Username: Hello, I am Sno Leopard! I am named for the elusive mountainous feline,
Uncia uncia, also known as the snow leopard (which is a favorite animal of mine). An active Chickensmoothian, I love arting, writing, coding, rock climbing, and most other things. I come to you from the planet of the Internet to adopt a lovely character I spotted in your kennel archiving.
Kennel number: I think that this lovely girl from Kennel #11 would absolutely love to come home with me uvu I really hope to win her!
Why do you want this character, and what will you use her for? She is, in truth, an absolutely lovely character. The stripes, the mane, the color, the antlers --- everything about her I absolutely love! I think that what I love about her most, though, is the body striping with the glowing, firefly-like markings. No matter what the reason, though, I'm sure that she will be comfortable with my other chars floating around my gallery! <3
She will be used for art, writing, and teasing my friends because of her complete niceness c: I will actually have motivation to learn to draw equine characters if I have her Bambi-eyeing at me. I may not buy much art of her, but that is because I will want to have done all the art myself, so that it is straight from the heart.
helloooName: This lovely girl's name will be Atarau if she belongs to me. Atarau is the Maori word for moonlight (at least according to Google Translate). The Maori language is very special to me, as it is very beautiful. I love all of Maori culture, as well as New Zealand, so I decided that it would be best if her name came from Maori. This girl's markings also remind me of twilight, so a name translating to moonlight makes a lot of sense.
Gender: Atarau is female. No explanation necessary.
Personality: Atarau is extremely quiet. She has never started a conversation and answers questions with as few words as possible, if at all. She also stays away from large groups, loud crowds, and anything in between. She often comes off as mysterious because of how quiet she is. You could talk to her for eons and have barely known a single secret about her. She stays away from people in general and rarely answers questions with a response that isn't a riddle. Her distant thoughts separate her from the rest of society.
The main reason why Atarau is so quiet and secretive is that she's quite shy and a natural coward. Since the beginning of time, she has lived a life solely by herself, never speaking to another and jumping at things that go bump in the night. It's hard to be on your own when you are scared of many things, and Atarau has certainly felt the pain and has the emotional scars to show it. Fated to be forever lonely, her basic life only revives around survival.
But it's not all bad. Atarau's life is more complex than simple remorse. When Atarau meets another creature, she is as kind as possible, and feels great doing it. She sources happiness from the natural world around her, and hates destruction. Her kindness has saved not only her hope, but others' lives. Take, for example, the dying fawn last spring, whom she cured in a fortnight, or the ragged grayish fox that now visits her four times a summer. Atarau knows that she is different, and just doesn't care a tidbit.
Atarau has also been described as inspiring. Her thoughts and ideas have shown many others where to look when they are having trouble finding the correct path. Her guidance not only is useful, but also purposeful. Her natural instinct tells her when to share her ideas with the outside world. Sometimes her thoughts have only helped a few people, sometimes they indirectly help the entire world. But even though Atarau doesn't know how much affect her ideas can create, the perseverance and instinct in her blood lets her continue guiding others with inspiring advice.
History: Nobody knows where or when Atarau was born or where she grew up. Only she knows that, and she's determined not to tell. She will tell one story, though: her thoughts on when she first arrived here, in her new home.
Atarau wrote:I first came here years ago, too many to count, but I still remember that first night. I had come to this forest from my childhood home, and it was a long, perilous journey full of monsters and evil. I was traumatized and disoriented. I had stumbled beside that pond and tried to sleep. Shadows, long, dark, and menacing, would creep out from behind a bush. I heard growls and roars. It was as if this peaceful place was another monster den. I doubt I slept at all, that first night.
When morning came once more, I was relieved to find out that this place was not another monster den. I had slept in one before and did not want to make the mistake of doing it again. I began to look around, perhaps for a temporary staying place before I moved on. I found one, and for some weeks I slept in a small cave at the base of a hill bordering the valley. About a month after I first came, I left to explore the world to the east.
It was years before I returned again. All I had found to the east were more mountains, looming and inhospitable, as well as monsters, as frightening as ever. I had not found anything but fear there, so I returned to the valley and began to explore.
The first thing I discovered was that it wasn't all meadow. There was a small oak glen near the pond where I first slept, and beyond that the woods grew bigger and bigger until the trees were tall and the bushes thick. Things were green in the rainy (and occasionally snowy) winters and hazel green in the warm, mild summers. There was also a lake and several steams feeding it, so there was enough water to live here. After some thought, I decided that it was a nice place for a permanent home.
My first real house was in an old, hollow tree trunk. It was cozy, if small, and took a while to get used to. It wasn't super close to the lake, but it was okay. I could find food, water, and rest each day without seeing a single monster, so it was a major improvement over previous lodgings.
