App for empatheias

[nailed_it]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Mew
Contact: I've got a Plurk at Mewberries, and PM-ing my character's account is fine too!
Age: 30
Current Characters: None!


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Yang Xiao Long
Age: 17 at the start of the series, possibly 18 as of Volume 4
Canon: RWBY
Canon Point: Volume 4, Episode 12, immediately after Yang chooses, once more, to go after her little sister as opposed to continuing her search for her mother (implied by the crossroads sign of Bandits (her mother) and Mistral (where she knows Ruby was headed to). The emotional strength of her bond with her sister and her desire to find and make sure she's alright are likely what prompted the pull to Empatheias.

Background: Wiki Link for Yang's history (TW: Dismemberment!)

Personality:
Yang Xiao Long, like a true sunny little dragon, is a force to be reckoned with. She can be warm and gentle like the glow of a hearth, bright and cheering like sunshine, and yet dangerously aggressive and destructive in a fight like a wildfire. Vivacious and fun-loving, Yang exudes a lot of confidence, both in herself and especially in the people she cares about, frequently offering words of reassurance or optimism. She is usually fearless in the face of conflict, often smiling or outright grinning at her opponent, or even opponents, as she has previously had no problems taking on more than one at a time. A self-proclaimed thrill-seeker, she tries to find the fun in the unexpected, if not outright revel in it, intent on living every day as if it could be her last. In fact, the potential for adventure and seeing new places was key in her initial choice to train to become a Huntress, the prospect of helping people initially somewhat secondary.

Yang has exceptional self-esteem and an incredibly positive body image, almost verging on vanity. She is fully aware of how her looks might make others initially perceive her and she is happy to play up the part of the witless blonde in order to appear like a non-threat and gain an advantage over potential opponents as she did in her introductory trailer. She has no qualms with flirting, regardless of whether she is actually interested in the receiving party or not such as when she persuades Junior Xiong, owner of the dance club she infiltrates twice, to "kiss and make up" with her right before she sends him flying into a wine rack, or when she is ogling the attractive guys across the room from her on her first night at Beacon. Even following the loss of her arm, she seems to have regained much of her confidence towards this aspect, choosing to customize the look of her prosthetic with black and gold paint so that it better matches her aesthetic, as well as wearing an outfit that does not completely hide it from view. She seems to be daring people to stare at or judge her, if not outright encouraging them to do so. Likely at their own risk.

Perhaps most touching is how incredibly dedicated Yang is towards her younger sister, Ruby, encouraging and comforting her as well as aiding and backing her up when needed, particularly in social situations which Yang often navigates with ease. She was genuinely excited at the prospect of her sister joining her at Beacon, almost more so than Ruby herself was. On the other hand, she's not afraid to let her sister fly on her own, sometimes with a good-natured shove out of the proverbial nest, so that Ruby can learn and grow as a person and Yang holds no jealousy towards her sister's accomplishments, even when she's made leader of their team over her following their Initiation, simply endlessly proud of her. Ruby is also a key motivator in her choosing to move forward following the Fall of Beacon and losing her arm, as over-hearing her father lament that he can't go after Ruby and bring her home from Mistral as well as the uncertainty regarding her sister's safety is what ultimately leads to her choosing to try on her new prosthetic and begin training again.

In keeping with her generally cheerful nature, Yang has a quirky sense of humor, often playfully teasing her sister or making light sarcastic remarks about friends and strangers alike. She's not above making snarky comments about other people, even her professors, and will banter with her opponents during a fight she knows she has the upper-hand in or that is otherwise low-stakes. Taking inspiration from her voice actress, Yang can be prone to making puns although she tends to find them a lot funnier than her friends do. She also seems to happily go along with most things if she doesn't outright instigate them, whether it's a simple card game with her teammates or a large-scale food fight against friends.

