brobox

Player Information:
Name: Mary
Journal: slenderman
Method of Contact: AIM - joenes is dead
Previous characters: Kyoko Sasagawa

Character Information:
Full Name: Gareki
Series: Karneval
Canon point: End of chapter 28
Age: 15
Species: Human
Appearance/PB: Here!
Appearance upon arrival: Same as always, except sporting his stylish and fashionable track jacket and capris ensemble.

History:
Previous RP memories: None
Bringing someone along?: Nope!
Character History: There really isn't anything on his history in the wikipedia page, so I'll go into a brief summary of the small amount of past we know about him.

At age 8, Gareki was sold into slavery by his assumed-parents. He was stuck on a transport ship with other slaves and, being the smallest, ended up getting bullied and having his food stolen often. Eventually the ship crashed in a storm, and Gareki was able to escape.

After his escape from the ship, Gareki was soon found by a woman named Tsubaki. Tsubaki, having two younger siblings of her own, felt a need to help the young boy and took him in. Not knowing his own name, Tsubaki gave him the name 'Gareki' and she, alongside her younger siblings (twins named Tsubame and Yotaka), welcomed the young boy into their family. In the beginning Gareki was rather wary and distant from his caretakers, as is his custom, but eventually came to grow close to them and care about them.

Sadly, Tsubaki was involved with a man who, while seemingly charitable and kind, harbored a manipulative and cruel nature. Despite having paid the hospital bills for their grandfather and feeding the twins helpful "nutrients" in their food, the unnamed man eventually turned on Tsubaki and killed her, disappearing afterward without a trace. Not long after, Gareki left his makeshift family to find a way to pay the now un-paid hospital bills of the twins' grandfather through thievery and pawning items. However, in doing so he cut off all communication with the twins, never revealing why he had left and what he was doing for them.

Personality:

Gareki is...difficult.

And I don't just mean one type of difficult; he's difficult all over. Difficult to categorize, difficult to understand, difficult to deal with - well, you get the idea. So, since there are so many difficulties to deal with, let's just pick one to start out, shall we?

Gareki is difficult to get to know.

It would be easy to say that because of the tragedies in his past, Gareki has trust issues (and possibly a bit of an abandonment complex), which is why he tends to be standoffish in social situations; this is partially true. Gareki certainly acts like someone who has problems with people in general; in most social situations, Gareki tends to act impassive, regarding most things with a blank or slightly annoyed expression. He isn't anti-social - he has no issues with approaching people and talking to them - he just doesn't seem to care about forming relationships with others. He admits himself that friendship has no use or relevance to him, and is never seen willingly talking to others about his inner feelings or insecurities. In fact, he actually gets visually upset (while alone, of course) after he mistakenly thinks Nai figured out he was feeling upset over something. Gareki doesn't share his feelings, and he doesn't like having his feelings known; the exchange of emotions can establish relationships between people, and those Gareki just doesn't want.

So, given Gareki's history, his behavior makes sense. He was sold by people he trusted into slavery, and when he finally began to open himself up again, the woman he had began to trust to be there for him was violently murdered. Humanity hasn't shown Gareki its best side, so one could conclude that his behavior is due to his tragic past.

This is only partially true, and it's where Gareki gets even more difficult to figure out.

Gareki isn't one of those people whose traumatic past is hiding a sweet and friendly soul underneath an exterior of rude and aloof behavior; his trust issues stem from that, maybe, but Gareki's general attitude really is who Gareki is. He's rarely polite, treating authority figures with impassiveness, and finds absolutely no problem in teasing or mocking others, whether in a lighthearted or cruel manner. If he's annoyed by anything, he'll let you know, and chances are he'll end up hitting you because of it. This happens more often than not, as Gareki tends to get annoyed by a lot of things; stupidity (from his point of view), someone telling him what to do in any situation, and when anything at all doesn't go his way are just a small list of things that can cause the young man to scowl, chew you out, and then smack you over the head. He's not above saying he's sorry or acting polite, but it's the genuineness of those actions that are question when it comes to him. Like a lot of people, Gareki may say he's sorry or act less standoffish just to end an annoying conversation or get out of a situation he no longer wants to be in. Even if Gareki were to find someone he feels comfortable opening up with, trusting, or even someone he'd be comfortable calling a friend, it is highly unlikely that many of these attributes would change, let alone go away. That's just the type of person Gareki is. Sure, he may snap at you less and his teasings may become more lighthearted than insulting, but if someone goes into an attempted friendship with him expecting to find a sweet, innocent boy underneath, they'd end up disappointed.

Gareki is also difficult to understand.

As stated before, part of Gareki's genuine personality is that he's a bit of an asshole, which is why it can be even more difficult to understand some of the actions he makes in canon. With a default personality like Gareki's, it make come as a surprise that he does treat others like human beings. He has a moral compass, albeit a somewhat questionable one. He knows right from wrong but doesn't always make the distinction out of choice, especially when it comes to himself or social norms. He steals, which he doesn't seem to have a problem with, and isn't above deceiving other people to get what he wants. He also doesn't respect or care about authority figures, constantly stating he doesn't like "guys like that". However, Gareki does show signs of knowing what's "right"; he tells his thieving partners to leave innocent women unharmed in their exploits, can explain what 'bad' is to Nai (though he doesn't go into a definite definition of 'good'), and even helps a young child get his balloon back that flew away (although he does it begrudgingly). While he doesn't seem to have an issue with killing to protect, avenge, or survive, he does condemn the killing and harm of innocent people.

