Dr. Maura Isles

I've recently discovered my Rift change: I can reanimate the dead. I have spent my career examining the dead, I know better than most that it's an unfortunate, but necessary part of life. There is a delicate balance between life and death that we don't dare disrupt.

It's a terrible gift.

I know that for the duration of my time here, I will have to accept this as part of me, but I find myself deeply troubled by it.

About You - The Player
Name: Kristin
Age: 25
Contact: thisgray@gmail.com or AIM @ the music lasts
Past Role Playing Experience: Currently playing is_out_there, bettercop, and norisknoreward @ betenoire_rp. Previously played Fox Mulder & Maria Jackson @ Milliways_Bar, and Teresa Lisbon @ Amatomnes.

The Character
Name: Maura Isles
Age/Birthdate: It's never explicitly stated, but I guesstimate she's between 32-40 years old, so somewhere in her early- to mid- thirties.
Species: Human
*Type: Wanderer
Canon: Rizzoli & Isles
*Pre-existing powers: N/A
*Rift Change, if applicable: The power of Corpse Manipulation, with mod permission, since I realize this may be a trickier ability. I was thinking it would be interesting if there were consequences to this, like perhaps the concept of “a life for a life,” in that if you bring one person back, someone else has to die. But if this is a little too iffy, I think invisibility could work really well for her, since she's dealt with the feeling of being invisible for much of her life.
Livejournal: doctorofdeath
Played By: Sasha Alexander
Icon: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/112298955/40318476


Appearance: Maura Isles is roughtly 5”7, with light brown hair and bluish-green eyes. She's slim, slightly toned, though not overly muscular. There's a softness to her that belies her physical strength; she's not the type who's capable of tackling huge men to the ground, but she's not dainty, either. Maura is almost always seen wearing what most people would refer to as 'fancy' clothing: heels, dresses, high-quality scarves. She doesn't really wear this type of clothing to show off, but rather because she's amazed at what people are capable of creating, and loves to embrace it.

Personality:

Maura Isles is, in a word, unusual. Those around her frequently joke about the dichotomy between her personality/behavior and that of a typical human being; the differences can be staggering at times, so much so that Jane Rizzoli (her best friend), has been known to quip, 'Welcome to the human race,' on those occasions when Maura actually does or says something that isn't perfect, flawless, analytical, or robotic. That is not to say, of course, that she is so completely disconnected from her peers as to be unapproachable, incapable of being understood, or unlikable. On the contrary, despite her unique personality, Maura Isles is someone who tends to effortlessly and unconsciously endear herself to people. She is unashamedly herself, though it isn't because she's consciously chosen to embrace her peculiarities, it's that it quite simply wouldn't occur to her to be, or act, any differently. She has admitted knowing that she's an outsider, but even if she wanted to adjust her personality to conform to societal norms, she seems incapable of doing so. She cannot be anyone but her authentic self, she doesn't know how.

Two very obvious things about Maura include her abhorrence for telling lies – she cannot tell a lie, and if a situation arises in which it is absolutely necessary, she will find a way to rationalize it, making it easy to condone. For example, in a recent episode, her good friend and colleague, Vince Korsak, found a parakeet that he took in, wanting to nurse it back to health. He had entrusted Angela Rizzoli with the bird, but the bird ultimately became too ill and died. Angela gave the bird to Maura and asked if she could do anything to help it, to which Maura instructed her to fetch warm towels and water, wanting to convey a sense that all was well. She then assured Angela that she would “take care” of the bird, never telling her the truth, that the bird had died. Jane Rizzoli called Maura out on this, remarking that Maura had told a lie, but Maura's response was that it hadn't been a lie at all; she'd promised to take care of the bird, she just hadn't completely finished the sentence. That was done purposefully, of course, to spare the feelings of both Angela and Vince, because what she really meant was that she would “take care” of the bird's funeral arrangements.

Maura is a medical examiner, and often when she is at the scene of a crime with her colleagues, there will be verbal speculation about the cause of death, before an autopsy has been conducted. At times, people like Jane and Barry Frost will wonder aloud what killed the victim, and even ask Maura, but she is always adamantly opposed to speculating/guessing until she has gathered all of the facts. She is confident in her abilities, and she knows that she's a genius, but again, this is what distinguishes Maura from so many others: she's not a braggart, by any stretch, but rather, a conveyor of truth, a person who relays fact. For instance, she states that she's a genius, but she's a genius because anyone with an IQ above 150 is a genius, and her IQ is above 150. The way her mind works, that's not bragging, that's simply stating what the facts are. Though, there have been times when we see her getting flustered, mostly when she's forced to do her work outside of her “comfort zone,” and away from her specialized tools and equipment.

