Strengths & Weaknesses-- One of Meander's greatest problems and the source of some of his struggles in canon is his attentive and perceptual abilities. While enrolled in the College, his grades often suffered, and there has been at least one instance where he's been held back a year. Meander's teacher, Mr. Rule, often feels frustration for his pupil, as Meander still tries his best in school, but it's implied that he's not "smart". Of course, what Meander is really after is persistence and focus, something he has somewhat achieved after events in canon but not fully grasped. In short, Meander will probably struggle with puzzles and mental challenges, but if he has enough drive and determination, he should be able to eventually find a solution. While he may feel distress over a situation, he never truly gives up.
On the contrary, Meander's better qualities, as revealed in his fight with Mr. Rule, is his physical strength. His determination has something to do with his success in this area, but overall, it seems Meander can use his body and styles to decent ability. Some of his personality traits can be considered strengths as well, such as his compassion, understanding, and open-mindedness, though in the past, his passionate feelings have landed him in serious trouble. Again, out of all aspects of his life, Meander holds his beliefs firmly and defends them with the force necessary.
History-- Meander's early life is rather unknown, the likely reason because of the simple fact that his father was wild (this may have something to do with the reason why Meander is so "slow" in school and everyday life). In the animal society of 10%+, multiple animals have been gifted a three-hemisphere "Halo Brain" by the advanced humans. Over time, these animals have used their new brain facilities to build common human elements and emotions, such as morals, law, and social needs, such elements coming together to create a developing society. There exist animals outside of this society, simply called "wild", and these animals act as the individuals we know today. Between the society and the wilds is a great social divide, one crossed through issues of belief in canon.
The animals have also developed a type of martial arts, one that began as a tool to survive but, in time, came to be used in self-defense as well (for more on this martial arts, sees Meander's "Powers"). To teach the next generation about these styles, The College was formed. Because of Meander's intentionally vague background, we only know that he enrolled in The College many years earlier from canon and befriended a cat by the name of Quintet. Though Meander soon struggled to keep his grades up in the College, often being held back, while Quintet utilized her intelligence and received great grades, the two somehow managed a relationship as best friends.
When a wolf by the name of Rule became Meander's teacher, however, the maned wolf was brought to the breaking point. Pressured to come up, in a short amount of time, with his thesis called a "metanoia", a style that isn't influenced from another animal but instead innovated, while still struggling to keep up with assignments and tests, Rule threatens to hold back Meander again, asking, "Are you going to struggle with the College forever?" Meander, so involved in coming up his metanoia and the scolding from his teacher, forgets to take a joint test with Quintet, resulting in conflict with his best friend and the need to do extra credit.
Thinking over how many times he's been called "slow" or faced his own struggles with his intelligence, Meander, later that evening, comes up with an idea for a metanoia. With the help of his other friend, a kinkajou named Strokend, Meander realizes what he's after is "attention" or "focus". Using Strokend to measure the length of time between answers to his mathematical questions, Meander improves both his attention and his multi-tasking. At one point, it seems he has successfully come up with a metanoia that involves utilizing his full attention spectrum, that is, until he literally "burns out" his Halo Brain.
Upon bringing Meander to Fiat, a medical expert on the Halo Brain, it appears on close inspection that Meander has ignored a cardinal rule: never use more of the brain than the equivalent currently utilized. Apparently, there is a 10%+ limit on the capacity of the Halo Brain to be used at any one time, as the Halo Brain generates a great amount of heat (hence the fire that may spout on the top of his head). The result of surpassing the limit is brain damage. In Meander's case, he ended up lucky: he only lost abilities of speech and motor functions temporarily.
In a last desperate attempt to come up with a different metanoia (one that does not cause brain damage) before the day after next, Meander and Quintet go to an "innovation exhibit", an event something like a fair within the animal society. While viewing this exhibit, Meander and Quintet come across a heavily guarded gathering within a cave. With Meander's unbearable curiosity, Quintet uses a style to distract the guards and, thus, sneak into the cave. Once inside, they discover that the gathering is, in fact, an auction - with Mr. Rule and Polarizing (Polarizing being another teacher) and their own item up for sale next. As it turns out, what they're selling are vacuous coyotes - wild coyotes that are made to not have a halo brain any longer - as slaves. Upon seeing this, Meander identifies with the coyotes and, in that moment, comes to believe the destruction of the halo brains in the coyotes is akin to murder. Furthermore, he believes it is morally wrong to not only strip the coyotes of their mental facilities but also their livelihood without their consent.
