application: languishment
CHARACTER INFO
Name | Sollux Captor
Series | Homestuck - MSPaintAdventures
Canon Point | Act 5.2 - Before his duel with Eridan
Reference | http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Sollux_Captor
Age | 13-14 (it depends, actually, if you base birthdays off of the astrological signs with Cancer being the last in the cycle to hit his 13th year/6th sweep)
Gender | Male
Suitability |
Troll culture is a tricky thing, differing from the standard human norm in a variety of ways, first (and possibly foremost) being the definitions and views on sexuality and sexual maturity. The topic itself plays a large part in Alternian culture and society itself, and trolls are taught from a young age just what happens to be up. Not only is troll reproduction an important facet of life, it also happens to be mandatory. Most, if not all, trolls of Sollux's age are aware of the seemingly common knowledge that if a troll's reproductive quadrants are not filled and fulfilled by a certain point in their lives, they face the risk of culling (ie. dying) if they do not meet the set quota. (Troll romance: even trickier business. http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Troll_Relationships)
Another such difference in cultures stands in a young troll's upbringing. Most don't experience 'parenting' in our sense of the term so much as they do survival training. From the moment a troll is hatched until their entrance into troll adulthood, their lives really are just that: a series of survival tests and runs. The go through a veritable gauntlet of dangerous tasks and trials almost as soon as they're hatched; those who pass are the ones who make it to the surface with their new-found lusus and guardian figure. From there on out, it's up to them to make a home for themselves, in the most literal sense of the term. Each young troll makes his or her own hive, design and architecture left all to them, and assisted only by the worker drones left for the task. Alternian's a planet largely populated by the young, after all; the adults of the society are busy fighting wars and expanding the Empire.
While Sollux may not live in his own customized hive (he resides in a hivestem complex, which is essentially an apartment building), he's no exemption to any of this. His own lusus is a literal monster, a giant bicyclops that seems to give him a hard enough time as it is. As well, standing as low on the hemospectrum as he does makes him no stranger to hardship in general. He's learned to make do, and he seems to be able to do it well. Sollux can handle himself quite well in a fight, as he's proven on many an occasion, and being the powerful psionic that he is (think high-level telekinesis), he's more than capable of taking care of himself when worse comes to worse. He's surprisingly mature, even if it's not always readily obvious. Experience over the course of his SGRUB session (and even some time before it) attests to that.
Appearance | Any changes to his appearance aren't too drastic. He'll have grown a good few feet, become tall and lanky as opposed to short and skinny. His horns wouldn't have grown a horrendous amount; no giant bullhorns here. Sideburns might've filled out, and he probably would have attained that beard scruff that he's been threatening to achieve in adolescence. (http://i56.tinypic.com/11l7lhc.jpg)
Personality |
> BE SOLLUX CAPTOR
You fail to become Sollux Captor. Sollux Captor is too chill for that. He's a too-cool kind of dude, the sort that you just can't be at any old given time. Cool dudes like him are unbound by the laws of normalcy, and can't just be assumed like that. Cool dudes like him also happen to have a lot more going on behind the scenes than is first indicated, and Sollux has all that plus a whole lot more. That's how cool Sollux Captor is.
As stated, he's a pretty chill guy. Laid-back even. He's so cool he's on fire. Sick fires man. So sick they're hot. That's how cool--
> GET TO THE POINT.
Right. Guys like Sollux Captor don't need much of an introduction, but he'll get one anyway. First impressions are the ones that stick the most, after all, and Sollux often leaves a fairly big one behind. He's the sort of guy most people want to be associated with, whether good or bad. He's a hacker after all, of the TOTALLY SICK genus, and he knows more than his share of codes (all the codes, all of them) and a little bit more. He's the one others tend to turn to for help, technologically and otherwise, and he's the kind to lend that hand when it's needed. (Not without his share of grumbling and complaint, as to be expected.) Why wouldn't they? He's a smart guy, savvy with his programming and computational skills and intelligent to boot. He even slapped together a PRETTY IMPORTANT GAME from excavated and antiquated data, and for a guy his age, that's pretty impressive work indeed. You can expect a fair share of cockiness stemming from these MAD SKILLS, and you will not be disappointed. He's a cocky guy all around, with some wry dryness tossed in for good measure. A little ironic, perhaps, and with enough crass and attitude in supply for two of him. He's sarcastic when the situation calls for it and cynical right when needed. In fact, some consider him to be A BIT OF A DICK. And they would be right in thinking so. Quick of words and wit, you'd think he'd be the life of every party, right?
Wrong.
> BE THE LIFE OF THE PARTY.
