Meredith Peterson

*Full Name:  Meredith Peterson
*Gender:  Female
*Age:   28
*Height:   5’5”
*Weight: 127 lbs
*Theme Song:   The Velvet Underground - Afterhours
*Occupation:  Mortician
*Faction: Square (DOVE supporter)
== History==
Mr. and Mrs. Peterson were dreamers who barely made a living out of their talents due to the conception of Meredith at such a 'young' age. Being weighed down by the responsibilities of parenthood made their aspirations seem even that much more out of reach, which is why they decided to participate in the STEP project. Wanting to ditch the fiercely competitive entertainment industry, which caused many problems while trying to raise a child, they spontaneously moved to STEP CITY in X079, the adolescent Meredith in tow.
From there they bestowed their knowledge of dance onto Meredith from a young age. Her father was an aggressive Tango dancer and her mother subdued her overabundance of energy with can-can dancing and choreographed stage performances. While Meredith displayed the talent necessary to excel in the art of dance, things took a turn for the worse in X086: V-day.
After V-day people suddenly became obsessed with how far they could push the limits of their bodies concerning dancing, fighting or music. Certain words began being thrown around: ‘Funk Mafia’, ‘UG’, ‘Squares', 'Banditos' and the most feared word of all ‘Jamdeaf’. Meredith’s lessons increased, but something was different. She no longer could move like she used to. Her ability to dance was gone.
The years to follow were a struggle for Meredith. Her parents deemed her ‘lazy’ and ‘unmotivated’ because, although she was in shape, she seemed no longer receptive to their teaching methods. When she tried to explain her situation they simply did not listen. They refused to believe Meredith was ‘Jamdeaf’. "Not our daughter," they said, "Not the daughter of the famed Peterson's. It would be a disgrace!"
Her peers provided almost no support, even though many were squares. Unlike Meredith they at least tried to dance and had some potential, she was just hopeless. A few steps and her knees locked. Shortly after she could be found lying upon the floor, left to be ridiculed by strangers and abandoned by those who accompanied her.
Despite being book smart and fairly attractive such skills/attributes were absolutely worthless in a society where actions were more powerful than words. Preparing for the worst Meredith decided it would be best if she pursued a medical career. If she could not make a living joining one of the factions in STEP CITY, her parents currently affiliated with Funk Mafia, then she would make due as a Square.
It was only after attending four years of college and then a year at a small private medical school when her condition was confirmed. Curious if she was truly ‘Jamdeaf’ she offered herself up when a professor claimed he had a machine that could diagnose the power level and specific vibe within an individual. Set up before the class her professor and colleagues were horrified when the result revealed she was Jamdeaf.
Meredith was then publically humiliated and expelled. Her parents, ashamed of their daughter, refused to speak to or see her after the incident. Despite everything going against her Meredith refused to simply give up. She knew this would happen someday, though she never predicted everyone’s reaction would be so severe, and had a back-up plan. Shortly after her expulsion and permanent relocation amongst the squares she began her apprenticeship to an old mortician in the research district.
The great battle of X099 almost brought about her end as she had a pretty terrible nervous breakdown. Once it was 'all over' the old mortician, having seen enough to last a lifetime, retired and put his son and Meredith in co-ownership of the clinic. With the help of a couple other staff members and interns the Research District Funeral Home makes sure bodies don't litter the streets of Step City.
==Personality ==
Meredith has a lot of issues, mostly stemming from abandonment and general bullying/ being beat up for being Jamdeaf. She can't rely on anyone other than herself and she never thinks she's good enough for anyone. (Other than wild animals, fellow Jamdeaf and a few Squares.) This has left her with a stoic and often bleak personality. And while it makes her quite boring, it's to ensure she has a certain degree of separation from others so she can't get hurt. Meredith, therefore, detests when she can't control her emotions. Whenever she loses control of her emotions, which happens when her pent up frustration and rage finally boils over and she lashes out or she has an emotional meltdown, she won't stop beating herself up over it. This frustrating predicament has left her bitter.
Negative attributes aside, Meredith does have good personality traits that make her a whole lot more interesting. Sadly, they are often seen and only seen by those she trusts. Those who she thinks will accept her for who she is are treated to a more silly, selfless and honest side.
== Dance \ Vibe style==
Her father sometimes forces her to tango with him, but she's very clumsy and he has to use his telekinetic vibe powers to keep her from collapsing.
Jamdeaf
== Miscellaneous Information==
*Meredith hates her job as it involves corpses. She does not particularly like dead people, especially when they are brought in looking a little less... humanoid... and she’s put in charge of taking care of them.
*As a woman devoted to her studies she knows a lot about being a medical practitioner and has the skill equal or greater than a nurse. But, with all these Dr. Vendy’s around, her skill are unnecessary. She pretty much sticks to preparing and prettying up dead people, as well as arranging funerals.
