Fandom equivalent exchange! (CS)

[bambino]

Here's the required info for the CS! Of course more can be added. Coding is optional!

(Faceclaim - Optional, drawn preferred)
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Ethnicity:
Sexuality:

Physical Appearance: (A few sentences)

Personality: (1-2 paragraphs or three good traits three bad traits)
History: (1-2 paragraphs)

Extra: (Optional)

 

[bambino]

Yue

;; mingmei

name : Mingmei Yue
age : 19
gender : cis female (she/her)
ethnicity : xingese
sexuality : pansexual

physical appearance : Mingmei stands at a decent 5'8'', and while she isn't exactly bulky she has a fair amount of muscle. She wears her long brown hair in a variety of hairstyles, often framing her round face and soft brown eyes. She's often wearing a mischievous smile on her face, though she schools it into a more serious expression while working.

personality : On first blush, Mingmei appears to be a perfectly well behaved person, well-suited to being a diplomat. She seems very proper and put together when you first meet her, and can be quite charismatic. However, it doesn't take much for other sides of her personality to shine through--mention alkahestry or alchemy, and she'll instantly be wearing her mischievous grin while she asks you endless questions about the processes, eventually suggesting a wild experiment. She's absolutely an enabler of bad behavior, though she won't outright cause a scene on her own. In battle Mingmei is fast and hard to predict, and in some ways she's the same way in day to day life; Constantly jumping from one subject to the next, not letting it be known what her true intentions are.
history : Mingmei was born in Xing to a family of servants to the emperor. However, Mingmei always wanted more than this life, and because of her skill in battle and her silver tongue she ended up able to work her way up into the emperor's favor, becoming a diplomat. She was soon sent to Amestris to maintain relations.

coded by reveriee.

 

[Rusty of Shackleford]

Name: Johnathan "John" Abrams
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Ethnicity:
Sexuality:

Physical Appearance: John is remarkably...unremarkable. He's a tall, lanky man, towering over others at almost 6'1, and yet having a thin, almost emaciated frame. His features are extremely sharp, and almost birdlike, lending to his thin build. He for the most part looks Amestrian, besides his head of deep black hair, and grey, almost black eyes, denoting his ancestry as Xingnese.

Personality: Knowledge is everything to John. From the moment he could read, he was reading science books. From from moment he could speak he was reciting the periodic table. Science is in his blood, and he loves it. He never feels happier than when he has an experiment in front of him, or when a new journal on some wild new alchemy is published. He soaks in knowledge like a sponge, and is rarely found without some sort of book. But that's the problem. His knowledge of the fundamentals is alchemy and alkahestry? Impeccable, unmatched, even, for someone his age. But he spent most of his childhood indoors, not interacting with others. Which means...he's not very confident in social situations. He's polite, no doubt. He tries his best, but he's extremely awkward when interacting with others, and finds it extremely hard to express himself using words. Thus is the eternal curse of the intellectual.

History: The Abrams family have long been quite prestigious in Amestris. Even before the nation's leaned more towards imperialism, it was expected for every Abrams to serve in some capacity. The eldest son of the family, Benjamin, was no different. He served as a tank crewman, it was here he saw action during the Ishvalan Conflict. It was nothing like the stories. Ben expected adventure, excitement. But all he found was death, destruction, and misery. He saw firsthand the devastating power of State Alchemists, in particular the use of Flame Alchemy. Benjamin decided that war was inevitable, that stopping it was impossible, and the only option was to simply make war less destructive. Thus, the first hint of Electrical Alchemy was born.

The idea was simple: a weapon that was as precise as it was deadly, an answer to the raw destructive power of Flame Alchemy. Electricity would arc from person to person, and with alchemy, theoretically be controlled. It had never been done before, but Benjamin was determined to change warfare forever. His research began in earnest once he returned home. He poured over time after tome of textbooks, slowly building an understanding for the formulae and the hurdles he'd encounter. He wanted to replicate Flame Alchemy, including its ease of use via ignition gloves, but just getting anything to work was a problem. Flame Alchemy, and almost all alchemy, to be exact, relied almost solely on outside forces. Benjamin found it hard to reliably find a way to create and focus electricity. Using outside forces simply wasn't enough.

But finally, he had a breakthrough.

He'd heard stories of a mysterious science from Xing. Similar to alchemy, yet still different. It channeled inner forces. It could just be superstitious nonsense, but...imagine mixing this with alchemy. That his ticket. So, Ben was off to Xing.