His passion evoked, Meander declares to Quintet in that moment that he is disappointed in his teacher, and he cannot let Rule continue with such a service. Meander tells a reluctant Quintet to go get the Rationale, or the legal system in the society, while Meander goes to follow Rule and Polarizing to their hide-out. The hide-out contains the rest of the vacuous coyotes going out to the highest auction bidder, and when Rule and Polarizing arrive, they realize a coyote has given birth to pups. Meander watches as they discuss if the vacuous state can carry over generations, and at this, Meander becomes furious. He reveals himself to the two teachers and threatens them not to lay a hand on the pups. Consequently, Rule orders that the exit from the cave be blocked up so as Meander can be silenced. Quintet enters just before the entrance/exit is blocked up, and despite her uncertain views on the vacuous coyotes, she becomes involved in a fight of Rule vs. Meander, she vs. Polarizing, as Polarizing feels he cannot risk the chance of Quintet telling the public. The goal of Rule and Polarizing becomes to use the style, Galena, that makes an animal vacuous, on Meander and Quintet so that they cannot remember discovering the vacuous coyotes.
In the fight, Meander uses his metanoia and once again exceeds the 10%+ limit. He displays excellent fighting ability, something that surprises the aged Rule. Eventually, Rule becomes unable to match Meander's ability, and uses his style, Galena, on Meander. Consequently, Meander becomes completely vacuous. This results in his perceptive abilities being eradicated: he acts on pure instinct, just as a wild animal, now, and as such drowns Rule. When the Rationale arrives, they approach a whimpering, primitive Meander, and take both Meander and Quintet to trial. Therein ensues a court battle between the still-alive Polarizing and Quintet, Quintet using the help of Syncope and Fiat to defend Meander's case. In the end, Meander ends up "winning" the trial, though Quintet must still face the fact that her long friend is "dead". Furthermore, as part of the trial, a deal was made with Fiat in that Meander must go to her custody as a subject of medical examination. In order to prevent the wild Meander from going to this fate, Quintet attacks Meander severely, frightening him so he can escape to the wild. The result is a "tear-jerker" ending in which Quintet must say goodbye to her best friend.
Since Meander's once intact, complex mental facilities were erased, Meander will "revive" in the Tower. He will remember only fighting Rule up until the point the style to make him vacuous is used on him, and he will be fuzzy on the details of the fight.
Appearance-- FULL-BODY (The "dissipating blocks of his brain" are symbolic.) CLOSE-UP Yes, it should be obvious upon meeting Meander that he is not human; more precisely, Meander is a maned wolf brought up in an alternate South America. As such, he bears many characteristics similar to most maned wolves: a brown-orange coat, large ears, tinted brown, a dark mane, muzzle, and dark socks on his legs. A patch of white in the form of a crest can be found close underneath his chin on his neck, and his tail and lower belly are white as well. Some more individual features of Meander may be his somewhat thinner coat (than most maned wolves) and his bright, simple eyes. While Meander will often have this in the heat of battle, the slightly iridescent flames from between his ears and a little down his mane are not a permanent feature. The strange, multiple pupils and circles within his eyes are also a result of exceeding the 10% limit, as dividing his "attention" creates such a physical effect that allows for him to process an excess of information - but again, this is temporary. Otherwise, Meander's maned wolf body is naturally lanky, an appearance that suits his more clumsy nature.
