AION TELEOS | application

[affal]

PLAYER

NAME: Vee!
CONTACT: lycanthropic / sharisper#0002 / PM
OVER 18? Yes
CURRENT CHARACTER: N/A

( CONTENT WARNING: Due to the contents of the source material, this application will contain reference to: suicide / suicidal tendency / suicidal ideation, cannibalism / vore, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, and prostitution as a minor. Due to the canon containing many sensitive or questionable topics, all content will be warned for in threads and an opt-out will be provided for the character. )

CHARACTER

NAME: Makoto (“M”)
CANON: MADK
CANON POINT: Post-Chapter 12
AGE: Approximately 19 years
SPECIES: Demon
INFORMATION: Makoto is a teenager in high school when he successfully summons a demon by way of occult ritual in his bedroom. When asked by the demon for what wish the boy wanted granted in exchange for his life, he answers without hesitation: “I want to eat demon flesh.”

Makoto had been aware of morbid and perverse inclinations of his long before others had begun to scorn and shame him for them. In summoning a demon, he sought to kill two birds with one stone: he would be able to satisfy his sexual desire for eating the flesh of another without actually taking the life of a human being and, in the completion of the contract, he would die, conscience as untarnished as he could ever hope for it to be. Except, one month later, when Makoto finally felt fulfilled in their contract, the demon instead removes his head and brings him back to hell as his “pet,” vowing to love, raise, and provide for him as a demon in his own right.

That promise ends up being a far rawer deal than Makoto initially believes. In order to tutor him in the ways of demons and their society, the demon – an archduke of hell known only by the initial “J” – sends him to work at a friend’s, Datenshou’s, establishment. That establishment ends up being a brothel, and after three days of confusion and distress, Makoto comes to the realization: this second life of his is not his own, and the only reason he exists is for the entertainment of his demon master. Infuriated by how he’s trapped in the position he’s in and J’s systematic removal of whatever scrap of agency he might’ve once had, Makoto vows to surpass him – to become cunning and powerful enough to destroy and devour him in an act of vengeance. In order to begin amassing the knowledge of how to do such a thing and wherewithal to utilize it, Makoto works as a prostitute in Datenshou’s brothel for the next three years.

After these three years pass, J summons Makoto to his side once more, teaching him a demon’s trade: of attending humans who summon them on Earth, forming and fulfilling contracts with them, and reaping their souls. The first soul that Makoto reaps is his father’s; having grown so desperate in his loathing in the last thirty years on Earth after his son’s mysterious, macabre murder, he summoned the same demon Makoto summoned in the selfsame way, just for the opportunity to kill his son with his own hands. After that rattling event, Makoto throws himself into his work in gathering gold as to fund a six month “vacation” he requests away from J. In this time he delves into J’s past in the slums of hell, learning more about his master’s youth, his former mentor W, and how he rose to prominence and prestige after extinguishing him. Makoto’s most recent conviction is to make J fall in love with him, convinced that it is the key to any demon’s undoing.

CHARACTER PITCH: Makoto is… the yandere lover of both J’s dreams and his design.

More seriously, though: the author’s originating design for Makoto was “a nice boy at heart, but [who] struggles with a very warped kink.” The bifurcation between who Makoto was as a human and who he becomes as a demon is very stark. The longer he spends in hell, ruminating in his revenge plot against his master (who goads and encourages him in it every step of the way), the more he sheds human trappings like shame, remorse, and conscience. Where most stories track the meteoric rise of their heroes, Makoto’s follows a catastrophic fall, ending with the heart of a once well-meaning boy plunging into the depths of what he’s capable of.