It was so...different to Amestris. The language, the culture, the architecture. He was entranced from the moment he stepped foot in his homeland's Eastern neighbor. He began learning this mysterious science, known as alkahestry, and soon enough realized it wasn't much different from alchemy. He spent hours meticulously studying both fields, slowly making strides every month. It was during this time he met the woman who would later become his wife, Chu. She was the daughter of one of Benjamin's instructors, and often helped him understand the specifics of the art. Finally, after years of constant trial and error, Benjamin Abrams was the first Amestrian to successfully use alchemy to manipulate electricity, using it to cause a lightbulb to glow for about a minute straight. He went back home immediately, and applied to become a State Alchemist. While still very primitive, it seemed Fuhrer Bradley saw potential in the art. Or perhaps wanted to keep an eye on it. So he gave Abrams his Alchemist license, though he was kept off of active duty, due to the lack of direct offensive power in electric alchemy at the time.

Johnathan was born just a few years later, after Benjamin had married Chu and brought her to Amestris. They were generally a happy family, John's parents filling him with a fascination for alchemy and alkahestry. He was barely able to read when he was already helping his father further develop Electric Alchemy. His childhood was filled with formula and diagrams, charts on how to improve the circles, different designs for gloves. John was a fast learner, but even that wouldn't save his father.

Progress was too slow. The most that had developed in the past half a decade or so was keeping that lightbulb going for a minute and a half more. The Fuhrer was...unimpressed. And if significant progress was not made before the next inspection, Benjamin's license would be revoked. His entire life's work stripped from him. He couldn't let this happen. He became obsessed with making progress. Any progress, by any means. And he did the unthinkable.

Even with the grants he received, Benjamin was blowing through money in his research. He needed more. So he began transmuting various metals into gold and selling it in foreign markets. Transmuting gold was illegal, of course. But he didn't care. It was a small price to pay for progress. Until he got caught.

The entire Abrams family were humiliated by the entire event. Benjamin had his license permanently revoked, and he was thrown in prison for thirty years. John was the most devastated. He loved his father, idolized him. Now the man he wanted to be like was a criminal, an idiot who just couldn't take the pressure and cracked under the promise of more money.

John was just twelve when this happened. He still had a whole life ahead of him. And yet he wholly dedicated it to his father's research. Just like his old man, he'd spend hours alone, pouring over the formula and perfecting it. Somehow, he began to make strides his father simply couldn't. His first great discovery was a complete accident. While studying transmutation circles, he accidentally caused an arc of lightning to nearly hit him. It was perfect. He began honing it, perfecting it. Until finally, he'd made the first step in achieving his father's dream: he created a "volt glove," a specially made glove designed to channel electrical alchemy. At just seventeen, John applied to become a State Alchemist, and thanks to his massive strides in the field, was given his license on the spot. Ever since, he's further honed the design, now being able to reliably fire off precise arcs of electricity with little issue. Except if it's raining, or course.

Extra: (Optional)
He is fluent in Xingnese, and his mother has noted he even has the proper accent much of the time.

 

[Moomba]

Name: Carlo Terich
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Amestrian
Sexuality: Pansexual, but has never really been interested in relationships.

Physical Appearance: Carlo's appearance is remarkably unremarkable. He's a tiny bit taller than average, with the slightly muscular frame of a lifelong fighter. His face reflects his background as well, carrying several scars, most prominently a straight, diagonal scar that runs from the left side of his mouth to his ear. He has bright, emerald green eyes and chin length dark blonde hair that he keeps back with a simple headband. He dresses very simply, in cargo pants, combat boots, and a leather military trench coat over his bare chest. Carlo's most notable characteristic are his tattoos. They're a combination of an alchemic array and lines of scripture that cover his entire upper body.

Personality: Carlo is a self described 'guerrilla scholar'. He started with a desire to know and understand everything as quickly as possible. He's become a bit more jaded over time, but the core desire still remains. Carlo tends to act very apathetic towards most people, preferring to let others lead conversations. This couples well with his disarming and casual personality, which leads others to open up more to him. In his own words "You always learn more by listening."
Carlo's apathy is not entirely an act. In dangerous situations, he tends to act calm and relaxed, and often doesn't instantly grasp the danger at hand. He often doesn't really care about other people if they don't have something that interests him. He is true to his word, however, and always honors agreements he made, even if they're to his own detriment.

History: Carlo Terich started his life as the scion of a wealthy family in Central City. He quickly became disillusioned with regular school, skipping class to read books at the library. He showed a particular interest in alchemy, and is actually self taught (greatly aided by his photographic memory).
When he was 15, Carlo left Central City and promptly got caught up in several small conflicts between various ideological groups. After a few years of fighting, he managed to get out of Amestris and made his way to Xing, where he learned a great deal about alkahestty
and Xingese culture and history. Carlo returned to Amestris with the goal of uncovering the history that had been expunged by the Father during his reign. He has been less than successful thus far.
Extra:
- His moniker, the Mimic Alchemist, comes from his photographic memory. He is able to memorize alchemic circles and recreate them with near perfect accuracy.

