I Want To Know About You(r Insides)
It's that time again. No, not hammer, miller or party time. It's tell-me-about-how-this-ability-will-affect-your-characters time! Since Stein's a doctor (...for now), this is probably only relevant if you end up as his experiment patient, but if he sees you in Doyleton or some other time, it could matter! So, without further ado, look under the cut for...
Soul Perception
Stein can see your soul. Yes, that thingy inside that's the very essence of you.
In Soul Eater, souls are very important; they're what powers pretty much everyone's abilities and what kind of "wavelength" your soul gives off says a lot about you. The size, power and quality are all different factors in your own abilities and compatibility with others. Certain people, mostly weapons meisters and demon weapons, can use Soul Perception, the ability to, as it sounds, perceive souls. While anyone can see the souls of the dead in the moments after someone dies, it takes Soul Perception to be able to see the souls of the living. At its most basic, one can simply detect a soul, it's location, existence and size. More refined Soul Perception can detect qualities about the soul like its strength, how it looks and things like if it's a human, a witch, a weapon or an animal. Stein's Soul Perception is refined enough that he can look at people's souls and even get a general feel for their personality type and current mood. A video reference can be found here at 4:55.
While in Damned, Stein will be able to use Soul Perception. However, there are a few limits: He can only view souls in detail that are right before him. Because he's part of the daytime staff, if he encounters a non-human soul, he'll simply see a human one. He can, however, still detect personality traits and mood if he's looking, which combined with his normal powers of observation, make him very perceptive and good at reading others. There are three exceptions to the "humans only" rule:
1) He will still see the souls of witches as they are. In Soul Eater, witches are female magic users that often have an animal association, though there has been a male character who stole a witch's powers. Witches are all born with their powers, though they have to work to refine them and all of them are, as their power grow, affected by the "Sway of Magic", an instinctual need to cause destruction. If your character has magic powers that they were born with, they will register as a witch. Not mutant abilities, not special abilities but blatantly magical, spells-and-sorcery magic. If they have some kind of instinctual destructive urge similar to the Sway of Magic, they may seem similar.
2) Stein can see souls that are on the path to becoming Kishin. In Soul Eater, the souls of people who commit sins and eat the souls of the innocent in order to gain power become corrupted, turning into Kishin eggs. If your character has murdered innocent people (defined as pretty much anyone who isn't a murderer or otherwise blatantly evil) and especially if they have eaten or taken in the essence of those people some how, they are on the way to becoming Kishin in Stein's eyes. I'm lookin' at you, DDS demons. Anyone who may have used to souls of the innocent for power (like, literally took their souls and used them for a power-up) also count even if they didn't directly murder them.
3) If your character does not have a soul, Stein will know this. He may be confused, but that won't change the fact he won't see a soul where there should be one. If your character is explicitly stated in canon as not having a soul, Stein will see nothing. If you are organic and your canon does not say otherwise, you have a soul. Demon, angel, whatever, unless your canon says you have no soul, you have one. If you are an inorganic, this can depend. More scientifically sound inorganics, such as Star Wars droids, definitely lack souls. The Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, or the guys from Transformers? I'm inclined to think have souls.
Basically, please post with your characters and answer the following:
1) Do they have a soul (See Exception 3)? If not, you're done!
2) A short, general description of their overall personality; basically, what Stein would be able to tell from looking at their soul. If you have some defining physical traits, those may appear as well (for example, Stein's soul has a stitches and a large screw sticking out of it). Go ahead and choose a color as well (except Purple; Purple is reserved for witches) and mention anything else you think would be apparent.
3) Does you character qualify as a witch or something similar (See Exception 1)?
4) Does your character's soul qualify as a Kishin-egg (See Exception 2)?
EDIT: So, a few more things came up:
1) A lot of people have come with the "I was killing the opposing side, am I on the path to kishin?" question. I'm going to say in war, against opposing soldiers, no. In regards to guards doing their job... that depends. Chances are, if you were one of the good guys and they started it, not really. Kind questionable. Basically, the Kishin thing is for if you killed someone not lookin' to get killed. Basically, where you killing people for the purpose of killing them for fun and/or profit, rather than self-defense or as a soldier of war just doing their job?
