Application

[lookingglassed]

In Character Information

character name: Oz Vessalius
Fandom: Pandora Hearts
Timeline: Beginning of chapter 62, on their day off! But prior to the encounter with Leo.
character's age: Depends on who you ask. Technically, he's 25 at the point in canon I am pulling him from. But he's only actually lived for 15 of those years thanks to a trip to the Abyss. Recent chapters confuse this further given that Oz is apparently not human, so his age is all up in the air. It all depends on who you ask. If anyone asks him, he's likely to shrug and laugh and not give them a very good answer. He looks about 15-16.

powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Oz's powers include a surprising amount of charisma. People have a tendency to like Oz (well, except for, you know, his father). Despite his many insecurities and lack of self-worth, Oz exudes an easy sort of confidence and cheerfulness that people seem to instinctively be drawn to. There are, of course, exceptions. (Notably Elliot Nightray who was intensely not impressed when first meeting Oz, but even he eventually comes around.)

Additionally, Oz has some strange ability to reduce grown men to twitching, horrified piles by whispering something mysterious and obviously terrifying and disturbing. What this actually is? Oz won't reveal. No sense giving up his trump card.




canon history: http://pandorahearts.wikia.com/wiki/Oz_Vessalius/History

personality:
Do you know the expression "he wasn't hugged enough as a child" that gets thrown around in loose psychological discussion? Well, Oz wasn't. Let's start there. It goes far beyond this, of course, but a lot of who Oz is stems from the fact that as a child, he felt unneeded and unloved. For some reason that he still cannot comprehend, Oz's father loathes him. This goes beyond an absentee parent idea; the patriarch of the Vessalius household refuses to touch or often look at his eldest son, calling him filth and unwanted. This shatters something inside Oz. For a long time he had honestly believed that by being a good, (mostly) obedient child and excelling at his studies, that he would earn his father's attention and approval. When this proved to be untrue, Oz finds himself having to come to terms with the fact that his only living parent holds nothing but disdain for him. Though he sinks into a bit of a depression, it is a short lived one, at least superficially. He quickly decides that even if he has no worth, the last thing he wants to be on those around him was a burden. So he puts on a smile and moves on with his life, though the lasting repercussions of this realization are seen in his character for years to come. One example is his absolute horror at the idea of the world being better were someone (Alice in this case) not to have been born.

For a long time, Oz's self-worth is extremely lacking. He believes that his life is not nearly as important as those around him, and is all too willing to sacrifice himself should the opportunity arise. This is very evident at certain points, such as early on in the series when Gilbert is once more possessed once again by Zwei's chain. Upon finding out that it is indeed Gilbert, Oz more or less tells his possessed former servant to kill him. Though later he claims that he knew Gilbert wouldn't because he believed in the promise of forever that the other boy had given him years before, the truth of the matter is, Oz honestly believed that his own life wasn't worth seeing that promise broken. At one instance he has this point of view brought up to him as ridiculous (courtesy of Eliot and an ongoing literary metaphor to a side-character in a book series they both enjoy) which makes him rethink his view slightly. However, instead of improving his self worth by much at all, it mostly serves to remind Oz that his behaving in such a manner actually makes things difficult for the people who do care about him. He continues to see that how he deals with things and problems often creates more of a heavy burden for the people he cares about. So he does his best to keep this in mind, to remember that he must take care of himself so that he doesn't inadvertantly cause pain to those he loves.

There is a definite sort of darkness in Oz. Gilbert comments on it when they are children, and it only continues to be true for young Mr. Vessalius. This darkness mostly consists of his lack of self-worth and uncertainty over his place in the world. Part of him wonders if he should have ever been born in the first place. When he was sent to the Abyss, he was told his sin was existing. And he wants to understand this, even if as of yet, he has been unable to.

Despite these rather dark and angst-filled parts of himself, Oz does not display them often. As far as most everyone who knows him undoubtedly believes, Oz is a cheerful, friendly and well-adjusted young man. He is very exuberant and friendly, an extrovert who is not at all afraid to go out of his way to make himself known to new people. Though he has few close friends (mostly limited as a child to Gilbert and his sister, and as an adult to Gilbert and the few from Pandora who are helping him as well as Alice), he very easily makes acquaintances. He is good with younger children, capable of a sort of gentleness and candor that he undoubtedly grew experienced in while dealing with his younger sister (when she was still his younger sister). Oz is bright and capable, and sometimes more than a little impulsive. As a child he showed little concern for certain rules, and a penchant for mischief. This has not changed as he's grown older, or after his experience in the Abyss. Additionally, on a sillier note, Oz has a habit of swooning over pretty younger girls. A large part of Oz's ability to still smile so much is likely due to the fact that even if his father wanted nothing to do with him, he was quite obviously loved and cared for by his Uncle Oscar as well as his little sister. Despite being told he was despised by one parent, he still had the chance to learn what it is like to love and be loved. At times, Oscar refers to Oz as a son.

Oz has proven himself to be perceptive on multiple occasions, often seeing straight to the heart of the matter in a few instances. When he first escapes the Abyss and finds himself in Break's custody, he calls the one-eyed man out on needing him for more reason than just his being an illegal contractor, since they were planning on rescuing him to begin with. He's also among the first to notice that Break has lost his eyesight.

