Lan Fan

PLAYER INFO.
✖ Handle: CaityCat
✖ Contact: Gryphcat
✖ Are You Over 16: Y
✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: N/A

CHARACTER INFO.
✖ Character Name: Lan Fan
✖ Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood/manga edition), Just after Ling/Greed's defense of the gate at Buckaneer's request
✖ Character Appearance: Full-body with automail, Without the mask
✖ Character Age: 15
✖ Pick A Number: 147, 792

✖ Canon Setting: The world of Fullmetal Alchemist could be most easily summed up as "1920's Europe with steampunk magic". Amestris, the country the series is set in, is analogous to Germany and/or England in most respects; mass media is in the form of newspapers and radio, trains criss-cross the countryside while cars rattle around the more wealthy cities, and electricity is a luxury not yet afforded to most of those outside of those large cities. Still, there are some differences, such as the culture being much more feminist than the same time period in our world, and a few other 'modern' ideals and styles. And then there is the subject of alchemy.

The biggest difference between our world and that with Amestris resides in is the science (yes, science) of alchemy. Closely linked to chemistry, alchemy uses the natural forces of energy laying dormant in the world to fuel and force chemical and structural changes to matter. In the simplest of ways, it could be used to fix a broken vase or change plain tin into pure gold. Of course, there are laws made by both man and by nature limiting it's uses, the most well known of which is that of Equivalent Exchange: to create, an equal value must be destroyed. One cannot create a spear from a single pebble, and the original matter itself must have enough similarities to the end result. Of course, it is all much more complicated than this, and those who study the art generally devote most of their lives to the craft.

Alchemy has lent itself to many advances within Amestris, more notably within weaponry and medical science than anything else. One such advancement is the creation of automail, metal prosthetics that are connected directly to the nervous system of the user. Such prosthetics are of course highly expensive and difficult to acquire, but those of the highest quality are near-equal to a natural limb and can even have extra 'surprises' built into the design. Outside of the automail mecca that is Rush Valley, they seem to be fairly uncommon and more often than not used by soldiers rather than civilians.

Underneath this surface look at Amestris is a darker truth, however. A puppet-master plays the strings of the military government, forcing wars in strategic places across the country, creating 'crests of blood' upon the face of the land. To this purpose artificial humans have been created, a feat thought impossible and taboo by the world at large. In secret they foster these conflicts, and make sure no one in the public ever find out, or spreads word should they realize the truth. It is for the purposes of a great alchemical ritual that the country was even founded, and soon the man who calls himself 'Father' will reap his reward. Of course there is opposition, individuals that Father needs alive as sacrifices who are fighting to try and stop this, but whether they succeed or not...well, that'd be spoilers, wouldn't it?

Of more importance to Lan Fan in particular is the eastern country of Xing, her homeland. A very insular empire, it is to China and eastern Asia at large as Amestris is to Europe--similar in many respects, but with it's own quirks of culture and odd science. Not much is revealed of Xing other than the structure of it's ruling family (an Emperor selected from the heirs of the 50 clans, well steeped in intrigue and politics) and it's use of alchemy (mostly in medicine, and with methods wildly different from anything seen in Amestris), but there is enough to get an idea.

✖ Character History: FMA wiki entry

✖ Character Personality: Lan Fan is in many ways a product of her raising; it was determined at a very young age that she would become the Yao heir's personal guard alongside her grandfather, Fuu, and from the time she could walk she has been groomed to that position. Soft-spoken, subservient, and always attentive, she prides herself in her abilities and will not accept anything less than perfection from herself. In trying to live up to what her clan desired of her, she lost much of her self-worth and in many ways thinks of herself only as a weapon to be wielded against the enemies of the Yao Clan and the Xing Empire. She still holds some personal pride, however, and what little she feels she deserves is clung to bitterly, and any slights will be remembered for a long, long time.