POWERS: One of the primary attributes of a demon is their perpetuity: demons cannot be killed by physical violence, able to survive through dismemberment or even completely reform their bodies from complete annihilation in just a few days’ time. The only way for a demon’s existence to be erased is for them to be “extinguished,” which occurs when there is no one alive to remember the demon’s name and call them by it. Wiles and words have power in demon society, and names are especially important. They form a natural hierarchy in hell — if a demon tries to call the name of another demon who outranks them, they will be shattered down to their very essence. This hierarchy is not set in stone; it is implied and internalized, allowing any demon who can outwit, unnerve, or out-maneuver a rival to surpass them. Due to this paradigm, a silver tongue is far more dangerous trait in a demon than overwhelming physical strength. Demons have the ability to create portals to Earth when summoned and form a contract with a human in which they will grant that human’s any request in return for their soul. Demons force the humans to follow the accord of the contract, and when they are satisfied in its fulfillment, the demon can claim their soul as gold dust, which is used in hell as its currency.

Makoto has the ability to control any body his head is attached to. He also has the ability to physically incorporate the body parts of others that he attaches to himself. The foremost example of this is the wings that he cut from the demon Kieran and attached to his back. He is able to extend and retract these wings at will, and he can use them to fly, though he isn’t very skillful at it yet (they are a recent acquisition). I’m okay with him losing the ability to incorporate anything further, as the permissions for doing so might be awkward and he will have the opportunity to gain physical changes via being an aion regardless.

Obviously, being away from hell and its stringent rules, virtually all of Makoto’s attributes and abilities as a demon will be null and void. For all extents and purposes, he will be functionally mortal again. As a compromise between the canonical attributes of demons in MADK and the power limitations in-game, I would be appreciative if it were more challenging to kill Makoto than a standard human. Namely: as his shard is attached to his head, it would be really awesome if he could survive decapitation (to preserve this innate and morbid ability of his) but still physically die if the body his head is currently attached to (or his head itself) suffers enough physical trauma to cause it to expire. In addition, I would ask that Makoto be able to recover from physical trauma more quickly and effectively than a human might so long as the wound is appropriately sewn back together (such as the suturing of a laceration or the reattaching of a limb). Please let me know if the mods would prefer to impose further limitations! I’m okay with him being effectively completely human again (or anything in-between), if need be.

QUESTIONNAIRE

What is the worst or most malicious thing your character has ever done? How do they feel about it now? Was this sort of action typical of them?
The depths of Makoto’s cruelty are most evident when his warpath to revenge intersects with others. It might be said that there is no demon alive in hell that can be considered an “innocent,” and perhaps that’s what frees whatever conscience Makoto might still have when dealing with them, but by his current canon-point he has shattered either mentally or physically two demons on his climb to the top of the demon hierarchy. The first is Datenshou, his former employer from when he was working at his brothel. Though the demon only ever treated him well, training and teaching him with consideration and care, Makoto began to manipulate him the moment he decided to leave his employ: he tricked him into thinking he was still above him in the hierarchy, all the way until the point where he was leveraging information about J’s past from him. In that moment he unsettles and surpasses him in a dramatic reversal, convincing him it was his own weakness in revealing J’s past that would lead to the demon’s eventual ruin. Datenshou, a former pupil of J’s and hopelessly in love with him, becomes unable to functionally run his brothel in his despair and ends up usurped of his position by another demon.

The other instance is with J’s brother, a demon known as Kieran, who Makoto comes across in the slums when searching out information about his master’s past. Makoto seems to keenly intuit the best ways to manipulate those he comes across. He senses Kieran’s jealousy of his brother and covetousness towards things he considers his; he maneuvers him into signing a contract that he knows he won’t be able to fulfill; he appeals to his raucous self-aggrandizing and pulls at his heartstrings with physical and emotional intimacy that vanishes into smoke the second the scheme falls into place. Makoto strong-armed Kieran into agreeing to “safely see him to his destination” – when he realizes that Makoto’s destination is J, he breaks the contract and breaks into ten pieces. Still, he gives his wings to Makoto in deference for their time spent together… though Makoto admits to him he had planned on stealing them, regardless.

It is cheating a bit to recall two instances for one answer, but these two pieces come together to state that he’s willing to do whatever he has to to others in order to further his goals. This becomes more and more typical of Makoto as he grows to embody the high-ranking demon he seeks to become.

