User Profile

Coming from a world where a lot of people are either fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, Machi is a little bit of both--possibly fifty percent on each side, possibly a little more of one than the other. Either way, he's in significantly more conflict than most and struggles with his actions a lot. Machi sees himself as bad, but refuses to identify himself as such, trying very hard to be the good person Lamiroir wants him to be. He tells lies (a lot) and manipulates others, but is also completely and unnecessarily honest, alternating erratically between the two and creating a very hypocritical (and possibly dangerous) persona in the wake of his conviction. I don't know whether in his heart Machi is fundamentally bad or good, but I know that whichever of the two manifests depends as much on the people around him as the events that shape his life... and that there will always be that other part of him as well, just not always demonstrated. For Machi, it's not so much a question of moralities as it is a question of loyalties. He wants to do the right thing. He just doesn't know what the right thing is yet.

There's also his 'darkness'... Lamiroir alludes to it at the end of case 4-3. Lying isn't necessarily all he's capable of...

Machi's great love is the piano. He directs himself towards music obsessively and often ignores other people in favour of the piano, preferring the company of music to the company of other human beings. Machi himself is very withdrawn and stoic (read: unresponsive to or afraid of dealing with people); however, his playing is far more expressive and emotional than is, and carries a lot of feeling that he himself could never express. In fact, it could be theorised (possibly incorrectly, possibly not) that he expresses himself through his music rather than through verbal or visual communication--i.e. normal communicative means. Regardless, he's definitely a prodigy. I've had one person describe Machi as a little autistic, and that might be a good way to describe him, however he does become braver and more normal-acting when you get to know him (or rather, he gets to know you and becomes comfortable around you--it helps when he knows what to expect, which takes a while), so I'm not entirely sure that's accurate. He is partially dedicated to surviving in a country whose language he understands poorly, and occasionally gets extremely frustrated flustered in dealing with other people. If it gets really bad, he may abandon the situation and run away. A people person Machi is not.

Ironically, Machi has a problem with facing his problems--he avoids them, runs away, or pretends not to know they're there instead of taking on even simple dilemmas out of fear of doing the wrong thing. This probably has something to do with the above, as well as his very limited and unusual life experiences, which leave him ill-equipped to deal with normal day to day things (though he has learned a lot), let alone unusual and more drastic or complicated situations. He is somewhat prone to panic and indecision because of this, and is very nervous around unfamiliar things.

One thing to remember about Machi, however, is that he is smart. No matter how much trouble he has with English or seeing things the right way, he is extremely clever and resourceful and may surprise you when you least expect it. That is all.


Fears: Machi's biggest fear might be helplessness. This contributes to a lot of his more erratic behaviour and overlays a lot of his other fears, including, perhaps, part of his problem with handling new situations. He takes drastic and irrational measures to prevent it in extreme situations, which can not only be used against him... it kind of often is.

In more day to day situations, Machi has a fear of strangers and immediately distrusts them--as a result he may attempt to earn and manipulate trust from them to better his position or simply prove he's in control; alternately, he may genuinely try to earn their trust, in keeping with the person he wants to be. Losing this control or having his lies exposed is a great fear of his, though, which compounds the hypocritical situations he puts himself in with them. He's extremely afraid of most people in general, though, and avoids them to the best of his ability, shying away from all but a rare few... whom he becomes very reliant on in many ways. He also has a bit of a fear of being alone, as best as I can put it. I don't mean physically alone, but... he doesn't self-regulate well and without Lamiroir he's at a bit of a loss, to put it mildly. Being betrayed or double/crossed is not something he handles very well, and even the threat of it can cause him to react with fear. Since responds to very few people, introducing him to new ones usually ends with him stonily silent or leaving just because he's not interested. The rare people he picks to attach himself to may find him willing to do just about anything for them in exchange for their trust. His trust can also be earned, and both come with a heavy attachment for Machi. See a lot of the above.

He is also afraid of dying, but I suppose that's pretty normal. Machi is somewhat afraid of getting in trouble with the law as well, something he nevertheless flirts with on occasion. He is both attracted to and afraid of guns. This leads to some difficult situations sometimes.

BONUS: Machi is afraid of damage to his hands. Deathly afraid. As a pianist they're pretty much all he has and because playing the piano means so much for him even slight damage--especially to the fingers--scares him.


Weaknesses: Machi has very poor English. He's fluent in Borginian, but his English frankly sucks. He's somewhat delicate looking as well, and--being fifteen--is not able to keep up with adults or older teens in terms of strength or speed or stamina. He's a tough nut to crack, but once he's cracked he doesn't hold up very well at all. He's not very literate, either, on account of the fact that he hasn't had much standardised or formal (or even informal) education. I'm not even sure he can multiply and his reading is weak at best. I think his bizarre and alternately limited and immensely different life experiences can also count as a weakness, since he has little to no steady concept of what qualifies as "normal" and shares very few regular life experiences with other people he may meet. Between survival as a restaurant musician in Borginia and performance travelling, which took him around the world where he mostly lived out of hotels and participated in a lot of publicity events with Lamiroir (exposing him to a lot of very nice but carefully controlled environments) he is the last person you want to ask about 'how his day was.'. He's faced the two major extremes without any 'normal' in between. It makes for interesting challenges--for example, social tact or running a washing machine. Or... well, anyway.