The mask she most often wears (in the non-literal sense) is that of the stoic shadow, always at the beck and call of her master and desiring nothing more than to serve him well. Not all of that is a lie, but the stoicism quickly begins to fall apart if she is thrust into a situation she doesn't know how to handle. Put a knife in her hand and point her at an enemy, she won't blink an eye; ask her to talk about her own feelings and needs, and she'll stammer and try to claim such things are unimportant. She is very awkward socially, and a large part of the reason she clings to both physical and emotional masks is because she has very little idea how to deal with real interactions with others. Lan Fan's social circle has always been small, and she is much more comfortable keeping her own council than chatting with a friend.

Despite the flaws of her upbringing, Lan Fan is still a kind girl at her core, caring deeply about those she considers friends and willing to go to great lengths to keep them safe and happy. The most obvious case of this is Ling Yao, but she also clearly cares for Fuu, Edward, Alphonse, Mei, and even Greed by the end of it all. Though ruthless, she is far from heartless and will do what she can to make her friends happy. A perfect example is her request after the fight on the Promised Day to Ling, to spare the other clans when he ascends to the throne. Such a thing is unheard of, but her still-budding friendship with Mei is precious enough that she is willing to defy both tradition and the roles of their culture to ask Ling for this mercy.

Lan Fan's loyalty is another of her outstanding virtues, though it can sometimes be a flaw as well. She has pledged her life to the service of her prince, and will do everything in her power to ensure he is safe and accomplishes his goals. Her devotion certainly runs at least somewhat into the romantic strain, but any feeling on her part are firmly squashed beneath her sense of duty (or so she tells herself, at least). Any attachments on her part are always secondary to this, but they are no less strong for it. She values her few friends deeply; even in the midst of trying to retrieve Ling from his 'imprisonment' by the homunculus Greed, Lan Fan and Fuu both put as much effort as they could spare into helping Edward and Alphonse save their country from the plans of the homunculii's Father.

Lan Fan is not the sort of person to run from danger, but she isn't prone to running in without some sort of plan. She is resourceful and will use whatever tool or chance comes to hand--and cast off anything that she can't use. Her sacrifice of an injured arm to throw off a pursuer proves the lengths she's willing to go to in order to ensure she and her allies make it out alive. This is the sort of thing she has been trained to do her entire life--in order to fend off assassins, you must always have a plan of action and never hesitate in what you must do.

REVISIONS: In the times that Lan Fan is fully immersed in her service as Ling's guard, she is not so mindless as one might expect in her duties. Certainly she will place Ling's life above her own, but this doesn't mean she will allow herself to be injured or killed out of hand--were she to throw herself away so carelessly, she would leave Ling without a loyal servant (and when she is confident enough to admit it, a close friend). She is shown to fight alongside Ling as an equal in combat, but while she knows that Ling would fight to keep her safe just as she protects him, she never expects it. When she took the blow from Bradley that ruined her arm, her first words were for him to cast her aside and keep himself alive. She would follow nearly any order Ling gave, but she is used to him giving her a general order ('stay with this person', or 'guard this room') while allowing her to decide the details of what is done. That being said, most of her decisions in that capacity are made with Ling's physical and mental well-being in mind.

The two sides of Lan Fan's self, the loyal bodyguard and the young girl who just wants to be loved, are mingled and yet separate in a very confusing way. One side fuels she other, but Lan Fan does her best to deny to herself and others that anything except the 'mask' she wears exists at all. She 'shouldn't want' Ling to care about her outside of her position as a vassal, and yet it's her craving for validation from him that drives her to excel as she has. Lan Fan 'doesn't care' what happens to anyone outside of her clan, and yet she fights alongside the Amestrians to try and wear down Father's defenses with just as much fervor as they do. In reality much of her self-delusions she has built up only survived because the only people she has allowed close to her until recently are Ling and Fuu, and even then it's only Ling that really tries to gently pry those harmful ideals away. Certainly he never tries to dictate her every action, and trusts her to back him up and pull him out of danger when he needs it. Until Ling became friends with the Elrics, she hadn't really been forced to realize how her idealized self wasn't who she was, nor who she should be.