Eventually my life began to settle in like that. I formed routines, met a few people, lived my life. There's not much more to tell. I just became... me.
Likes: Atarau loves nature. All her life, she has lived among the natural world, full of plants, animals, and all the other wonders of the outdoors. The peace and simplicity of her native forests please her, and she loves the entire spectrum of untouched beauty.
Atarau also finds the sky of interest, the twilight sky in particular. She thinks that it's amazing, deep purple streaked with orange, magenta, and lavender. She likes to stay outside in the evening and try to find the first star to appear. Her favorite planet is Venus, the "early morning star". She likes the way it glows, different from the other planets, and she would be pleased with it even if the only good thing with it was the name. Sometimes, if she can't sleep, she will step outside to see if she can spot her favorite friend.
For some reason, Atarau's favorite weather is rain. It's not that she dislikes the sun, just that she likes rain better. She likes the sound it makes as it hits the hard-packed earth and the fresh scent that flows off the forest the forest the next day. And you can't even get her started on rainbows. Rain is best to Atarau, as it freshens everything up for a new round of greatness.
Atarau, for many reasons, is in love with maple syrup. The bronze color, sweet flavor, and delicious scent make it perfection. Sure, it's sticky, but who cares about an extra bath when you can have literal awesomesauce? Atarau will go far and wide for the best maple syrup: thick, sweet, and maple-y.
Dislikes: Atarau hates destruction. It ruins, wastes, and can break hearts. Her no-waste policy automatically makes destruction bad, but it can also really ruin someone's day. How would you feel if someone ripped apart your teddy bear?
Atarau also dislikes pain. Pain means that something hurts really, really badly, and that makes someone sad. Also, with pain usually is injury, and injuries are damage and can permanently scar you, at least emotionally. Some pain means loss, of someone or something you love, and that in turn can cause depression. Pain is not good in almost every case.
Atarau hates large crowds as well. Large numbers of people have always scared the small, introverted horse, and with crowds can be too much attention on her. She wants to be low-lying and generally ignored.
Atarau greatly dislikes all of these, but the things that scare her most are rubber duckies. Yes, the bath toy. Atarau has a real phobia of these things, always has, and doesn't know why. So let's not be showing her our world-famous duckie collections anytime soon, eh?
Hobbies: One of Atarau's hobbies is astronomy. She loves to watch the sky, the night sky in particular. She knows the name of almost every constellation and can identify planets on the fly. She's even quite good at identifying constellations in the opposite hemisphere!
Atarau is also an avid stamp collector. She keeps all her stamp in a small leather booklet, or at this point, many small leather booklets. She has stamps from all over the world, including old and valuable ones. She likes them not for their value, but for the fact that they are all similar yet so different.
The last of Atarau's favorite things to do is journaling. She keeps a careful record of everything that happens un her day-to-day life, as well as writing an astonishingly large array of stories and poetry, although she keeps it all a secret. However, she has a strong writing ability, and the few pieces she shows to the outside world are met with great approval.
Astronomy, stamp-collecting, journaling
Interview:Do you like it here?
Atarau wrote:I suppose I could say I do, yes. What I really like here is how peaceful it is, without any monsters or people. I can stay by myself and do what I like. There aren't really any rules here, but it isn't any more dangerous and there aren't any more crimes than there would be if there were. Although, I think that all rules do is induce people to commit crimes, just for the sake of breaking them.
Did you have a good relationship with your parents before you left home?
Atarau wrote:I have no idea if I would have or not. I grew up without parents. My only parents were the wind and trees were I lived as a child. I don't know if they were good parents, but they taught me how to be resourceful and that even the smallest scraps have great worth. Even now, though I am far away from where I grew up, I still never waste a thing.
Can you describe the monsters that terrorized you on your journey here?
Atarau wrote:Well, they were all different. Some were big, and some were small. Some had glowing red eyes and some appeared to have no eyes at all. They all were dark, and had dripping fangs. Some even carried those horrible little yellow things, the ones that give me nightmares. I don't want to talk much more about it, as I do not want to relive it any more than I have to.
When you say "those horrible little yellow things", what are you referring to?
Atarau wrote:I don't know what you would call them. They were smallish, and bird-shaped, with these blood-red beaks and dark, mean eyes. They almost looked like discolored ducks. Is that what you call them? Duckies or something?
Why are you afraid of rubber duckies?
Atarau wrote:I don't know, but it was like... hate at first sight. I first saw a rubber duckie when I was little, and it had been floating down the river near my home. I had nightmares for weeks...
At this point, subject in question turns away, sobbing quietly, and leaves the room.
keeperitin
