мarιanna "мonтѕ" мedιna (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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sweethymns2012-09-17 02:15 pm
shadowflower) wrote in sweethymns2012-09-17 02:15 pm
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Application for ryansgulch
☞ Player Information;
Name: Mai
Player Journal:formidable
Age: 20
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
sweethymns, AIM- rainsweets, Email- sweet_tai_tea@yahoo.com
Other characters currently played at Ryan's Gulch: N/A
☞ Character Information;
Character Name: Marianna "Monts" Medina
Canon: Original Character
Canon point: Monts will be arriving in Rapture after she and her talking cat Fran drop their psychic friend, Kiva, off into an esper commune and she spends her time being withdrawn after her father makes her take a year off school.
Setting: Marianna's world is very much just like the 21st century as we know of it today with all the technology and history up until around 2008-2009 (Monts herself, lives in the good ol' U.S.A., specifically in southern California). There is a hidden, but prevalent supernatural world that co-exists with the mundane however. Creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and shadowy creatures that are just labeled demons are commonplace. There are global communities of magic users and psychics that rarely mingle with one another so that they may avoid conflict. Despite the mostly successful efforts of these groups to stay out of the public eye and remain fictional in the minds of most ordinary people, it's inevitable for supernatural forces to leak into the daily lives of random individuals. Small factions and groups from both magic and psychic groups (and the rare "normal" human supernatural investigator) help deal with these leaks so full blown and wide scale magical and psychic catastrophes can be prevented. Since Marianna's experience with the supernatural mostly has to do with demons and psychics, I'll use this section to explain how this world's demons work.
The average demon has a shadowy form; the weaker the demon, the more akin to smoke its body is. Stronger demons use their smoky forms to transform into more solid figures, mostly into monstrous and animal-like beasts. The mightiest demons can transform into more humanoid figures. These human looking demons have been known to couple with humans for varying (and mostly selfish) reasons which can result in children with mixed blood. Demon abilities vary from hypnotic manipulation, varying curses, to dark energy blasts, but common traits are enhanced strength, speed, and the ability to sense auras. They have lifespans ten times as long as a normal person, but they can extend it by consuming human souls. They can be killed, but they can take a lot of damage before going down.
Common personality traits of demons are their tenaciousness to survive and their willingness to use and throw away others as they see fit. Some demons are little more than thoughtless animals. The more humanoid and intelligent ones are actually similar to humans if not for their disdain for the latter. They live in their own dark realm, although plenty lurk among humans or in abandoned and haunted grounds.
Demons usually plague magic users and psychics since they thirst for magical energies from the former (which ironically can be their undoing when utilized against them) and the latter are particularly sensitive to their presence, but they also have the ability to make contracts with humans, fulfilling favors or wishes in exchange for their souls (Monts however, has an uncommon case concerning this sort of contract which will be explained in her history).
The magical community are the first to leap into action when there is demonic insubordination and they keep a close eye on demons in particular since they can cause much dissension wherever their location although it's obvious some demons can slip under the radar such as in Marianna's case.
History:
Marianna "Monts" Medina is a cheerful twenty-one year old who comes from a well off family, and just so happens to share her body with a particularly unsettling demon that appears as a black flowery mark akin to a tattoo on her back. This demon, referred to as the "Shadow Flower" transferred itself to her body during her birth and it's been passing itself to each firstborn daughter of the Medina family for generations due to the contract made by Monts' ancestor.
Long before Marianna was born and at least 200 years ago, the first Medina matriarch and founder of her family. The exact details of how the first Medina woman came upon the demon are mostly unclear due to lost family records, but what is known was that both the demon and founder were both close to death. Both wanted to live and the lady Medina wanted to stay alive in particular to take care of her large family. As part of the contract, she would have the demon's aid and power to stay alive and fulfill her wishes, but it would use her body as its vessel to prolong its life as well; and if the Medina wanted prosperity for her family and future generations, she would let the demon inhabit her firstborn daughter's body and that daughter would repeat the process and so on. And thus this went on with each firstborn daughters of the Medina clan. Those who prolong having a girl child are subject to a slow and painful deterioration of mind and body due to the strain of having to share one body and so far no one in the line has tried to find out what would happen if they refuse to give birth.
Monts is the current vessel of the Shadow Flower and probably the most unwillingly to fulfill family tradition due to how the situation affected her relationship with her family and her yearning to find a way to get rid of the demon without losing herself in the process.
In actuality, Monts gets along with her fellow Medina relatives who are aware of her situation, but it is the patronizing nature of the adults who expect her to have a child that keeps her distanced from them. Her connection with her immediate family is considerably more troubled. Her mother, Rosalita Medina, the previous vessel, was a kind, but fragile woman who didn't cope with sharing with the Shadow Flower very well. The whispers of the demon and the prolonged cohabitation often put her through fits of madness and it resulted in physical and verbal abuse towards Monts' older brother Nicolas who was constantly told that he should have been a girl to relieve his mother's burden and it didn't help that she was having trouble getting pregnant with a second child. Miguel Medina, the father, had to let him live with his grandparents until Marianna was finally born and the demon inhabited her body instead.
Marianna's mother poured all her adoration onto her new baby girl, often giving her random cutesy names (which is where Monts comes from and somehow stuck) and making sure her daughter was given everything she wanted. Since Rosalita was weak from all the years of sharing her body with the Flower and her second pregnancy, she now currently stays in a quiet coastal community, never fully healed from her experiences. Monts lived with her mother for the first four years of her life and then was sent to stay with her father, brother and grandparents. The young girl found herself suffering the cold and jealous spite of Nicolas who had to endure their mother's abuse. Monts didn't find out about the demon living on her back until she was about seven when she realized she had different physical capabilities compared to other children. From then on, Monts was constantly reminded of her burden because of her relatives and how she would have to marry and bear a daughter for her sake and the family's.
