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Jan. 5th, 2017 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
freakyfishdadP L A Y E R;
NAME: GrayGriffin/Gray
AGE: 23
PLAYER JOURNAL:graygriffin
TIMEZONE: UTC+8
CONTACT:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
graygriffin
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: None, applying for Nira Tyr this round as well
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Mako Tsunami
CANON: Yugioh (AU), also includes Pokemon and MLP canons
POINT IN CANON: Approx. 20-odd years after end of it
AGE: Mid-40s
APPEARANCE: Here
CANON HISTORY: Here
CANON PERSONALITY: Mako doesn't have the best understanding of social skills, and he can also be quite impulsive, as seen from the fact that he tries to get people to duel him by laying out food, waiting for them to approach, and then throwing harpoons at them. He also mistook an aquarium's fish tank for something he could hunt in, and was only stopped from actually catching the fish by one of the workers. He has a bit of a temper, getting mad when laughed at as well as when called a homeless person. His confidence about his own abilities as a duelist can also sometimes come out as smugness, initially declaring that there was no way he could lose in an ocean-based duel. However, he shows these personality traits much less than some of the other duelists in his series, calming down quickly and being perfectly willing to accept loss.
Despite his poor understanding of social skills, he does try to be friendly to people he meets, and despite yelling at Yugi and his friends for taking the fish he was cooking, is perfectly willing to share later. He's also happy to sub in for a worker at the aquarium when she's sick and unable to perform her show. While he can sometimes get overly enthusiastic in his friendliness, his intentions are sincere.
He's a graceful loser, and doesn't give up after a single failure, and unlike some other characters in the Duelist Kingdom arc, doesn't try to hurt anyone outside the duel, since his harpoon throw is simply meant to scare his opponent. It can also be seen that he's good at tactics to some degree, since he tries to set himself up in a location that's advantageous to his deck, and later on during Battle City uses an actual killer whale near the duel location to conceal his own monster. However, he's also honest in his duels, not using any outside methods to cheat, unlike many of the other duelists who show up in the series. He also wants to have the best possible duels, and will scold his opponents if he feels they are not taking the duel seriously. He does have a bit of an emotional blind spot, since he chose to revive his Legendary Fisherman card instead of the stronger Fortress Whale due to it reminding him of his father.
Mako believes strongly that his father is still alive, and is fixated on finding him. For most of the series, he holds tight to anything that reminds him of his father, and is mainly trying to get money to buy his own boat so that he can go searching for him. He is very open about this belief, and doesn't seem to fear being mocked for it. In my headcanon, he shows a similar annoyance towards people who do mock his belief as he shows towards people who don't respect the ocean.
Despite losing his father to it, Mako still has a deep love and respect for the ocean, and also gets annoyed when other people don't show it the same respect. Sometimes, when duelling, he can get a little terrifying as he describes the might and danger of the ocean. He hates people who pollute and harm the ocean, and believes that the ocean is capable of responding to the harm done to it. Although he's a skilled fisherman, he also has a bond with sea creatures outside of hunting them, since he's able to perform quite well with a killer whale he's met only briefly.
For most of the series, despite his generally open and friendly demeanor, Mako doesn't seem to have any strong relationships with other people, simply respecting Yugi as a good opponent. The closest was probably his Legendary Fisherman card, which he considered a representation of his late father. However, during his duel with Joey, he eventually realized that he didn't need to put all his faith in the card, and gave it over to Joey instead. In my headcanon, Joey was one of the first people he started to consider an actual friend.
I also headcanon that Mako has somewhat of an aversion to giant tournaments run by corporations now, due to all the supernatural events and general weirdness that happened in the last two he participated in. He feels that facing this kind of stuff is not worth whatever reward the tournament has, and is happier simply sailing the world in his boat, although he still keeps his deck and duel disk with him. He also refuses to bet anything on his duels now, and will only duel for fun. He's also got a distrust of giant corporations now, which I feel is caused by a mix of the aforementioned events and the existence of oil spills and the like damaging the ocean.
POINT OF DEPARTURE:
AU Background
In this alternate universe, the Pokemon, MLP, and Yugioh canons all intersected with each other. The places where the Yugioh anime happens and the Pokemon regions are separate places that have known about each other for a while, and although both Pokemon and "real" animals exist in each place, the Pokemon regions are mostly Pokemon and the Yugioh locations mostly have "real" animals.
In the Pokemon regions, most of the legendaries are quite well-known public figures. The people who have been given their power are usually also well-known as having been chosen, although some of the legendaries might bestow their powers more secretly. However, the Swords of Justice have all taken up training knights, although not every one of their knights has powers bestowed upon them.
Most of Mako’s early years happened about the same as they did in the original canon. The only difference is that, at one point, he and his father had traveled to one of the Pokemon regions and obtained a Cavarnha named Jo-zu, who lived in a fishtank in their house, occasionally following them on their fishing trips. During the fishing trip where Mako’s father was lost, she evolved into a Sharpedo and managed to help push his boat to shore, but was unable to rescue his father.
