Post by Okura Yoshitsune on Jul 1, 2017 8:49:06 GMT -5
{Personal Information}
Password 1: [Guts' Jawline]
Password 2: [#Rekt]
Type: [Prodigy V1 -- Speed and Energy Sensory, -Reiatsu Strength]
Squad: Squad 5 - Kido Development
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Name: Yoshitsune Okura
Age of Death: 30, Then again around 170
Real Age/Age of Appearance: 250/Appears 14
Birthday (Month/Day): 6/21
Blood Type: O-
RP Sample (Optional): [N/A]
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Height/Weight: 4'11"/100 lbs
Physical Description:
Yoshitsune, often affectionately called Yoshi for short, is noticeably young for an aspiring Soul Reaper, such that his physical age isn't even past puberty yet. He is a very youthful individual, who has yet to reach his physical prime, but has nevertheless decided to go the path he's chosen. To most at a first glance, he's but a child, one who probably dresses himself every morning, and styles his own hair. He has all the credentials to grow up into a very attractive example of the male genotype, but for the time being, he's simply a shining youth, so to speak.
The first thing most are prone to noticing, and probably the most prominant feature of his appearance, is his hair. His hair, is thick and straight, vibrantly blonde in coloration. He keeps it styled assymmetrically, with heavy emphasis on keeping it towards his left side. While not all of his hair can be kept swept in that direction, he even ties his hair into a flowing back-length ponytail, displaced to the left side, using a fluffy white scrunchy. What hair doesn't get swept into the tail is usually quite disheavaled, as though he simply forgot to run a comb through it to keep it smooth, which it has the potential to be. Hair that is included in "doesn't get swept into the tail" is mostly his bangs, which are earlobe-length, and because they don't wind up in the tail, usually wind up fluffed in any direction they see fit, sometimes leading to an innumerable count of ahoge, sometimes leading to a harsh case of peek-a-boo bangs.
An interesting note about his hair is it's sort of texture, the appearance of it. More than its golden coloration, which is usually an eye-catcher on its own, his hair has a tendency to grow in sheets, usually no more than a couple hairs thick. His locks tend to stick together though they are not physically inseperable, and form strips and plates of hair which layer together in intricate weaves on accident. Generally speaking, short of the absolute mayhem that would be a bedhead for him, his hair rarely needs styling because the hair styles itself. Another interesting note, upon excessive observation, one would find that the 'strips' of hair (those only an inch or so wide) all seem to square-off at the end and maintain a notably consistant width, the hairs being equidistant in length. Meanwhile, his 'plates' (those significantly wider than the strips) are usually of varying lengths of longer hair which widen out at the middle and form to a pointed tip at the end.
It is notable that he isn't afraid to style his hair any further, nor is he incompetent on the matter. In fact, for more formal occasions he usually gets his hair in order, often overreacting to his hair being "a total mess" when randomly presented with notable figures such as captains or well respected noblemen. In such situations he tries to alleviate the problem by using his fingers to try and comb his hair into roughly professional order. If he has plans to impress someone, he's been known to weave in a flat braid or two. The most important part of his style is the ponytail though, there is little he's willing to change about it in most circumstances.
Moving on to other facial details, his next most notable facet would certainly be his eyes, which are a light hazel coloration, almost like white irises with a thin veil of mist over them. His eyes are shaped quite large, and quite sharp, his top eyelids/eyelashes being an entirely straight, diagonal line, arcing only in the outer corners, where they just barely curve to meet the other part of the eyelid. His eyelashes are thick and add a bit more femininity to his appearance. Notable about his eyes are that his pupils are very unpronounced, though visible. In the right lighting one can see them more clearly, but generally they disappear when exposed to light and when it's too dark, as though veiled by smoke. When visible, anyone can see they are slitted like those of cats.
The remaining traits one could notice about his face is that he has thin eyebrows, thicker towards the center of his face, though very clearly seperate, the same color as his hair. He's got relatively large ears from a proportion standpoint, all the better for hearing with he'd suppose. Yoshi also has a big mouth which is usually curled upwards at the sides into a smile of sorts. He's almost always cheery looking, and so photogenic it's almost impossible for him to take a bad picture, to a comical degree if someone tries.
His general appearance asides this is pretty much exactly what one would expect from an active kid his age. He's very short, mostly on account of puberty taking its sweet time having its full effect, a curse of being born a spirit in Soul Society. Furthermore, he's skinny, very much on the thin side of the expected weight range for his size. His body isn't particularly toned, but it's not flabby either. His legs are a bit more toned than the rest of his body, since he's spent a large amount of time running around and playing in his youth.
As far as outfits go, he's very much fallen in love with the modern fashions more than the traditional japanese attire attributed to Soul Society norms. While he adheres to customs, he adds a bit of flair where he can. For example, in the most prominant attire one would see him in, he wears his shinigami uniform: Consistent of a white shitagi, black kosode, black hakama, a white sash, white tabi socks, and the straw sandals, all the standard protocol. However he would roll up the sleeves on the kosode to just under his elbows, and roll up the left pantleg of the hakama to just under his knee.
This is a common trope in his outfits when he can get away with it. Long sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his left pantleg rolled up to his knee. Furthermore, when he can get away with it, he'll wear fingerspan gloves, which are essentially just gloves that cover his fingers alone and very little else. None of these things will be present in formal situations, such as lining up for orders, or tea ceremonies, or fancy ballroom events. Yoshi's got a sense of class; he just doesn't really like coming across as super traditional when he doesn't have to. It adds to his youthful charm.