Powers-- The fighting abilities detailed in the webcomics within the "Nature of Nature's Art" world extensive, varied, and powerful. Many animals within the society are able to use them, and each one is unique and specialized for the animal's purposes. The "powers" work as individual spells or techniques, the purpose and inspiration of which are drawn from other known animals and their advantages in society. The use of such a technique draws upon similar requirements to martial arts (in fact, there's a great influence of martial arts on these powers), and the animal using them will move in the stance and attack of the animal to succeed in the technique. These techniques are called "styles", and their names are usually multiple-syllable descriptions surrounding the animal it draws upon. Meander, being a student of The College, has a few of these styles himself, and most of his draw upon insects. For instance, his "Octuple Pumps' Comb-footed Precision" draws upon the spider, and the attack mimics the quick and precise movements of such an animal. So yes: a lot like martial arts. Meander has about three more of these styles officially in canon, though who knows how many others he might have delved in while studying at The College (probably not many).
The power of these styles previously have blown through cave walls and ceilings in the kind of destructive aftermath you can imagine, but in "capping" Meander's power during events, his forms would still hold some of their basic skills and effects but lack strength. Some of the skills associated with the styles would probably be reduced by 50% in effectiveness and lose some accuracy.
First Person Sample-- [VIDEO POST] Nuh...what is this thing? I'm guessing it's...on? How does this thing work...?
[His head swivels around as his eyes squint with concentration. The effect of such an expression is more comical than anything.]
What is this thing used for? This is too weird. All I can remember was that I was fighting with Mr. Rule, and then I kinda...fell asleep. Or blacked-out. I can't remember. I wish I knew what was going on. [He tilts his head; because he doesn't quite know yet that this device is for posting video responses, his eyes are focused a little away from the camera, so he looks like he's speaking to the tile in front of him. Soon, however, his confused face contorts to something like a scowl.] I can't believe Mr. Rule would do something like that. I gotta stop him...! [He pauses, glancing around the weird room-like thing, except it's a lot bigger and more polished and...alien than anything he's ever seen. He returns to nudging the device, then looks up and speaks again.] If I can stop him while I'm here. Ohhhh...Quintet's not here either...
Third Person Sample-- He couldn't remember ever having such an eventful day, even including the day he discovered his teachers were selling the services of wild coyotes made brainless. To think, he ended up here, in some really big white, spotless, cave-like place without anybody he knew. The hairless animals that he and Quintet thought they saw once by that place where they shoot up the rocket things were here, too, and they really out-numbered him. Still a little uncomfortable with that idea, despite having met a few nice ones, Meander trotted with a low-bent head towards a room at the back. He thought night-time had come swiftly, but then some dim fires came on near the ceiling - tiny lights, each one like a star. Bewildered and frustrated by the oddness of his whole circumstance to the point that he felt a headache coming on, Meander paced across the cold, rock-like surface of what he did not know to be tile.
The hall ahead of him opened up abruptly, expanding into the partly-noisy, darker space of the bedroom. The vastness of it amazed him: he had never imagined any one enclosed, obviously-not-natural place could be so huge. Who would have the power to build such a place? Even as he asked, he finally put it together: the hairless animals, the humans. So this was the dominion of the humans? The maned wolf squinted again, leaning his muzzle forward to sniff the strange furnishings of the place. It smelled like...dirt. And sweat. And more people. He rounded the edge of a somewhat less scented cot and, for the moment at a loss to what the big thing was, sat down in front of it. For what must have been minutes, he just stared at its bulk, not trusting what it did or could do. Then, he watched as some others came in to sit down on their respective beds, some even laying down on them, and then he at last understood: a place to sleep on! They had some similarities to a mat of leaves or feathers, though usually he just slept on the grass. This place didn't seem to have any grass, though...
His face now more resigned despite how he hesitated, Meander gulped and sprung up onto the tall cot (due to his long legs, he was able to manage the jump). Whoa, this really is like feathers! It's more bouncy, though, he thought as he stood upon its surface, weighing the center of the mattress down into its frame. He marveled as its design, though he could not comprehend it, and several moments later the oddity of his situation hit him again. Wait a minute, I'm standing on this thing? I bet even Quintet would be weirded-out.
Other-- Meander can speak two languages: the animal society-established "common", the universal language all animals can understand, and the primitive "canine" - that is, of course, only spoken between canines. It will turn out that "common" can be understood by characters in the Tower (it will meld with the universal language within the roleplay), and he can understand other people's speech as well. He can still speak canine, of course, which will sound just like dog noises to other people.