Despite the demon in her body, Monts grew up to have a mostly normal life thanks to her determination and her strong will that mostly overcame the influence of the creature. While her relationship with her brother and other relatives was tentative at best, she was fortunate to have her father and grandparent's support which allowed her to develop into a mostly functional person with a mostly pleasant personality. She began dating in high school since she was being encouraged by family members to perhaps look for a potential partner, but to their frustration, Monts only kept things casual and it continued that way up until college. Now twenty-one, the Medina family, even her father and grandparents, are trying to get her to meet men whom she can get married to and bear a child for, but she always evaded the setups. She had made up her mind long ago to somehow find a way to either get rid of, or live with the Shadow Flower without going insane. Monts wanted to enjoy life and felt it was still too early to think about marrying and having a kid; she partied at college quite a lot and participated in group outings and casual dates which didn't have to go anywhere. No one outside of Monts' family knew about her demon so she found herself having trouble developing meaningful relationships. It seemed Monts would live her life at this stalemate, but as fate would have it, there are some things that a demon living in ones back would attract.
One summer day, while returning to her home, Monts found a young boy of about ten or eleven years collapsed on her front porch. She took him in and let him recover although when he woke up, he reacted negatively to her presence. When he calmed down, the boy introduced himself as Kiva, an orphan and a psychic with telekinetic powers and a strong sixth sense that picked up on the Shadow Flower. The two initially got off on the wrong foot with Kiva being distrustful of Monts, and the latter being unused to having to take care of another person since she mostly looked out for herself (or her family took care of her needs). They eventually got more comfortable with one another and a familial bond of sorts grew between them. Kiva became the kind and fun brother she never had in her own older brother Nicolas and it helped that he wasn't afraid of her because of the demon. Monts eventually stopped her college partying habit in order to spend time with Kiva and help him get adjusted to normal everyday life things.
Soon enough though, Monts found out that the reason Kiva had appeared so suddenly in his dire state. A half-demon freelancer named, Henrik, approached Monts and Kiva during their evening outing in a park, with the intention of taking the esper boy. Kiva had been running away from a criminal organization that was trying to control him for his potent psychic powers and forcing him to commit terrible acts. This wasn't just any normal criminal organization though; this particular group was composed of werewolves and very nasty ones at that. Henrik, was just going to take Kiva with the intention of keeping things peaceful, but to his surprise, he was engaged in combat with Monts (snarky and flirtatious banter included) who saw that her friend didn't want to go back to the werewolves. This was the first time Monts was using the Shadow Flower with the intent to fight and protect. The power of her demon was proving to be frightfully strong, but her lack of control and Henrik's fighting experience got the best of her and soon, two werewolves backed up Henrik and overwhelmed Monts with a fatal bites to the throat. Kiva was taken away and Monts was left to bleed and die on the ground.
Thankfully, the Shadow Flower healed her wounds and was mentally urging Monts to avoid the werewolves and move on or let the demon take over her body. Marianna's stubborn and unmovable will shone through and she fought back mentally, making the demon in her body settle down and help her use its enhanced senses to track down Kiva and the werewolves. She was soon led to an abandoned warehouse in a nearby city and encountered Henrik and this time with a bit more finesse and effort Monts took down the half-demon. She and Kiva nearly made their escape, but they were confronted by five werewolves and one of them offered Monts a place in their group in exchange for Kiva's freedom since they were impressed by demonic power she had. Obviously, she refused and this doesn't go over well with our furry friends. Five werewolves against two humans wasn't looking good until the Shadow Flower fully possesses Monts and unleashed an unholy beat down on the werewolves with Kiva assisting with his telekinesis. Our duo emerged from the fight victorious and Kiva carried an exhausted and non-possessed Monts all the way home.
The took their time to recover while thinking of what to do next. Kiva wanted to stay with Monts, but she knew she couldn't support a kid on her own while she still had her education to worry about and now that the Shadow Flower was more active after their adventure, she had to keep her family's good will by maintaining a normal life and disposition and shutting the demon out of her mind again.
While trying to plan the next course of action, Kiva brought home an injured and starving cat to Monts. After a few days of getting the cat fixed and well-fed, the two are surprised when the cat begins to speak, thanking them for their kindness. The feline introduced herself as Fran, but held back on telling them where she came from. She did tell them that a wizard had taught her ancestors human speech long, long, ago and that only a certain number of cats talked like her. In return for their kind actions, Fran answered their questions about the supernatural world without revealing too much about the magic and psychic world to expand the pair's limited perspective. For Kiva's sake, Monts asked Fran if she knew about any psychics who could help hone her friend's abilities and take care of his needs where she couldn't. Fran knew of a commune that operated in Sacramento, California and as soon as they could, the three went off to locate it.
The trio had some trouble finding the commune, but unexpectedly one of the commune psychics had predicted their arrival and welcomed Kiva with open arms. While Kiva was shown around the community, the leader of the commune offered Monts an interesting proposition. All the psychics could sense the Shadow Flower, but they thought she could be useful to them since she proved herself to be fearsome with her defeat of Henrik and the werewolf organization. Monts was put off by the idea of being thought of as a useful tool and all because of the demon she wanted to get rid of in the first place. She said no to the offer and left the commune with Fran after saying goodbye to Kiva, hoping the psychics there wouldn't make him do terrible things like the werewolves did since they were the only ones who could help train him.
