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Subject Line: Application | Name of Character IN WESTERN ORDER | Canon

♚ OOC
Name: Pearl
Age: 30
Contact: pearlescent
Character In-game: Lux Crownguard

♛ IC
Name: Miranda Lotto
Canon: D.Gray-man
Canon Point: Chapter 208
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Appearance: [ x ]

History/Background: Character and Story Arcs
Personality:

Miranda tries. Above everything else, it is best to remember this: She tries.

Miranda is not necessarily good with people. In fact, one might say that she is terrible with them. Extremely shy initially, she isn't entirely sure how to accord herself in certain situations. She's weird, she looms, and at times she is somewhat unpleasant to be around. Taking social awkwardness to its most radical conclusion, she is fearful that somehow, in some way, she is going to mess everything up. But once she gets past that initial worry (although it does still stay there, dormant for the most part), she is in fact quite caring and wonderful to be around. Like a summer storm, dreary and all-encompassing, but once the clouds break, warm and beautiful.

Known as Bad Luck Miranda as a child by other children around town, Miranda has taken that title to heart. In her 26 years, she has not been able to hold down a single job for more than a day, and something like that sits with a person. 100 jobs, 100 rejections. Even after being offered a position with the Black Order as an Exorcist, she is prone to episodes of apprehension and worry that somehow, in some way, she is going to Mess Up. This manifests itself in "small" fits of self doubt and despair. Prone to apologize for anything and everything (literally anything and everything), there are times where she very firmly believes that another person's misfortune is her own doing, despite how preposterous that may be. She is a somewhat simple soul that just wants to do good by others and herself, and when that doesn't happen, she tends to spiral a bit. This is just something she does. Thankfully, she can be pulled out of it with relative ease depending upon the person, but it can still be extremely off-putting... which then makes her go deeper because she does not want to be a burden. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, unfortunately.

Due to being teased relentlessly as a child, Miranda is, at least initially, somewhat shy and socially awkward. She isn't always sure what to do say or do with herself, and while she's managed to get better about it, has a nasty habit of looming about without saying anything. Her Innocence may be related to time, but this woman has a serious gift in simply making herself as small and insignificant as possible in order to not bother others, or otherwise exist underneath their radar. Part of this is to do with her appearance, a somewhat mousy and unremarkable woman by default, she took on the look of a fearful older woman in Rewinding Town. While she has certainly come a long way, in no small part due to her family with the Order, she is still hesitant around new people.

She has come a long way from this, however, and is more willing to trust those around her. While her friends are somewhat few and far between (she is relatively well likable, but still very skittish in many ways), those who she considers close are truly lucky individuals. Miranda is a surprisingly loving individual, quick to take care of others around her in an almost maternal fashion, and those few who are graced with her smile are truly lucky indeed. She will do everything in her power to take care of those whom she deems as friends and family, going so far as to place their own wellbeing well over her own. She will push herself to her limits just to make sure that they are safe. However, this is a double-edged sword. Miranda wants to help, but if she is unable to, she questions her own worth both as an Exorcist and as a person. Never having friends growing up, those who she shares a bond with mean the absolute world to her, and if she is not able to protect them or make them happy, it hits hard.

Miranda spends a lot of time fretting about this, actually, although most of time time it stays well under the surface. What can she do to make the people around her happy? How can she protect them? She may not think much of her abilities to do either, but she is actually a surprisingly good caregiver. Able to observe all the things that she can do wrong (and oh, there is a lot there as far as she is concerned), she pays attention to others around her, and while she may not believe it, Miranda can be quite empathetic. Even something as simple as giving someone candy when they are feeling down, or offering a smile and a few gratifying words, she does more for those around her than she is willing or able to realize.

Which is perhaps why Allen's excommunication from the Order hit her hard, despite her doing everything in her power to not let anyone know. While yes, most of the members of their branch feel a pang of guilt when the younger Exorcist was cast out, and more so for doubting him in the first place, Miranda, much like the rest of them, chose the Black Order over Allen Walker. The boy (because he was very much still a boy at that point) who helped her, who indirectly gave her a family, and now has none... Oh, there is guilt there. Especially after Johnny's resignation—because they all knew why he left and shared the same sentiments, and it didn't take a genius to know where he was going—she continued to make the same decision, not because she did not want to find him, but, rather, out of uncertainty and fear of being cast out as well. She isn't strong enough to speak out like some of the others, and while Miranda knows that of herself, that doesn't make it any better. And that kills her. She wants to make it right, but in many ways isn't strong enough to do so.

Overall, Miranda is a woman who tries hard, to varying degrees of success. While her initial exterior can be somewhat off-putting, and self-depreciation spirals all-encompassing and extremely intimidating, underneath all of that is a kindhearted, intuitive woman who just wants to protect the people who she cares about.

Skills/Abilities:

TIME RECORD ≫ An equipment-based Innocence taking the shape of a small discus, Time Record has been with her for quite some time now, and allows the Exorcist to manipulate time around her allies and/or around a certain space. Originally manifesting itself in the shape of a grandfather clock, Time Record initially caused quite a bit of problems, resulting in her town repeating the same day ad aeternum at her request ("I wish tomorrow would never come..."). Despite its seemingly miraculous powers to turn back the hand of time, Time Record is limited. Miranda is able to rewind time around her, or around a certain group of people, however, that time will always return, and, with it, any damage or injuries sustained. She cannot bring back the dead, even if she may desperately want to. Miranda is also susceptible to injury as well, if an enemy attacks Time Record while she is using it. Both limited by her own stamina (which will be addressed later in this section) as well as proximity to the caster, it is certainly powerful, but not absolute.

Time Record has a few specific techniques:

TIME RECOVERY ≫ Time Recovery allows Miranda to create a small zone that reverts back to its original state, temporarily negating any damage done within this space. As with her other abilities through Time Record, this is not permanent, and only lasts as long as she is able to maintain her Innocence. Through Time Recovery, she can also detect whether or not someone's "time" has been tampered with, either due to death or other reasons.

TIME OUT ≫ The ultimate No Fun Zone. Miranda creates a space where time stops, and damage is negated. Damage that would have been sustained during this time is nullified, as if it never happened. This is a small area, and using this ability is extremely taxing on her, despite her large stamina reserves. Miranda can only maintain Time Out for short periods of time.

REVERSE ≫ Her most powerful ability, Miranda is able to "draw out" the time of an object, location or target and effectively place it in stasis. This does not turn back time, and once the effects of Reverse are lifted, the target will resume movement as if nothing happened.

STAMINA ≫ While not linked to anything supernatural per se, Miranda has the ability not only to stay awake for days at a time, but to be able to maintain Time Record for an unusually long amount of time. It is said that she worked up her endurance by constantly reminding herself of various missteps and problems, however it could be that the Exorcist simply has a natural disposition for pushing herself beyond what is seen as possible. Nevertheless, she needs very little in the way of sleep; whether this is a good thing or not varies on the situation.

Magic Weapon: Randomize me, Cap'n!
Carrier: The fluffiest doge carrier ever. Extremely patient and docile, it makes a habit of herding Miranda around when it feels like she needs to Calm TF Down. A good caretaker carrier.

Sample: TDM