Amatomnes App

[forherprince]

PLAYER

» Journal: forherprince

» Birthdate/Age: May 1983 (28)

» Characters Played: Himura Tomoe

CHARACTER

» Name: Lan Fan//Ran Fan (will be discussing preference with cast)

» Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

» Reference: http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Lan_Fan

» Canon Point: chapter 108 as the Xingese set out for Xing

» Gender: Female

» Age: 16 (approximate)

» Orientation: Unknown, but leaning toward heterosexual. Lan Fan is depicted in canon as being extremely dedicated to serving Ling, to the point where it seems to go a step or two beyond professional. It is her duty to guard the prince from harm, not necessarily retaliate for verbal slights (without orders anyway)—as she is shown doing twice (once with a thrown kunai, and a gain by driving a short sword down through the ceiling of a moving train). Outside of what first appears as a girlish crush on Ling (and later deep devotion, whether romantic or not), Lan Fan shows no other indications of any attraction to anyone, man or woman.

» Personality: The fundamental character point for Lan Fan is her sense of duty and discipline. Her family has served the Imperial Yao family for generations and from a young age the importance of that role has been instilled in her, and she has taken it wholly to heart. It is not a matter of appearances—their duty consists of one of the most important and most dangerous jobs in both serving and more importantly, protecting the royal Yao family—particularly given that the royal heir is under constant threat of assassination by rival clans. Failure does not merely result in losing face, it potentially results in the injury or death of the heir.

Lan Fan takes her role as retainer with deadly seriousness, prepared to follow any order given by Ling and also to make any sacrifice to ensure his safety. This is brought into crystal clarity in canon when she cuts off her own injured arm in order to create a diversion to save both herself and Ling from Wrath after Ling refused to leave her behind to save himself, despite the necessity of his survival for their clan. Her conviction to serving and protecting Ling is staggering. After the ordeal with Wrath, as soon as she’d received medical treatment for the dismemberment, not even an hour out of the surgery she inquired about automail, as she would be useless to her prince with only one arm. Later, after the news of Ling’s body being taken over by the homunculus Greed this determination only increases—considering something has befallen the prince now and she blames herself for not being strong enough to have been there to protect him from it—and when informed of the one year recovery time after the prosthetic surgery (which… is actually several years, however Edward Elric did it in one) she announces that she will do it in six months. She made good on that word, returning as soon as she was remotely physically able to, refusing to be deterred by any pain or discomfort the new limb caused in order to fulfill her duty to Ling.

In dealing with other people Lan Fan is standoffish. She would prefer to avoid interacting with others as much as possible—in general it is better that her existence isn’t noticed simply because it makes her job easier—and when she does there is an obvious air of disdain. This is due to two factors: first, she absolutely does not trust strangers and second, she doesn’t seem particularly fond of foreigners at all. The first point is not difficult to see: with the role that has in life in Xing she cannot afford to trust anyone. There are far too many threats to the royal family to afford trust—especially not to strangers. The second point is mostly due to culture clash. Considering her role in life and the tiered society she comes from there are very clear and understood ways for people to act—particularly toward royalty. Lan Fan’s (and her grandfather Fu’s) initial disdainful reactions to the Amestrians come from their treatment of Ling and stem from a very clear thought of ‘these people do not now their place’ (which is fairly clear in the very first chapter where they interact with the Elric brothers and… state as much). The grating against what, for her, is an accepted norm causes a negative reaction and results in what could be interpreted as a sense of superiority when dealing with, what to her, are backward foreigners.

This changes by a degree throughout the manga—particularly after the loss of her arm—because at that point the people she was interacting with proved themselves worthy of her gratitude and respect in the way they found her medical help. After this event, while no less private, that air of superiority and brashness falls away (though this may be partially due to her perceived failure in losing her arm) only leaving the conviction in serving her prince. During this recovery time the man to which she feels the most gratitude and humility is Doctor Knox, the man who initially treated her injury and watched over her in his own home during the first days of her recovery with absolutely no gain for himself. It was also Dr. Knox’s recount of his experience during and after the Ishvalan civil war that truly impact her in what is happening not only in Amestris but in her own country as well, so much that his words come back to her repeatedly: “This is one old geezer who doesn’t like the sight of children trying to kill each other.” The experience combined with the loss of her grandfather at the Promised Day bring enough of a change in Lan Fan that she goes so far as to make a request of Ling, something completely unheard of (which can most certainly be deducted from the look on Ling’s face when she utters the statement) and asks that he not punish the other 49 clans when he assumes the throne as Emperor—because she, just like Dr. Knox, is tired of seeing people kill each other.

