trollsona

general comments:

• the reference image used in the infosheet was made using the fantroll creator by xamag.
• i put the layout for the infosheet together myself. feel free to inspect the page to peek at the code and use it if it suits your purposes. i would appreciate a nod my way as a form of credit if you do. though this is not necessary.
• i did not make this trollsona with much consideration for canonical limitations or any roleplay circumstances in mind. he is unequivocally overpowered because i think that is fun.

HANDLE: CYCLOCARBON [CC]

in reference to cyclocarbons. a class of chemical compounds consisting solely of carbon atoms covalently linked together into a ring. the smallest stable cyclocarbon synthesised to date is cyclo[18]carbon. it explosively decomposes into amorphous graphite in temperatures above 122 K.

this establishes the motifs of time and light nicely. carbon dating is used for determining the age of items. carbon in the form coal is used a combustible fossil fuel. it also has personal significance to me as it is the main element i work with in research.

NAME: MAROUZ MARKOV

the first name marouz is derived from marius. which in of itself is derived from mars. so it is essentially just my alias distorted to give it a trollian feel.

the last name markov is a slavic last name derived from the name mars. here it is also used as a reference to markov chains. stochastic processes where the probability of each event depends only on the event that directly preceeds it. the possible future states in a markov chain are fixed.

so overall the name of my trollsona is just my alias. but it maintains a thematic tie to time and light as well in its cyclicality and reference to probability theory.

PRONOUNS: HE & ROYAL WE

the he pronoun is pretty straightforward as simply the pronoun i use.

the royal we invokes the use of ‘we’ instead of ‘i’ by a single person. i enjoy including motifs of (false) royalty in my sonas. so this is one element that lets me build that theme for this character.

BLOOD COLOUR & HEX CODE: #ff0033 & #424242

i see the character as being a limeblood with a blood mutation. the lime component comes from my rising sign (cancer). mutation is invoked because i do not like the stock lime very much. or green in general unfortunately.

i picked #ff0033 instead of karkat's pure red out of personal taste. #424242 is in reference to the corresponding 42 joke in the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. it is also just a nice dark grey.

SYMBOL: STYLISED FLAME

something adjacent to canries. an applicable extended zodiac symbol. not because i particularly care for sticking with the extended zodiac for anything. but it is one of the nicer looking symbols offered there and does follow the theme of combustion. if a bit too explicitly.

LUSUS: MOLE

i picked this mostly because i like moles as animals. there is something to be said here about digging through dirt to uncover something useful. but the choice here is definitely much more personal preference than any thematic significance.

ANCESTOR: THE CARDINAL

a holdover from a previous iteration of my trollsona that was more rat themed. in reference to cardinal copia of the band ghost. i still like this reference so i have elected to keep it. can currently be tied to him being a player of cardinal aspects.

PERSONAL TITLE: HIS IGNITIVE MANIFOLD

as in the title this character would have as an ancestor. continuing the theme of (false) royalty. in trollian terms this means using a title that follows the three-word format as seen in her imperious condescension.

ignitive is another pretty straightforward reference to flames and combustion. manifold refers to multiplicity. in engineering manifolds are used to route the flow of liquids and gasses. can be read as an artificial river and loosely tied to the time aspect.

NOTABLE FEATURE: FUCKED UP EYES

black sclera & white iris. purely aesthetic inclination. this could be either a mutation or modification. though i lean towards considering it some sort of a body mod.

MYTHOLOGICAL ROLE: LORD OF TIMELIGHT

rhymes with limelight. this is a way for me to consolidate my two main mythological roles – thief of time & knight of light – into a single classpect. it also lets me play around in the masterclass sandbox.

the character is very much built around his mythological role. which is why the motif of combustion features very heavily. light and fire as a destructive force. dominion through destruction.

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE X2

the x2 here signifies count. since i have elected to have two aspects simultaneously it seems fun to also have two dreamselves. one for each aspect. in canon terms both would dream on derse. as far as fanon goes though there is a particular extra fan moons concept i like. in which case the time-self dreams on derse and the light-self dreams on a fan moon orbiting skaia.

NON-MASTERCLASS ALTERNATIVES

if i was to write this character with other people i would inevitably have to scale back the power level. in that case my first option would be to decompose the lord of timelight title into its constituents.

other alternatives of note are prince of space and mage of blood.

STRIFE SPECIBUS: GLASSKIND

more generally this could be seen as sandKind. sand in an hourglass. glass as it focuses light to illuminate or to ignite. the broad-category specibus is mostly thematic leaves a lot of room for just playing around. it is also very aesthetically pleasing.

CRUXITE ARTIFACT: CROWN

heavy is the head that wears it. the beta kids artifacts all symbolise departure and coming of age in some way. more broadly a cruxite artifact can be read as signifying a lesson to be learned about one's role in a sburb session.

a crown is a classic symbol of authority. to wear it is to assume a position of power & the obligations it entails. i imagine the artifact as being unbreakable so the only way to enter is to accept the role.

SPRITE: CAIRNSPRITE

dead lusus combined with a crystal polished into a round shape. a cairn is a man-made pillar of stones used as a marker. oftentimes a memorial or burial site. both of these tie into time and light.

LAND OF: LENSES AND ASH

continuing the theme and general aesthetics. i picture the land as a desolate inhospitable wasteland. its quest not one of restoration but of conquest. the specifics would depend on session circumstances so i have chosen to keep them open ended for now.

DENIZEN: YALDABAOTH

a canon denizen tied to time in terms of story & light in terms of appearance. also the denizen of caliborn and dirk. both of which are some of my favourite characters in homestuck canon. not much else to say other than that it fits.

CONSORTS: ROACHES

chosen as a reference to the song cockroach king by haken. the song pulls heavily from the myth of king midas as a cautionary tale of greed. sets the direction for the sort of plotline i would imagine for my trollsona in a session narrative.

ABILITIES: PYROKINESIS & GYROKINESIS

pyrokinesis as the generation and manipulation of flames and heat. picked for its direct relation to the light aspect and destructive nature as it pertains to time. it plays nicely with the glassKind specibus too.

gyrokinesis as an alternative form of telekinesis. changes the gravitational field of targets rather than just interacting with them directly. relates to time only insofar as gravitational time dilation is a consequence of general relativity. so this is mostly for fun.

ALIGNMENT: LAWFUL NEUTRAL

i have always been fond of the concept of lawful neutral paladins that follow their own system of beliefs with a stubborn conviction so it seemed appropriate to use this for this kind of trollsona. there is a lot to work with when some sort of zealotry is involved.

it is also a way to tie the character to my sun sign (libra) somewhat. since terezi also shows similar tendencies as the tealblood we see most of in canon.

TAROT CARD: EMPEROR

continuing the theme of royalty and authority.

in the rider–waite tarot deck the throne the emperor sits on a throne adorned with the heads of rams. these can be read as symbols of the greek god ares – the predecesor of mars. rams are a form of time-symbolism in homestuck canon due to their connection to the troll time players.

ARCHETYPES: KNIGHT-ERRANT & KING MIDAS

knight-errant relates to the knight of light component & comes from the paladin element of the character. it relates my imagined position of the character pre-sburb as a wandering fighter of sorts.

king midas fits with the themes of (false) royalty & wraps up the character concept. generally when i make an overpowered character the way i like to balance them is via narrative means. keeping the canon of homestuck in mind i think this is pretty apt: you get everything you think you want and it turns out that it sucks.