rottencactus | (no subject)

PLAYER INFORMATION

PLAYER: Jami
ARE YOU AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD?: Yes.
CONTACT: takatorabatta, or PM this account
CHARACTERS PLAYED: na

CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Mayoi Ayase
CANON: Ensemble Stars!! Music
CANON REFERENCE: Enstars Wiki
CANON POINT: Post Chapter 4 of the main story.
CRAU HISTORY: na
AGE: 18
APPEARANCE: A moderate height for his age, skinny but with some muscle, long purple hair that looks like it was braided by a drunk Elsa cosplayer. He has anime shark teeth that he's self-conscious about. His eyes are also a very bright cyan blue. Casual | Idol
CONTRACT PAYMENT: That when he returns he will be able to perform with his unit forever.

This is impossible, obviously, but it's something he has outwardly wished for in canon because he is so afraid of being lonely again.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

What is your favorite diversion? Hobbies, indulgences, vices? Would you put off important things for that diversion, or would you be more strict about how you spend your time and/or money?

I ...like to build dioramas. Ah, the small ones with complicated scenes. I like to build them from scratch- I'm very good with my hands. It's how I built some of the traps I've used to keep people away from my things. I've taken apart appliances and such- Ah! But! I would never just do that with the intent to harm someone! Please don't think I'm some kind of suspicious mad scientiiiist!

I like to think I am very frugal and good with managing my time though, as ALKALOID's trainer, I have to balance many things, such as my lessons for the others and my own practices. And with money- Those of us in ALKALOID were saddled with a large debt the moment we became idols and so, we got very good at managing our finances. Otherwise we likely would have starved...

[Other hobbies Mayoi enjoys but he would not bring up in an interview is standing in dark corners/vents and watching people for unnervingly long periods of time. This is, in fact, one of his worst habits because he will often do it without permission and very rarely gets caught. He does not do anything nefarious as a result, other than his arguably stalkish behavior, he simply likes to observe others and is invested in people's personal growth. That is why he will sometimes hand out his advice to people he watches practicing alone. If he thinks he can help, he will not be able to stand idly by and will risk discovery in order to slip them a note.]

What does family mean to you and who do you consider a part of your family?

Family...

I-I suppose that we all have our blood family and those ties mean different things for different people. For me ...my family is ALKALOID. We were nothing but discarded underachievers struggling against impossible circumstances at the very start, but ...I have come to love them all. I would do anything for them.

[Mayoi has actually mentioned precious little about his actual family in canon, which is an interesting contrast to all the other members of his unit, who have referenced their family multiple times for various reasons. Mayoi has only slipped the barest details about his upbringing, which included being told horror stories about another family (Who are vampires). With the implications of his family being members of a specific in canon cult, it's extremely possible they are either dead or Mayoi actively left them behind. He was, in fact, living in a basement when you meet him in canon for the first time. One does not simply choose to live in a basement if your home life is good.

I think it's extremely significant that regardless of what his family situation may be, that he has grown to love and care for ALKALOID so much, for extending their hands to him and pulling him out of the shadows, so that he may stand with them in the light. He has lauded them as the reason he has come to understand the importance of interacting with others and the kindness that can be found in humanity.]

An oni of the Shuten Clan has gone completely berserk, and is going on a violent rampage through the city. You can't stop him, but you CAN lead him elsewhere, but you only have two choices: a road by a discotheque with a large crowd in front, or the nearby park that you do not know is unoccupied, and may have children present. What do you choose, and why?

A-Ah, this question! That's ...That's a horrific circumstance, just thinking about it is making my heart race.

I think ...the park would be the most suitable option. N-Not because I'm someone who would put children at risk! No! I'm sorry- I just think. A crowd ...would invite chaos, and for someone who has lost all their facilities, a crowd would be the worst option for them. Not only that but, a crowd could ...very easily become a destructive mob the moment fear and panic are introduced. The situation would simply escalate beyond help and more casualties would be ...assuredly guaranteed.

The park ...I assume it would be quieter and more empty. I could simply keep the oni's attention on me while someone more qualified found my location. The oni could perhaps regain himself on his own. The children could present a danger, but I think ...I would simply not allow the oni to get that close, by whatever means I could.

[Mayoi would simply let the oni obliterate him before it harmed children, but also, Mayoi has experience being overwhelmed in crowds and simply does not think it will go well for either of them to go running right into one.]

What is the most frightening thing you've ever done? What part of you did it test the most?

Our very first performance as ALKALOID. I remember being so afraid that I simply lost all concept of fear and found myself in a very strange zen state. Even the others in my unit said that I had appeared strangely calm...

I do remember it very vividly, though. I thought ...that the sheer volume of eyes in the crowd would be too much for me, but once I was on stage ...everything came very easily. Y-You see, It would be one thing for me to ruin myself all on my own, to die and suffocate at the hands of that crowd, but with the others ...I had to make sure we succeeded. For that reason, I found some strength and became an idol.