One of his more common gigai outfits while out on the field is a black hoody with yellow lining on the inside which makes the sleeves pop golden when he rolls them up, which also has a smoky yellow minimalist design, that wraps around his his body like a bandolier. Paired with it are a pair black pants which have the same yellow lining thing going on, so that he can do the same golden trim effect when he rolls up his pantleg. Typically with this outfit he wears a pair of black and white slip-on shoes. Nothing too fancy, of course.
When attending formal events, Yoshitsune's known to rock a black suit, black undershirt, black slacks and shoes, and a somewhat gaudy golden tie. When said formal events are more traditionally japanese than they are traditionally western, he's also got a black kimono on standby with golden wispy designs, not randomly wispy like his hoody, but the wisps take the shapes of clouds. No, literally, the wisps form minimalistic cloud outlines which are filled in by the negative space. Said outlines are about palm sized and spaced out generously.
One can really see a sort of coloration theme he likes to stick with: Black and yellow. Which isn't surprising considering that his hair is golden blonde, and his shinigami uniform, something he's bound by code of conduct to wear all the time, is black. It wouldn't take long to start really seeing black as his color. Occasionally there's white thrown into his ensembles, usually in very small amounts, like the bottoms of his shoes. But again, Yoshi's not afraid to wear other colors, it's just a preference of his.
When in uniform he keeps his katana zanpakuto strapped to his hip, and his wakizashi one strapped to his back horizontally. When out of uniform, he usually keeps the wakizashi on his hip and carries the katana around by hand. After all, he cannot afford to be without his zanpakuto in most circumstances.
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Dislikes:
Likes:
Flaws:
Habits:
Fears:
Goals:
Alignment: Lawful Neutral (Lawful in this case being "His Own Moral Code", rather than "Boring Shinigami Laws")
Overall Personality: Yoshitsune is a youthful shinigami who is full of hopes and dreams, which is why it's such a shame that he's so very weak. See, a plus soul born from scratch components with a sufficient level of spirit energy available to it to become a Shinigami come around maybe once in a millenium. So from a totally neutral standpoint, he's impressive in his own right. The drive that pushes him to move towards that goal is one that'd be the envy of people who actually made it to that point. However, despite this, what he has, while sufficient, is not enough.
While his drive and chops are there, his faltering in just about every category is something that has vexxed him for his entire education at the Shino Academy. But it's not just the fact that it's at Shino Academy: He's been like this his whole life. Yoshi, even as leader of the Yoshi Gang in his earlier youth, was always a fall down the stairs from his peers in terms of athletic ability, perceptiveness. It took him years and years to be able to run alongside his friends evenly. They were always stronger than him, which is why he developed charisma.
Charisma is the trait of leaders, one which is either bestowed upon an individual by the grace of god, or earned by showing sheer gumption in the face of adversity. Yoshitsune has never made a huge fuss about his inferiority, he was always more than happy to play with the other kids, get into brawls he had no chance in, and only by strength of will and a good cast of friends in his younger years did he come out on top. His consistent confidence and cheer, his joking nature, his optimism, were always the keys of his success growing up.
But now that he's in the real world, one where his inferiority is the only trait he can seemingly show, he's a lot less optimistic, if nothing else. See strength of will can't win a one-on-one battle with a guy who can cut break cement blocks using a kendo stick when you can't even lift the cement block. Gumption doesn't give you more Reiatsu. Charisma doesn't enhance your ability to track high speed movement by eye. The fact that he's constantly shown up by someone else in just about every conceivable category, if not just about everyone else, is something he's internalized.
Suddenly, he doesn't really want to be the best. He just wants to succeed. He wants to be able to do the job he's decided on and push himself to the next level. His internalized inferiority has given him realistic goals, nothing lofty. He understands that he's weak, so he just wants to be strong enough to get a move on with his life. All he needs to be able to do is slay hollows, and know the subject matter. So he studies, and he studies hard. All day every day, if he has free time, studying, sometimes all night. He can't win a kendo match anyways, he can sleep during those courses he'll never use.
When it comes down to it, if there's one category he excels in, it's the intellectual courses. He can't hack it anywhere else, so he puts his all into making sure he knows the subjects. He can work out when he's graduated, his only current dangerous tool on hand is his brain. With his mind he can think strategy, he can help other people win. He doesn't need to be strong if others are strong for him. While he doesn't really believe that, it's something that he's forced himself to believe so that he can cope with his inferiority.
Nevertheless, while he's certainly got a complex from sucking so hard at life, his apparent cheeriness and motivation seem unchanged from when he first joined. It's not infrequently that people would say things like, "You've gotta admire his enthusiasm," in regards to him, because he's a ball of energy and cheer, always cheering on his friends, pretending like he's got a shot in a bout he's forced to partake in. If he was actually as capable as he made himself seem like he'd be, he would be a top student in almost every category, instead of a bottom student.
Unfortunately, school is totally different from the real thing. He's a weakling, unable to defend the people he loves, unable to defend himself. He is completely aware of this, and feels like his only hope for success in the field is to guide his team to victory from a safe place. If he was the clutch in a bout, the only one left, or the only one who was capable of doing something about a horrific situation, he's genuinely scared that he'll crack under the pressure and fail. From a realistic standpoint, he probably would too, after all, almost everyone in his line of work is suited to every task, at least more than he is. If push came to shove, he'd probably figure out a way to help, he's smart, but his fear and hesitation could come at a horrific price.
