ooc † application
Character
Name: Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes
Series: FullMetal Alchemist
Timeline: After Chapter 14; he's just finished his daughter's 3rd birthday party and hasn't visited the Elrics in the hospital again yet.
Canon Resource Links: Wiki; follow the manga!verse rather than anime!verse, though there isn't that much of a difference between the two for Hughes.
History:
1885 - Born
1905 (20) - Graduates Military Academy | First Lieutenant
1908 (23) - Ishval Civil War | Captain
1909 (24) - Married Gracia (headcanon)
1911 (26) - Elicia is born | Lieutenant Colonel
1914 (29) - Murdered | Brigadier General
Personality:
Maes is as light-hearted and friendly as anyone could get. He's always one to attempt to lighten a particularly heavy mood. This trait has often given him the reputation amongst friends as being annoying, especially when his over-cheerfulness and jovial butting-in happens during an important discussion (which seems to happen quite often, unfortunately.) It would seem, that along with his constant, upbeat attitude, that Maes has a very thick skin, as the annoyances and criticism of others seem to roll right off him. He can be quite persistent, often forcing his hospitality upon others, sometimes to the point of dragging them away without their consent. The important thing to note is, that he is doing this all out of the kindness of his heart (not that the victim being "kidnapped," as the Elric brothers unhappily dubbed it, would agree.) 95% of the time, his jovial comments includes some sort of loving remark about his family, that he loves very much.
Maes loves -- no, adores -- his wife (Gracia) and 3 years old daughter (Elicia.) From the way he talks (quite incessantly) about them to the way he shoves their pictures into your face, there's no doubt about that. His entire life is based off of those two women; they are his pride, his joy, and sometimes, his weakness. He can be a little over-protective of his girls, as evident from how he'll tense up at the thought of other men admiring his wife, or pull out his pistol to warn little boys from getting too friendly with his daughter (even if she is only three years old.) He believes that being a husband and a father has been the best thing that has ever happened to him, and often attempts to push others (anyone ranging from Roy Mustang to 15 years old Edward Elric) into settling down, as well, much to their annoyance and discomfort.
Family aside, he cares greatly for his friends. Maes is loyal and trustworthy, and would not hesitate to do anything for those close to him. Having seen many tragic things during both the Ishval Civil War and the investigations and court-martials that are part of his daily job, his overly cheerful antics are a way for him to protect those that he cares about from having to have any contact with the horrors that mankind could inflict onto others. When it comes to his job, (and when he is not shirking responsibilities in favor of chatting with his friends,) Maes is quite shrewd and calculating. He has the ability to stay calm, even under immense pressure and often while facing dead bodies or the thought of death itself, in order to get the job done. Maes is a realist, and understands that there are certain things that simply cannot be dealt with cleanly. He has a kind heart and does not wish to hurt others, but understands that there are times when force is necessary; he would not hesitate to act if innocent lives were in danger. His time in the war has shown him just how much destruction occurs in the world; since then, he's kept from any sort of harmful activity and remained in the Investigations Office, preferring to investigate rather than instigate. However, he still has a great deal of respect for idealists like Roy Mustang; perhaps due to the fact that Maes would much rather raise his daughter to live in the idealistic world of Roy than the realistic world that he has to experience every day. In that way, he is not afraid to dirty his hands so that idealists like Roy can reach their goals and change the world.
Though it may look on the outside as if Maes is nothing but a blubbering idiot comic relief, he is actually quite wise. He can often notice details that others have not, and piece together information that may not seem to be connected at all. He is very meticulous and methodic in his thinking, which comes in very handy at his station at the Investigations Office. He will happily give (sometimes seemingly uncharacteristically) sound advice to those that he cares about.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ Cheerful, lighthearted, always willing to provide a good laugh
+ Methodic, meticulous, pays great attention to detail
+ Caring, loyal, trustworthy
+ Ability to dissociate from death and other such horrific things and still remain calm
+ Proficient with guns, great with knife combat (not that it would be that useful here)
+ Wise; good at giving sound advice and strategizing
+ Persistent
+/- Would do anything for his loved ones
+/- Adores his family more than anything
- Can have a bad habit of shirking responsibility (so long as it isn't anything horribly important)
- Fawns a little too much over his family
- Sometimes gives the impression that he's not taking anything seriously, which can get annoying if you're trying to be serious
- Can be a little too forceful/insistent; won't take no for an answer
- Prone to butting into conversations
Misc Information
He has three pictures with him:
(1) Elicia's 3rd birthday, taken the day before Maes arrived here. She is happily shoving cake into her mouth, but has missed quite a bit.
(2) His entire family. The same one he accidentally dropped right before he died.
(3) Little Elicia in a dress, smiling happily up at the camera, arms wide spread.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Eevee
Password: Taco Bell
Samples
First Person Sample: [ video ]
[ An eevee fills the screen. Or rather, the midriff of an eevee. It's happily wagging its tail, completely unaware.
The eevee is slowly pulled back, but almost immediately replaced with Maes' face. He's stuck his face far too close, such that the viewer can really get a view of his eyes and the bridge of his nose. But Maes doesn't really care. ]
She just learned a new attack today! Isn't she smart?
[ He finally backs up, and sets the eevee down on the ground. ]
Show them, Elsie!
[ The eevee happily obliges, getting into fighting stance. ]
Look! Isn't she adora--
[ Eevee's head connects with the Pokegear, cutting Maes off. There's static, and then, nothing. ]
Third Person Sample:
Maes leaned up against the wall of the small room. The springs on the bed squeak as he shifted to reach down into a back pocket of his pants, and pulled out a small picture. It's a little frayed from being folded one too many times, but one could still tell that the picture's been well taken-care of.
He's not sure why, of all his possessions, he was able to bring this picture with him, but Maes certainly isn't complaining. He smiles, as he stares down at the picture, fingering a corner of it lovingly.
In it, was a family; his family. There he is, his face glowing with pride. Next to him, was Gracia: the most beautiful, caring, utterly amazing woman that he has ever met. And in his arms, a beaming little three year old girl, dressed up in her birthday dress. This had been the last thing he remembered from home. It'd been taken during the party, and he had been so excited at the idea of having yet another photograph of his family (and the first photo in which sweet little Elicia is three years old!) that he'd stayed up all night developing it.
After a few moments, he finally puts the picture down. It doesn't do well to dwell on things you can't change. He may not be with them anymore, but Maes was confident that they're doing alright without him. Gracia, after all, is one strong woman; that was one thing he loved about her. He had no doubt that Elicia would be in good hands.
He feels a nudge against his side, and looks down. Elsie, his starter pokemon, had made her way next to him, and was currently nudging his hand with her head. He smiles, reaching out to pat her. Pokemon were such strange creatures; so much like humans. This little eevee, for example, reminded him a lot of Elicia at times. He understood the reasons to train Pokemon, such that they became stronger, but Maes had never really understood sending them out to brutally battle each other.
Humans could be so cruel, sometimes.
"Are you hungry?" He asks, shifting once again to put the picture back into his pocket. The eevee hesitates for a moment, considering the question, before nodding happily and nudging his hand with her nose.
"Well, then," he pushes himself up off the bed. "Let's see what we can do to fix that, hmm?"