[application for Scorched]
In Character Information
character name: Mail "Matt" Jeevas
canon source and the point from which they're taken: Death Note, manga - just prior to Takada's kidnapping, around ch 99
character's age: 19
canon powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Canon skills: A genius, talented enough to be 3rd in line for successor at Wammy's. Trained as a detective, with notable skills with firearms, espionage, and very advanced computer knowledge; something of a technophile. Really good at video games.
Bringing with him: not much. Goggles, gloves, cigarettes and lighter and a handheld game console in his pocket. Most notably, he has Mello's three discarded rosaries which were custom made replacements from Halcyon that he has on him for safe keeping.
non-canon powers:
Technopathy, the ability to sense and control electronic functions with one's mind. In canon Matt basically plays the role of the tech guy; he's shown surrounded by wires and laptops used to monitor the task force members (specifically he is shown ignoring them in favor of playing a game) so it would make sense for that area of expertise to be expanded. It includes being able to "communicate" with electronics, allowing him to gather information stored within and even directing them to act on his command (within reason - no randomly hacking posts or anything). The more complex the machine/task, the more concentration it would take and initially at least he'd need physical contact for it to work. Given the level of technology in Scorched, he'll probably be a bit limited with what he can do.
In addition, as a natural (if lazy and unobservant) genius, I'd give him an intuitive mechanical design ability: within the limits of materials/his attention span, he'd be able to build or repair machines through instinct without the need for plans, sort of like Forge's invention powers. Again, within reason, and most of the time it would be limited to him trying to keep himself amused - no giant mechs or death rays.
canon history:
As one of the few named children at Wammy's, Matt's role in Death Note doesn't come into play until well after L's death. No information about his life prior to joining the orphanage is given, and he himself isn't introduced until very late in the game. By now, the supernatural killer Kira's reach has encircled the globe, his influence causing crime to drop considerably and essentially putting an end to war. Still, there are those who resist in the wake of the detective L's death at the hands of Kira: the Japanese task force, once lead by L himself and now being manipulated by Kira, using L's title; and the two brilliant young rivals who had been selected to succeed the original L, Near and Mello.
What results is a vicious three way battle for justice and pride. On his own Mello was able to weaken and infiltrate Near's team, gain valuable information on Kira, and nearly blow himself up. However as things progress and another killer enters the scene, Mello brings in Matt after 5 years of no contact to assist him in tailing several members of the task force all the way across America and to Japan. He's first seen with Mello himself observing one of the task force members in LA, and later shown keeping track, via cameras, of yet another member along with Misa Amane who had been an earlier suspect in the investigation, although her good looks interest him more than her actions. Although his only task is to inform Mello of their movements, he becomes bored with the lack of progress and gets distracted, allowing them to escape unseen.
Back in Japan, Kira acquires a public spokesperson, the news announcer Kiyomi Takada, whom he uses as a communication link between himself and the killer currently acting as Kira. During this time Near begins closing in on the new killer's identity and begins to experiment, in secret, with his Death Note.
Through a double agent, Mello receives the information that Near intends to end the conflict by having his name written in the Note, thereby (hopefully) closing the case, and subsequently depriving Mello of his chances to beat Near and claim victory for himself. As a last resort, Mello constructs a plan to interfere with his attempt by kidnapping Takada. Matt's role in this is significant, if secondary, as he is meant to provide Mello with the means to escape safely with Takada, using a smokescreen. But before he can follow through with his orders, the world twists and he finds himself somewhere else entirely.
personality:
What little we see of Matt's personality shows someone who suffers from near-perpetual boredom and isn't easily fazed. Described outside of canon as someone who 'doesn't really care about the world', he's often found with a video game in hand, and has a habit of shirking his duties when they get too dull. He even complains, rather vocally, about it and though it doesn't appear to stop him from following orders altogether he can sometimes let his guard down, with undesirable results.
Generally, he's capable enough to meet the expectations Mello has for him, as he was brought in to assist in Mello's investigation of Kira. He is laid back and good at taking direction, even if sometimes his attention is distracted by a game or a cute girl (two things specifically shown to hold his attention), but he isn't afraid to speak his mind, either. In fact, Matt seems to have endless reserves of boldness - following Takada's kidnapping he faces down an entire group of armed officers without hesitation, and even makes a few comments in jest (although his attempt to deter the officers is unsuccessful). His sense of humor is rather dry.