2) Uh, yeah, forgot to mention: Soul Eater has Shinigami. Stein will recognize those too. However, there's not a lot of canon reference for what makes a shinigami, as there have only been two. Well, we'll just go with "if you're a shinigami/death god/Reaper" in canon, he'll note you're a shinigami as well.
Soul Perception
Stein can see your soul. Yes, that thingy inside that's the very essence of you.
In Soul Eater, souls are very important; they're what powers pretty much everyone's abilities and what kind of "wavelength" your soul gives off says a lot about you. The size, power and quality are all different factors in your own abilities and compatibility with others. Certain people, mostly weapons meisters and demon weapons, can use Soul Perception, the ability to, as it sounds, perceive souls. While anyone can see the souls of the dead in the moments after someone dies, it takes Soul Perception to be able to see the souls of the living. At its most basic, one can simply detect a soul, it's location, existence and size. More refined Soul Perception can detect qualities about the soul like its strength, how it looks and things like if it's a human, a witch, a weapon or an animal. Stein's Soul Perception is refined enough that he can look at people's souls and even get a general feel for their personality type and current mood. A video reference can be found here at 4:55.
While in Damned, Stein will be able to use Soul Perception. However, there are a few limits: He can only view souls in detail that are right before him. Because he's part of the daytime staff, if he encounters a non-human soul, he'll simply see a human one. He can, however, still detect personality traits and mood if he's looking, which combined with his normal powers of observation, make him very perceptive and good at reading others. There are three exceptions to the "humans only" rule:
1) He will still see the souls of witches as they are. In Soul Eater, witches are female magic users that often have an animal association, though there has been a male character who stole a witch's powers. Witches are all born with their powers, though they have to work to refine them and all of them are, as their power grow, affected by the "Sway of Magic", an instinctual need to cause destruction. If your character has magic powers that they were born with, they will register as a witch. Not mutant abilities, not special abilities but blatantly magical, spells-and-sorcery magic. If they have some kind of instinctual destructive urge similar to the Sway of Magic, they may seem similar.
2) Stein can see souls that are on the path to becoming Kishin. In Soul Eater, the souls of people who commit sins and eat the souls of the innocent in order to gain power become corrupted, turning into Kishin eggs. If your character has murdered innocent people (defined as pretty much anyone who isn't a murderer or otherwise blatantly evil) and especially if they have eaten or taken in the essence of those people some how, they are on the way to becoming Kishin in Stein's eyes. I'm lookin' at you, DDS demons. Anyone who may have used to souls of the innocent for power (like, literally took their souls and used them for a power-up) also count even if they didn't directly murder them.
3) If your character does not have a soul, Stein will know this. He may be confused, but that won't change the fact he won't see a soul where there should be one. If your character is explicitly stated in canon as not having a soul, Stein will see nothing. If you are organic and your canon does not say otherwise, you have a soul. Demon, angel, whatever, unless your canon says you have no soul, you have one. If you are an inorganic, this can depend. More scientifically sound inorganics, such as Star Wars droids, definitely lack souls. The Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, or the guys from Transformers? I'm inclined to think have souls.
Basically, please post with your characters and answer the following:
1) Do they have a soul (See Exception 3)? If not, you're done!
2) A short, general description of their overall personality; basically, what Stein would be able to tell from looking at their soul. If you have some defining physical traits, those may appear as well (for example, Stein's soul has a stitches and a large screw sticking out of it). Go ahead and choose a color as well (except Purple; Purple is reserved for witches) and mention anything else you think would be apparent.
3) Does you character qualify as a witch or something similar (See Exception 1)?
4) Does your character's soul qualify as a Kishin-egg (See Exception 2)?
EDIT: So, a few more things came up:
1) A lot of people have come with the "I was killing the opposing side, am I on the path to kishin?" question. I'm going to say in war, against opposing soldiers, no. In regards to guards doing their job... that depends. Chances are, if you were one of the good guys and they started it, not really. Kind questionable. Basically, the Kishin thing is for if you killed someone not lookin' to get killed. Basically, where you killing people for the purpose of killing them for fun and/or profit, rather than self-defense or as a soldier of war just doing their job?
2) Uh, yeah, forgot to mention: Soul Eater has Shinigami. Stein will recognize those too. However, there's not a lot of canon reference for what makes a shinigami, as there have only been two. Well, we'll just go with "if you're a shinigami/death god/Reaper" in canon, he'll note you're a shinigami as well.