City of Ariel Application
Jun. 10th, 2013 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nightraysewerat→ OOC
□ Name: Leca
□ Age: 32
□ Contact: lecanis @ aim, gmail, plurk
□ Journal: leca
□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: Mikado Ryuugaminetotallysane
→ IC
□ Name: Vincent Nightray
□ Journal:nightraysewerat
□ Series: Pandora Hearts
□ Canon point: Chapter 79
□ History: Wiki link: wiki
The wiki here is extremely detailed, and includes information from the most recent flashback arcs, so it’s a good read! It doesn’t include the most recent current-timeline canon events on Vincent’s page, though, so a bit of current canon information might be relevant.
After the coming of age ceremony where Elliot Nightray died, and the confrontation with Duke Nightray where Vincent killed the Duke, Vincent was seen alongside Leo, proclaiming himself to be his servant. Fighting between Leo and Oz Vessalius set Vincent against his older brother Gilbert, leading to an argument between them in which Vincent was called out for claiming to know what would make Gilbert happy and acting on it. Betrayal behind the scenes at Pandora was revealed soon after, and the next confrontation between the sides became even more emotionally wrenching for the two brothers: Gilbert took a bullet for Vincent, and the memories that Vincent had been trying to protect him from resurfaced.
As mentioned in the wiki, those memories were basically the exact opposite of what had been told all along; Jack Vessalius was revealed to be the mastermind behind all the terrible happenings of one hundred years ago, and many things that had happened since were shown to be set in motion by him. The conflict between Pandora (and the noble houses) and the Baskervilles was shown to be much more complex than originally believed, and both sides were being compromised by individuals whose personal goals were being put above those of their organizations. The complication of Oz Vessalius being nothing more than a Chain who was part of Jack Vessalius’s plan - as well as technically residing in his body - brought another layer into the conflict.
All of this was important to Vincent because it is important to Gilbert: as more was revealed about the truth behind every side of the conflict regarding the Abyss, Gilbert’s choices continued to run counter to what Vincent believed was best for his brother. It was also, however, important to Vincent because his own beliefs about Jack Vessalius were revealed by Duke Barma to be wrong: Vincent hadn’t known that Jack was involved in having him open the doors to the Abyss, and didn’t believe that Jack would have done such a thing.
When Jack - now using Oz’s (borrowed) body openly to act - used his power to destroy the chains holding the world in a bid to send it into the Abyss, it was just a repeat of the actions at Sablier one hundred years ago. At that time, Glen and Alice had stopped him. At the current time, however, with the situation in such chaos, divided loyalties and half-truths held back many of those who wanted to act. When Oz Vessalius came to himself and tried to regain control, an order from Leo (Glen) had Gilbert shooting him, and afterward the Baskervilles took over Pandora, taking captive Oz as well as others who had been loyal to Pandora.
Gilbert’s actions in shooting Oz caused him to take a very drastic step. Realizing that the inscription on his left hand gave Glen the power to command him, he had his chain Raven destroy his left arm, so that his own loyalty to Oz could triumph over that previous master/servant bond. He created a new contract between himself and Raven, so that he could go back to protecting Oz, no matter what the situation. Vincent, who had gone to check on his brother, wound up witnessing this, and a confrontation followed about their shared memories and their disparate futures. Despite having his brother hold out his hand to him, Vincent wound up telling Gilbert that there was no way he could go with him.
This is the point from which Vincent will come into Ariel, from kneeling in the rain, his brother’s blood on his clothing, rejecting the hand being held out to him.
□ Personality: Vincent’s first reaction to those he feels he has something to gain from is usually fairly polite and friendly, complete with plenty of smiling and mild tones. Despite his less-than-noble origins, he acts the part of the nobleman as if he were born to it, plays the games of politics and chess (both figurative and literal) adeptly, and knows just how to push everyone’s buttons in the most seemingly benign ways. This useful facade aside, however, there seem to be quite a few who know the madman within.
At times, Vincent is every bit the stereotypical flamboyant villain, especially when he is doing his best to press someone’s buttons. His favorite buttons to push seem to belong to Xerxes Break, but he’s quite happy messing with the minds of pretty much anyone, given the right mood and circumstances.