You can't be the life of the party, because Sollux Captor doesn't do parties. He's too cool for that sort of thing, and he kind of prefers to keep to himself over the inane social interaction that such shindigs provide, thank you very much. Such cool dudes can only be the most introverted sort, and Sollux is just that. It's not that he's a loner or anything of the sort, never; he has enough friends to dispel that nasty little notion. He just has a bit of a time expressing things like FEELINGS and EMOTIONS, which could attest to the DICKISH ATTITUDE he often adopts. He is also KIND OF SENSITIVE when it comes to personal and private matters, whether they be centered on relationships or his own short-comings. (Of which, so he believes, there are many to choose from.) Sometimes, he's pretty sensitive to the point of DEFENSIVENESS. One of his earlier conversations with a friend can attest to it:
GC: HOW DO YOU KNOW SOM3 OF TH3 R34L V1S1ONS YOUR3 H4V1NG 4R3NT G3TT1NG K1ND OF T4NGL3D UP W1TH UHHH
GC: SORT OF TH3 W4Y YOU 4R3 4BOUT YOURS3LF
TA: what do you mean.
GC: HOW YOU G3T MOP3Y 4ND YOUR3 4LW4YS TH3 V1CT1M OF SOM3TH1NG 4ND HOW SOM3T1M3S YOU TH1NK YOU SUCK WH3N YOU R34LLY DONT
GC: M4YB3 TH4T 1S CLOUD1NG YOUR V1S1ON?
TA: ok that2 ju2t 2ome per2onal priivate emotiional ii22ue2 and iim dealiing wiith that, and hone2tly iid appreciiate you not alway2 throwiing that iin my face every goddamn opportuniity you get.
TA: liike thii2 ii2 a biig ciircu2 act two you, and that ii2 your 2peciial clown piie.
GC: S33, GOD
GC: SO S3NS1T1V3
You see what we mean?
> BE A LITTLE LESS TOUCHY.
It doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. Sollux Captor is a really touchy dude, the same way he's just cool and all hotshit at the same time. It comes with the territory. He's got a little SELF-DEPRICATION to go with all that cool and touchiness for a little bit of balance; it all works out. He's pretty prone to beating himself up over things for NO GOOD REASON, even if he is kind of APESHIT BANANAS at the things he does. It's not that he doesn't acknowledge his own skills and talents, it's just that the INCREDIBLY SUDDEN MOODSWINGS can make things a little sticky at the best of times. See, he's a little on the bipolar side, cycling through emotions and mindsets much like the way a lottery machine cycles through tantalizing symbols depicting differing prize amounts. (And not always landing on the right combo, no less. (This is also a pretty shitty analogy but IT SUMS IT UP.))
While he is a pretty chill dude, Sollux is also pretty damn quick to anger under the right circumstances. He's been known to flip between SNARLING FURY to COOL LIKE A CUCUMBER and back again at the drop of a hat. It's pretty impressive so long as you're not on the receiving end of a tirade or another. He's not the kind of guy to take it easy when he's on a roll, and he PULLS NO PUNCHES when he really gets riled. He's positively aggressive when provoked, rising to bait and challenges with ALL THE FURY of a moody 6 sweep old troll. The nature of his species doesn't help much on that front, being HORRENDOUSLY VIOLENT as it isIt provides for his fair share of hot-headedness, and the spark for a good many of the brash decisions he makes on regular occasion.
> BE HASTY.
You bet. Sollux Captor is a hasty kind of guy beside being unbelievably cool and totally chill. It makes for a bit of a paradox, but that's what cool dudes do. Sometimes he DOESN'T REALLY THINK THINGS THROUGH before acting (slicing both his Strife Specibus and a section of a BEEHOUSE MAINFRAME in a brief fit of exhibitionism, for instance), and much the same goes for speaking. It tends to go well with his VOLATILE TEMPER, resulting in many an argument or catty conversation with a good number of his friends and acquaintances. They seem to have already accepted this facet of his personality as just SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS, just as TROLL ADOLESCENCE just happens.
And he is just that; an adolescent, a kid on the very cusp of sexual maturity, if you will. This also seems to carry some weight, more than even human maturity. For trolls, coming of age is KIND OF A BIG THING in their culture. It's the time when they prepare to fully enter TROLL SOCIETY, which is a pretty rough experience by all standards, or so it's implied. The weak are culled and the unfit hunted down and the entire societal set-up is done in such a way that survival of the fittest is strongely encouraged. As if that weren't enough, there's the BLOOD CASTE SYSTEM in place to make things even more tricky, rank and social order organized and divided solely on the colour of a troll's blood. In Sollux's case, this places him pretty low on the hemospectrum and the societal ladder indeed. He's not bound by the same societal standards and expectations as those higher up in the classes as him, but it still makes for some tough times. He gets ALL THE DISDAIN from the higher-bloods, talents and abilities or no. Pretty rough there.
> TAKE IT LIKE A MAN.
