Application Build - Equius
Nov. 18th, 2012 12:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alternia_strengthCharacter Name; Equius Zahhak
Canon; Homestuck http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ (Source information on Equius: http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Equius_Zahhak
Canon Point; Immediately after "Seeking the Highbl00d" (In which Equius is killed by Gamzee Makara
Age; 6 Sweeps (The creator of the Homestuck Universe writes through the character Vriska that this is considered roughly the age of sexual maturity, and listed as about 13 human years.)
House; Discussion Below
Personality;
On the surface, Equius Zahhak is a difficult troll to get along with, which is saying something given the nature of Alternian society and its violent, xenophobic and conquest-obsessed tendencies. He is a man who is nearly obsessed in all interactions with having a perfect grasp of the local pecking order, the structure of society and the precisely correct interactions between people that are the most appropriate. As such, he is one of those Trolls least prone to "trolling" others, causing relatively little trouble to those with whom he interacts and not generally pestering the humans that those Trolls in Karkat's group meet unduly. However, despite the fact that he is rarely a schemer, does not swear and can be helpful at times due to his mechanical skills and prodigious strength, Equius is widely regarded as one of the more unpleasant, disagreeable and disturbed of the trolls.
The general perception of Equius' odd behavior stems from his fanatic obsession and how it pertains to the Hemospectrum, the elaborate system of Troll political heirarchies and castes based upon the color of an individual troll's blood. Equius hails from a 'royal blue' or indigo caste, one of the two highest echelons of nobility for those trolls who live on land. He views with absolute strictness the need for each person who is a member of their caste to behave according to their task, their role and their position in the pecking order. He expects that it is the duty, the privilege and honor of all beneath a troll of higher standing to obey them, and absolutely expects one of higher station to live up to their high social standing and order those beneath them with confidence and propriety. While this sounds like simple elitist aristocratic sensibilities for one in the highest ranks, Equius displays an unnerving obsession in situations that he perceives to be exceptions to this common rule of law within Alternian society with being ordered around by those who are beneath his standing.
In particular, he displays an almost erotic thrill when being ordered by a lesser, especially by those of the lowest ranks in the heirarchy. This tendency is seen in a pronounced and disturbing fashion through his interactions with Aradia Megido and Karkat Vantas, both of whom (while Karkat hides his blood color zealously) are clearly beneath him and one of whom (Aradia) is at the absolute base of the Hemospectrum. He commands Aradia during a situation where she is placed with authority over him to command him, sweating all the while and repeatedly demanding a towel so that he can mop his brow, fuming about the scandal of it all. It is difficult to say just how perverse Equius is with this almost erotic attitude towards Dominance and Submission, down to the smile on his face when he is choked to death by Gamzee Makara, but the general perception of most Trolls and humans is that he seems incapable of not being at least a little perverse in almost all of his conversations. The lack of his ever consummating this fascination, however, implies that his fascination and perverted habits are more intellectual than physical.
Other trolls, notable amongst them being Sollux Captor, generally view Equius with considerable distaste, both for his seemingly creepy obsession with being in 'scandalous arrangements' and for his tendency to treat almost everyone of a lower standing than the next caste beneath him (and thus Vriska Sekret) with utter contempt, calling them "Gutterbloods." He bosses people around with alarming frequency, insulting those who he deems to be his right to do so with.
Amongst Equius' other notable personality traits is his temper, which is somewhat legendary among the other members of Karkat's group. For a troll who rarely actually vents in public, Equius has a pronounced habit of flying into rages. He uses his considerable mechanical skill just to produce robots strong enough to withstand his massive strength in staged cage matches wherein he lets out all of his frustrations. Mounds of destroyed and devastated robots litter his private quarters and any location wherein he spends any length of time. His rages, while pronounced, are extremely controlled. It would not do for a man of his standing to simply fly off and sully its fists with blood that is beneath it, and so he actively relies upon his moirail, Nepeta Lejion, and upon these displays of destroying created and inanimate objects to calm himself. When these fail, he accepts the destructive tendencies of others as substitutes, such as Aradia's more destructive tendencies when she served as his controller during the game session in which he worked with Karkat Vantas. He obsesses over being a physically perfect specimen of Troll society and body builds to keep his physique at pristine condition. A side effect of this, and of his martial focus upon what he proclaims to be the "Noble Art of Archery" is that he has never been able to demonstrably use a bow correctly. He has so trained himself and is so prone to devastating rages that he snaps those bows he wields in half and is forced normally to operate with his fists.
