Mary Shelley

Bio

AKA: Lady Wollstonecraft, Dr Shelley, Dean Shelley

Status: Alive

Birthday: 30 August

Age: 30

Height: 151cm (5 ft)

Weight: 67kg (147 lbs)

Blood type: O

Likes: Bananas, biology, dead bodies

Dislikes: Jean Genet, paperwork, stupid people

Ability: Frankenstein

Ability namesake: Frankenstein:The Modern Prometheus

Job: Researcher, Dean of the United Kingdom

Affiliation: Paulownia Court (Prometheus Institute)

Appearance

Mary is a pale woman with choppy, grey-blue hair with darker ends and radial heterochromia, with the outer iris rim being yellow and the inner part being blood orange. She has slight bags under her eyes and stitches across her body.

As Dean, she wears a black military-style swallowtail coat over an ivory blouse and ivory, form-fitting trousers tucked into black boots. She leaves her hair loose. She covers her hands with black and white lace gloves. She also wears ornate earrings in both ears and triangular cufflinks with gold engravings, bracelets and rings.

Normally, she wears her hair in a messy ponytail, with several strands left in the front. She wears a lab coat over a plain v-neck and dark scrub trousers with medical clogs, and a glove on her left hand. She doesn't wear any jewellery, except for plain studs in her ear piercings.

Personality

Mary is an ambitious and passionate scientist who dedicates herself entirely to her research. While she is expected to act in a certain way, as Dean of England, she tends to be incredibly blunt, often to the point of being downright rude, when making any kind of small talk or negotiations. She also tends to be intrusively curious, asking invasive questions to anyone and everyone, including strangers, and has almost no filter whatsoever. 

Like most other Deans, Mary is a somewhat eccentric woman, with an inquisitive spirit, however she takes her research seriously, and is an excellent scientist. Her methodical and efficient approach to her work, often looking at things in unconventional ways and trying unorthodox solutions, has garnered both controversy and respect from both her own colleagues and the wider international community, and she has contributed immensely to the Paulownia Court through it. 

She doesn’t have many hobbies outside of her work, instead enjoying pursuing frivolous lines of research (see: the rise of the naked mole chickens), and questioning those around her. She also has very few friends, as most people get annoyed with her quickly, and she is unable to reason with people who cannot grasp her atypical perspective. Due to not talking to many people, she often finds herself feeling lonely, leading her to latch onto anyone around her who is willing to put up with her antics, such as Rossetti and Lovecraft. 

Her isolation from others also causes her to feel alienated, at times, and unable to reach out to others, leading her to believe that she is fundamentally different to those around her. She chooses not to express this, however, burying it under her happy-go lucky attitude. Only those closest to her are able to tell, and will try and find ways to make her more comfortable, as they know how much her loneliness bothers her.

She also has a penchant for blood and gore, having been desensitised to such things from a young age, which unnerves those around her, including, at times, herself. Mary will, when pressed, threaten physical violence beyond regular means, and while it is rare for her to follow through, her threats are bold enough to have, in the past, warranted reprimanding due to their severe nature. 

Ability

Name: Frankenstein (フランケンシュタイン)

Allows the user to fuse multiple pieces of organic matter together permanently, making them a part of the original body. This can be used to ‘revive’ a freshly dead brain/body by using a live heart and defibrillation to revitalise a corpse, or by putting the brain in a new, live body. 

Matter melding

Skills

• Specialised knowledge
  • Mary is knowledgeable in all kinds of human biology, allowing her to quickly and efficiently take down opponents. 
  • Her knowledge of forensic biology allows her to quickly find and trace criminals. 
• Medical expertise
  • Mary is capable of performing a number of surgeries, despite having no formal medical training.
• Self-augmentation
  • Using her ability, Mary has augmented her own physiology and DNA multiple times

Background

Mary grew up in Hertfordshire, in a politically affluent, but emotionally unavailable, family. She found science interesting from a young age, and often conducted various ‘experiments’ both at school and home. During one of these experiments, she discovered her ability, by accidentally fusing two ants together. She tried to tell her family about her ability, however they did not believe her. As such, she kept quiet about it, but continued to study it on her own, eventually growing bolder as she grew up. She studied biology in Oxford, where she began to learn more about abilities, but was kicked out after a year due to unauthorised use of donated cadavers, and subsequently disowned, with her expulsion being the final straw for her family. Before she left, she received a recommendation from an unknown source to join a research lab in France, working under Jean Genet as a member of the Paulownia Court.

During her time in France, Mary rose quickly up the ranks, and after four long, painful years, was promoted to Dean by Murasaki Shikibu, following the departure of England’s previous dean. She started the Prometheus Institute shortly after, and began to pursue her own line of research, rather than following Genet’s. 

Timeline

• 30 years ago
  • Mary is born
• 25 years ago
  • Mary discovered her ability
• 12 years ago
  • Begins attending Oxford
• 11 years ago
  • Was kicked out of Oxford
  • Started working for Genet
• 7 years ago
  • Became Dean
  • Stopped working for Genet
  • Began working with Christina
  • Established the Prometheus Institute
• 4 years ago
  • Admitted William to the Paulownia Court

Etymology

Mary: Bitter/Beloved

Shelley: Meadow’s edge

Namesake

Mary Shelley

British author who wrote ‘Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus’, considered one of the earliest examples of science-fiction. She also wrote several historical and apocalyptic novels, including ‘Valperga’ and ‘The Last Man’. 