Coming away from the heavier aspects of Lan Fan’s personality and her role as an imperial retainer, when she is unmasked she is quite easily flustered and shy—particularly in regards to Ling, suggesting that there is more than simple devotion and loyalty to her lord there. Besides unwilling to share personal and emotional thoughts it would also appear she might be incapable of it with the way she blushes furiously and becomes tongue-tied whenever something remotely rattles her. The manner in which we see this occur is mostly in regards to Ling—whether it is in reaction to him, to things others have said or done in regards to him, or thoughts to what he will think about a given situation. She is very aware of this and it is one of the reasons she prefers to keep her face covered with her yin mask—she doesn’t have to worry about the blush on her face giving away the fluster that she is able to hide in her posture. Aside from this, she can also be a hot-head, best depicted in early canon when she loses her temper while fighting Edward Elric after he begins to insult Ling. Her disciplined manner and training go out the window as she angrily attacks with strong, obvious and easy to read attacks. She threatens the Elrics several times outside of a fight when any insult is made to Ling as well—generally offering some kind of warning attack to deter any bad-mouthing (including one thrown kunai and later a blade being driven down through the ceiling of a moving train…).

In regards to the setting itself, Lan Fan will be utterly outraged. First and foremost, she has been taken away from her role as retainer again, leaving Ling completely unprotected after her grandfather’s death (of course he has May Chang and the panda with him, but that will not be of much comfort because it is her responsibility to protect him and she will not trust anyone else to do it in her stead). Second, it is placing her in a nefarious position as a young unmarried woman from a time period and culture in which sex out of wedlock is a matter of extreme dishonor. Aside from that, in her role as a retainer she has not acted as a woman might and it will be almost foreign for her to pull herself out of an almost genderless position to confront it. She will reject the concept of the collars and the concept of the island with ferocity, that distain she displayed to foreigners in early canon returning in full force as she is suddenly caught in a land of degenerative heathens. However, her honor and duty as a retainer comes before her honor and duty as a woman. In the face of death, or worse, uselessness, she will do what is necessary to survive and remain useful in her role, whether Ling is present on the island or not. She is a woman who had enough conviction to sever her own arm in order to protect and serve her prince. If dishonoring herself in the setting is the only way that she can ensure that, then she will do it, if begrudgingly.

» Appearance: Lan Fan will be aged up by 2-3 years (her canon age is not stated, it is generally assumed she is roughly the same age as Ling). She is a petite, though athletic, woman. She will not have gained any height, but her form would have become just a hint more womanly, barely enough for anyone but her to notice (which she will because it will be just enough to change in her center of gravity). Lan Fan is approximately 5’3”, Asian in appearance with dark brown eyes and black hair that falls to her shoulder blades when down but is usually worn in a high top knot with bangs and loose strands framing her face. The most notable aspect of her appearance is her left arm, which is a fully-functional mechanical prosthetic limb known as automail. She regularly wears black hooded clothing that covers her entire body save open-fingered gloves as well as a mask adorning the yin symbol that covers her entire face.

» Suitability: While Lan Fan is still young (and still a virgin), she is no stranger to adult concepts. She has been trained as a bodyguard from a young age and exposed to the most violent aspects of life in Xing. She has not been a child for a long time and is extremely mature with developed sense of cause and effect that most people her age have not yet developed. While she has not expressly been exposed to sexual situations she is not without knowledge of what sex is, its purpose, its consequences or its place in society. As a retainer for the Yao Clan’s royal family she has first-hand knowledge of the Xingese Harem and the role sex plays in her culture. She is in a place to understand the nature of the setting, what is expected, and fully capable of making informed decisions regarding it. This doesn’t mean it will be easy, only that she is capable. Added difficulty will be at play due to social standards regarding sexual relations outside of wedlock and also her view of her gender. In her position as a retainer she becomes genderless behind her mask and garbed in her uniform and armor. To be in the position she is in she has had to reject many social norms that would be in place for a girl her age in order to be taken seriously and be given her position in the first place. She likely has come to the conclusion that she is likely not to marry due to this (and the physical deformity of missing a limb certainly would not help this, no matter how wonderful her automail is). The setting will force her to acknowledge that yes, she is still a woman and present her with situations that she likely has assumed she would never actually experience as a retainer. Bottom line, no matter what, Lan Fan is a survivor and her determination to live to protect her prince will drive her to make do with and persevere in any situation, whether it is crossing a ruthless desert, severing her own limb in a moment of desperation, or making do in a perverted goddess’ prison-island.

