Entry tags:
APPLICATION / cerealia.
Applicant Info
◎ Name: rem
◎ Journal:rind
◎ Contact:cardiac | palpitatingly @ aim
Character Info
◎ Character's Name: Aoba Seragaki
◎ Character's Canon: Dramatical Murder (DMMD)
◎ Character's Age: 23
◎ Canon Point: VISUAL NOVEL; MID-DMMD COMMON ROUTE SPLIT. Set right after his encounter with Yoshie, Haga, and his grandmother Tae at his house.
Just a point of clarification! The Common Route split is the pivotal point in DMMD's story arc where the plot branches off to chiefly focus on Aoba with one of four other characters (or possibly a fifth character, if the True Route's unlocked). For the sake of plot continuity and the fact that multiple character routes can be undertaken depending on choices made throughout the visual novel, I'll be playing him off as neutral with no proclivity to any particular character or path.
◎ Background/History: AOBA SERAGAKI @ WIKI | DMMD OVERVIEW @ WIKI | DMMD PAGE @ TVTROPES | DMMD COMMON ROUTE WALKTHROUGH @ WORDPRESS
◎ Is the character a hacker and/or do they have a sixth-sense? he works in a retro junk shop, so he isn't a stranger to fiddling around and reprogramming machinery, but nothing that would particularly classify him as capable of hacking. he doesn't have a sixth-sense, per se, but he does have scrap (explained in the powers/abilities section), which is essentially degrees of mind control. still, it's good to keep in mind that it isn't something he likes or particularly goes out of his way to use on other people. most times he does exhibit it, it's definitely unintentional, but i'll get a permissions page up so people can opt-out of it/limit the degrees of control if there ever comes a time when he might manifest it.
◎ Personality:
Straight from the get-go, Aoba Seragaki is considered to be a predominantly affable individual. He's sociable, but not overtly or energetically so — casual about his MO, he doesn't appear to have any higher aspirations beyond living out his days with his AI dog-type Allmate Ren and his warmly considerate (if somewhat abrasive) grandmother Tae. His part-time work as an employee at Junk Shop Heibon only further exacerbates this level of normality he maintains, vending off avant-garde and secondhand tech gear parts alike, answering customer calls, and often delivering packages himself at the request of his manager, Haga. While a diligent worker, Aoba's unfortunately prone to bouts of absentmindedness (coming from the guy who forgets to lock his front door when leaving the house on several occasions in canon, his obliviousness in certain matters is very well a veritable trait). This aspect is applicable to Aoba's character as a whole: while he always has the best intentions, it doesn't mean he's scotch-free from off-the-cuff decisions or rash, split-second choices that may or may not be emblematic in his overall aesthetic as an unfortunate victim, or perhaps perpetuator, of some fairly bad clothing selections (see: banana yellow socks).
It's not completely his fault though, especially when his workplace is relentlessly barraged by some rather insistent visitors, whether in the form of roughhousing children, an apathetic teenager with a propensity for rabbits and cyber matches, or a ragtag group of misfits congregated together in a makeshift rescue effort. Things happen. Go figure. Due to his rather approachable nature, he ends up befriending quite a variety of people with radically different viewpoints, from yakuza to Ribsters to Rhymers and everybody in-between. Tacitly believing people as a whole, Aoba won't distrust people who give him no reason to, unfortunately leaving him a target for deceit and manipulation under the right circumstances. But in spite of his rather open-minded nature, Aoba isn't easily swayed by the two largest hyped pastimes taking his hometown by storm introduced at the initial start of the game. Despite urging from his friend Mizuki, he won't consider joining his friend's Rib team nor participate in Rhyme, a digitalized virtual reality game with PVP matches, essentially the mediating equivalent of Switzerland in terms of taking sides. Technically speaking, remaining informed and in the loop is the limit to the extent he goes for keeping tabs on contemporary trends.
This implicitly neutral disposition doesn't translate into his empathy for others and the positive ideology he lives by, however. All cynical sardonicism notwithstanding, his dogma is primarily comprised of seeking out the silver lining in stupefying dilemmas and remaining optimistic when all else fails. At the heart of the matter, Aoba's innate compassion for his relatives and allies demonstrates the severe degree and lengths he would go to ensure their safety. Seragaki takes on responsibility for their welfare in strides, as evidenced by his acute concern for his grandmother's diminishing health (elaborated upon in canon as Aoba breaking into a cold sweat and immediately sprinting to her side when he got word of her collapse). His habitual worries over Mizuki's general well-being for a good first half of the Common/True Routes culminated in the confrontation that left Mizuki's mind irrevocably — if unintentionally — damaged and Aoba riddled with guilt for being unable to save him. This distress spurs his development by way of catalyst; to find out who and what he is and how to avoid even inadvertently hurting someone else with his abilities, which he deems from that point on as a last resort.