Monts' activities didn't escape her family's notice and the string of violence (well intentioned or not) that she had left behind made the Medinas paranoid. She was incredibly lucky that the psychics from the Sacramento commune covered up her tracks and manipulated the local authorities; their way of saying thanks for letting Kiva join them and taking care of the pesky werewolves. Not that it helped her escape punishment; her father made her take a year off school and quit all her part-time jobs. This made Monts incredibly moody and pensive and even with Fran's company and the presence of her normal acquaintances she could hang out with, she still felt incredibly lonely now that Kiva was gone and she had to deal with the Shadow Flower in a constant battle over her mental state and the uncertain future.
Personality:
Looking at Marianna "Monts", you wouldn't think she is constantly arguing with a demonic voice in her head. In fact, most everything about Monts is normal, sharing her body with a demon aside. She's a young adult who enjoys being fashionable, trying new and exciting things (within reason of course), but isn't quite sure she knows what she wants to do in the future even if that's been partially decided since birth.
Outwardly, Monts is pleasant in her speech, exudes confidence, and tends to have an optimistic attitude towards almost everything even in dire situations which can be off putting at times. Monts is also whimsical and tends to do things on the fly and at the last minute which can be frustrating and endearing at different times. Towards other people she's friendly and willing to help, rarely showing irritation and anger unless it's for a good reason. She can be merciless when it comes to friendly teasing though. When it comes to conflicts, she prefers to know all sides of a situation before jumping in and making assumptions. Monts is very willful as well and likes having things go her way although she's reasonable enough to compromise. Her stubbornness helps put the demon in her head at bay and it's a good thing; the Shadow Flower constantly whispers in her head and without her strong will she probably wouldn't be able to distinguish her thoughts from its own. Very noticeably, she's a flirt towards men she finds interesting which has contributed to her flighty dating history from high school to college. This makes Monts seem somewhat manipulative since she ended those relationships early to jump into to another date, even though she doesn't mean to be and she's unintentionally hurt feelings in this manner although she tries to end things on benign terms with apologies in tow. She simply hasn't (and perhaps she doesn't want to) found a man who she thinks can care enough about her to look past the demon in her body and like her for who she is. Currently, there's no one special to her and after her experiences with Kiva, Henrick, werewolves, and psychics, she's had a lot to think about that isn't romancing.
When it comes down to it though, her cheerful and confident persona, her friendly teasing, and flirtatious nature overshadow her larger insecurities and flaws. There's a certain degree of inner mistrust that plagues her and extends to her relationships. It's not just the demon she mistrusts and is scared of; she doesn't trust herself to be open with people and she doesn't trust people to be open and trusting with her if she ever revealed that she was sharing her body with a monster. This explains why most of her relationships outside the Medina family are sadly to say, shallow and barely fulfilling. There are times she doesn't even feel accepted in her own family and it's easy to see why she doesn't think she'd be accepted by normal person. This causes Monts to be evasive about her true feelings and what she wants from other people and her apparent optimism makes her hard to read. She doesn't want to be seen as a vessel that carries a demon or a burden that she feels like at times. Monts hates admitting having anything ugly on her mind and will get irritated if goaded enough even if she tries putting up a cool and collected front. Overall, she tries her best to stand up by herself, smiling and sometimes even lying about her true feelings and appearing strong when what she needs is someone to lean on and pour her heart out to.
Before she met Kiva, Monts was more selfish. She was mostly looking out for herself, trying not to step on anyone's toes, but trying not to inconvenience herself either. Taking care of the young and brash psychic helped her realize she wasn't totally alone in carrying the burden of a supernatural force she couldn't fully accept. The responsibility of taking care of a child like Kiva also made her realize that it wasn't as if she would never want a kid, but rather she doesn't want any future daughter of hers to suffer the way she's suffering and she certainly didn't want Kiva to suffer at the hands of people who would use him. Her fierce and protective side reveals itself when Kiva was kidnapped and her willingness to fight a dangerous half-demon and several werewolves shows that she would willingly lay down her life to protect people she truly and deeply cares about, to the point where she overlooks her own self.
Overbearing as the Medinas can be, Marianna treasures her family, even the patronizing relatives who see her as the black sheep and sometimes keep their distance from. She's still able to engage in family traditions and gatherings of all sorts even if she does feel isolated from them at times since some of them are wary about approaching "that" relative with a demon in her. It's her father and grandparents she loves the most since they raised her to be good person and her grandmother, the vessel of the Shadow Flower before her mother, knows the pain of sharing her body with it. They all just want what's best for her and to not end up like her mother who lashed out at everyone before she was born. Her most troubled relationships are with her mother Rosalita and her older brother Nicolas. As mentioned before, Rosalita was driven mad by the demon in her body and abused her brother and poured all her adoration onto Monts. Nicolas lashed out at his younger sister out of jealousy and bitterness since she received the love of their mother he never had and he fears the demon in his sister's body. Monts is scared and cautious of her brother as a result and to this day she tiptoes around him very carefully. With her mother, Monts feels sad and disappointed in her for not being able to put up with the demon and abusing her brother and is reluctant towards her mother's displays of affection just because she relieved her of the Shadow Flower. But she does return some affection back, by retaining the nickname "Monts" which her mother first gave to her and introducing herself to others in that way.
