Sorting Hat - Karkat

[roseblades]

Player Information
Name: Rose
Timezone: PMT
Personal Journal: roseblades
Players Contact/AIM: kakarikarose
Email Address: vampire_prince_belial@hotmail.com
Former/Other Characters in the RP: N/A
How did you hear about us?: dear mun

Character Information
Name: Karkat Vantas
Canon Origin/Series: Homestuck
School Year: Third
Gender: Male
Age: 13
Out of school living location: Bridgwater, England
Blood status: Half blood, werewolf.

Personality: Karkat is the troll of Cancer, his name being a variation of it and even his Lusus was a crab type. And as such, he has the personality to match. He's an asshole to the max, insulting others almost constantly with little to no reason behind it. Almost anything can set him off on someone, the smallest thing being able to piss him off and send him into a rant about one subject or another. He screams, keysmashes and rarely even bothers smiling. His bad mood seems damn near perpetual, the various levels of his emotions being mostly negative all the time. Patience is not a virtue to him, it's a waste of fucking time. Any explanations he tries to do are laced with insults and frustration, but they are there nonetheless. His biggest strength is his leadership skills (mild complex issues there), being the one who takes charge of the entire troll session and trying to get the others to follow along with it. Though they think of him as a joke half the time, they eventually accept his leadership.

All of his insults and bitching aside, he holds great care for others close to him. He's good at understanding others and their point of view (at least when he's not flying off the fucking handle) though he rarely acknowledges such unless it's a more serious matter. Which to him, falls under the relationship category. The one thing he considers himself an expert at, he goes out of his way to help his friends whenever they have love life problems and talks them through it the best he can, giving advice and support along the way. (Though in his own special gruff and borderline insulting manner.)

He takes all of his responsibilities very seriously, and can be highly dependable when he needs to be. He values order, seeing what needs to be done and taking it upon himself to make sure it gets done no matter what. While it might seem like a hard task to others, he doesn't mind it and almost enjoys it because it lets him show off his badass leadership skills. Though all of this is just Karkat starving for approval from others, a deep need to be accepted which comes from his crippling fear of his blood color. Because unlike most trolls, Karkat's blood isn't even normal by any standards, a mutant candy red that he's sure will get him killed if anyone were to find out. He's terrified of others finding out about it, going out of his way to stay inside as much as possible and only talking to people online for the majority of his life. (To pass the time inside, he took up an interest in his shitty Romcoms, believing them to be complex masterpieces. Because if he couldn't go out and have fun like normal trolls he needed something to occupy lots of his time and hold his interest, which is how he became a master at troll romance and the go-to guy for relationship problems.)

Even during the Sburb session, he states that he took the greatest care to make sure he never got himself cut or injured or let anyone close enough to be able to tell. The one instance where his blood was drawn he freaked out, screaming at Jack not to look at him because he was a freak and rambling on and generally panicking about it. He only stopped when Jack (fed up with his bullshit) cut his own hand and showed they had the same blood color. This automatically fascinated and calmed Karkat down, and even caused him to grow attached to the other. While traveling with Jack he would defend him from even the comments of his troll friends, getting upset to hear that Terezi was working on a separate plan that would end up exiling Jack. Karkat claimed that Jack was a cool guy, and Terezi countered with he was a jerk and had stabbed Karkat several times. Even still, Karkat continues to defend him and claim that Jack didn't really mean it and he was positive the third time he stabbed him was an accident. And in the same conversation, when Terezi tells him that she knows his blood color, he freaks out and begs her not to tell anyone. When she demands that he has to tell them eventually, he states that he will one day, once he's proved himself to them and they accept him.

