(no subject)
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Always a shortass. He's probably about 5'4", tops, and pretty stocky. Average shoulders, and he's pretty slim, but he's very compact. Built solidly, he's got a decent amount of muscle mass, in part because he's pretty skilled at hand-to-hand combat.
2. How old is he?
23 24.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He stands up pretty rail-straight most of the time, since he's usually out on police business and can't have people thinking he's lazy or easy to ignore. With his lack of height, he pretty much has to conduct himself in an authoritative fashion or nobody takes him seriously. He slouches when he's tired or upset about something, though.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
In a comedic effort to parallel his canon mutant blood, AU!Karkat is anemic. I actually considered giving him sickle cell, but seeing as that can cause all kinds of problems and would probably kill him by 42, I just went with a basic weakness of the blood. It doesn't affect him terribly, since he's pretty on top of it (mostly because fuck if he wants anyone to think he's weak), but he'll periodically get winded a lot quicker than he should given his age, and it caused a good amount of complications when he was a child. Otherwise, he's pretty much as healthy as a young detective can be when dealing with the general public. He doesn't get sick often, but he'll get knocked on his ass once or twice a year by a general bug that floats around the precinct.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
He's very deliberate in his movements. He's extremely aware of his surroundings and very observant, but not likely to say anything about noticing something. Instead, he'll just react. This results in it looking like he's just kind of doing things on a whim, when in fact almost the entirety of his actions are very intentional and predetermined.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
Well that depends on your thoughts on weird human mutations. Karkat being Alternian, he's got grey skin, yellow sclera and red irises, elongated pointed ears, claws and fangs and little nubby candy-corn colored horns on his head. But he's got a nice facial structure, even if he looks younger than he is, and with the stocky way he's built he's overall relatively decent-looking. He doesn't really care one way or another, but he certainly got the attention of one of the prettiest girls in the precinct-- though she doesn't much count, since she's blind.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Grey! He's actually pretty pale in comparison to other Alternians, mostly because he's anemic. This causes the darker rings under his eyes to be pretty stark, and his lips to look a little paler in comparison. The ends of his ears are also tinged a slightly darker grey, but it's not really noticeable unless you're watching the things.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Black that shines faintly red in natural light, short and kind of everywhere, and relatively coarse like the rest of him. He doesn't really do anything special with it, save for run a comb through it in the morning, so. He may not even use conditioner, it's hard to tell.
9. What color are his eyes?
Golden yellow sclera like all Alternians, but his irises are a real bright scarlet. This is actually uncommon amongst Alternians, but not terribly indicative of anything. It just means that a lot of people comment on his eyes.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Yeah pretty much everything that makes him Alternian. Grey skin, pointed ears, fangs, orangeish yellow claws on his hands and feet, wacky eyes, crazy little nubby horns that look like candy corn.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Oh God, uh. Does "everywhere" count? Karkat is pretty much always tense everywhere, because he's such a raging wall of man-PMS. Especially in his shoulders, naturally, but yeah. He's gonna be pretty tense pretty much all over.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Business casual, pretty much all of the time. Usually dark greys and blacks, sometimes darker shades of greens and blues. He almost exclusively refuses to wear the color red. He only owns like two pairs of jeans, and John is probably the only one who's seen him in them since he lives two doors down.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
They fit comfortably. Not tight, not loose, but overall well. He certainly doesn't seem uncomfortable in them, but Karkat rarely seems comfortable.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
...For the most part, yeah. Sometimes he'll actually be willing to have a little fun and stop being such a sharp-tongued hardass, but for the most part he's a cop that acts like a cop. Except he's got a couple thousand soft spots for various things in his life.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers. Definitely boxers.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
This. Swearing included.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Refer again to that RageQuit link. He speaks coarsely, with a full smattering of swearing usually pretty irregardless of his company, and generally he keeps a relatively even volume and tone, but sometimes he shouts for no reason. It's sort of like Tourettes.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
He has a strange sort of not-accent, sounding a bit like the lead singer of Example, but less pronounced. He largely speaks in a mumble, and never quite opens his mouth all the way unless he's shouting.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
