Post by mars on Oct 26, 2011 0:58:16 GMT -5
Lanford; Mars; Meister
Name:
Mars Prosper Lanford
Nickname:
Mar, Mari, Mara
Age:
28
Gender:
Female
Race:
Meister
Position:
Teacher (Nurse)
Class:
Graduated Meister
Partner:
None currently.
A Strong Body
Picture:
Appearance:
Mars doesn't look much like the responsible teacher she should be. In fact, more often than not, she looks a bit on the tipsy side, to put it lightly. Her fair skinned face is almost always flushed with the redness that comes with drinking, and her visible sea green eye is usually half open, looking off into a distant haze. Her left eye is covered by a simple black eye patch. Her mostly straight, thick hair falls gracefully around her face and down to her mid-lower back, long bangs sweeping back naturally from all the times Mars brushed her hair backwards with one hand. Out from the hair that covers her ears swings a single, simple silver hoop on each side. They seem to hang lower than her earlobe, so one can only imagine that there is a short, decorative chair that connects ear to hoop. However, even when her hair is pulled back into a low, sloppy bun, her ears remain hidden. Despite rumors about disfigured ears, her forever hidden ears are in fine shape, and the action of her hair covering them is not on purpose.
The rest of her body, slender and lean, strong and tight with toned muscle, is covered with comfortable white fabric, brown almost leather-like cloth, silver lining and decoration, and white lace in an almost petticoat fashion. From just below the jawline to waist, her usual garb is form fitting, snug, and in some places, looks to be almost too tight. The tall collar leads down, covering collarbone and sternum before splitting and covering the shoulders. It continues at the forearms and lower ribcage reaching to her fingertips and waist, silver lining and decorative symbols covering almost every available spot. The tall collar also hides a small square locket that holds a picture of herself and her fiancee on one side and a solo photo of her fiancee on the other. Her bust, left free of the brown cloth, is covered in an off white (presumably stained from battle and hard labor), stretchable material. This material also covers the area between her shoulders and forearms that, again, is left free of the brown cloth and silver decoration.
The reason she wears so much clothes is due to her sensitivity to sunlight. She likes going outside and often can't help being near an open window or going outside for something, so she has to protect her skin. Her hair helps hide her face partially, but she usually must carry a small parasol, or wear some kind of cap to keep her face from the sun. This is way she is so pale.
From the waist, continuity and function seems to be thrown out the window. This, of course, is where most would be surprised. Made of mostly a white petticoat, the percentage of the material here that is the brown cloth and silver decoration is barely one fourth. Belts and seemingly haphazardly cut strips of brown decorate the front and sides of the petticoat, the silver decoration used much more sparingly than above. Pockets and hidden containers are hidden everywhere in this chaotic mess of an overskirt. In one of these pockets is a short parasol, used for hiding her exposed face from the sun. A single olive green sash is hung loosely among the chaos, presumably for tying around wounded limbs in battle or as a large sweat cloth. The belts on the front can be unclipped to form an 8 foot "rope", or two 4 foot "ropes". The use of this? The medical uses are just about endless, like keeping a patient from wiggling around, or to staunch the blood flow from a major artery after a limb has been severely damaged or even cut off. (If you look closely, you may even seen a few strings of oddly shaped beads dangling off the skirt. These are purely for decoration.)
Why a skirt, you ask? Easy to move around in, easy to hide stuff in. Also, in case the need arrives, the skirt was built to be easily removable if you know what to unhook.
Under the skirt looks to be a series of brown belts wrapping themselves up her legs to form a pair of pants. These are just a pair of fancy pants. No pockets, as they are just about skin tight, and they can't be taken apart. From just below her knees to the tip of her toes are brown boots with silver decoration. A diamond shaped shin guard is partially hidden under her skirt, and seems to be mostly for decoration, as it covers only part of the actual shin. In fact, on her lower legs, the reinforcing material seems to focus on protecting joints, which could hint at weak points.
Height:
5'10"
Weight:
168 lbs.
Fighting Style:
Mars doesn't really like to fight, but life and the dangerous situations she's been caught up in have taught her that at least knowing how to defend ones self is a very good idea. Basic martial arts, wrestling throws, and the art of retreat are the extent of her battle knowledge for now. Of course, if she has a Weapon, she can figure out relatively quickly how to use it effectively.
Personality:
"Pard'n, ya said somethin', sugar?"
This would be the normal response you'd get from Mars on a normal day after giving a nice, long speech about something while she's staring you in the face.
Mars is very inattentive. Now, that isn't to say that she isn't focused. She just happens to focus on other things... very intently. Her own thoughts and the questions that come from them tend to catch and keep her attention. If anything, her intense focus isn't focused. Yes, she is confusing. Bare with me.
Eye half open, almost steampunk way of dressing, eye patch... a normal person might ask if she was a con-goer on some kind of drug. And they'd be half right. Because of the relaxant Mars takes to lessen the effect of her forever-on Soul Perception, she's in a constant daze, but functions just fine all the same. Often, she functions better than she used to. As a teenager she was rather clumsy, but now her walk is relatively slow and graceful. At least, her flowing clothes make her look graceful. Mars' less than urgent air in the face of urgency and danger often helps keep those around her calm, but in daily activities, can be maddening.
Despite her drugged, seemingly carefree way of life, Mars knows when to buckle down and be serious. If students are in trouble or causing enough trouble, she has no problem with stepping in and beating some ass. She has been known to take off her eye patch if she needs to use a ranged weapon that takes depth perception.
