Notes:
Very conveniently, the original used quadruple dashes to break up sections, which translate into solid bars in the Wiki.
Hi! I'm interested in playing a character on Puzzlebox. I've a concept, description, name, and the works to offer for your consideration. Its a lot more than a paragraph or so, but you certainly don't have to read it all - I thought it would be best, however, to give you all, though.
Ataxia, no last or middle name.
Character Concept and Background:
Ataxia is the culmination of one individual’s work and sacrifice, literally. In fact, in a sense, she is her creator. One of the many infinitely prolonged residents of Puzzlebox, her creator yet no longer exists as an individual, though his or her work lives on.
Killing one’s self in Puzzlebox is almost a trivial matter when the backup copy of yourself will be restored. An exception to this rule would come if the backup copy was overwritten by something else, wiped clean and replaced with something that had not before existed. Ataxia’s creator killed theirself in all but the existence of an entity in this manner, committing a genuine suicide.
But, it wasn’t simply to end their existence, but to bring into existence something else - a work of art, at least to their mind, that they would never have the pleasure of seeing. Her creator wanted not death, but to commit a truly valuable act, in their mind.
After the creator killed theirself in a previously trivial way, the backup copy restored was nothing like the original individual. She possessed none of their memories, and perhaps none of their physical appearance or bearings. She was what she was written to be, a full grown being with enough of a framework of motor skills, vocabulary, and basic knowledge to get around in the world, but otherwise a child. Her creator expended their life, and exchanged it to give life to their creation.
She did not awake in The Mess, instead coming into being among a community with a very Egyptian view of the world - Order is all that is good, Chaos is all that is Evil, and the end of everything. While everything can be argued to contain both order and chaos to an extent, perhaps she was a work of art in that she is either plainly chaotic or orderly, depending on her current state of being.
Her initial, and her basic form is an inky black void of darkness in the shape of a huge jackal, though the features are mostly obscured. She appears like a walking, three dimensional shadow, composed of pre-material. In the initial seconds before the creation of the universe, atoms had not yet coalesced from the basic building material of the universe - and if she were to be analyzed, while like this, she would be found to be composed of this chaotic pre-material.
However, she can take a form like most any other being has. She can coalesce herself into proper material, a much more mundane black-backed jackal. Either state has a cost, though - she is, in effect, a chaos/static engine. She’s designed to exchange order for chaos in one direction or another - in her base, shadowy form, she absorbs chaos to herself, bringing stasis to those around her. Rusty hinges stop squeaking, engines run cleaner, metals conduct better, axes re-align, objects secure in place, and things that seem out of synch are brought into harmony with their environs. When material, she causes order around her to break and change - bolts unhinge, electrical systems brown out, lights flicker, and nearby plumbing fixtures begin to lean.
In mathematical terms, she alters the probabilities around her to one extreme or another. Chaos is not destruction, its merely change, and while a chaos engine, she increases the probability of change. While a stasis engine, she decreases the possibility of change. The effects are limited, and controlled by the current extreme of her state. Her effect on the world can be voluntary, but then only directed to one thing at a time. Otherwise, its general, and minor, a slow decay or a static reality following in her footprints. When gone, things revert to their prior state, if not damaged somehow.
Her shadowy form is monestrous in more than just material, however - in visage she appears as a much more imposing being than she otherwise would wish to be, bent ferally, huge shadowy claws, only her blue eyes and white teeth different than the void of herself. But being a solid form tends to fuck stuff up around her. She really did not last too long in her new community, as even if she did act as a stasis engine while a shadow, she was literally of the void, of chaos, in appearance and substance, and thus anathema. And when solid, she directed the chaos outward in exchange for her orderly form, further infuriating the populace.
She spent her first days learning about herself, and inadvertently inflaming the locals. She knows that she was created from someone, but that individual has allowed her no knowledge of what they were, down to species and gender. She has spent perhaps only a few months of life wandering from that point, the basic framework left of her mind enough that she’s been able to rapidly fill in much of the spaces, though in many ways she is an infant.
She has heard of a place called The Mess, which bucks the trend of order the whole of puzzlebox seems to otherwise have. Perhaps there she may not be such a burden as she’s found herself to be. Perhaps she isn’t a virus, perhaps she isn’t a work of art alone, perhaps she can have a life.. This is the one place to find out. Perhaps there will be someone there who will even wish her luck with that.. only time will tell.
Description (subject to revisions, but basic ideas):
Shadow:
A huge inky black tenebrous mass, this creature barely reflects any light at all, seeming instead to draw it in with only the slightest hint of sheen, as if a last cry before falling into a black hole. It is a standing silhouette, a shadow, solid darkness wrought in a third dimension. As such, it casts no shadow, as it already is one. Only teeth and eyes seem anything but black, and only her eyes show any colour.
It is more than just a mass of blackness though, as it seems to have a consistent shape and form. In fact, despite its size, fine details exist though largely obscured from a simple glance. It is evident that the shape is that of a jackal, and perhaps even the species may be discernible, as along her back the shadow wisps out and draws a fair bit more sheen than the remainder of the shadow's form.