You can't quite, because as much as Sollux Captor may seem like the image of adolescent maturity, he's not quite. Societal pressures and cultural influences aside, he truly is your TYPICAL TEENAGER. Dark moods and fatalism can only mask it for so long. He has his immature moments, his moments of short temper and shorter attention span. He's as prone to leaping to conclusions and into arguments as much as the next youth his age, flailing and insulting away with reckless abandon for as long as the mood lasts. Insecurty is no stranger to him either, whether it be about his blood colour, relationships, or the ever-volatile state of his friendships. (Read: Karkat Vantas.) He's awkward around people he may like, and even more awkward when it comes to those sticky things called FEELINGS, experiencing no less trouble in expressing himself as the next schlub over. (Not that he places too much importance on the matter, unlike others in his party.) Sure, he's a little on the bitter side thanks to the visions of doom granted to him by his dreams and the voices in his head (warnings gone ignored for the most part until it was too late), but he's still something of an annoying kid every now and again. He used to joke around a lot before things went down, trolling and pestering and being an all-around annoyance like all high-energy smart-asses, and not all of that is gone just yet. He's still just a kid, serious life-or-death matters aside, and he still shows some care for those he would call his friends. What kind of cool kid would he be if he didn't stand up for his best friends every now and again?
For all this, circumstances have helped him mature and grow, even if it isn't as obvious at first glance. If any of them could be called 'worldly', it could be Sollux for all his experiences.
TL;DR Sollux Captor is an insufferable prick, but he means well underneath all that dour dickishness. Really.
Possessions | Sollux isn't a guy for worldly possessions, and it's unlikely that he would have held onto too much from their SGRUB session. His sylladex (two stacks of cards, encryption modus), an extra pair of shades, and possibly a change of clothes, similar to what he already wears. His headset, a husktop, various computer parts and hardware
Character Abilities/Powers |
Sollux is a neat bunch of tricks rolled into one neat, mutant bipedal package. Unlike the rest of his companions (and most everyone else in the series), he has no need of Strife Specibi, and he even makes a point of such by destroying his early on. A psionic of his level has no need of any particular Specibus, of course, instead relying on his powers to make deadly projectiles of almost anything particularly sharp and pointy. Even then, he has no real need of actual physical weapons. As is shown in later battles, he can emit high-energy blasts from his eyes, blasts of such strength that he once took out half his respiteblock with a wayward beam. In the last battle in his group's session of Sgrub, he's even shown to be using his ability to redirect meteors back at the black king, which is NO MEAN FEAT INDEED.
When he's not busy kicking ass and taking names, Sollux is granted visions of impending doom and armageddon. He's no typical sightless prophet, though, being granted VISION TWOFOLD, sight of the present and of the future. He also hears the psychic voices of the IMMINENTLY DECEASED, a racket that never really stops on his most violent of planets. It can be pretty harrowing.
Psionics and freaky mutant mind powers aside, Sollux is a pretty handy guy around computers. He's a top-notch programmer, and he knows all the codes. All of them. This can range from codes beneficial to a system right down to viruses that, when run, could cause the user's computer to explode and a curse placed on them and their species. Really, this is some pretty heavy stuff. He's the one who repaired a majority of the computers that the other trolls used up in that meteor laboratory of theirs, and he's also the one who patched together the Sgrub game session from data and information that a friend presented him with. Also no mean feat. Let's not forget his ability to trace wire transfers into other separate Sgrub/Sburb sessions, as well as the addresses of Peculiar And Omniescent Fellows Somewhere In The Universe. (Regardless of whether they actually use a chat client/network at all.)
Other than being a computer whiz and powerful psionic ( the unchallenged authority on APICULTURE NETWORKING and all that), Sollux is also a gamer, adept at growing his own game grubs to pirating them at will. He also raises bees, and produces a particular sort of honey with which to feed his lusus, and maintains their BEEHOUSE MAINFRAMES for his computing usage.
He can also see in 3D. (Well, probably not, but his usual glasses would make for neat impromptu 3D goggles when needed.)
Weaknesses/Fears |
Can you say DEBILITATING BIPOLAR MOODSWINGS? Everyone else sure can. He gets them on (frequent) occasion, using the opportunity to BEAT HIMSELF UP OVER THINGS a bit before someone can [annoy] snap him out of it. He's got the whole self-deprication thing down to a tee. He is also SORT OF BAD at things like keeping his temper in check, thinking before he acts and speaks, and keeping positive in general. He tends to take offhand comments VERY PERSONALLY, and he's often SENSITIVE TO A FAULT. This is all, of course, purely dependent on his mood and just how tolerant he's feeling at any given moment.
He's also somewhat morbid about his mortality, thanks to those aforementioned VISIONS OF IMPENDING DOOM. And let's not forget his difficulties in expressing those tricky things called EMOTIONS and FEELINGS.
Other than the mind honey bit, he's good. (Mind honey; produced in BEEHOUSE MAINFRAMES and normally fed to his lusus to keep the big brute quiet, it also has pretty ADVERSE EFFECTS on him when eaten. NEVER EAT THE MIND HONEY.)
Requested Village | Ithir.
NPC mini-plot | yes!
SAMPLES
First-person | if text posts are all right--
text;
[ for a tentative first crack at this network, he finds it best to hold back on his quirk and text colour. keep on the down low, don't draw attention to himself, he finds it the best way to proceed for now. anonymity was his friend, so long as this place and it's habitants were concerned.
let them guess and keep fucking guessing. ]
Is it now a fucking fad to spill your life story for all the island to see?