As far as people that count as weaknesses, there are a possible two. The first is Lamiroir. He and Lamiroir shared an extremely close relationship, both functionally and emotionally. She raised and protected him like a mother and clearly viewed him as her own son, even though they of course had little to no physical relation at all. He feigned blindness so that she could pretend to be sighted (this was actually pretty necessary for commercial and practical reasons) and took the fall while actually guiding her with hidden symbols he drew into her palm. All things told, they developed a very close professional and personal relationship over the years they were together and they are obviously unusually close, even for two people of their circumstances. But--as I explain in the history--he basically betrays her trust, although the circumstances behind his reasoning are never clarified. Perhaps, in a way, he began taking her for granted, which would account for many interesting aspects of his personality change and development. However, prior to Daryan, Lamiroir was really the only person he would open up to, with his secretive personality and closed off nature.

Daryan Crescend, the more complicated (and questionable) 'weakness,' was the other half of the cocoon smuggling deal and probably planned much of it, convincing Machi to help him and orchestrating the U. S. side of the deal while Machi did things in Borginia. That's nice and all, but that's not all there is to this or else Daryan wouldn't be mentioned. To be blunt, responded to Daryan, which was a rare thing for Machi. Machi desperately needed money, and while in Borginia was contacted by Detective Crescend. He agreed to help the detective smuggle the cocoon, in exchange for a share of the money. Daryan basically had Machi's life in his hands because of this, but the relationship between the two was far from strained. See, Daryan was in a very unusual position to Machi--that of trust (previously, only Lamirioir--and to some small extent, their manager--held this post), and yet when he started trusting him, Machi probably didn't know Daryan from Adam. I think Machi developed an emotional connection or response to Daryan because of the position of trust that Daryan was forced into in Machi's life)--a reversal of emotional roles, since, of course, normally people trust people because of their emotional connection to the other person. It's not really that important, however, because the basic facts remain the same. Machi trusted Daryan (because he had to) and Daryan had Machi's life in his hands. However, Daryan shot and killed an Interpol agent when things went bad, so to speak, and did an extremely good job of framing Machi (even managing to orchestrate it so it looked like the entire murder had been done to the lyrics of the song Lamiroir and Klavier performed together... during the set that Daryan performed in but Machi and Lamiroir did not), nearly resulting in Machi's conviction for murder. Part of the reason that this worked is that Machi wouldn't talk, and Daryan knew it--he made several snide and derisive comments regarding Machi with confidence, knowing that without evidence Machi would... well, um, be convicted. Daryan did in fact get found guilty (and Machi innocent, at least of murder... Daryan was sentenced to capital punishment and has either been hung or he's waiting on death row) through some complicated mechanics, but Machi hasn't completely let go of his guilt regarding this. To clarify, Machi is glad to be alive and probably doesn't really regret what he did (regarding his own innocence), but at the same time, there's still some internal conflict. Machi is still torn on his feelings about a lot of things. LeTouse, Daryan, Lamiroir, the lies.

... Machi has a weakness for lies. (Or rather, he tends to do it a lot.)



Strengths/Abilities: Machi is very good at deception, but he is primarily a talented pianist--in fact, he plays piano professionally as a permanent accompaniment to a famous singer named Lamiroir. He is actually musically talented in general, although he's never played any other instrument or even tried to learn one and still holds his greatest affinity for the piano. I have him carry a gun, which he has never used, but he is basically a gifted and perceptive kid, very smart and hardworking in certain circumstances. His history expands on this a bit.

There are some advantages to him being fourteen and small. He fits easily in places adults wouldn't dream of trying to enter (air vents are a good example) and can squeeze in a number of surprising locations if he has to. Machi has very good fine motor skills and has a great deal of dexterity in his fingers--you'd think this would be obvious, but it has applications outside of piano playing. And, being a smart boy (above average intelligence, although nothing extraordinary), Machi is a fast learner and picks up on new things easily (if he can, he still has poor reading and maths and the like.)

His bizarre range of life experiences can also come in handy--as a performer and as an orphan, he's faced a lot of... unique challenges, and can often be counted on to think rationally through minor crises. He knows how to go a long time on a little food and he knows how to convey a lack of understanding in more cultures than you can count, for example. He also probably has some familiarity with some strange foods and tends to be much more quickly accepting of strange customs or cultures... possibly this is contributed to by his crash-coursing in normal life as well.