Marianna "Monts" continues as she is, perhaps a little stronger and a little less selfish after her adventures with Kiva and her first encounters with the supernatural. She refuses to give into the Shadow Flower even if she does view it a bit more benignly after it saved her life and helped her save Kiva's. With Fran's guidance, she hopes she can get in touch with more supernatural forces that could help her with and break away from the old Medina legacy so that if she ever has anything to pass on, it won't be a demon.
Abilities: Monts shares her body with a demon that's referred to as the Shadow Flower since its default form is that of a dark flower that looks as if it was tattooed onto her back. While the demon has a mind of its own, it lacks a voice and instead shares a mental link with its host, sometimes even attempting to take over her mind. Monts, however, usually forces its voice down to avoid complete possession unless she loses complete consciousness and is in danger. These are the abilities that the Shadow Flower grants her:
☞ Weight: Technically not so much an ability as it is a side effect of sharing her body; Monts is twice as heavy as she looks (she looks 110-120 pounds but x2) due to the added weight of the demon on her back, but she uses this to her advantage when tackling someone.
☞ Sixth Sense: The demon can sense if an individual has magic or psychic powers and relays that sensory perception to Monts. This tends to not work if the person or object hides their aura well.
☞ Enhanced Speed & Strength: Monts is fast and agile enough to outrun a speeding car or dodge bullets making her particularly tricky to hit. Her strength is enough to cause small craters in walls or the ground if she puts her fist into those, but she can't say, lift a building like Superman. But when she hits, she hits hard and could break limbs with little effort.
☞ Healing & Pain Resistance: The Shadow Flower can repair Monts' wounds and injuries speedily depending on how big they are. Small to large injuries like scratches and cuts can take from seconds or minutes, huge gaping wounds and broken limbs can take hours or a few days. Monts has a notable resistance to pain and poisons usually won't affect her.
When utilizing the demon's powers, the dark mark on her back spreads across her body indicating a semi-possession although her mind is still her own. A full possession makes the demon mark encase her entire body until she doesn't even look like herself anymore and the demon has almost full control.
Even with all these perks, Monts is still very human and both her and the Shadow Flower can die just like any other living creature if one was dogged enough to put both down. She wouldn't be able to regrow an arm or a leg if they were cut off for instance and magic would be a major weakness of hers. When semi-possessed she's not a martial arts master; Monts doesn't have any formal fighting experience so she relies on brute strength and being dodgy so anyone who matches up to her in power could overtake her and the demon with technique and endurance. Speaking of which, after using the demon's powers, Monts gets terribly exhausted and has to sleep so her body can recuperate. Another side effect of sharing her body with the demon is that others with a sixth sense can tell there's something strange about her since she can exhibit an off putting aura; most animals keep their distance from her as a result since they have enhanced senses.
In Ryan's Gulch, Monts will probably not call upon her demon much unless she's clearly in danger and needs to protect herself or someone else. She initially won't even mention it unless it somehow comes up as a matter of circumstance and she certainly doesn't want the residents of Rapture to look at her as a potential threat or worse, someone they could take advantage of.
How did your character arrive in Rapture? Monts arrives in Rapture through a teleportation plasmid gone awry and she will end up in the lively Fort Frolic.
Network sample: Network sample from the Test Drive Meme!
Log sample:
"Say... you alone honey?"
Marianna "Monts" Medina turned her head at the source of the voice and raised a brow at the grinning dandily dressed man who took a seat next to her at the bar counter. She was in the Cocktail Lounge of Fort Frolic and had been letting the sounds of music that was older than her, the chatter of passerbys, and the clinking of glass wash over her ears. A week or two had passed after she found herself mysteriously teleported to the underwater city of Rapture; no house, no talking cat, and no family. It was all very daunting to say the least. Monts still wasn't sure what to make of her new surroundings even if she was just happy enough about not drowning. It's no wonder she felt like having a drink to try and think things over more clearly. But first, to deal with this gentleman.
She smiled at the man while putting the glass to her lips.
"Oh, well I would say I was alone, but it looks like I find myself with some company." The man's grin grew wider, encouraged by her response.
"And what's good company if they don't buy a drink for a pretty doll like yourself? So how about it?"
Don't.
Her mouth opened to say something, but something stopped her from answering. Monts would have hoped it was her own conscience telling her to be cautious, but she had been living long enough with the thing in her body to be able to distinguish which thoughts were hers and which thought's were its own. If there was anything good about the demonic Shadow Flower, it at least tended to have a reason to sound off.
"Well?"
"Oh! Um..."
What was wrong with this man? Sure he dressed like someone from the mid 1900s, but it shouldn't have detracted from him overall. But what did then? Monts squinted her eyes, trying to see what her demon could sense. There was an odd and almost unhealthy sheen to his skin and his face seemed to scrunch up awkwardly in certain places. The lack of sunlight? No, not just that. Her eyes fell upon his wrist where there was various puncture marks. The young woman felt her stomach squirm. One to two weeks in Rapture was enough to know about the enthusiastically advertised plasmids, the not so advertised the side effects, and what some people who kept splicing their bodies could end up as...
Monts stood up from her seat, but continued to put on a charming smile for the man.
"I think I've had enough to drink. But thank you so much for your kind offer though. Gracias."
He look disappointed. "Hn. That's a darn shame... something wrong?"
She shook her head, pulling the jacket over her shoulders a bit more tightly, ignoring the squirming sensation on her back. "No. It's not just you."
And as she exited the lounge, she murmured, "After all, I'm all wrong too."
