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Name: Miriam Judith Jacobs

Nicknames: Some people may be tempted to shorten this to "Miri," but they are advised that this is an unauthorized nickname.

Age: 17

Birthday: November 5. Remember, remember.

Sign: Scorpio

Blood Type: B-

Fav. Food: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Though it is her deepest darkest secret (or one of them, anyway, Miriam thinks a lot of things are her "deepest darkest secret"), years of being a latchkey kid and de facto guardian of her younger siblings have meant a lot of dinners of Kraft Mac & Cheese. It's comforting now.

Hated Food: Fried things. Cilantro. Egg yolks. Tomato sauce. Anchovies. You name it, Miriam may hate it. She takes some pleasure in being an extraordinarily picky eater at a school like Crystal where this is generally accommodated, but if necessary she can suffer through eating things she hates with a stiff upper lip. Stiff. Upper. Lip.

School: Crystal Academy and don't you damn well forget it.

Hobbies:

- Orchestra: What got Miriam into Crystal, and in part what's keeping her there. Miriam's scholarship is partly predicated on her talent with the viola (being otherwise dependent on the maintenance of her grades). And she is a talent, at that -- but more than talent, her skill with the viola has come from endless hours of rote practice. She does love the instrument, though not as much, perhaps, as she loves the lifestyle the instrument is paying for. She spends a lot of time in the music rooms practicing, tuning and maintaining her viola, and otherwise practicing with the school orchestra; she enjoys cello music but opines that the violin is "obnoxious."

- Fencing: Her real hobby. She never picked up a sword before attending Crystal (what average suburban kid does?) but has taken to it with alacrity, fencing épée on the Crystal team. It really is an ideal hobby for Miriam, who has both a great deal of aggression to vent and the need to vent it with great dignity. What time she doesn't spend with her viola or her books she tends to spend with her épée. You may be getting the impression Miriam doesn't have a lot of free time. You would be correct.

- Reorganizing Your Pencilcase: IT'S NOT ORGANIZED RIGHT. COULD YOU JUST -- PUT IT IN A LOGICAL ORDER. LOOK IT WOULD JUST TAKE A -- YOU KNOW WHAT, SHE'LL JUST DO IT FOR YOU. All right? She'll just do it for you? There. Augh.

- Condescending Volunteer Work: Miriam takes any opportunity to bus over to other schools and participate in mingling-with-the-little-people activities in snooty silence with her chin head high, such as arts and crafts with public school kids or teaching the Hillworth boys music or whatever. Really she finds the familiarity comforting, but would rather chop off her own hands than admit that.


Gemstone: November = Citrine. Scorpio = Beryl.

Virtues:

Stand Me Up At The Gates Of Hell -- If nothing else, Miriam is certainly brave, and brave particularly in the face of adversity and confrontation. Adversity is a personal challenge to her mettle and she intends to show the world what she's made of at all points. She hates public speaking, but as God is her witness she will deliver the valedictorian address and she will deliver the hell out of it. (Step 1, valedictorianship, is in-progress.) The same applies to mundane challenges and mortal danger. No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it. She is the mountain. It is very, very difficult to force her to back down.

Self-Reliant -- When I was nine I learned survival, taught myself not to care. I was my single good companion, taking my comfort there. Miriam's very used to being on her own, and this doesn't just mean she doesn't need company -- she's very used to operating without help. She is, by nature, not a team player. Thankfully, she's pretty good at not being a team player -- within limits.

Honorable -- Not quite the same thing as kind. Not quite the same thing as good, even. Definitely not the same thing as generous or forgiving. Miriam has some pretty strict standards for living, and one of them is honor -- live up to your responsibilities, protect the weak, fight fairly, be honest and straightforward, never cheat. Being honorable is one way Miriam justifies being otherwise really mean.

In It To Win It -- If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. A lot of things aren't worth doing by Miriam's standards, but those few things that are are worth doing with excellence. This generally includes schoolwork, fencing, playing the viola, and pretty much anything that might go on her eventual college applications. She's not some kind of supernal talent at most of these things, and sometimes no amount of being "in it" will cause her to "win it," but goddamned if she isn't going to try.

Tidy -- Is this actually a virtue? This is a good question. Miriam Jacobs is an extremely tidy person. In many aspects of her life. She likes symmetry. She likes grammar. She likes napkins that are folded properly, laundry that remains in hampers, highlighters that are color-coded, hair that has a straight part. Disruptions of Miriam's extremely tidy life tend to fluster her and cause her to devote some time to fixing the untidiness before doing anything else.