A bit before the end of the timeline of the original Yugioh anime, the Equestrian continent became known for the first time to outsiders, as the consequences of a large surge of magic (FiM Season 4 finale). It was also at this time that a delegation of legendaries left from an Unovan port to meet with the Equestrian rulers. By this time, Mako had obtained a boat of his own, and he and Jo-zu were doing a good job as a fishing and occasional delivery service, plying their wares in both their home regions and the Pokemon regions.
As the result of the delegation, Terrakion and Celestia decided to begin a long-distance courtship, and Terrakion assigned Nira Tyr, one of his most loyal and high-ranking knights, as a courier. Due to issues with magic and Pokemon abilities interacting oddly, teleportation was not an option, and Nira’s fear of flying meant that taking a boat was the only option for her. While going down to the docks, she chanced upon Mako, and asked him if he would take her over. The large payment she offered him, as well as the fact that her Pokemon got along quite will with Jo-zu, won him over.
After that first journey, Nira decided that she could trust Mako, and asked him if he would become her official courier delivery service. He agreed, since he also appreciated the trust she put in him. While at first the two of them would mostly just keep apart from each other onboard the boat, at least partly due to the fact that Nira got seasick easily, slowly they started talking to each other more and more, and interacting with each other outside of when they were stuck together on a boat.
Mako did his best to help Nira get over her seasickness, and at times when he was docked in Unova she would invite him hiking. Sometimes, they’d just spend time sparring together. Although their impulsive natures sometimes clashed with each other, at the same time it allowed them to understand where each other was coming from.
Nira also started to open up to Mako more. At first, she had only told him her general destination. However, she soon started telling him that she was meeting with Princess Celestia herself, and then that she was delivering letters between Terrakion and Celestia, and finally that said letters were love letters. She also started talking about Celestia more, and Mako started wondering if she was falling in love with the alicorn. This depressed him somewhat, since he was also falling in love with Nira. However, he figured that any signs he saw of her returning those feelings were just his imagination.
Things passed like this for a while, until one day Nira invited Mako to one of her meetings with Celestia. There, she told them that she had feelings for both of them, but also that she was scared that any signs she saw of Celestia returning those feelings were simply an attraction to Terrakion by proxy. Celestia then revealed to Nira that many of the recent letters between her and Terrakion were actually talking about Celestia slowly losing her initial attraction to the legendary, and talking more and more about Nira instead. Celestia added, with a wink, that Terrakion had given her his full blessing to court Nira. Then, looking over at Mako, she added that she didn’t see why Nira needed to choose just one of them.
And that’s how the three of them ended up going on a date together.
And that was why Nira ended up taking a leave from her knightly duties to spend a few months in Equestria, along with Mako and Celestia. While Mako was at first overwhelmed a bit by Celestia, he soon learned she had quite a joking, easygoing attitude that she quickly started to express around him as well. He slowly found himself falling in love with her, and wondered if he had already been doing so just from listening to Nira’s stories of her.
One night in Canterlot Palace, Mako found Celestia on her own, reading over a scroll and looking tired. He sat down to talk to her, for the first time without Nira there. It was then that she revealed that she was scared of letting herself fall for him as well, for fear that he would not return those feelings, or that if he did, it would be because of the face she expressed during their dates. Her regal face, she said, was just as much a part of her as well, and just because she at times wished she didn’t have to wear it so often, she didn’t wish to put it away completely either. His reply was simply that Nira had told him of her regal face, and if she was so worried, she could let him see it himself. So the two of them talked long into the night, and perhaps Nira knew, because the next day she told the two that she would choose them both. Celestia giggled a little and said that she thought Nira had already done so.
The three of them were married not too long after that. It was an Equestrian marriage, and they knew that it would be hard for the three of them to be recognized as all being married to each other outside of there. Still, it was a happy enough occasion, even if there was some sorrow. Nira’s parents had finally disowned her when she revealed the news of their engagement, and despite her claiming she didn’t care, she was still obviously upset over it. In the end, it was Terrakion who traveled all the distance to walk her down the aisle, and who bestowed on her the name of House Roburia, an old noble house that had once worshipped him, but whose line had died out.
So, Nira and Mako became a Princess and Prince by marriage. After this, they would occasionally travel with Celestia to diplomatic sessions within the Equestrian continent. Despite the fact that their impulsiveness occasionally led to unnecessary fights, they still managed at times to help with diplomacy by the simple fact that they were obviously not ponies, and thus could speak as semi-outsiders themselves. While they’d never be totally at home during formal events, they slowly adapted, and Celestia never begrudged them if they had to sit said events out.
