ooc // application
Previous RP Character
Player Name: Rinna
Player LJ: rinnakins
Player Instant Messenger Type and Handle: AIM; fortheoldworld
Player Email: rinnachu@gmail.com
Player is over 16 years of age, Y/N?: Yep!

Character: Mello [Mihael Keehl]
Fandom: Death Note
Previous RP: colors_rpg, inneruniverses

(Spoilers for Death Note under here.)

Canon Personality: A good tip to know right off the bat: Mello isn't exactly a stable person. He's obsessive, dangerously so, and that's what drives him; his obsession with First Place, his obsession with overcoming his rival, Near, and his obsession with his own abilities. His competitive impulses - combined with heavy feelings of inferiority and a thick streak of superiority - make for a raw sort of desperation, and he does openly voice that he'll do whatever it takes to become the best.

Though initially Mello was being raised to help enforce the law, it's true that he'll stop at nothing; no law but his own means a thing to him anymore. On the surface it seems that there's not a life that's too great to sacrifice, in his eyes.

However, we soon see that Mello, while ruthless, does care about the lives of innocents: "I don't want your life or your daughter's to go to waste," he says to police chief Soichiro Yagami, after he's kidnapped Soichiro's daughter, Sayu, and is holding her for ransom - he doesn't intend to have them killed unless it's necessary (i.e., his demands aren't meant). When it comes to his subordinates... no, more accurately, when it comes to criminals, they can be snuffed out as needed. But when Mello ends up being the cause of both Soichiro's death, and his own friend Matt's death, he shows true remorse; he doesn't get a kick out of killing, but he gets a rush from what it helps along.

While he's with the mafia, Mello is in an environment that has little respect for women. However, he's never seen with one, and later on, he's even shown to have a certain respect for them. It's possible that his regard for women is partially brought about by his apparent Catholicism; from his appearance after he leaves the orphanage on, he wears a rosary around his neck, and is often pictured with other religious imagery (crucifixes, the Virgin Mary, etc.). It's easy to believe that because of his actions, which often tread upon the values of his religion, Mello may have a lot of inner conflict involving his relationship with God, and the burdens of his sins. These ideas help fuel the theory that Mello is a complete contradiction.

For instance: he's trying to take down Kira, a mass murderer who kills not only criminals, but also innocent people who happen to get in his way. However, Mello himself is guilty of this; after exchanging the life of Sayu Yagami for the Death Note (a notebook that can kill anyone with their written name and a thought of their face) that the Japanese police had in their possession, Mello proceeds to have one of his men eliminate most of Near's team. This was an act of spite, pure and simple, and it reveals how petty and childish Mello can be. After all, once he has his sights set on something - once Mello decides that he wants something, wants to reach a certain goal - the only thing that can stop him seems to be death, and the only thing that can set him back will be something truly devastating. He sees no point in excessive reasoning; he's better than you, and he can trump you any time he likes, so you'd better give him what he's after. Now would be a good time, please.

He can be malicious, but only if you've crossed him to the point of no return: he can be cruel, but only if he thinks you deserve it. Mello is callous, at times, but it's important to remember that he isn't evil. He's simply let his mind guide him down the path that he believes will lead him to glory.

In short, Mello has merely gone astray.

It's said that his hatred for his longtime rival Near has created a 'flaw in his personality,' and it's easy to tell, once you look at Mello and see how many of his actions were completely based around Near. Whether it be simply flaunting his advantages, or even carrying out the decisions that will ultimately shape his life, he seems to revolve around this competition in a way that's dangerous for everyone.

Mello finds motivation in revenge, and strength in desperation. Because of this, it seems as if he thinks himself the victim, in the story of his life. He tends to be dramatic, and he can hold a terrible grudge (and completely blow the cause out of proportion).

It seems, from such descriptions of him, that what he boils down to is a hateful person who wouldn't be very good with people: he'd either envy or bully them. In actuality, though, he's charismatic and sociable - he'd have to be, to gain the position he has, because it isn't likely that the mafia would put up with a bossy kid with a smart mouth for very long. While he can be a brat, he definitely also knows how to say what people want to hear. People are drawn to him; he's warm and bright, though he'll push the useless (read as: most everyone) away before they can act on anything else.

Canon History: We know very little of Mello's history: he's born on the thirteenth of December, 1989, and then he's either orphaned or abandoned (with his inferiority complex, it'd be pretty easy to play him as abandoned). Following his initial orphanage or foster care, he's sent to the Wammy's House orphanage in England. The House was an institute for higher learning; it's assumed that special classes were given to the children, several of whom were being groomed into candidates for the position of the successor to the great detective L. Naturally, these children were the brightest of the best.

Unfortunately, it seems that many of them lacked the psychological stability to withstand the pressures set before them. One child, codenamed A by the orphanage, committed suicide after he found that he couldn't handle the stress of trying to compete for the role of successor. Another - B - snapped, and left the House, going on to carry out a string of murders in order to get L's attention, in hopes that he could stump the detective and gain momentary pride and self-worth.