Equius is a perfectionist par excellence. Not only is he obsessed with his own physical prowess, but also with his mechanical arts and with physical beauty by his standards. One of the two most gifted amongst the trolls in the crafting of machinery, he is a master of hardware (where Sollux could be considered a master of software). He fashions robotic masterpieces almost as a force of habit, the mountains of failed constructs he destroys in his rages being nothing more than imperfect wretches in his mind. Constructs such as Vriska's arm and Tavros' legs are far more the sorts of masterpieces he values, works of art that are intended to operate as complete replacements for living tissue. However, the magnum opus of his creations is the "Aradiabot," a construct intended to house the dead soul of Aradia Megido. His obsessive fascination with her causes him to pay exceptionally careful attention to the construct, using the finest of materials and pouring his own color of blood into the robot to give it the royalty he feels it deserves. His views of beauty and constructed beauty are idealized, with the female form being feminized to extremes (though with an obsession still for physical prowess and strength), and with the male form being muscled and chiseled as his own, seen in the numerous muscle-bound art portraits he compulsively gathers.
Considering the rigidity of his interactions with others, Equius is a frequently confused individual. Disrespectful and guttural trash of lower castes are easy for him to handle. His reactions to Terezi Pyrope and Sollux are good indicators of his ways of handling those who are beneath him and match what he considers to be 'gutterblood' tendencies. However, when dealing with individuals of lower castes who are not only respectful and appropriate (such as Nepeta), but also display what he considers to be educated and refined manners, or when dealing with those of higher station who are somehow behaving in a fashion beneath their station, he becomes increasingly confused. Towards the latter, he is constant in his attempts to berate them for their lackluster standards, apologizing constantly as he does. Notably among these is Gamzee Makara, though frequently he is also disgusted with the foppish and servile behavior of Eridan Ampora, who he views as a natural rival due to animosity between sea and land dwellers, but also weak-willed and spineless at times. Towards the former, he is decidedly uncomfortable, frequently fantasizing about being ordered around by them, mopping his brow almost incessantly and almost ordering or commanding them to order him.
The two primary relationships that have the largest impact on him are Aradia and Nepeta. In many respects, the latter is the classic example of a stable Moirail relationship. Both of the two express pity towards what they see in each other as moral weaknesses (his stodginess and confusion in interpersonal interactions, and her flippancy, silliness and obsession with romance, roleplaying and feelings). Nepeta is the one person with whom he has a stable relationship, who he goes out of the way to protect, to advise and only orders when he believes it to be for her own good and protection. Nepeta is also perhaps the only person that Equius never seems to flirt with (in the awkward, dominance/submission-laden way he flirts), the relationship being very close to true friendship, combined with all the sort of tolerance that lifelong friends often demonstrate for difficult behavior. Aradia, however, is a tempestuous and complicated relationship. Equius is nearly obsessed with her, willingly going along with Vriska's ill-fated attempts to gain power in the group because of the opportunity to create a perfect metal body for Aradia's dead spirit to be housed in. He fuels it with his own pristine color of blood to make her the highborne Troll that he believes a woman of her tact and poise deserves to be, and to place her just over him and permit her to order him around without scandal. He programs the robot to love him, which results in a backfire as she descends into a rage, destroys the robot's heart and then beats him before kissing him. In some ways theirs is a relatively natural 'kismesis' (hate-romance or rivalry romance), though it is hard to say how clearly Aradia returns his affections in the long-run. He does tend, however, to idolize her as a sort of ideal Troll, one who should have been born much higher in the Hemospectrum than she was, and one he wanted to make higher.
