Mel

Mel has an amiable, humorous and a bit eccentric personality. He used to be self conscious about how his eyes look, but have accepted them as an integral part of him. He tends to keep to himself, but is very nice to those he talks to, often cracking jokes to lighten a mood. However, this penchant for lighthearted conversation makes him come off as unable to take things seriously sometimes.

Mel has a few personality quirks and ticks. When he's concentrating on something more than usual, he sticks his tongue out a little. He also is a bit clumsy, requiring doing something skillfully to have that level of concentration. He also has trouble sleeping on a normal schedule, kind of just sleeping when he can. Whether this is due to being a night owl or part of his Gorgon blood is unknown.

Mel seems almost transient in his behavior due to how calm he usually is. Others don't really know if nothing just phases him or if he just doesn't recognize consequences very well.

Mel's abilities are to be able to manipulate objects that are usually inanimate as long as they have functional ways of locomotion, through limbs or being as a limb, such as a rope or more commonly in Mel's case, a felt snake. Mel usually wears a felt snake around his neck and constantly controls it like it has a will of its own. He will address it by name, and has a few that he sets a rotation for with their own names.

He can also form humanoid statues out of solid rock at will, although the bigger the statue the harder it is to keep it structurally sound. This statue is also only as durable as the materials it's made from. Trying to make a solid object with no defined limbs or eyes move, i.e a round rock, would be futile, but he could still be aware of his magic's presence in it and view his surroundings from third person. While controlling an object, he experiences what could be considered a dissociative fugue state; his magic helps make sense of this sensation, but he can control both himself and his chosen object seperately, and receives sensory input such as sight if an object has clearly defined "eyes". Otherwise, the view is aerial, like in a third-person video game. He likes to use stuffed animals for the purpose of first person, as they usually have clearly defined "eyes".

He also has a few abilities that relate to his half-Gorgon state, but some of these are more detrimental to him than anything. His eyes are physically similar to snake eyes or cat eyes, with a slit pupil and a dark iris. He can see quite well in the dark. He's resistant to most naturally produced venom as well, with some species of snake venom not affecting him whatsoever. He has a slightly lower body temperature, and always feels cooler to the touch than other people, and gets sluggish when the temperature around him is cold. His boosted metabolism also has the unfortunate side effect of having things hit his bloodstream virtually immediately, making him a perpetual lightweight and having medicines take effect immediately.

main reference (2023)