Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 21:43:29 GMT -5
DIPPERPAW of AMBERCLAN
8 MOONS • MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE
SHE-CAT • WHO KNO HONESTLY
SHORT DESCRIPTION
a black she-cat with green eyes and white mittens
PERSONALITY
- REVERENT. very much a strong believer in starclan, dipperpaw believes that they're the only cats she can trust beyond whiterabbit and mothdust, as well as her mother. she thinks they always know what's right, and will hang off of every word that she's told within her dreams. as of getting "-paw" in her name, her connection to starclan has grown very tight, and she latches onto it and soaks in the information that they pass onto her like a sponge. she loves and admires them, and if they were living cats it'd be very likely that she would kiss the ground that they walked on with very little hesitation.
- BLUNT. dipperpaw doesn't mince words. if she has something to say, she will say it, regardless of how sensitive the topic may be. she says what she means and means what she says. this can lead to all sorts of conflict, and she doesn't understand why; wouldn't others want the truth to be told to them? she certainly appreciates when other cats are honest with her, even if it's mean, even if it hurts. she thinks lying and deception are objectively bad in any situation and there's no reason to lie to anyone, and that pretending to feel something is a lot more hurtful in the long run than being honest about not feeling anything at all.
- NOT VERY EMOTIVE. dipperpaw has a very difficult time expressing herself. it's not that she doesn't feel emotions, but rather that showing it in a socially appropriate way is nigh impossible for her. she's much more likely to pace around when excited than to raise her voice and yowl to the rooftops about it. it's not that she doesn't know how expressing one's self works, it's that she's not practiced in it and it doesn't feel natural to her. as a result, she doesn't do so naturally, and it's exhausting to attempt to pretend to feel something, so she doesn't do it all that often, if at all. she's very articulate, so she's able to describe how she feels in words, but body language is far more difficult, especially with her blindness lending her unable to read anyone else's.
- INTELLIGENT. dipperpaw is definitely a thinker. she picks up on abstract concepts quickly, and she's able to figure out complex problems to certain situations when she puts her mind to it. very much somecat who can draw nice, conclusive connections, she's intuitive when it comes to her interests and snaps into proper judgments without much effort required. the truth of a situation isn't all that illusive to her.
- AWKWARD. a lack of proper social skills leads to this. she's very much someone who has a hard time "getting" humor - not because she's against it as a concept, but because she's one to commonly miss a joke. some aspects of communication are common sense, but others are difficult for her to understand. as a result, it can lead to her being socially awkward herself, and she's often uncertain in the face of needing to actually talk to another cat. that uncertainty leads to her closing up and walling, sometimes outright shutting down or, in other cases, lashing out, seemingly out of nowhere.
- LOGICAL. despite the fact that she clearly feels things emotionally and can feel deeply, she's more of the logical sort. she doesn't understand feelings, whether her own or others', and is someone who believes firmly that everything has an explanation behind it, and if it doesn't have one, she's quick to confusion. she also prefers to act based on rational thought rather than on what she may feel at a particular time, and as a result will require time on her own whenever something is getting her emotionally tangled or caught up. it can lead to her seemingly brusque, as she can go from 0 to 60 when it comes to talking about her rationale; either she says nothing about it, or she says too much and repeats herself.
- OBSESSIVE. primarily geared at herbs, she's someone who can rattle on for days or moons at a time about one particular subject before allowing it to drop. she never grows tired of repeating herself or having things repeated to her, and she expresses her enthusiasm for a subject by mentioning it out of the blue or shoving it even into irrelevant conversations. she has her mentor to talk about this with now so she'll do so primarily with her, although it's possible for it to be brought up around other cats if she becomes close to them. she can't pick up nonverbal (or even verbal) cues of someone becoming bored with the subject matter, so unless directly told she'll keep going on and on regardless of the annoyance level of the other participant within the conversation.
- SENSITIVE. easily agitated and set off, dipperpaw has low self esteem as a direct result of her troubled kithood and she has a fragile sense of self. allowing herself to hide behind logic protects that sense of self and gives her purpose, but when thrown into situations outside of her element, it comes to bare and she struggles. she doesn't believe she's capable of very much and fears that she's useless to other cats, and can cling tightly to those she cares about as a result, worrying that she'll be discarded and if she doesn't make end's meet, no one will give a damn what happens to her.
- SARCASTIC & SNIPPY. a disposition emulated from whiterabbit, dipperpaw makes quips and eye rolls and can be a little bristly. while she does have a kind heart underneath, during her more impressionable moons as a kit she'd formulated herself based on the elder she-cat and as a result regurgitates (verbally) what she says. this has translated to becoming part of her actual personality, where even if whiterabbit hasn't said it before she will make a sarcastic remark if she feels another cat is behaving irrationally, a way of displaying her lack of understanding toward the other cat's feelings on an issue.
- QUIET. for the most part, dipperpaw isn't one to initiate conversation. she's very much a listener over a talker, and although she does talk sometimes and when she does, it's a lot, generally speaking she's going to be the introspective, silent type. she's introverted as well in that she prefers time alone in her thoughts and among herbs, rather than trying so hard to project a certain image of herself around other cats.