She is always swift in reassuring others, is concerned for the well-being of those she cares about, and seems to be passionate in wanting to help those around her, and take care of everyone else ahead of herself. She's selfless, compassionate, and can be quite the optimist. In fact, her disposition tends to be cheerful most of the time, and melancholic, doleful, or irritated moods are rare for her. Maura is very mild-mannered, but on the sporadic occasions when her ire is roused, she can be fierce and assertive, all in direct contrast with the typically amiable nature most often displayed by her. Despite the fact that she often deals with homicide victims, Maura has not been hardened, or grown cynical. In fact, she still has a naivete that seems to inspire a great deal of protectiveness from the people closest to her.

History: N/A

Events:

1 ) When Maura Isles met Jane Rizzoli. It's no secret that most of Maura's life, and especially her childhood, was spent in isolation, allowing those thoughts about being an outsider to fester. She was sent away to boarding school at a young age, bullied, enjoyed dissecting frogs as a kid. So she never really felt connected to another person; every time she tries to date, she'll say something scientific, diagnostic, analytical, and end up scaring the other person away. But when she met Jane Rizzoli, she at last found the one person with whom she could truly be herself. There are certainly times when Jane pokes fun at her, teases her good-naturedly, but Maura banters back, and there is always a solid undercurrent of mutual respect, admiration, affection, and love. They are best friends through and through, soulmates in their own inimitable way.

2 ) Maura was adopted, so for most of her life, she had no idea who her real parents were. During the first season, Maura ends up performing an autopsy on a young man who turns out to be her half-brother, killed by a hitman for the Irish mob. She then proceeds to discover that her real father is Patrick Doyle, an enforcer in the Irish mob, and a man who has been in hiding for twenty years. Her brother Colin was killed because of his familial connection to Doyle, and it becomes clear that Maura is also in danger. Through the course of the episode, she has the opportunity to meet with her father face-to-face, and though their confrontation is anything but sentimental, she later confesses to being surprised by his tenderness. All the revelations are ultimately the impetus for some extreme contemplation and reflection on Maura's part: she wonders what it would have been like to have grown up with a sibling, what her brother was like, what drove him to lead the life he did, what her birth mother is like, why her father did the horrible things he did, and whether or not she is genetically predisposed to follow down the same path. Even though there are perhaps more questions than ever for her, Maura walks away from that experience with a better perspective on herself and her past, and some fodder for thought. She will never know her brother, and perhaps never really know her father, but she's been given brief insights into both of their lives and personalities, and the little glimpses are better than the void that had once occupied that space in her heart.

Writing Sample:

His hands were cold, no different from countless other bodies that had laid upon her table, limp, pale, devoid of life and warmth. There were always exceptions, always times when she faltered, when she couldn't completely detach from the feeling of despair at knowing that a young, vibrant life had been expunged from the world violently, swiftly, senselessly. Brain death would have taken approximately 34.5 seconds to occur, once the ice pick had penetrated the blood vessels and induced ischemic cascade...

Her mind couldn't help filling the gaps, piecing together what would have happened when death took them, and soon the sequence of events would be as transparent to her as any page from a novel. It was a blessing and a curse, perhaps, though she never looked at it that way. It simply was. She had been gifted with this ability, she could know precisely what happened when a person took their last breath.

Colin.

That was his name. She tested it on her tongue, in a hushed whisper that was held tenderly by the walls surrounding them. It would stay between them, no echo, no response, no chastisements nor worried queries. She didn't expect a response from the corpse, she only wanted to speak to her brother for the first and last time.

They looked alike, that was something she'd already determined and declared to Jane. There would be no family photos, no inside jokes, no memories to reference. She wondered what he thought in his last moments. He'd been an artist, he'd drawn exquisite things, he had done something beautiful in this world, and for this world, and that was the only way she would ever know him. He'd done bad things in his life, too, but that didn't categorically define him as a bad person. She would never know for sure, would never know anything for sure, except that he was her brother, and – “I always wanted you.”