SAMPLES

» "amatomnes" First-Person Network Entry:

[The feed comes on to take in the visage of a… well… fairly daunting looking mask with a black yin simple on the forehead, all that’s visible of the person is their eyes and hint of their mouth through the openings of the mask. Otherwise the figure’s head is covered in a black hood which matches the rest of their clothing. The person’s eyes bore into the device, their lips pressed to a tight line. The figure seems to be warring with themselves over whether or not to speak—or at least the stare off with the device would suggest it.]

This… is a communication device… [She has seen telephones before, but they looked absolutely nothing like this.] If it is working… I need to know my location. Where… or what is this place?

[Her lips press to that same thin line as she is wars with herself, trying to find the balance between giving out just enough information to gain her answers without betraying too much. She did not know where she was or who else might be there. As desperately as she simply wants to call out for Ling, she can’t. If members of the other clans were present she could not alert them to his presence if he was there somewhere.]

How was I brought here, and why?

[Where was Master Ling? Why was it her and not him? Why wasn’t she harmed? Why was she alive? This made no logical sense!]

[There was no offer of thanks in exchange for the information. Her expression remained hard and unyielding behind the mask and after a moment she ended the feed the way she was shown… and waited. For now, it was all she could do until she gathered some kind of lead.]

» "amatomneslogs" Third-Person Prose Entry:

It had been a long time since Lan Fan had had a restful sleep. Restful, no. The life of an imperial retainer was one of sacrifice and discipline, and for the last year during journey to and hardships in Amestris it had been even more so. She had not had slept well since before they’d left Xing. She had slept from sheer exhaustion, and the drugged sleep that followed her automail surgery and rehabilitation—but actual restful sleep? No. Perhaps that was why she was so slow in unfolding herself from it. A selfish moment of indulgence before she returned to rigid discipline, to the knowledge of her grandfather’s death, to the struggle they would enter into on their return to Xing.

But it was only a moment, until her mind came to consciousness enough to be aware. Aware enough to quickly shrug off whatever pleasant dreams had permeated her being and made her want to remain in sleep to realize just how much was wrong about her current situation. She seemed to tick the details off of an invisible list: she was lying down, she was in a strange bed, she was in an unknown location and she was unclothed. She tried to reach out with her chi, to read the dragon’s pulse and found that she could not sense anyone else there—but that didn’t seem right. No, it went beyond being alone, she couldn’t seem to sense the pulse at all. That realization left her terribly unsettled, her insides twisting with unease as she finally opened her eyes to take in the Greco-Roman oriented room. Lan Fan sat up slowly, alert to any other movement that might have come in the room, only to find none. She felt the smallest bit of friction against her neck and raised her flesh hand to her throat, noting that there seemed to be a strap of leather there, adorned with spikes very much similar to the straps wrapped around the wrist of her automail. She continued her movement, her focus remaining on her surroundings as she slowly moved to her feet, prepared to counter attack with her bare hands if any sort of movement came her way—but none did.

What had happened? The last she could remember she, Ling and the Chang princess had been setting out to cross the great desert back to Xing. She wracked her mind, but could come up with nothing. She couldn’t even remember going to sleep—only the make-shift funeral ceremony they had held for her grandfather.

Her eyes found the foot of the bed, and quickly saw that her clothing and weapons had all been set there in a neat pile, waiting for her. What was this? It didn’t seem like it could be a kidnapping—what would the purpose be? She was of no importance herself—it would have made much more sense for her to have been killed if anything. And even if it was the former, why on earth would her weapons be left for her. It made no sense, none at all. She frowned deeply, and finally moved to dress herself as quickly as possible, ignoring the way her shoulder screamed with the movement, the damage she’d done to her automail port on the promised day still fresh. Once she was at least partially clothed, her breast bindings and pants in place she finally called out: “Young master!? May Chang!?” She listened and reached out with her chi as she finished dressing—her shirt and then her armor, then finally her yin mask. There was silence in regard to both. The weapons quickly found their way into her clothing: kunai, senbon, homemade bombs and grenades—it was perhaps amazing that she managed to hide so much on her frame.

Then, one kunai in hand, she made to exit the room, intent on finding answers one way or another.