Equius' relationship with non-trolls is a fairly limited affair. It is marked mostly by a rabid curiosity for the culture of humans and for the way in which their society establishes its hierarchy of authority. Most of his conversations in this vein are with Dave Strider, but he appears aware that he is being teased throughout, and does not ultimately take them very seriously. He appears to consider the human species to be degenerate and beneath the Troll race, and shows the same sort of twisted fascination with being ordered around by humans he considers worthy, particularly Dave.
Samples;
Network Sample;
[If he was to seriously consider serving amongst these humans, Equius required a better understanding of their social structure. His unfamiliarity had caused him problems in the past, and their tendency towards inappropriate behavior was positively scandalous. Settling himself on a bench in the arena, he tapped out the question while watching a few of Vanaheim's troops practicing their archery, keeping a towel handy just in case.
Somehow, he had a feeling this conversation would only make him sweat more.]
D --> So long as I am trapped within this realm I wish to better my understanding
D --> If I am to be subjugated under the authority of the decadent masses and the humans who lead in this city I must know several things
D --> In any army a proper comprehension of the power structure is e%tremely important and no such comprehension can be had without first elucidating how this structure is formed
D --> I would ask whomever of the humans could best e%press the nature of human authority and how it is established
D --> I have spoken in the past with humans but find that their e%planations have always lacked a certain genuineness I e%pect of proper compatriots
D --> Do not take me for a f00l
D --> I have e%tensive experience in deciphering elaborate ploys and deceptions and will know if I am being deceived
Log Sample;
Equius stood alone in the rain. The chill of the air did not affect him. He had strived against the elements countless times in the past and he would never be one to admit the slightest bit of weakness. No, there were more important things to be concerned over under the circumstances.
The house was in front of him, a healthy five stories in height. He looked up at it, the statue of Hel standing out before the location austerely, offerings placed before her. Equius swallowed, feeling a sweat beginning to come on again. "I require a towel," he muttered to himself, brushing a strand of soaking hair out of his face and making a note that he would need to pull one from his gym bag when he was inside.
First, he would have to go inside. He had heard she was here, living in this building amongst all of these other guttertrash, lowlifes and filth. She was a peasant, but of far greater and noble stock than her blood would normally make Equius think, a thought that always made him uncomfortable. However, more importantly, there was something about her presence that he needed to confirm.
She was alive. The thought of it had him riveted there, not quite able to bring himself to walk into the house. He was unsure, though he would not admit it. Aradia always made him feel confused like this, and he hated it even as he could not help but wish more of it.
Canon; Homestuck http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ (Source information on Equius: http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Equius_Zahhak
Canon Point; Immediately after "Seeking the Highbl00d" (In which Equius is killed by Gamzee Makara
Age; 6 Sweeps (The creator of the Homestuck Universe writes through the character Vriska that this is considered roughly the age of sexual maturity, and listed as about 13 human years.)
House; Discussion Below
Personality;
On the surface, Equius Zahhak is a difficult troll to get along with, which is saying something given the nature of Alternian society and its violent, xenophobic and conquest-obsessed tendencies. He is a man who is nearly obsessed in all interactions with having a perfect grasp of the local pecking order, the structure of society and the precisely correct interactions between people that are the most appropriate. As such, he is one of those Trolls least prone to "trolling" others, causing relatively little trouble to those with whom he interacts and not generally pestering the humans that those Trolls in Karkat's group meet unduly. However, despite the fact that he is rarely a schemer, does not swear and can be helpful at times due to his mechanical skills and prodigious strength, Equius is widely regarded as one of the more unpleasant, disagreeable and disturbed of the trolls.
The general perception of Equius' odd behavior stems from his fanatic obsession and how it pertains to the Hemospectrum, the elaborate system of Troll political heirarchies and castes based upon the color of an individual troll's blood. Equius hails from a 'royal blue' or indigo caste, one of the two highest echelons of nobility for those trolls who live on land. He views with absolute strictness the need for each person who is a member of their caste to behave according to their task, their role and their position in the pecking order. He expects that it is the duty, the privilege and honor of all beneath a troll of higher standing to obey them, and absolutely expects one of higher station to live up to their high social standing and order those beneath them with confidence and propriety. While this sounds like simple elitist aristocratic sensibilities for one in the highest ranks, Equius displays an unnerving obsession in situations that he perceives to be exceptions to this common rule of law within Alternian society with being ordered around by those who are beneath his standing.