To a friend, he's a warm ball of energy and optimism to fall on. He's always there for his friends, even if he can't actually do anything. He seeks in himself the strength to be the guy that his friends can rely on for more than just emotional baggage, he wants to be someone strong. This is why he puts on that facade of confidence and energy, because as long as he's still bright, still full of belief in his friends, his friends know that all is not lost. So if you need a motivation beyond his will to succeed, then there it is, he needs to be the emotional crux for his friends.
To an ally, he's probably seen as a bubbly brick tied to them that's dragging them down. His inability to do anything on par with even an average shinigami short of run and sense energy makes him a hindrance to any team he's placed on. If given the opportunity though, he can use his knowledge to help them, either playing a situation to his allies' strengths, or pulling some weird trivia out of nowhere and solving problems otherwise unthinkably inane. So if nothing else, he can pull the strings, and coordinate a battle plan.
To a foe, he's a laughably weak target, an easy prey. Depending on the individual he's either attacked first, left for last, or even just left alone as though he's not worth their time. A lot of times on the field, he'll find that the only thing keeping him alive is a decent ability to sense energy and average reflexes. He's sensitive to a foe's intentions, however, and may be able to reason with them, given it's not a hollow or something mindless. From a pragmatic standpoint, he could at the very least keep them distracted with discourse while someone more capable got themselves lined up to solve the problem themselves.
To an enemy, he's absolutely pathetic. How could anyone see him as their enemy? Something about his drive just irks them and makes them want to crush him underfoot in every facet of his life. His cheerful demeanor despite having no right to be where he is, may be totally sickening to someone else. There are a lot of really mean people out there that think that self-improvement is a stupid fantasy for pathetic idiots who need to learn their place. From that perspective, he's a perfect target for that kind of hideous person, since he almost agrees with them, and probably wouldn't retaliate.
Moving on to matters of love, he's a demisexual with a leaning towards males. In this progressive age, it's as good a preference as any, thankfully. He forms relationships with people and gets to know who they really are before he forms a romantic interest in them. While he's not absolutely homosexual in his preferences, it's notable that he finds that men have a lot less tendency to make drama where none is due, and tend to be more earnest in their relationships.
He's more frequently interested in males than he is in females, because he can't love many females for who they really are most of the time. Chicks always spout gossip, bitch about their peers and make fights where there aren't any. That's a lot of negativity he doesn't need in his life. However, that's also not literally every female, just like there are men who are scummy and therefore unappealing to him, there are women who are earnest and kind and very appealing to him. It's all a matter of how their relationship pans out.
-Opening-
Password 1: [Guts' Jawline]
Password 2: [#Rekt]
Type: [Prodigy V1 -- Speed and Energy Sensory, -Reiatsu Strength]
Squad: Squad 5 - Kido Development
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-Basic Information-
Name: Yoshitsune Okura
Age of Death: 30, Then again around 170
Real Age/Age of Appearance: 250/Appears 14
Birthday (Month/Day): 6/21
Blood Type: O-
RP Sample (Optional): [N/A]
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-Appearance-
Height/Weight: 4'11"/100 lbs
Physical Description:
{Image Gallery}
{Full One}
{Full Two}
{Grr}
{Alternate Outfit}
Yoshitsune, often affectionately called Yoshi for short, is noticeably young for an aspiring Soul Reaper, such that his physical age isn't even past puberty yet. He is a very youthful individual, who has yet to reach his physical prime, but has nevertheless decided to go the path he's chosen. To most at a first glance, he's but a child, one who probably dresses himself every morning, and styles his own hair. He has all the credentials to grow up into a very attractive example of the male genotype, but for the time being, he's simply a shining youth, so to speak.
The first thing most are prone to noticing, and probably the most prominant feature of his appearance, is his hair. His hair, is thick and straight, vibrantly blonde in coloration. He keeps it styled assymmetrically, with heavy emphasis on keeping it towards his left side. While not all of his hair can be kept swept in that direction, he even ties his hair into a flowing back-length ponytail, displaced to the left side, using a fluffy white scrunchy. What hair doesn't get swept into the tail is usually quite disheavaled, as though he simply forgot to run a comb through it to keep it smooth, which it has the potential to be. Hair that is included in "doesn't get swept into the tail" is mostly his bangs, which are earlobe-length, and because they don't wind up in the tail, usually wind up fluffed in any direction they see fit, sometimes leading to an innumerable count of ahoge, sometimes leading to a harsh case of peek-a-boo bangs.
An interesting note about his hair is it's sort of texture, the appearance of it. More than its golden coloration, which is usually an eye-catcher on its own, his hair has a tendency to grow in sheets, usually no more than a couple hairs thick. His locks tend to stick together though they are not physically inseperable, and form strips and plates of hair which layer together in intricate weaves on accident. Generally speaking, short of the absolute mayhem that would be a bedhead for him, his hair rarely needs styling because the hair styles itself. Another interesting note, upon excessive observation, one would find that the 'strips' of hair (those only an inch or so wide) all seem to square-off at the end and maintain a notably consistant width, the hairs being equidistant in length. Meanwhile, his 'plates' (those significantly wider than the strips) are usually of varying lengths of longer hair which widen out at the middle and form to a pointed tip at the end.
It is notable that he isn't afraid to style his hair any further, nor is he incompetent on the matter. In fact, for more formal occasions he usually gets his hair in order, often overreacting to his hair being "a total mess" when randomly presented with notable figures such as captains or well respected noblemen. In such situations he tries to alleviate the problem by using his fingers to try and comb his hair into roughly professional order. If he has plans to impress someone, he's been known to weave in a flat braid or two. The most important part of his style is the ponytail though, there is little he's willing to change about it in most circumstances.