The only people who have been able to keep her attention indefinitely was the former Shinigami-sama, the new Shinigami-sama, and her late fiancee who died protecting her from a witch. She seems Shinigami-sama as not only her boss, but also as a sort of brother. Mars admires anyone who gives up something of themselves to protect those they care about.
The only place Mars can be without her eye patch and meds is a dark or dim room either by herself or with maybe two people. She tries to keep the nurses office this way, especially if she knows it's going to be a slow day. At this point, one would be able to see her true personality.
Mars is clear-headed and responsible, although, a bit clumsy. Still depressed over her fiancees passing, she fakes cheerfulness when dealing with her students. Like this, she gets frustrated easily, knowing that at some point she'll have to go back into the medicated haze, even though she also knows she works better like that. It's annoying to not be able to be yourself on a normal basis.
Inside the Soul
Abilities:
-Soul Perception: (Quite a bit of this is copy/pasted from the wiki, as it has the best description. If that isn't okay, I'll re-write it.)
As stated by Gopher in Chapter 64, Soul Perception is "Sneaking a glance into people's souls". While Meisters, Weapons, and sometimes normal humans can see the souls of the dead, some Meisters and Weapons can see the souls of the living. Soul Perception grants the user the ability to see the shape of a persons soul, as well as details about the person, like if they are good or evil.
By focusing on an individual soul, the user is able to make accurate judgments about the person's characteristics, personality and Soul Wavelength. Knowing the Wavelength of a soul can allow a skilled meister to match or disrupt the opponent's Wavelength in or outside of combat, making it a valuable skill in analyzing the opponent.
-One of the more important functions of Soul Perception is detection, allowing a human to differentiate between the soul of a normal human and the soul of a Witch, since there is little physical difference between the two.
Mars is a special case. Instead of focusing to see the souls of the living, the soul is almost the only thing she sees without her eye patch. Her left eye is what sees most of the result of Soul Perception, but it's so intense, when she first started using it, she couldn't function correctly, unable to see much other than the crowd of souls around her. Unfortunately, the eye patch only lessens the effect, and sometimes, doesn't do much at all. The inability to turn off Soul Perception causes headaches and other pain. To lessen the intensity further, Mars is forced to take a relaxant which puts her in a constant daze. Despite this, she almost functions better in the daze than she functioned before learning Soul Perception.
When looking at a single soul, or very few in the same area as to not overwhelm her, she can easily determine a very many details about the person. The confidence from the solidity of a soul, or whether they're good or not, based on color, and often times, shape. However, Mars can only tell these details with her blindfold off. With it on, the details fade so Mars can only see the shape of the outline, which doesn't really tell her very much about the soul.
-Lie Detecting:
An advanced variation of Soul Perception. The user can sense the finest wavering of a soul by placing their closed fist on another person's chest. The wavering of the soul could indicate that the person is lying. This ability was invented by the late Joe Buttataki to catch a mole inside Shibusen.
Mars saw it important to figure out and learn this ability if she was going to properly guide and care for her students. The priority of this ability is why she only knows the basic form of Soul Menace and is still struggling to master Purification.
-Purification:
Without a Weapon and full body contact with the opponent for a significant amount of time (at least 10 seconds), Mars is unable to use Purification, and even then, she may not be able to pull it off. Basically, she would either have to bear hug (70% chance of success) them or body slam (20% chance of success) them while holding a Weapon. Either way, the likelihood of Mars getting away unscathed is extremely unlikely. Even just attempting Purification causes her a huge loss of energy.
-Soul Menace (Soul Purge):
Only this basic form is known by Mars currently. Her time, which she normally has very little of as a teacher and nurse, is usually spent learning more defensive or regenerative abilities. That and grading papers or cleaning up after a student battle. She tends to avoid the battlefield, so knowing offensive abilities is low on her priority list. She has never come across an enemy possessing black blood, so she doesn't know if her Soul Menace is quite strong enough to go against it without the enhancing effect of water.
Resonances:
As a graduated meister and teacher, Mars is able to resonate with basically any Demon Weapon. However, she doesn't have a partner at the current time, so there are no specific resonances to list.
Out of your Mind
Strengths:
-Level headed
-High pain tolerance
-Not easily distracted
-Knowledge of humanoid anatomy
Weaknesses:
-Inattentive
-Slow reflexes
-No depth perception (unless she takes her eye patch off, and then she has to deal with seeing mostly souls instead of people)
-Sensitive to sunlight: She burns extremely easy and gets lasting headaches if over-exposed. This effects her focus tremendously.
Hobbies:
-Fixing things
-Solving problems
-Sketching
-Designing
-Sewing
Likes:
-Natural colors
-Fruit
-Cute things
-Medication
-Sewing
-Relaxing outside
-Helping
Dislikes:
-Malicious intent
-Orange
-Rock climbing
-Overly hot weather
-Showing off
-Lying
Subject:
Health (Nurse)
History:
Mars was born in a plantation style mansion in Louisiana, and as glamorous as that may sound, the details were not pleasant. In a fit of madness, her grandfather became her father after raping his second eldest daughter, and then committed suicide when he saw what he had done. It was surprising to everyone, as he had been a well respected meister with a special mastery of Soul Perception. No one had expected him to change so abruptly.