Beneath her sunny, "party-girl" disposition though lies a surprisingly compassionate and almost motherly figure. This can best be seen in many of her interactions with Ruby, as she balances the parts of a supportive sister and perhaps a pseudo-parent. This trait extends to her friends too however, as Yang made a point of taking her partner, Blake, aside in the episode "Burning the Candle", sitting her down and talking to her when the girl was losing sleep and not eating due to stress from their investigations. During this talk, Yang shared that she too had struggled with an obsession over a quest for information when, as a child, she and Ruby lost their mom, only for Yang to realize that that woman wasn't her birth mother. Her biological mother had left her with her father after she was born and had not been seen since. She and Ruby were actually half-sisters with Ruby's mom apparently raised them as if they were both her own daughters as Yang seemed to have nothing but fond memories of her. Regardless, this truth about her parentage, likely coupled with grief at losing the mother who raised her, drove Yang to obsessively search out any information she could about her birth mother. This quest culminated on a day where, after finally finding a possible solid lead about her mother, Yang traveled out into the woods without telling anyone, taking her baby sister with her. However instead of discovering anything about her birth mother, the two were nearly attacked and killed by monsters, only saved by the timely intervention of their Uncle Qrow. Following that, while Yang continues to search for information about her mother as a teenager, she refuses to let her desire for answers control her the way it previously had, essentially acknowledging how actions like that can affect those around her as well as rob one of a chance to enjoy other things in life, a lesson that still continues to impact her life and choices as she expressly chooses (twice) to pursue her sister Ruby in Mistral even though she has the opportunity and the knowledge to track down her birth mother instead. This story also helps to further demonstrate that Yang can be incredibly worldly and wise despite her youth and her general demeanor.

Yang does have a temper however, and she can become frustrated by things getting too far out of hand like they did during her Initiation to Beacon where one crazy thing happened immediately after another until she finally shouted at everyone to chill. Perhaps most notably, damaging her hair, even just one strand, will send her flying into a literal red-eyed rage of fury and fists. Especially fists. While her tantrums tend to fizzle out quickly, with Yang often immediately going back to her usual cheery, if sarcastic self, they can still be explosive and unsettling to those that aren't expecting them. She can be a bit of a sore loser and gets irritable sometimes when things don't go her way as seen in her dissatisfaction and grumpiness after her potential lead at Junior's dance club turned out to be a bust. Yang can also be stubborn, even butting heads with her father and other adults, when she feels she's being slighted or otherwise not acknowledged as the adult she considers herself and she's fairly susceptible to insults, especially to things or persons that she values, as Neon Katt was able to rile her up in a tournament match by making comments about her hair and weight. In general, she just doesn't like when somebody makes her look bad, but this is especially true when it comes to making her look bad in a fight, and she can hold a grudge against those who have. This trait nearly proved deadly for her when she engaged in a fight with the mysterious Neopolitan, a girl who had helped one of the main antagonists of the series escape from Yang following a fight with Team RWBY. Yang later encountered the girl again on the train the villains were using to lure a hoard of monsters into the city and chose to fight the henchman alone, confident she could beat her and make her pay for the "insult" she suffered earlier. However, Yang was engaging an opponent whom she knew almost nothing about and was unable to land any direct hits on the girl before she was soundly beaten and knocked unconscious. She would have been killed if not for the interference of an unknown woman, later revealed to be her birth mother, who then left before Yang fully came to. Yang's temper also played a part in the believability of her supposedly ruthlessly attacking a defenseless student in her semi-final tournament match. While Yang was misled by an outside force into believing she was being attacked, resulting in her lashing out, afterwards, she doesn't particularly seem regretful of her actual actions, but more that people don't believe her side of the story and the potential distrust of her partner. Lastly, her temper, overconfidence in her own strength, as well as her protectiveness towards her friends were all factors in what ultimately led to the loss of part of her right arm as, after coming across Blake apparently being run-through by an attacker, she activated her Semblance and launched herself, screaming and crying, at the man without a second thought. Unfortunately, she was, yet again, engaging an opponent she knew nothing about, with the attacker, in truth a very powerful fighter, having purposefully injured Blake to get Yang's attention and prompt her into attacking, giving him plenty of time to prepare his own counter-strike and dispatch her with ease. Yang only survived this encounter due to Blake's intervention, as she was able to provide a distraction and get herself and an unconscious and badly injured Yang out.