Moving on to other facial details, his next most notable facet would certainly be his eyes, which are a light hazel coloration, almost like white irises with a thin veil of mist over them. His eyes are shaped quite large, and quite sharp, his top eyelids/eyelashes being an entirely straight, diagonal line, arcing only in the outer corners, where they just barely curve to meet the other part of the eyelid. His eyelashes are thick and add a bit more femininity to his appearance. Notable about his eyes are that his pupils are very unpronounced, though visible. In the right lighting one can see them more clearly, but generally they disappear when exposed to light and when it's too dark, as though veiled by smoke. When visible, anyone can see they are slitted like those of cats.
The remaining traits one could notice about his face is that he has thin eyebrows, thicker towards the center of his face, though very clearly seperate, the same color as his hair. He's got relatively large ears from a proportion standpoint, all the better for hearing with he'd suppose. Yoshi also has a big mouth which is usually curled upwards at the sides into a smile of sorts. He's almost always cheery looking, and so photogenic it's almost impossible for him to take a bad picture, to a comical degree if someone tries.
His general appearance asides this is pretty much exactly what one would expect from an active kid his age. He's very short, mostly on account of puberty taking its sweet time having its full effect, a curse of being born a spirit in Soul Society. Furthermore, he's skinny, very much on the thin side of the expected weight range for his size. His body isn't particularly toned, but it's not flabby either. His legs are a bit more toned than the rest of his body, since he's spent a large amount of time running around and playing in his youth.
As far as outfits go, he's very much fallen in love with the modern fashions more than the traditional japanese attire attributed to Soul Society norms. While he adheres to customs, he adds a bit of flair where he can. For example, in the most prominant attire one would see him in, he wears his shinigami uniform: Consistent of a white shitagi, black kosode, black hakama, a white sash, white tabi socks, and the straw sandals, all the standard protocol. However he would roll up the sleeves on the kosode to just under his elbows, and roll up the left pantleg of the hakama to just under his knee.
This is a common trope in his outfits when he can get away with it. Long sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his left pantleg rolled up to his knee. Furthermore, when he can get away with it, he'll wear fingerspan gloves, which are essentially just gloves that cover his fingers alone and very little else. None of these things will be present in formal situations, such as lining up for orders, or tea ceremonies, or fancy ballroom events. Yoshi's got a sense of class; he just doesn't really like coming across as super traditional when he doesn't have to. It adds to his youthful charm.
One of his more common gigai outfits while out on the field is a black hoody with yellow lining on the inside which makes the sleeves pop golden when he rolls them up, which also has a smoky yellow minimalist design, that wraps around his his body like a bandolier. Paired with it are a pair black pants which have the same yellow lining thing going on, so that he can do the same golden trim effect when he rolls up his pantleg. Typically with this outfit he wears a pair of black and white slip-on shoes. Nothing too fancy, of course.
When attending formal events, Yoshitsune's known to rock a black suit, black undershirt, black slacks and shoes, and a somewhat gaudy golden tie. When said formal events are more traditionally japanese than they are traditionally western, he's also got a black kimono on standby with golden wispy designs, not randomly wispy like his hoody, but the wisps take the shapes of clouds. No, literally, the wisps form minimalistic cloud outlines which are filled in by the negative space. Said outlines are about palm sized and spaced out generously.
One can really see a sort of coloration theme he likes to stick with: Black and yellow. Which isn't surprising considering that his hair is golden blonde, and his shinigami uniform, something he's bound by code of conduct to wear all the time, is black. It wouldn't take long to start really seeing black as his color. Occasionally there's white thrown into his ensembles, usually in very small amounts, like the bottoms of his shoes. But again, Yoshi's not afraid to wear other colors, it's just a preference of his.
When in uniform he keeps his katana zanpakuto strapped to his hip, and his wakizashi one strapped to his back horizontally. When out of uniform, he usually keeps the wakizashi on his hip and carries the katana around by hand. After all, he cannot afford to be without his zanpakuto in most circumstances.
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-Personality-
Dislikes:
- [Tuxedos] - He stops at tailored suits. He can't stand the thought of looking like some kind of penguin. Tuxedos are tight, not designed at all for any semblance of mobility. People claim that full plate armor is restrictive, but these monkey suits are hand-tailored to make you as stiff and uncomfortable as possible.
- [Hollows] - He's not fond of hollows. It's sort of part of his job description that he not be. Nevertheless, he finds that hollows bring about an undue sense of unease, which may be in part due to the hollow reiatsu that curses him to this day, but may also be because they are masked monstrosities that eat souls. From a conceptual standpoint, who wouldn't be uneasy facing one down? Nevertheless, he's accepted it as his duty to slay these monsters whenever presented the opportunity, to free their souls from the grips of madness and send them to Soul Society, where they belong.
- [Green Vegetables] - Especially hot greens. He can stomache a salad, but spinache? Brussel sprouts? Collared greens? Blech. It's a rather childish distaste for anything bitter, especially foods that are pungently such. He also shares this distaste for pirogies, a fact which many people continue to line up to chastise him for. Can't a guy dislike certain foods in peace?
- [Muggy Days] - While he enjoys wet weather, he cannot stand it's really humid and really hot at the same time. It's absolute misery. Such times cause him to sweat so profusely that he ruins his uniforms and outfits. He also hates doing laundry, which makes this dislike a double-whammy. It's not unlikely he'll accidentally get dehydrated due to the oven-like weather on a muggy day.