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Name:
Zahra "Z" Curtis
Age:
24
Gender:
Female
Ethnicity:
Half Amestrian - Half Ishvalan
Sexuality:
Bi-Curious

Physical Appearance:
Zahara is a young woman who's about 5'6" and weighs around 156 pounds, sporting a fairly toned but somewhat lithe figure. Her features, such as her brown eyes and nose are distinctly Amestrian, though her white hair and slightly darker skin tone than the average Amestrian citizen would perhaps reveal the fact that she has some Isvalan blood running through her veins. Which would be correct. Her mother was an Isvalan and her father was an Amestrian military man. Anyway, Zahra had a few scars, some of them small from training or childhood adventures. Other are nastier, deep gashes and burns that cover her torso and thighs. But they look a lot older than just a few years. The most notable oddities are her two auto-mail limbs. Her left arm and left leg have both been replaced with high quality prosthetic limbs, which Zahra makes sure to keep in good shape as much as she can for the sake of her head.

Personality:
On the surface, Zahra is a rather calm, collected, and laid back kind of person. She's the type who prefers to listen rather than talk, and she can get along with pretty much everyone. But there's something about her, even when she's calm and being her usual self, that some can find rather off putting. An underlying vibe that just... doesn't sit well with the general populace. Most of the time, you don't have anything to worry about. She's an intelligent young woman with strong morals and a stronger spirit. But she's not like this all the time.

When Zahra vet's angry, it's like poking a sleeping bear. She gets loud and often, she gets violent. Not intentionally mind you, in spite of her intelligence, Zahra is often driven by her emotions. She's gotten into plenty of fights and arguments because of that. Anyway, she'll.often find herself with rather low energy or motivation to do certain things, which some people assume makes her lazy. More than one of her superior officers has threatened to send her to Briggs over it. Which...you know, isn't ideal. Hasn't happened yet though, because she works hard in spite of her energy issues. Zahra, like everyone else, has fears too. Small dark spaces and explosions being at the top of the list.

Spoiler: History

Zahra was born in Ishval, though she doesn't remember anything about her homeland. Not does she remember much about the shanty town her parents lived in...hell, she hardly remembers what her parents were really like. Zahra remembers the story of how they met, that they lived each other. That they loved her. She knows that, about 20 years ago shortly after she turned four that some loud blonde guy recruiting the people of her small shanty town for some big fight. And both her parents agreed. And they all headed off to central for...whatever it was that blond guy wanted them to do. With no where else to leave her, her parents where forced to take her with them. To the back alleys and warehouses, the secret meetings. She remembers something bad was going to happen if they didn't help...but their help didn't seem to help anyway. Zahra and her parents were sleeping in some warehouse with other Ishvalans when there was suddenly a loud boom. It shook the building, followed by another one that woke everyone up. The building filled with the sound of screaming, the smell of smoke and blood...

Her memories are a bit jumbled. Her parents were running, Zahra in her mother's arms when there was another explosion. She remembers falling, or maybe it was her mother falling accompanied by a pain so intense, it caused the young girl to pass out. When she came too, it was quiet again. Dark. She felt weak, sick to her stomach...she was freezing. And there was a weight on her chest that made it so hard to breathe, it Zahra forever to wiggle out from under whatever had her pinned. To her horror...the woman would soon learn that it was her mother. Someone started screaming and crying, Zhara shaking her mother. Zhara trying to wake her mother up and then trying to find her arm.

What seemed to be hours, was in reality a few minutes, and unbeknownst to her, the screaming caught the attention of a man with an evil face dressed in white. Zahra at first, tried to ask him for help, and for a few seconds thought that he was going to. Until she saw something weird forming in the palm of his hand. A bright light filled the room, the sound of an explosion reverberating off the walls. But it didn't hit her. Instead, someone had thrown himself infront of the blast, using his last breath to yell at her. Her father's voice came from that mangled lump that use to be human. Zahra still doesn't know how she managed to do it, but she picked herself up and just ran. Past the bodies of her friends, the people she considered family. Then she heard it, another explosion followed by a pain so intense she couldn't do anything but collapse. A scream tore through her throat, her hand shooting to touch her arm. Or what use to be arm. Instead, she felt nothing but a mangled, bloody stump. But she had to move. She had to keep going. That evil man was getting closer again. How she actually got out of there is a bit fuzzy...because the next thing she remembers was waking up in a Central hospital.