In a way, there was a sick and twisted comfort, knowing she wasn't the only one harboring a monster in this mysterious, underwater utopia. But Marianna couldn't figure out for the life of her why people would continue to make themselves deteriorate when she fought so hard for the opposite.
Name: Mai
Player Journal:
formidableAge: 20
Contact:
Other characters currently played at Ryan's Gulch: N/A
☞ Character Information;
Character Name: Marianna "Monts" Medina
Canon: Original Character
Canon point: Monts will be arriving in Rapture after she and her talking cat Fran drop their psychic friend, Kiva, off into an esper commune and she spends her time being withdrawn after her father makes her take a year off school.
Setting: Marianna's world is very much just like the 21st century as we know of it today with all the technology and history up until around 2008-2009 (Monts herself, lives in the good ol' U.S.A., specifically in southern California). There is a hidden, but prevalent supernatural world that co-exists with the mundane however. Creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and shadowy creatures that are just labeled demons are commonplace. There are global communities of magic users and psychics that rarely mingle with one another so that they may avoid conflict. Despite the mostly successful efforts of these groups to stay out of the public eye and remain fictional in the minds of most ordinary people, it's inevitable for supernatural forces to leak into the daily lives of random individuals. Small factions and groups from both magic and psychic groups (and the rare "normal" human supernatural investigator) help deal with these leaks so full blown and wide scale magical and psychic catastrophes can be prevented. Since Marianna's experience with the supernatural mostly has to do with demons and psychics, I'll use this section to explain how this world's demons work.
The average demon has a shadowy form; the weaker the demon, the more akin to smoke its body is. Stronger demons use their smoky forms to transform into more solid figures, mostly into monstrous and animal-like beasts. The mightiest demons can transform into more humanoid figures. These human looking demons have been known to couple with humans for varying (and mostly selfish) reasons which can result in children with mixed blood. Demon abilities vary from hypnotic manipulation, varying curses, to dark energy blasts, but common traits are enhanced strength, speed, and the ability to sense auras. They have lifespans ten times as long as a normal person, but they can extend it by consuming human souls. They can be killed, but they can take a lot of damage before going down.
Common personality traits of demons are their tenaciousness to survive and their willingness to use and throw away others as they see fit. Some demons are little more than thoughtless animals. The more humanoid and intelligent ones are actually similar to humans if not for their disdain for the latter. They live in their own dark realm, although plenty lurk among humans or in abandoned and haunted grounds.
Demons usually plague magic users and psychics since they thirst for magical energies from the former (which ironically can be their undoing when utilized against them) and the latter are particularly sensitive to their presence, but they also have the ability to make contracts with humans, fulfilling favors or wishes in exchange for their souls (Monts however, has an uncommon case concerning this sort of contract which will be explained in her history).
The magical community are the first to leap into action when there is demonic insubordination and they keep a close eye on demons in particular since they can cause much dissension wherever their location although it's obvious some demons can slip under the radar such as in Marianna's case.
History:
Marianna "Monts" Medina is a cheerful twenty-one year old who comes from a well off family, and just so happens to share her body with a particularly unsettling demon that appears as a black flowery mark akin to a tattoo on her back. This demon, referred to as the "Shadow Flower" transferred itself to her body during her birth and it's been passing itself to each firstborn daughter of the Medina family for generations due to the contract made by Monts' ancestor.
Long before Marianna was born and at least 200 years ago, the first Medina matriarch and founder of her family. The exact details of how the first Medina woman came upon the demon are mostly unclear due to lost family records, but what is known was that both the demon and founder were both close to death. Both wanted to live and the lady Medina wanted to stay alive in particular to take care of her large family. As part of the contract, she would have the demon's aid and power to stay alive and fulfill her wishes, but it would use her body as its vessel to prolong its life as well; and if the Medina wanted prosperity for her family and future generations, she would let the demon inhabit her firstborn daughter's body and that daughter would repeat the process and so on. And thus this went on with each firstborn daughters of the Medina clan. Those who prolong having a girl child are subject to a slow and painful deterioration of mind and body due to the strain of having to share one body and so far no one in the line has tried to find out what would happen if they refuse to give birth.
Monts is the current vessel of the Shadow Flower and probably the most unwillingly to fulfill family tradition due to how the situation affected her relationship with her family and her yearning to find a way to get rid of the demon without losing herself in the process.
In actuality, Monts gets along with her fellow Medina relatives who are aware of her situation, but it is the patronizing nature of the adults who expect her to have a child that keeps her distanced from them. Her connection with her immediate family is considerably more troubled. Her mother, Rosalita Medina, the previous vessel, was a kind, but fragile woman who didn't cope with sharing with the Shadow Flower very well. The whispers of the demon and the prolonged cohabitation often put her through fits of madness and it resulted in physical and verbal abuse towards Monts' older brother Nicolas who was constantly told that he should have been a girl to relieve his mother's burden and it didn't help that she was having trouble getting pregnant with a second child. Miguel Medina, the father, had to let him live with his grandparents until Marianna was finally born and the demon inhabited her body instead.
Marianna's mother poured all her adoration onto her new baby girl, often giving her random cutesy names (which is where Monts comes from and somehow stuck) and making sure her daughter was given everything she wanted. Since Rosalita was weak from all the years of sharing her body with the Flower and her second pregnancy, she now currently stays in a quiet coastal community, never fully healed from her experiences. Monts lived with her mother for the first four years of her life and then was sent to stay with her father, brother and grandparents. The young girl found herself suffering the cold and jealous spite of Nicolas who had to endure their mother's abuse. Monts didn't find out about the demon living on her back until she was about seven when she realized she had different physical capabilities compared to other children. From then on, Monts was constantly reminded of her burden because of her relatives and how she would have to marry and bear a daughter for her sake and the family's.