Trivia

• Her ability, Frankenstein, is named after the book, following a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unethical scientific experiment. 
  • It is based on the method of Victor Frankenstein’s construction of the monster, by painstakingly adding bits to it, one anatomical feature at a time, as well as more modern interpretations of this based on James Whale’s reimagining in 1931. 
• Mary’s personality and backstory takes influence from Victor Frankenstein, who was based on Percy Bysshe Shelley. 
  • Both attended Oxford
  • Both came from families with strong political connections
  • Both are talented scientists
  • Both bury themselves in their experiments
• Mary speaks multiple European languages, including French, Swiss, German and Italian. However, she is terrible at Japanese.
• The stitches across her body refer to modern interpretations of the appearance of Frankenstein’s monster. They are mostly cosmetic.
• Despite being referred to as Dr Shelley, Mary does not have any degree, let alone a PhD. Instead, she has a lifetime ban from Oxford University. 
• Mary is referred to by some as Lady Wollstonecraft. The real Shelley’s birth name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, from her mother (Mary Wollstonecraft) and father (William Godwin). 
• She has severe insomnia, and often sleeps during the day while working at night. 
  • At times where she needs to be awake during the day, she either drinks copious amounts of energy drinks, or tries to reset her sleep schedule.
• She drinks unfiltered black coffee, much to the horror of her colleagues
• She performed surgery and genome alterations on herself
  • She edited her sex chromosones at 12 years old
  • She gave herself a uterus transplant, partial bottom surgery and breast transplants at 18 years old
• She uses her ability to try and create new creatures. 
  • So far, the worst one she has made is the slug-bee. 
• She has replaced several of her own body parts as parts of self-augmentation experiments.
  • She has also replaced the limbs of other members of the Paulownia Court before.

Relationships

Appellations

Christina Rossetti

Mary and Christina first met when Mary was promoted to Dean, with Christina being assigned to help Mary after her mentor, the previous Dean, left. Christina quickly discovered that Mary was not a rational, level-headed, patient person, like the previous Dean, and instead was… the exact opposite, for the most part. Mary appreciates Christina’s efforts to balance her out, and help her when she is unable to do something, however thinks that Christina’s gloomy outlook and logical approach to life and work holds her back. 

William Blake

William was first introduced to Mary when he was made a member of the Paulownia Court, becoming a member of the Prometheus Institute. She found him incredibly sweet due to his short stature, to which he vehemently objected. He greatly admires her dedication and unique approach to her work, and appreciates how she makes an effort to socialise with others in her own unique way. She sees him as a valuable asset to her foundation, and a good student. She also sees herself in him, as both of them have lived their whole lives with nobody seeing their abilities, and both have affected others with their power. 

Seichou Matsumoto

Mary first met Seichou 10 years ago, while she was visiting Japan with Genet. At first, they did not get along, however this was partly because of Jean Genet. After she became Dean, and became able to express herself fully, they began to get along better, having a mutual respect for each other's work and a joint goal of protecting and aiding Lady Murasaki. Mary also helped Nakai and Togawa on several occasions, teaching them both more about her own research, for which Seichou is thankful. He, in return, has offered help in teaching Mary Japanese, and helping Christina and William with their studies. Whenever Mary visits Japan, she will make an attempt to visit Seichou in Yokohama and bring him tea from England.

H.P. Lovecraft

Mary and Howard first met 9 years ago, at the annual expo on Standard Island, and immediately she found him fascinating due to his ‘ability’. She has offered on several occasions to perform experiments on him, to which Lovecraft has never given a proper response. He tends to answer any questions she has about his unique physiology, and seems to have no issues with her continuous questioning. In fact, he will often respond with questions about her own ability, or demonstrate his ability for her. Their relationship is relatively ambiguous, due to professional and geographical issues, as well as the fact that neither ever relay anything about their personal feelings to the other. There is an ongoing bet led by Christina and William about their current relationship status, with the pot currently sitting at well over a thousand pounds.

Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki is Mary’s boss, and a great inspiration to her. As one of the few people to know the truth about Murasaki, Mary dedicates herself and her research to helping Murasaki, both for her own personal curiosity, as well as for the sake of Murasaki. She commits herself to finding ways to keep Murasaki in good condition, often working herself past exhaustion in the process. Murasaki appreciates Mary’s enthusiasm, however is frustrated at herself and her own situation, blaming herself for Mary’s constant overworking. She tries her best to ensure Mary’s comfort when she (Mary) visits, to offer her some respite. 

Jean Genet

Mary first met Jean 13 years ago upon her admission to the Paulownia Court, where she was sent to work with Genet in France. The two immediately hated each other, with Mary finding Jean to be crass and cruel, and Jean finding Mary to be intrusive, unrefined and far too curious for her own good. As Mary’s boss, Jean often gave her the most boring and tedious work, rarely allowing Mary the opportunity to work at what she was best at. In response, Mary would often subject Jean to her ‘pet projects’, with the most egregious being a flock of naked mole rat-chickens. Since Mary became Dean, the two have resorted to a cold war, refusing to do anything to destroy diplomatic relationships, while not backing down from their adamant stances about the other. Whenever they meet in person, everyone around them does anything and everything possible to prevent arguments. It rarely works.