app (singularity)
Character Information ;
Name: Gamzee Makara
Name of Canon: Homestuck
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: other game CR
Reference: wiki, ruby city tracking post
Canon Point: taken from the Veil before he loses it, spent eight months in Ruby City
Setting:
ORIGINAL (This is copied from my previous app as it's basically the same and I saw no reason to change it.)
Trolls live on Alternia and, at least at the stage of their life the young ones shown here are in, appear basically like grey-skinned, black-haired humans with horns. Homestuck has twelve main troll characters, each following one of the zodiac signs and each having their own chat quirk. Trolls also have something of a caste system determined by their blood color. Aside from Karkat, who's embarrassed by his blood and thus types in anonymous gray, they all type in a color matching theirs. The main trolls are as follows:
Karkat Vantas (handle: carcinoGeneticist) - Knight of Blood
Aradia Megido (handle: apocalypseArisen) - Maid of Time
Tavros Nitram (handle: adiosToreador) - Page of Breath
Sollux Captor (handle: twinArmageddons) - Mage of Doom
Nepeta Leijon (handle: arsenicCatnip) - Rogue of Heart
Kanaya Maryam (handle: grimAuxiliatrix) - Sylph of Space
Terezi Pyrope (handle: gallowsCalibrator) - Seer of Mind
Vriska Serket (handle: arachnidsGrip) - Thief of Life
Equius Zahhak (handle: centaursTesticle) - Heir of Void
Gamzee Makara (handle: terminallyCapricious) - Bard of Rage
Eridan Ampora (handle: caligulasAquarium) - Prince of Hope
Feferi Peixes (handle: cuttlefishCuller) - Witch of Life
The first and last names of each troll contain exactly six letters. Combined with the four human players I'll bring up soon, their usernames form the sixteen possible two-letter combinations of A, C, G, and T, the four nucleotides in DNA.
Young trolls are all born as grubs, later spinning cocoons from which they hatch into their more humanoid form. Relationships are strange and involve quadrants that just happen to match the four playing card suits. They don't have official parents, as all the genetic material from mating is dumped into one big mess used by the mother grub. Instead they're raised by creatures called Lusus (if they survive long enough to be chosen by one). Apparently the adult trolls are off conquering the galaxy somewhere, so the society on their planet is formed mostly of the youth. Their homes are referred to as hives and they sleep in cocoons filled with Sopor Slime.
We aren't introduced to the trolls first, however. We're introduced to the four humans, with John Egbert being the main character. These are as follows:
John Egbert (handle: ectoBiologist, originally ghostyTrickster) - Heir of Breath
Rose Lalonde (handle: tentacleTherapist) - Seer of Light
Dave Strider (handle: turntechGodhead) - Knight of Time
Jade Harley (handle: gardenGnostic) - Witch of Space
The four of them become involved in a game called SBURB, which literally puts the player inside of the game. With one person acting as the player and the other the server, the person on the server end can actually move things around in the player's house from their computer. (Someone in the player position can also become the server user for someone else.) Through various strange devices they can buy for their house, they're able to create new unique items or duplicate already existing ones. There are also Kernelsprites which are prototyped with items or creatures to become a sort of helper to the player, taking on the appearance of whatever is used. If prototyped with something or someone once living, the dead being can live on through the kernelsprite. John's, for example, was prototyped with a jester doll, then doused with the ashes of his dead grandmother, causing his kernelsprite to look like his grandmother in a jester's outfit. Anything added to any of the sprites within a game has an effect on the monsters that appear, as well as the final boss - building and building upon their design. Killing the monsters earns the players the currency they need to buy more equipment for their homes.
As it turns out, SBURB is a game that destroys the world. Creating the Kernelsprite reveals a countdown to when their home will be hit by a meteor, while others are falling all around the world. The only way to escape is by making it into the player-specific medium, a land unique to each player, by creating a special item through the use of a couple of the other odd machines. These mediums become planets that, along with the two moons of Prospit (good) and Derse (bad), orbit the world of Skaia. Skaia is like a giant chessboard, eventually becoming a planet, that is expanded as players enter the game. There are many other factors involved, but the main idea is that the Black King needs to be defeated before the Reckoning can occur. Once they do this, they can receive their reward - entrance into a new universe created by the sacrifice of their one world.