Despite the demon in her body, Monts grew up to have a mostly normal life thanks to her determination and her strong will that mostly overcame the influence of the creature. While her relationship with her brother and other relatives was tentative at best, she was fortunate to have her father and grandparent's support which allowed her to develop into a mostly functional person with a mostly pleasant personality. She began dating in high school since she was being encouraged by family members to perhaps look for a potential partner, but to their frustration, Monts only kept things casual and it continued that way up until college. Now twenty-one, the Medina family, even her father and grandparents, are trying to get her to meet men whom she can get married to and bear a child for, but she always evaded the setups. She had made up her mind long ago to somehow find a way to either get rid of, or live with the Shadow Flower without going insane. Monts wanted to enjoy life and felt it was still too early to think about marrying and having a kid; she partied at college quite a lot and participated in group outings and casual dates which didn't have to go anywhere. No one outside of Monts' family knew about her demon so she found herself having trouble developing meaningful relationships. It seemed Monts would live her life at this stalemate, but as fate would have it, there are some things that a demon living in ones back would attract.
One summer day, while returning to her home, Monts found a young boy of about ten or eleven years collapsed on her front porch. She took him in and let him recover although when he woke up, he reacted negatively to her presence. When he calmed down, the boy introduced himself as Kiva, an orphan and a psychic with telekinetic powers and a strong sixth sense that picked up on the Shadow Flower. The two initially got off on the wrong foot with Kiva being distrustful of Monts, and the latter being unused to having to take care of another person since she mostly looked out for herself (or her family took care of her needs). They eventually got more comfortable with one another and a familial bond of sorts grew between them. Kiva became the kind and fun brother she never had in her own older brother Nicolas and it helped that he wasn't afraid of her because of the demon. Monts eventually stopped her college partying habit in order to spend time with Kiva and help him get adjusted to normal everyday life things.
Soon enough though, Monts found out that the reason Kiva had appeared so suddenly in his dire state. A half-demon freelancer named, Henrik, approached Monts and Kiva during their evening outing in a park, with the intention of taking the esper boy. Kiva had been running away from a criminal organization that was trying to control him for his potent psychic powers and forcing him to commit terrible acts. This wasn't just any normal criminal organization though; this particular group was composed of werewolves and very nasty ones at that. Henrik, was just going to take Kiva with the intention of keeping things peaceful, but to his surprise, he was engaged in combat with Monts (snarky and flirtatious banter included) who saw that her friend didn't want to go back to the werewolves. This was the first time Monts was using the Shadow Flower with the intent to fight and protect. The power of her demon was proving to be frightfully strong, but her lack of control and Henrik's fighting experience got the best of her and soon, two werewolves backed up Henrik and overwhelmed Monts with a fatal bites to the throat. Kiva was taken away and Monts was left to bleed and die on the ground.
Thankfully, the Shadow Flower healed her wounds and was mentally urging Monts to avoid the werewolves and move on or let the demon take over her body. Marianna's stubborn and unmovable will shone through and she fought back mentally, making the demon in her body settle down and help her use its enhanced senses to track down Kiva and the werewolves. She was soon led to an abandoned warehouse in a nearby city and encountered Henrik and this time with a bit more finesse and effort Monts took down the half-demon. She and Kiva nearly made their escape, but they were confronted by five werewolves and one of them offered Monts a place in their group in exchange for Kiva's freedom since they were impressed by demonic power she had. Obviously, she refused and this doesn't go over well with our furry friends. Five werewolves against two humans wasn't looking good until the Shadow Flower fully possesses Monts and unleashed an unholy beat down on the werewolves with Kiva assisting with his telekinesis. Our duo emerged from the fight victorious and Kiva carried an exhausted and non-possessed Monts all the way home.
The took their time to recover while thinking of what to do next. Kiva wanted to stay with Monts, but she knew she couldn't support a kid on her own while she still had her education to worry about and now that the Shadow Flower was more active after their adventure, she had to keep her family's good will by maintaining a normal life and disposition and shutting the demon out of her mind again.
While trying to plan the next course of action, Kiva brought home an injured and starving cat to Monts. After a few days of getting the cat fixed and well-fed, the two are surprised when the cat begins to speak, thanking them for their kindness. The feline introduced herself as Fran, but held back on telling them where she came from. She did tell them that a wizard had taught her ancestors human speech long, long, ago and that only a certain number of cats talked like her. In return for their kind actions, Fran answered their questions about the supernatural world without revealing too much about the magic and psychic world to expand the pair's limited perspective. For Kiva's sake, Monts asked Fran if she knew about any psychics who could help hone her friend's abilities and take care of his needs where she couldn't. Fran knew of a commune that operated in Sacramento, California and as soon as they could, the three went off to locate it.
The trio had some trouble finding the commune, but unexpectedly one of the commune psychics had predicted their arrival and welcomed Kiva with open arms. While Kiva was shown around the community, the leader of the commune offered Monts an interesting proposition. All the psychics could sense the Shadow Flower, but they thought she could be useful to them since she proved herself to be fearsome with her defeat of Henrik and the werewolf organization. Monts was put off by the idea of being thought of as a useful tool and all because of the demon she wanted to get rid of in the first place. She said no to the offer and left the commune with Fran after saying goodbye to Kiva, hoping the psychics there wouldn't make him do terrible things like the werewolves did since they were the only ones who could help train him.