Let’s get the most obvious excuse out of the way first. Vincent’s early life was hardly easy, despite having his older brother to look out for him. From the initial being thrown out by his family to the events that led up to being cast into the abyss to his strained relations with the other Nightrays, his life has been quite the mess. Shunned, abandoned, and abused, he developed an early view of Gilbert and himself vs. the world, and has held to this view, living his life as if it were a war on all creation outside of those two beings. His real loyalty to Jack Vessalius was betrayed on both sides - as shown by Vincent apologizing to Jack aloud as he broke one of the sealing stones - and proven by recent canon developments to have been based on a false idea that Jack wasn’t involved in manipulating Vincent to destroy Sablier.
The biggest problem with the Vincent and Gilbert vs. the world view (aside from being unhealthy and obsessive) is that it leads him to behave in ways that cause harm not just to those around him, but also to Gilbert himself. It’s not what Gilbert wants that is most important, it’s what Vincent feels is best for Gilbert, and these things often vary widely. His ultimate goal is finally revealed to be erasing himself from existence so that Gilbert’s life can develop entirely differently, leaving his older brother happier and without the suffering that Vincent’s “curse” brought upon him, thus erasing the Tragedy of Sablier and every other atrocity that Vincent has committed since.
Thus there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Vincent using everything around him to get closer to his brother, drive others away from him, keep him safe, get him whatever Vincent in the moment feels like he needs. His schemes are often quite elaborate, and he’s willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way... especially if that person happens to be his old enemy Alice, but he’s perfectly happy with harming his allies and servants as well.
His lack of respect for others extends even further when those others are women; he thinks of them as stupid and pointless, and is certainly not a gentleman toward them unless it can gain him something. His servant Echo complains about his insistence that she sit in his lap, he’s shown improperly touching coworkers, and just in general is a creeper as far as that goes. His willingness to poison Sharon and Echo rather obviously shows that he doesn’t feel a need to protect females.
This isn’t to say that Vincent is entirely incapable of caring for anyone but Gilbert! While he shows a willingness to cause harm to nearly everyone, there are definite bonds that he shares with others. His behavior toward Elliot in the moment before the boy’s death reveals a real love for his younger brother, and while his original goal was to ‘taint’ and ‘use’ Ada, he shows signs of real care for her as well.
As far as quirks go, the most obvious one he has is his habit of tearing up stuffed animals, dolls, pillows, curtains, etc with scissors and leaving them everywhere... and then complaining when they’re cleaned up. (Much less charmingly, he’s also quite fond of using those scissors on human flesh, or in one case, a cat’s eyes.)
Another quirk actually is a result of his contract with his Chain; he has incomplete control over Dormouse, and thus at times the Chain’s power works on him. What this means is that he’s liable to fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Whether this incomplete control is a result of contracting two chains - or is even entirely an act - is uncertain.
Overall, Vincent is a study in contrasts, both capable of big-picture planning and petty whims, deceptively polite and explosively violent, obsessively loyal and willing to betray everyone and everything else.
□ Age: Early twenties or somewhere over one hundred depending on if counting Abyss years!
□ Gender: Male
□ Appearance: He’s a pretty mofo: http://i.imgur.com/p1p2rTM.jpg
His heterochromia is the only thing that really keeps him from looking like any other blond pretty boy. His clothing tends to be either that uniform or vaguely Victiorian-esque suits appropriate to his setting, though he might experiment with other styles of dress once he encounters them. He’s very good at polite-face.
□ Abilities/Powers: On a mundane level, Vincent’s abilities run toward chess, politics, marksmanship, poisons, and torture.
On a slightly less mundane level, he holds contracts with two beings called Chains. The Chains are creatures from a place called the Abyss which have to contract with humans in order to stabilize their existence in the physical world. There are two ways to contract a chain - an “illegal” one and a “legal” one developed by the organization Pandora. Vincent holds one of each type of contract.