The child was born with only one defect, fortunately. Any exposure to sunlight had to be limited as the inbreeding had led to an uncommon case of albinism. Her appearance seemed quite normal, but her skin was pale and sensitive, and remained that way instead of healing like the doctors had hoped. She grew up wearing long dresses and jackets, always being complimented on being such a gorgeous child, but she was pampered and treated like a frail object, being waited on hand and foot. At first she loved not having responsibilities, but as time went on, Mars felt like a burden, quite useless. Not allowed to go outside, she spent her time in her grandfather-father's study, the thick curtains drawn to keep the sun out. The whole house looked like it was in perpetual night, thick curtain over every window, lights guiding you around the house. They used up a lot of electricity, but solar panels and a small wind turbine in the backyard helped.
Most of the books she read were about the human body and medicine. Her grandfather-father was a psychological and philosophical buff and had a stint with the medical field, but never truly pursued it. These leftover materials gave Mars years of entertainment. After her mother learned what she was doing, she was determined to have her daughter find a new hobby. A fixed up gazebo in the back would be her new area. It was outside and in the shade for a good portion of the day. Some of the older maids took turns teaching Mars to sew. At first, she didn't like having to sew by hand, but with the promise of a sewing machine of her own, she found a love in making things. From then on, she made all of her own clothes, and often, clothes for her mother. However, she still found time to visit her grandfather-father's study and read more medical books.
Soon, she had run out of books to read and things to sew. Her closet was full to bursting and she wouldn't have another growth spurt for quite some time it seemed. After a long conversation with her mother, she was let to wander and explore the vast property, but only if she carried and used a dark parasol to protect herself. And, of course, a maid was always to trail behind her with supplies incase she got tired, hungry, or god forbid, hurt while she was out.
As if it was a sign from God himself, Mars made a friend while she was out. A young blonde boy about the same age, maybe a year younger. His name was Remington, or Remy for short. Despite living just off the edge of her families property, he was not from a rich family, but a cajun, from the swamps. His new step-mother had demanded that they moved to nicer area cause "she didn't like swamps and didn't want to seen as a dirty person". It was her parents money that got them moved out of the swamps, but she was promptly cut off after whining that the house wasn't good enough. They were having money troubles now and Remy was the willing punching bag for his parents frustration. He was an only child after all, so it was his duty to keep his parents happy.
They spent whatever time they were allowed away from home together, talking about their lives and their future. Whatever it was, they enjoyed listening to each other. A year passed, Mars has turned 14, and her relationship with Remy had only grown. That, and he was quickly overcoming her in the height department. There were secret places they could meet (sometimes even at night) where no one would find them, code words, signals, and even shared moments of blossoming love. Remy had gathered the courage to show her something that very few people knew about. In a blinding light, Remy became a battle fan, a southern accessory gone dangerous. It was lacy with the colors of mardi gras, silver triangular blades shooting out from the top. Mars knew about Meisters and Weapons, but she had never met a Weapon in real life, at least, not that she knew of. She held the battle fan in awe from under her parasol. It turned out that Remy had never been held in that form before. Anyone, other than her, that tried, would also find her difficult to carry or receive a shock of rejection. Mars, however, had no problem wielding the fan. She didn't know it yet, but this would be useful when she lost her depth perception.
Unfortunately, Remy had more to tell her. His parents were getting a divorce after only a few years together. His father would be moving back to the swamps and his mother would be moving to California. Given the choice, he wanted to go with his dad, since that would keep him in Louisiana, and at least relatively close to Mars. All of this would be happening in the next few weeks, so he didn't have much time. Distressed, Mars tried to find a way for them to stay together. It was almost too late when her mother finally caved and told her about Shibusen, a school for young Meisters and Weapons. A meeting of both parents would be needed if Remy was wanting to go as well.
Something strange happened, however. Remy's dad fell head over heels for Mars's mom, and vise versa. The purpose of the meeting was almost forgotten before Remy and Mars brought their parents back to the matter at hand. The discussion didn't take too long and both children were given permission to go to the school as a Meister/Weapon team. Thus began their journey... well, not before their parents wed a few months later, just before the beginning of the new semester at Shibusen. Perfect timing.
They were a special team, opting to hunt for souls at night exclusively to lessen the risk of overexposing Mars to sunlight. During one of their missions, though, while chasing their 30-something-ish soul, Mars began experiencing Soul Perception. It turned on and off, frustrating the Meister. Finally, when she was able to keep it from turning off on her, they quickly found and destroyed the Kishin egg, taking its soul. A lot of people would have been in danger, seeing as how they were in the middle of a city packed full of pedestrians. The clapping of on-lookers caught their attention as Remy swallowed the soul. A crowds had gathered during the last part of the battle when it was obvious that the students would win. Things seemed to be going great until Mars realized that she couldn't stop seeing the souls of everyone around. The souls bruned brightly in her eyes and she became scared. There were so many.
Too many!
The next thing she knew, everything was dark and she was laying down. Her hands searched for a moment before a familiar hand took hold. A voice told her she was okay. Her partner had brought her back to the school after she had passed out. Apparently, just before passing out, she screamed about it being too bright and even tried to claw out her eyes. For now, a damp cloth was placed over her eyes to ease any pain. There were very few scratches and they would heal completely in a few days. However, they needed to find a way to fix the situation. It seemed that her dominant left eye held a lot of the problem, so an eye patch was gotten. With that, she was able to see clearly and with little pain from the light of the souls. It felt as if the muscles in her eyes were being strained though, so she was prescribed a relaxant to take when it got too much and headaches started to occur. At least she could use Soul Perception now.
It took them a little longer to gather all 99 souls, especially because of Mars' trouble with Soul Perception, but they did it! All they needed was a witches soul, and getting that at night was a very common practice, so they were good to go.
It turned out, the two of them bit of more than they could chew. The witch was too powerful.
During the battle, the witch had disappeared. Mars tried to use Soul Perception by lifting her eye patch. Just as she did, an explosion rocked the ground in front of her, sending dust and debris directly into her face. She couldn't see, it was all happening too fast. The battle fan tried to warn his partner to tell her where to swing, but the cloud of dust hadn't settled and the Witch burst from it with such great speed. Mars didn't have a chance to recover. At the last moment, Remy reverted to human form and pushed Mars out of the way of the witches fatal blow. Instead, the attack hit him, shattering his ribcage and tearing apart most of his organs, save one lung and his heart. With the last of his energy, Remy changed back into a battle fan and pleaded with Mars to finish it. In a rage and with her tears clearing away the dust from her eyes, Mars was able to destroy the witch, but the damage had been done and there was no way to save Remy, the side of his chest practically blown open. With the witches soul in hand, Mars lay her partner, her fiancee, to the ground and pushed he soul into his mouth. He swallowed it and smiled at her as his body pulsed, but it was too late, and he died there in her arms, his last words lingering on his lips as his hand reached up and stroked the brunette's hair which he loved so much, "I... will always.. love you". She watched as his soul faded and soon, the only souls she could see were those of onlookers. The only consolation was that he died a Death Scythe. From that point on, she wore a eye patch and took the relaxants daily to combat the effects of Soul Perception on her body. His funeral was simple, only family and close friends, his ashes spread in his favorite swamp as well as his and Mars' favorite place to hide in, that way, he'd always be there if she returned.
Mars graduated at age of 22 after helping another Weapon reach Death Scythe level, then left for a year to live with her mother and step-father in Louisiana. Her time there was spent protecting the people there from kishin eggs and other evil beings. She traveled the world on the orders of Shinigami-sama before returning to the school as a teacher. Because of her extensive knowledge of the medical field, she became the school nurse. Since then, she has grown out her hair in memory of Remy, who loved it so much.
Young Mars and Remy: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
Extra Notes:
None so far?
Behind the strings
Alias:
Fratello, Riku
Other characters:
Fratello
Face Claim:
Young Mars and Fiancee: Teru and Kurosaki, Dengeki Daisy
RP Sample:
The morning brought students, and students brought tension. Rival students picking fights, stressed teachers trying to keep a lid on them, it was all so nice. Mars had spent most of her life at this school now, at least, that's how it seemed, so these sounds were comforting. The brunette nurse sat with her back to the window, the thick curtains pulled shut over the open window. The only light in the room currently was from a desk lamp. Her eye patch and medication rested there. She knew that she would have to use both today, of course, since she had to use both everyday. Her only time without them was late at night when all the students were home, and in the morning, before anyone arrived. Very few people were around at the extreme late and early hours, so she could bare whatever pain may come with seeing the bright souls wandering the halls.
Today would actually be a busy day, regardless of any students that had to come in. Inventory. She had a full week to do it, but she wasn't the type to procrastinate. Thinking back, maybe that's why she lost her fiancee. During missions, she'd always push them to do everything quickly so they could move on to the next thing. He would tease her for it, but often times, he'd even be one step ahead of her. They really were a great team. With a gentle tug, Mars pulled the locket from under her collar and opened it. That cocky grin he always had... so not cool. Placing the locket back where it belonged, she picked up her eye patch and medicine. She had gotten so used to wearing these, it felt weird without them, and she knew she'd probably break something if she didn't take the meds.
Moments later, eye patch on and medicine taken, she sat in the chair by the window and watched her vision change slightly. She felt a little more free like this, able to say what she wanted and blame it on the meds. It was as if she was in one of those big costumes at Disneyland, and no one could see the silly faces you made at them.
"Teacher! Ms. Lanford!" A student burst into the room, dragging another behind him. Perfect timing. If this had happened before she put on her patch and took her meds, she might have actual been startled by the brightness of the souls. Right now, all she could see were the faint outlines of the souls, not even a complete shape. The boys voice shook her from her thoughts, he was obviously not very happy, "Please explain to my friend that throwing things at other people is dangerous!"
Oh, this was a problem. She stood from her seat and walked closer to the boys, looking mainly at the one being dragged, "Throwing things?"
"They started it." He mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, "And no one actually got hit by that book."
"Look, I understand that whatever they did was frustrating, however..." She cleared her throat and proceeded to go on a good long rant about the history of stoning and the gruesome details, she even managed to get on the topic of bodies falling and splatting on the ground. By the time she was done, both students had their own bag or bucket. Seeing their condition, Mars pat them on the head, "Oh, you poor dears... you can't attend classes like this. You'll stay here until you're feeling better, then you'll go home for the day, okay?"
This seemed like an irresponsible action on her part, excusing them from class when she caused their sickness herself. However, she knew these boys and they often had scuffles with their peers, and were bullied by upperclassmen. This would give them a well needed break, and as soon as they were feeling better, she'd sent them home with an assignment of her own: find better ways to react to bullying and implement the ideas until a decent one is found.
From day to day, this was her job, and she didn't mind. If more interesting things were to happen, they could possibly be bad things, and she was content dealing with just normal day to day duties.
"Nurse!!!"
And thus the day began.
Name:
Mars Prosper Lanford
Nickname:
Mar, Mari, Mara
Age:
28
Gender:
Female
Race:
Meister
Position:
Teacher (Nurse)
Class:
Graduated Meister
Partner:
None currently.