Flaws:

The Cheese Stands Alone -- Remember when I said Miriam wasn't a team player? She's not a team player. Another name I was considering for this flaw was "No Friends," which should tell you some more about it. Miriam is a prickly, introverted, unsociable, and obsessively self-reliant person. It wouldn't be a stretch to say she literally has no real friends at Crystal because she actually is that bad at making friends. In addition to being bad at making friends -- snooty ice princess that she is -- she hates to accept help or to do anything with someone else if she has the option of doing it on her own. She dislikes group projects in all their incarnations and absolutely hates to have to plan, agree and compromise with other people. If the choice is between teaming up with four other people to tackle a daunting problem and tackling it herself, even if she cannot do it by herself, she will do it by herself. See also: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IneffectualLoner

Pride Goeth -- In case you somehow hadn't gotten that impression, Miriam is an incredibly prideful person. She has a big, swollen, tender ego that she nurses at all times which cannot BEAR humiliation, admission of mistake or loss of composure. Just as she'll do some pretty stupid things out of unwillingness to rely on others, she will do some even stupider things to shelter her precious pride. She is arrogant, but it's not arrogance that bites her here -- it's insecurity.

Confrontational -- Is there some kind of problem? Is there something you'd like to discuss? Like a harsh schoolteacher, Miriam jumps the gun to haughty confrontation if she thinks someone is at all trying to get up in her face. In reality she is extremely defensive and this is why she turns so many things into confrontations, but this isn't necessarily apparent. She also will not hesitate to start an argument, no matter who you are, and hell if she's afraid of you. This has earned her a rather deserved what the hell is her problem? reputation at Crystal. Also, delicate situation? What delicate situation? (Gordian knot? What Gordian knot?)

Untrusting -- You're making fun of her, aren't you? Don't lie to her. Don't you dare lie to her. Don't you dare patronize Miriam Jacobs. You will live to regret the day you patronized Miriam Jacobs.

Self-Righteous -- With her sense of honor comes an unfortunate additional sense of moral superiority. Miriam is not at all hesitant to imply that you are being weak, selfish, petty, or otherwise more of a mere mortal than her, as if she were an Elf and you were a Man tempted by the Ring of Power. Except she is not actually an Elf and feels just as much of a tug towards Rings of Power as anyone else. But you sure as hell wouldn't know it from the way she carries herself.

Physical Description

Hair: Dark chocolate brown and cut to about her mid-back, in loose waves prone to tumbling disarray. Were it up to Miriam Jacobs how her hair grew, things would be different (and obediently pin-straight). It isn't.

Eyes: A shade past "baby blue" in lightness, perhaps even past "powder blue" -- pale, ghostly blue.

Face: Somewhat pale, though not especially pink; undertones of olive in her complexion. Prone to the same stony non-expression.

Body: 5'8". Whipcord-lean and very fit, as any good fencer ought to be.

Fashion: If by "fashion" you mean "manner of wearing her Crystal uniform," then: spotless, pleated, neat, immaculate and symmetrical.

Family and Other Named Characters

Christopher Jacobs -- Miriam's father. An electrician who has exited his children's lives about as summarily as a parent can, apart from irregular visits, somewhat choppily random gifts, and embarrassing and misspelled letters and postcards from wherever it is he's moved around to.

Rachel Leibowitz -- Miriam's mother. A woman with fragile nerves who works at a call center and reads a lot of Danielle Steel.

Ruth Jacobs -- Miriam's sister, 14. A weedy little goth, loves EGL, awful dark fantasy, and the Twilight novels.

Annie Jacobs -- Miriam's sister, 12. All of her aspirations revolve around eventually becoming Hannah Montana.

Stories

{R} Working For The Man - Miriam, Charlie
Miriam gets a job at Things Recollected and meets her absolute most favoritest new coworker in the absolute most bestest of circumstances.

{R} The Fencing Match - Miriam, Howl, Larissa
Crystal faces off against Hillworth in épée.

{R} Winter is Coming - Kunzite, Astraea
Walking home from work, Miriam fails to be compassionate to a pitiful stray cat and succeeds in remembering that she is, in fact, General-King Kunzite of the Shitennou. A very short conversation ensues from these events. It is extremely short.

{B} Remembrance Day - Kunzite, Charonite, Beryl
You can't go home again. Kunzite returns to the Dark Kingdom to rescue the sleeping Cavaliers and encounters a few old ghosts.

{R} Many Happy Returns - Kunzite, Thuban
A wounded Kunzite teleports home after fighting Charonite and Beryl. Well, not "home," exactly, because "home" is apparently the Things Recollected stockroom -- and Charlie Boyle, unfortunately, lives there too.

{B} Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire - Kunzite, Castor
Walking home from work a few days later, Kunzite encounters Sailor Castor and thinks his luck has finally changed for the better. Kunzite. Has. No. Idea.