His “legal” contract with Dormouse allows him to put people to sleep, but also requires contact with the victim’s head, which is rather limiting. It also has a tendency to put Vincent to sleep at random times, which is sometimes quite inconvenient. This contract being legal means that the Chain’s blood was dripped onto a mirror rather than ingested during the binding, and Vincent wears the blood mirror around his neck, like any other legal contractor.
The illegal contract is with the rather more threatening Demios who is also known as the Queen of Hearts. This chain has a power of decapitating people, and is also capable of human speech. While in canon the attack of Demios is usually shown as so sudden that it cannot be defended against, obviously this wouldn’t work in-game, if and when he gets his chains back. (Vincent isn’t likely to bring this chain out without a lot of provocation, if/when he regains it, and careful OOC communication would go into any use of it plotwise.) The fact that this is an “illegal” contract means that Vincent has a clock symbol on his chest, though it has no hands.
It has been revealed in later canon that Vincent is a Baskerville, which means that he is not able to be easily killed, and can heal from serious wounds rather quickly. There are numerous examples in canon of Baskervilles walking away from injuries that should have killed them. They’re not completely invincible, however.
□ Personal Items: His Pandora uniform, the suit he’s wearing, the blood mirror that connects him to Dormouse, fancy scissors, a gun. He does like clothing, so the rest of his slots can be filled up with extra suits. Plus a picture of his brother: he has to have gotten one at some point considering photography does exist and he’s obsessed.
□ First Person Sample: http://theloonybin.dreamwidth.org/6301.html?thread=2776989#cmt2776989 ← This is an example of Vincent’s “public” face, basically.
□ Third Person Sample:
The room is dark, evening shadows having set in with no attempt being made to turn on the electric lights available in the small apartment. The darkness seems to make all the small sounds louder: the hum of the strange appliances in the kitchen, a sound of music coming through the wall from next door, the bustle of city life on the street. These noises are different from the sounds of the cities at home, yet the same as well: new trappings but the same human intellect and industry behind them. Other sounds are more familiar, though more suited at home to the bedchamber than the street. Still, as Vincent lies motionless on the couch in his assigned apartment, he can’t help but feel it’s more familiar than not, just another city full of people living their own lives without any discernible meaning or purpose.
He is not one of them. He cannot and never has been one of them, a child of misfortune suited to a greater purpose, one he himself has long since faced and decided to take control of. Now, staring up through darkness toward a featureless ceiling, he has no motivation for even that purpose, nothing that he can do for his brother from a world where his brother doesn’t even exist.
The couch he is lying on has a rip in it already, and from that tear still protrudes a pair of scissors, a dull gleam in what false light trickles in from outside. Vincent’s hand slides across the couch to the handle, touching it idly, as if considering further damage. But there’s no money to replace things here, no way to just move on to better housing if he destroys this one. He shouldn’t have done this much already, but he’s not exactly the best at impulse control, and the urge to stab something had been too much.
Violence is not an urge one is allowed to give in to, here, he has to remember. He tells himself that as he tugs the scissors out of the fabric, tucks them away. Without his status as a noble or a member of Pandora, no one will cover it up if he decides to leave a trail of blood, and he himself will have to suffer punishment for such things. Well, that’s not entirely bad, perhaps. It’s not that he fears punishments; fear is not one of his vices.
Other vices that he does have... those are more accepted here.
That’s the thought which spurs him up and out of the apartment, down the stairs and into the city street. It’s hardly a challenge at all, really, not that it ever has been. He’s seduced enough noblewomen that he hasn’t bothered to keep up with names, faces, or dates, and that was in a
world where pleasures of the flesh were seen as far less necessary than they are here. It’s no effort at all to find himself a wench, and an alley to press her into, his gloved hand over her mouth not because she isn’t willing - so many are willing here! - but because he doesn’t want to hear her speak.
“Such a nice girl,” he croons against her ear, his voice soft and gentle in a way his body is not. “We’ll have to do this again.”
He says that, but she’s not really all that pretty, and honestly he’s sure he can find someone better next time. It’s not like he bothers to learn her name, either, or give her his own. Still, it’s only polite to pretend, right? He’ll leave her there in the alley when he’s done, and if he perhaps lost control a little and left her bleeding, no one needs to know about that, right?