HISTORY
[li]A match made in the stars - or so they would say. The appearances said that Dovewing and Nightfoot, two very capable AmberClan warriors, fell deeply in love with each other, 'til death do us part. They gaggled over each other, fussing and displaying their teenage romance in full, as both were young and inexperienced. Such a bond of attraction surely must have kept the two of them together, but underneath the golden relationship, beautiful on the outside, lay a far more sinister secret. Sincerely and honestly Nightfoot passed on his 'I do's, but he failed to tell his mate that, behind her back, he'd been meeting up with a certain she-cat within TwilightClan. Needing an adventure and solace, feeling as though his commitment to Dovewing was stifling at best, he allowed said TwilightClan she-cat to be his out.[/li]
[li]She discovered this treachery during her pregnancy, and as a result denounced him from a relationship with her, and even went as far as to announce to him that he would not have any contact with their kits. Her kits, she asserted, and despite his protests, despite his pleas to the leader, it all fell on ignorance as the she-cat bothered herself little with the tom any longer. She'd raise these kits, and she'd do it herself. She didn't want any of them to take from his example.[/li]
[li]When the kits were born, she claimed sole ownership of naming them. Dipperkit, Starlingkit, and Sootkit were born, and after their moon period of simply sitting around, drinking milk, and then becoming acquainted with the world, their personalities developed. Sootkit quickly became the ambitious one of the trio, determined to rule the Clan with an iron paw. Starlingkit was playful, relaxed, lazy, and didn't concern himself too much with trivial Clan manners. Dipperkit... was different.[/li]
[li]The siblings may not have spotted anything amiss with their sister - if it weren't for the fact that they associated with the other kits within the nursery at the time. For as demanding as Dovewing was of their attention, she believed proper socialization would benefit all three of them. As a result, Starlingkit and Sootkit played with the other kits, quickly establishing games such as leading their own small Clan with Sootkit often claiming leader and Starlingkit pretending to be an elder. Dipperkit, on the other paw, became left in the dust. She scarcely followed her siblings, firstly, and secondly she made very little stage presence of herself. She drew inward, and with every passing day that went by with the she-cat on her own, Dovewing became increasingly worried over her daughter.[/li]
[li]She asked, one time, if she could see her siblings going off to play with the other kits. It was Dipperkit's brusque "No" that informed Dovewing of the fact that her third daughter had, in fact, been born blind.[/li]
[li]Not wanting the little she-kit to grow up by herself, she tried to encourage her siblings to play with her. This wound up being a mistake and a disaster.[/li]
[li]Sootkit, ever dominant Sootkit, made it clear to Dipperkit how absolutely useless she was. She laughed as the kit stumbled, unable to see where she went; she chortled with her friends when Dipperkit accidentally ran into another one. She assigned the kit as an elder, and often squawked within Dipperkit's ears as she knew it freaked her out. Starlingkit stood back and watched, though something about his disposition seemed like he was mixed on the issue, unsure if he should join in the laughter or help his other sister. The more she drew into herself, the more conflicted he became.[/li]
[li]The stifling atmosphere with her siblings only served to drive her further away from other kits, rather than toward them. She instead found herself gravitating toward the medicine den, taking interest in the scents of herbs that helped to soothe her anxiety when around others. Dustnose often encouraged her curiosity, kind and nurturing, and the apprentice at the time, Mothpaw, also welcomed her joining them. Visits became more ritualistic and the blind kit found herself beginning to learn the different herbs by their unique scent imprint.[/li]
[li]She often learned more directly from Whiterabbit, and sought, in some degree, to emulate her. She even developed her sarcastic and caustic wit, putting her siblings only further away from her as they didn't appreciate the way that she snapped at them.[/li]
[li]When Dipperkit reached the age of five moons, an unfortunate incident occurred that resulted in the loss of Dustnose. The kit, unable to cope with the sudden grief that overcame her, abruptly lashed out at her siblings. For Starlingkit, he attempted to placate her, but Sootkit wasn't having it; she outright attacked Dipperkit, and the two of them engaged in a fight in which Dipperkit easily lost, given the natural disadvantage that she had. She didn't understand when her mother was upset with the both of them. After all, she had a reason to be upset, and it's not like her siblings did anything to help.[/li]
[li]Apprentice age came around. Sootpaw stood victoriously as she gained her apprentice name. Starlingpaw wasn't too excited about the celebration, but made himself appropriately known anyway. And Dipperkit... Wasn't a part of it. She'd been deemed unfit to be a warrior as a result of her inability to see, and she'd been retired to the elder's den instead, the youngest elder to attend the Clan. It only settled in the feeling of uselessness, and only further necessitated her time to spend with Mothpaw and Whiterabbit, the only sources of comfort left within her life.[/li]
[li]The time came when Mothpaw received her full medicine cat name, and of course, she treated her with congratulations, though it came off as rather stiff: "Congratulations, Mothdust." She really was excited for her, but wasn't sure how to express it. She just hoped that she received the message.[/li]
[li]Apparently, StarClan did. Only a few days ago, a sign appeared to Mothdust with a dipper bird, indicating the need for a new apprentice - and for it to be her. She has only recently gained the name Dipperpaw... But she feels right at home, as if she's been there forever. In a way, maybe she has.[/li]
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EXTRA
RELATIVES
MOTHER:
FATHER:
SIBLINGS:
OTHERS:
NOTES
Dipperpaw is blind. She has cortical blindness, which means that her blindness is not caused by cataracts or any visible affliction of the eye, but rather a dysfunctional occipital cortex. The condition is congenital, meaning that she was born with it.
This also means she's more susceptible to epilepsy.
It's also probable she could be diagnosed with autism due to:
- Deficient social interaction (especially lack of proper empathy)
- Problems with communication
- Increased susceptibility to sensory overload
- A need to pace to diffuse tension (such behaviors are not as abnormal in animals, though)
- Obsession/preoccupation with certain topics (in her case, herbs)
Both conditions are researched by me so I can portray them both as accurately as possible. I don't mean any offense by my depiction, nor am I attempting to set a standard for either of these conditions as representatives of actual people/cats afflicted with said conditions. I take an oath to be responsible with this depiction in a way that neither romanticizes nor demonizes blindness and autism. I just wish to explore these aspects within a fictional character.
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