Everywhere I look, I trip over the details of someone's deal and home-life.
Great way to preserve your identity, really.
Newsflash: no one really care2.
Have some light applause to go with that.
So how many are really present here? Which areas? What is your present standard of living? And, oh look, an important question.
How much more do any of you know than what was first initially school-fed to you?
And while we're at it, for the sake of curiosity and since half of you can't seem to shut up about how better yours was.
What were your original worlds like?
Third-person |
Yelling had gotten Sollux nowhere; arguing and demands for answers had yielded nothing of use whatsoever. Threats held little to no sway, and not even the carrying-out of those threats had gained him any more than the typical headache of strain. Attempts at attack, aggression, had done little more than throw his room into disarray, items plucked up and flung ineffectually at his guide and (believed) captor, all the psionic fury of his mind exerted to no real end. Ineffectual, useless. It had wound down with him spending the last few minutes of his briefing panting, slumped at the foot at his recuperacoon (the oddity of it's presence not quite impressing itself on his awareness, not yet) and wishing, oh wishing, that looks could kill and kill horrendously. It was only when the figure had completed his speech and departed the fuck out of there that Sollux found the mind to take note of his surroundings, to give whatever he'd heard some thought.
It was always easier to think on his own.
A respiteblock, almost similar to his own on Alternia, and perhaps had he not had his own so well memorized from use and habitation, had this one held a little more of the interior and belongings he had once possessed, he may have been lead to thinking it was his own. But the dimensions were off, a degree larger to accomodate his newfound sizes; all furnishings appropriately sized to an adult, as opposed to a kid well into his sixth sweep. Books and magazines littered the floor alongside what had once been a lamp, technology and hardware lay unfortunately toppled in the wake of his psionic tantrum backlash. Familiar things, and yet different. He recognized most of the electronics about, not as Alternian, but as human conceptions, those antiquated and clumsy things similar to the shit he had buried himself in at the lab. Similar but nevertheless conspicuously alien, and Sollux felt himself torn between a grudging respect for the effort made in it's construction, and a loathing for the entire damn setup.
Still see-sawing between the two, he rose, pushing himself to his feet with the help of the bifurcated recuperacoon at his back. There was the moment of vertigo, well-expected but nonetheless quite unprepared for, and he had to pause a moment to keep himself from simply pitching back over. A height that had never been his previous, limbs too long to coordinate correctly, his center of balance all but shifted out of his goddamned reach and no wonder that stupid lousy piece of shit Araw-whatever was so damned smug, how many schlubs had he pissed off with these stunts and unauthorized modifications. (The question of just how he had managed such bright in his mind, even if he wasn't so sure he wanted to know the specifics just yet.) It took Sollux more effort, more time than it really needed to take to stumble his way to the nearest window. His efforts were not aided in the least by the mess he had so made himself. He'd have to clean that up sometime soon, or risk some stupid fall or another. Eventually.
What hit him first when he blinked out the window was green; the green of vegetation and the brown of earth all across his field of sight, lush and really no less alien than his new living quarters. He was no backwoods or country-side dweller, not like Kanaya and Aradia and Nepeta; the most greenery he had ever seen in his life was at a distance, potted shit or the strange setups their session's worlds provided. What it must look like in broad daylight, he had no idea, nor any real desire to behold it for himself. The half-life before dusk was more than enough, and provided more than what he really wanted or cared to see. With the levels of shade presented, though, it shouldn't be as bad, the sun not as terrible a presence if he just kept himself out of it's goddamned light. Who ever said he intended on making his presence known, anyway? Why expose himself to the denizens of this world when he could figure out his way in the safety of his own seclusion, in the ample shadow this shit-hole provided? It wouldn't have been the first time he'd done such, or the first time he'd had to adapt from one shittily abrupt change to the other.
Granted, this was somewhat better than the Land of Brains and Fire (the name always summoning a half-smirk to his lips, it just sounded so stupid at times), and a definite step up from the decrepit gloom that was the lab in the Veil. The only problems he could foresee (though, to be honest, there were more than he could possibly count) were the others possibly lurking around, humans and god-only-knew what else these wise-asses could have pulled into their sick and stupid little playground. How much better could these things be from the ones he had found for the group in the Veil? What were the adults of that species like? Not all could possibly hold the properties of guardians or lusii or whatever the fuck they called themselves. At best, they were no more insufferable as trolls in all their simplicity for their young civilization. At worst, they were no less volatile than the adult trolls of his own species.
God help him, and the distorted reflection the glass in his window offered. He was hideous and ungainly, displaced and (how he so fucking hated to admit) unprepared. He would adapt -he had to, there was no way around it- but there was no guarantee it was going to be easy. Without the others there, without Karkat or any of their pathetic group of gamers, he would have to find his answers and his way back himself. But he was capable, wasn't he? He'd made it this fucking far, and fuck if some shitty and upside-down world was going to hold him down. If he could survive Gl'bgolyb and the Black fuckin King with nothing but the fucking power of his mutant fucking mind, he could damn well survive this.