□ Name: Leca
□ Age: 32
□ Contact: lecanis @ aim, gmail, plurk
□ Journal: leca
□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: Mikado Ryuugamine
totallysane → IC
□ Name: Vincent Nightray
□ Journal:
nightraysewerat□ Series: Pandora Hearts
□ Canon point: Chapter 79
□ History: Wiki link: wiki
The wiki here is extremely detailed, and includes information from the most recent flashback arcs, so it’s a good read! It doesn’t include the most recent current-timeline canon events on Vincent’s page, though, so a bit of current canon information might be relevant.
After the coming of age ceremony where Elliot Nightray died, and the confrontation with Duke Nightray where Vincent killed the Duke, Vincent was seen alongside Leo, proclaiming himself to be his servant. Fighting between Leo and Oz Vessalius set Vincent against his older brother Gilbert, leading to an argument between them in which Vincent was called out for claiming to know what would make Gilbert happy and acting on it. Betrayal behind the scenes at Pandora was revealed soon after, and the next confrontation between the sides became even more emotionally wrenching for the two brothers: Gilbert took a bullet for Vincent, and the memories that Vincent had been trying to protect him from resurfaced.
As mentioned in the wiki, those memories were basically the exact opposite of what had been told all along; Jack Vessalius was revealed to be the mastermind behind all the terrible happenings of one hundred years ago, and many things that had happened since were shown to be set in motion by him. The conflict between Pandora (and the noble houses) and the Baskervilles was shown to be much more complex than originally believed, and both sides were being compromised by individuals whose personal goals were being put above those of their organizations. The complication of Oz Vessalius being nothing more than a Chain who was part of Jack Vessalius’s plan - as well as technically residing in his body - brought another layer into the conflict.
All of this was important to Vincent because it is important to Gilbert: as more was revealed about the truth behind every side of the conflict regarding the Abyss, Gilbert’s choices continued to run counter to what Vincent believed was best for his brother. It was also, however, important to Vincent because his own beliefs about Jack Vessalius were revealed by Duke Barma to be wrong: Vincent hadn’t known that Jack was involved in having him open the doors to the Abyss, and didn’t believe that Jack would have done such a thing.
When Jack - now using Oz’s (borrowed) body openly to act - used his power to destroy the chains holding the world in a bid to send it into the Abyss, it was just a repeat of the actions at Sablier one hundred years ago. At that time, Glen and Alice had stopped him. At the current time, however, with the situation in such chaos, divided loyalties and half-truths held back many of those who wanted to act. When Oz Vessalius came to himself and tried to regain control, an order from Leo (Glen) had Gilbert shooting him, and afterward the Baskervilles took over Pandora, taking captive Oz as well as others who had been loyal to Pandora.
Gilbert’s actions in shooting Oz caused him to take a very drastic step. Realizing that the inscription on his left hand gave Glen the power to command him, he had his chain Raven destroy his left arm, so that his own loyalty to Oz could triumph over that previous master/servant bond. He created a new contract between himself and Raven, so that he could go back to protecting Oz, no matter what the situation. Vincent, who had gone to check on his brother, wound up witnessing this, and a confrontation followed about their shared memories and their disparate futures. Despite having his brother hold out his hand to him, Vincent wound up telling Gilbert that there was no way he could go with him.
This is the point from which Vincent will come into Ariel, from kneeling in the rain, his brother’s blood on his clothing, rejecting the hand being held out to him.
□ Personality: Vincent’s first reaction to those he feels he has something to gain from is usually fairly polite and friendly, complete with plenty of smiling and mild tones. Despite his less-than-noble origins, he acts the part of the nobleman as if he were born to it, plays the games of politics and chess (both figurative and literal) adeptly, and knows just how to push everyone’s buttons in the most seemingly benign ways. This useful facade aside, however, there seem to be quite a few who know the madman within.
At times, Vincent is every bit the stereotypical flamboyant villain, especially when he is doing his best to press someone’s buttons. His favorite buttons to push seem to belong to Xerxes Break, but he’s quite happy messing with the minds of pretty much anyone, given the right mood and circumstances.