A Strong Body
Picture:
Appearance:
Mars doesn't look much like the responsible teacher she should be. In fact, more often than not, she looks a bit on the tipsy side, to put it lightly. Her fair skinned face is almost always flushed with the redness that comes with drinking, and her visible sea green eye is usually half open, looking off into a distant haze. Her left eye is covered by a simple black eye patch. Her mostly straight, thick hair falls gracefully around her face and down to her mid-lower back, long bangs sweeping back naturally from all the times Mars brushed her hair backwards with one hand. Out from the hair that covers her ears swings a single, simple silver hoop on each side. They seem to hang lower than her earlobe, so one can only imagine that there is a short, decorative chair that connects ear to hoop. However, even when her hair is pulled back into a low, sloppy bun, her ears remain hidden. Despite rumors about disfigured ears, her forever hidden ears are in fine shape, and the action of her hair covering them is not on purpose.
The rest of her body, slender and lean, strong and tight with toned muscle, is covered with comfortable white fabric, brown almost leather-like cloth, silver lining and decoration, and white lace in an almost petticoat fashion. From just below the jawline to waist, her usual garb is form fitting, snug, and in some places, looks to be almost too tight. The tall collar leads down, covering collarbone and sternum before splitting and covering the shoulders. It continues at the forearms and lower ribcage reaching to her fingertips and waist, silver lining and decorative symbols covering almost every available spot. The tall collar also hides a small square locket that holds a picture of herself and her fiancee on one side and a solo photo of her fiancee on the other. Her bust, left free of the brown cloth, is covered in an off white (presumably stained from battle and hard labor), stretchable material. This material also covers the area between her shoulders and forearms that, again, is left free of the brown cloth and silver decoration.
The reason she wears so much clothes is due to her sensitivity to sunlight. She likes going outside and often can't help being near an open window or going outside for something, so she has to protect her skin. Her hair helps hide her face partially, but she usually must carry a small parasol, or wear some kind of cap to keep her face from the sun. This is way she is so pale.
From the waist, continuity and function seems to be thrown out the window. This, of course, is where most would be surprised. Made of mostly a white petticoat, the percentage of the material here that is the brown cloth and silver decoration is barely one fourth. Belts and seemingly haphazardly cut strips of brown decorate the front and sides of the petticoat, the silver decoration used much more sparingly than above. Pockets and hidden containers are hidden everywhere in this chaotic mess of an overskirt. In one of these pockets is a short parasol, used for hiding her exposed face from the sun. A single olive green sash is hung loosely among the chaos, presumably for tying around wounded limbs in battle or as a large sweat cloth. The belts on the front can be unclipped to form an 8 foot "rope", or two 4 foot "ropes". The use of this? The medical uses are just about endless, like keeping a patient from wiggling around, or to staunch the blood flow from a major artery after a limb has been severely damaged or even cut off. (If you look closely, you may even seen a few strings of oddly shaped beads dangling off the skirt. These are purely for decoration.)
Why a skirt, you ask? Easy to move around in, easy to hide stuff in. Also, in case the need arrives, the skirt was built to be easily removable if you know what to unhook.
Under the skirt looks to be a series of brown belts wrapping themselves up her legs to form a pair of pants. These are just a pair of fancy pants. No pockets, as they are just about skin tight, and they can't be taken apart. From just below her knees to the tip of her toes are brown boots with silver decoration. A diamond shaped shin guard is partially hidden under her skirt, and seems to be mostly for decoration, as it covers only part of the actual shin. In fact, on her lower legs, the reinforcing material seems to focus on protecting joints, which could hint at weak points.
Height:
5'10"
Weight:
168 lbs.
Fighting Style:
Mars doesn't really like to fight, but life and the dangerous situations she's been caught up in have taught her that at least knowing how to defend ones self is a very good idea. Basic martial arts, wrestling throws, and the art of retreat are the extent of her battle knowledge for now. Of course, if she has a Weapon, she can figure out relatively quickly how to use it effectively.
Personality:
"Pard'n, ya said somethin', sugar?"
This would be the normal response you'd get from Mars on a normal day after giving a nice, long speech about something while she's staring you in the face.
Mars is very inattentive. Now, that isn't to say that she isn't focused. She just happens to focus on other things... very intently. Her own thoughts and the questions that come from them tend to catch and keep her attention. If anything, her intense focus isn't focused. Yes, she is confusing. Bare with me.
Eye half open, almost steampunk way of dressing, eye patch... a normal person might ask if she was a con-goer on some kind of drug. And they'd be half right. Because of the relaxant Mars takes to lessen the effect of her forever-on Soul Perception, she's in a constant daze, but functions just fine all the same. Often, she functions better than she used to. As a teenager she was rather clumsy, but now her walk is relatively slow and graceful. At least, her flowing clothes make her look graceful. Mars' less than urgent air in the face of urgency and danger often helps keep those around her calm, but in daily activities, can be maddening.
Despite her drugged, seemingly carefree way of life, Mars knows when to buckle down and be serious. If students are in trouble or causing enough trouble, she has no problem with stepping in and beating some ass. She has been known to take off her eye patch if she needs to use a ranged weapon that takes depth perception.
The only people who have been able to keep her attention indefinitely was the former Shinigami-sama, the new Shinigami-sama, and her late fiancee who died protecting her from a witch. She seems Shinigami-sama as not only her boss, but also as a sort of brother. Mars admires anyone who gives up something of themselves to protect those they care about.
The only place Mars can be without her eye patch and meds is a dark or dim room either by herself or with maybe two people. She tries to keep the nurses office this way, especially if she knows it's going to be a slow day. At this point, one would be able to see her true personality.
Mars is clear-headed and responsible, although, a bit clumsy. Still depressed over her fiancees passing, she fakes cheerfulness when dealing with her students. Like this, she gets frustrated easily, knowing that at some point she'll have to go back into the medicated haze, even though she also knows she works better like that. It's annoying to not be able to be yourself on a normal basis.
Inside the Soul
Abilities:
-Soul Perception: (Quite a bit of this is copy/pasted from the wiki, as it has the best description. If that isn't okay, I'll re-write it.)
As stated by Gopher in Chapter 64, Soul Perception is "Sneaking a glance into people's souls". While Meisters, Weapons, and sometimes normal humans can see the souls of the dead, some Meisters and Weapons can see the souls of the living. Soul Perception grants the user the ability to see the shape of a persons soul, as well as details about the person, like if they are good or evil.
By focusing on an individual soul, the user is able to make accurate judgments about the person's characteristics, personality and Soul Wavelength. Knowing the Wavelength of a soul can allow a skilled meister to match or disrupt the opponent's Wavelength in or outside of combat, making it a valuable skill in analyzing the opponent.
-One of the more important functions of Soul Perception is detection, allowing a human to differentiate between the soul of a normal human and the soul of a Witch, since there is little physical difference between the two.
Mars is a special case. Instead of focusing to see the souls of the living, the soul is almost the only thing she sees without her eye patch. Her left eye is what sees most of the result of Soul Perception, but it's so intense, when she first started using it, she couldn't function correctly, unable to see much other than the crowd of souls around her. Unfortunately, the eye patch only lessens the effect, and sometimes, doesn't do much at all. The inability to turn off Soul Perception causes headaches and other pain. To lessen the intensity further, Mars is forced to take a relaxant which puts her in a constant daze. Despite this, she almost functions better in the daze than she functioned before learning Soul Perception.
When looking at a single soul, or very few in the same area as to not overwhelm her, she can easily determine a very many details about the person. The confidence from the solidity of a soul, or whether they're good or not, based on color, and often times, shape. However, Mars can only tell these details with her blindfold off. With it on, the details fade so Mars can only see the shape of the outline, which doesn't really tell her very much about the soul.
-Lie Detecting:
An advanced variation of Soul Perception. The user can sense the finest wavering of a soul by placing their closed fist on another person's chest. The wavering of the soul could indicate that the person is lying. This ability was invented by the late Joe Buttataki to catch a mole inside Shibusen.
Mars saw it important to figure out and learn this ability if she was going to properly guide and care for her students. The priority of this ability is why she only knows the basic form of Soul Menace and is still struggling to master Purification.
-Purification:
A subsequent attack that not only possesses immense physical destructive power, but also a significant purifying effect that can directly oppose the madness contained with an adversary's soul or ability, once contact has been established. This latter characteristic is signified by the emission of an intense white light upon activation and makes the technique particularly effective in countering any individual harboring or reliant upon the quality of madness, such as Witches and those afflicted by Black Blood, even Immortals are not immune to injury in the face of this wavelength. However, the use of this capability is not without risk, as the user must seemingly come into direct contact with the desired target for these properties to function, increasing the potential chance that they may be harmed.
Without a Weapon and full body contact with the opponent for a significant amount of time (at least 10 seconds), Mars is unable to use Purification, and even then, she may not be able to pull it off. Basically, she would either have to bear hug (70% chance of success) them or body slam (20% chance of success) them while holding a Weapon. Either way, the likelihood of Mars getting away unscathed is extremely unlikely. Even just attempting Purification causes her a huge loss of energy.
-Soul Menace (Soul Purge):
By resonating with one's own soul the user can drive their own soul wavelength directly into an opponent's body through a physical strike on them. This can cause strong direct and internal damage, it is even capable of damaging someone who is being protected by black blood. It is later discovered by Black Star and Kid that the Soul Menace technique is enhanced by water as water seemingly conducts soul wavelength energy better than air does.
Only this basic form is known by Mars currently. Her time, which she normally has very little of as a teacher and nurse, is usually spent learning more defensive or regenerative abilities. That and grading papers or cleaning up after a student battle. She tends to avoid the battlefield, so knowing offensive abilities is low on her priority list. She has never come across an enemy possessing black blood, so she doesn't know if her Soul Menace is quite strong enough to go against it without the enhancing effect of water.
Resonances:
As a graduated meister and teacher, Mars is able to resonate with basically any Demon Weapon. However, she doesn't have a partner at the current time, so there are no specific resonances to list.
Out of your Mind
Strengths:
-Level headed
-High pain tolerance
-Not easily distracted
-Knowledge of humanoid anatomy
Weaknesses:
-Inattentive
-Slow reflexes
-No depth perception (unless she takes her eye patch off, and then she has to deal with seeing mostly souls instead of people)
-Sensitive to sunlight: She burns extremely easy and gets lasting headaches if over-exposed. This effects her focus tremendously.
Hobbies:
-Fixing things
-Solving problems
-Sketching
-Designing
-Sewing
Likes:
-Natural colors
-Fruit
-Cute things
-Medication
-Sewing
-Relaxing outside
-Helping
Dislikes:
-Malicious intent
-Orange
-Rock climbing
-Overly hot weather
-Showing off
-Lying
Subject:
Health (Nurse)
History:
Mars was born in a plantation style mansion in Louisiana, and as glamorous as that may sound, the details were not pleasant. In a fit of madness, her grandfather became her father after raping his second eldest daughter, and then committed suicide when he saw what he had done. It was surprising to everyone, as he had been a well respected meister with a special mastery of Soul Perception. No one had expected him to change so abruptly.