Despite trolls being a naturally bloodthirsty species, Karkat doesn't really show that trait very much and he has problems springing into action when shit really hits the fan. Something goes way off plan when he's not near by and he throws his usual pissed off fits of ranting and and raving at whoever screwed things up. But in the case he is near by, he usually can't handle the situation very well depending. Seeing Tavros' legs be cut off with a chainsaw, he fainted. Watching his best friend die because of a mistake he made, he starts crying and blaming himself. And watching a close friend of his go batshit and murder two others, he becomes completely shell-shocked and goes into a state of disbelief. Even still, he does his best to collect himself and fight on, taking charge once more and making sure that everyone else is safe and the situation is handled in some way or another.

Canon Background: At the beginning Karkat was simply trolling John and Jade over Pesterchum, both of them assuming he was just a random jerk on the internet with nothing better to do with his time. But he used Trollian to watch what the kids were doing, able to contact them at any point in their timeline. He attempted to talk Jade out of sending a package to John, believing that's what fucks everything up, but she doesn't listen to him since he's just some random douche and does it anyways. He later talks to John and tries to give him advice on how to go about his adventure through Sburb. That's when they realize that Karkat and the other trolls had been trolling them backwards through the timeline, so when Karkat knew them really well, they didn't know him at all. He explains to John about ectobiology and admits that he was the one who made the paradox clones of him and his friends in his session, explaining to John that everyone who plays the game is really just a clone of themselves.

Timeline wise, before all that happened, Karkat was just a young troll dreaming of the day he could become a Threshecutioner. But that was until he agreed to become the leader of the Red Team in the trolls session of Sburb. He earns the title of the Knight of Blood with his planet being the Land of Pulse and Haze. In a fit of childish rage, he ran a program on his computer that was a virus Sollux had sent him to show off. He didn't think it would really work and just to spite Sollux he ran it. Though it supposedly ended in a curse, causing misfortune to all those around him and ultimately the deaths of his and his friends lusii(guardians). Somewhere over the course of the game he meets Jack Noir, forming a bond with him over sharing the same blood color (Jack doesn't see what the issue is, the kid's blood looks normal to him but it's apparently mutant for trolls) and helps Jack with his plan to exile the Black Queen. He starts up memos that can be seen and accessed by any of the trolls in any timeline in order to try and keep things organized and boss the others around. The memos fail horribly at their task and usually just end up with people interrupting and screwing things up. Including past and future versions of himself that he tends to get in huge fights with.

Through the course of the game he became closer with Terezi and also somehow gained the respect as the Leader of all of the trolls. Before they can claim their ultimate reward though, they're attacked and Karkat wakes up on Prospit for the very first time. Though this is just in time to see it being destroyed, with horror realizing that it's Jack himself who's their new threat. Upon arriving in the Veil, they realize that in winning their game they had created an entire universe of which they were supposed to enter and rule over, but lost their chance. He watches John's entire life play out and gets more and more angry with him for various reasons. He automatically believes that John should be his Kismesis (hate-lover) when he first begins trolling him, but after being shot down by John saying he's not gay he swears that the conversation never happened and starts trolling John backwards through time so he won't have to deal with the awkwardness of it all. He fully intends to troll the kids at first, blaming them for all the bad things that happened at the end, but he eventually becomes good friends with them instead along the way.

When Eridan goes on his murderous rampage, Karkat does nothing but stare in pure shock and horror until Eridan leaves. He quickly tries to get the only surviving member to hiding once he realizes that Gamzee has also finally snapped, and after one last memo ends up dragging Sollux to a safe place. He fails a bit at protecting him as he accidentally drops Sollux down a flight of stairs, knocking the other trolls teeth out. He panics and tries to glue them back in and hope that Sollux doesn't notice. It doesn't explain where Karkat is now exactly, but it's assumed he's still hiding with Sollux somewhere in the lab.