Thing have gone a bit awry in the Kid's version of the game, with one of the black underlings (Jack) having overthrown the Black King. Due to a rift, or "scratch" in time, Jack is sent across the worlds to the troll's session. They were just about to complete it, opening the door into the world they'd created - our (the kids') world - when this caused everything to come undone.
The trolls take refuge in the Veil, an asteroid belt on the outer reaches of the medium that's considered neutral ground. From there, they begin contacting the kids through a chat program that allows them to talk across time. As you can imagine, this gets confusing. Some prefer to troll linearly, while Karkat ends up moving backwards in time with each attempt. He eventually goes back to doing things in order. This also leads to some trolls (Karkat, mostly) arguing with their own past and future selves over memos.
Everyone in the game has both a real self and a dream self, with the dream self residing on one of the moons and acting as a sort of second life should the player die. At this point in the story, however, all the trolls' dream selves have been destroyed.
The kids' chat client is called Pesterchum. The trolls' is Trollian.
The titles they're all given (Heir of Breath, Bard of Rage, etc.) have to do with their abilities, though some believed at first (especially in Gamzee's case) that they really fit the opposite of the character's actual personality. This isn't actually the case, as you see. They're all fitting.
Gamzee is high on the blood spectrum, the third most noble-blooded in the group. Only a couple of the trolls even seem to take him remotely seriously, however, and he remains in the background for most of the plot.
RUBY CITY
Ruby City is a panfandom jamjar game set in a town sequestered away from whatever world it's really in. The town itself is relatively safe, except for during certain events, but the woods around it, accessible only by the way a new arrival comes in from the station, contain more dangerous creatures the farther back you go. There is also a barrier that's impossible to pass through over the city's mains walls and you won't be able to leave on the trains that bring new people in. The city, though run down, provides for its citizens for the most part, with shops carrying food and other supplies. There are plenty of empty houses for new arrivals to claim as their own as well.
It was originally run by two characters known as The Watcher and The Interloper, but that has since changed and other named NPCs were making appearances. The inhabitants use special pocket watches to communicate with and abilities aren't weakened except when necessary.
Personality:
Original (also taken from my previous app)
Canon Gamzee is, at first anyway, your typical stoner character with a clown twist. He loves clowns, and even paints his face up like one. And the posters on his walls aren't just of clowns, but of particularly evil looking clowns. He follows his own religion based around the coming of "mirthful messiahs" and believes heavily in miracles to the extent that he doesn't like having the way things work explained to him in detail. He keeps bicycle horns around everywhere, occasionally scaring himself by stepping on them. Someday he wants to learn how to ride a unicycle properly, but right now his legs are too short for the one he owns. He also enjoys Faygo, a fruit flavored soda that's another reference to the Insane Clown Posse. (It's not their soda, but they mention it in songs.)
He's generally very laid back and friendly, believing that one needs to follow what their heart tells them is right. He likes rapping with Tavros, though that ends up sounding terrible to anyone but them. He can be forgetful due to his tendency to space out and lose track of what he was doing, but he still manages to set up his SGRUB sessions with the other players and he seems to know what he's doing when fighting in the medium. Though at one point he does tell Equius that he and some imps had just sat around chilling and eating pie. By now, the others are used to his behavior.
When his Lusus dies, he appears genuinely saddened despite the fact that it was hardly around. (He'd been seen waiting for it to return while sitting on the beach earlier.) He cares for the feelings of his fellow trolls more than most of them care for each other. When Equius gets onto him for his love of slime pies and Faygo, Gamzee easily agrees to give up both since his friends obviously know what's best for him. The other troll takes the request back, though, since this throws him off and he doesn't think Gamzee should take orders from someone of a lower caste.