When it became necessary, they would fight together. Over time, and with training, they became quite adept at fighting as a team, and covering each others' blind spots. However, despite all their training, Mako was still the physically weakest of the three, and in one battle, he was struck from behind and fell, his heart stopping. However, one of Nira's blessings as Terrakion's trusted knight was the ability to revive the dead, and she immediately called upon that power. After that, for a while, Celestia and Nira kept a closer eye on him whenever they were together, but they eventually hoped that it had just been a lucky shot.
Of course, they wouldn’t always be able to get together anyways, as Mako’s job led to him traveling often, and Nira still had her knightly duties to perform. Even so, they still managed to see each other often enough, and spent many pleasant days and nights together.
Eventually, they started to think of having a child. Thus, Masa Tsunami, a hybrid with control over water, was created through magic. While all three of her parents loved her deeply, she usually ended up spending the most time with Mako, just traveling with him, her wings concealed under a vest. This was probably why she ended up being so much of a daddy’s girl. While her mothers complained about this, it was mostly in jest.
After his daughter was born, Mako’s biggest fear became something happening to her. One day, while the two of them were out in his boat together, a storm came up, so similar to the one that had taken his own father from him. He recalled Jo-zu, who had been swimming alongside but was being overwhelmed, and then tied Masa to the mast as his father had done, but ended up being swept overboard himself. Before Masa could do anything with her powers to save him, he disappeared beneath the waves…and woke up in a completely different world.
AU Personality
Mako has had Jo-zu with him for a long time, and is intensely grateful to her for saving his life when he was younger. In this AU, he didn't rely as much to the Legendary Fisherman card, since he had Jo-zu with him, and she was an actual gift from his father. Thus, in his duel with Joey, he chose not to bring it back with Return of the Doomed, but still ended up losing. He still considered the Legendary Fisherman a representation of both his father and Jo-zu's spirit, so it was still an important gift for him to give Joey. He and Joey are still friends, and have visited each other on occasion. Joey knows that Mako is married and knows about Nira and Masa, but not Celestia.
While Mako still had a desire to find his father in this AU, it was already not as strong due to him already having Jo-zu, who was like family to him. Furthermore, as time went by, he slowly started to accept that his father was likely dead. While news of someone like his father appearing will likely still stir him to action, he is no longer actively searching. However, any melancholy he felt over this loss has also faded, as he now has a family of his own. He cares deeply for them, though, and doesn't like being separated from them for long periods of time, which is partly why Masa often accompanies him on trips.
Thanks to his time with Celestia, Mako's understanding of social skills and general etiquette have improved, although most of those are based on pony instead of human standards. Thus, he still frequently goes around without shirts or shoes, and now has a tendency to sit on the floor instead of a chair or couch when given the choice. He's also picked up a few equine mannerisms, such as expressing affection through nuzzling and pawing the floor when upset. Also, a tendency to burst into song at random, although he can keep it down to humming if he tries. He's also become more willing to see people/ponies as friends instead of just acquaintances or someone to respect.
He still has an impulsive side that is likely to come out if someone insults one of the people he cares about. He is more politically savvy now, though, and can mostly keep himself from attacking others for insults if the situation calls for it. While he's still confident, he's also more cautious now that he knows about the various forms of magical attack that can overwhelm him, and will spend time sizing up new situations instead of rushing in. Still, that just means that he's better at figuring out advantageous situations for himself.
Mako is much better with children now, due to being a father himself. He's more likely to voluntarily approach kids, and knows how to keep them entertained. He will be even more likely to approach and try to comfort them if they seem upset as well. He's also likely to be protective of them if it seems like they're in danger, although he's still most fiercely protective of his own daughter. He's also somewhat more open to others in general, both because of his improved social skills and the fact that his wives both have many other friends he's ended up meeting.
VETERAN?: Nope
ABILITIES: Mako's abilities are pretty much those of a (mostly) normal human. He does have a sort of rapport with sea creatures, as well as the ability to "read the mood" of the ocean. Also, he has a somewhat stronger immune system due to all the time spent in Equestria, as well as an eye for fighting quadrupedal and airborne foes. He also has somewhat of an understanding of magic, and can recognize when it's being used.
INVENTORY: His clothes, a collapsible harpoon, Jo-zu's Pokeball, his Duel Monsters deck, a glass heart pendant with 1/3 of it filled in, his wedding ring, and his wedding bracelet
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? I hope I have made it more clear that my description of Mako as having "no social skills" does not mean he is unfriendly or not open to others, but instead is simply meant to express that he doesn't always interact with people in the way most would expect. While I am also applying for a character called "Nira" in this round, she is an AU version of the Nira in Mako's backstory, and in her AU, Duel Monsters and Equestria do not even exist.
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION: Emperor - He's a literal father, and in my headcanon has some common sense about not getting wrapped up in weird supernatural tournaments run by big businesses. He's also got some authority in Equestria as a husband of one of their Princesses.
Chariot - He can still be somewhat impulsive about fighting enemies, especially if his loved ones are in danger. He's also quite energetic and confident, and I feel that the large hauls of fish he manages to bring in could reflect "success" and "wealth."
