[ooc!] Application

[i_am_lacus]

Name: Cherry

Personal LJ: cherryfox

Contact info: ryoushirogane [at] yahoo.com, AIM: Platinum Ryou

Character Name: Meer Campbell

Character Series: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

Age: 17

Background:

Once upon a time there were Naturals and Coordinators. Naturals hated Coordinators because they saw them as abominations of nature - humans who had undergone genetic alteration to become smarter, faster, and immune to most illnesses. Coordinators couldn't understand what the Naturals' problem was, and the Naturals happened to include some extremists called Blue Cosmos/LOGOs who believed the Coordinators should be exterminated "for the preservation of our blue and pure world~". Suffice it to say the two sides couldn't get along so most of the Coordinators went to the PLANTs (a nation of space colonies), and most Naturals stayed on Earth, with the Orb Union trying to remain neutral territory, taking neither side. As some major political/ethical squabbles go, it turned into a full-scale war, there was much mecha piloting, destroyed cities and colonies, many lives lost, and following the firing (and more importantly, the destruction of) a huge laser called GENESIS, the moderate PLANTs faction calls for a cease-fire and the war ends. Temporarily.

Meer Campbell, born July 2, CE 56, is a Coordinator living on the PLANTs. Unlike most of the other Coordinators in Gundam SEED/Destiny, she's not exactly "bishie", but she has a beautiful voice, she loves to sing, and is apparently talented enough to be able to pursue this dream (there are a few stills of her singing prior to the events in the series, and one which looks like it takes place in a dressing room, so, we're assuming she at least sang locally in her community, but we don't really know).

As it happens, Lacus Clyne, who is the daughter of the late Chairman Siegel Clyne and the leader of the Clyne Faction has gone missing. She used to sing, encouraging ZAFT soldiers and the people of the PLANTs while doing so, and broadcasted some brilliant speeches about what everyone is really fighting for and the need for peace. Coincidentally, people have told Meer that she sounds just like Lacus, whom Meer is a big fan of, and coincidentally Supreme Council Chairman Durandal finds out about this and contacts Meer.

He has a proposition. He would like Meer to take on a role of standing in for the real Lacus. It's not exactly the debut she'd been hoping for, as she says herself in the diary/disc that she keeps, but this is pretty much the opportunity of a lifetime. She agrees, and on October 11th (I think this is in CE 73) the bandages come off. Voila. Meer now looks almost exactly like Lacus Clyne.

Not too much later she's able to meet the Chairman in the flesh, admitting that she was really impressed by what he had to say.

From there her concert tour among the PLANTs begins including live shows and television broadcasts made with the intention of encouraging and sympathizing with the people and urging them to help her and the Chairman realize a swift end to the war and all fighting.

It is not too long after the Archangel group returns to the battlefield that they find out about the fake Lacus. Lacus and her friends are not pleased, to say the least, and this is mostly because they do not trust Durandal or his intentions. (In truth, Durandal is using all of this as a springboard to promote something called the Destiny Plan. It takes the idea of Coordinators a step further by using technology to determine an individual's strengths, bringing them to light, and basically telling that person what he or she should be doing. Essentially, that person will have no need to worry about the future - the future will already be planned out. Theoretically, since no one will have to wonder about what they should do with their lives or how to achieve their dreams, there will be no need for conflicts.)

Athrun, unlike his friends, has rejoined ZAFT and believes that he is doing the right thing by supporting the Chairman and accepting a position as a member of FAITH.

It's really no surprise, then, that Athrun and Meer finally meet. Naturally Meer's overjoyed at being able to meet Lacus' (ex-)fiance and asks him out to dinner so they can get to know each other better, during which she makes every attempt at being friendly and trying to learn more about both Athrun and "Miss Lacus", asking the ZAFT soldier if her performance was good or not and whether she's like Lacus at all or just completely off.

Meer pops up several more times throughout the series.