English, for ease of access and because the AU is set somewhere in the United States, and Alternian, though not well since he only lived there until he was five.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
He probably periodically uses very simplistic Alternian words-- likely only in place of swears.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
A little of both, actually. He's good at impromptu speech if it doesn't pertain to something embarrassing about himself, and so long as he doesn't get too terribly pissed off. He kind of loses coherency very rapidly when he's angry.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Same as above. He can be pretty eloquent, but if he gets flustered or pissed off the eloquence goes right out the window to be replaced with illogical rage.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
He's more street smart than he is book smart, but he's certainly not stupid. Droog ensured he was at least basically educated, and he got through Police Academy with flying colors, so that should account for something.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He's a very quick thinker, especially given his partner is blind so he's technically looking out for two people whenever he's on the job. Given he's a cop, you can see the problems this might present.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Logical until he gets pissed off, pretty much lacking in intuition and idealistic thought. Practicality generally rules but his ideas of it are kind of skewed.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
A relatively basic homeschooling by his second surrogate father. He commonly was left with nothing better to do when he was young, and often read Droog's expanses of encyclopedia.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
He's kind of a huge nerd for stupid romance novels and romantic comedy movies. Otherwise he's good at local law, general law, and a fair idea of right and wrong. He's not about to let criminal activity go under the radar, but he's also not a total hardass all of the time.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Neither, really. He's not extroverted, that's for sure, but he's not introverted overmuch, either. He does what he has to and prefers to keep to himself, but is rarely permitted to due to having some fucking crazy coworkers.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Okay for starters, he's a Cancer. The moodiest of the moody. For another thing, he has a HUGELY short temper. He'll be in a relatively pleasant mood for three seconds and then be a complete asshole for an hour, feel guilty that he called some little girl's dog fat and ugly, grouch about it, go home and watch a stupid sappy chick flick, possibly get emotional and gushy over the inevitably depressing and/or happy ending, and then appreciate his cat, only to go to work the following day angry as a hornet.
He does, however, chill out around a small collection of people on occasion, and it's not difficult at all to say that the Wonder Derp Twins and Terezi probably know him better than anyone in his life, apart from possibly Droog.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
He's actually oddly polite around new people. He's careful to gauge how someone will react, and probably the first time he shrieks at you for five minutes about something entirely mundane is the best way to tell he considers you a friend. It's kind of a weird backwards thing, really.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Act. Though to be fair, he is intensely observant and probably noticed whatever requires the action or reaction long before half of the rest of everyone, so it could be a reaction, just a sort of preemptive one.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight. Considering when he was five years old and faced with being slaughtered by Spades Slick he launched himself at the bastard and tried to bite off his kneecaps? Yeah.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He doesn't really appreciate much humor, but he has a pretty sardonic sense of humor himself. He periodically appreciates satire, but like hell is he going to tell anyone that, lest it get back to that fucking Strider kid.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
You'd think he might after working with Terezi for so long, but nope. Mentally, he's at least mostly present and accounted for.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
His decision, at age five, to leave Alternia, his meeting of Slick and subsequent "adoption", his partnership with Terezi... Tolerating John Egbert. Definitely when he sought Droog's help to figure out what the hell to do that was nice for Terezi. Taking her dancing. Terezi sort of encompasses an entire chapter of How to Define Karkat Vantas, as does John.
14. What does he fear?
A lot, actually. Abandonment, betrayal, loss, death, failure... Admitting to any of that. Admitting much of anything to anyone, really. He's kind of afraid of his own emotions. WHICH IS NOT FUN BECAUSE HE'S A CANCER. XD
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
At this point, he just wants to make things right with the Force, since he's kind of lied to them since day one.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
I would have fewer things to name if the question was "does he have anything he wants anyone to find out about him". Seriously. Secretive little bastard.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
6. Does he have other close friends?
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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