- [Romantic Comedy] - Love is a very serious subject and should not be mocked in this manner! He takes the concept of romance very seriously, and while some humorous aspects certainly may be found in the subject, he dislikes the art of openly mocking it. No matter how sweet it's supposed to be intended, it's basically using the personal attributes of the lovers-to-be as a point of comedic relief, which plays against the fact that they're supposed to be attractive traits that makes the other lead fall for them. He cannot predict most relationships in Rom-Coms lasting more than a year after the movie ends.
- [Bland Hairstyles] - Quick way to lose respect is to have a totally bland hairstyle. He respects a guy with a bowl cut more than a guy with a crew cut, because at least the guy with the bowl cut is actively trying to look bad instead of being boring. This is mostly due to his naturally great hair giving him the thought that people don't even need to put the slightest bit of effort into having an interesting hairstyle, which means that anyone who is bland, is bland for the sake of being bland.
- [Corn] - It's so bland...
- [Rabbits] - How do they multiply so fast? It's horrifying! He grasps the concept of sexual reproduction, make no mistake, but from all that he knows about such things, the gestation period of these monstrosities is on par with fruit flies! They are deviant, in their ways, and he generally tries to keep them as far away from him as possible.
- [Red] - Red is decidedly not his color. It clashes with his hair, his eyes, his style in most senses. It's not that the color red explicitly makes him angry, but he'll certainly be upset by a red shirt being given as a birthday present. Red, in small doses, linings and trim is alright, though he'd usually prefer a different color. He'd certainly take yellow in its stead. The song "The Red" by Chevelle is pretty good though...
- [Chamomile Tea] - It's actually just his least favorite flavor of tea. It makes him really sleepy, and it's really only good for calming an upset stomach. He'll still drink it though. All tea is good tea. This one requires an extra lump of sugar though.
- [High Stress Situations] - He doesn't like when he's the clutch for a plan, as he knows his own tendency to crumble under pressure, and prefers to keep his pride intact. In such situations, he has to remind himself of his habit, and to try even though he'll probably fail. It doesn't help very much, he's a pessimist in these situations and sort of spirals.
- [Wheel-Based Platform Riding] - Why do people think this is fun? How do people balance on this? It's not feasible! (He's really bad at it, and because he's bad at it, he thinks its terrible.)
- [Snakes] - Dude, snakes are basically the worst. That's all there is to say on the matter really. They are like scaly rope with teeth, and sometimes poison, that tries to choke you and bite you for existing. Not to mention the way it moves, slithering and sliding, wriggling and writhing, totally creepy.
- [Extended Periods of Formality] - He can maintain a formal composure for a couple hours at best. Beyond this, it starts getting uncomfortable for him and he gets edgy and anxious. Formality extends to everything, from practicing etiquette, to politely sitting at a tea ceremony and commenting to the guest of honor about how nice everything is. He's not terrible at formality, but he cannot maintain this for very long, so anything that entails it should be kept as brief as possible.
- [Diplomatic Missions] - C'mon send someone else. Isn't there a hollow to slay somewhere instead? As far as diplomacy goes, again, he's not horrible at it. He can talk to people in a polite, controlled setting, and attempt to negotiate. He'd simply rather not, he's a Shinigami, his job is slaying hollows and upholding the law, not negotiating peace with an up-and-coming house of nobles. This is more a matter of [Extended Periods of Formality] than it is a dislike of nobility in general.
Likes:
- [Modern Fashion] - Since he has no memory of his past life, he finds that modern attire fits him better than traditional garb. His preference to the modern human fashion is likely a sign of his youth and open mind in respect to most things. After all, he doesn't have memories about learning to put on old fashioned kimonos and samurai armor, and old peasant clothes don't have the stimulating sense of individuality that modern fashion present. He's actually quite fond of fashion and modeling shows on television when he gets the chance to watch it.
- [Seated Officers] - Yoshi has a deep respect for anyone who has achieved any level of prestige in the Gotei 13. Even those of lower ranks than his are looked upon as shining examples of who to be. Fellow Shinigami are respectable in their own right, of course, but those with a seated position hold the seat for a reason: They are successful, they are trustworthy, they are strong. These reasons are traits that he hopes to see in himself when he gets there, and hopes to maintain while he holds his seat.
- [Sweets] - Obviously as he is physiologically and mentally quite young, he is very fond of candy and desserts. This is mostly due to his youth, even while he's mature for his appearance, he cannot help the youthful attraction to the sweet flavors of confectionery treats. Like metal to magnets, he is attracted to cake.
- [Rainy Days] - There is nothing better than a rainy day to set the mood for meditation and introspection. The constant white noise helps him clear his mind of anything else and relax, letting him get into the mood. When meditating outdoors, he also uses the rain like a tactile focus, he can concentrate on the rain itself to hone his senses in on. Plus, like a shower, it's relaxing.
- [Cringe Comedy] - Yoshi is minorly empathic, and really appreciates types of comedy that play on awkward social situations. Unlike in Rom-Coms which are generally disrespecting the awkwardness, using it as an empty character trait to spruce up otherwise unlikable characters, Cringe Comedies don't attempt to use the cringe as a likable trait. While most would turn the show off when the main character obsesses over a pat on the shoulder like it's their first sexual contact, Yoshi will revel in it, basking in what it means to be human and awkward. Remember, tripping into a puddle isn't going to find the love of your life, but it is going to make you feel horribly stupid.