Monts' activities didn't escape her family's notice and the string of violence (well intentioned or not) that she had left behind made the Medinas paranoid. She was incredibly lucky that the psychics from the Sacramento commune covered up her tracks and manipulated the local authorities; their way of saying thanks for letting Kiva join them and taking care of the pesky werewolves. Not that it helped her escape punishment; her father made her take a year off school and quit all her part-time jobs. This made Monts incredibly moody and pensive and even with Fran's company and the presence of her normal acquaintances she could hang out with, she still felt incredibly lonely now that Kiva was gone and she had to deal with the Shadow Flower in a constant battle over her mental state and the uncertain future.
Personality:
Looking at Marianna "Monts", you wouldn't think she is constantly arguing with a demonic voice in her head. In fact, most everything about Monts is normal, sharing her body with a demon aside. She's a young adult who enjoys being fashionable, trying new and exciting things (within reason of course), but isn't quite sure she knows what she wants to do in the future even if that's been partially decided since birth.
Outwardly, Monts is pleasant in her speech, exudes confidence, and tends to have an optimistic attitude towards almost everything even in dire situations which can be off putting at times. Monts is also whimsical and tends to do things on the fly and at the last minute which can be frustrating and endearing at different times. Towards other people she's friendly and willing to help, rarely showing irritation and anger unless it's for a good reason. She can be merciless when it comes to friendly teasing though. When it comes to conflicts, she prefers to know all sides of a situation before jumping in and making assumptions. Monts is very willful as well and likes having things go her way although she's reasonable enough to compromise. Her stubbornness helps put the demon in her head at bay and it's a good thing; the Shadow Flower constantly whispers in her head and without her strong will she probably wouldn't be able to distinguish her thoughts from its own. Very noticeably, she's a flirt towards men she finds interesting which has contributed to her flighty dating history from high school to college. This makes Monts seem somewhat manipulative since she ended those relationships early to jump into to another date, even though she doesn't mean to be and she's unintentionally hurt feelings in this manner although she tries to end things on benign terms with apologies in tow. She simply hasn't (and perhaps she doesn't want to) found a man who she thinks can care enough about her to look past the demon in her body and like her for who she is. Currently, there's no one special to her and after her experiences with Kiva, Henrick, werewolves, and psychics, she's had a lot to think about that isn't romancing.
When it comes down to it though, her cheerful and confident persona, her friendly teasing, and flirtatious nature overshadow her larger insecurities and flaws. There's a certain degree of inner mistrust that plagues her and extends to her relationships. It's not just the demon she mistrusts and is scared of; she doesn't trust herself to be open with people and she doesn't trust people to be open and trusting with her if she ever revealed that she was sharing her body with a monster. This explains why most of her relationships outside the Medina family are sadly to say, shallow and barely fulfilling. There are times she doesn't even feel accepted in her own family and it's easy to see why she doesn't think she'd be accepted by normal person. This causes Monts to be evasive about her true feelings and what she wants from other people and her apparent optimism makes her hard to read. She doesn't want to be seen as a vessel that carries a demon or a burden that she feels like at times. Monts hates admitting having anything ugly on her mind and will get irritated if goaded enough even if she tries putting up a cool and collected front. Overall, she tries her best to stand up by herself, smiling and sometimes even lying about her true feelings and appearing strong when what she needs is someone to lean on and pour her heart out to.
Before she met Kiva, Monts was more selfish. She was mostly looking out for herself, trying not to step on anyone's toes, but trying not to inconvenience herself either. Taking care of the young and brash psychic helped her realize she wasn't totally alone in carrying the burden of a supernatural force she couldn't fully accept. The responsibility of taking care of a child like Kiva also made her realize that it wasn't as if she would never want a kid, but rather she doesn't want any future daughter of hers to suffer the way she's suffering and she certainly didn't want Kiva to suffer at the hands of people who would use him. Her fierce and protective side reveals itself when Kiva was kidnapped and her willingness to fight a dangerous half-demon and several werewolves shows that she would willingly lay down her life to protect people she truly and deeply cares about, to the point where she overlooks her own self.
Overbearing as the Medinas can be, Marianna treasures her family, even the patronizing relatives who see her as the black sheep and sometimes keep their distance from. She's still able to engage in family traditions and gatherings of all sorts even if she does feel isolated from them at times since some of them are wary about approaching "that" relative with a demon in her. It's her father and grandparents she loves the most since they raised her to be good person and her grandmother, the vessel of the Shadow Flower before her mother, knows the pain of sharing her body with it. They all just want what's best for her and to not end up like her mother who lashed out at everyone before she was born. Her most troubled relationships are with her mother Rosalita and her older brother Nicolas. As mentioned before, Rosalita was driven mad by the demon in her body and abused her brother and poured all her adoration onto Monts. Nicolas lashed out at his younger sister out of jealousy and bitterness since she received the love of their mother he never had and he fears the demon in his sister's body. Monts is scared and cautious of her brother as a result and to this day she tiptoes around him very carefully. With her mother, Monts feels sad and disappointed in her for not being able to put up with the demon and abusing her brother and is reluctant towards her mother's displays of affection just because she relieved her of the Shadow Flower. But she does return some affection back, by retaining the nickname "Monts" which her mother first gave to her and introducing herself to others in that way.
Marianna "Monts" continues as she is, perhaps a little stronger and a little less selfish after her adventures with Kiva and her first encounters with the supernatural. She refuses to give into the Shadow Flower even if she does view it a bit more benignly after it saved her life and helped her save Kiva's. With Fran's guidance, she hopes she can get in touch with more supernatural forces that could help her with and break away from the old Medina legacy so that if she ever has anything to pass on, it won't be a demon.