Since Meander has paws, he won't be able to do a "text" posting, and although he has virtually no understanding of technology, he likes to mess around with things until he figures out what they mean - so he should be able to make some...interesting video and voice posts.
Questions? Nope. As I'm applying for a non-human character, I imagine you will have to investigate him thoroughly. "10%+" is a webcomic arc on the site "Nature of Nature's Art" created by Zachary Braun, all of the arcs on the site dealing with the same alternate-universe Earth (the arcs are separate in terms of time periods, characters, and storyline). It's a bit confusing at first for a new reader, so if you need me to explain anything more, please ask! I'd be happy to.
What is the secret password? "There is no such thing as being too detailed." I'm seem to employ this regularly in RP posts and in my writing, much to the disbelief of others.
Note: The game will officially open on July 10, however, you can post any queries/introduction in thetower_ooc as soon as you've been accepted into the community.
Please reply here with the character journal you'll be using in the game for ease of process.
Okay. In the comic, Meander loses his advanced brain around page 108 and is soon reduced to the typical instinctual animal we know in real life - thus, in some ways, he can be considered "dead" when this happens to him. As such, Meander ought to be "taken" to the Tower (at least, he only remembers the events up to this point) from sometime during the fighting between pages 100 and 108 of the comic - before Rule uses "Galena".
On the contrary, Meander's better qualities, as revealed in his fight with Mr. Rule, is his physical strength. His determination has something to do with his success in this area, but overall, it seems Meander can use his body and styles to decent ability. Some of his personality traits can be considered strengths as well, such as his compassion, understanding, and open-mindedness, though in the past, his passionate feelings have landed him in serious trouble. Again, out of all aspects of his life, Meander holds his beliefs firmly and defends them with the force necessary.
History-- Meander's early life is rather unknown, the likely reason because of the simple fact that his father was wild (this may have something to do with the reason why Meander is so "slow" in school and everyday life). In the animal society of 10%+, multiple animals have been gifted a three-hemisphere "Halo Brain" by the advanced humans. Over time, these animals have used their new brain facilities to build common human elements and emotions, such as morals, law, and social needs, such elements coming together to create a developing society. There exist animals outside of this society, simply called "wild", and these animals act as the individuals we know today. Between the society and the wilds is a great social divide, one crossed through issues of belief in canon.
The animals have also developed a type of martial arts, one that began as a tool to survive but, in time, came to be used in self-defense as well (for more on this martial arts, sees Meander's "Powers"). To teach the next generation about these styles, The College was formed. Because of Meander's intentionally vague background, we only know that he enrolled in The College many years earlier from canon and befriended a cat by the name of Quintet. Though Meander soon struggled to keep his grades up in the College, often being held back, while Quintet utilized her intelligence and received great grades, the two somehow managed a relationship as best friends.
When a wolf by the name of Rule became Meander's teacher, however, the maned wolf was brought to the breaking point. Pressured to come up, in a short amount of time, with his thesis called a "metanoia", a style that isn't influenced from another animal but instead innovated, while still struggling to keep up with assignments and tests, Rule threatens to hold back Meander again, asking, "Are you going to struggle with the College forever?" Meander, so involved in coming up his metanoia and the scolding from his teacher, forgets to take a joint test with Quintet, resulting in conflict with his best friend and the need to do extra credit.
Thinking over how many times he's been called "slow" or faced his own struggles with his intelligence, Meander, later that evening, comes up with an idea for a metanoia. With the help of his other friend, a kinkajou named Strokend, Meander realizes what he's after is "attention" or "focus". Using Strokend to measure the length of time between answers to his mathematical questions, Meander improves both his attention and his multi-tasking. At one point, it seems he has successfully come up with a metanoia that involves utilizing his full attention spectrum, that is, until he literally "burns out" his Halo Brain.
