Matewa Drumon, Teal Blood [accepted]

[that me hook]

Name: Matewa Drumon (Matau and Onewa from Bionicle, and Drumon from Drummond who voices both characters)

Blood colour: Teal, Hex Code #1F8C93

Gender: Female

Symbol:
symbol
A triangle with squared off ends that have vertical dashes through them.
Based on the bionicle symbol of Onewa’s home district

Personality:
Matewa is an adventurous kid with a passion for passion. She’s the sort who always feels like she’s got something to prove, and is willing to go to the extreme to prove it. She’s got a blind confidence that she can accomplish what she wants, no matter where or how long it takes her. If things get too calm and she doesn’t have something immediate to work toward she stirs up her own excitement, often getting herself trouble in the process. Matewa’s over-confidence extends to her resolve about decision making and what she perceives to be true. Once she makes a statement she doesn’t back down from it, even if it’s kind of stupid not to. If she’s said it then it must be true now. Partially this is because of the feeling that if she doesn’t make up her mind then someone else will make it up for her and then she wont be the one in the spotlight.

Since she feels like she has to stand out, being in the often overlooked middle of the hemospectrum doesn’t appeal to her. Matewa wants the power and respect that come with being a perceived as a highblood and glorifies their violent ways. Her limited interaction with lowbloods has given her a only an abstract impression of who they are and she sees them as more of a concept than as individuals. They exist as the vague Lower Class which should cater to her demands and aren’t really worth a second thought.

Matewa’s relationships with others tend to be shallow as she’s usually more interested in them as a means to an end. However when she stops trying to get the very last word in, she is capable of forming more meaningful connections. These moments are usually accidental as she doesn’t often make a conscious effort to be nice to people unless she’s trying to win points with them. Even after she's shared a moment with someone, she'll still only consider them a friend in a fleeting way. That connection can fade or be forgotten pretty quickly if there aren't any moments to build on each other. Her amiable moods are as spur-the-moment as her peevish ones. While she doesn't actively go out for the sake of socializing, she will gravitate toward people in the area because people are where adventures get started.

Matewa’s main love and interest is robotics. Her grasp on the theoretical aspects of robotics is solid, though her limited access to necessary facilities means she lacks real hands-on experience. That doesn’t deter her though and she’s always making sure to keep herself in the know about who’s who and what’s hot in robotics culture.

One of her big goals for herself is to have robot limbs, since I mean they’re as badass as you can get, though she’s never fully committed to the follow-through. She keeps subconsciously undermining herself and finding reasons to stretch out the process: There’s always a newer more expensive model that she has to have, everything has got to be perfect when she finally goes through with it. Though she’d deny it, having the adventure of working for the goal is almost more important than the goal itself. After all, once she’s finally got them, what else will she have to commit herself to?

When Matewa isn’t furthering her robot limbs fund, she likes extreme sports and rock climbing. She gets overly-competitive when she’s playing a sport that can take the fun out of going against her if you’re not looking to take it to the max.

Strengths:

Adaptable:
When things get hairy for Matewa she has no problem re-evaluating her plan and changing course to keep pace with the situation. Her basic goal stays unwavering, but she will change her short term plan as much as she needs to to get there. This also means she’ll change allegiances as often as she needs to.

Confident:
Matewa is good at improvising and doesn’t second guess a decision she’s made once she’s made it. She works well under pressure, in fact she’d say she works optimally under pressure. This extends to her friend as well in that she’ll stand by the decisions they make as surely as her own. “Every decision is a good decision,” is a firmly used mantra of hers.

People Savvy:
She’s good at recognizing what people want and what’s important to them, even if she can’t quite empathize with that want. She’s got a skill for using that knowledge to benefit for herself and to have an advantage over people who stand opposed to her.

Flaws:

Short-Sighted:
While Matewa can read others, she’s terrible at reading herself. She often disregards warning signs and instinct in favor of charging ahead. As long as she’s achieving "excitement," (here meaning "adrenaline rush") she doesn’t think much for the consequences that are byproducts of her actions. Because of her status as a mid-blood, the consequences of her actions don't always hit as hard as they should for her to learn anything from them. This convenient 'free pass' she gets keeps her from realizing a want to change tact, even if the consequences fall more heavily on the people she's currently aligned with.

Aggressive:
There is a point-A-to-point-B route in any situation and Matewa is determined to find it. She’s not one for cirumenvting problems when she could put up her dukes and yell ‘fight me!” She’s more likely to lash out than to try to settle and she doesn’t recognize a smart moment to retreat until it’s way too late. If she’s got the upper hand, she is going to abuse the power that gives her. She enjoys needling people and will do it to get a rise out of people.

Vengeful:
Matewa always has to have the last laugh in any situation. It doesn’t matter if getting that laugh means she has to disregard general safety and reasonability. Her vengeance is a petty sort and embarrassment of ANY kind is not something she can handle graciously. A perceived slight against her from anyone can be grounds for vengeance. She retaliates indiscriminately. If something goes sour for her then it must have been someone else’s fault and she will make sure to pay them out for it.

Weapon:
Climbing Pitons: A handful of sharpened metal spikes attached to a rope that’re used for scaling cliff faces. Can be used in short range as regular daggers, and from a distance as rope darts.