- [Cool Hairstyles] - As a man of interesting hair himself, he certainly enjoys the company of peers on the subject. Somewhat hearkens to his like of [Modern Fashion]. He's always found that people with cool hairstyles can tell stories with their hair. No effort needs to go into making a hairstyle cool, windswept bangs tell of a windy day, horribly messy hair tell of a bad day. Yoshi believes you can tell a lot about a person by their hair, and sometimes tries to start conversations about what he gathers simply from how a person's hair is kept at the time.
- [Steak] - The best red meat. Generally he doesn't need to defend this opinion, but if he had to, he'd start a comical anime fight over it. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong, and if they refuse to be reasoned with, he'll show them the error of their ways by force if he must. Once he's done eating of course.
- [Bees/Wasps] - Against the very definition of common sense, he is actually very fond of bees and wasps, to the point where he'll pet a wasp if it lands on him. Generally they don't bother him, unless provoked by an outside source. The reason why this happens is possibly due to his very natural inner world which could possibly present itself to the wasps and bees as part of the environment. To them, he's no different than a tree, one could say. It could also be because he likes [Black and Yellow], so his fondness for them is simply reciprocated.
- [Black and Yellow] - No, not the song. That "Black and Yellow" is mediocre at best. The colors Black and Yellow are his signature color, to the point where it's basically a trope. The black is a good catch-all color for most people, but it also starkly contrasts his blonde hair to the point of a fashion statement, a fact that he's quite proud of. The yellow is there because it matches his hair, and therefore doesn't present further contrast in a different fashion. Because yellow matches his golden mane, he can also wear lots of it when he so chooses, and it won't look bad on him, albeit he'd look a bit bright. Maybe even comically so.
- [Green Tea] - His favorite particular tea, he actually likes it with a squeeze of lemon and one lump of sugar. Green tea is proven to help with mental function, and improve fat loss, two things that he doesn't really need more of, but he'd gladly take the assistance any day. For the most part, he's a fan of any tea, and coffee as well, but he believes that all tea has its purpose.
- [Attention] - While he sometimes cracks under pressure, especially when it's something genuinely stressful, he can't help but enjoy becoming the center of attention. Especially when it's something he can handle. This is due to a drive to succeed and a will to prove himself which chokes up when he doubts himself. The difference between showboating and being put on the spot is the ability to handle the situation, and for him, confidence in such.
- [Skiing] - While not exactly skilled in any sense at the task, he enjoys just about any task similar, including snowboarding, and doing the same stuff on sand and water. He's at the very least got the basics down enough, and it's leagues more controllable than the wheeled counterparts. His only misgiving for these is that they're so situational that learning them is almost pointless.
- [Cats] - Perhaps to an unhealthful degree, he enjoys playing with cats. It is all-in-all very likely he'll get in trouble at some point for getting distracted by a cat while on the job. Cats are interesting and full of personality in even the smallest things that they do. Sure, a lot of them tend to be aloof and difficult, but he'd much rather have a boring and aloof cat than a hyperactive and difficult to control dog. Of course, a playful and interesting cat is good too, and really, any cat is perfectly fine with him. He really likes cats.
- [Rolling Up His Sleeves] - In part due to his like of [Modern Fashion], he feels a sense of cathartic satisfaction when he rolls up his sleeves. Like everything is right in the world.
- [Violence] - Fight! Fight! Fight! He get's really hyped for a fight when he sees one, and even more hyped when he gets to participate (though he's not actually that good at it). He's a bit of a showboater when he can be, even though he generally can't be, and finds combat to be very fun. This stems from a lot of little kid gang wars in his past that were basically just playful bouts, which he had often and found to be exhilarating.
Flaws:
- [Immature] - The biggest problem with him from a mental standpoint is that he's still very hormonal and prone to making poor decisions based on immediate cravings and mood swing that you could tie a rock to and use as a method of execution. Oddly enough this Flaw sometimes supercedes his [Cracks Under Pressure] Flaw, so that he can genuinely fuck up with a rash decision made under stress.
- [Cracks Under Pressure] - He has and internalized inferiority complex in regards to his capabilities, which manifests most prominently in times of dire stress, causing him to talk himself out of doing something and panicking. He can sometimes put this aside in order to save lives, be they his own or those of others, but more often than not, he's probably going to buckle if the going gets tough.
- [Small] - He is short and child like and doesn't even weigh 120 lbs with both of his Zanpakutos on hand while soaking wet in a kimono. There is a lot of disadvantage to be had, in terms of intimidation, in terms of resisting being moved.
- [Empathic] - Sort of an additive to his [Cracks Under Pressure] Flaw, but he's very sensitive to the emotions of others. He can tell very easily when people are relying on him, when he's the clutch, making it that much more likely he'll buckle.
- [Obvious Sides] - One of the most notable flaws of his fighting style is that he clearly has a favorite hand, and that he can't switch which hand is holding which part of his daisho set. This means that when he's holding his sword one-handed, one of his flanks is pretty much wide open, and when he's using his daisho pair, he's got a defensively inferior side. Of course, which side's the defensively superior side may surprise his foes, but once they've got it figured out, they've likely got an advantage.
- [Former Gang Leader] - While he moved on from being that kid after an incident with a local mafia-style organized crime syndicate, he did once start and run the Yoshi Gang, which was a kid gang that, amongst other games pretended to be gangsters and did things like petty theft, and got into big fights with other kid gangs. While he's left it behind, there's decent odds that others might not have.