In one instance, when the crew of the Minerva is going to meet with Chairman Durandal and a newly transferred pilot, Heine Westenfluss, Meer is there giving a concert. It's almost as if it was planned, huh? Durandal invites Heine, Athrun, Shinn Asuka, and Lunamaria Hawke to take up quarters and spend the night with Heine giving up his own room to Lunamaria. Naturally when Meer is informed that Athrun's around, she comes running and (somehow or other) gets a key to his room. Since he's already gone to bed, she just makes herself at home (after all, couples sleep in the same bed, right? And waking people up is rude), resulting in a rather amusing misunderstanding or two when Lunamaria knocks at Athrun's door the next morning and Meer goes to answer it wearing a very short, fluffy, pink... "thing". Then, when Athrun leaves, she tries to kiss him goodbye (because, again, this is her preconceived notion of what couples are supposed to do), but gets pushed away.

The next time Meer appears, television broadcasts aside, is when Durandal calls on Athrun and Shinn again. He wants to make Shinn a member of FAITH, too, offering the both of them two lovely new mobile suits - the Destiny (for Shinn, because he's the main character) and the Legend (for Athrun). Meer pretty much just stands around and plays with Haro, because, after all, she agrees with what the Chairman's doing.

Though Meer isn't involved directly in the fighting, she remains somewhat informed. Her diary indicates that she didn't know much about the conflicts in the beginning, but as she listens to Durandal and the others speak, I imagine she gradually picks up more and more, all the while becoming more eager to do her part, even if she knows deep down that the job can't go on forever. One thing she doesn't seem to realize, though, is that there are people out to take the life of the real Lacus.

When Lacus finally makes a move to return to space, she poses as "herself" and goes with Andrew Waltfeld to hijack the aircraft that Meer's supposed to be on by arriving at the scheduled location earlier than the Meer party. Meer's very put out when this happens - having been used to people coming out to greet her (in her defense, this is probably the first time she's ever received so much attention and had so many people being nice to her).

Meer continues doing her job and listening from the sidelines. She overhears Durandal and Rey Za Burrel talking about Athrun and discovers that he met up with the Orb Representative, Cagalli Yula Athha and several crew members from the Archangel. By this time Athrun is troubled both by his own doubts about the Chairman's motives and what he should be doing and also aggravated by his friends' movements which are bringing unneeded confusion to the battlefield.

Meer finally confronts him about the meeting, telling him that he must not do anything to cause the Chairman to have doubts concerning his allegience to ZAFT, but by then Athrun has decided that just maybe Chairman Durandal isn't to be trusted. He's finally seen the light, so the speak, and he tells Meer that she must come with him, that Durandal is just using the both of them and that he will have her killed once she's no longer needed. Meer adamantly refuses, saying it's a lie, that she is Lacus, that she'd rather be her. There's no way she's going to go with him. Athrun leaves without her, Meer doing nothing to either help him or assist the search party. She's very confused following this and can't understand what's gotten into him. But, she also gets more attentive, listening in on what the Chairman is saying and trying to draw her own conclusions.

When Cagalli finally gets her ducks in a line and plans to make a speech, broadcast both on Earth and in the PLANTs in regards to the Orb Union and the Chairman's demands that they hand over Lord Djibril (one of the key players within Blue Cosmos, and one of the few surviving LOGOS members at this point), Durandal cuts her off and has Meer give a speech to further his own motives, denouncing Orb for hiding such an evil person. Meer, however, is cut off by the real Lacus who has joined Cagalli in Orb. Lacus says quite clearly that she is the real Lacus and denounces both Djibril and Durandal. Meer is stunned and doesn't know how to react, and Durandal finally has her taken off the air, knowing that it's too late to keep up the charade any longer.