Name | Sollux Captor
Series | Homestuck - MSPaintAdventures
Canon Point | Act 5.2 - Before his duel with Eridan
Reference | http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Sollux_Captor
Age | 13-14 (it depends, actually, if you base birthdays off of the astrological signs with Cancer being the last in the cycle to hit his 13th year/6th sweep)
Gender | Male
Suitability |
Troll culture is a tricky thing, differing from the standard human norm in a variety of ways, first (and possibly foremost) being the definitions and views on sexuality and sexual maturity. The topic itself plays a large part in Alternian culture and society itself, and trolls are taught from a young age just what happens to be up. Not only is troll reproduction an important facet of life, it also happens to be mandatory. Most, if not all, trolls of Sollux's age are aware of the seemingly common knowledge that if a troll's reproductive quadrants are not filled and fulfilled by a certain point in their lives, they face the risk of culling (ie. dying) if they do not meet the set quota. (Troll romance: even trickier business. http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Troll_Relationships)
Another such difference in cultures stands in a young troll's upbringing. Most don't experience 'parenting' in our sense of the term so much as they do survival training. From the moment a troll is hatched until their entrance into troll adulthood, their lives really are just that: a series of survival tests and runs. The go through a veritable gauntlet of dangerous tasks and trials almost as soon as they're hatched; those who pass are the ones who make it to the surface with their new-found lusus and guardian figure. From there on out, it's up to them to make a home for themselves, in the most literal sense of the term. Each young troll makes his or her own hive, design and architecture left all to them, and assisted only by the worker drones left for the task. Alternian's a planet largely populated by the young, after all; the adults of the society are busy fighting wars and expanding the Empire.
While Sollux may not live in his own customized hive (he resides in a hivestem complex, which is essentially an apartment building), he's no exemption to any of this. His own lusus is a literal monster, a giant bicyclops that seems to give him a hard enough time as it is. As well, standing as low on the hemospectrum as he does makes him no stranger to hardship in general. He's learned to make do, and he seems to be able to do it well. Sollux can handle himself quite well in a fight, as he's proven on many an occasion, and being the powerful psionic that he is (think high-level telekinesis), he's more than capable of taking care of himself when worse comes to worse. He's surprisingly mature, even if it's not always readily obvious. Experience over the course of his SGRUB session (and even some time before it) attests to that.
Appearance | Any changes to his appearance aren't too drastic. He'll have grown a good few feet, become tall and lanky as opposed to short and skinny. His horns wouldn't have grown a horrendous amount; no giant bullhorns here. Sideburns might've filled out, and he probably would have attained that beard scruff that he's been threatening to achieve in adolescence. (http://i56.tinypic.com/11l7lhc.jpg)
Personality |
> BE SOLLUX CAPTOR
You fail to become Sollux Captor. Sollux Captor is too chill for that. He's a too-cool kind of dude, the sort that you just can't be at any old given time. Cool dudes like him are unbound by the laws of normalcy, and can't just be assumed like that. Cool dudes like him also happen to have a lot more going on behind the scenes than is first indicated, and Sollux has all that plus a whole lot more. That's how cool Sollux Captor is.
As stated, he's a pretty chill guy. Laid-back even. He's so cool he's on fire. Sick fires man. So sick they're hot. That's how cool--
> GET TO THE POINT.
Right. Guys like Sollux Captor don't need much of an introduction, but he'll get one anyway. First impressions are the ones that stick the most, after all, and Sollux often leaves a fairly big one behind. He's the sort of guy most people want to be associated with, whether good or bad. He's a hacker after all, of the TOTALLY SICK genus, and he knows more than his share of codes (all the codes, all of them) and a little bit more. He's the one others tend to turn to for help, technologically and otherwise, and he's the kind to lend that hand when it's needed. (Not without his share of grumbling and complaint, as to be expected.) Why wouldn't they? He's a smart guy, savvy with his programming and computational skills and intelligent to boot. He even slapped together a PRETTY IMPORTANT GAME from excavated and antiquated data, and for a guy his age, that's pretty impressive work indeed. You can expect a fair share of cockiness stemming from these MAD SKILLS, and you will not be disappointed. He's a cocky guy all around, with some wry dryness tossed in for good measure. A little ironic, perhaps, and with enough crass and attitude in supply for two of him. He's sarcastic when the situation calls for it and cynical right when needed. In fact, some consider him to be A BIT OF A DICK. And they would be right in thinking so. Quick of words and wit, you'd think he'd be the life of every party, right?
Wrong.
> BE THE LIFE OF THE PARTY.