In particular, he displays an almost erotic thrill when being ordered by a lesser, especially by those of the lowest ranks in the heirarchy. This tendency is seen in a pronounced and disturbing fashion through his interactions with Aradia Megido and Karkat Vantas, both of whom (while Karkat hides his blood color zealously) are clearly beneath him and one of whom (Aradia) is at the absolute base of the Hemospectrum. He commands Aradia during a situation where she is placed with authority over him to command him, sweating all the while and repeatedly demanding a towel so that he can mop his brow, fuming about the scandal of it all. It is difficult to say just how perverse Equius is with this almost erotic attitude towards Dominance and Submission, down to the smile on his face when he is choked to death by Gamzee Makara, but the general perception of most Trolls and humans is that he seems incapable of not being at least a little perverse in almost all of his conversations. The lack of his ever consummating this fascination, however, implies that his fascination and perverted habits are more intellectual than physical.
Other trolls, notable amongst them being Sollux Captor, generally view Equius with considerable distaste, both for his seemingly creepy obsession with being in 'scandalous arrangements' and for his tendency to treat almost everyone of a lower standing than the next caste beneath him (and thus Vriska Sekret) with utter contempt, calling them "Gutterbloods." He bosses people around with alarming frequency, insulting those who he deems to be his right to do so with.
Amongst Equius' other notable personality traits is his temper, which is somewhat legendary among the other members of Karkat's group. For a troll who rarely actually vents in public, Equius has a pronounced habit of flying into rages. He uses his considerable mechanical skill just to produce robots strong enough to withstand his massive strength in staged cage matches wherein he lets out all of his frustrations. Mounds of destroyed and devastated robots litter his private quarters and any location wherein he spends any length of time. His rages, while pronounced, are extremely controlled. It would not do for a man of his standing to simply fly off and sully its fists with blood that is beneath it, and so he actively relies upon his moirail, Nepeta Lejion, and upon these displays of destroying created and inanimate objects to calm himself. When these fail, he accepts the destructive tendencies of others as substitutes, such as Aradia's more destructive tendencies when she served as his controller during the game session in which he worked with Karkat Vantas. He obsesses over being a physically perfect specimen of Troll society and body builds to keep his physique at pristine condition. A side effect of this, and of his martial focus upon what he proclaims to be the "Noble Art of Archery" is that he has never been able to demonstrably use a bow correctly. He has so trained himself and is so prone to devastating rages that he snaps those bows he wields in half and is forced normally to operate with his fists.
Equius is a perfectionist par excellence. Not only is he obsessed with his own physical prowess, but also with his mechanical arts and with physical beauty by his standards. One of the two most gifted amongst the trolls in the crafting of machinery, he is a master of hardware (where Sollux could be considered a master of software). He fashions robotic masterpieces almost as a force of habit, the mountains of failed constructs he destroys in his rages being nothing more than imperfect wretches in his mind. Constructs such as Vriska's arm and Tavros' legs are far more the sorts of masterpieces he values, works of art that are intended to operate as complete replacements for living tissue. However, the magnum opus of his creations is the "Aradiabot," a construct intended to house the dead soul of Aradia Megido. His obsessive fascination with her causes him to pay exceptionally careful attention to the construct, using the finest of materials and pouring his own color of blood into the robot to give it the royalty he feels it deserves. His views of beauty and constructed beauty are idealized, with the female form being feminized to extremes (though with an obsession still for physical prowess and strength), and with the male form being muscled and chiseled as his own, seen in the numerous muscle-bound art portraits he compulsively gathers.