- [Memory Loss] - While most plus souls have some recollection of their former life, he lacks the memories of his old self. What he did in the past is not gone, despite the intention of purifying him through and through, and there are still plenty of things that can haunt him both from his life in the Human World and his life as an Arrancar. When they come to bit him in the ass, he'll be the least prepared he can possibly be.
Habits:
- [Interchanging Favoritism] - It's an odd habit he'll pick up when he gains his Dual Zanpakutos. One may notice that he draws one first, then the other, preferring to attack with one before he attacks with the other, releasing one zanpakuto first and then the other. He zigzags between 'his favorite' for individual encounters, meaning sometimes Yasha is first, and sometimes Sesshomaru.
- [Toying With Whatever's In Front Of Him] - He's young and full of energy, and has to expend it some how. If only there were some sort of small, handheld toy designed to help him fidget while concentrating.
- [Foul Language] - What? He's 80. Nevertheless, he has a bad habit of being super impolite with his choice of words when stressed or angry.
- [Playing With His Hair] - Wouldn't you if you had hair that glorious?
- [Excessive Formalities] - When posed with an authority figure, someone of a higher seat ranking than himself an captains of any of the Gotei 13 Squads, as well as respected noblemen, he's prone to showing excessive formalities, calling them sir with every sentence, saluting at inappropriate times, even constantly. It can be a humorous sight to see, and some of the most playful superiors might troll him by hanging around him a whole bunch.
- [Flash Step Dodging] - This is a bad habit he's trying to break himself of, but he tends to overshoot his dodging, using Shunpo to do it when a sidestep would have sufficed and even been advantageous. Typically one in every 3 of his dodges is a Shunpo. While there are benefits to this, it's still an annoying reflex that causes issues.
- [Battle Laughter] - While in battle, he's having fun, and when he's having fun, nothing shows it more than his laughter. In combat, he's prone to making witty banter and laughing in general, even when he's basically talking to air. This habit goes especially for fights he can be confident in, when his life isn't in danger. He even 'laughs off' injuries sometimes, taking a glancing cut or a strike to the shoulder an forgetting to wince in favor of laughter. Some people think it's creepy, others think it keeps the team morale high.
Fears:
- [Isolation] - It's a primal fear to him. He has no idea that he was alone for well over a century with only occasional breaks to fight every so often, but what he does know is that everything is better with friends, with family, with literally anyone else. Isolation is the worst kind of hell, the kind without even a torturer, because the prisoner tortures themselves.
- [Consumption] - Another deep-seeded fear he has is the fear of being consumed by a hollow. It's a fate he would do a great many things to avoid, a fate worse than death even. Such a fear may lead one to question his choice in work, and to that he says 'Touché'.
- [Cancer] - Growths of useless cells on the body which only act to multiply as rapidly as possible, and grow for no reason other than to grow. The fact that it's a thing that can happen to anyone is terrifying. He irrationally avoids people with cancer, and quite rationally avoids people who cause cancer.
- [Rabbits] - Irrationally on the norm, he dislikes rabbits. His tendency to keep them away from him goes especially for large groups of them: He basically outright refuses to go into pet stores or rabbit farms. When faced with rabbit-themed hollow, he's likely to freak out and assume it has cloning powers of some sort, regardless of whether or not it does. He'd still probably fight it though, unless it was particularly dangerous, which might trigger his anxiety.
- [Real Gangsters] - Due to a bad run-in with a mafia local to his district in Rukongai comparatively recently in his past, he's pretty uneasy around people who look like thugs. This goes double for real gangsters: If he doesn't have back-up, he's likely to keep his head down instead of acting. This would be the case until a gangster actually did something that he couldn't stand by and watch, like a random public execution or somesuch.
Goals:
- [Have A Successful Career] - More than anything he just wants to have a stable job doing what he's opted to do: He wants to be a respected and successful Soul Reaper. Whether this leads him to become a Captain, or something greater is totally irrelevant to him, as long as he earns his keep and does so honorably, he's happy.
- [Control His Inner Hollow] - While he doesn't know it yet, he cursed himself in a previous life out of spite for a shinigami's supposed 'Salvation'. While he lost his memories and was reborn fresh as a baby in the Soul Society, as was intended, he was laced with his former life's hollow reiatsu as well. It first manifested as nightmares when he was a baby, and the effects will grow as he does, forming an inner hollow who seeks to take him over once again. Once this happens, it'll be traumatizing and he'll seek some means to making it stop or getting it under control.
- [Master His Zanpakuto] - To master one's Zanpakuto is to master oneself, in more ways than one. He seeks this enlightenment, both as the enlightenment that it is, and the utility it holds. After all, it's much easier to become a successful Shinigami when you are capable of using Bankai, and that's just a fact.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral (Lawful in this case being "His Own Moral Code", rather than "Boring Shinigami Laws")
Overall Personality: Yoshitsune is a youthful shinigami who is full of hopes and dreams, which is why it's such a shame that he's so very weak. See, a plus soul born from scratch components with a sufficient level of spirit energy available to it to become a Shinigami come around maybe once in a millenium. So from a totally neutral standpoint, he's impressive in his own right. The drive that pushes him to move towards that goal is one that'd be the envy of people who actually made it to that point. However, despite this, what he has, while sufficient, is not enough.
While his drive and chops are there, his faltering in just about every category is something that has vexxed him for his entire education at the Shino Academy. But it's not just the fact that it's at Shino Academy: He's been like this his whole life. Yoshi, even as leader of the Yoshi Gang in his earlier youth, was always a fall down the stairs from his peers in terms of athletic ability, perceptiveness. It took him years and years to be able to run alongside his friends evenly. They were always stronger than him, which is why he developed charisma.
