OOC INFORMATION;
Player: porto
Age: old af
Personal Journal: tawnyport
Contact Info: plurk
Other Characters: Daichi steadier | Izumida abu | Furuya staminaroll

IC INFORMATION;
Character's Name: Sousuke Yamazaki
Age: 18
Canon: Free!
Canon Point: post season 2
Species: Human
Gender: M
Orientation: Bi

History: wiki
Appearance: 1, 2, his unusually high lift from the water.
Personality: Even since he was young, Sousuke's lived very much inside his own head. Not in the sense that he's prone to personal fantasy; if anything, the opposite. He simply doesn't share himself with the rest of the world easily. Sousuke keeps his feelings very much internalized and relies on intellect and theory to guide his decisions. Because he tends to try to exclude emotional considerations from his life as much as possible, he often misreads situations where high emotions are a guiding force. His conflict with Haru is probably the best example of this. All Sousuke knows is what he sees, which is his best friend suffering, then appearing in a race that will disqualify the team he's on from any sort of advancement in the tournament. Knowing how important success in swimming is to Rin, Sousuke concludes that the outcome must have been something Haru forced or requested rather than a decision Rin made for himself because he cared about the people involved. That's simply not how Sousuke operates; that's not a decision he ever would have made. His willingness to confront Haru when he sees him again only comes from the fact that Sousuke knows he has nothing left to lose at that point. If he gets himself disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, his secret will be revealed sooner but ultimately he'll do no harm to Rin or himself.

His connection with Rin is unique and is one of the other instances in which he considers anyone other than himself when making plans or decisions and even then, he often falls back on his habit of internalizing and rationalizing rather than understanding. Sousuke states when he and Rin are both very young that he doesn't understand the purpose of swimming in a relay, that he swims for himself alone. This causes a serious fight between him and Rin, who connects swimming in a relay with living up to his father's dream and carrying on after him. Sousuke simply doesn't see swimming or most things in life on such an emotionally charged level and that approach extends into all areas of his life.

When Rin decides to transfer schools because he wants to swim with Haru, Sousuke keeps his feelings to himself and lets his best friend go. When Rin gets the chance to study in Australia, Sousuke lets him go. When Rin stops writing from Australia, when Rin returns to Tottori but doesn't get in touch, when Sousuke sees Rin at regionals falling apart and threatening to quit swimming, he doesn't reach out at all. This is in equal parts due to his own perception of himself as a singular unit who both doesn't need anyone else and doesn't have anything to offer anyone else, and his awareness of the role Haru plays in Rin's life. Sousuke's been reduced to an observer. He doesn't tell Haru to stay away from Rin or try to scare him out of swimming against him. He simply tells him not to get in Rin's way. Protecting Rin and Rin's future is the most important thing Sousuke can do at this point since he knows his own future is dark.

While he assesses Haru as a threat after the incident at regionals, Sousuke is also quick to comment on how close Rin and Haru are and to acknowledge Haru's talent. Sousuke knows that Haru is the reason Rin left Sano but he doesn't know, at that point, about everything that happened to Rin in Australia or while he was home, nor does he know about Haru's role in all of that. He can see, however, that Haru occupies a very privileged position as Rin's rival and in many ways his new best friend. Coming back into Rin's life when he does, knowing what he does about his own future, Sousuke is forced to make peace with not only the loss of his original dream but the likely outcome of achieving his new one. Sousuke is fully prepared to swim in a final race with Rin and then not only end his swimming career but--in his mind--also lay to rest the greater part of his friendship with Rin, ceding his position as Rin's rival and friend to Haru. This is, of course, a decision he's made without consulting Rin, and it's clear from Rin's reactions once he knows the truth that this isn't what he wants, but even in the end Sousuke seems uncertain if he's willing to put himself in a position to pursue Rin. The last thing we hear him say to his best friend is that he'll give some thought to the idea of healing his shoulder and going after him, but Sousuke is absent from the final celebration at Samezuka with the sakura blossom swimming pool. He's moved on from there.

That being said, Sousuke's life is not all empty hearts and broken shoulders. His relationship with Rin is the most important one shown and possibly even the most important one in his life. Despite their differences in approach to swimming and friendship, the two of them are incredibly close from a young age. Even after Rin leaves for Sano, and later for Australia, he continues to be the guiding star for Sousuke's dreams and Sousuke never gives up on his friend. Any wall Rin may have come up again, Sousuke is sure he's overcome it. Sousuke is a hard worker and is always determined to do everything he does to the best of his ability and even without Rin around he throws himself completely into his training, not even stopping when his hard work threatens to destroy his body. He loses his way temporarily (something not uncommon for him both in the real world) but is able to see a new path for himself when he sees Rin again. Once he has that new dream, he doesn't even let Rin, the person most important to his dream, stand in his way, resorting to lies and deception in order to stand by Rins side to the end. He doesn't enjoy keeping these secrets, though, and he's very relieved when he's able to finally unburden himself to Rin. Sousuke (like pretty much every character in Free) loves Rin and wants, in the end, nothing so much as to see the sight that Rin has to share with the world.

Once he transfers to Samezuka, Sousuke does also develop relationships with the rest of the team, specifically with Momo and Nitori. He's gruffly encouraging to them, acting as a coach for Nitori at one point and offering pointers to Momo at another. It's clear from their initial interactions that Sousuke's intimidating aura has its intended effect on Nitori in particular, but because of the way Sousuke processes emotions, the coaching he provides is actually his way of showing affection. He gives Nitori words of advice, spends time late at night watching him swim, and even spots him in the weight room, at first because he's a member of Rin's team and by extension important to Sousuke, but later because Sousuke is able to open himself to the idea of the team being important to him directly. He also jokes with Momo when Momo makes a gift to him of his most prized stag beetle, one of the only times Sousuke's dry sense of humor comes out around anyone other than Rin. Sousuke comes to genuinely care about Nitori and Momo and the success of all of Samezuka, even if he's not the most vocal in showing it.

Abilities: Sousuke used to be a top ten nationally ranked butterfly swimmer. Now he's a guy with an incredible physique, a destroyed right shoulder, and a gift for making fried rice for butler cafes.
Other:

SAMPLES;
First Person:

[Sousuke doesn't really dislike interacting with other people as much as it might seem. He's just not as intensely social as Rin and the amount of time he spends around him makes him seem even less social by contrast. He's vaguely aware of this and is working to change it here since there's pretty much nothing to do but socialize. That doesn't mean he's going to jump immediately into hard mode and start using his phone's webcam on the network or anything, though. He's always preferred things to be clean and direct and this is no exception.

That'd be a lot easier, however, if Nike hadn't bitten his phone's screen and scratched it to the point that half the keys didn't work anymore. Rin told him he'd be able to get it replaced through the magic that makes this place tick, but it hasn't happened just yet. That means making do with what he's got until he figures out how to get the replacement, and that means--]

hiw di i geth thhis phine changed outh?

[Did he send it to Rin? Gou? The entire network? He's not entirely sure.]

Third Person: tdm thread, this might be too old

OTHER; I've been told he's inheriting a dog and that's fine with me. Hi Nike! Hi!
Housing Request?: nah
Did you read the rules and FAQ?: aye aye