After Lacus' broadcast, Durandal tells Meer that nothing can be done about it now. He urges her to keep a low profile until this all blows over (and indeed, many of the PLANTs' people, as well as members of ZAFT still believe that Meer's the real Lacus), thanks her for all her hard work, and assures her that this reprieve will be short - he'll contact her soon. Meer leaves with Sarah for the lunar city Copernicus. There, Meer reflects on all that she's done up until now and wonders just what's to become of her career and her future.

While resting poolside, Sarah approaches and begins talking to Meer as if she is Lacus, though it's quite clear that she knows better. Sarah assures Meer that the other Lacus is obviously a fake and tells her that the "other Lacus" aboard the Archangel will soon be arriving in Copernicus, that the real Lacus is willing to join in the fight when she absolutely must, and that "Lacus" should do something about this. Sarah devises a plan and Meer, very frightened and panicky at this point, goes along with it. Meer's red Haro delivers a letter to Lacus as she and the others are out shopping. Athrun and Meyrin immediately say it must be a trap, but Lacus firmly says that she plans to answer the cry for help since it was addressed to her specifically.

Lacus and co. head for the empty amphitheater where they find Meer. Athrun proceeds first and holds Meer at gunpoint, confirming that he knows it's a trap. Meer is pretty shocked to see him since she believed that he had died after he defected from ZAFT, and the weapon doesn't help much either. Lacus warns him to stop, and then steps out of the shadows in order to speak with her. Meer starts to panic even more, saying that she should be the real Lacus - that when she's Lacus there's nothing wrong with her- and pulls a gun on Lacus which is promptly shot out of her hand by Athrun. Lacus tries to tell Meer that even if she steals her name (which Lacus is willing to let her have), they are still two different people. That she should be singing for herself and not allowing other people to use her dreams for their own benefit.

Sarah and her backup, however, are getting impatient and open fire - with Birdy alerting the group just in time to get Lacus out of the way. Athrun and Kira begin returning their shots, meanwhile making plans for the girls to escape. Kira urges Meer to come with them and escape with Neo Roanoke Mu La Flaga on the Akatsuki. Meer tentatively accepts, but notices another shot is being aimed right at an unprotected Lacus. Meer runs for her, warning her to watch out and is fatally wounded as a result. Kira yells at Mu to hurry up and get her to the Archangel, but it's obvious that Meer isn't going to make it. Her parting words are that she's sorry and wishes she had gotten the opportunity to get to know everyone better. She gives Lacus a picture of herself from before the surgery and asks her not to forget her life or her songs. She dies in Lacus' arms. Cue tears.

Athrun carries Meer onto the Archangel where they hold a service for her and search through her things for pertinent information that will help them contact her family, etc. What they find is a disc which contains a diary of Meer's life from the surgery onwards, which they are able to view once it's inserted into a nearby computer.

--- Taken from right before she gets shot.

Personality:

Due to her role in the series, Meer tries to imitate Lacus Clyne as best she can, and even though Lacus isn't seen often anymore (because she's sort of living a peaceful life in hiding with Kira Yamato, a bunch of kids, and co. within Orb), Meer will readily try to fill in the blanks with her own ideas - things such as what Lacus acts like when she's not singing or representing the PLANTs and what brands of clothes and make-up she wears. Indeed, she gives such details near meticulous attention, wanting to get them just right. (I'm not sure if she got any of these correct or not, but I guess it's worth noting that Lacus stared at the lipstick Meer had purchased for a long time.)

There are a number of pretty big differences between the two, however. For one, Meer's very... excited. She was absolutely ecstatic when the bandages came off following her surgery and the fact that she looked just like Lacus (she basically idolizes her). She was also incredibly overjoyed upon first meeting Athrun. Though the real Lacus probably would have greeted her ex-fiance with a smile and a warm greeting, Meer pretty much made a dive for him and gave him a big hug. This happens just about every time she sees him, as she tries to act as a(n) (ex-)fiance should - "coupley", latching onto his arm, requesting they go places together, trying to kiss him goodbye, and so on. This all leads me to believe that Meer is something of a hopeless romantic and a dreamer who wishes she could be in some ideal relationship with a nice guy. She even comments about how she bets Athrun is super nice to Lacus and how great it would be to have a boyfriend like that. She's probably never been in a relationship ever.