You can't be the life of the party, because Sollux Captor doesn't do parties. He's too cool for that sort of thing, and he kind of prefers to keep to himself over the inane social interaction that such shindigs provide, thank you very much. Such cool dudes can only be the most introverted sort, and Sollux is just that. It's not that he's a loner or anything of the sort, never; he has enough friends to dispel that nasty little notion. He just has a bit of a time expressing things like FEELINGS and EMOTIONS, which could attest to the DICKISH ATTITUDE he often adopts. He is also KIND OF SENSITIVE when it comes to personal and private matters, whether they be centered on relationships or his own short-comings. (Of which, so he believes, there are many to choose from.) Sometimes, he's pretty sensitive to the point of DEFENSIVENESS. One of his earlier conversations with a friend can attest to it:
GC: HOW DO YOU KNOW SOM3 OF TH3 R34L V1S1ONS YOUR3 H4V1NG 4R3NT G3TT1NG K1ND OF T4NGL3D UP W1TH UHHH
GC: SORT OF TH3 W4Y YOU 4R3 4BOUT YOURS3LF
TA: what do you mean.
GC: HOW YOU G3T MOP3Y 4ND YOUR3 4LW4YS TH3 V1CT1M OF SOM3TH1NG 4ND HOW SOM3T1M3S YOU TH1NK YOU SUCK WH3N YOU R34LLY DONT
GC: M4YB3 TH4T 1S CLOUD1NG YOUR V1S1ON?
TA: ok that2 ju2t 2ome per2onal priivate emotiional ii22ue2 and iim dealiing wiith that, and hone2tly iid appreciiate you not alway2 throwiing that iin my face every goddamn opportuniity you get.
TA: liike thii2 ii2 a biig ciircu2 act two you, and that ii2 your 2peciial clown piie.
GC: S33, GOD
GC: SO S3NS1T1V3
You see what we mean?
> BE A LITTLE LESS TOUCHY.
It doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. Sollux Captor is a really touchy dude, the same way he's just cool and all hotshit at the same time. It comes with the territory. He's got a little SELF-DEPRICATION to go with all that cool and touchiness for a little bit of balance; it all works out. He's pretty prone to beating himself up over things for NO GOOD REASON, even if he is kind of APESHIT BANANAS at the things he does. It's not that he doesn't acknowledge his own skills and talents, it's just that the INCREDIBLY SUDDEN MOODSWINGS can make things a little sticky at the best of times. See, he's a little on the bipolar side, cycling through emotions and mindsets much like the way a lottery machine cycles through tantalizing symbols depicting differing prize amounts. (And not always landing on the right combo, no less. (This is also a pretty shitty analogy but IT SUMS IT UP.))
While he is a pretty chill dude, Sollux is also pretty damn quick to anger under the right circumstances. He's been known to flip between SNARLING FURY to COOL LIKE A CUCUMBER and back again at the drop of a hat. It's pretty impressive so long as you're not on the receiving end of a tirade or another. He's not the kind of guy to take it easy when he's on a roll, and he PULLS NO PUNCHES when he really gets riled. He's positively aggressive when provoked, rising to bait and challenges with ALL THE FURY of a moody 6 sweep old troll. The nature of his species doesn't help much on that front, being HORRENDOUSLY VIOLENT as it isIt provides for his fair share of hot-headedness, and the spark for a good many of the brash decisions he makes on regular occasion.
> BE HASTY.
You bet. Sollux Captor is a hasty kind of guy beside being unbelievably cool and totally chill. It makes for a bit of a paradox, but that's what cool dudes do. Sometimes he DOESN'T REALLY THINK THINGS THROUGH before acting (slicing both his Strife Specibus and a section of a BEEHOUSE MAINFRAME in a brief fit of exhibitionism, for instance), and much the same goes for speaking. It tends to go well with his VOLATILE TEMPER, resulting in many an argument or catty conversation with a good number of his friends and acquaintances. They seem to have already accepted this facet of his personality as just SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS, just as TROLL ADOLESCENCE just happens.
And he is just that; an adolescent, a kid on the very cusp of sexual maturity, if you will. This also seems to carry some weight, more than even human maturity. For trolls, coming of age is KIND OF A BIG THING in their culture. It's the time when they prepare to fully enter TROLL SOCIETY, which is a pretty rough experience by all standards, or so it's implied. The weak are culled and the unfit hunted down and the entire societal set-up is done in such a way that survival of the fittest is strongely encouraged. As if that weren't enough, there's the BLOOD CASTE SYSTEM in place to make things even more tricky, rank and social order organized and divided solely on the colour of a troll's blood. In Sollux's case, this places him pretty low on the hemospectrum and the societal ladder indeed. He's not bound by the same societal standards and expectations as those higher up in the classes as him, but it still makes for some tough times. He gets ALL THE DISDAIN from the higher-bloods, talents and abilities or no. Pretty rough there.
> TAKE IT LIKE A MAN.
