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[assumedposition]

P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Emiri
OOC Journal: emiri
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope!!
Email + IM: athousandsmiles at gmail -- I use gchat so email and IM is the same.
Characters Played at Ataraxion: N O N E 8D! This is entirely Amber's fault.

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Albert de Morcerf
Canon: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Post episode 23. (End of series but pre-4-years-later-epilogue.)
Number: 053 if it's not taken! Or 029, or 038. Any of those work! If all of those are taken... RNG it :D?!

Setting:
Gankutsuou is a space opera set in the far-off future (the 51st century, to be precise), but based on a story that was written and set in the 19th. As such, it retains the feel of 19th century Paris, with aristocrats and Regent-era clothing and customs, but with a definitively futuristic/sci-fi side-element, including aliens, spaceships, and giant robots!! Oh my. The wiki is over here if you want to read more but it's pretty bare-bones.

History:
Albert de Morcerf grew up in a very wealthy, aristocratic household-- born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, as they say. From a young age he drifted through life having everything handed to him. His entire life is spent growing up with similarly aristocratic friends in what is basically an extremely sheltered bubble. Life progressed fairly normally, though slowly, and with outrageous privilege. And so, by age fifteen, Albert is bored. Sick of living with his every move mapped out for him by his parents, Albert craves adventure and excitement like any teenage boy. That is, until he meets the Count of Monte Cristo.

Ah, the Count of Monte Cristo. A mysterious figure by all accounts, Albert meets him on vacation while trying to satiate his boredom-- and though he initially hopes to impress the Count, Albert ends up being saved from bandits by him instead. Oops. From then, it's a quick tumble down the slippery slope to total infatuation.

Poor, dumb Albert.

For you see, Albert is completely unaware that the Count has his own agenda-- revenge on Albert's parents and his parents' friends, who wronged him fifteen years ago. Naive and trusting Albert is the perfect target: easily drawn into the Count's intricate web of deception, oblivious to the fact that he's just being used as a pawn. He's never had reason to doubt people and prefers to live life seeing the best in others, so why should he start doubting now? Even as his life starts to suddenly and very completely fall apart around him, even as the Count is very obviously the one behind the machinations wreaking havoc on his friends and family, Albert continues to defend the Count to his last breath. Eventually, viewers are forced to wonder: can Albert really not see that the Count is behind his sudden misfortune, or does he just not want to see?

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS SUPER SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING EVER IN GANKUTSUOU, I MEAN IT.

Meanwhile, one of Albert's friends is poisoned by her step-mother, another is murdered in a duel, his engagement to the woman he loves is forcibly broken off, and then, oops! In a shocking, international scandal, it's publicly revealed that his parents were never true aristocrats to begin with. Oh, and the Count never really loved him. (Surprise.) And his mother never really loved his father either. And then Albert's father goes off the deep end, shoots his wife, and then Albert too.

It's okay though, he survives. In fact, Albert recovers just in time to stop the final duel to the death between his father and the Count-- because in spite of everything he's been through, he still loves and forgives both the Count and his father, and doesn't want either of them to die. Because at the end of the day, this isn't really a story about revenge, yo. This is a story about love-- how it makes us crazy, how it hurts, and how it heals.

They both still die anyway, though. Such is this happy coming-of-age story. LOVE HEALS, BUT YOU'LL STILL DIE IF YOU'RE BAD PEOPLE. THE END.

[/SPOILERS]


Personality:
Albert in canon starts off as an idealistic and naive young aristocrat, ready to see the world, have an adventure and fall in love. He's a well-meaning guy (miraculously, in spite of his extremely spoiled upbringing), but he's bored with every day life and searching for an escape from the tedium his parents have planned out for him-- something that will awaken some deep passion within him. Because, despite being a very emotional person who feels everything quite deeply, he's never experienced "true love" or "passion." You can tell already, Albert is a character who lives very much in the spur of the moment-- motivated by whichever whim he feels most strongly at that particular moment. Impulsive, I believe is the word.

In any case, he's pretty much got the full spectrum of feelings right from the outset. He's quick to trust and to admire. He's not what you would call ill tempered-- his mama brought him up right-- but he can be quick to anger if you push the right buttons. That's when you see he does have the occasional moment of being a spoiled brat, but thankfully his mostly genial nature lets him forgive and forget quickly as well. It's also because he's a people-person at heart: he loves meeting new people and making friends. He's eager to please and he loathes conflict between people he likes, despite being a veritable drama machine himself. (He doesn't do it on purpose.) He's quick to cry, and isn't ashamed of it either. In any given conversation, he almost always starts off polite and well-mannered as he was taught, but inevitably his enthusiasm, curiosity, and/or temper always get the better of him before too long, and he completely forgets his manners.

Having been so sheltered, he is excessively curious and idealises everything that's unfamiliar to his life in Paris. However, this brand of idealism and optimism also means he's loyal to a fault, even in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. (See also: The Count.) Look, it just ain't about the evidence, ok? It's the principle of the matter. Albert has very strong feelings about principles. And he tends to assume (wrongly) that because he does, everybody else must do, too. He's always shocked when they don't.