As those barriers do finally begin to break down, we don't really get to see in canon the struggles as Lan Fan tries to reconcile what her new friends have made her realize and how she has suppressed her emotions and desires to fulfill her duties. While by the end of the series it seems she hasn't yet fully accepted that her emotions are valuable and of worth, she is on the way to accepting that. As she unfolds from her defensive shell her conscious motivations in performing her duties start to shift from being her Prince's perfect weapon to fighting to protect those she cares for and loves. Her hands are already well-bloodied; to her mind another several deaths on her soul will not change her worth, but she will at least be sure that if they must be taken it is for a more noble reason. Her 'true' self is still something she isn't comfortable showing to others, but the mask is slowly becoming less and less of what she hides behind and wishes to be. Still, her self-worth and emotional stability are on rocky ground, and if hurt she is still liable to retreat into that shell and tell herself that she 'isn't meant' to have the same privileges as others. It will take a lot of work and a gentle hand to help Lan Fan completely heal and let herself accept the kindnesses of others.

✖ Character Powers & Skills: Lan Fan may be a normal human, but she is a very highly skilled one. Ever since she could walk she has been trained in the martial arts native to Xing, a fluid and graceful style that leaves one's foes wondering just how they wound up on their back with a knife in their throat. In addition to hand-to-hand, she uses kunai, various small bombs of differing effects (flash-bang, smoke, run-of-the-mill kaboom), and her automail has an internal blade that extends out of her elbow. She has been shown to be on par with Edward Elric, who is himself quite skilled, and it was only her temper that allowed him to win--which is certainly her biggest weakness. She has also held her own in a fight against Gluttony in the full darkness of night, and managed to kill him enough times that his regeneration was beginning to slow. Important to note here is that she is able to see in the dark; while her night-vision isn't perfect, she has trained in fighting without light and it allows her to at least perceive her surroundings.

Lan Fan also has formidable skill in stealth, perfectly able to remain hidden until she wishes to be seen. Her first appearance in the series is when Ling calls for both her and Fuu at Rush Valley in the middle of the day with few apparent places to conceal themselves. They were fast enough to seemingly appear out of thin air, already with blades at the Elric brother's throats. She is also quite agile and able to climb and jump to impressive heights with little assistance.

Aside from these more mundane skills, Lan Fan is also heir to a unique ability of the Xingese royalty and their guards--the Veins of the Dragon. In essence they are able to sense the life-force of other beings, most notably humans. They are able to sense (to a limited degree) the presence, location, and if trained to some health problems brought on my poor condition of the body. All life-presences still feel the same overall, so they cannot tell just who would be sneaking up behind them, however. The homunculii, on the other hand, are like a large crowd of people all crammed into a tiny, tiny area thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, and thus are incredibly easy for one with Lan Fan's skills to track. While an argument could be made that this 'extra presence' could also be applied to certain more-than-mortal individuals, I'll leave that up to both mods and players of any such characters to decide that. This isn't a very long-ranged ability, and I would assume that it will not work reliably beyond a 100-foot radius at maximum, likely even less effective if many people are in the area--rather like the trouble of counting a bunch of jellybeans in a jar.

CHARACTER SAMPLES.
✖ First Person POV: Lan Fan does not like giant balls of death. Or Greed.

✖ Third Person POV:

Gone. He was gone.

Lan Fan knelt over her grandfather's body, struggling to hold back the tears stinging her eyes. A warrior of Xing must not falter. Always must their eyes be upon their duty, never looking back towards the desires of their heart. Even over the empty shell of his body, she still could not keep this lesson to heart. How could she, when the pain of loss so wracked her soul that she longed to weep out her grief?

Much as she wished to shut the world out, she couldn't afford to. Ling and the monster controlling his body were out there, fulfilling the last oath they gave to the dying Amestrian soldier. She should be there, beside him, protecting him, but he had told her to stay behind and protect those here.