{B} The world isn't just bunnies and fun - Kunzite, Serandite
Kunzite teaches a young Negaverse Lieutenant a harsh lesson.

{B} Delusions of Grandeur - Kunzite, Nova
Kunzite's and Sailor Nova's worlds briefly collide, and both are more than the other reckoned for.

{R} Be All My Sins Remembered - Miriam, Charlie, Charys
Post-Delusions of Grandeur, Miriam needs the mercy of one of the people in the world least inclined to give it to her.

{R} Offer Up Your Best Defence - Miriam, Charys, Rea
Kunzite meets Helios, and Nerissa bows out of the game.

{R} Eight Crazy Nights - Miriam, Larissa
Over Chanukah, Larissa Duncan attempts to extend the olive branch of friendship to a convalescent Miriam.

{B} The Things We Die For - Kunzite, Castor, Nealite, Tanzanite
Kunzite rescues Castor from near-certain death and sends Tanzanite to the same.

{R} Blood on the Mattress - Miriam, Elzo
Miriam patches up a wounded Elzo and fends off his disoriented advances. Peculiar bonding occurs.

{R} How do I... kill? - Kunzite, Polaris
Sailor Polaris wants help putting the policy advocated by Cavalier Kunzite at the senshi meeting into practice.

{R} Strange Bedfellows - Miriam, Serenade
After Wiseman and Black Lady's attack, Serenade seeks the advice of a person the Zodiacs are generally loath to rely on -- but beggars can't be choosers.

{R} Try to Put an End to All Our Doubt - Miriam, Rea
Reluctantly and in wake of all the new turmoil, Miriam seeks out the Dream Priest of Elysion and attempts to set aside her pride and extend a hand. Results are varied.

{B} Blood in the Water - Kunzite, Obsidian
An opportunistic Captain Obsidian finds a wounded Cavalier Kunzite, and a swordfight ensues.

{R} Don't You Draw the Queen of Diamonds - Miriam, Larissa
Miriam, wounded, resists Larissa's attempts to take care of her when Larissa stumbles upon her in the fencing locker room.

{S} Dona Eis Requiem - Miriam
Alone in the hospital, Miriam Jacobs dreams.

{R} Senshi Nine to Five - Miriam, Jaimie
Miriam doesn't talk to strangers. This somehow does not protect her from meeting Jaimie Leontyne.

{R} This counts as a date - Miriam, Elzo
For reasons unclear to most, Miriam agrees to talk to Elzo in a public place.

{R} Where Hammer Meets Nail - Miriam, Hero
Miriam breaks down. Hero finds her. A stream meets a boulder halfway through the wood.

{R} The Optimistic Ones - Miriam, Hero, Elke, Aurelia, Astraea, Nova
Miriam sees a ghost.

{S} When You Were Young - Miriam, Hero
And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live, when you were young. Miriam has another nightmare.

Character Connections

Senshi:

Charlemagne Boyle/Sailor Thuban:

Elzo Xanis/Sailor Castor: Miriam thinks of Elzo as sort of like a toothless and grubby Cockney urchin: pluckish, rather annoying, not especially bright, but oddly appealing to her maternal instincts. She has a vague urge to lecture him about being more careful, and an even vaguer urge to tell him to wash his face when he goes inside.

Hero Barrett/(Sailor Aries):

Larissa Duncan/Sailor Proxima:

Cavaliers:

Negaverse:

(Gunn Killingworth)/General-King Charonite: An uncomfortable nemesis and a painful memory. Kunzite's predominant feeling towards his once-loyal ex-subordinate is guilt, primarily for having led him down the Negaverse garden path in the first place but also for a host of other issues for which Kunzite feels (rightly) responsible. Nonetheless, he considers Charonite his responsibility, and thus, ultimately, his problem to fix. And it's no secret how Kunzite fixes problems.

(Ursula Johnson)/Captain Nealite/Queen Beryl: Kunzite has similar feelings towards Queen Beryl -- though with a measure less sadness and a measure more general wariness. He regards Beryl as a civilian, though, and is somewhat hesitant to fight her for this reason.

(Serah Eos)/Lieutenant Serandite: Too young to be doing what she does. Kunzite pities Serandite a fair bit and has no desire to see her again, as it would be unjustifiable to spare her life twice.

(Sidra Winters)/Sailor Nova:

Humans:

Howl Wickham:

Guardian Cats:

Astraea/Luna: Kunzite gets along with Astraea about as well as Kunzite tends to get along with members of the Moon Court in general: that is, barely. They are on the same side. But you couldn't tell it by looking at them.

Other:

Prince Endymion: The Prince is in another castle.

Sailor Venus:

Completed/added stories, updated Cavalier info (Weapon and Other Abilities) and some Character Connections.