pairs go through (sacrifices command fighters). Since he understands this, he doesn’t like Ritsuka’s hesitance to control Soubi, especially because Soubi actually tells and asks Ritsuka to control him. Youji may know that the sacrifice is meant to order the fighter but he doesn’t abuse that power. He knows Natsuo would do what he says, but he loves Natsuo and so only would tell him to do something if it was important.

Once you get into Youji’s good graces you’re there for life. If you were to look at his relationship with those he’s closest to you can see just how right that statement is. Nagisa is basically his mother-figure, and while he doesn’t show a lot of trust in her decisions (which is earned –they aren’t the best) and she isn’t his sacrifice or fighter, he still will do what she asks of him, even if it’s something he doesn’t like, such as chasing after Seimei or leaving Soubi and Ritsuka, all because he loves her. When Soubi leaves Ritsuka, Youji is visibly frazzled, anxious, and all-around upset for Ritsuka, and even though he’s being told to calm down by Natsuo, he won’t. Youji panicked and became desperate for Ritsuka to listen to him when they ran into Seimei for the first time because he knew Seimei was bad and wanted to take Ritsuka away. Youji has only had Natsuo and Nagisa before Ritsuka and Soubi and the thought of losing one of his loved ones terrifies him.

Youji is very realistic. He doesn’t like when people sugarcoat words or give people false hope. This is a major point with him and Ritsuka’s brother. At first, the main characters all accepted Seimei was dead. That is, until some people from the Seven Moons said there is a possibility Seimei was alive. Youji said those words were “disgusting” because they planted a seed of hope in Ritsuka that his brother wasn’t gone forever. Youji also likes to point out that if one thing didn’t happen, such as him being in the class he was in, then what had happened or what people want to happen wouldn’t have happened otherwise, i.e. he never would have met those other students also in that class, meaning he didn’t have to try being their friend.


For Youji being a Zero is a defining part of his personality, but he doesn't feel like being a Zero is a bad thing.

Abilities:

Youji is a sacrifice so when battling with his fighter, Natsuo, he is the one that takes the damage. As a Zero, Youji doesn’t have working pain sensors so he’s immune to pain and temperatures, though he can still be affected by them (i.e. frostbite, heat stroke, bloodloss, etc). He’s also smart, considering his test scores (though he probably doesn't seem like it).

Other:

Youji has cat ears and a tail like all children in his canon. Adults don't have them though(they aren't very "innocent" as it were).

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
First Person Sample:

over here!

Third Person Sample:

Youji had been walking around the city exploring for the last hour. The weathermen had said the rain that had been falling constantly for the last three days and would finally let up this evening. The rain has only gotten harder and the wind fiercer. Just one more way an adult lies.

All of a sudden a much stronger gust of wind blew threw the street he was on, blowing his umbrella away down the street and visibly ruining it. Without the protective barrier of the umbrella-he'll need to get another, that was Ritsuka’s- Youji could feel the hard raindrops pelting him but he couldn’t feel the cold that accompanied it. Holding out his hand, Youji wondered about how the cold felt, did it tingle like a ‘burnt’ tongue? Or maybe it was like the muscle spasms he had when he shocked himself on the light socket?

Deciding to contemplate it when he got out of the rain -didn’t want to get sick, everyone was always saying he needed to watch that-, the green haired catboy made his way down the street, wanting to grab the umbrella from where it was stuck near a building and to get to shelter for the minute.

Youji grabed the umbrella and looked up at the building he was in front of. “Oh? Blood?” And, indeed, there was blood on a window, dripping from the rain starting to delude it. Deciding this was a prime building to stay dry in, and one that promised to be entertaining, Youji went inside.

Moving through the rooms to get to the one that had the blood stained window, Youji was getting more and more excited. There was blood dripped in trails around the rooms, promising an interesting sight.

Youji was sorely disappointed when he finally reached the room he sought. There was blood, yes, but there was no carcass. All that is here is the dried blood, mold, and bandages; meaning whatever was here hasn’t died, though it was injured, and it hadn’t been here for a long time.

Now Youji was wet, presumably cold (he wouldn’t know, no pain and all) and not happy at all. Huffing, Youji sat down and worked on getting warmer and drying off until the rain stopped.

-At least something is going well today- Youji thought when he saw the rain start to pitter out. He moves back to the front of the building as it stopped the rest of the way. Youji decided to return home now instead of after finishing his exploration to get warm, the house with the blood pushed to the back of his mind. When he got home, he was going to take a looong bath.

Questions: