ᴏᴏᴄ, ᴀᴘᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

[lovesung]

for achtenberg

OOC Information;

Name: Jelle
Personal journal: devilism
Contact Info: email: queeningsquare[at]gmail[dot]com, aim: Lunixhime, plurk: queeningsquare
Characters played at Achtenberg: N/A.

IC Information;

Character Name: Maria Kawai
Genderswap? No.
Character Series: Akuma to Love Song
Character Age: High school age, so about 16 or 17

Campus Position: Student; the nuns from her old school/who used to take care of her (see the history section) will be paying her tution.
Canon Background: here.

AU Background: Maria's AU history does not very much from her canon history. Maria's mother got pregnant with Maria in middle school, she was only fourteen years old back then. She was assaulted by a U.S. naval officer and got pregnant because of it. Because of who the perpetrator was the incident was all over the news, her real name was published and a lot of rumors spread around. People got all curious about her. But she still decided to just have Maria no matter how she got pregnant with her, and she didn't try to blame anyone nor complain even once. She just put up with everything and tried to raise Maria cheerfully by herself despite her age. But Maria, being the way she is, was a very bluntly honest person even as a kid, and always told the truth ('like some innocent little devil'). And so the young Maria kept asking her mother questions: "Mama, why do you pretend to have fun every day?" "Why do you think that Maria is a failure?" Sooner or later her mother couldn't take it anymore, and she planned on killing both herself and Maria. But in the end she couldn't take killing Maria, so she only killed herself while holding her child. Maria was so young that she surpressed all memories of that incident, and only remembers that her mother died but not the circumstances. (It's likely though that if someone else would ever hold her in the same way, the memories of that tragedy might slowly start to come back to her.)

After that Maria has lived by herself, with the aid from the nuns of a nearby church. Soon she started attending the religious all-girls school that belonged with those nuns in that city too, St. Katria. But Maria was someone who didn't quite fit in at all, she was always a little outside the group, just on her own. Still there was one girl - Anna - who was cheerful, bright and popular, and despite her own popularity she still chose to talk a lot and hang out with Maria. They became inseperatable, always talking or singing together and seemingly having fun. But one day Anna lost her voice, becoming unable to speak. From that day on Maria vowed to become her 'voice', to speak in her place no matter the circumstances. But Anna started to become more and more bullied despite her earlier status - because of hanging out with Maria and now being a mute. Maria tried to talk the sisters into stopping the bullying, but they just said Anna should ignore it. In the end Maria got so angry at the nuns who were saying that, that she hit one of them, one of her teachers. She was promptly expelled from the school for that, and when she tried to visit Anna afterwards the other girl would barely talk to her, she only mouthed the words "you corrupt others" at Maria (since she blamed Maria for speaking up and hitting the sisters, since she never realised she was bullied before that, and she didn't want Maria to speak for her from the very start), causing Maria to run away and leave everything behind her.

It was difficult to still find a school for the girl without family or parents after that, even though the cause of her being expelled had been unjust. Still, through the international contacts one of the nuns had with Achtenberg, they were able to get Maria a spot at that school instead, a new start. Maria didn't even mind moving abroad, especially not since it meant she could leave everything she didn't want to think about behind her.

Personality: Since her AU history is virtually the same as her canon history, I will just describe her personality in canon since nothing had changed from it. I should note though that her personality will be the same as the one she has at the start of her canon, as the events in her new school in canon have not happened in her AU yet; aka meeting Kanda, Meguro and the others. Therefore she's still at the very start of her development.

That being said, the easiest way canon itself uses to sum up her personality is by constantly saying that Maria Kawai is a devil.

That doesn't mean she's necessarily a bad person, though. But she often seems to come across that way to other people during first impressions. Maria is beautiful and therefore tends to stand out (especially with her bright red hair), but at the same time she seems very cold and distant, making her difficult to approach. Even when talking to her she will most likely be very to the point, and this is what made people give up on her in her old school.

But why is Maria exactly so hard to approach? It's since she's blunt and honest up to a painful level. Maria will always tell the truth (except when she's getting embarassed, that is when she starts showing more tsundere-like tendencies in which she will avoid the subject or even lie a little about her own feelings) to other people, no matter how painful that truth might be or even when other people don't want to face that truth. When she spots Meguro smoking outside a classroom, she tells him 'if you smoke too much, you'll die early' in her blunt fashion without even thinking badly of it.

This tendency goes hand in hand with the fact that Maria has an uncanny natural ability to see through other people. When other people are speaking, it's always easy for her to guess the true intention behind their words, and she can learn what people are like through very little interactions with them. Maria can practically see the true nature of people and words (it's something in her personality rather than a supernatural ability, though) and has been able to do so ever since she was little, even seeing as a little kid that her mother was just pretending to be cheerful when she was actually feeling miserable about her own circumstances. And with her bluntness and ability to see people's true nature combined, she's able to see both the best and worst in people and immediately tell them about it. This is exactly why Maria is seen as a devil - she is like a mirror that reflects the most ugly parts of you to you.

But as said above, Maria is not a bad person or someone who really wants to hurt others. In fact, she actually wants to help others. She only comes across as a devil since she bluntly tells people about what they really mean or really feel, but she's trying to help them by showing it. What Maria lacks, and thus what her main weakness is, is the ability to know how people would feel about seeing their worst sides being reflected to them. She doesn't understand that people would rather hear a white lie than the harsh truth, and so she keeps on being painfully honest to people, thinking that she's helping them even when she's actually hurting them.

And Maria does realise she tends to hurt other people, but she's not sure why, since she completely lacks the ability to know that people don't always want to hear the truth, don't want to see their true nature. And she hates herself for this. She really wants to change, wants to improve - she wants to become the kind of person who can like herself and who others can like, too, she just doesn't know how to do it. And so she concludes that "the single thing that I can do for the people around me is probably not doing anything at all." She wants to reach out, wants to be with other people, wants to like herself and wants people to like her, she just doesn't know how to go about it. And so she continues her habits, continues being a 'devil'.

Aside from that there are a few more random things, mostly things that make Maria actually pretty cute despite her usual blunt and slightly cold exterior. She loves all sorts of frilly things - the more frills and bows on a piece of clothing, the better. At one point in the series she gets a pair of really frilly shoes with bows and even goes as far as naming them. She also likes sweets to a point where other people find it much too sweet and then she still asks if they would like some more sugar on it. And finally even Maria of all people is able to get embarassed when pushed into certain situations - especially when it involves love, considering she actually does display tsundere-like tendencies over that.

All, in all, Maria Kawai is a beautiful devil - but a devil who just wants to improve and fit in.

RP Sample:

Walking home one day, you find a paper sack on the side of the road. You discover it to contain a large sum of money, all in unmarked bills. What do you do?
Leave it. I have no use for money, after all, and picking up that sort of thing is usually only something that gets you into trouble. Even if you would just hand it in to the police fair and square, they might accuse you of stealing it yourself in the end. If there is a paper sack with unmarked bills, the chance is low that there are actually any good intentions of any sort behind it. But if I would have to assume a scenario in which I was actually forced to take the money along with me, I would use it to repay the nuns at my old school for everything they have done to me. At least then we'll be even, and I'll be able to close a chapter of my life.

What is going to be your next adventure? Or, what was your last adventure?
I've heard people talking before about how life is an adventure. In that case my life right now would be my current adventure, making death the next adventure. However, if it's on a smaller scale, I would have to call my life at St. Katria's an 'adventure'. I'm not sure if it's the proper way to describe it, since in books adventures always involve long journeys and treasure. My next adventure at Achtenberg could be called an adventure in that sense, since the journey to this place is long and I do believe there's treasure to be found. A new chance to maybe become someone who people can like, who people want to be with. A new chance during which I might be able to not corrupt someone.

You are walking alone at night when you notice a strange man following you. What do you do?
Ask him about his intentions, of course. I'm sure some people would call me an idiot for doing that, but if he is following me he might as well state his intentions so we can get that over with, right? I can't keep running away like a coward, after all, and in this day and age it's not difficult to get help on the streets if it's needed if you would shout. Then again, maybe the man is the coward to start with, if he would follow me rather than just directly approach me over the reason he's following me.

for hollyheights

OOC INFORMATION
Player: Jelle
Age: 20
Personal Journal: devilism
Contact Info: email: queeningsquare[at]gmail[dot]com, aim: Lunixhime, plurk: queeningsquare
Other Charactors: N/A.

IC INFORMATION
Characters Name: Maria Kawai
Age: High school age, so about 16 or 17, I'll personally be playing her as being 16.
Canon Point: Start of series (chapter 1)
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Orientation: Never explicitly stated, but since she likes a guy in canon I'm inclined to say she's straight.

History: ( trigger warning: mentioned rape and suicide. )

Maria's mother got pregnant with Maria in middle school, she was only fourteen years old back then. She was assaulted by a U.S. naval officer and got pregnant because of it. Because of who the perpetrator was the incident was all over the news, her real name was published and a lot of rumors spread around. People got all curious about her. But she still decided to just have Maria no matter how she got pregnant with her, and she didn't try to blame anyone nor complain even once. She just put up with everything and tried to raise Maria cheerfully by herself despite her age. But Maria, being the way she is, was a very bluntly honest person even as a kid, and always told the truth ('like some innocent little devil'). And so the young Maria kept asking her mother questions: "Mama, why do you pretend to have fun every day?" "Why do you think that Maria is a failure?" Sooner or later her mother couldn't take it anymore, and she planned on killing both herself and Maria. But in the end she couldn't take killing Maria, so she only killed herself while holding her child. Maria was so young that she surpressed all memories of that incident, and only remembers that her mother died but not the circumstances. (It's likely though that if someone else would ever hold her in the same way, the memories of that tragedy might slowly start to come back to her.)

After that Maria has lived by herself, with the aid from the nuns of a nearby church. Soon she started attending the religious all-girls school that belonged with those nuns in that city too, St. Katria. But Maria was someone who didn't quite fit in at all, she was always a little outside the group, just on her own. Still there was one girl - Anna - who was cheerful, bright and popular, and despite her own popularity she still chose to talk a lot and hang out with Maria. They became inseperatable, always talking or singing together and seemingly having fun. But one day Anna lost her voice, becoming unable to speak. From that day on Maria vowed to become her 'voice', to speak in her place no matter the circumstances. But Anna started to become more and more bullied despite her earlier status - because of hanging out with Maria and now being a mute. Maria tried to talk the sisters into stopping the bullying, but they just said Anna should ignore it. In the end Maria got so angry at the nuns who were saying that, that she hit one of them, one of her teachers. She was promptly expelled from the school for that, and when she tried to visit Anna afterwards the other girl would barely talk to her, she only mouthed the words "you corrupt others" at Maria (since she blamed Maria for speaking up and hitting the sisters, since she never realised she was bullied before that, and she didn't want Maria to speak for her from the very start), causing Maria to run away and leave everything behind her.

It was difficult to still find a school for the girl without family or parents after that, even though the cause of her being expelled had been unjust. Still, she was able to get into a new high school where she could make a whole new start - or so she hoped. And that's where the series starts with in chapter 1.

Appearance: here and here.

Personality: The easiest way canon itself uses to sum up her personality is by constantly saying that Maria Kawai is a devil.

That doesn't mean she's necessarily a bad person, though. But she often seems to come across that way to other people during first impressions. Maria is beautiful and therefore tends to stand out (especially with her bright red hair), but at the same time she seems very cold and distant, making her difficult to approach. Even when talking to her she will most likely be very to the point, and this is what made people give up on her in her old school.

But why is Maria exactly so hard to approach? It's since she's blunt and honest up to a painful level. Maria will always tell the truth (except when she's getting embarassed, that is when she starts showing more tsundere-like tendencies in which she will avoid the subject or even lie a little about her own feelings) to other people, no matter how painful that truth might be or even when other people don't want to face that truth. When she spots Meguro smoking outside a classroom, she tells him 'if you smoke too much, you'll die early' in her blunt fashion without even thinking badly of it.

This tendency goes hand in hand with the fact that Maria has an uncanny natural ability to see through other people. When other people are speaking, it's always easy for her to guess the true intention behind their words, and she can learn what people are like through very little interactions with them. Maria can practically see the true nature of people and words (it's something in her personality rather than a supernatural ability, though) and has been able to do so ever since she was little, even seeing as a little kid that her mother was just pretending to be cheerful when she was actually feeling miserable about her own circumstances. And with her bluntness and ability to see people's true nature combined, she's able to see both the best and worst in people and immediately tell them about it. This is exactly why Maria is seen as a devil - she is like a mirror that reflects the most ugly parts of you to you.

But as said above, Maria is not a bad person or someone who really wants to hurt others. In fact, she actually wants to help others. She only comes across as a devil since she bluntly tells people about what they really mean or really feel, but she's trying to help them by showing it. What Maria lacks, and thus what her main weakness is, is the ability to know how people would feel about seeing their worst sides being reflected to them. She doesn't understand that people would rather hear a white lie than the harsh truth, and so she keeps on being painfully honest to people, thinking that she's helping them even when she's actually hurting them.

And Maria does realise she tends to hurt other people, but she's not sure why, since she completely lacks the ability to know that people don't always want to hear the truth, don't want to see their true nature. And she hates herself for this. She really wants to change, wants to improve - she wants to become the kind of person who can like herself and who others can like, too, she just doesn't know how to do it. And so she concludes that "the single thing that I can do for the people around me is probably not doing anything at all." She wants to reach out, wants to be with other people, wants to like herself and wants people to like her, she just doesn't know how to go about it. And so she continues her habits, continues being a 'devil'.

Aside from that there are a few more random things, mostly things that make Maria actually pretty cute despite her usual blunt and slightly cold exterior. She loves all sorts of frilly things - the more frills and bows on a piece of clothing, the better. At one point in the series she gets a pair of really frilly shoes with bows and even goes as far as naming them. She also likes sweets to a point where other people find it much too sweet and then she still asks if they would like some more sugar on it. And finally even Maria of all people is able to get embarassed when pushed into certain situations - especially when it involves love, considering she actually does display tsundere-like tendencies over that.

All, in all, Maria Kawai is a beautiful devil - but a devil who just wants to improve and fit in.

Abilites: None at all! Maria is a normal human without any superpowers, the closest thing you could call a 'special power' she has is that she's very perceptive to people and can easily see their true nature or the intention behind their words. It's a personality trait though rather than an actual power.

Other: N/A.

SAMPLES
First Person: here, here and here!

Third Person: It was strange how, after even the smallest occurence that made her happy, the world would suddenly seem so 'lovely'.

It had been a small thing the day before. Even in this place Maria had gone to school with relatively little expectations. Her previous school had been a huge disappointment, after all, since no matter how much she tried to reach out she was never able to make true contact with anyone. And the only girl who reached back to her, the one girl she tried to help more than anything.. she was 'corrupted' by her. Even now it was still echoing through her head over and over again, despite the fact that the girl said it without any kind of voice.

You corrupt others.

So no doubt, even in this school, even in this place.. she would corrupt others. She couldn't expect anything, any contact, any friendly face, anyone being kind, because nobody would smile at a devil. No one would want to be corrupted. And if someone would be kind after all, there was that fear that she might think tomorrow would be the same, that tomorrow someone would be kind once again even though it might not be the case at all. And slowly but surely she might corrupt another person, just like she did to Anna - losing both her voice and her cheerful spirit.

But there still had been someone kind. Just one girl in her classroom with a bright smile, talking to her as if she was just like everyone else, accepting her for who she was - a girl with a beautiful conviction behind her words, something Maria always was able to see more than anything else. The kind of person completely opposite of her, almost an angel, the kind of person who could truly make other people happy instead of corrupt them.

And surely that person made her feel so happy. Even now, on her way back 'home' from school, everything looked just that little bit more beautiful to her, just that little bit more 'lovely'. Even the smallest of things like the way a certain rock was lying in the middle of the grass or the way a man was haggling with the salesman at a market stall seemed like something beautiful rather than something ordinary.

The small things in life becoming 'lovely' just because of a small interaction, because of a moment of happiness.. Maria couldn't help but think about how wonderful that thought was.

Maybe, on her way home, she would stop by a clothing store and buy a frilly dress with the little money she had saved up so far.

Surely it was okay this once. It was a lovely mood, after all.

OTHER
Housing Request?: N/A.
Did you read the rules and FAQ?: Yes!