Sun - Like the Chariot, he's definitely got the "energetic" part down. He's also quite enthusiastic about protecting the environment and his family. Also, he's married to a literal representation of the sun.
High Priestess - He has a good, loving relationship with his family. He's also quite open to the idea of various forms of magic and other things, considering the things he and his family have dealt with. He's also got the common sense to avoid potentially dangerous supernatural forces.
VETO: Nah
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: From the last test drive, talking shit about corporations/rich guys
Not long enough, but a good look at his more friendly side.
From a meme, but a good look at his enthusiastic side.
Also, have a general voicetest sample:
[Mako sounds annoyed.] Okay, so I've been talking to a bunch of people here, and none of you know what Duel Monsters are? I was hoping to organize a little tournament, just for fun, but I guess that'll have to wait. [There's the sound of cards flicking, and his voice shifts to something more friendly.] So, instead, why don't I teach some of you guys how to play? I'm not really an expert at this or anything, but I've taught quite a few people how to play! And gotten them hooked!
Anyways, I've gotten enough of a hold on liminal space to create cards for everyone to look at, at least, and I still have my own deck, of course. I guess I might need a volunteer to come learn some more beforehand, since the best way to learn is to play, or watch others playing! So I'll need a partner for the duel to teach everyone, and for me to show off what my deck can do!
[His voice lightens, and it sounds like he's grinning.] Just let me know what time works for all of you guys, alright? I can't wait to be playing again!
PROSE SAMPLE: Mako's been to tropical forests before, although usually not to make deliveries. Generally, anyone who asks you to meet them in the middle of the forest at night is probably not on the level, and he likes to avoid those cases. Still, even when it became necessary to honor those contracts, he didn't stick around those places too long. Sadly, he can't do that here. No matter how long he walks, there's still no way out of the forest. He's not going to discount it being an illusionary trap of some sort, but he tried marking a few trees and hasn't seen any of his marks while continuing to walk through the forest.
So right now, he's sitting down on one of the riverbanks, chin on his fist, soaking his feet in the water. He's watching a hypodermic needle "drink" from the river as well, seemingly unaware of him. There are also tiny tablets swimming around in the water. He brushes his other hand through, scattering them. While he could probably figure out a way to actually catch them, he's not sure it's really worth it.
"I've gotta wonder," he says, half to himself, "do they taste like fish or medicine?" Honestly, he's half tempted to try eating them either way-he still hasn't found anything that looks like it'd actually be edible so far. And maybe at least he'd be getting some vitamins from those. He can almost hear Celestia's voice chiding him about how he can't live on fish alone, how he should have some dried food or vitamin supplements in the boat with him when he goes out, Nira chuckling and suggesting steak before a pillow floats over to smack her in the head, and Masa laughing lightly at her parents, before going off to pack vitamins herself.
Ah...if only they were here. He hopes that Masa is safe, after he got swept overboard. He doesn't regret saving her first, but he regrets leaving her like his own father did. Although now he can understand just why his father chose that action.
PROSE SAMPLE 2: (Since most of my previous samples involve Mako just falling into the game and thus being more cautious/unsure, here's one based on the last Jaunt that shows more of his confident side.)
Mako grins at Jo-zu as she marches by his side. Yeah, marches. Her new form has given her arms and legs, as well as a tunic that matches his own. He's not quite sure why she needs one, but then again most humanoid Duel Monsters wear clothes. Besides, it's not really something he needs to think about. Right now, there's a tournament going on, and he knows they're going to win!
This game is like a combination of Duel Monsters and Pokemon, he thinks. And I'm familiar with both of those! Of course, he's more familiar with Duel Monsters, but he knows that Jo-zu can also handle herself. All he needs to do is give her the proper support. He pats the other Pogs in his deck, most of them being familiar enough versions of his original cards. While it's too bad that they no longer have field-wide effects, he's sure that they'll be able to boost Jo-zu herself well enough. He just hopes they go back to normal once all this is over. Although he wouldn't mind Jo-zu keeping this form. After all...
"Hey Mako," she growls, looking down at him. "Who do you think we'll be up against first?"
"I'm not sure," he says, smiling as he has each time she's spoken to him. "But they're surely unlucky to end up fighting against the might of the ocean in this very first round!"
"You remember our strategy, right?" He nods. He'll have Jo-zu summon as much water as she can first, to hopefully give them some field advantage. Then she'll go without enhancements for a while, to get the full measure of their opponent, before he gives her the Barbed Harpoon. It's a weapon that will work well enough at range or up-close. After that, he'll give her a general power boost with the Legendary Ocean. They've worked out several other possible combinations depending on what their opponent does, but the Pogs he needs most are already on the top of his deck.
Soon enough, they're at the mouth of the arena.
"Ready?" he asks Jo-zu.