He seems to be taken for granted by a lot of the other trolls. Aside from a couple, they aren't exactly all that friendly toward him - even Karkat, who he considers his best friend (though the latter is obviously concerned when he disappears for a while). There's a lot we don't know about the time he was missing and what exactly happened to him or was going on in his mind. Some of this may be revealed later, but until then it's unknown whether or not there was any further outside influence. I think, personally, that the fact that no one went out to look for him or help him when he was sobering up contributed to the change, but that's merely a guess. It is mentioned that before all this, during the final boss fight, Gamzee pulled out some crazy moves and did more damage than all of them, though Vriska was the one to finish it off. Afterward, he just went back to being his old self.
Ruby City
Gamzee is sober now, but he hasn't completely lost his mind due to certain important events not occurring for him. There's definitely a bit of a creep factor, though, and he's easy to rile up and anger. His humor is a little more dark, and the idea of killing doesn't bother him much at all. He's extremely possessive of his quadrants, to the point that he will get violent with anyone trying to get between him and them.
He originally harbored some attraction to Tavros, but didn't act upon it even though it was clear that the other troll was forming a relationship with Equius. It wasn't until he went sober and began hitting on the former again that he had to come to terms with the fact that he'd missed his chance. He still likes Tavros, but has been a little bitter with Equius since.
The lilting effect in his voice is gone, and he generally speaks in one calm tone when he's around those he's familiar with, or if he's just feeling settled in general. Otherwise, his voice will shift between quieter and something a little more motherfuckin' strained. This is reflected in his typing quirk.
He currently has no interest in going back on the pie, and will turn away any attempts to force it back on him.
Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions:
Gamzee is particularly agile. He also has a fair amount of physical strength, though nothing along the levels of Equius. He got through the game with just his Deuce Clubs, unlike most of the others who upgraded at some point along the way - and this was while still high. When he started to sober up, he did the most damage out of any of them (save Vriska) to the black king.
Though they hadn't yet manifested when he was brought into Ruby City, he has some latent Chucklevoodoo abilities as well. These are somewhat hard to explain, though Hussie went into some detail on them on his formspring before he got rid of it and switched to tumblr. (Thankfully someone saved that screencap.) He also did a fair job of not giving many exact answers, but there's enough to work with. Basically he can effect dreams or the subconscious to an extent, as well as bring out certain fears within an individual. Or he can once these actually manifest. If/when they do, nothing will be done without the consent of the other player and the effects would be based on the willpower of the individual as seen by that character's player. Once again, this is not an ability that has manifested yet. I'm simply mentioning it because it's possible, and I will bring it up with the mods if/when it looks like a good time to incorporate it.
As far as weaknesses go, he's still not exactly the brightest crayon in the box and is easily won over by apparent kindness and concern for his well-being. He doesn't have a lot of reason to distrust people yet, as most of the ones he's met in these new places have been friendly to him. He's not the manipulative type and can be easily manipulated by others.
Inventory:
Gamzee had his sylladex in RC, and it would contain the following: some bottles of Faygo, his face paint, a wind-up harlequin doll that requires the key he wears around his neck (and has since had its face painted too), a unicycle (adjusted to his height), and a purple bass guitar (that he doesn't actually know how to play). The last three were gifts from former CR. He would also always have the pocketwatch they used to communicate with on him.
The harlequin is clockwork and, while not sentient in the truest sense of the word, can move on its own and perform small tasks. It requires being wound regularly to do so.
Despite going sober, he doesn't have any weapons aside from his juggling clubs in his strife deck, nor does his specibus have the ability to summon weapons belonging to anyone.
Appearance: He looks exactly like his canon counterpart, but clear-eyed and less dopey.
Age: 14 (somewhere between 6-7 sweeps in troll terms)
OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
As previously stated, this Gamzee spent eight months in the environment of Ruby City. There, he developed closer relationships with canonmates (specifically Tavros, Equius, Karkat, and Terezi) as well as some of the town's other residents. He was also taken from a time before he spoke with Dave in the Veil, so his crisis of faith in regards to the Mirthful Messiahs wasn't an issue.