Even more surprising is the revelation that Gareki does not lack the ability to care about specific people. While forming bonds through closeness is an issue, Gareki shows he is able to care in a number of different ways, the most prominent of which being the heartbreaking emotions of feels after Yotaka's death and Tsubame being taken away. He never expresses these or shows them, but Nai, who is very attune to the emotions in others, says that Gareki feels "heartbreaking pain, sadness, confusion, and suffering". Someone without the ability to care for others would feel nothing of these things if anyone died; Gareki, however, feels them all.

Most people will quickly find that Gareki is also difficult to deal with. Whether it's an activity or conversation, Gareki tends to act and become bored or uninterested if it's not something he likes. He frequently responds to others when they ask him if he wants to play a game or do an activity that he'll participate "as long as you make it something I find interesting." The only surefire way to get Gareki to participate in something is to issue a challenge of any sort directly or indirectly. He seems rather incapable of turning down a challenge, easily being baited into one, especially if someone is questioning his abilities. However, outside of that, if it doesn't involve something Gareki is interested in, you can be sure he'll act annoyed throughout it or either completely apathetic. Another bothersome attribute of his in situations like this is Gareki isn't extremely loud. He isn't soft spoken or shy at all, but he doesn't scream, yell, or constantly whine, even if he doesn't get his way. Instead, he chooses to throw in an irrelevant or insulting line every so often when someone comments on the situation, reminding them that he's not interested in being there, and that he finds what they're doing a complete waste of time.

Gareki also seems to disregard any sort of authority if it's an inconvenience for him. As stated before, he has a natural aversion to authoritative figures; if he receives an order from someone above him, he'll either dismiss it or become annoyed by it. He doesn't always rebel for the sake of rebelling, but he makes it clear he doesn't enjoy being ordered around by others. He also doesn't seem to care about things like warnings not to go into areas or do certain things, whether they are on warning signs hung up for from someone's mouth. He trespasses into areas of the Circus ship without care, picks locks without batting an eye, and overall seems to present a persona that says "If I want to do it, I'll do it regardless."

Alright, now that we've got the difficult parts out of the way, let's explore a few other aspects of Gareki's personality.

Gareki is a very intelligent young man. He is extremely skilled with mechanics, which implies he knows the basic skill sets and basic academic knowledge that one would need to work with the types of mechanics he works with, which covers quite a lot. He is able to create explosive devices and calculate how big the blast will be, modify phones (most likely to get better or free service), and disable and deconstruct many small electronic devices to name a few. He also seems to possess a very quick train of thought and great observational skills, showing multiple times throughout the manga the ability to take in a situation and analyze it within only a few moments. This trait is not limited to static situations, or inanimate situations; Gareki is also able to detect subtle nuances in speech, such as hiding meanings behind words or a slip up here or there. In other words, he is an extremely observant young man with a quick mind and the intelligence to back it up.

Gareki, living on his own in a busy city for a few years, also knows your basic street smarts. He knows how to get around undetected, how to become inconspicuous in a crowd, and how to avoid and get out of trouble should it arise. However, these skills seem to be hampered when he's traveling with someone who has no street smarts of their own, shown when Nai consistently messes up as they attempt to avoid the security force and sneak from town to town undetected.

Extra:
Character Abilities:

Explosives: Gareki is able to build basic explosives that he often uses in his thieving exploits. Typically these are small and easily controllable, allowing him to use them as tactfully as possible.

Mechanics and Elecronics: Gareki is extremely talented when it comes to all things mechanical. He has a vast knowledge of technology and is said in a character info card to be on the same level as a "specialist". He is able to disable, build, alter, fix, take apart and rebuild most mechanical items with ease.

Thieving skills: Gareki has a few miscellaneous skills that helped him in this thieving days. He can pick locks with ease, get in and out of difficult places quickly and effectively, and pull personality 180s if needed to deceive someone for one reason or another.

Fighting: Gareki is not a highly trained fighter, but he knows how to survive on his own and in harsh situations. He has relatively quick reflexes and a high endurance for impacts (seen in the first chapter when he falls from a vaulted ceiling and lands completely fine). It is also implied he know how to hold his own in an average fist fight. Gareki is also a good marksmen and knows how to use a firearm rather well.

Possessions: His clothes, goggles, and a small, pocket-sized kit of basic tools to work with mechanics that he tends to carry around with him.
Anything else:

Samples:
Action/Communication thread/post sample:

[The situation had escalated to a level Gareki wasn't quite comfortable with. After ten minutes or so of searching and not finding Nai, it had escalated to annoyance. Even longer and - while he wouldn't admit it - there was the slight twinge of worry. And now...well, now he didn't even know what to think.

'He said he'd wait until we came back!' Yeah, right. Who's idea was it to leave that dumb animal alone?!

The young man walks down the street, keeping his eyes up but his head down, trying as best he can not to draw attention to himself. He has no idea where he is (but it's not like he has time to really think that over now), and was beginning to wonder if the boy he was looking for was even in the same city.

He takes a moment to pause at a street corner, looking right and left before muttering under his breath.]

I'm gonna kill that damn kid when I find him.

[He steps off the curb, crossing the street and trying to silence the annoying little voice echoing 'if you find him' in the back of his head.]