"Ready," she says, raising a fist. He grins, and fist-bumps her before they step in.
NAME: GrayGriffin/Gray
AGE: 23
PLAYER JOURNAL:
graygriffinTIMEZONE: UTC+8
CONTACT:
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: None, applying for Nira Tyr this round as well
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Mako Tsunami
CANON: Yugioh (AU), also includes Pokemon and MLP canons
POINT IN CANON: Approx. 20-odd years after end of it
AGE: Mid-40s
APPEARANCE: Here
CANON HISTORY: Here
CANON PERSONALITY: Mako doesn't have the best understanding of social skills, and he can also be quite impulsive, as seen from the fact that he tries to get people to duel him by laying out food, waiting for them to approach, and then throwing harpoons at them. He also mistook an aquarium's fish tank for something he could hunt in, and was only stopped from actually catching the fish by one of the workers. He has a bit of a temper, getting mad when laughed at as well as when called a homeless person. His confidence about his own abilities as a duelist can also sometimes come out as smugness, initially declaring that there was no way he could lose in an ocean-based duel. However, he shows these personality traits much less than some of the other duelists in his series, calming down quickly and being perfectly willing to accept loss.
Despite his poor understanding of social skills, he does try to be friendly to people he meets, and despite yelling at Yugi and his friends for taking the fish he was cooking, is perfectly willing to share later. He's also happy to sub in for a worker at the aquarium when she's sick and unable to perform her show. While he can sometimes get overly enthusiastic in his friendliness, his intentions are sincere.
He's a graceful loser, and doesn't give up after a single failure, and unlike some other characters in the Duelist Kingdom arc, doesn't try to hurt anyone outside the duel, since his harpoon throw is simply meant to scare his opponent. It can also be seen that he's good at tactics to some degree, since he tries to set himself up in a location that's advantageous to his deck, and later on during Battle City uses an actual killer whale near the duel location to conceal his own monster. However, he's also honest in his duels, not using any outside methods to cheat, unlike many of the other duelists who show up in the series. He also wants to have the best possible duels, and will scold his opponents if he feels they are not taking the duel seriously. He does have a bit of an emotional blind spot, since he chose to revive his Legendary Fisherman card instead of the stronger Fortress Whale due to it reminding him of his father.
Mako believes strongly that his father is still alive, and is fixated on finding him. For most of the series, he holds tight to anything that reminds him of his father, and is mainly trying to get money to buy his own boat so that he can go searching for him. He is very open about this belief, and doesn't seem to fear being mocked for it. In my headcanon, he shows a similar annoyance towards people who do mock his belief as he shows towards people who don't respect the ocean.
Despite losing his father to it, Mako still has a deep love and respect for the ocean, and also gets annoyed when other people don't show it the same respect. Sometimes, when duelling, he can get a little terrifying as he describes the might and danger of the ocean. He hates people who pollute and harm the ocean, and believes that the ocean is capable of responding to the harm done to it. Although he's a skilled fisherman, he also has a bond with sea creatures outside of hunting them, since he's able to perform quite well with a killer whale he's met only briefly.
For most of the series, despite his generally open and friendly demeanor, Mako doesn't seem to have any strong relationships with other people, simply respecting Yugi as a good opponent. The closest was probably his Legendary Fisherman card, which he considered a representation of his late father. However, during his duel with Joey, he eventually realized that he didn't need to put all his faith in the card, and gave it over to Joey instead. In my headcanon, Joey was one of the first people he started to consider an actual friend.
I also headcanon that Mako has somewhat of an aversion to giant tournaments run by corporations now, due to all the supernatural events and general weirdness that happened in the last two he participated in. He feels that facing this kind of stuff is not worth whatever reward the tournament has, and is happier simply sailing the world in his boat, although he still keeps his deck and duel disk with him. He also refuses to bet anything on his duels now, and will only duel for fun. He's also got a distrust of giant corporations now, which I feel is caused by a mix of the aforementioned events and the existence of oil spills and the like damaging the ocean.
POINT OF DEPARTURE:
AU Background
In this alternate universe, the Pokemon, MLP, and Yugioh canons all intersected with each other. The places where the Yugioh anime happens and the Pokemon regions are separate places that have known about each other for a while, and although both Pokemon and "real" animals exist in each place, the Pokemon regions are mostly Pokemon and the Yugioh locations mostly have "real" animals.
In the Pokemon regions, most of the legendaries are quite well-known public figures. The people who have been given their power are usually also well-known as having been chosen, although some of the legendaries might bestow their powers more secretly. However, the Swords of Justice have all taken up training knights, although not every one of their knights has powers bestowed upon them.
Most of Mako’s early years happened about the same as they did in the original canon. The only difference is that, at one point, he and his father had traveled to one of the Pokemon regions and obtained a Cavarnha named Jo-zu, who lived in a fishtank in their house, occasionally following them on their fishing trips. During the fishing trip where Mako’s father was lost, she evolved into a Sharpedo and managed to help push his boat to shore, but was unable to rescue his father.