One particular hallmark of Oz's persona is that he is resilient. He does not just roll with the punches, he dances with them. Though he is easily startled and surprised, he recovers quickly and simply deals with the situation in front of him. In the Abyss, when he's not running for his life from chains, he sits down and finds some cookies. In a later instance, Break informs him, very seriously for Break, that he is the key to finding and dealing with the Intention of the Abyss and other dark things about Oz's fate. And Oz quite confidently shrugs it aside and informs everyone that he'll simply continue helping Alice track down her memories.

There are many difficult and tragic things that Oz comes to witness. The death of illegal contractors and significant injuries to his friends are among them. Most recently he was involved in Isla Yura's attempt to recreate the Tragedy of Sablier. Oz and the others manage to stop him, but not without significant loss. In particular was the sacrifice that Elliot had made -- something that strikes Oz hard especially in light of the fact that he considered the youngest Nightray a friend, and they had recently agreed to try to change the relationship between their respective houses. It would be impossible for anyone to experience these things without being affected by them. Oz takes them all quite seriously to heart, something that manifests itself in a growing sort of heaviness hidden away in his heart. Additionally, the fact that he almost caused quite a bit of damage when he started to lose himself wielding B.Rabbit's powers bothers him; he wonders how much darkness there really is in him, how dangerous he could possibly be. He also worries about losing himself, making it quite clear to those who ask that although Jack's soul is currently speaking in his head, he is in fact Oz Vessalius and not just a reborn Jack Vessalius.

Things hit Oz hard. He has on more than on occasion been brought to his knees by emotion. But he always gets up and he always keeps going, and he thus far has always remembered how to smile and enjoy life when he can.

Oz cares very deeply for the people he chooses to let close. This extends primarily to Alice, Gilbert, Ada and his uncle. As time goes on, he has also grows rather attached to Sharon and, somehow, to Break.

Oz is not without his flaws. He oftentimes keeps things to himself and does not look to others for help, even when he should. He's also quite opinionated. He does not simply agree to what is said. He's quick to point out his thoughts or discrepancies -- something that leads to Break refering to him as a horrible brat on more than on occasion. He fears his own weakness and in some ways, his own existence. But largely he is able to accept his flaws when they are pointed out and work towards fixing them.

Currently in canon (in chapters beyond the canon point I am taking Oz from) there are some pieces of his history and character coming out that make a bit difference. However, Oz is thoroughly ignorant at this point in time to the truth about himself. And this truth is more about what he is than who he is. Oz is still very much Oz, especially in this case where he does not know those other pieces of himself.


Third Person Sample:

The pocket watch needed to be wound again. The sound of the familiar melody -- more familiar than it ever should have been to him at first, and now familiar through the countless times he's listened to it -- was soothing in a way, though still slightly melancholy. It was strange, really, how the musicbox notes stirred that emotion, the sense of a loss he wasn't sure he himself had ever felt, though he knew loss well enough in his own life. His mother was a memory, of course. And even that was fading as time went on. Oh, he still remembered her smile -- and she had smiled! And the sound of her voice calling his name. But beyond that, time had begun to take her from him. Was this what Alice felt like all the time? The void left by things that she knew she should remember, had once remembered? Only so much worse, considering that she'd lost everything. Thinking about Alice made him a bit homesick, really. It seemed longer and longer since he'd been home. Gilbert must be having a fit, and that thought brought a sad little smile over his face. Really, it had been too long since he'd had the chance to harass his dear, loyal servant. Who would keep Gilbert on his toes?

Shaking his head, he stood up and shut the watch. The music stopped abruptly and he nodded to himself. All right. Wallowing in his thoughts wasn't accomplishing anything. And that wouldn't do. This world was new and strange. The mist -- which begged to be explored, even if he'd been quite plainly informed that this was not a good idea even remotely. At all. The consequences sounded pretty severe. But still, he couldn't help but want to know what was out there. It had always been a problem of his, that curiosity, that inability to just sit still and behave. Oh, he tried to be good, to be a responsible and dutiful son to a father who hated to look at him. But he couldn't help who he was.

And right now, who he was, was Oz Vessalius, the stir crazy. He set his hands on his hips and made a quick circle. The little apartment was getting messy. Maybe if he cleaned that would burn off some of his energy, would give him something to concentrate on. "No, that's not going to last..." At least he was being honest with himself.

Flopping back down in the nearest chair, he pursed his lips. All right. Myabe if he only went so far, it wouldn't be so bad. He could make sure that there was something in sight that he could navigate back to. Or travel only a certain amount of time. This would work, right? It sounded like a solid plan.

Gilbert would kill him. The thought made him grin even as he realized he had it wrong. Gilbert wouldn't kill him, Gilbert would be too busy having a minor aneurysm to kill him. Elliot, on the other hand, Elliot might actually murder him for this particular idea.

That just meant he had to make sure that no one found out about his adventures. No problem. He could do that. He was, after all, Oz Vessalius. That meant something. It meant he could handle himself, at least, he hoped it did.


Anything else? Nothing! :D