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In a last desperate attempt to come up with a different metanoia (one that does not cause brain damage) before the day after next, Meander and Quintet go to an "innovation exhibit", an event something like a fair within the animal society. While viewing this exhibit, Meander and Quintet come across a heavily guarded gathering within a cave. With Meander's unbearable curiosity, Quintet uses a style to distract the guards and, thus, sneak into the cave. Once inside, they discover that the gathering is, in fact, an auction - with Mr. Rule and Polarizing (Polarizing being another teacher) and their own item up for sale next. As it turns out, what they're selling are vacuous coyotes - wild coyotes that are made to not have a halo brain any longer - as slaves. Upon seeing this, Meander identifies with the coyotes and, in that moment, comes to believe the destruction of the halo brains in the coyotes is akin to murder. Furthermore, he believes it is morally wrong to not only strip the coyotes of their mental facilities but also their livelihood without their consent.
His passion evoked, Meander declares to Quintet in that moment that he is disappointed in his teacher, and he cannot let Rule continue with such a service. Meander tells a reluctant Quintet to go get the Rationale, or the legal system in the society, while Meander goes to follow Rule and Polarizing to their hide-out. The hide-out contains the rest of the vacuous coyotes going out to the highest auction bidder, and when Rule and Polarizing arrive, they realize a coyote has given birth to pups. Meander watches as they discuss if the vacuous state can carry over generations, and at this, Meander becomes furious. He reveals himself to the two teachers and threatens them not to lay a hand on the pups. Consequently, Rule orders that the exit from the cave be blocked up so as Meander can be silenced. Quintet enters just before the entrance/exit is blocked up, and despite her uncertain views on the vacuous coyotes, she becomes involved in a fight of Rule vs. Meander, she vs. Polarizing, as Polarizing feels he cannot risk the chance of Quintet telling the public. The goal of Rule and Polarizing becomes to use the style, Galena, that makes an animal vacuous, on Meander and Quintet so that they cannot remember discovering the vacuous coyotes.
In the fight, Meander uses his metanoia and once again exceeds the 10%+ limit. He displays excellent fighting ability, something that surprises the aged Rule. Eventually, Rule becomes unable to match Meander's ability, and uses his style, Galena, on Meander. Consequently, Meander becomes completely vacuous. This results in his perceptive abilities being eradicated: he acts on pure instinct, just as a wild animal, now, and as such drowns Rule. When the Rationale arrives, they approach a whimpering, primitive Meander, and take both Meander and Quintet to trial. Therein ensues a court battle between the still-alive Polarizing and Quintet, Quintet using the help of Syncope and Fiat to defend Meander's case. In the end, Meander ends up "winning" the trial, though Quintet must still face the fact that her long friend is "dead". Furthermore, as part of the trial, a deal was made with Fiat in that Meander must go to her custody as a subject of medical examination. In order to prevent the wild Meander from going to this fate, Quintet attacks Meander severely, frightening him so he can escape to the wild. The result is a "tear-jerker" ending in which Quintet must say goodbye to her best friend.
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Appearance-- FULL-BODY (The "dissipating blocks of his brain" are symbolic.)
CLOSE-UP
Yes, it should be obvious upon meeting Meander that he is not human; more precisely, Meander is a maned wolf brought up in an alternate South America. As such, he bears many characteristics similar to most maned wolves: a brown-orange coat, large ears, tinted brown, a dark mane, muzzle, and dark socks on his legs. A patch of white in the form of a crest can be found close underneath his chin on his neck, and his tail and lower belly are white as well. Some more individual features of Meander may be his somewhat thinner coat (than most maned wolves) and his bright, simple eyes. While Meander will often have this in the heat of battle, the slightly iridescent flames from between his ears and a little down his mane are not a permanent feature. The strange, multiple pupils and circles within his eyes are also a result of exceeding the 10% limit, as dividing his "attention" creates such a physical effect that allows for him to process an excess of information - but again, this is temporary. Otherwise, Meander's maned wolf body is naturally lanky, an appearance that suits his more clumsy nature.
