â Full Name: Zack Kassel
â Partner Name: Mellifera "Mell" Ula
â Pair Ranking: nil
â Individual Ranking: nil
â Gender: Male
â Age: 16 years old
â Height+Weight: 161cm+53kg
â Eyes+Hair:
Stormcloud Grey+black and soft
â Blood Type: A
â Year 1
â Home Country: New York
â Native Language: English
â Species: Human
â Technology
â Marksmanship
â First aid
â Adapting and improvising
â Inhuman determination,
aka extreme willpower
Apearance:
Zack has short and slightly spiky black hair that's soft to the touch and large grey eyes, with an expression of vague grumpiness on his face. He's thin as a stick and stands short at a mere 161cm. He's not exactly handsome, but he's not that bad-looking either. In a way, you could call him passably attractive, especially if he smiles. Unfortunately, as his face looks like it doesn't know how to smile, it remains merely passable. Despite his compact size and looking like he'd barely pass PE, Zack can be very intimidating when he wants to be, and has a whole arsenal of glares that he uses to his advantage.
Zack likes to wear baggy clothes and layers, such as hoodies. He doesn't really care what he wears so long as its comfortable really. Mostly, he can be found with his phone.
Personality:
Zack's not a very nice guy. He's pretty grumpy and mildly fed up with the world, preferring to be on the net instead of talking to people. His mindset is pretty cynical, too - Zack doesn't really believe that the worlds a good place. In fact, he thinks that the world sucks and has a vengeance against good people and that wait, actually most people are kind of utter bastards, even if there are a few good people out there. As a result, Zack doesn't really trust any people, and this in combination with his tendency for brutal honesty, ridiculous stubbornness and going onto the net instead of talking to people has caused many to assume that Zack is an unrepentant jerk at first glance.
That is not exactly the case. A closer look reveals that Zack does have his good points, and that his cynicism might in fact be a semi-exaggerated facade.
Zack might not be a nice guy, but he's a good one. Despite believing that humans aren't really worth it, he still feels the obligation to help them out even if he doesn't really get why he's doing it. It's mainly because Zack is a righteous guy - he's not someone who ignores or sits back and wait for someone else to handle if something terrible is happening in front of him, he's the one who'd run to stop it and refuse to stand down, or ask what's going on between the two and help them come to a conclusion. Zack hates inaction, and will not turn his eyes away from the truth even if it hurts. He might not trust people, but that doesn't mean Zack doesn't care for them. In fact, he cares so much that it hurts, which is why his grumpiness is there to keep it at bay. Much like how Zack is the kind of guy who doesn't hold back his punches, he's also not the kind of guy to hold back his praises and will offer suggestions on how to make it better, and his ridiculous stubbornness and independence can also be translated as Zack being incredibly determined and hardworking. Even if he's on the net, he's surprisingly perceptive of people and a good listener, and if his classmates or friends need help Zack will often be amongst on of the first to offer his support. In a way, you could say that Zack cares a lot more than he appears to.
Zack is also pretty pragmatic. He knows how to be objective, and is also pretty smart. He's a 'tough love' kind of guy, in that he refuses to pull his punches because he doesn't really believe that coddling helps and gives constructive criticism. He's also the kind of guy who refuses to look away from the truth, no matter how much it hurts, and keeps his views to himself unless asked or pissed off.
He changes slightly around his brother. Zack smiles more around Neil, and although his words are still sharp he softens more and lets his guard down more, becoming less standoffish. Zack is really protective of his brother, and aiming at Neil is a guaranteed way of pissing him off. Target Neil and the people he trusts successfully and Zack gets brought down to his knees.
Past:
Not a very nice one. Zack and his older-by-two-years brother, Neil Kassel, were raised primarily by their father. Their mother was around, but she didn't really care much for them, often leaving her children to their own devices while she went off to do her own thing. Mr Kassel wasn't really a nice guy, either - he liked seeing the people he loved cry, which meant that he tried his best to make his children shed tears by destroying anything that was precious to them. Any friends they made got chased away, for example. When the two brothers reached out for help from their mother, she just blew smoke in their direction and stated she didn't care. Neil more or less raised Zack and took the brunt of Mr Kassel's attentions to protect his little brother, who hadn't really realised why all his precious things were disappearing and why his dad smiled whenever he cried. This ended up backfiring when Zack, who was seven at the time, got the worst beating of his life in which his dad stated everything that was going on, which made the shock all the more worse.
Near the end of the beating, Neil came across them. Judging from the smile on Mr Kassel's face, that had been intentional. That day, Neil had cried for reasons he wouldn't tell Zack, and Zack grew suspicious. Two weeks later, his suspicions were confirmed when he walked into his dad beating Neil up, and that was the beginning of Zack's nihilistic mindset.
Well, anyway, their dad wrecked everything, but try as he might he couldn't destroy the close bond between his sons. If anything, he only caused them to grow closer like prisoners stuck in jail with no way out. Somewhere during late elementary their mom left for good, which caused their dad's behaviour to grow worse (again, Neil bore the brunt of it until Zack figured out what he was doing and scolded him for it), during which the beatings got worst and more frequent. Finally, when Nick got so badly hurt that he had to go to the hospital (they lied on what happened), Zack made his own decision - they were going to move out. It took a lot of trouble, but by the time Zack was fourteen and Neil was sixteen they'd found a cheap place and took the opportunity to leave the house under excuse of going to be nearer to school. Their dad laughed, but did nothing to prevent them from moving out. They had a few troubles at first, but by the time Zack turned sixteen they're leading relatively good lives in a pretty large loft, far away from their past.
â Partner Relationshipâ [/center]
Zack and Mell met each other through Neil. Neil and Mell knew each other through a gaming forum, and for a while they played games together online, forming a great trio. Mell helped a lot with the Kassel brothers moving into their new loft - Neil asked Mell for help finding a new apartment, and Mell sent a list of cheap apartments. They remained online buddies for a while, and after a few years they discovered Mell was in the same school as Neil. After a while they found each other and now Mell hangs out at their place every so often, getting invited to play late-night gaming marathons.
Although Zack and Mell met each other through Zack's older brother, the two have a friendship in their own rights. Zack tends to nag Mell like a naggy mother, often telling her to eat or study properly and all that stuff, and Mell tends to help calm Zack down before he gets too off the rails. Although they are opposites in some ways - Zack can be quite rowdy while Mell is quite calm - they do have similar interests, such as gaming, and can often be found just chilling out quietly somewhere.