Even gender seems to be discernibly female in this odd state of being, hints at the hips and bosom, from front or profile depending. Her tail is long and wispy, curling back and generally always slowly moving, drawn out a few feet behind her. Its not entirely solid in and of itself either, breaking into little wisps from a central shaft along the length. She appears to have hair of sorts, short spikes that trail far between her tall ears and along the back of her neck.
Tall ears draw further than they ought, extending the shadow jackal's height to perhaps nine feet, more if she wasn't bent with a feral curl to her. Her arms seem longer than they ought to be as well, her huge hands curl back, her fingers naturally curl up to her palms, claws seemingly solid looking - and if the shadow didn't look vaguely ill defined at times, they could appear dangerously sharp.
Though bent at her haunch and legs the whole of her body looks strong. But for her height she's a drawn out creature, lengthy and thin, and despite being a shadow she yet appears to have mass and consequence to her step. Noticeably, her huge toeclaws scrape against the ground when she walks, leaving dark lines which fade in time, leaving minor scars if the flooring is too weak.
Dull blue-grey eyes break the intense blackness of this form, nearly round, somewhat ill defined around the edges. Among the somber pitch of her form they seem surprisingly sharp and intense. If her lips should part nothing but teeth can be seen, no tongue or other features, stark whiteness amidst the soot. The teeth seem too much for a Jackal's muzzle, long, interlocking, bending spikes of sorts. When drawn against them, her lips appear rather solid, and of course, utterly black.
Jackal:
Nearly six feet tall, not including her ears, this canid would be rather imposing if not for being nearly ethereal in frame. She'd be boyish if her features were taken on each own's merit, but because she's so drawn out, the otherwise narrow hips and small chest look larger on her frame than they really are. Short fur doesn't do much to obscure her features either, revealing the musculature below, which ultimately makes her look athletic rather than anemic.
Her canid form already hints to her species, but the fur confirms it. Mottled black and silver covers the whole of her back, drawing over her shoulders nearly to her front - she's a black or silver backed jackal. Along her sides the swaths of black and silver fur meet sharply against the nearly achromatic grey/tawny that lightens along her relative underbelly. The mottled fur trails down the back of her legs a bit, and down her arms nearly to her elbows as well.
An active tail is covered in silver and black at the top, but tapers off to a pure black by the tip, and even shows a little tawny along the underside near the base. Her fur grows nearly white above and below her eyes, forming a brow which carries expression well. Her long slender muzzle is that same near white along the sides and under, onto her chest, while the top is a darker tawny. Black whiskers contrast along the way, meeting up with similarly black lips and canine nose.
Nearly round eyes are made to look longer by natural black liner as well, though more expression might be found in dull blue/grey iris' and large black pupils. Large ears are filled with wispy white fur and velvet, all tawny around back, and are the only place her blush will show through. Along the right are three stud earrings, along the left are two, both on the outer edge. Her hair rests wholly between her ears, somewhat short and spiky (without being gelled or the like), black and silver just like her backfur. It drapes somewhat forward, providing short bangs.
If you know your history, she seems to be having fun with older styles at the present. She's adopted the Masculine Silhouette of the 1920s, which works well with her fit body. Her clothing is simple, geometric, comfortable, and obscures her light features further, making her look almost boyish, as was the style. She dons a short skirt, off white in base colour, interrupted by thick thick stripes at the very top and bottom, and two close ones running along the front.
After being interrupted by a white belt, those stripes continue up onto her blouse, both rounding off at the neckline and proceeding to hook together at her back. The short sleeves of her blouse also end with the same stripes, and all of the clothing is somewhat baggy, and not trimmed to fit form, adding to the androgyny. Blunt tipped black high heels finish off the ensemble, which wrap back around at her ankles while leaving the top of her plantigrade feet exposed and raise her height by another inch or so with thick rubbery square heels.
What interests me about Puzzlebox is the question of limits in a limitless world. With nearly anything possible, and in grasp, what does one do with one's self? What challenges will there be? Can my character somehow transcend the mental limitations of being, and if she does, will she end up like her predecessor, committing a suicide for some yet unknown goal? Will she ultimately be merely a virus of sorts, interfering one way or another? Will she be at ease the reality of her being, or will she rebel against it further? I don't know the answers to these questions yet, but I'd love to find out where Ataxia takes herself.
There appears to be a genuine chance for role play in this muck, open-ended as it is. People invent whatever they wish on other mucks as well, true, but that's not the context of those mucks - Tapestries can accommodate Ataxia, in a sense, but then the whole world is designed for noone in particular. The cannon of one is solid, but not the cannon of another. There is no quality control, there are seas of hollow characters, lust embodied and held on strings, backgrounds shallow and irrelevant. However, here, I imagine I can be relevant, as others can be.
Suffice to say, I'm interested, and I would like to think I would add something to this muck. It would make me nothing but happy to do so.