Miranda Carlyle

Miranda Carlyle is the matriarch of the uber-wealthy Clan Carlyle in the fics of Brother Grimace (primarily in the Legion of Lawndale Heroes universe).

Miranda in Falling Into College
Miranda is mentioned in A Path of Roses and Thorns by Andrea Nogura, who recounts her meeting with Miranda and four generations of her family as part a research project on multi-generational families.

A strong, forceful woman in her early nineties (described as 'spry'), with white hair (once a dark scarlet) and large green eyes, Miranda is 5'9 in height, and is stated as being from an incredibly proud and dignified family heritage, which she rigidly enforces upon the female members of the family. Her mindset is defined in the following statement:

'' 'What you must understand, Miss Nogura, is that to be a Carlyle woman is not just being born into the position, but to understand what that entails; it is to uphold a tradition, a frame of mind, a way of life that has been passed down through the women of our line since before the birth of our nation. And so, the line of Carlyle endures today - the legacy of a great woman who had a vision, and a testament to the power of education – the lamp with which every Carlyle woman avails herself of, and in doing so, brings Majel Carlyle’s vision to pass.' ''

The grandmother of Forbes Carlyle and the great-grandmother of Julia Carlyle, Miranda lives in upstate New York, on an estate that is well away from the average person, and subsists entirely on the immense inherited wealth of the Carlyle Family. It is mentioned that Julia is pursuing her Master's in criminology, with the intention to pursue a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Andrea, this choice will not be handled well by Miranda.

Miranda in Legion of Lawndale Heroes
Miranda is the same woman in LLH as her FiC counterpart, but with certain obvious differences (to reflect the nature of the setting). In the LLH 'Mini' Today, Everyone Is Irish, Julia Carlyle (in a conversation to Trent Lane) revealed that Miranda served with the British organization known as Box 500, and participated in a number of highly successful operations against the Axis powers. During her time in service, she was awarded a field commission in the Women's Royal Naval Service as a Second Officer (the equivalent of a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy).

Miranda gave birth to her son Spaulding, who in turn fathered Forbes, who gave birth to Julia. Miranda served until the end of World War II, and then spent her time adventuring (which she did for at least the next ten decade).

Miranda is the undisputed head of the Clan Carlyle, and every member is well aware of the fact that she is quite familiar with their activities (including those that they would rather she not be aware of). While she is not dictatorial, Miranda has an authoritarian view of how her family is to comport itself, and she will not hesitate to act to see that her wishes are carried out. (This has brought her more than a measure of conflict with Julia, who (while nowhere nearly as headstrong as she was at that age) still is quite resistant to suggestions and direct requests. She has also headed the family's business interests since the early Seventies, and has led them to unparalleled wealth.

Powers
Miranda possesses superhuman powers (as do all members of the Clan Carlyle). She possesses the ability to control, project and redirect inertial forces (both actual and potential), but can only use this ability when in direct contact with either an active energy source or an object that can create said inertial forces (for example, she can literally stop a vehicle moving at full speed in its tracks without harming anyone aboard, and use its own force to crack it open or fling it in another direction. She also cannot be harmed by ballistic or edged weapons (or secondary effects of such weapons as tasers or incendiary rounds), blunt force trauma, falls from even great heights, exotic concussion weapons (such as a PFT Weapon) or blows from even beings of vast superhuman strength. From her experiences, there is no known upper limit to Miranda's ability to absorb and redirect kinetic energies.

Miranda possesses a high level of resistance to the harmful secondary effects of any weapons-effect or hostile environment that she is exposed to. Her body will simply respond to the stimulus and adapt to protect her; her form does not physically change to respond to these effects. In addition, Miranda's body generates a limited defensive field around her body, which provides a moderate level of protection for any garments or equipment that she wears, as well as for any person in direct physical contact with her. Miranda has found that, through concentration, she can increase both the level of intensity to her defensive field and the number of persons that she can protect with her field.

Miranda also possesses a limited ability to generate, project and control vibratory forces (as well as the ability to absorb such energies and disperse them without harm to herself or the surrounding environment). Her power works exactly as Julia's sonic/vibratory powers work in that while they are projected and operate on a psionic level, psionic dampening has a limited effect on them. It has been implied that Miranda can use this ability in order to eavesdrop on others from a distance, prevent others from listening in on conversations, and mute out the sounds/vibrations of even large vehicles or aircraft in order to provide a stealth capacity.

It is unknown if her advanced age has diminished or enhanced her abilities.