You can't quite, because as much as Sollux Captor may seem like the image of adolescent maturity, he's not quite. Societal pressures and cultural influences aside, he truly is your TYPICAL TEENAGER. Dark moods and fatalism can only mask it for so long. He has his immature moments, his moments of short temper and shorter attention span. He's as prone to leaping to conclusions and into arguments as much as the next youth his age, flailing and insulting away with reckless abandon for as long as the mood lasts. Insecurty is no stranger to him either, whether it be about his blood colour, relationships, or the ever-volatile state of his friendships. (Read: Karkat Vantas.) He's awkward around people he may like, and even more awkward when it comes to those sticky things called FEELINGS, experiencing no less trouble in expressing himself as the next schlub over. (Not that he places too much importance on the matter, unlike others in his party.) Sure, he's a little on the bitter side thanks to the visions of doom granted to him by his dreams and the voices in his head (warnings gone ignored for the most part until it was too late), but he's still something of an annoying kid every now and again. He used to joke around a lot before things went down, trolling and pestering and being an all-around annoyance like all high-energy smart-asses, and not all of that is gone just yet. He's still just a kid, serious life-or-death matters aside, and he still shows some care for those he would call his friends. What kind of cool kid would he be if he didn't stand up for his best friends every now and again?
For all this, circumstances have helped him mature and grow, even if it isn't as obvious at first glance. If any of them could be called 'worldly', it could be Sollux for all his experiences.
TL;DR Sollux Captor is an insufferable prick, but he means well underneath all that dour dickishness. Really.
Possessions | Sollux isn't a guy for worldly possessions, and it's unlikely that he would have held onto too much from their SGRUB session. His sylladex (two stacks of cards, encryption modus), an extra pair of shades, and possibly a change of clothes, similar to what he already wears. His headset, a husktop, various computer parts and hardware
Character Abilities/Powers |
Sollux is a neat bunch of tricks rolled into one neat, mutant bipedal package. Unlike the rest of his companions (and most everyone else in the series), he has no need of Strife Specibi, and he even makes a point of such by destroying his early on. A psionic of his level has no need of any particular Specibus, of course, instead relying on his powers to make deadly projectiles of almost anything particularly sharp and pointy. Even then, he has no real need of actual physical weapons. As is shown in later battles, he can emit high-energy blasts from his eyes, blasts of such strength that he once took out half his respiteblock with a wayward beam. In the last battle in his group's session of Sgrub, he's even shown to be using his ability to redirect meteors back at the black king, which is NO MEAN FEAT INDEED.
When he's not busy kicking ass and taking names, Sollux is granted visions of impending doom and armageddon. He's no typical sightless prophet, though, being granted VISION TWOFOLD, sight of the present and of the future. He also hears the psychic voices of the IMMINENTLY DECEASED, a racket that never really stops on his most violent of planets. It can be pretty harrowing.
Psionics and freaky mutant mind powers aside, Sollux is a pretty handy guy around computers. He's a top-notch programmer, and he knows all the codes. All of them. This can range from codes beneficial to a system right down to viruses that, when run, could cause the user's computer to explode and a curse placed on them and their species. Really, this is some pretty heavy stuff. He's the one who repaired a majority of the computers that the other trolls used up in that meteor laboratory of theirs, and he's also the one who patched together the Sgrub game session from data and information that a friend presented him with. Also no mean feat. Let's not forget his ability to trace wire transfers into other separate Sgrub/Sburb sessions, as well as the addresses of Peculiar And Omniescent Fellows Somewhere In The Universe. (Regardless of whether they actually use a chat client/network at all.)
Other than being a computer whiz and powerful psionic ( the unchallenged authority on APICULTURE NETWORKING and all that), Sollux is also a gamer, adept at growing his own game grubs to pirating them at will. He also raises bees, and produces a particular sort of honey with which to feed his lusus, and maintains their BEEHOUSE MAINFRAMES for his computing usage.
He can also see in 3D. (Well, probably not, but his usual glasses would make for neat impromptu 3D goggles when needed.)
Weaknesses/Fears |
Can you say DEBILITATING BIPOLAR MOODSWINGS? Everyone else sure can. He gets them on (frequent) occasion, using the opportunity to BEAT HIMSELF UP OVER THINGS a bit before someone can [annoy] snap him out of it. He's got the whole self-deprication thing down to a tee. He is also SORT OF BAD at things like keeping his temper in check, thinking before he acts and speaks, and keeping positive in general. He tends to take offhand comments VERY PERSONALLY, and he's often SENSITIVE TO A FAULT. This is all, of course, purely dependent on his mood and just how tolerant he's feeling at any given moment.
He's also somewhat morbid about his mortality, thanks to those aforementioned VISIONS OF IMPENDING DOOM. And let's not forget his difficulties in expressing those tricky things called EMOTIONS and FEELINGS.
Other than the mind honey bit, he's good. (Mind honey; produced in BEEHOUSE MAINFRAMES and normally fed to his lusus to keep the big brute quiet, it also has pretty ADVERSE EFFECTS on him when eaten. NEVER EAT THE MIND HONEY.)
Requested Village | Ithir.
NPC mini-plot | yes!
SAMPLES
First-person | if text posts are all right--
text;
[ for a tentative first crack at this network, he finds it best to hold back on his quirk and text colour. keep on the down low, don't draw attention to himself, he finds it the best way to proceed for now. anonymity was his friend, so long as this place and it's habitants were concerned.
let them guess and keep fucking guessing. ]
Is it now a fucking fad to spill your life story for all the island to see?
