Application: City of Ariel

[carnivalofmurder]

→ OOC
□ Name: Kevin
□ Age: 26
□ Contact: email: impossible.requests@gmail.com
□ Journal: benelux
□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: nope

→ IC
□ Name: Tyrann (or, at least, that's what he goes by at his canon point; he was born “Masayoshi Yura”)

□ Journal: carnivalofmurder.dreamwidth.org

□ Series: Nier

□ Canon point: Kaine's relapse, just before the Ending C/D split

□ History: http://nier.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrann

□ Personality: In order to get a proper picture of Tyrann, the first thing you need to understand is that he's an asshole; I'll cover the why of it in a bit, but we can't really move on until this foundation is laid. And, when I say that he's an asshole, I don't mean he's the sort of person that cuts you off on the motorway... I mean he's a full-on, schadenfreude-embracing psychopath; the sort of person you don't want to meet in a dark alley... or even a well-lit one, really. He's a man without conscience (or as near to one as makes no difference), one who laughs readily at the cries of terror of innocents as they're being slaughtered, and then cries for an encore; a man who uses children as weapons, and who'll casually leave the men he commands to their death, while he skips merrily off to save his own ass. In fact, it quickly becomes apparent that suffering is one of the only things he actually enjoys!

Of course, not all suffering is created equal. Given his preference, he'd choose one target over all others: Kaine. Normally, I wouldn't bring up something like this in an application, but their relationship – both how he tortures her, and how they rely on and relate to one another – is an important key to his development. You see, he first approached Kaine for one reason: to steal her body. As a Gestalt, his physical form was only sort-of there; it was plodding, amorphous, and just generally not human. When he came upon Kaine, she was broken and dying, so he figured he could make a deal with her: heal her, in exchange for control. As it turned out, the rage driving her at that point was too much for him to overcome, but, in a way, that was better: he had the opportunity to observe her. Not just to see her in action, but to hear her thoughts, to feel her emotions. He made her strong, and her hate for the Gestalts (Shades, as the Replicants call them) gave her drive, so she set forth on a little crusade. Except... now that he was possessing her? She was able to hear the Gestalts speak. Now, this has gotten a bit wordy, and more into backstory than personality, but it needed to be spelled out to properly understand what a bastard Tyrann is, what sort of suffering truly made him happy: feeling and seeing what a girl – fueled by rage and with power to spare – did to innocent people, knowing that she could hear their screams and their cries for help, and that her hate would overpower any inclinations towards mercy. He basically subsisted on that cruelty, and on the black stain it left on Kaine's soul... and, to add insult to injury? He heckled her while it happened.

Of course, that much would be fine, if I were taking him from somewhere earlier in the game... but, at his current canon-point, he's undergoing something of a change. We only get to see a bit of it, and the reasons aren't clearly spelled out, but, in the end, Tyrann seems to gain something of a conscience. It's not a generalized one, of course – up until the last, he's still encouraging Kaine to kill and destroy, even if he isn't enjoying it anymore – but just the bare minimum, the absolute most basic bit of compassion: the desire to save Kaine, who – despite (or, perhaps, because of?) his love of torturing her – ends up being the closest thing he has to a friend. Not to the point of not wanting to torture her, of course; that would just be silly. Rather, when he (and, by extension, her) relapses, he wants to at least spare her from that mindless and feral state; so, he and Nier work together to save her, either by killing her, or by trading Nier's existence for Kaine's humanity. Just before that, as well, he starts to question whether Kaine's slaughter of Gestalts was really the raucous good time he'd thought... but, unfortunately, he doesn't get enough time to really analyze those thoughts.

Here's the really interesting question: why? Why was he such a piece of shit, and why did he start turning around, just before the end? And, unfortunately, the answer isn't simple; for the most part, it's a bit of guesswork, since Tyrann's presence in the game is depressingly minor. However, there is one piece of luck: Kaine making a guess at the answer to the former, herself. She supposes that Tyrann is, at his core, a lonely person, someone that nobody liked; and so, rather than just being sad about it, he covered it up with rage and hate. He wasn't necessarily born a bastard; he chose to be one, because it was easier than being sad. Assuming that's true, another of his habits – his frequent commentary on the flaws of humanity as a species – makes more sense: he's justifying his choice to himself. Well, it could also be for the sake of pissing people off, but that feels like more of a side-benefit to me.