Considering the rigidity of his interactions with others, Equius is a frequently confused individual. Disrespectful and guttural trash of lower castes are easy for him to handle. His reactions to Terezi Pyrope and Sollux are good indicators of his ways of handling those who are beneath him and match what he considers to be 'gutterblood' tendencies. However, when dealing with individuals of lower castes who are not only respectful and appropriate (such as Nepeta), but also display what he considers to be educated and refined manners, or when dealing with those of higher station who are somehow behaving in a fashion beneath their station, he becomes increasingly confused. Towards the latter, he is constant in his attempts to berate them for their lackluster standards, apologizing constantly as he does. Notably among these is Gamzee Makara, though frequently he is also disgusted with the foppish and servile behavior of Eridan Ampora, who he views as a natural rival due to animosity between sea and land dwellers, but also weak-willed and spineless at times. Towards the former, he is decidedly uncomfortable, frequently fantasizing about being ordered around by them, mopping his brow almost incessantly and almost ordering or commanding them to order him.
The two primary relationships that have the largest impact on him are Aradia and Nepeta. In many respects, the latter is the classic example of a stable Moirail relationship. Both of the two express pity towards what they see in each other as moral weaknesses (his stodginess and confusion in interpersonal interactions, and her flippancy, silliness and obsession with romance, roleplaying and feelings). Nepeta is the one person with whom he has a stable relationship, who he goes out of the way to protect, to advise and only orders when he believes it to be for her own good and protection. Nepeta is also perhaps the only person that Equius never seems to flirt with (in the awkward, dominance/submission-laden way he flirts), the relationship being very close to true friendship, combined with all the sort of tolerance that lifelong friends often demonstrate for difficult behavior. Aradia, however, is a tempestuous and complicated relationship. Equius is nearly obsessed with her, willingly going along with Vriska's ill-fated attempts to gain power in the group because of the opportunity to create a perfect metal body for Aradia's dead spirit to be housed in. He fuels it with his own pristine color of blood to make her the highborne Troll that he believes a woman of her tact and poise deserves to be, and to place her just over him and permit her to order him around without scandal. He programs the robot to love him, which results in a backfire as she descends into a rage, destroys the robot's heart and then beats him before kissing him. In some ways theirs is a relatively natural 'kismesis' (hate-romance or rivalry romance), though it is hard to say how clearly Aradia returns his affections in the long-run. He does tend, however, to idolize her as a sort of ideal Troll, one who should have been born much higher in the Hemospectrum than she was, and one he wanted to make higher.
Equius' relationship with non-trolls is a fairly limited affair. It is marked mostly by a rabid curiosity for the culture of humans and for the way in which their society establishes its hierarchy of authority. Most of his conversations in this vein are with Dave Strider, but he appears aware that he is being teased throughout, and does not ultimately take them very seriously. He appears to consider the human species to be degenerate and beneath the Troll race, and shows the same sort of twisted fascination with being ordered around by humans he considers worthy, particularly Dave.
Samples;
Network Sample;
[If he was to seriously consider serving amongst these humans, Equius required a better understanding of their social structure. His unfamiliarity had caused him problems in the past, and their tendency towards inappropriate behavior was positively scandalous. Settling himself on a bench in the arena, he tapped out the question while watching a few of Vanaheim's troops practicing their archery, keeping a towel handy just in case.
Somehow, he had a feeling this conversation would only make him sweat more.]
D --> So long as I am trapped within this realm I wish to better my understanding
D --> If I am to be subjugated under the authority of the decadent masses and the humans who lead in this city I must know several things
D --> In any army a proper comprehension of the power structure is e%tremely important and no such comprehension can be had without first elucidating how this structure is formed
D --> I would ask whomever of the humans could best e%press the nature of human authority and how it is established
D --> I have spoken in the past with humans but find that their e%planations have always lacked a certain genuineness I e%pect of proper compatriots
D --> Do not take me for a f00l
D --> I have e%tensive experience in deciphering elaborate ploys and deceptions and will know if I am being deceived
Log Sample;
Equius stood alone in the rain. The chill of the air did not affect him. He had strived against the elements countless times in the past and he would never be one to admit the slightest bit of weakness. No, there were more important things to be concerned over under the circumstances.
The house was in front of him, a healthy five stories in height. He looked up at it, the statue of Hel standing out before the location austerely, offerings placed before her. Equius swallowed, feeling a sweat beginning to come on again. "I require a towel," he muttered to himself, brushing a strand of soaking hair out of his face and making a note that he would need to pull one from his gym bag when he was inside.