On a similar vein, his trusting nature and naiveté means he's easy to deceive; he is terrible at detecting lies and similarly bad at telling them. His overwhelming tendency to reason with emotion rather than logic makes for an awful combination with his impulsiveness and often leads him into really rashly making Bad Life Choices. (Occasionally giving him a bad case of Foot In Mouth Disease too.) And of course, because he also has a certain amount of pride, conviction, and a stubborn streak so wide you could drive a bus through it, he then stands by those choices no matter what. Basically, he's not the brightest tool in the shed by any means, but this unfortunate combination of personality traits only makes him look even dumber.

Honestly, he really has no concept of the world operating outside of himself. He has a tendency to assume that all people think the same way he does, and he's incredibly ignorant when it comes to the harsh realities of the real world. Not only does this make him look extra foolish, but it also leads him to be occasionally (unintentionally) selfish. He'll feel bad about it later and apologise of course, but only if he even realises that his behaviour was bad in the first place. On the flip side, it's only because he's like this that Albert has been able to stay such a staunch idealist and optimist for so long.

However, as the series progresses, Albert is eventually forced to grow up a little. He finds passion, and he becomes someone who is willing to fight tooth and nail for those he loves. He has he has to learn the hard way that violence is not the answer to any problem. At the beginning he gets caught up in the moment easily, cries easily, rages easily and loves easily. Towards the end, he is older and wiser, but not broken-- despite best efforts. He's less selfish and more empathic: he begins to see how his actions affect others, instead of understanding things just in terms of how others affect him. He loses a little bit of his youthful optimism and energy, but he vows to never stops trusting or loving. And perhaps, given time to heal from the events of canon, his energy and optimism may return in full force some day too.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: ALBERT IS A NORMAL PERSON WITH NO EXTRA-ORDINARY KNOWLEDGE OR POWERS WHAT SO EVER :D. No okay, he can like... pilot a giant robot? And sword fight okay? Like with a pissy fencing sword though because he's an aristocrat. Yeah. He can't even swim.

Inventory:
2x set of dorky patterned clothes (ie the ones on his back plus one spare-- that'd be, a blouse, a cravat, a jacket, slacks, underwear, socks and shoes) (the future is patterned)
1x pink pajamas (he's a manly man)
1x his passport (where exactly do you think you are going young man??)

Appearance: Tan skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, around 5'9", mole under his left eye.


Here have a picture of this dork.

Age: 16

AU Clarification: N/A

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:
A month ago, Albert had never considered really what he wanted to be in the future. He had always just assumed that he would join the military like his father and then rise up through the ranks-- also like his father. The thought didn't strike him often, being that he was not one to worry overly much about the future, since it was all laid out for him in any case. But when it did, the thought used to make him smile. He would see himself in uniform and dream of his father's proud smile.

Of course, these days, the thought of doing or being anything at all like his father made him want to be sick. It seemed so unreal when he thought about it: that just one month ago he was priding himself on being the only person in his close circle of friends to get on well with both his parents. How much could change in a month. It used to be that mention of his father's name anywhere would get him anything he wanted-- a private booth at the opera, ahead of the queue at a fancy restaurant, discounted travel fares, you name it. And now? Now he was barely game to show his face in Paris at all, let alone speak his surname. A week ago he'd tried out his mother's maiden name instead-- Herrera, instead of Morcerf. It felt strange to the tongue, like he was play-acting at being a character in a story instead of being himself. Albert Herrera, a boy who lives in a beaten-down shack at the docks of Marseilles with his single mother. Well, that was true enough. He could no longer be Albert de Morcerf, the aristocrat who lived in a Parisian mansion. And even if he could have been... if he was being entirely honest with himself, he didn't really want to be.

The house of Morcerf never really existed in the first place, he tried to tell himself, looking out at the beach moodily. He often came here to think these days. He found the crashing of the waves seemed to perfectly mirror his restless heart.

Morcerf never existed. It was a name that was conjured up out of nowhere; a name that was made with blood, betrayal and slavery. He wanted nothing to do with it. But Herrera didn't sound right either, and his father's real surname was completely out of the question. But how was he to call himself, then? For the first time in his life, Albert felt like simply... nobody. He wasn't Albert de Morcerf, or even really Albert Herrera. He was just... Albert. Albert No Name. Albert Betrayed By His Parents. Albert The Fool.

He bent down to pick a rock up out of the sand and threw it into the waves with all the anger and energy he could muster, but they crashed on, unperturbed except for a single, unsatisfying plop. He gave into the urge to yell at the top of his lungs to vent his frustration. How was he supposed to be able to decide his own future when he didn't even know who he was any more?

The sea only roared back.


Comms Sample:
[ There's a boy on this video feed. Or more accurately: an intense close-up of his face, like he's got his eyes stuck right to the camera. But then before you know it, he leans back again suddenly. ]

Whoa! I got it working! These things are ancient...

[ He looks a little sheepish all of a sudden. ]

--Sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Albert... [ he trails off, as if he were about to say something else after his first name, but then thought the better of it. ]

Anyway! I'm making this video feed because I'm hoping one of you guys out there will know of a place that serves good French cuisine? I'm really starving. Although-- come to think of it, I actually don't have any money, so that's... going to be a problem. Er, maybe just forget the whole thing entirely?

You know what, I'm just going to cut this short before everyone goes ahead and thinks I'm a complete space case, all right? Haha. [ Awkward, much? ] Well in any case, food or no, I look forward to meeting everyone soon!