According to what she was told...Zahra was found near death during the middle of a fire fight. She happens to walk in-between the two sides, which caused a ceasefire. I mean, who wouldn't stop shooting seeing a gravely injured child? Anyway, she would learn over the next few hours that she was among the very few Ishvalan survivors found in that warehouse...and among the three others, her parents were not. The other three survivors were all unconscious or unable to speak due to shock, Zahra was the only one available. Once she had regained some strength, and had dealt with learning she had lost an arm...she was escorted through a mass morgue to try and help identify Kimblee's victims. For someone so young and dealing with a truama so fresh, she did surprisingly well...until she reached her parents bodies. Zahra broke down, and had to be carried back to her room by one of the officers escorting her.

A few weeks would pass before she got a visitor, the blonde man who has recruited the people of her village. Zahra wasn't entirely present, but he felt guilty about what happened. That she had to suffer so much. So he promised that the cost of her medical bills, and a prosthetic arm would be covered completely by him. Zahra at the time didn't know how big of a deal that was but she was appreciative none the less. For the next two years almost, Zahra would live there in that hospital after receiving a replacement arm, undergoing physical therapy and counseling. For the last year of her recovery, Zahra was placed in an orphanage. Which was about as pleasant as you could imagine. Despite having an Amestrian father, people often could only see her as an Ishvalan. And with her replacement limb, Zahra was often ignored for other children. She would be in that Orphanage until she was 9 when a delightful couple came for a visit.

A Sig and Izumi Curtis. They arrived at a fairly inopportune time as Zahra was fighting with another child who had called her something rude. They walked in the moment she broke the kid's nose, which to her fortune seemed to impress them. They hadn't come looking for a kid to adopt, but to drop off some toys and things like that. As Zahra was being put into time out, Izumi asked a few questions and learned what Zahra's story was. And on top of that, learned she was able to use alchemy. Her skills were rough of course, but she had learned enough from a few borrowed books. So they weren't expecting to leave with a kid but...the ended up doing so anyway. At first Zahra was as awkward and angry at her new home as one would expect but...she would eventually settle down and accept Sig and Izumi as her family.

For the next few years, Zahra would work in the butcher shop, go to school, and be trained in alchemy and combat by Izumi. Zahra would actually lead a pretty normal life. Up until she was 15, when Izumi would sUffer some sort of complication thanks to her internal organs and pass away. It was an all too familiar pain, and grief stricken, Zahra would make a rash decision. In the dead of night, she snuck away with a collection of ingredients to an old house that hadn't been used in years. And after some preparation...she preformed the ultimate taboo. And she was once again greeted by an all too familiar pain as her leg was taken away by a force she could hardly comprehend. Her screaming must have been louder than she thought as shortly after she returned from that white void, Sig burst into the house. Zahra was still screaming, crying, apologizing almost incoherently. Sig first, tied a belt around her thigh. Secondly, he smacked her in the face. And third, gave her a hug before taking her to a nearby doctor. Zahra couldn't stop apologizing, she just didn't what to lose her mom, not again. Sig of course understood...and told her a story Zahra had never been told before.

And then, gave her the knowledge that what she brought back wasn't Izumi. Zahra expected Sig to be mad, and he was. But instead of kicking her out onto the street like she expected, he grounded her for a year, gave her the biggest lecture he had ever given her, and called her mechanic. Not only did she need some new auto-mail, but her arm needed some tweaking as well. Still, even with Sig forgiving her, Zahra couldn't help but feel an immeasurable guilt that, for a while, threatened to drive Zahra to end her own life. It wasn't easy to keep what she had done a secret, especially around so many people who knew what it could do. Once she had her replacement leg, and underwent a two year long recovery, training, and physical therapy...Zahra made the decision to join the military. She knew Izumi wouldn't like it, Sig didn't even like it. But Zahra needed to put her skills to good use. And what better way to do that than become a state alchemist.

So, shortly after completing her recovery, she took the test to become a state alchemist and at 17, would begin her military career. Which has been surprisingly uneventful for the most part.

Extra:
- Despite having Ishvalan blood, Zahra doesn't practice any of their traditions. Losing her family at a young age and then being adopted by Amestrians, she never got the chance to learn much about half of her heritage
- Known as The Iron-Bark Alchemist. She still hasn't been told why
- She has two pieces of jewelry she wears all the time. A double crescent pendant necklace that belonged to her birth mother. And a bracelet sporting Izumi's symbol. One day she'll get it tattooed