Abilities: Monts shares her body with a demon that's referred to as the Shadow Flower since its default form is that of a dark flower that looks as if it was tattooed onto her back. While the demon has a mind of its own, it lacks a voice and instead shares a mental link with its host, sometimes even attempting to take over her mind. Monts, however, usually forces its voice down to avoid complete possession unless she loses complete consciousness and is in danger. These are the abilities that the Shadow Flower grants her:
☞ Weight: Technically not so much an ability as it is a side effect of sharing her body; Monts is twice as heavy as she looks (she looks 110-120 pounds but x2) due to the added weight of the demon on her back, but she uses this to her advantage when tackling someone.
☞ Sixth Sense: The demon can sense if an individual has magic or psychic powers and relays that sensory perception to Monts. This tends to not work if the person or object hides their aura well.
☞ Enhanced Speed & Strength: Monts is fast and agile enough to outrun a speeding car or dodge bullets making her particularly tricky to hit. Her strength is enough to cause small craters in walls or the ground if she puts her fist into those, but she can't say, lift a building like Superman. But when she hits, she hits hard and could break limbs with little effort.
☞ Healing & Pain Resistance: The Shadow Flower can repair Monts' wounds and injuries speedily depending on how big they are. Small to large injuries like scratches and cuts can take from seconds or minutes, huge gaping wounds and broken limbs can take hours or a few days. Monts has a notable resistance to pain and poisons usually won't affect her.
When utilizing the demon's powers, the dark mark on her back spreads across her body indicating a semi-possession although her mind is still her own. A full possession makes the demon mark encase her entire body until she doesn't even look like herself anymore and the demon has almost full control.
Even with all these perks, Monts is still very human and both her and the Shadow Flower can die just like any other living creature if one was dogged enough to put both down. She wouldn't be able to regrow an arm or a leg if they were cut off for instance and magic would be a major weakness of hers. When semi-possessed she's not a martial arts master; Monts doesn't have any formal fighting experience so she relies on brute strength and being dodgy so anyone who matches up to her in power could overtake her and the demon with technique and endurance. Speaking of which, after using the demon's powers, Monts gets terribly exhausted and has to sleep so her body can recuperate. Another side effect of sharing her body with the demon is that others with a sixth sense can tell there's something strange about her since she can exhibit an off putting aura; most animals keep their distance from her as a result since they have enhanced senses.
In Ryan's Gulch, Monts will probably not call upon her demon much unless she's clearly in danger and needs to protect herself or someone else. She initially won't even mention it unless it somehow comes up as a matter of circumstance and she certainly doesn't want the residents of Rapture to look at her as a potential threat or worse, someone they could take advantage of.
How did your character arrive in Rapture? Monts arrives in Rapture through a teleportation plasmid gone awry and she will end up in the lively Fort Frolic.
Network sample: Network sample from the Test Drive Meme!
Log sample:
"Say... you alone honey?"
Marianna "Monts" Medina turned her head at the source of the voice and raised a brow at the grinning dandily dressed man who took a seat next to her at the bar counter. She was in the Cocktail Lounge of Fort Frolic and had been letting the sounds of music that was older than her, the chatter of passerbys, and the clinking of glass wash over her ears. A week or two had passed after she found herself mysteriously teleported to the underwater city of Rapture; no house, no talking cat, and no family. It was all very daunting to say the least. Monts still wasn't sure what to make of her new surroundings even if she was just happy enough about not drowning. It's no wonder she felt like having a drink to try and think things over more clearly. But first, to deal with this gentleman.
She smiled at the man while putting the glass to her lips.
"Oh, well I would say I was alone, but it looks like I find myself with some company." The man's grin grew wider, encouraged by her response.
"And what's good company if they don't buy a drink for a pretty doll like yourself? So how about it?"
Don't.
Her mouth opened to say something, but something stopped her from answering. Monts would have hoped it was her own conscience telling her to be cautious, but she had been living long enough with the thing in her body to be able to distinguish which thoughts were hers and which thought's were its own. If there was anything good about the demonic Shadow Flower, it at least tended to have a reason to sound off.
"Well?"
"Oh! Um..."
What was wrong with this man? Sure he dressed like someone from the mid 1900s, but it shouldn't have detracted from him overall. But what did then? Monts squinted her eyes, trying to see what her demon could sense. There was an odd and almost unhealthy sheen to his skin and his face seemed to scrunch up awkwardly in certain places. The lack of sunlight? No, not just that. Her eyes fell upon his wrist where there was various puncture marks. The young woman felt her stomach squirm. One to two weeks in Rapture was enough to know about the enthusiastically advertised plasmids, the not so advertised the side effects, and what some people who kept splicing their bodies could end up as...
Monts stood up from her seat, but continued to put on a charming smile for the man.
"I think I've had enough to drink. But thank you so much for your kind offer though. Gracias."
He look disappointed. "Hn. That's a darn shame... something wrong?"
She shook her head, pulling the jacket over her shoulders a bit more tightly, ignoring the squirming sensation on her back. "No. It's not just you."
And as she exited the lounge, she murmured, "After all, I'm all wrong too."
In a way, there was a sick and twisted comfort, knowing she wasn't the only one harboring a monster in this mysterious, underwater utopia. But Marianna couldn't figure out for the life of her why people would continue to make themselves deteriorate when she fought so hard for the opposite.