Another big difference between the two is how they appear in the public eye. A lot of people note that Lacus has "really changed", that her new musical style makes her seem younger. Just listening to the original version of "Shizuka na Yoru ni" and then to the CE. 73 remix sung by Meer should demonstrate the point pretty quickly. Indeed, whereas Lacus is generally modest and sings slower, softer songs, Meer's songs have a very energetic pop sound, she dresses much more revealingly, and her dance moves are definitely more "bouncy" and flirty. For some reason no one much cares enough to question it further. She also wears a different hairclip than Lacus does - hers is a star.

Oh, but there are people who can tell the difference between them. One of these people is Athrun, whom she does pretty quickly introduce herself to as "Meer Campbell". Though he tells her over a dinner that she sounds and looks just like Lacus, and that she even has her mannerisms down, it's obvious that he's uncomfortable with it, and he later tells her bluntly that Lacus would not act like she's acting. Other people include those that know - Supreme Council Chairman Gilbert Durandal, and Meer's "bodyguard" Sarah. Also the Archangel crew, including Kira and Lacus, Andrew Waltfeld, Murrue Ramius, and so on.

Meer strikes me as being a very frank and honest person. While she greets everyone politely, she won't hesitate to voice her thoughts and emotions if the situation allows for it. ("Oh, I'm so happy!" "I'd really like that!" "I was so nervous!" etc.) She's also much more quick to panic than Lacus is. In episode 46, while Sarah and her associates were shooting at them, Meer was scared half to death, while Lacus remained outwardly calm, telling her look-a-like that everything would be okay in the end, and even making gestures to shelter Meer during some of the volleys of bullets.

Though Meer doesn't write her own speeches, she sincerely believes in Chairman Durandal's ideals and hopes that, by assisting him in her role as "Lacus", she can help the PLANTs and the rest of the world achieve peace. She gets really motivated by all this and puts forth a ton of effort for everyone's sakes. When Athrun tries to warn her that Durandal will get rid of her when she's no longer useful to him and that she's only being used, Meer lashes out, saying that there's no way that could be true. That she is Lacus, and would much rather continue playing this role. Afterwards, she's very confused and torn up about it. The final blow comes when the real Lacus interrupts Meer's television broadcast which was actually an attempt on Durandal's part to interrupt Cagalli's speech. Now that everyone can see there are TWO Lacuses, one obviously has to be fake. Durandal tells her to keep a low profile and ships her off to Copernicus. She's pretty much crushed, not knowing if she'll be able to keep singing at all, wondering just what awaits her, and feeling more than a little angry - after all, she's been doing her part and working hard, even if it was done while impersonating someone else. She is so serious about it that, for a moment, she boldly insists that she's Lacus, and that when she's Lacus nothing's wrong with her. At the very end, she says that she wishes she could have gotten to know everyone better and asks Lacus to remember her and her songs, acknowledging who she was in the past.

Item Lost: The photograph of herself that she keeps with her from before her surgery. She gave this to the real Lacus as she was dying and asked her to remember her songs and her life, so I was under the impression that even though she feels strongly about her role as Lacus, she never truly forgot her origins.

Sample Journal Entry:

...what? Where am I?
I can't even remember where I'm supposed to be. That doesn't seem right at all, now does it?

Maybe I fell asleep. No, that can't be right... I've never had a dream that felt this real before... at least I don't think I have.

This is all wrong. People don't just suddenly forget everything they ever knew about themselves and wake up in a park, do they? Of-of course not! I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this-- I mean, I could have hit my head, or maybe I'm suffering from amnesia...

Amnesia... It's true that I have no idea who I am, but, is that really what happened?

No! That can't be true! I... I have to be dreaming! Oh, come on, Meer, you've got to wake up!