These are key factors in the effect of sobriety on him. The city itself provided him with slime pies already made, but not a recuperacoon. Eventually, the difficulty he had with sleeping in a human bed started to catch up with him and he began saving the pies in the hopes that Equius could make him a recuperacoon to put them in. (Never mind that these were baked pies and probably wouldn't work as well as just the original sopor.) This led to general symptoms of withdrawal and him being dangerously irritable. (Dangerous because indigo bloods are violent by nature.) After talking with Equius, who'd been taken from a time period after his death and didn't want a repeat of the events leading up to it, he went back to eating the pies again.
There was still that promise of something besides a bed being available to him, so he still saved some pies when he could, meaning there were instances where he was more sober than usual. It wasn't until one particular event where they were trapped in a jungle with no way to reach their homes that he went off the pies for good. Having no access to them, going sober wasn't really a choice but something that happened naturally. Fortunately(?), they were also beset by Jurassic era creatures at the time and he was able to take out most of his aggression on them rather than his friends.
Karkat disappeared (for a canon update) right after this, leaving Gamzee distraught and confused over what to do with himself. He came to the realization that the pies hadn't been all that good for him, but at the same time hated being so clear-minded without any real direction. When the other troll returned, Gamzee confronted him angrily only to be easily calmed by Karkat, who had just finished establishing moiraillegience with him in canon.
So what we have here is a Gamzee that went sober naturally, never killed Equius and Nepeta, and never flipped out over his religion. This is all just based on circumstance and the point in canon he was taken from. If he hadn't come to Ruby City, then things would have progressed just as they did in the actual web series.
Samples ;
Log Sample:
There was never supposed to be more than one of him. There was just Gamzee. That was all there had ever been. He was a singular entity. A lone troll in his hive overlooking the ocean. The only indigo blood among their twelve. There wasn't more than one Gamzee Makara. There was just him.
When he'd been brought to Ruby City there'd never been any worry about doubles. Sure, there were plenty of instances where the inhabitants had disappeared, sometimes coming back without their memories, but he'd always just assumed it was because the place made them forget once they returned to their worlds sometimes. But what if that wasn't the case at all? What if it was always like this, and they were all actually different versions of themselves from possible different timelines? When whoever was in charge of the city got bored with them, were they just dumped here? What if there was someone else in his place among his friends with his face now, having "forgotten" his time there before?
He'd only ever been the only him there. He'd never left. He'd never forgotten. He should still be back there, living with Karkat and Terezi in their shared hive. This place didn't need him. He was already here. It didn't matter that he was high as a kite, because they still recognized him as himself. And there was only one Karkat. He couldn't be palemates to them both, could he?
Gamzee sat on his unicycle, spinning in slow circles round the lawn, eyes glaring at the ground as he pondered all this. It was strange, how much easier it was to balance on this now. He bet his other self couldn't do it. The pie wouldn't let him. He could show the others. Look how much better I am, he'd say. Look how much more focused I can be. But did it even matter? His other self had been there first. They were more accustomed to him. He was just refuse from somewhere else.
He honked angrily, hopping up so that both he and the unicycle cleared about a foot of ground. He'd been running grooves into the grass and dirt with his riding, and he took a moment to appreciate his work now. A large Do: face was left in the ground outside the hive.
Yeah. That about said it for now.
Network Sample:
What is this? The motherfuck is this?
[There's the sound of fingers fiddling clumsily with the wearable before a fuzzy image comes on. A familiar painted face is there, though it seems displeased. The camera is pointed off at a weird angle, and he clearly didn't mean for it to come on.]
The other one was at least all bein' easier for a bro to get his digits around. Can't even all tell what this wrist ring's supposed to up and motherfuckin' do. Handin' me this complicated shit with all those other instructions bein' given. Ain't motherfuckin' right. Don't all like this upgrade none.
[He glances up and around, frowning at something the viewer can't see. Which is really just everything. His entire surroundings are irking him right now.]
You can't be sendin' me down this wicked road without no warnin'.
It ain't motherfuckin' fair.