The child was born with only one defect, fortunately. Any exposure to sunlight had to be limited as the inbreeding had led to an uncommon case of albinism. Her appearance seemed quite normal, but her skin was pale and sensitive, and remained that way instead of healing like the doctors had hoped. She grew up wearing long dresses and jackets, always being complimented on being such a gorgeous child, but she was pampered and treated like a frail object, being waited on hand and foot. At first she loved not having responsibilities, but as time went on, Mars felt like a burden, quite useless. Not allowed to go outside, she spent her time in her grandfather-father's study, the thick curtains drawn to keep the sun out. The whole house looked like it was in perpetual night, thick curtain over every window, lights guiding you around the house. They used up a lot of electricity, but solar panels and a small wind turbine in the backyard helped.
Most of the books she read were about the human body and medicine. Her grandfather-father was a psychological and philosophical buff and had a stint with the medical field, but never truly pursued it. These leftover materials gave Mars years of entertainment. After her mother learned what she was doing, she was determined to have her daughter find a new hobby. A fixed up gazebo in the back would be her new area. It was outside and in the shade for a good portion of the day. Some of the older maids took turns teaching Mars to sew. At first, she didn't like having to sew by hand, but with the promise of a sewing machine of her own, she found a love in making things. From then on, she made all of her own clothes, and often, clothes for her mother. However, she still found time to visit her grandfather-father's study and read more medical books.
Soon, she had run out of books to read and things to sew. Her closet was full to bursting and she wouldn't have another growth spurt for quite some time it seemed. After a long conversation with her mother, she was let to wander and explore the vast property, but only if she carried and used a dark parasol to protect herself. And, of course, a maid was always to trail behind her with supplies incase she got tired, hungry, or god forbid, hurt while she was out.
As if it was a sign from God himself, Mars made a friend while she was out. A young blonde boy about the same age, maybe a year younger. His name was Remington, or Remy for short. Despite living just off the edge of her families property, he was not from a rich family, but a cajun, from the swamps. His new step-mother had demanded that they moved to nicer area cause "she didn't like swamps and didn't want to seen as a dirty person". It was her parents money that got them moved out of the swamps, but she was promptly cut off after whining that the house wasn't good enough. They were having money troubles now and Remy was the willing punching bag for his parents frustration. He was an only child after all, so it was his duty to keep his parents happy.
They spent whatever time they were allowed away from home together, talking about their lives and their future. Whatever it was, they enjoyed listening to each other. A year passed, Mars has turned 14, and her relationship with Remy had only grown. That, and he was quickly overcoming her in the height department. There were secret places they could meet (sometimes even at night) where no one would find them, code words, signals, and even shared moments of blossoming love. Remy had gathered the courage to show her something that very few people knew about. In a blinding light, Remy became a battle fan, a southern accessory gone dangerous. It was lacy with the colors of mardi gras, silver triangular blades shooting out from the top. Mars knew about Meisters and Weapons, but she had never met a Weapon in real life, at least, not that she knew of. She held the battle fan in awe from under her parasol. It turned out that Remy had never been held in that form before. Anyone, other than her, that tried, would also find her difficult to carry or receive a shock of rejection. Mars, however, had no problem wielding the fan. She didn't know it yet, but this would be useful when she lost her depth perception.
Unfortunately, Remy had more to tell her. His parents were getting a divorce after only a few years together. His father would be moving back to the swamps and his mother would be moving to California. Given the choice, he wanted to go with his dad, since that would keep him in Louisiana, and at least relatively close to Mars. All of this would be happening in the next few weeks, so he didn't have much time. Distressed, Mars tried to find a way for them to stay together. It was almost too late when her mother finally caved and told her about Shibusen, a school for young Meisters and Weapons. A meeting of both parents would be needed if Remy was wanting to go as well.
Something strange happened, however. Remy's dad fell head over heels for Mars's mom, and vise versa. The purpose of the meeting was almost forgotten before Remy and Mars brought their parents back to the matter at hand. The discussion didn't take too long and both children were given permission to go to the school as a Meister/Weapon team. Thus began their journey... well, not before their parents wed a few months later, just before the beginning of the new semester at Shibusen. Perfect timing.
They were a special team, opting to hunt for souls at night exclusively to lessen the risk of overexposing Mars to sunlight. During one of their missions, though, while chasing their 30-something-ish soul, Mars began experiencing Soul Perception. It turned on and off, frustrating the Meister. Finally, when she was able to keep it from turning off on her, they quickly found and destroyed the Kishin egg, taking its soul. A lot of people would have been in danger, seeing as how they were in the middle of a city packed full of pedestrians. The clapping of on-lookers caught their attention as Remy swallowed the soul. A crowds had gathered during the last part of the battle when it was obvious that the students would win. Things seemed to be going great until Mars realized that she couldn't stop seeing the souls of everyone around. The souls bruned brightly in her eyes and she became scared. There were so many.
Too many!
The next thing she knew, everything was dark and she was laying down. Her hands searched for a moment before a familiar hand took hold. A voice told her she was okay. Her partner had brought her back to the school after she had passed out. Apparently, just before passing out, she screamed about it being too bright and even tried to claw out her eyes. For now, a damp cloth was placed over her eyes to ease any pain. There were very few scratches and they would heal completely in a few days. However, they needed to find a way to fix the situation. It seemed that her dominant left eye held a lot of the problem, so an eye patch was gotten. With that, she was able to see clearly and with little pain from the light of the souls. It felt as if the muscles in her eyes were being strained though, so she was prescribed a relaxant to take when it got too much and headaches started to occur. At least she could use Soul Perception now.