First, he would have to go inside. He had heard she was here, living in this building amongst all of these other guttertrash, lowlifes and filth. She was a peasant, but of far greater and noble stock than her blood would normally make Equius think, a thought that always made him uncomfortable. However, more importantly, there was something about her presence that he needed to confirm.
She was alive. The thought of it had him riveted there, not quite able to bring himself to walk into the house. He was unsure, though he would not admit it. Aradia always made him feel confused like this, and he hated it even as he could not help but wish more of it.
House Options
Date: 2012-11-19 01:45 am (UTC)Freyr
Date: 2012-11-19 01:45 am (UTC)Power; Drawing Life
Heimdall
Date: 2012-11-20 07:59 pm (UTC)Power: Damage Drain
Thor
Date: 2012-11-20 08:02 pm (UTC)Power - Strength
Freya
Date: 2012-11-20 08:08 pm (UTC)Power - Charm
Level 3 Application
Date: 2013-03-29 04:59 pm (UTC)Character: Equius Zahhak (
Canon: Homestuck
Activity (month 3):
one //42 comments (2-06) [canonmate]
two //13 comments (2-07) [crosscanon (new CR)]
three //8 comments (2-08) [crosscanon (new CR)]
four //100+ comments (2-08) [canonmates and crosscanon (new CR - http://5thchild.dreamwidth.org/)]
five //15 comments (2-11) [canonmate]
Activity (month 4):
one //70+ comments (3-05) [canonmates & crosscanon (new CR – http://not-a-troll.dreamwidth.org/)]
two //9 comments (3-06) [canonmate]
three //5 comments (3-04) [crosscanon]
four //25 comments (3-08) [crosscanon]
five //60+ comments (3-15) [crosscanon]
Growth Essay:
Equius is not a character who 'changes' easily. In truth, I was surprised at the amount of growth he finally started experiencing in the last IC month of the game. Hidebound and strict in his interpretations of the hemospectrum and the rigid social strata of Alternian society, he is obsessed with characters remaining 'in their place,' though he has begun to open up at his canon point very slightly. His time in Asgard, however, has been forcibly eye-opening. Equius, faced with the reality of Gamzee's behavior just after his death upon encountering Nepeta, has been brought to call into question the legitimacy of the hemospectrum itself. While he hasn't entirely forsaken the idea, the very fact that he of all the trolls has begun to doubt its legitimacy is shocking in itself. A lot of this has come through conversations with castmates (notably Sollux, Eridan, Nepeta and Calliope) along with Kaworu Nagisa and a select collection of others. He has 'attempted' a few olive branches to Sollux and made some halting efforts in the past with Tavros, along with attempting to offer more respect to Aradia. The efforts have been rather lame and confused, but are at least somewhat heartfelt, even if he still has trouble getting past his old terminology (which carries a bit of degradation in it).
Equius' romantic world has shown little to no maturation in terms of his ability to conceive of a relationship in anything close to a healthy way. However, what has changed is his willingness to at least look more carefully at several of his current relationships. He has begun, at the prompting of Nepeta and after several talks with Aradia to consider whether or not he is legitimately in any sort of relationship with Aradia, or if this is an overblown misunderstanding. He has even begun to consider the possibility of cross-species pairings, though his discomfort with the idea of it and with Kaworu's invasive personality makes it unlikely to go further than awkward fumblings.
One of the other key changes that has gone through Equius' life has been an increasing level of pro-activity in his attempts to serve as a logistical aid to others. He has reached out to other characters in participating in relief efforts utilizing his Drawing Life powers (to the point where it is debatably healthy), taken up a business not only for financial support, but as a way to use some of his mechanical gifts for those who need them and begun plotting both in terms of establishing archer corps and creating added tools for the city's defense. Admittedly, he still has his bull-in-a-chinashop mentality to all things he tries to accomplish, making most of his projects at least slightly hazardous and ill-conceived. However, instead of waiting for others to come to him with direction, he has taken his plans into his own hands and attempted to push them forward on his own. A lot of this has come largely because he only has continued limited interaction with other trolls (other than Nepeta and Calliope) and sees the war effort as another challenge that he wishes to actually succeed at, and so demonstrates a more internal level of growth rather than one prompted by others.