Let’s get the most obvious excuse out of the way first. Vincent’s early life was hardly easy, despite having his older brother to look out for him. From the initial being thrown out by his family to the events that led up to being cast into the abyss to his strained relations with the other Nightrays, his life has been quite the mess. Shunned, abandoned, and abused, he developed an early view of Gilbert and himself vs. the world, and has held to this view, living his life as if it were a war on all creation outside of those two beings. His real loyalty to Jack Vessalius was betrayed on both sides - as shown by Vincent apologizing to Jack aloud as he broke one of the sealing stones - and proven by recent canon developments to have been based on a false idea that Jack wasn’t involved in manipulating Vincent to destroy Sablier.
The biggest problem with the Vincent and Gilbert vs. the world view (aside from being unhealthy and obsessive) is that it leads him to behave in ways that cause harm not just to those around him, but also to Gilbert himself. It’s not what Gilbert wants that is most important, it’s what Vincent feels is best for Gilbert, and these things often vary widely. His ultimate goal is finally revealed to be erasing himself from existence so that Gilbert’s life can develop entirely differently, leaving his older brother happier and without the suffering that Vincent’s “curse” brought upon him, thus erasing the Tragedy of Sablier and every other atrocity that Vincent has committed since.
Thus there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Vincent using everything around him to get closer to his brother, drive others away from him, keep him safe, get him whatever Vincent in the moment feels like he needs. His schemes are often quite elaborate, and he’s willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way... especially if that person happens to be his old enemy Alice, but he’s perfectly happy with harming his allies and servants as well.
His lack of respect for others extends even further when those others are women; he thinks of them as stupid and pointless, and is certainly not a gentleman toward them unless it can gain him something. His servant Echo complains about his insistence that she sit in his lap, he’s shown improperly touching coworkers, and just in general is a creeper as far as that goes. His willingness to poison Sharon and Echo rather obviously shows that he doesn’t feel a need to protect females.
This isn’t to say that Vincent is entirely incapable of caring for anyone but Gilbert! While he shows a willingness to cause harm to nearly everyone, there are definite bonds that he shares with others. His behavior toward Elliot in the moment before the boy’s death reveals a real love for his younger brother, and while his original goal was to ‘taint’ and ‘use’ Ada, he shows signs of real care for her as well.
As far as quirks go, the most obvious one he has is his habit of tearing up stuffed animals, dolls, pillows, curtains, etc with scissors and leaving them everywhere... and then complaining when they’re cleaned up. (Much less charmingly, he’s also quite fond of using those scissors on human flesh, or in one case, a cat’s eyes.)
Another quirk actually is a result of his contract with his Chain; he has incomplete control over Dormouse, and thus at times the Chain’s power works on him. What this means is that he’s liable to fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Whether this incomplete control is a result of contracting two chains - or is even entirely an act - is uncertain.
Overall, Vincent is a study in contrasts, both capable of big-picture planning and petty whims, deceptively polite and explosively violent, obsessively loyal and willing to betray everyone and everything else.
□ Age: Early twenties or somewhere over one hundred depending on if counting Abyss years!
□ Gender: Male
□ Appearance: He’s a pretty mofo: http://i.imgur.com/p1p2rTM.jpg
His heterochromia is the only thing that really keeps him from looking like any other blond pretty boy. His clothing tends to be either that uniform or vaguely Victiorian-esque suits appropriate to his setting, though he might experiment with other styles of dress once he encounters them. He’s very good at polite-face.
□ Abilities/Powers: On a mundane level, Vincent’s abilities run toward chess, politics, marksmanship, poisons, and torture.
On a slightly less mundane level, he holds contracts with two beings called Chains. The Chains are creatures from a place called the Abyss which have to contract with humans in order to stabilize their existence in the physical world. There are two ways to contract a chain - an “illegal” one and a “legal” one developed by the organization Pandora. Vincent holds one of each type of contract.