A new presence faded into her perception--a clack of boots on stone, and a signature of energy that hadn't been there before. Quickly she whirled about to face them, kunai held ready, but at first glance they did not seem an enemy. The woman was dressed as the other solders, blue uniform with a white jacket left hanging open. Yet unlike every other soldier here, she she paid the clamor from the gate's entrance no attention at all--instead her eyes were fixed upon Lan Fan. She tensed up, suspicious and not willing to fail in her duties again.

The woman stopped several paces away, noting Lan Fan's aggressive stance with a faint smirk. "Well. Not one to let their guard down, are you?"

She grit her teeth, glaring at the woman from behind her mask. "What do you want?"

"At the moment? Your attention, and I seem to have that." That sent another spark of anger through her, but the woman didn't smile this time. "I'll make this simple. I represent an organization that specializes in the destruction of planets, and yours is soon to come up on the chopping block. However, there are several individuals here that are of use to us, yourself among them. So I've come to offer you a deal: work for us, or face the destruction of everything you know."

Surprise made Lan Fan's guard slacken, but the woman didn't make a move. This...this was insane, it couldn't be possible. "You're lying. There's no possible way--"

"Isn't the catchphrase of the one wearing your prince 'nothing is impossible'? How many times have you seen things you could not have imagined before since coming to this country?" The stranger's thin eyebrows raised. "Can you afford to ignore this right now?"

Lan Fan winced slightly, glancing back to the gate entrance. Ling had ordered her to stay--but no, that wasn't quite right, was it? He said to protect these people. She would still be doing that if she were to go with this woman, wouldn't she? And more than that--she would still be protecting him, against something they may not be able to defeat on their own...but it still felt like a betrayal, to leave his side when he needed her the most.

And surely she wouldn't be given enough time to properly request his permission. Ancestors, let him forgive me this slight... "Fine. If you swear this will keep my land safe, I'll accept."

The stranger smiled, and it was not a nice one. "In that case, let's get this started."

CHARACTER ITEMS.
✖ Pick a Team: Orange or Green is likely where she would fit in the best. With Green, she is quite obviously a capable fighter and used to following orders, though working in a group is unfamiliar and possibly a detriment. Another problem here would be Greed's presence(? aside from that Gray stuff going on) on the team--since he still inhabits Ling's body, even if that particular soul isn't in there at the moment, she would be very likely to protect him even if it flew in the face of orders. Orange, on the other hand, plays into her skills in stealth while still having opportunity to utilize her combat capabilities. While that would be a good argument for Red as well, I feel that Red's additional focus on 'internal threats' would make Lan Fan balk as she would view other recruits as fellow captives, in a sense. With Orange she would be acting as a form of support to the rest of the teams, which would fly a lot better with her.
✖ Reason for Joining the CDC: Mainly, so that Xing doesn't explode into itty-bitty-bits. The basics of the consequences were laid out for her, and the threat that CDC was closing in was the only way she would have agreed to leave Ling alone for as long as the mission would take. She'll be viewing this as another facet of protecting the Prince (and soon to be Emperor), and so will obey orders unless they fly directly in the face of her morals.
✖ Mission Freebie: Lan Fan will request a Philosopher's Stone. If she would be told that a request like that would not be avaiable immediately, she would instead ask they restore her arm. Otherwise, feel free to screw her over with the wait-time!
✖ Personal Item or Weapon: Her automail, since she...kind of needs that, guys. Amputee, here.

✖ Character Inventory:

x1 set of clothing (shirt, pants, hood, gloves, boots, undies)
x1 automail prosthesis/weapon (left arm, hidden blade comes out from elbow)
x1 mask
x1 leather chest armor (confiscated)
x5 flashbang (effective in 15-foot radius, confiscated)
x5 smoke bomb (generates 10-foot cloud, confiscated)
x5 tear gas grenade (generates 10-foot cloud, confiscated)
x5 grenade (fragmentation in 25-foot radius, confiscated)
x5 flare (confiscated)
x10 kunai (confiscated)