A bit before the end of the timeline of the original Yugioh anime, the Equestrian continent became known for the first time to outsiders, as the consequences of a large surge of magic (FiM Season 4 finale). It was also at this time that a delegation of legendaries left from an Unovan port to meet with the Equestrian rulers. By this time, Mako had obtained a boat of his own, and he and Jo-zu were doing a good job as a fishing and occasional delivery service, plying their wares in both their home regions and the Pokemon regions.
As the result of the delegation, Terrakion and Celestia decided to begin a long-distance courtship, and Terrakion assigned Nira Tyr, one of his most loyal and high-ranking knights, as a courier. Due to issues with magic and Pokemon abilities interacting oddly, teleportation was not an option, and Nira’s fear of flying meant that taking a boat was the only option for her. While going down to the docks, she chanced upon Mako, and asked him if he would take her over. The large payment she offered him, as well as the fact that her Pokemon got along quite will with Jo-zu, won him over.
After that first journey, Nira decided that she could trust Mako, and asked him if he would become her official courier delivery service. He agreed, since he also appreciated the trust she put in him. While at first the two of them would mostly just keep apart from each other onboard the boat, at least partly due to the fact that Nira got seasick easily, slowly they started talking to each other more and more, and interacting with each other outside of when they were stuck together on a boat.
Mako did his best to help Nira get over her seasickness, and at times when he was docked in Unova she would invite him hiking. Sometimes, they’d just spend time sparring together. Although their impulsive natures sometimes clashed with each other, at the same time it allowed them to understand where each other was coming from.
Nira also started to open up to Mako more. At first, she had only told him her general destination. However, she soon started telling him that she was meeting with Princess Celestia herself, and then that she was delivering letters between Terrakion and Celestia, and finally that said letters were love letters. She also started talking about Celestia more, and Mako started wondering if she was falling in love with the alicorn. This depressed him somewhat, since he was also falling in love with Nira. However, he figured that any signs he saw of her returning those feelings were just his imagination.
Things passed like this for a while, until one day Nira invited Mako to one of her meetings with Celestia. There, she told them that she had feelings for both of them, but also that she was scared that any signs she saw of Celestia returning those feelings were simply an attraction to Terrakion by proxy. Celestia then revealed to Nira that many of the recent letters between her and Terrakion were actually talking about Celestia slowly losing her initial attraction to the legendary, and talking more and more about Nira instead. Celestia added, with a wink, that Terrakion had given her his full blessing to court Nira. Then, looking over at Mako, she added that she didn’t see why Nira needed to choose just one of them.
And that’s how the three of them ended up going on a date together.
And that was why Nira ended up taking a leave from her knightly duties to spend a few months in Equestria, along with Mako and Celestia. While Mako was at first overwhelmed a bit by Celestia, he soon learned she had quite a joking, easygoing attitude that she quickly started to express around him as well. He slowly found himself falling in love with her, and wondered if he had already been doing so just from listening to Nira’s stories of her.
One night in Canterlot Palace, Mako found Celestia on her own, reading over a scroll and looking tired. He sat down to talk to her, for the first time without Nira there. It was then that she revealed that she was scared of letting herself fall for him as well, for fear that he would not return those feelings, or that if he did, it would be because of the face she expressed during their dates. Her regal face, she said, was just as much a part of her as well, and just because she at times wished she didn’t have to wear it so often, she didn’t wish to put it away completely either. His reply was simply that Nira had told him of her regal face, and if she was so worried, she could let him see it himself. So the two of them talked long into the night, and perhaps Nira knew, because the next day she told the two that she would choose them both. Celestia giggled a little and said that she thought Nira had already done so.
The three of them were married not too long after that. It was an Equestrian marriage, and they knew that it would be hard for the three of them to be recognized as all being married to each other outside of there. Still, it was a happy enough occasion, even if there was some sorrow. Nira’s parents had finally disowned her when she revealed the news of their engagement, and despite her claiming she didn’t care, she was still obviously upset over it. In the end, it was Terrakion who traveled all the distance to walk her down the aisle, and who bestowed on her the name of House Roburia, an old noble house that had once worshipped him, but whose line had died out.
So, Nira and Mako became a Princess and Prince by marriage. After this, they would occasionally travel with Celestia to diplomatic sessions within the Equestrian continent. Despite the fact that their impulsiveness occasionally led to unnecessary fights, they still managed at times to help with diplomacy by the simple fact that they were obviously not ponies, and thus could speak as semi-outsiders themselves. While they’d never be totally at home during formal events, they slowly adapted, and Celestia never begrudged them if they had to sit said events out.
