Welcome to Gaia! ::

Name: Juanita Louisa MacNeal
Call her: Nita, Neets
Age: 21
Birthdate: May 20, 1985
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Occupation: College student
Family: Parents: Carmen Perez & John MacNeal; Younger brother: Sam

Appearance (Human):
Very stereotypically Scots-Irish: bright red curly hair, mid-back length, usually put in two braids. Fair skin, freckles on her cheeks and nose that get more pronounced in the sun. Eyes are usually teal, but vary from pale blue to bright green with her mood. (Her mother is a gorgeous Hispanic woman, and her father is a Scots-Irish mix: Nita got the Irish looks and hispanic name; her brother got the dark hair and skin). Slender frame: small breasts, slim hips, only 5ft tall, although she's 20 years old. Bookworm. Usually wearing jeans and a tattered coral-colored hoodie and carrying at least one book. She wouldn't normally be noticed except for the hair.

Personality:
Nita is quiet, booksmart, and obsessive-compulsive. She tends to alienate people, although she doesn't know why. Maybe it's the OCD. Nita is highly organized, washes her hands constantly, keeps her personal space neat, and can't let her food touch or be mixed with other foods.

She hates doctors and hospitals, although she has a certain appreciation for the cleanliness. She has the mindset for labwork: finicky and precise.
Nita is also a writer, and tends to get caught up in her own characters and stories. This escapism lets her control her environment, as she cannot really in the "real world."

Nita is also gay, or at least bisexual. She has never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but would probably rather find a girl to love. Her generally quiet and reserved nature has kept her from actively seeking romance-- the same reason she doesn't have very many close friends other than those in the books she reads and the stories she writes.

Background:
Nita had a perfectly normal childhood, growing up in central Ohio with her parents, Carmen Perez and John MacNeal, and her younger brother Sam. She was always the "good kid:" smart, quiet, getting good grades, and "exceeding expectations." Unlike her brother, she never really "rebelled"-- which may have been a trigger for the OCD/depression.

Although she generally got along with her parents (she was closer to her mother), Nita has always felt slightly resentful that she was held to such high standards while her brother always got away with things. For example, it was expected (assumed, really) that Nita would attend college and probably get at least an M.A., whereas Sam dropped out of high school when he turned 16.

In her senior year of high school, Nita had a bit of a mental break and was hospitalized for several weeks. She had been cutting-- not as an attempted suicide, but to force herself to feel something, and to be able to control what she felt. It was then that she was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and clinical depression. After she was released from the hospital, she was basically homeschooled for the rest of the year, since she couldn't stand to be around her fellow students.

Even so, she graduated with her class as a valedictorian and was accepted into the Honors program at The Ohio State University. Nita declared herself an English major, although she knew she didn't want to teach. As she began her junior year, she realized she had no idea what she was going to do with the degree she was earning.

Upon that epiphany, Nita went to talk to her academic advisor, Karen Marsh. Ms. Marsh suggested that Nita take a break from OSU and participate in a new Study Abroad program. Unlike traditional SA programs, Nita would be free to study on her own, perhaps working on something like a Master's Thesis. She could expect to be away from the university for at least a quarter, reading, studying, researching, and writing, free from most distractions. Upon completion, Nita would recieve suitable credit towards her major and graduation, as well as a truly unique educational experience.

This sort of thing was right up Nita's alley, especially since she had done so well working on her own during her senior year of high school. Although her parents would miss her, they thought this would be an excellent way for their quiet daughter to get out on her own while furthering her education. With remarkably few deliberations, Nita packed up her books and other necessities, kissed her parents (and hugged her brother, much to his disgust) goodbye, and set off-- to the Island of Doctor Moreau.

Red Panda, Ailurus fulgens

Other Names:
Bear-cat, Bright Panda, Cat-bear, Common Panda, Fire Fox, Lesser Panda, Nigalya Ponya, Panda Chico, Panda �clatant, Panda Rojo, Petit Panda, Poonya, Red Cat-bear, Sankam, Thokya, Wah, Wokdonka, Woker, Ye.