*The Funeral Home she helps run lies on the edge of Step City in the research district. It caters to all factions as it is in a sort of ‘neutral’ zone, including roller banditos. Because of this she is not allowed to hire or be involved in openly romantic relations anyone other than Squares. The result, if she manages to offend the UG or FM as a whole, could be as minimal as being stuck on eternal body preparation duty or as severe as losing her job.
*Although she is a certified funeral director Meredith is often put in charge of embalming/ cremation because many find it offensive to have a Jamdeaf in charge of funeral, though she is perfectly capable of doing so. Sometimes she will pick up bodies from hospital morgues or answer phones, but that job is usually left to other staff.
*Meredith’s parents split shortly after her status as a JamDeaf was confirmed. All their hopes and dreams were bound up in her and she let them down. While she has not been able to find/ contact her mother since word got out, she has slowly been repairing her relationship with her father, Mr.Peterson.
*Ever since V-day Meredith has been losing skin and hair pigment (which has been replaced with some discoloration). She isn’t positive as to why this is happening, but she assumes it's because she not synched with the Vibe.
*Meredith's 'civilian attire' is based off of trash (newspapers in particular). Such a decision was made in the character designing process to project societies (Step City's) hostile ideas of Jamdeafs in a subtle way such as garb.
*Affiliated with the organization known as DOVE she has a small dove embroidered on the inner lining of coat pockets as well as the inside of shirt collars. She keeps it cleverly hidden so that faction members who enter her clinic cannot easily see her allegiance but she can display it easily if need be.
*Meredith will never admit this, but she was, for quite a while, secretly a HUGE Smooth Sally fangirl. She read fan-fiction, collected newspaper clippings as well as his photos from various sources. Meredith at one point thought he could have somehow maybe kinda sorta a tiny bit like her because he actually stopped by the funeral home to talk to her. Buuuuttt she's pretty sure he was just trying to butter her up with compliments to get special favors done. She's not particularly devastated upon realizing she was only a tool because she had already convinced herself he was an idol she could never have.
== Relationships==
Mr.Peterson: He's her father and she wants to trust him, but there's still issues that need to be ironed out in their father-daughter relationship. Then again, he did disown her at once point. Because of this she fears they'll never be able to have a 'regular' father-daughter relationship.
Frankie!cat: He's her best best best friend. No, he's an extension of her family. If you take Frankie she will hunt you down until you give him back and if you kill him she'll pretty much die inside. I'm not kidding she might just die of sadness. Frankie cat, along with an assortment of other animals and Jamdeaf friends, are the only ones who she believes can accept her for who she is. Because of this she hold Frankie!cat in higher regards than most, if not all of the humans on the island.
Toots : She considers him her friend but she doesn't really understand him. This relationship is very much still in the making.
Gerard: Meredith is very concerned for the well being of Gerard, especially because he's a fellow Jamdeaf struggling to exist in a world where their kind are invisible or shunned. She feels attached to him, possibly because he's Jamdeaf, like her. Or maybe because he's one of the first humans to ever pay attention to her and even show concern for her in a very long time. And as a fellow Jamdeaf she feels she can trust him better and his intentions are sincere. Meredith hopes their friendship will last and nothing bad will happen to him in the near future...
Ace : Who the heck is this guy?! Although, she doesn't know him by name he makes her so upset that she allows her temper to get the best of her. She currently holds a grudge against him which may or may not go away anytime soon.
Elise : Friends, kinda? Well she wants to think they're friends but she feels it's a strange friendship, kind of like the ones she makes with her co-workers in the funeral home. Does this lady just like her because she's a DOVE willing to do anything to reach their goals, too? Well, one things for certain, she does enjoy being on her good side, as opposed to her bad side.
Rémi d'Aubigne : Babysitter back in the day. Debatably still her babysitter after the event during the New Years party...
Frankie Valentine : Francis, as she knew him back of the day, and one of the members of Meredith's Butter Club. She's surprised to see him, decades later, as one of the leaders of the Funk Mafia. (To be honest, she thought he was dead or something. Especially since she later realized he didn't come from the most stable home.) While she wants to pick this friendship back up like nothing has happened she knows it is highly unlikely as time has changed the two, for better or worse.
Jacqueline Daily : She also knew Jack back in the day when both were forced to attend dance classes. While she is happy to reconnect, she feels time has caused a great distance between the two and each others trust must be earned again.
Bennett Corobane : Meredith views their relationship as business only at the current time. Though she has not had a heart-to-heart chat with Bennett, as her schedule at the funeral home only permitted the exchange of a few words before she had to return, she thinks it might be nice to cultivate a friendship as Bennett did not display dislike towards Meredith even when she was aware she was jamdeaf.
Meredith used to also be friends with Craig and Alexei they all had a falling out for one reason or another...
==Gallery==
Peterson family.png|The Peterson Family. (If they were still a family.)
Category:Characters
Category:Squares