[Melodies of Eternity] Application
Apr. 7th, 2018 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whirluendo_of_punsPlayer
Name: Huudel
Age: 27
Personal Journal: n/a
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
tube_slinger on plurk, Huudel#3276 on Discord, or PM this journal
Other In-Game Characters: n/a
Character
Name: Uendo Toneido
Age: 28
Gender: Male (most of the time)
Canon: Ace Attorney
Canon Point: After Turnabout Storyteller
History:
Uendo's wiki page
Wiki page for Turnabout Storyteller
Personality:
Uendo is a rakugo storyteller, a career choice that is at once both comedic in nature yet also intrinsically tied to tradition and reputation. This has a profound influence in how he conducts himself in public. He's a conversationalist, always looking to make others laugh with a joke or a funny anecdote, while striving to remain relatively poised and aware of how his actions might reflect on the rest of the Toneido School. Long-term commitment and loyalty to one's master are an integral part of rakugo training and Uendo is no different; proving himself worthy of the name and tradition he has inherited is among his driving motivations.
In terms of outward behavior, Uendo is talkative and mostly quite genial, with an occasional wry jab or dark joke thrown in. Despite the calm and collected front, he's not above doing silly things for the sake of entertainment. The witness stand may as well be a rakugo stage for all the gravity he gives it. In one instance the player has the (wrong) option of accusing Uendo of being a robot, which he immediately rolls with and starts making beep boop boop noises with a perfectly straight face. He's also very fond of wordplay -- some instances of which are more clever than others -- and can become crestfallen when others ignore or insult his puns, such as when Athena doesn't react to his "stiff cards next to the stiff" joke or when she makes fun of the nickname "Whirl-Uendo of Laughter". Behind the confident stage presence, Uendo has a need to be recognized and appreciated and feels disappointed whenever his efforts fall short. This also means he can sometimes have a hard time saying no; at one point he refuses to testify, but Simon manages to shake his resolve by appealing to his sense of duty and goading the gallery to lay on the pressure.
This brings us to the subject of his inner thoughts. Uendo suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, a condition in which severe long-term dissociation episodes cause distinct identities, or alters, to form. These alters take on the experiences and memories the "host" is incapable of processing. While the canon never tells us what caused his disorder, it's possible to make an educated guess. DID is commonly the result of severe childhood trauma, often caused by abuse at the hands of a parent or another guardian-like figure. This, combined with the fact one of Uendo's alters is a frightened child who cowers in terror every time he perceives an adult being angry with him, strongly suggests parental abuse was a probable cause. We also know that Uendo has known Taifu and Geiru Toneido since he was young, while no biological family is ever mentioned. It's not uncommon for apprentice rakugo artists to join their master's household, so it seems fairly safe to assume Uendo may have escaped his biological family at some point during his childhood or adolescence and become part of the Toneido household even before he started training under Taifu. This could also be another reason why he cares so much about repaying his debt to his master.
To understand how Uendo's DID affects his life, we need to first talk about his alters. Patches is a jester (originally a taikomochi, or a male geisha, in Japanese); he's cheerful and giggly, prone to exaggerated body language and occasional flattery towards authority figures like the judge and Nahyuta. While not quite as talkative as Uendo, Patches fronts nearly as often and is the most open and unguarded of the bunch, albeit also the most gullible. Kisegawa, a courtesan (or an oiran) and the only female alter, is the opposite. She's stern, no-nonsense, more partial to sarcasm than silliness, and tends to pick her words more carefully. Though she is arguably the smartest of the alters, her short temper can get the better of her if you push the right buttons. Finally, Owen is the aforementioned child, timid and afraid of getting in trouble. Being only five years old, Owen hasn't had much chance to grow, but we know he loved Taifu like a grandpa and is obedient and helpful when he's not being horribly traumatized.
Uendo, Patches, and Kisegawa share co-consciousness; they can communicate with each other and are mutually aware of everything that happens while any one of them is fronting. They can also switch places at will. This allows them to perform rakugo routines together, taking advantage of their differing speech patterns and body language to act out their roles convincingly. Co-consciousness is not an easy thing to achieve, to say nothing of how well they can control their switching. The important thing here is that, despite their contrasting personalities, the trio has two things in common: their respect for Taifu, and their pride as rakugo artists. This has given them a reason to put so much work into their ability to co-operate -- not just to make their daily life more manageable, but also because rakugo is something they can do together as a team, something that allows Patches and Kisegawa an outlet to express themselves out in the open, and a way for all of them to show their gratitude to Taifu.