Yang's morality can sometimes veer towards the Chaotic or Neutral as she can and will act as an aggressor in order to get what she wants when dealing with more shady types and while she doesn't necessarily fight "dirty", she seems to have few qualms with hitting below the belt, literally even, or stacking odds in her favor, even in something as innocuous as a card game, although this likely ties back into her slight penchant for mischief and enjoyment of winning. Perhaps most poignant of all is, during the down-time of a high stakes mission, Yang expressed a rare moment of uncertainty in herself and her choices, stating that she really didn't choose to become a Huntress to help people and be a hero like her sister had, but because she wanted a life that would provide her with plenty of adventures and thrills. While she received some sound advice regarding this, she may still be struggling with her decisions and her motivations for the career she chose, particularly now that Beacon Academy is gone and she's essentially "on her own" when it comes to her life choices. She is ultimately, a "good person" though, if not nearly in the same way that her sister Ruby is, and a loyal and supportive friend.

Since the Fall of Beacon, she has been training with her father, with the help of an incredible robotic prosthetic taking the place of her lost right arm. She's commented that, while she expected the prosthetic to feel like a huge weight, possibly also referring to her grief over the initial loss, that it instead feels almost natural, suggesting that the prosthetic itself is incredibly advanced and is likely capable of most, if not all, of the functions that her normal flesh and blood arm would be. It is obviously able to immediately respond and move in the way a normal arm would, even to subconscious commands as Yang is able to fight with the same ease she previously had. On the advice of her dad, she's attempting to adapt her strategies in combat to not be so reliant upon over-powering her opponent, often with the use of her Semblance, as well as to not tank unnecessary damage purely to power up her Semblance. She's learning to fight smarter instead of harder, particularly with opponents who are likely to be stronger and/or more experienced than her, although her overall fighting style seems to be otherwise unchanged for now.

Regardless of the trauma and struggles she's had, Yang seems to want to reclaim her previous fairly care-free and laidback personality, and a love for life as it comes. While she may still struggle with fear and uncertainty, about herself or her abilities or what's happened to her in the past, she seems to have risen from the ashes of her defeat and loss to burn with the same bright and sunny intensity and attitude she had before, intent on making the most out of every day she has.

Abilities:
AURA - "Aura" is the manifestation of one's soul in Remnant, and a power which Huntsmen and Huntresses like Yang are adept at utilizing in combat. It passively protects the bearer from harm (ie. slashes, bullets, and blunt trauma) and also enables them to do incredible feats. However, Aura cannot be wielded while asleep or unconscious and continuous damage will cause a user's Aura to deplete, eventually leaving them vulnerable to normal damage. Stronger attacks can also cause a user's Aura to deplete at a faster rate or break entirely, signified by a yellow-gold crackle of energy in Yang's case.

SEMBLANCE - Most Aura users also have a Semblance, an ability or power that is often unique to the Huntsman or Huntress. In Yang's case, her Semblance is a form of Kinetic Absorption; whenever she takes damage, energy of those hits is added to her already formidable strength, allowing her to make her own attacks more powerful either in short bursts or in one explosive all-out attack. However, Yang's Semblance comes with a price. Her Aura will still deplete with any strike she takes, meaning that while she can become stronger, she also leaves herself more vulnerable to receiving injury or harm, and once she's used up the energy she's absorbed, she's back to square one, which can leave her weakened and/or exhausted. Her hair is a visible indicator of her Semblance in use as it glows or occasionally even appears to catch fire depending on the amount of power she's absorbed. Her eyes will often also switch to their red hue given her usual furious mind-set when she's using her Semblance at its greatest power.

SUPER STRENGTH - Yang seems to have an impressive and higher than average physical prowess for a Huntress her age, capable of lifting obscene amounts of weight without much difficulty and without any apparent use of her Semblance. Her robotic prosthetic also seems to avail her some degree of additional strength, although that may merely be due to the nature of its metallic parts and synthetic build (in that it is harder and won't tire the way a real muscle might).

HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING - Yang has trained as a Huntress for several years, first at Signal Academy, a combat school in Patch, and then at the prestigious Beacon Academy. She has learned a lot of her fighting techniques from her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, a professional Huntsman and teacher at Signal Academy. Because of this, Yang has extensive experience with hand-to-hand combat and fighting in general, and is able to use her training extremely effectively. Her fighting style combines aspects of classic boxing, with a mix of kick-boxing, martial art, and her own unique flair.

COMBAT READY - Due to her training and experience, Yang is very capable of keeping a level head when in battle or in other high intensity situations and does, in fact, enjoy the thrill of it. She's been exposed to a variety of combat styles, techniques, and weaponry, so while it is still possible to catch her off-guard, she will use her experience to tip battles in her favor wherever possible. Though she may not be an exceptional wide-scale tactician like her sister, she is still plenty capable of fighting strategically and effectively one-on-one. In addition to this, given the design of her extremely unique weaponry, Yang has had to learn to hit targets at both close and wide range and she is a dead shot at both. Moving targets can often be struck with deadly accuracy regardless of their distance. Yang is also able to accurately augment her speed and jumps using the recoil of her weapons, boosting and angling herself while in mid-air or along the ground in order to out-maneuver opponents or traverse the field of battle quickly. Lastly, while she may not be the fountain of enthusiasm that her sister is, Yang has an impressive well of energy and vivaciousness of her own to pull from. It takes a great deal to visibly tire her and even then she's capable of pushing through it and continuing whatever activity she's doing, and effectively at that, even if it's battling hoards of monsters. In a fight, she's difficult to wear down, in part because of her powers that allow her to draw strength from any damage she takes, but also because she seems to have a higher than average pain tolerance, able to take two direct hits from a giant armored robot (and go through several concrete pillars) and still get up without any staggering or struggle. She does, however, suffer from at least a mild form of PTSD, and can potentially suffer visions or flashes if triggered, although she also seems very capable of calming herself down and handling them on her own. Combat, or at least practice sparring, does not seem to be a trigger for her.

Alignment: Thras: For Yang's initial alignment, I've chosen Thras. Being a Huntress requires a certain degree of courage, pitting oneself constantly against the creatures of Grimm being no easy feat. Having chosen this line of work, puts no doubt to Yang's bravery and she admits herself that she is a thrill-seeker, enjoying the excitement, adventure, and danger that being a Huntress comes with. But Thras also deals with the struggle of fear vs. bravery and following Volume 4, Yang has only recently begun to move past her fear and trauma following the Fall of Beacon, regain her confidence in herself and her abilities, and make her own new "normal" with her prosthetic. On the completely superficial side, Thras is a big, gold, dragon and his emotion drops color is yellow which is just Yang Xiao Long's aesthetic all over.

Other: Yang will be entering Empatheias with her V4 adventuring duds, her stylish aviator sunglasses, and Ember Celica, along with a spare roll of ammunition and a photo of Team STRQ which she had on her person at the time. Her prosthetic arm is currently attached to her so that will be coming as well.

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
General Sample: Yang on the Test Drive!

Emotion Sample: "Hotter than the sun in the middle of July", or Yang ruins her lemonade because an old foe pissed her off.

Questions: No questions! Just want to reassure the Mods that I don't intend to make Yang's PTSD into a huge aspect of her character as I know that content can be triggery or just generally upsetting to other players. I don't have a lot of canon basis yet for how her PTSD symptoms specifically express themselves anyway so I'm going to simply play it safe and keep it "off-screen" for the most part unless there's something incredibly unavoidable with regards to it (like the guy who did it appearing in-game lol) or some other in-game event that would understandably bring it or the memories attached to it up, in which case I'll have the appropriate content warnings in place. Additionally, Yang will be keeping her prosthetic on likely 99% of the time and if at any point she does not have it on, I'll again have the appropriate content warnings. Just want to cover all my bases and make sure I don't upset anybody!