History: (BEWARE OF HUGE SPOILERS HOMG... also, some judicious additions by me.) Machi was born in a small country called Borginia, which I estimate to be rather like a cross between France and Russia. Not much is known about his early life except that he played piano at various restaurants to make a living and was doing this at the time that he met Lamiroir, who he treated with great kindness when he discovered she was blind. He was pretty young when they met--only nine or ten, and as an orphan, Machi probably didn't have a lot of prospects. However, the two of them grew quite close and Lamiroir grew fond of the sound of his piano, so she had his presence stipulated in her contract when she was scouted and the two are always seen together. This was quite literal, as the two were always seen hand in hand, both in public and in private.
There is in fact a second, hidden reason for the constant contact, though--Lamiroir, while blind, was billed as "the landscape painter in sound," supposedly because painted what she saw in her music. This is because her production team was unaware of her blindness when they billed the catchphrase, and by the time the mistake was caught it was too late... so Machi pretended to be blind and led them about,drawing symbols into her hand to signal important things that she needed to "see." They even walked all the way over to the piano together, where he sat before she moved to the forward stage. Lamiroir's blindness was a very closely kept secret, and in fact its secrecy was also part of their contract, as was Machi's perfectly normal vision.
At some point, however, Machi found himself in need of a very large sum of money, far more than he could ever hope to make, and ended up agreeing to help a Stateside police detective named Daryan Crescend smuggle a very rare cocoon--called a Borginian cocoon--into the United States for money. This was an extremely dangerous operation, as the smuggling of said cocoon was highly illegal and being convicted of the crime carried a death sentence in Borginia--this was in part because of what the cocoon was used for. It had two uses--one was as a potent curative for a rare but fatal disease called 'incuritis.' The second was as an extremely powerful poison, possibly called atroquinine. Machi got the cocoon to the States, however, which he accomplished hiding it inside a guitar belonging to a famous prosecutor/rock star named Klavier (Daryan, by the way, was a bassist in said star's band)--to be precise, a guitar that Lamiroir gifted to Klavier after they met and composed a song together using that guitar, and which he had vacuum-sealed and express-shipped to the States, bypassing many checkpoints with his prosecutor status. Unfortunately, Lamiroir's new manager as of six months ago, Romein LeTouse, was an interpol agent who was looking for cocoons, among other things--and when Lamiroir and Machi flew to the U.S. to do a concert with Klavier's band... LeTouse was shot. With a large gun. That belonged to LeTouse himself. In the middle of the concert. Machi was accused of the crime, on the premise that he was one of the few available (i.e. not on stage) at the time of the murder and he was the only one small enough to escape through the air vents, which were the only conceivable exit. As the trial went on, it was first revealed that the murder was apparently staged and committed to the lyrics of the song Lamiroir and Klavier had composed together... and later, that Daryan had in fact both set up and framed Machi after panicking and shooting LeTouse, and that he had used the song to do so. Unfortunately, in order to convict Daryan of this, they first had to get Machi to talk--something they could only do after first discovering he could understand English, albeit in a limited fashion. As it turned out, Machi had witnessed the crime, hid behind a dresser, and fled up through an air vent, understandably... alarmed. Daryan had shot LeTouse out of desperation, framing Machi afterwards. Machi is currently on parole after serving a year in juvenile detention for the smuggling of a Borginian cocoon, which was... well, not a capital crime in the States. However, Machi cannot return to Borginia ever again, nor does he wish to. (As he does not want to die.) He now lives with the "Wright" family, so to speak, and may or may not see Lamiroir occasionally. I assume he does, as she is the only one he communicates with openly and there's no way poor Phoenix could handle raising Machi without at least some advice.


Sample RP post: It was the middle of the day and the Wright house was completely quiet. An abnormality, at best. Usually it was filled with the sound of pianos and magic tricks and talking, but not now. Right now, the house was filled with damp, heavy air and the sound of Trucy singing in the shower. Machi rolled over on the couch, restless and unable to sleep. He'd been trying to take a nap, but clearly that wasn't happening anytime soon. That was frustrating because if he wasn't sleeping, he should be doing his homework and he didn't really want to do that. In fact, he really wanted to play the piano, but he wasn't doing that in the Wright house. The only person home was Trucy, but she always came out and watched him when he practiced and it was annoying. But he didn't want to struggle to read English so that he could be presented with a math problem he couldn't understand. So instead, he sat up and grabbed his sunglasses, then padded across the tile to his bedroom, where he opened a drawer filled with clothing and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. Slipping the gun silently out from inside a pair of pants, he tucked it into his pocket, then sat down on the bed to look through some stuff. Stuff was the best word for it, since it wasn't a box of anything in particular, just things that didn't go anywhere else, like costume jewellery that was shared between him and Trucy. There wasn't anything that resembled the rest of what he was hoping for, though, so he put it back and stood up again, slipping his stockinged feet into the shoes he'd have to wear to perform later tonight. He was heading for the door, then, when he slipped and blacked out.

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