Charisma is the trait of leaders, one which is either bestowed upon an individual by the grace of god, or earned by showing sheer gumption in the face of adversity. Yoshitsune has never made a huge fuss about his inferiority, he was always more than happy to play with the other kids, get into brawls he had no chance in, and only by strength of will and a good cast of friends in his younger years did he come out on top. His consistent confidence and cheer, his joking nature, his optimism, were always the keys of his success growing up.
But now that he's in the real world, one where his inferiority is the only trait he can seemingly show, he's a lot less optimistic, if nothing else. See strength of will can't win a one-on-one battle with a guy who can cut break cement blocks using a kendo stick when you can't even lift the cement block. Gumption doesn't give you more Reiatsu. Charisma doesn't enhance your ability to track high speed movement by eye. The fact that he's constantly shown up by someone else in just about every conceivable category, if not just about everyone else, is something he's internalized.
Suddenly, he doesn't really want to be the best. He just wants to succeed. He wants to be able to do the job he's decided on and push himself to the next level. His internalized inferiority has given him realistic goals, nothing lofty. He understands that he's weak, so he just wants to be strong enough to get a move on with his life. All he needs to be able to do is slay hollows, and know the subject matter. So he studies, and he studies hard. All day every day, if he has free time, studying, sometimes all night. He can't win a kendo match anyways, he can sleep during those courses he'll never use.
When it comes down to it, if there's one category he excels in, it's the intellectual courses. He can't hack it anywhere else, so he puts his all into making sure he knows the subjects. He can work out when he's graduated, his only current dangerous tool on hand is his brain. With his mind he can think strategy, he can help other people win. He doesn't need to be strong if others are strong for him. While he doesn't really believe that, it's something that he's forced himself to believe so that he can cope with his inferiority.
Nevertheless, while he's certainly got a complex from sucking so hard at life, his apparent cheeriness and motivation seem unchanged from when he first joined. It's not infrequently that people would say things like, "You've gotta admire his enthusiasm," in regards to him, because he's a ball of energy and cheer, always cheering on his friends, pretending like he's got a shot in a bout he's forced to partake in. If he was actually as capable as he made himself seem like he'd be, he would be a top student in almost every category, instead of a bottom student.
Unfortunately, school is totally different from the real thing. He's a weakling, unable to defend the people he loves, unable to defend himself. He is completely aware of this, and feels like his only hope for success in the field is to guide his team to victory from a safe place. If he was the clutch in a bout, the only one left, or the only one who was capable of doing something about a horrific situation, he's genuinely scared that he'll crack under the pressure and fail. From a realistic standpoint, he probably would too, after all, almost everyone in his line of work is suited to every task, at least more than he is. If push came to shove, he'd probably figure out a way to help, he's smart, but his fear and hesitation could come at a horrific price.
To a friend, he's a warm ball of energy and optimism to fall on. He's always there for his friends, even if he can't actually do anything. He seeks in himself the strength to be the guy that his friends can rely on for more than just emotional baggage, he wants to be someone strong. This is why he puts on that facade of confidence and energy, because as long as he's still bright, still full of belief in his friends, his friends know that all is not lost. So if you need a motivation beyond his will to succeed, then there it is, he needs to be the emotional crux for his friends.
To an ally, he's probably seen as a bubbly brick tied to them that's dragging them down. His inability to do anything on par with even an average shinigami short of run and sense energy makes him a hindrance to any team he's placed on. If given the opportunity though, he can use his knowledge to help them, either playing a situation to his allies' strengths, or pulling some weird trivia out of nowhere and solving problems otherwise unthinkably inane. So if nothing else, he can pull the strings, and coordinate a battle plan.
To a foe, he's a laughably weak target, an easy prey. Depending on the individual he's either attacked first, left for last, or even just left alone as though he's not worth their time. A lot of times on the field, he'll find that the only thing keeping him alive is a decent ability to sense energy and average reflexes. He's sensitive to a foe's intentions, however, and may be able to reason with them, given it's not a hollow or something mindless. From a pragmatic standpoint, he could at the very least keep them distracted with discourse while someone more capable got themselves lined up to solve the problem themselves.
To an enemy, he's absolutely pathetic. How could anyone see him as their enemy? Something about his drive just irks them and makes them want to crush him underfoot in every facet of his life. His cheerful demeanor despite having no right to be where he is, may be totally sickening to someone else. There are a lot of really mean people out there that think that self-improvement is a stupid fantasy for pathetic idiots who need to learn their place. From that perspective, he's a perfect target for that kind of hideous person, since he almost agrees with them, and probably wouldn't retaliate.
Moving on to matters of love, he's a demisexual with a leaning towards males. In this progressive age, it's as good a preference as any, thankfully. He forms relationships with people and gets to know who they really are before he forms a romantic interest in them. While he's not absolutely homosexual in his preferences, it's notable that he finds that men have a lot less tendency to make drama where none is due, and tend to be more earnest in their relationships.
He's more frequently interested in males than he is in females, because he can't love many females for who they really are most of the time. Chicks always spout gossip, bitch about their peers and make fights where there aren't any. That's a lot of negativity he doesn't need in his life. However, that's also not literally every female, just like there are men who are scummy and therefore unappealing to him, there are women who are earnest and kind and very appealing to him. It's all a matter of how their relationship pans out.
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