From there, of course, conclusions about why he started to change become a bit easier to reach; and, of course, it all comes down to Kaine. You see, by the end, she's pretty much given up her own hate; Tyrann pretty explicitly states that “all the rage is gone”, and that her soul was “full of white light” (and that he hated it). He also said, when they first met, that he'd be living in her heart; more or less joining with it. So, there's one reason right there: osmosis. He was surrounded by the peace that she found, in the end; it'd be strange if he wasn't affected by it. But, that's not the only reason, I think. I said, in the last paragraph, that Kaine basically sees through Tyrann's whole persona, and calls him a sad, lonely person; more importantly, she goes on to say that the same is true of her. That they're both sad, broken, ruined beings, far past the point where they could change. Based on Tyrann's reaction – a venomless, stuttered denial – I think that really got to him; I think he finally understood that they weren't just host and parasite, but something more like partners. That, finally, he wasn't really alone. Again, that sort of revelation? Pretty much guaranteed to change a man.

Now, those aspects of his personality colour pretty much the whole of it, so it was important to get them out of the way first, but there's certainly more to Tyrann than just his penchant for being an incredible douchebag. See, he was a military man, once upon a time; not a great one, as far as conforming to the expectations that one has of a soldier, but, despite that, one who was held in fantastic regard. I mean, he wasn't even middle-aged (from his voice, at least), but he was still a general! I know what you're thinking: why? How? Who would promote this guy, who's basically chaos incarnate, within a power structure that is predicated on absolute order? Well, here's the thing: Tyrann's kind of a genius. Now, we don't get to see much of it in canon, but we're informed that he has an incredibly sharp mind; he's able to analyze tactical situations in moments, and has a downright incredible memory. Interestingly, if you think about it, this might have contributed to his disaffection – being that much smarter than his supposed peers – and to his lack of regard for the life of the average person... but, that's probably a level of supposition I don't need to go into.

□ Age: 1350, or there-abouts. It's not specified how old he was when he entered Project Gestalt, but it's that age plus 1312.

□ Gender: Male gender... sexless body, in canon? In that his “body” was a vaguely-person-shaped semi-invisible mass (when he wasn't living inside Kaine, that is). However, upon arrival, he'll get a normal human male body, just like the one he had before Gestaltisation.

□ Appearance: Well, like I said above, his canonical appearance was sort of amorphous and semi-invisible. However, for his appearance upon arriving in Ariel... well, it'll be how he looked when he was human. I wish I could leave it there, but, unfortunately, I don't think a physical description of him exists (for his original body, I mean), outside of a few unhelpful similes. So, in Ariel, his new body will be quite tall (six feet and change), tanned, and muscular; since he's characterized as having been imposing in human form, I'm assuming there was a physical component to that. Fairly well scarred, too, with clusters of them on his shoulders, legs, chest, and jawline; he seeks out conflict, so I assume there were physical consequences. His hair is black, shaggy, and unkempt, falling enough into his face to aid the general 'unhinged' motif he has going; also aiding this are his amber eyes, which remind one of a crazed wolf. His wardrobe will likely be eclectic, but it'll certainly include his military uniform; I think the imposing sense of authority it projects will really appeal to him, even though there's nothing to back it up anymore.

□ Abilities/Powers: None. He had powers as a Gestalt, but, since he's returning to human form, they won't really work anymore.

□ Personal Items: His old military uniform, his sidearm (this, or whatever the contemporary successor is), a pair of reading glasses, and copies of a few non-specific but gratuitously violent (especially in their descriptions of said violence) novels.