The system is not perfect, however. The more they're put under stress, the harder it gets to control their switching. This is evident in how their testimonies progress during Bucky Whet's trial. At first they're switching fluidly, as though it's just another performance. As they're cornered and caught lying, they start clashing and interrupting one another. Uendo, after starting off as the eloquent leader, stammers and clams up when flustered. Patches takes over for most of the Mood Matrix sequence, but eventually blurts out things he shouldn't, prompting Kisegawa to butt in and try to cover for the mistakes made by the other two. In one instance Kisegawa falls for Simon's taunt and agrees to testify due to her inability to resist a challenge, and Patches interferes in an attempt to backpedal. How they behave in day to day life is never shown, but since switching is usually more of a spontaneous reaction to stressful situations than a deliberate act, they probably don't do it on purpose as often off-stage unless they feel it's necessary. Owen is not included in their shared co-consciousness at all. He only appears when the others are rendered unconscious and has no way to communicate with them, if he even knows of their existence. This is probably because he's the one carrying the memories of their past trauma, effectively keeping those memories locked away from the other three and allowing them to stay functional.
Between his job and his mental health problems, Uendo spends most of his time putting on a performance, even when he isn't on stage. This doesn't mean he can't be sincere; indeed, rakugo routines rely on empathy and a cozy atmosphere, as well as the desire to share something of yourself with the audience. Unfortunately, due to his circumstances Uendo has had very few people he could truly open up to. His disorder was kept secret from everyone outside of the Toneido School in order to protect the school's reputation. Though he received acceptance from Taifu and Geiru, he's also gone through most of his life believing this significant part of himself is something he must hide from others. When they find Taifu's body and the fake dying message pointing to Owen, the other three all work under the assumption that no one will be on their side. This leads them to throw Bucky under the bus and lie on the witness stand -- not out of malice, but because they see no other option. Their survival instinct can win out over their better nature. Considering Owen is named as a suspect the moment their disorder comes to light, their assumption isn't entirely unfounded. Finding out Geiru was behind all of this doesn't do much good for their trust issues, either.
Although these extreme circumstances can push Uendo to lying and deception, it's not without feelings of guilt. In the game's epilogue, he expresses a desire to make amends and take responsibility, as well as to try to start including Owen more. With Taifu dead and Geiru in jail, Uendo is left to pick up the pieces while carrying on the Toneido name on his own. The name itself is a complicated issue for him. It is a source of pride, something he worked for years to earn... but in the end, it came at the cost of the closest thing he had to a family.
Samples:
TDM top-level
Another TDM thread just in case
Vaikuntha
Moogle Name: Yotaro
Moogle Gender: Male
First Job: Summoner
Second Job: Bard
Name: Huudel
Age: 27
Personal Journal: n/a
Contact:
Other In-Game Characters: n/a
Character
Name: Uendo Toneido
Age: 28
Gender: Male (most of the time)
Canon: Ace Attorney
Canon Point: After Turnabout Storyteller
History:
Uendo's wiki page
Wiki page for Turnabout Storyteller
Personality:
Uendo is a rakugo storyteller, a career choice that is at once both comedic in nature yet also intrinsically tied to tradition and reputation. This has a profound influence in how he conducts himself in public. He's a conversationalist, always looking to make others laugh with a joke or a funny anecdote, while striving to remain relatively poised and aware of how his actions might reflect on the rest of the Toneido School. Long-term commitment and loyalty to one's master are an integral part of rakugo training and Uendo is no different; proving himself worthy of the name and tradition he has inherited is among his driving motivations.
In terms of outward behavior, Uendo is talkative and mostly quite genial, with an occasional wry jab or dark joke thrown in. Despite the calm and collected front, he's not above doing silly things for the sake of entertainment. The witness stand may as well be a rakugo stage for all the gravity he gives it. In one instance the player has the (wrong) option of accusing Uendo of being a robot, which he immediately rolls with and starts making beep boop boop noises with a perfectly straight face. He's also very fond of wordplay -- some instances of which are more clever than others -- and can become crestfallen when others ignore or insult his puns, such as when Athena doesn't react to his "stiff cards next to the stiff" joke or when she makes fun of the nickname "Whirl-Uendo of Laughter". Behind the confident stage presence, Uendo has a need to be recognized and appreciated and feels disappointed whenever his efforts fall short. This also means he can sometimes have a hard time saying no; at one point he refuses to testify, but Simon manages to shake his resolve by appealing to his sense of duty and goading the gallery to lay on the pressure.
This brings us to the subject of his inner thoughts. Uendo suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, a condition in which severe long-term dissociation episodes cause distinct identities, or alters, to form. These alters take on the experiences and memories the "host" is incapable of processing. While the canon never tells us what caused his disorder, it's possible to make an educated guess. DID is commonly the result of severe childhood trauma, often caused by abuse at the hands of a parent or another guardian-like figure. This, combined with the fact one of Uendo's alters is a frightened child who cowers in terror every time he perceives an adult being angry with him, strongly suggests parental abuse was a probable cause. We also know that Uendo has known Taifu and Geiru Toneido since he was young, while no biological family is ever mentioned. It's not uncommon for apprentice rakugo artists to join their master's household, so it seems fairly safe to assume Uendo may have escaped his biological family at some point during his childhood or adolescence and become part of the Toneido household even before he started training under Taifu. This could also be another reason why he cares so much about repaying his debt to his master.