His “legal” contract with Dormouse allows him to put people to sleep, but also requires contact with the victim’s head, which is rather limiting. It also has a tendency to put Vincent to sleep at random times, which is sometimes quite inconvenient. This contract being legal means that the Chain’s blood was dripped onto a mirror rather than ingested during the binding, and Vincent wears the blood mirror around his neck, like any other legal contractor.
The illegal contract is with the rather more threatening Demios who is also known as the Queen of Hearts. This chain has a power of decapitating people, and is also capable of human speech. While in canon the attack of Demios is usually shown as so sudden that it cannot be defended against, obviously this wouldn’t work in-game, if and when he gets his chains back. (Vincent isn’t likely to bring this chain out without a lot of provocation, if/when he regains it, and careful OOC communication would go into any use of it plotwise.) The fact that this is an “illegal” contract means that Vincent has a clock symbol on his chest, though it has no hands.
It has been revealed in later canon that Vincent is a Baskerville, which means that he is not able to be easily killed, and can heal from serious wounds rather quickly. There are numerous examples in canon of Baskervilles walking away from injuries that should have killed them. They’re not completely invincible, however.
□ Personal Items: His Pandora uniform, the suit he’s wearing, the blood mirror that connects him to Dormouse, fancy scissors, a gun. He does like clothing, so the rest of his slots can be filled up with extra suits. Plus a picture of his brother: he has to have gotten one at some point considering photography does exist and he’s obsessed.
□ First Person Sample: http://theloonybin.dreamwidth.org/6301.html?thread=2776989#cmt2776989 ← This is an example of Vincent’s “public” face, basically.
□ Third Person Sample:
The room is dark, evening shadows having set in with no attempt being made to turn on the electric lights available in the small apartment. The darkness seems to make all the small sounds louder: the hum of the strange appliances in the kitchen, a sound of music coming through the wall from next door, the bustle of city life on the street. These noises are different from the sounds of the cities at home, yet the same as well: new trappings but the same human intellect and industry behind them. Other sounds are more familiar, though more suited at home to the bedchamber than the street. Still, as Vincent lies motionless on the couch in his assigned apartment, he can’t help but feel it’s more familiar than not, just another city full of people living their own lives without any discernible meaning or purpose.
He is not one of them. He cannot and never has been one of them, a child of misfortune suited to a greater purpose, one he himself has long since faced and decided to take control of. Now, staring up through darkness toward a featureless ceiling, he has no motivation for even that purpose, nothing that he can do for his brother from a world where his brother doesn’t even exist.
The couch he is lying on has a rip in it already, and from that tear still protrudes a pair of scissors, a dull gleam in what false light trickles in from outside. Vincent’s hand slides across the couch to the handle, touching it idly, as if considering further damage. But there’s no money to replace things here, no way to just move on to better housing if he destroys this one. He shouldn’t have done this much already, but he’s not exactly the best at impulse control, and the urge to stab something had been too much.
Violence is not an urge one is allowed to give in to, here, he has to remember. He tells himself that as he tugs the scissors out of the fabric, tucks them away. Without his status as a noble or a member of Pandora, no one will cover it up if he decides to leave a trail of blood, and he himself will have to suffer punishment for such things. Well, that’s not entirely bad, perhaps. It’s not that he fears punishments; fear is not one of his vices.
Other vices that he does have... those are more accepted here.
That’s the thought which spurs him up and out of the apartment, down the stairs and into the city street. It’s hardly a challenge at all, really, not that it ever has been. He’s seduced enough noblewomen that he hasn’t bothered to keep up with names, faces, or dates, and that was in a
world where pleasures of the flesh were seen as far less necessary than they are here. It’s no effort at all to find himself a wench, and an alley to press her into, his gloved hand over her mouth not because she isn’t willing - so many are willing here! - but because he doesn’t want to hear her speak.
“Such a nice girl,” he croons against her ear, his voice soft and gentle in a way his body is not. “We’ll have to do this again.”
He says that, but she’s not really all that pretty, and honestly he’s sure he can find someone better next time. It’s not like he bothers to learn her name, either, or give her his own. Still, it’s only polite to pretend, right? He’ll leave her there in the alley when he’s done, and if he perhaps lost control a little and left her bleeding, no one needs to know about that, right?