Appearance:
appearance
Matewa’s a short kid who’s got more angles and points than anything. She’s got two sharp horns that stick nearly straight up out of either side of her head. She keeps her straight hair scrunchied-up in a high ponytail and has her bangs cut straight across her forehead. (For the art her hair can either be up like in the description or down like in the picture. Either work for her kid-self.) Her poofy teal space vest sit over her black symbol bearing t-shirt, and her shorts cut off mid thigh.

Home:
Matewa’s Adventure Hive is fairly non-descript from the outside, because it’s the inside where the real fun is. It’s got the works: Rock climbing wall in the rumpus block, tire run in the hall to the nutrition block, dog flaps in the doors (not for dogfather since he walks on two legs, but for Matewa when she’s little and army-crawling around the hive.) Matewa’s special favorite is the twisty slide that wraps around a fire pole from her respite block to the lower floor. I mean sure there are also stairs and door handles you could use but where’s the challenge in that?
The hive itself sits on the lakeside, not directly in the thick of the population of Four Fronds, but it’s not a long distance from it.

Lusus:
Dogfather is a great dane who walks on his hind legs, and in place of his forelegs has two spindly arms that have little four fingered hands at the ends of them.
There is a very genuine affection between Matewa and her Dogfather, though he is far more openly demonstrative about it. She looks up to him for his strength and dadly competence. She greatly admires his loyalty and takes a fair few of her behavioral cues from him.

In public Matewa is often conflicted between her ‘tough-kid’ persona and her affection for her dad. She minds her Dogfather when he’s nearby pretty well, but once he takes his eye off her she goes straight to her trouble-stirring-up ways.

Dogfather doesn’t berate Matewa for her mistakes, even when a little scolding would be beneficial for her. His paternal lessons tend to be more literal than not, and they almost always come out as a dog metaphor. He assumes that Matewa, and really people in general, have good intentions and so he doesn’t comprehend that she needs to be morally coached. The only harm he can perceive to keep her safe from is the tangible kind, and he’s very good at that. Between the two of them they think Dogfather is a pretty bang-up dad. Matewa is extremely loyal to her dad and she tolerates exactly no insinuation that he is anything other than the greatest.

Power: none  

[Sypon]

Hey!! Welcome to Gaia and Hivestuck! Really happy to have you!


First off: Matewa is reading great! I don’t see any contradictions or glaring issues, so all of my comments and questions are just meant to plus what’s here with some elaboration.

Quick couple of nitpicks: I would suggest putting an additional blank line under your paragraphs for easier reading. Since Gaia’s formatting is rather tiresome we don’t have the luxury of tabbing, so giving a space between paragraphs serves just as well. Also! In your appearance section you mention kid Matewa has her hair scrunchied up, but in the reference her teen form has her hair up and her kid form has her hair down. You may want to clarify what you want for later!

Alrighty, onto the crit.

“ if she doesn’t make up her mind then someone else will make it up for her and she can’t have that. “
What about other people speaking for Matewa makes this unacceptable? Does it come from not wanting to share the spotlight, from a place of others perceiving some lack of aptitude in her? Both? Something else? She has a cocktail of traits like this and in this particular case I’m intrigued by her hard thought on the matter.

“However when she stops trying to get the very last word in, she is capable of forming more meaningful connections. These moments are usually accidental as she doesn’t often make a conscious effort to be nice to people unless she’s trying to win points with them. ”
I’d like a bit more elaboration on how Matewa forges friendships, particularly in how steadfast these meaningful connections are. When she makes good friends is she willing to take some heat for them, or is her self-centeredness always the focal point? And importantly: is there ever a point where she stops seeing her friends as competition? Also, considering that the moments of meaningful connections seem accidental… Does she realize or notice these moments and friendships?

One other thing I don’t see explicitly is how she generally interacts with people. Does she go out to socialize or is it a byproduct of her adventuring? You mention she has good people-skills, but considering she’s so gung-ho about acting before thinking more elaboration on how she fosters her social aptitude could make or break her “people savvy” strength.


As long as she’s achieving her vaguely defined “excitement” she doesn’t think much for the consequences that are byproducts of her actions.
While Matewa vaguely defines her excitement, you might want to define it a little more to give her some triggers and boundaries in character. Is this mostly physical excitement (adrenaline, dangerous feats etc) or more abstract (social climbing, breaking the law, etc) – or perhaps a mixture of both?

You’ll want to make sure that this reads as a flaw, as well. Because she’s teal (and is edging in highblood territory) she can get away with some rule-breaking and the consequences against her. Obviously she could negatively affect OTHER people, but considering the fact that it doesn’t seem like she cares about others make sure you’re explicit about how this negatively affects her.

@Vengeful:
Again – this is a great flaw but if she can get away with it it may be reading too neutral. Her vengefulness should regularly affect her, so consider how it might impede her on a nightly basis. Does she drop everything until her vengeance is carried out, lose face by committing petty acts to get even, pick fights with higher ups, etc? Some suggestions there.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got! When you’ve made changes, resubmit and I’ll get right back to you.  

[that me hook]

Hey Sypon, I've made the changes to Matewa's application!  

[Sypon]