When it became necessary, they would fight together. Over time, and with training, they became quite adept at fighting as a team, and covering each others' blind spots. However, despite all their training, Mako was still the physically weakest of the three, and in one battle, he was struck from behind and fell, his heart stopping. However, one of Nira's blessings as Terrakion's trusted knight was the ability to revive the dead, and she immediately called upon that power. After that, for a while, Celestia and Nira kept a closer eye on him whenever they were together, but they eventually hoped that it had just been a lucky shot.
Of course, they wouldn’t always be able to get together anyways, as Mako’s job led to him traveling often, and Nira still had her knightly duties to perform. Even so, they still managed to see each other often enough, and spent many pleasant days and nights together.
Eventually, they started to think of having a child. Thus, Masa Tsunami, a hybrid with control over water, was created through magic. While all three of her parents loved her deeply, she usually ended up spending the most time with Mako, just traveling with him, her wings concealed under a vest. This was probably why she ended up being so much of a daddy’s girl. While her mothers complained about this, it was mostly in jest.
After his daughter was born, Mako’s biggest fear became something happening to her. One day, while the two of them were out in his boat together, a storm came up, so similar to the one that had taken his own father from him. He recalled Jo-zu, who had been swimming alongside but was being overwhelmed, and then tied Masa to the mast as his father had done, but ended up being swept overboard himself. Before Masa could do anything with her powers to save him, he disappeared beneath the waves…and woke up in a completely different world.
AU Personality
Mako has had Jo-zu with him for a long time, and is intensely grateful to her for saving his life when he was younger. In this AU, he didn't rely as much to the Legendary Fisherman card, since he had Jo-zu with him, and she was an actual gift from his father. Thus, in his duel with Joey, he chose not to bring it back with Return of the Doomed, but still ended up losing. He still considered the Legendary Fisherman a representation of both his father and Jo-zu's spirit, so it was still an important gift for him to give Joey. He and Joey are still friends, and have visited each other on occasion. Joey knows that Mako is married and knows about Nira and Masa, but not Celestia.
While Mako still had a desire to find his father in this AU, it was already not as strong due to him already having Jo-zu, who was like family to him. Furthermore, as time went by, he slowly started to accept that his father was likely dead. While news of someone like his father appearing will likely still stir him to action, he is no longer actively searching. However, any melancholy he felt over this loss has also faded, as he now has a family of his own. He cares deeply for them, though, and doesn't like being separated from them for long periods of time, which is partly why Masa often accompanies him on trips.
Thanks to his time with Celestia, Mako's understanding of social skills and general etiquette have improved, although most of those are based on pony instead of human standards. Thus, he still frequently goes around without shirts or shoes, and now has a tendency to sit on the floor instead of a chair or couch when given the choice. He's also picked up a few equine mannerisms, such as expressing affection through nuzzling and pawing the floor when upset. Also, a tendency to burst into song at random, although he can keep it down to humming if he tries. He's also become more willing to see people/ponies as friends instead of just acquaintances or someone to respect.
He still has an impulsive side that is likely to come out if someone insults one of the people he cares about. He is more politically savvy now, though, and can mostly keep himself from attacking others for insults if the situation calls for it. While he's still confident, he's also more cautious now that he knows about the various forms of magical attack that can overwhelm him, and will spend time sizing up new situations instead of rushing in. Still, that just means that he's better at figuring out advantageous situations for himself.
Mako is much better with children now, due to being a father himself. He's more likely to voluntarily approach kids, and knows how to keep them entertained. He will be even more likely to approach and try to comfort them if they seem upset as well. He's also likely to be protective of them if it seems like they're in danger, although he's still most fiercely protective of his own daughter. He's also somewhat more open to others in general, both because of his improved social skills and the fact that his wives both have many other friends he's ended up meeting.
VETERAN?: Nope
ABILITIES: Mako's abilities are pretty much those of a (mostly) normal human. He does have a sort of rapport with sea creatures, as well as the ability to "read the mood" of the ocean. Also, he has a somewhat stronger immune system due to all the time spent in Equestria, as well as an eye for fighting quadrupedal and airborne foes. He also has somewhat of an understanding of magic, and can recognize when it's being used.
INVENTORY: His clothes, a collapsible harpoon, Jo-zu's Pokeball, his Duel Monsters deck, a glass heart pendant with 1/3 of it filled in, his wedding ring, and his wedding bracelet
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? I hope I have made it more clear that my description of Mako as having "no social skills" does not mean he is unfriendly or not open to others, but instead is simply meant to express that he doesn't always interact with people in the way most would expect. While I am also applying for a character called "Nira" in this round, she is an AU version of the Nira in Mako's backstory, and in her AU, Duel Monsters and Equestria do not even exist.
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION: Emperor - He's a literal father, and in my headcanon has some common sense about not getting wrapped up in weird supernatural tournaments run by big businesses. He's also got some authority in Equestria as a husband of one of their Princesses.
Chariot - He can still be somewhat impulsive about fighting enemies, especially if his loved ones are in danger. He's also quite energetic and confident, and I feel that the large hauls of fish he manages to bring in could reflect "success" and "wealth."