It took them a little longer to gather all 99 souls, especially because of Mars' trouble with Soul Perception, but they did it! All they needed was a witches soul, and getting that at night was a very common practice, so they were good to go.
It turned out, the two of them bit of more than they could chew. The witch was too powerful.
During the battle, the witch had disappeared. Mars tried to use Soul Perception by lifting her eye patch. Just as she did, an explosion rocked the ground in front of her, sending dust and debris directly into her face. She couldn't see, it was all happening too fast. The battle fan tried to warn his partner to tell her where to swing, but the cloud of dust hadn't settled and the Witch burst from it with such great speed. Mars didn't have a chance to recover. At the last moment, Remy reverted to human form and pushed Mars out of the way of the witches fatal blow. Instead, the attack hit him, shattering his ribcage and tearing apart most of his organs, save one lung and his heart. With the last of his energy, Remy changed back into a battle fan and pleaded with Mars to finish it. In a rage and with her tears clearing away the dust from her eyes, Mars was able to destroy the witch, but the damage had been done and there was no way to save Remy, the side of his chest practically blown open. With the witches soul in hand, Mars lay her partner, her fiancee, to the ground and pushed he soul into his mouth. He swallowed it and smiled at her as his body pulsed, but it was too late, and he died there in her arms, his last words lingering on his lips as his hand reached up and stroked the brunette's hair which he loved so much, "I... will always.. love you". She watched as his soul faded and soon, the only souls she could see were those of onlookers. The only consolation was that he died a Death Scythe. From that point on, she wore a eye patch and took the relaxants daily to combat the effects of Soul Perception on her body. His funeral was simple, only family and close friends, his ashes spread in his favorite swamp as well as his and Mars' favorite place to hide in, that way, he'd always be there if she returned.
Mars graduated at age of 22 after helping another Weapon reach Death Scythe level, then left for a year to live with her mother and step-father in Louisiana. Her time there was spent protecting the people there from kishin eggs and other evil beings. She traveled the world on the orders of Shinigami-sama before returning to the school as a teacher. Because of her extensive knowledge of the medical field, she became the school nurse. Since then, she has grown out her hair in memory of Remy, who loved it so much.
Young Mars and Remy: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
Extra Notes:
None so far?
Behind the strings
Alias:
Fratello, Riku
Other characters:
Fratello
Face Claim:
Young Mars and Fiancee: Teru and Kurosaki, Dengeki Daisy
RP Sample:
The morning brought students, and students brought tension. Rival students picking fights, stressed teachers trying to keep a lid on them, it was all so nice. Mars had spent most of her life at this school now, at least, that's how it seemed, so these sounds were comforting. The brunette nurse sat with her back to the window, the thick curtains pulled shut over the open window. The only light in the room currently was from a desk lamp. Her eye patch and medication rested there. She knew that she would have to use both today, of course, since she had to use both everyday. Her only time without them was late at night when all the students were home, and in the morning, before anyone arrived. Very few people were around at the extreme late and early hours, so she could bare whatever pain may come with seeing the bright souls wandering the halls.
Today would actually be a busy day, regardless of any students that had to come in. Inventory. She had a full week to do it, but she wasn't the type to procrastinate. Thinking back, maybe that's why she lost her fiancee. During missions, she'd always push them to do everything quickly so they could move on to the next thing. He would tease her for it, but often times, he'd even be one step ahead of her. They really were a great team. With a gentle tug, Mars pulled the locket from under her collar and opened it. That cocky grin he always had... so not cool. Placing the locket back where it belonged, she picked up her eye patch and medicine. She had gotten so used to wearing these, it felt weird without them, and she knew she'd probably break something if she didn't take the meds.
Moments later, eye patch on and medicine taken, she sat in the chair by the window and watched her vision change slightly. She felt a little more free like this, able to say what she wanted and blame it on the meds. It was as if she was in one of those big costumes at Disneyland, and no one could see the silly faces you made at them.
"Teacher! Ms. Lanford!" A student burst into the room, dragging another behind him. Perfect timing. If this had happened before she put on her patch and took her meds, she might have actual been startled by the brightness of the souls. Right now, all she could see were the faint outlines of the souls, not even a complete shape. The boys voice shook her from her thoughts, he was obviously not very happy, "Please explain to my friend that throwing things at other people is dangerous!"
Oh, this was a problem. She stood from her seat and walked closer to the boys, looking mainly at the one being dragged, "Throwing things?"
"They started it." He mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, "And no one actually got hit by that book."
"Look, I understand that whatever they did was frustrating, however..." She cleared her throat and proceeded to go on a good long rant about the history of stoning and the gruesome details, she even managed to get on the topic of bodies falling and splatting on the ground. By the time she was done, both students had their own bag or bucket. Seeing their condition, Mars pat them on the head, "Oh, you poor dears... you can't attend classes like this. You'll stay here until you're feeling better, then you'll go home for the day, okay?"
This seemed like an irresponsible action on her part, excusing them from class when she caused their sickness herself. However, she knew these boys and they often had scuffles with their peers, and were bullied by upperclassmen. This would give them a well needed break, and as soon as they were feeling better, she'd sent them home with an assignment of her own: find better ways to react to bullying and implement the ideas until a decent one is found.
From day to day, this was her job, and she didn't mind. If more interesting things were to happen, they could possibly be bad things, and she was content dealing with just normal day to day duties.
"Nurse!!!"
And thus the day began.
makeout~