Though we're not told explicitly, I expect that Mello stayed at the Wammy's House during these times. I'd guess that Mello went to the House at age seven or eight; a couple of months after Mello's arrival, A may have killed himself, and then a few years later, B left the orphanage to try and accomplish what he'd set out to do.

Tests and tests and schoolwork and tests. Mello persevered.

When Mello was around twelve years old, he met L in person, face to face; it was an accidental meeting, one that was never meant to happen, but it completely changed Mello's outlook on life, as L relayed three stories to him - one of which was the story of Mello's predecessor, B. This is when Mello's idea of what strength was began to grow.

Through the years, Mello fell behind in comparison to Near, who held the top spot in the running.

Then, on December fifth, 2004, Mello learned of L's death, and his world at the orphanage fell apart. That night, just a week away from his fifteenth birthday, he left the Wammy's House to go out and achieve his goals on his own.

And when he next surfaces, it's five years later, and he's nineteen years old and has drastically changed. Ties to the mafia have been made; people have been killed. Mello has taken his first steps down his crooked path, and he's determined to make the rest with a flying leap.

RP History: I'm afraid that Mello, in his previous official game, hadn't done much - however, the people he'd met and the things he'd experienced did have quite an impact on him, leading not only to a different perspective on people he had previously idolized, but an important friendship that later lead to a (rather unconventional) semi-romantic relationship.

That, and, after a while, he'd figured out how to jump around between multiverses.

With the help of Badou Nails, his acquired partner in crime, sex, and loud-mouthed bastardry, Mello learned that it takes two to hop - at least, for their own technique of sliding. After a year of being 'together,' as they tentatively called it (no proclamations of love, just the occasional awkward glance or affectionate jab), they'd traveled across time and space, gotten into petty fights, gotten into serious fights, kissed each other, held each other, and been more alive than they ever figured they would be - especially for so long. Mello's twentieth birthday passed, as did Badou's thirtieth. Mello learned what partial domesticity was like, something which Badou encouraged.
Through this, through experiencing, handling, and seeing so many worlds in a different light, through learning to take care of another as well as himself, Mello did begin to mature.

The gradual receeding of his idolization of two men, going by L and B, was a part of the maturity. Of course, he never did lose it fully - and meeting the two in person, thanks to the interdimensional gathering place known as Colors, did help - but for a while, it seemed as if Badou was able to placate him enough that Mello's nerves weren't so frayed while playing 'hooky from destiny,' as he called it. (It was also known as 'dicking around between universes.' He liked that one especially.)

Before any such experiences, however, Mello had encountered, for the second time, a being who - in Mello's mind, at least - was so great he nearly reached a level only surpassed by God. The detective L, Mello's previously absent and now deceased mentor, had found his way to Colors as well, setting the two up for a run-in.

Mello had only seen L once before, years ago; he'd been a child, then, young and bright and eager, while L was a scraggly young man with far too many stories to tell. To Mello, he voiced three: one of those was centered around the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, a string of homicides for which Mello's predecessor was responsible.

Mello was extremely intrigued by B - but meeting the man in person had that wane. As a magnificent bastard, he'd grown quite the ego, over the years, and thus was rather condescending toward his old upperclassman. The respect was there; the caution was not.

There was a multitude of strange happenings at Colors, everything from randomly acquired kleptomania to the loss of voices, but all of that came to a head when Mello and Badou found themselves pitched out of that plane, and landed into another. A normal one.

And so began a stretch of months of sliding, running to normalcy wherever they could pretend to find it.

Appearance: Glam-goth is probably the impression that Mello gives off, at first glance: leather and feathers and bits of red and silver peppered across all of them black. He's extravagant-looking, a definite eyecatcher, and he doesn't hesitate to show that off.

Fans often describe him as 'feminine,' and with his blond, well-groomed pageboy haircut, bare midriff, dark eyeliner, and inviting body language, it isn't hard to see why, although 'androgynous' might suit him better. Mello's appearance may even suggest promiscuity, not only because of his clothing - tight and at times revealing - but also because of the way he moves. He seems to be a sensual being, when you look at him, with bare arms gesturing luxuriously, and his legs spread wide. It could be difficult to find his slim and wiry form unappealing.

His face is what makes him, though, with wide, sharp blue eyes, and lips that twist into angry grimaces or brilliant smirks. He feels, and you can tell, and his face is nothing but a canvas for emotion, whether it be grand confidence, or open surprise, or even a crazed, bright sort of satisfaction.

He stands at 5'6", but the heels of his boots often add an inch or two. His wardobe is usually all black (with red and/or white here or there), but he certainly doesn't need the slimming effect, as his canon information claims he weighs around 115 lbs.; not exactly a healthy weight - you might be able to see the outlines of his ribs, even though he's most always seen with a bar of chocolate.

Sample log entry from previous RP: Here's a log to flip through.

Sample journal entry from previous RP: The game wasn't journal-based, but here is a sample entry from the community.