In Chinese, the name of the red panda is based on that of the Giant Panda, whereas in English, Giant Pandas were named after red pandas.

"Panda" may be an anglicization of "poonya," ("eater of bamboo").

Red pandas are also commonly known as "Wah" because of their distinctive cry-- this name was coined by Thomas Hardwicke when he introduced red pandas to Europeans in 1821.

Physical Description:
Red pandas look more like raccoons than their closest relative - the giant panda. They have a bear-like body with thick russet fur. The belly and limbs are black and there are white markings on the side of the head and above the small eyes. They have thick bushy tails with light-brown rings, pointed ears and a pointed snout. The red panda has a head and body length of 50 - 64 cm (20 - 25"). It weighs 3 - 6 kg (7 - 13 lb). Red pandas have semi-retractable claws and a false thumb, which is actually an extension of the wrist bone. They have scent glands on the bottoms of their feet, hidden by thick dark fur.

Diet:
Red pandas mainly feed on bamboo (leaves, supplemented with bamboo shoots in the spring), but also eat acorns, roots, berries, lichens and occasionally eggs, young birds, insects, and small mammals. They have a very slow metabolism and cannot digest cellulose, so they have to consume huge amounts of vegetation to survive (up to 30% of their body weight). A female red panda can eat up to 200,000 leaves in a day. In captivity, red pandas will readily eat meat, and their digestive systems are actually more suited to a carnivorous diet.

Behavior:
Red pandas are secretive and gentle creatures that lead solitary lives, except for mothers with cubs. They are slow-moving on the ground but remarkably agile in the trees. It uses trees not only for feeding but also to escape ground-based predators, and to sunbathe high in the canopy during winter.

The lesser panda is active between dusk and dawn, sleeping in trees with their tails around their heads during the day. The adults are generally solitary, but sometimes travel in pairs or small family groups. They mark their territory with scent from an a**l gland, urine and faeces. Their trails are also marked automatically with scent from glands on the soles of the feet. They feed mostly on the forest floor but are excellent climbers and they are able to escape predators by climbing high into trees. Red pandas are primarily quadrupedal, but they can stand on their hind legs for about 30 seconds at a time.

Distribution/Habitat:
The red panda is found in a mountainous band from Nepal through northeastern India and Bhutan and into China, Laos and northern Myanmar.

Red pandas live in forests with a bamboo understory, preferring south-facing slopes with a thick canopy. The types of forests range from subalpine temperate, tropical, and subtropical, with monsoons in the south.


Images:
<-- A group of red pandas
http://www.subreality.com/ailurus/gallery2.htm <-- A good gallery

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Panda
http://www.animalinfo.org/species/carnivor/ailufulg.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/6.shtml

Much love to everyone who throws art at me!

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bleh

Expectations - Belle & Sebastian
Family Tree- Bell & Sebastian
Mary Jane - Alanis Morissette
Not A Pretty Girl - Ani DiFranco
I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career - Belle & Sebastian
Girl Anachronism - Dresden Dolls
32 Flavors - Ani DiFranco
America - Simon & Garfunkel
20 Years of Snow - Regina Spektor
Bad Habit - Dresden Dolls
Steady As She Goes - The Raconteurs
Work Your Way Out - Ani DiFranco
Superhero - Ani DiFranco
Forgiven Not Forgotten - The Corrs
Fire Door - Ani DiFranco
Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks
We Rule the School - Belle & Sebastian
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab For Cutie

bleh

Rules:
*Please contact me before posting [except the GMs, of course]
*Stay IC
*If Nita doesn't like your character, it doesn't mean I don't like you.

Credits:
*Island of Doctor Moreau Shop (c) Chibi Hige, etc.
*Nita MacNeal (c) Kimie Kitty
*All other characters (c) their players
*Official art (c) Emerwyn
*All other art (c) respective artists
*Graphics, etc (c) Kimie Kitty