What is the most altruistic or selfless thing your character has ever done? How do they feel about it now? Was this sort of action typical of them?
The most magnanimous decision Makoto ever made was the last he made for himself while he was still human. Though he contracted with J in part to satisfy himself selfish reasons, this was not the only reason he made a contract that would end up costing his life. He was aware of how unseemly and taboo his inclinations and desires were. He states that even though he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he’s worried they will one day carry him to kill. He acknowledges that what he likes causes pain, and that he finds gratification in that pain he causes, but he still feels horribly conflicted in not wanting his happiness to come at the expense of someone else. As tragic as it is, the most gracious decision we ever see Makoto make on behalf of others is to form a contract that will end in his death, ensuring in concept that the rest of his life wouldn’t come at the cost of others’.

Having been a demon for several years now and being essentially unrecognizable from his former mortal self, Makoto most likely doesn’t think much about this decision that he made. He would still make it, were he in the same situation, because he feels either he wasn’t meant for the human world or the human world hadn’t been meant for him. As J tells him while he’s still human, “Mortals are the only ones who struggle with contradiction.” As time passes, he feels less and less shame or internal conflict for his own proclivities, even going so far as to take out the anger and frustration he harbored towards J on one of the prostitutes at Datenshou’s brothel. In general, “altruistic” and “selfless” are not words that one would attribute to the creature that he is now.

What do they desire above all else? How far would they go to accomplish their goals or fulfill those desires? Do they have lines they wouldn't cross?
Makoto’s deepest desire is intrinsic to who he is, what he is, and every step forward he takes toward its realization: he wants to surpass, destroy, and devour J, the demon who made him. As touched upon earlier in this questionnaire, there is no length that he will not go to to accomplish this goal. He will manipulate or destroy whoever he needs to, regardless of whether he views them with contempt or pity, so long as he sees them as a viable stepping stone to J. He would make any promise, broker any deal, or sell any part or aspect of himself as a means to that end. He would burn heaven and earth and bury hell in their ashes if it meant he could gain the upper hand in the end and finally ensure J’s ruin. That is the conviction of the demon known as “M.”

GAME DETAILS

LEGACY: The Firebrand
To put it succinctly, the Firebrand is one of the only Legacies that seemed to apply to Makoto because he has remarkably few redeeming features. Only one thing matters to him and that is the revenge he seeks to take against the demon who made him into what he is. In order to accomplish that single goal, Makoto is willing to use, abuse, and/or destroy whatever and whoever he must. Whether he is an ally or an enemy to any other individual is purely situational to what they can offer him. Knowledge, while something that he values highly, is something he only strives to obtain in order to position himself closer to his goal. So while I thought there might be some elements of the Seeker or the Visionary in him, they all end up undermined by the fact that he has no desire to change the world around him or better himself outside of what might fit into his single-minded and self-destructive quest for vengeance. So that, to me, is why he embodies the Firebrand.
INTRODUCTORY SECT: Kenoma
SUITABILITY: I was most drawn to playing this character in this game because of how much moral and personal directives (or lack thereof) play a key part in how he will interact with the game’s mechanics and scenario, as opposed to how in other games it might just be an ancillary factor. It is very unlikely that he would change sides, just because of the type of person that he is. The promise of oblivion that serving the Regent and embodying Kenoma would be appealing to Makoto – it would be a similar end to what he originally sought when he first summoned a demon as a human, and it has up until this point been denied to him both by the nature of what he is and the vengeance he’s set upon accomplishing. As for that vengeance, it will still be his ultimate objective; he does not believe that J perished with the rest of his world. His attention will initially fixate on the Regent – his bizarre familiarity will be met by both intrigue and mistrust. If he himself has nothing to do with J, Makoto will believe he knows where he is and/or how to strengthen himself to a position where he can finally overtake him. The rest of the character’s development and arc will have to go from there.

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