□ First Person Sample: [voice]

G'morning, shitbirds! [Just from that, it's hard to gauge what will follow. He sounds enthusiastic, but that's always true; same with the casual insults. Still, listen hard, and there's a certain air of discontentment hanging over his words...]

Hey, hey, who wants to hear a story? Story time with Uncle Tyrann! Doesn't that just sound like the bee's knees?

So: once upon a time, there was a devastatingly handsome and clever man... let's call him “King”. One day, King was minding his own business, convincing an angry dickgirl to murder a whole bunch of dumb fucks – a pretty good Tuesday, y'know? - when, suddenly, he found himself somewhere else!

[He gasps for effect; very shocking!]

And not a normal place; a great place! Some kind of weird-ass Sexopolis!

All in all, King thought he'd really hit it big; all the asses he could tap, all the widdle babies he could troll, and all the wonders of technology he thought he'd never see again! Except, there's a problem. [Suddenly, his voice changes. The mock-affectionate tone disappears, replaced with something genuinely peeved.] IT'S. TOO. STERILE!

Right, right, weird thing to say, huh? With the amount of kinky shit you freaks probably get up to, I can't think of a single surface in this place that's safe to eat off of. But, come on; you've got the sex, so where's the drugs and rock-and-roll? Where's the drama? Why isn't every day a soap opera? I mean, after a millennium, a guy starts to miss his stories.

Or... [A heavy 'click' can be heard; for those familiar with such things, it's pretty clearly a pistol being cocked.] ...we could always go with a police procedural. A nice murder investigation, yeah?

[He laughs at his own 'joke', a barking, offensive laugh... but, mercifully, he only forces his audience to sit through a few moments of it, before the recording ends.]

□ Third Person Sample: Tyrann wasn't an idealist. He'd never been an idealist. In fact, he looked down on idealists... well, even more than he did average folk. Perhaps it was strange, then, that he became one of the leaders of an organization plotting to overthrow the government of the time... but, honestly, he was just looking for a good time. Revolution? That was a good time.

Or, at least, it was when it succeeded.

Had that been where his life had gone wrong? I mean, if they'd carried out their coup as planned – instead of pulling back to defend their patron's home and family – perhaps things would have gone differently. Presumably, he'd still have entered the Gestalt Project – because what would be the point, otherwise – but, instead of sneaking in, he would have been welcomed. His Replicant would've been left alone, he'd have had a body to return to...

And he probably never would've met Kaine.

…

...okay, no more tequila. It was making him wax nostalgic.

“Hey! Sugartits!” he called out, beckoning to the fat man behind the bar, and then pointing at his empty tumbler. “Something clear this time... with more kick.”

The poor, beleaguered bartender made a disgruntled sort of noise, as if he was considering cutting the abusive ex-Shade off. It only took a single toothy, ghoulish grin to change his mind. How To Win Friends And Influence People, a self-help book by Masayoshi Yura.

...shit, there was a name he hadn't thought about in a long time. It was his, of course... or had been. In order to survive, to escape from the Legion, and the government, he'd had to leave it behind, to become someone else. Become Tyrann. Should he feel melancholy? Should he consider taking it back? He didn't... but how would a normal person feel?

Would a normal person even have been able to give it up?

Idly, he spins his glass – still empty, annoyingly – watching the ice inside tumble about. Faster and faster it spun, following the curve of the glass... but, hey. Isn't that sort of like what he's been doing? Being thoughtful is one thing, but these sorts of questions weren't exactly useful. Who cares what normal people do? Who cares about the path not taken? As long as he was having fun... what else mattered?

Somehow, he felt quite pleased with himself. He'd solved his conundrum! Well, in a sense; really, he'd just decided that it didn't matter. That's a type of solution, though, right? Sure. Of course, that solution wouldn't work on the obstinate bartender, who seemed to be attempting to will Tyrann out of existence... but, after a moment's thought, he discovered that there was another answer to that one, as well. Almost as easy as the other problems!

He simply reached over the bar, seized one of the bottles, yanked the slow-pour top out with his teeth, and took a solid belt of it.

“Cheers, Tiny.”