One of his most defining features is this notion of altruistic charity, which even extends to people he's just met on the pop-fly under bizarre circumstances, such as Clear, or those who regularly display latent animosity towards him, such as Mink. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is his forte, and it's not uncommon by any means for Aoba to wholeheartedly make allowances for others, even setting aside prior humiliations in order to aid those he genuinely cares about. Adaptive to rapidly shifting scenarios, Aoba does his best to react logically and comprehend — more than anything else, it's this pressing need to understand others that drives him. As a good listener, Seragaki is attentive to the feelings of other people, doing what he can to assist with and resolve their issues. With a indefatigable sense of morals governing him, he won't back down from something genuinely unethical to the point of naivete (when it would be more rational or conjecturally better for him to simply yield). On a fundamental level, Aoba's no pushover, always trying to face his issues head-on without hesitation. For Seragaki, taking the initiative is nothing new; misgivings won't deter him in the face of an underlying goal to accomplish.
Although an altogether forgiving person, Aoba's temper has a knack for constantly short-circuiting like it's on the fritz. Levelheadedness is not one of his finer points. While his irascibility rarely manifests as anything more than a touch of bad humor or petulant exasperation, it's horrendously easy to rile him up. Typecasting him as honest would be an understatement; he literally wears his heart on his sleeve, and even when he's externally attempting to hide his motives, his face is a good indicator as any for any pitiful attempt at pretense. On the flipside, he's prone to making snarky comments and making teasing jabs with people he's particularly comfortable with. This is most explicitly shown through his interactions with Koujaku, a childhood friend he isn't afraid to rebuke or joke around without missing a beat.
Straightforwardly blunt, he's not afraid to express his opinions, whether through emotive/behavioral cues or through words, which, peculiarly enough, have a tendency to entice others and rouse them to action. That isn't to say that Aoba's incapable of being polite if the situation specifically calls for it, only that he can be provoked to verbally sarcastic retaliation. Combat isn't out of the question either (given that there's no other option available), but he'll try to avoid violence if he can help it. His predilection to maintaining order is more of a throwback to rectifying situations pacifistically as opposed to reacting in brutality.
Despite his inherent solicitude and upstanding principles, Aoba isn't without his flaws. There's the matter of contention he has with himself, or more specifically — the abilities he continually manifests throughout the game under the umbrella term of "Scrap" with one purpose: mind control. Whether consciously or unconsciously acting upon his own jurisdiction, he can persuade, bend, and break people in close proximity to his will. Depending on the intensity, he can coerce people to do favors, follow specific commands, and reform someone's self-perception to the point of psychosis. Justifiably enough, Aoba has some fairly legitimate concerns about using the power at all, regardless of the given circumstances. Even when it warrants his continued survival in the world, it's always deliberately undertaken with much hesitation (unintentionally using Scrap is more likely to be the case). It doesn't help that Scrap is largely ascribed to an entirely different personality than the one he typically displays, known as DESIRE.
All abstractions aside, it should be noted that the aforementioned traits, while the dominant personality, are truthfully only 1/3 of the matter that embodies who Aoba is as a person.
The primary facet, REASON, manifests itself as his primary and arguably original personality: the one who empathizes the most and places the needs of others above his own, the Aoba people are most familiarly acquainted with. The secondary facet, DESIRE, is a different beast of burden entirely: a hostile side of his psyche that legitimately wishes for nothing more than death and destruction. It's a side of Aoba that he actively — and unconsciously — represses at all times. In high-pressure situations, particularly when Aoba under acute mental strain or extreme stress, this portion of his mind (accompanied with a killer headache, no less) will internally speak to Seragaki, enticing him to destroy whatever's plaguing/distressing him. The other personality is capable of overwhelming Aoba and taking his place, although surprisingly even-handed with doling out threats or implementing Scrap before retreating once more, essentially remaining a disconcerting enigma until after the VN route split/divergence. The tertiary and final facet of his personality, RESTRAINT, serves as a buffer between the aforementioned two, keeping one from completely overwhelming the other and preventing DESIRE'S mental/physical manifestations. It's also technically no longer a part of Aoba, having since transferred its consciousness into a discarded Allmate Seragaki picked up on a whim one day and becoming a separate entity known as Ren, a fact only discerned through events occurring in the True Route.