Everywhere I look, I trip over the details of someone's deal and home-life.
Great way to preserve your identity, really.
Newsflash: no one really care2.
Have some light applause to go with that.
So how many are really present here? Which areas? What is your present standard of living? And, oh look, an important question.
How much more do any of you know than what was first initially school-fed to you?
And while we're at it, for the sake of curiosity and since half of you can't seem to shut up about how better yours was.
What were your original worlds like?
Third-person |
Yelling had gotten Sollux nowhere; arguing and demands for answers had yielded nothing of use whatsoever. Threats held little to no sway, and not even the carrying-out of those threats had gained him any more than the typical headache of strain. Attempts at attack, aggression, had done little more than throw his room into disarray, items plucked up and flung ineffectually at his guide and (believed) captor, all the psionic fury of his mind exerted to no real end. Ineffectual, useless. It had wound down with him spending the last few minutes of his briefing panting, slumped at the foot at his recuperacoon (the oddity of it's presence not quite impressing itself on his awareness, not yet) and wishing, oh wishing, that looks could kill and kill horrendously. It was only when the figure had completed his speech and departed the fuck out of there that Sollux found the mind to take note of his surroundings, to give whatever he'd heard some thought.
It was always easier to think on his own.
A respiteblock, almost similar to his own on Alternia, and perhaps had he not had his own so well memorized from use and habitation, had this one held a little more of the interior and belongings he had once possessed, he may have been lead to thinking it was his own. But the dimensions were off, a degree larger to accomodate his newfound sizes; all furnishings appropriately sized to an adult, as opposed to a kid well into his sixth sweep. Books and magazines littered the floor alongside what had once been a lamp, technology and hardware lay unfortunately toppled in the wake of his psionic tantrum backlash. Familiar things, and yet different. He recognized most of the electronics about, not as Alternian, but as human conceptions, those antiquated and clumsy things similar to the shit he had buried himself in at the lab. Similar but nevertheless conspicuously alien, and Sollux felt himself torn between a grudging respect for the effort made in it's construction, and a loathing for the entire damn setup.
Still see-sawing between the two, he rose, pushing himself to his feet with the help of the bifurcated recuperacoon at his back. There was the moment of vertigo, well-expected but nonetheless quite unprepared for, and he had to pause a moment to keep himself from simply pitching back over. A height that had never been his previous, limbs too long to coordinate correctly, his center of balance all but shifted out of his goddamned reach and no wonder that stupid lousy piece of shit Araw-whatever was so damned smug, how many schlubs had he pissed off with these stunts and unauthorized modifications. (The question of just how he had managed such bright in his mind, even if he wasn't so sure he wanted to know the specifics just yet.) It took Sollux more effort, more time than it really needed to take to stumble his way to the nearest window. His efforts were not aided in the least by the mess he had so made himself. He'd have to clean that up sometime soon, or risk some stupid fall or another. Eventually.
What hit him first when he blinked out the window was green; the green of vegetation and the brown of earth all across his field of sight, lush and really no less alien than his new living quarters. He was no backwoods or country-side dweller, not like Kanaya and Aradia and Nepeta; the most greenery he had ever seen in his life was at a distance, potted shit or the strange setups their session's worlds provided. What it must look like in broad daylight, he had no idea, nor any real desire to behold it for himself. The half-life before dusk was more than enough, and provided more than what he really wanted or cared to see. With the levels of shade presented, though, it shouldn't be as bad, the sun not as terrible a presence if he just kept himself out of it's goddamned light. Who ever said he intended on making his presence known, anyway? Why expose himself to the denizens of this world when he could figure out his way in the safety of his own seclusion, in the ample shadow this shit-hole provided? It wouldn't have been the first time he'd done such, or the first time he'd had to adapt from one shittily abrupt change to the other.
Granted, this was somewhat better than the Land of Brains and Fire (the name always summoning a half-smirk to his lips, it just sounded so stupid at times), and a definite step up from the decrepit gloom that was the lab in the Veil. The only problems he could foresee (though, to be honest, there were more than he could possibly count) were the others possibly lurking around, humans and god-only-knew what else these wise-asses could have pulled into their sick and stupid little playground. How much better could these things be from the ones he had found for the group in the Veil? What were the adults of that species like? Not all could possibly hold the properties of guardians or lusii or whatever the fuck they called themselves. At best, they were no more insufferable as trolls in all their simplicity for their young civilization. At worst, they were no less volatile than the adult trolls of his own species.
God help him, and the distorted reflection the glass in his window offered. He was hideous and ungainly, displaced and (how he so fucking hated to admit) unprepared. He would adapt -he had to, there was no way around it- but there was no guarantee it was going to be easy. Without the others there, without Karkat or any of their pathetic group of gamers, he would have to find his answers and his way back himself. But he was capable, wasn't he? He'd made it this fucking far, and fuck if some shitty and upside-down world was going to hold him down. If he could survive Gl'bgolyb and the Black fuckin King with nothing but the fucking power of his mutant fucking mind, he could damn well survive this.