To understand how Uendo's DID affects his life, we need to first talk about his alters. Patches is a jester (originally a taikomochi, or a male geisha, in Japanese); he's cheerful and giggly, prone to exaggerated body language and occasional flattery towards authority figures like the judge and Nahyuta. While not quite as talkative as Uendo, Patches fronts nearly as often and is the most open and unguarded of the bunch, albeit also the most gullible. Kisegawa, a courtesan (or an oiran) and the only female alter, is the opposite. She's stern, no-nonsense, more partial to sarcasm than silliness, and tends to pick her words more carefully. Though she is arguably the smartest of the alters, her short temper can get the better of her if you push the right buttons. Finally, Owen is the aforementioned child, timid and afraid of getting in trouble. Being only five years old, Owen hasn't had much chance to grow, but we know he loved Taifu like a grandpa and is obedient and helpful when he's not being horribly traumatized.
Uendo, Patches, and Kisegawa share co-consciousness; they can communicate with each other and are mutually aware of everything that happens while any one of them is fronting. They can also switch places at will. This allows them to perform rakugo routines together, taking advantage of their differing speech patterns and body language to act out their roles convincingly. Co-consciousness is not an easy thing to achieve, to say nothing of how well they can control their switching. The important thing here is that, despite their contrasting personalities, the trio has two things in common: their respect for Taifu, and their pride as rakugo artists. This has given them a reason to put so much work into their ability to co-operate -- not just to make their daily life more manageable, but also because rakugo is something they can do together as a team, something that allows Patches and Kisegawa an outlet to express themselves out in the open, and a way for all of them to show their gratitude to Taifu.
The system is not perfect, however. The more they're put under stress, the harder it gets to control their switching. This is evident in how their testimonies progress during Bucky Whet's trial. At first they're switching fluidly, as though it's just another performance. As they're cornered and caught lying, they start clashing and interrupting one another. Uendo, after starting off as the eloquent leader, stammers and clams up when flustered. Patches takes over for most of the Mood Matrix sequence, but eventually blurts out things he shouldn't, prompting Kisegawa to butt in and try to cover for the mistakes made by the other two. In one instance Kisegawa falls for Simon's taunt and agrees to testify due to her inability to resist a challenge, and Patches interferes in an attempt to backpedal. How they behave in day to day life is never shown, but since switching is usually more of a spontaneous reaction to stressful situations than a deliberate act, they probably don't do it on purpose as often off-stage unless they feel it's necessary. Owen is not included in their shared co-consciousness at all. He only appears when the others are rendered unconscious and has no way to communicate with them, if he even knows of their existence. This is probably because he's the one carrying the memories of their past trauma, effectively keeping those memories locked away from the other three and allowing them to stay functional.
Between his job and his mental health problems, Uendo spends most of his time putting on a performance, even when he isn't on stage. This doesn't mean he can't be sincere; indeed, rakugo routines rely on empathy and a cozy atmosphere, as well as the desire to share something of yourself with the audience. Unfortunately, due to his circumstances Uendo has had very few people he could truly open up to. His disorder was kept secret from everyone outside of the Toneido School in order to protect the school's reputation. Though he received acceptance from Taifu and Geiru, he's also gone through most of his life believing this significant part of himself is something he must hide from others. When they find Taifu's body and the fake dying message pointing to Owen, the other three all work under the assumption that no one will be on their side. This leads them to throw Bucky under the bus and lie on the witness stand -- not out of malice, but because they see no other option. Their survival instinct can win out over their better nature. Considering Owen is named as a suspect the moment their disorder comes to light, their assumption isn't entirely unfounded. Finding out Geiru was behind all of this doesn't do much good for their trust issues, either.
Although these extreme circumstances can push Uendo to lying and deception, it's not without feelings of guilt. In the game's epilogue, he expresses a desire to make amends and take responsibility, as well as to try to start including Owen more. With Taifu dead and Geiru in jail, Uendo is left to pick up the pieces while carrying on the Toneido name on his own. The name itself is a complicated issue for him. It is a source of pride, something he worked for years to earn... but in the end, it came at the cost of the closest thing he had to a family.
Samples:
TDM top-level
Another TDM thread just in case
Vaikuntha
Moogle Name: Yotaro
Moogle Gender: Male
First Job: Summoner
Second Job: Bard