His canon parallels what essentially equivocates to Dissociative Identity Disorder in psychoanalytic conditions — each aspect of his disposition relegated to one of three parts of the Freudian psyche. First and foremost, Aoba Seragaki is the base personality that was, at some unspecified point after his birth, fractured with the main role of REASON and supplementary roles of DESIRE and RESTRAINT. Aoba (REASON) is the ego, the logical rationale, DESIRE is the inclination toward instincts, and RESTRAINT is his moral compass — the keystone that balances the first two. His exposition begins with one personality aspect unconsciously repressed, the other in a state of amnesiac fugue. Therefore, in true narrative nature, his storyline revolves around understanding that he isn't fundamentally whole.
And yet — even in Aoba's thrown into the perplexing anomalies and conundrums such as crippling existential crises that his vigilance earnestly fleshes itself out. In the face of all the idiosyncratic variables hurtling his life into chaos, whether with people he's encountered, people he hasn't encountered, absolutely ludicrous scenarios, and even threats arising from within himself, Aoba remains defiantly resolute in restoring some semblance of normality to his life. For all his doubts and fears and shortcomings throughout the course of the game, fighting against what appears to be wholly impossibly stacked odds is no small feat. In the midst of dystopian Japan, Seragaki's steadfast commitment to triumphing over Toue's corrupt, world-conquering machinations solely draws back to his irrefutable resilience to protect his allies and the island of Midorijima and its inhabitants that he cherishes so dearly.
◎ Powers/Abilities:
For one thing, he's kind of ... flashy. Sonic the Hedgehog has a better rep. He's not fooling anyone here. Past the bloated monstrosity masquerading as a puffy jacket he dons for a good majority of the game, Aoba's color-coordinated, if nothing else. He doesn't shy away from particularly vibrant shades in his ensembles, but casually subverts the distinction between perpetual fashion disaster (as he lives and breathes, no joke) and a run-of-the-mill inhabitant of Midorijima on a daily basis. Take into account his all-natural gradient blue mullet and intermittently shifting eye color and he leaves, well — quite an impression.
Besides the aesthetic value of his appearance alone, he packs quite a punch with his kicks and combative skills, which is an aspect largely attributed to his past as a rebellious hellion roaming the streets of Midorijima. While his substantiated recall of these incidents is sketchy due to mental repression of anything relating to DESIRE, he hasn't forgotten how to hurl a fist at affronted opponents with the intention of giving them left hook shiners. Aoba, as it turns out, is well-versed in muscle memory.
His job is no third-rate gimmick either — repairing and tinkering around with Allmate parts and/or his Allmate Ren is a bit of a friendly pastime. Although is knowledge in that department might be marginally outdated for his time, for a young man living in the boondocks of dystopian Japan, it's a useful skill worthy of note.
Although it's not so much a power as it is a mild inconvenience, his hair legitimately has nerves and feeling in it — to the degree that it causes him varying magnitudes of irritation or pain if anyone other than him yanks it (cutting it alone is a laborious process). Gradual acclimatization would be someone's potential best bet, but as anyone even touching Aoba's hair nettles him, he'd prefer the distance.
Then there's Scrap, which is by and large his most ominous power. It's an ability that allows him to essentially control the minds of others — whether through influence, commands, or flat-out brainwashing (even if more euphemistically pleasing words abound for riddling someone's cerebrum full of holes like mental swiss cheese) — his power runs the entire gamut of changing an individual's perception. The extent of this disconcerting ability is dependent on his voice, which can be construed as the projection of his will, and his dexterity in Scrap is often prone to change. In its base form, he can merely coax someone to listen to him, with the focus being on enticing, convincing, and persuading someone to listen to his wishes (eye contact isn't necessary, but it heightens this skill considerably). Progressing further, if emotionally stirred, Aoba can issue demands that force others to heed his orders with little to no complaint. During this period, his eyes have been shown to change colors, from light brown to a warm yellow shade. At its pinnacle, Aoba can use Scrap to delve into someone else's consciousness entirely, becoming an observer and/or participant to his target's memories, aspirations, fears, and thoughts. In this state, Aoba physically passes out in lieu of mentally gaining cognizance in someone else's psyche. While his most potent form, this state is extremely fragile, and the changes instituted are irreversible; depending on his actions, he can either make or break another person, from alleviating someone of full-blown afflictions to invalidating their sense of autonomy.
For all intents and purposes, Aoba has an only perfunctory grasp of Scarp, as it was an ability largely coordinated by DESIRE. More than not, he's often unaware that he's even exerted the power. The first two Scrap forms are typically the extent that it expresses itself, usually unintentionally, while the third form is only saved for dire life-or-death situations (and only then with extreme reservations, as it places both his and his target's sanity at illimitable risk).
◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory:
- The clothes on his back.
- His Coil (a wristwatch communicator used for digital messaging, phone calls, e-mail, internet surfing, and the like).
- One pair of garishly hot-pink, retro-style headphones.
- A duffel bag containing a few bottles of medicine for his migraines and Ren (the latter explained more thoroughly below).