Sun - Like the Chariot, he's definitely got the "energetic" part down. He's also quite enthusiastic about protecting the environment and his family. Also, he's married to a literal representation of the sun.
High Priestess - He has a good, loving relationship with his family. He's also quite open to the idea of various forms of magic and other things, considering the things he and his family have dealt with. He's also got the common sense to avoid potentially dangerous supernatural forces.
VETO: Nah
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: From the last test drive, talking shit about corporations/rich guys
Not long enough, but a good look at his more friendly side.
From a meme, but a good look at his enthusiastic side.
Also, have a general voicetest sample:
[Mako sounds annoyed.] Okay, so I've been talking to a bunch of people here, and none of you know what Duel Monsters are? I was hoping to organize a little tournament, just for fun, but I guess that'll have to wait. [There's the sound of cards flicking, and his voice shifts to something more friendly.] So, instead, why don't I teach some of you guys how to play? I'm not really an expert at this or anything, but I've taught quite a few people how to play! And gotten them hooked!
Anyways, I've gotten enough of a hold on liminal space to create cards for everyone to look at, at least, and I still have my own deck, of course. I guess I might need a volunteer to come learn some more beforehand, since the best way to learn is to play, or watch others playing! So I'll need a partner for the duel to teach everyone, and for me to show off what my deck can do!
[His voice lightens, and it sounds like he's grinning.] Just let me know what time works for all of you guys, alright? I can't wait to be playing again!
PROSE SAMPLE: Mako's been to tropical forests before, although usually not to make deliveries. Generally, anyone who asks you to meet them in the middle of the forest at night is probably not on the level, and he likes to avoid those cases. Still, even when it became necessary to honor those contracts, he didn't stick around those places too long. Sadly, he can't do that here. No matter how long he walks, there's still no way out of the forest. He's not going to discount it being an illusionary trap of some sort, but he tried marking a few trees and hasn't seen any of his marks while continuing to walk through the forest.
So right now, he's sitting down on one of the riverbanks, chin on his fist, soaking his feet in the water. He's watching a hypodermic needle "drink" from the river as well, seemingly unaware of him. There are also tiny tablets swimming around in the water. He brushes his other hand through, scattering them. While he could probably figure out a way to actually catch them, he's not sure it's really worth it.
"I've gotta wonder," he says, half to himself, "do they taste like fish or medicine?" Honestly, he's half tempted to try eating them either way-he still hasn't found anything that looks like it'd actually be edible so far. And maybe at least he'd be getting some vitamins from those. He can almost hear Celestia's voice chiding him about how he can't live on fish alone, how he should have some dried food or vitamin supplements in the boat with him when he goes out, Nira chuckling and suggesting steak before a pillow floats over to smack her in the head, and Masa laughing lightly at her parents, before going off to pack vitamins herself.
Ah...if only they were here. He hopes that Masa is safe, after he got swept overboard. He doesn't regret saving her first, but he regrets leaving her like his own father did. Although now he can understand just why his father chose that action.
PROSE SAMPLE 2: (Since most of my previous samples involve Mako just falling into the game and thus being more cautious/unsure, here's one based on the last Jaunt that shows more of his confident side.)
Mako grins at Jo-zu as she marches by his side. Yeah, marches. Her new form has given her arms and legs, as well as a tunic that matches his own. He's not quite sure why she needs one, but then again most humanoid Duel Monsters wear clothes. Besides, it's not really something he needs to think about. Right now, there's a tournament going on, and he knows they're going to win!
This game is like a combination of Duel Monsters and Pokemon, he thinks. And I'm familiar with both of those! Of course, he's more familiar with Duel Monsters, but he knows that Jo-zu can also handle herself. All he needs to do is give her the proper support. He pats the other Pogs in his deck, most of them being familiar enough versions of his original cards. While it's too bad that they no longer have field-wide effects, he's sure that they'll be able to boost Jo-zu herself well enough. He just hopes they go back to normal once all this is over. Although he wouldn't mind Jo-zu keeping this form. After all...
"Hey Mako," she growls, looking down at him. "Who do you think we'll be up against first?"
"I'm not sure," he says, smiling as he has each time she's spoken to him. "But they're surely unlucky to end up fighting against the might of the ocean in this very first round!"
"You remember our strategy, right?" He nods. He'll have Jo-zu summon as much water as she can first, to hopefully give them some field advantage. Then she'll go without enhancements for a while, to get the full measure of their opponent, before he gives her the Barbed Harpoon. It's a weapon that will work well enough at range or up-close. After that, he'll give her a general power boost with the Legendary Ocean. They've worked out several other possible combinations depending on what their opponent does, but the Pogs he needs most are already on the top of his deck.
Soon enough, they're at the mouth of the arena.
"Ready?" he asks Jo-zu.
"Ready," she says, raising a fist. He grins, and fist-bumps her before they step in.