Powers-- The fighting abilities detailed in the webcomics within the "Nature of Nature's Art" world extensive, varied, and powerful. Many animals within the society are able to use them, and each one is unique and specialized for the animal's purposes. The "powers" work as individual spells or techniques, the purpose and inspiration of which are drawn from other known animals and their advantages in society. The use of such a technique draws upon similar requirements to martial arts (in fact, there's a great influence of martial arts on these powers), and the animal using them will move in the stance and attack of the animal to succeed in the technique. These techniques are called "styles", and their names are usually multiple-syllable descriptions surrounding the animal it draws upon. Meander, being a student of The College, has a few of these styles himself, and most of his draw upon insects. For instance, his "Octuple Pumps' Comb-footed Precision" draws upon the spider, and the attack mimics the quick and precise movements of such an animal. So yes: a lot like martial arts. Meander has about three more of these styles officially in canon, though who knows how many others he might have delved in while studying at The College (probably not many).
The power of these styles previously have blown through cave walls and ceilings in the kind of destructive aftermath you can imagine, but in "capping" Meander's power during events, his forms would still hold some of their basic skills and effects but lack strength. Some of the skills associated with the styles would probably be reduced by 50% in effectiveness and lose some accuracy.
First Person Sample-- [VIDEO POST] Nuh...what is this thing? I'm guessing it's...on? How does this thing work...?
[His head swivels around as his eyes squint with concentration. The effect of such an expression is more comical than anything.]
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Third Person Sample-- He couldn't remember ever having such an eventful day, even including the day he discovered his teachers were selling the services of wild coyotes made brainless. To think, he ended up here, in some really big white, spotless, cave-like place without anybody he knew. The hairless animals that he and Quintet thought they saw once by that place where they shoot up the rocket things were here, too, and they really out-numbered him. Still a little uncomfortable with that idea, despite having met a few nice ones, Meander trotted with a low-bent head towards a room at the back. He thought night-time had come swiftly, but then some dim fires came on near the ceiling - tiny lights, each one like a star. Bewildered and frustrated by the oddness of his whole circumstance to the point that he felt a headache coming on, Meander paced across the cold, rock-like surface of what he did not know to be tile.
The hall ahead of him opened up abruptly, expanding into the partly-noisy, darker space of the bedroom. The vastness of it amazed him: he had never imagined any one enclosed, obviously-not-natural place could be so huge. Who would have the power to build such a place? Even as he asked, he finally put it together: the hairless animals, the humans. So this was the dominion of the humans? The maned wolf squinted again, leaning his muzzle forward to sniff the strange furnishings of the place. It smelled like...dirt. And sweat. And more people. He rounded the edge of a somewhat less scented cot and, for the moment at a loss to what the big thing was, sat down in front of it. For what must have been minutes, he just stared at its bulk, not trusting what it did or could do. Then, he watched as some others came in to sit down on their respective beds, some even laying down on them, and then he at last understood: a place to sleep on! They had some similarities to a mat of leaves or feathers, though usually he just slept on the grass. This place didn't seem to have any grass, though...
His face now more resigned despite how he hesitated, Meander gulped and sprung up onto the tall cot (due to his long legs, he was able to manage the jump). Whoa, this really is like feathers! It's more bouncy, though, he thought as he stood upon its surface, weighing the center of the mattress down into its frame. He marveled as its design, though he could not comprehend it, and several moments later the oddity of his situation hit him again. Wait a minute, I'm standing on this thing? I bet even Quintet would be weirded-out.
Other-- Meander can speak two languages: the animal society-established "common", the universal language all animals can understand, and the primitive "canine" - that is, of course, only spoken between canines. It will turn out that "common" can be understood by characters in the Tower (it will meld with the universal language within the roleplay), and he can understand other people's speech as well. He can still speak canine, of course, which will sound just like dog noises to other people.
Since Meander has paws, he won't be able to do a "text" posting, and although he has virtually no understanding of technology, he likes to mess around with things until he figures out what they mean - so he should be able to make some...interesting video and voice posts.
Reply
What is the secret password? "There is no such thing as being too detailed." I'm seem to employ this regularly in RP posts and in my writing, much to the disbelief of others.
Reply
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Note: The game will officially open on July 10, however, you can post any queries/introduction in thetower_ooc as soon as you've been accepted into the community.
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