- Ren, his Allmate. (Ren's an AI puppy with the appearance of a black Japanese spitz, complete with his own thoughtful personality interface, endearing social tics, and enough common sense to put Aoba's horrendous lack of street smarts to shame. Allmates are prevalent in the DMMD universe as robotic pets and/or personal assistants and come in a variety of makes and models, from animals to more humanoid-looking entities. Seeing as how Ren could feasibly count as another character entirely, if Aoba ever happens to regain him during his stay, I'd prefer that he merely keep Ren's powered-down/inanimate/inoperable dog-type robot body with him as a purely inventory item, as opposed to Ren as a sentient/interactive character. It's completely fine with me if Ren's nixed in his entirety, however!)
CEREALIA-Specific
◎ Element: WATER.
◎ Sense: SIGHT. While all five senses listed do apply to Aoba in some way or form, eye contact is what he uses to perform Scrap on another person — it's essentially the threshold for establishing a connection with any one individual.
◎ Seven Character Traits: ( Resilient, Amiable, Adaptable ) | ( Irresponsible, Pessimistic, Guileless ) + Impulsive
Samples
◎ First-Person Sample: From an old test drive. It didn't get that far though, so here's a random video call from Aoba:
[ The feed begins with Aoba at close proximity, eyes squinted between mild exasperation, a possible retort already bleeding unspoken on his tongue. It takes a while for him to set the CereVice at just the right angle for a full glimpse of his rather agitated form, but it's clear he isn't pleased, if the fidgeting tap of fingers across the screen account for anything in the way of understanding the wiles of short-circuiting impatience. But when he realizes he's switched it on, he sighs, pulling his face into something relatively genial. ]
It's probably a lost cause, but I figured — well, it wouldn't hurt to ask either way. Does anyone have spare robot parts they're willing to part with? CYBuddies parts work too, if you've got some on hand.
[ Aoba momentarily draws back to make curving gesticulations at the screen, concern finally settling into his (primarily) troubled gaze. ]
While the makes and models have their differences, AllMates don't seem to be that different from CYBuddies, if a little more advanced than the kinds here, and — I guess you could say I'm trying to fix my ... friend.
[ Brow furrowing, he clicks his tongue, stepping back to run a hand through his disheveled shock of hair. ]
Anyways, if you've got any scrap metal, let me know. Thanks.
[ He shuts the feed with a sudden, split-second abruptness. ]
◎ Third-Person Sample: i already haveforestcovered!
Jeez, you think they could've spared more workers in this section. It's a bit unfair to expect us to —
[ Enma cuts off mid-gripe with a flinch as he clumsily maneuvers his hands slantslide and nearly ends up faceplanting on the wooden landing. Sticking to the roof of his mouth is his tongue, and beyond that, whatever remained of his equanimity. While scouring the entire floor clean with nothing more than a sudsy sponge brush, the mildewing cadaver of a disfigured soap bar, and a particularly gunky bucket was par for the course, the fact that he was doing it without any kind of plausible assurance from what very well appeared to be some hideous form of indentured servitude was the nail in the metaphorical coffin of accruing doubts.
It was already sketchy enough on premise alone, the idealization of a witch and the near-insidious lure of fulfilled wishes ensnaring him more thoroughly than a bait-and-switch bargain sale, but that was only to be expected. Given the rapidly deteriorating situation at the time, there wasn't any better opportunity to latch on the first woebegone sap making pipe dreams into the air. A sucker born every minute, huh. Whether or not Enma quantified as the victim of such an outrageous dupe was out of the question now, though. His autonomy was his own. He'd consciously made this decision on the notion of hope fulfillment. Now wasn't the time to get cold feet, especially considering he'd only recently entered their services. ]
... — handle cleaning the entire kitchen with only a few people. I don't think it's wrong to request worker's compensation. The witch can't possibly expect us to do our best if we're worked to the bone. It's unreasonable! She could at least keep me updated on the situation back home.
[ His plaintive mumbles are made mostly out of habitual compunction. Ren wasn't there to humor him with motivational quips or criticisms made in good favor, and after having him by his side for so long, it didn't come as a shock that he missed his presence. Hands figuratively palmed over two kinds of vaguely anomalous exasperation and no less than three types of indignation when one of the other unfortunate staffers roosting in the kitchen brazenly sprinted throughout the hall, only to wobble mid-stride and send an entire bonanza of roast pig and other cooked bodily organs on a one-way trip to the floor with a splotching thunk. Blinking down at the sight, the aggregated groan of the consensus that subsequently ensues is nothing short of inevitable. ]
... Ahhh, you've gotta' be kidding me.
◎ Is your character retaining any previous game memories? nah.