Overall, Matt appears to be largely apathetic about most things and tends to keep his interests and activities centered on himself. The ease with which he's distracted from his job indicates that he has no real personal stake in stopping Kira, unlike Mello or even Near. Even so, there is a certain amount of dedication to Mello's plans, or to Mello himself, enough to push Matt into action even after their many years apart.
notes: n/a
Previously Played Information
previous game: nereide_rp
length of time there: Four months
important development and/or events in your previous game:
Matt was among the first of the "newcomers" to arrive in the underwater nation of Halcyon, along with Mello, who he was quickly reunited with. Using a false name and striking up some tentative alliances (particularly with Duo Maxwell, at Mello's command, Nabuca and later Diana/Wonder Woman) he spent most of his early stay researching and experimenting with the advanced technology there and helping Mello's investigations, which included the kidnapping/executing of a scientist. When not doing work for Mello, he tended to waste time with the other newcomers and played video games.
In his second month there, Mello (who was pulled from a short time after Matt) finally revealed the 'suicidal' nature of the Takada kidnapping plot, as well as the fact that the two of them should have been killed during it. This provided a bit of a turning point for Matt, forcing him to scrutinize their respective motivations. Later he was assigned to watch a "guideling", or underage newcomer, named MOMO (he signed up for the program to keep up a helpful appearance) who was a synthetic human with a vast expanse of technical knowledge, and in spite of his absolute lack of responsibility the two got along well.
The arrival of L and Near affected Matt indirectly, and in fact was more of an inconvenience to him when Mello's priorities shifted. He helped out by submitting the information he'd uncovered himself as well as continuing to help Mello in his eventual return to crime. Matt even managed to get a job for himself doing security work although it wasn't long before he had to move to another ship to be closer to L and the others. During an event that shifted the cities to the surface, Matt was finally given the opportunity to meet L just a day before another newcomer attacked Near in his apartment, and left a Catholic priest - one that Mello had been relatively close to - dead. Matt was the one to break the news to Mello just after an infiltration assignment, and the next day he found that Mello had left in a fit of frustration and anger. While Matt managed to eventually find him again, he failed to convince him to come back and aside from a few stray messages (and one video of Mello executing fake shopkeepers that ended up permanently severing his alliance with Duo), Mello appeared to have vanished for good.
Personality-wise, Matt was able to begin questioning his priorities and emotional investment in certain things, a real change from the fog of apathy he normally spent time in, but aside from that he didn't fundamentally change too much yet. He's still lazy and unconcerned with most things going on around him, now moreso than usual - he has lingering resentment from Mello abandoning him twice now. As a result, there's some conflict between his normal reaction of "to hell with it" and the greater stakes placed in their relationship. On a related note, he's also disovered that he has a bit of a temper under the right circumstances (generally involving... Mello) although it doesn't last very long at all.
Matt's drive is still subpar, but as he learns to deal with those latent emotions - through anger, making new (genuine) friends or meeting up with old ones, etc - it may get a chance to take root at last. Slowly. He's simultaneously gained and lost independence after so long with Mello as the only tie to home in Nereide, so that's something I suspect he'll have to struggle with even more in Scorched.
notes: nope
Writing Samples
First Person Sample: Post 1, Post 2
Third Person Sample: Log
Plans for the Character in this Setting:
Matt isn't a terribly proactive person, so he won't be too interested in investigating his surroundings (unless/until someone forces him to). What he will do is struggle with the total lack of available modern electronics, and since he spent a lot of time in the last game studying intensely advanced technology, he'll have to adjust to dealing with the lower level of everything here in Scorched, both in daily use and by way of his newfound powers. He'll probably end up trying to incorporate what he knows to what they have available for more convenience... and might even be somewhat successful, depending on whether or not he actually finishes anything. I can see him picking up a job at the found goods store to keep an eye on anything interesting that might show up if he stays topside long enough.
On a less geeky note, he'll have to deal with his estrangement from Mello and the complications involved in that, as well as his other previous relationships (if, say, someone he knew was apped here as a different version). The time he's being taken from means he's pretty apathetic about... everything, but at the same time he's slowly learning to be a bit less of a cold fish. Overall a lot of what he'll end up doing will be dependent on Mello, as usual, since he tends to default to taking orders. Which isn't to say he won't cause a few messes on his own.
And he wants to build a robot, since he never finished his last one.