POWERS & ABILITIES:

Mayoi has no supernatural abilities that we know of, but that is kind of the thing with Ensemble Stars. It likes play fast and loose with things that are normal or supernatural. This franchise has canon vampires and canon witches but also sometimes characters will just punch a hole in a wall and it go unacknowledged. Was that super strength or was it a slapstick punchline? Who knows!!!

That said, Mayoi has an extremely uncanny ability to make himself just. Disappear in plain sight. This may just be how well he can keep quiet and still, but it is definitely worth noting that when not wanting to be perceived by his new roomate, he willed himself out of existence so well that his roomate thought he was being haunted by a ghost, instead. Mayoi can move silently and stealthily basically anywhere he knows well enough, and can seemingly vanish into shadows such that people practicing late at night in training rooms won't realize he's just. hanging out and watching them.

In fact, he gained a reputation as The Phantom of Yumenosaki because he would just skulk around watching people practice in the middle of the night and leave them advice. Not once was he actually caught or outed until his third year at the academy.

All that said, unless canon gives me proof that these are supernatural abilities, I'm going to play it like it's just him being comically good at scuttling around quietly. I don't think he will need to be nerfed. Feel free to make the call though, if this tips too far in the other direction.

That said, he has a number of other non supernatural abilities worth noting. He's a singing and dancing prodigy, he's an excellent teacher and its something he's actually occasionally capable of being smug about, and he is extremely sharp and observant. He can learn how to make a complex dish just by reading the list of ingredients.

SUITABILITY:

So, on the surface Mayoi looks about as unsuitable as it can get. He's young, he's cowardly, anxious, not good with people, faints in crowds, and runs from violence. However, Mayoi is apart of the idol industry, which is rife with corruption and conflict. He has personally been the victim of the manipulative bureaucracy that entails, and as such, his no stranger to the darker sides of the entertainment industry. He is, despite his temperament, very hardy. Above all else, Mayoi is a survivor and that "cowardice" of his has been what's kept him alive all this time.

His canon in general also handles a lot of heavy and upsetting topics, including and not limited to: cults, mass suicide, violence, and kidnapping. Mayoi himself, is heavily implied to have grown up in a cult and wasn't "treated as human" for most of his life. He is someone who mourns the loss of his own naivete and innocence by fixating on those concepts in others, and while he is a bundle of poor coping mechanisms, he lives and strives for something better.

FACTION SUITABILITY:

Shuten

A faction that may not seem fitting at first glance, however, that just means that his kind of skillset may be what they need. For a faction used to playing rough, it might be worth their while to have someone who can handle subterfuge. He is also kind of a big fusser and might be more inclined to look after the people that go out and get the shit kicked out of them regularly. Shuten Clan could probably use a mom friend, right?

He would find it difficult to find his footing in such a rough and tumble environment, but Mayoi is an adaptable guy, and isn't the kind to shy away from when he's needed, even if he's vibrating like a chihuahua the whole time.

Tamamo

Mayoi would do well in the Tamamo Clan. He's got cunning and insight in spades, often the one of his group to quietly pick up on things that need to be done, and carrying them out himself before someone notices. He's also an idol, and it can be argued that the job of an idol is to provide a temporary escape for those that watch them on stage. It's a service, at the end of the day, meant to help those find happiness and bliss, however fleeting. Being an idol also has prepared him for number of other jobs that would suit the clan, such as running a pop-up restaurant, or being a car babe at a motor show.

On a related note, for Mayoi's side of things, it would be very interesting to see him in a clan that puts emphasis on the freedom to be ones true self in front of others, when Mayoi is someone who finds his true self abhorrent and unworthy of love and frequently beats it back down.

Sutoku

Mayoi is someone who has spent multiple years both living in the basement of a corporate building and also going to high school without anyone actually realizing he was there. Mayoi lived and traveled through the vents and walls in order to never actually be perceived by another human being and he was successful. He only allowed himself to be seen a few times, since he garnered the reputation of a phantom who visits idols practicing late at night to give them advice. Mayoi has considerable talent in information gathering. He has an extremely keen eye, he's silent as a ghost as he moves, and can simply disappear in plain sight if he likes.

As an Idol he can also be of plenty use to a lot of the Clan's main industries, both as a performer and as a trainer. Honestly, a lot of his skill set seems tailor made to this clan specifically, and he would thrive here.

The Enma

While Mayoi isn't someone who specifically craves order, he is someone, at this canon point, who finds it difficult to go against systems in place and finds comfort in things going smoothly and as they should. He is in fact, the victim of an extremely unyielding system in place, and his unit is trying to climb their way out of it while trying to play by the rules. It's kind of working. As with the Shuten Clan, too, his skill set is useful! Though his temperament may be something left to be desired.

Enma may actually be the least suitable clan for him, as his unit's later work is very uh, fuck the system, thanks to some stuff they have to go through as a result of a very corrupt system in place. You might even say it's the theme of his group.

SAMPLES

Here and here