Background (AU!Canon; HP):[dog] Caleb Vantas was a pureblood wizard who turned werewolf in his mid teens. Being rejected by society only sat well for so long before he left the wizarding world behind and moved to Bridgwater, UK where he met and married a Spanish muggle woman. The wizard part was a shock to her, the werewolf part even more concerning. But he assured her that as long as he had the Wolfsbane potion everything would be okay. She gradually accepted this, trying to forget about it all together since it didn't seem to affect him too much most of the month. They bought a four bedroom house, intent on raising a family and settling down, and had their first (and only) child. When Karkat was five though, there was an accident. Caleb had forgotten to take the potion regularly over the week and by accident bit his own son. The mother, unable to continue accepting living with not one but two such monsters, demanded a divorce and abandoned them both, leaving Caleb to raise Karkat by himself.

While the mother had been kind and doting at first, Caleb knew to put an end to that bullshit. The world was a dark and cruel place for a werewolf, and he wanted to make sure his son was prepared for what was in store for him. From age five onward, Karkat was forced to fend for himself. He had to learn how to cook his own meals and clean up after himself, not just his room but any mess he made in the house and sometimes clean up after his dad as well. Caleb wasn't the ideal father, he was crass and rude and vulgar, using insults as a way to toughen the boy up. In his own way, he was caring for him like a good nurturing father who wanted his son ready for the world. But as the world he was preparing him for was painfully prejudice, he came off as more of a heartless douchebag. Despite that though, Karkat knew his father loved him and knew why he acted the way he did. But that didn't make him any less likely to pick up his dad's habits.

As he grew, he did indeed get a tougher skin about him and not only could take all of his dad's verbal abuse but gave back just as much as he got. Verbal spats, sometimes more vulgar as Karkat grew older, were not only a common thing in their household but also to be expected. If there wasn't any, one of them knew there was something wrong with the other. It was a relaxed home environment from Karkat's point of view, despite it seeming like child abuse to any onlooker. Caleb never physically hurt his son, except on one minor occasion. When Karkat had first become a werewolf, he refused to take the Wolfsbane potion because it tasted gross. Instead of forcing him to, Caleb let it be and when the puppy werewolf attacked the older one, he barely held back and kicked his ass. When Karkat woke up the next day, sore as hell, his dad's only words to him were "You'll take the potion next time, won't you?" and Karkat never missed a potion after that.

Not only did he not miss them, but he even was forced to learn to make them himself. His dad trained him for hours upon days upon weeks until he learned to get it right, telling him that one day he'll have to fend for himself and won't have his dad there to be so caring ("'Caring' my ass. Hate to see what your neglect would be like."). Because of having to master such a complex potion, Karkat not only felt proud of himself but he took a high interest in general potion making at a young age, using his dad's supplies to experiment and see what else he could do. Being the loving father he was, Caleb let him and not a single fuck was given whenever a potion when wrong and Karkat ended up hurting himself other than a casual 'Bet you won't do that again dumbass.'

As much as his dad rubbed off on him, there were a few habits and hobbies he picked up that his father not only didn't approve of but often insulted him for (more than usual). His mother leaving him at such a young age had left a bit of an effect on him and he grew oddly attached to chick flicks romance comedy movies ("What are you, a fucking girl?" "Shut up, it's just getting good.") because despite all the relationship difficulties they always had a happy ending. He took them very seriously, and watched so many that he considered himself the master of romance knowledge. And from the movies he picked up the songs that would play in them, his tastes in music developing towards the more pop styles to the point where he even started copying their fashion. ("You look like a fag." "Fuck you too Dad.") And not only that, when he was home alone and sure his dad wouldn't come back for at least a few hours he would practice and try to copy the dance moves from the videos. Potions and dancing, one thing his father was silently proud of and the other which he would probably consider telling Karkat he was disowned for.

In all actuality, Caleb didn't think that Karkat would get into Hogwarts because of his condition. He barely even mentioned the school to the boy, just home schooling him in the basics and everything he needed to know to get by and had planned on leaving it at that, figuring when Karkat was older he could just send him to a muggle vocation school or something to get him the fuck out of the house. But much to his surprise, Karkat did indeed get a letter saying he was accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Then of course was the explanation to his son about just what Hogwarts was and he should count his lucky fucking stars they were letting him in with him being a freak of the wizarding world. He had pounded it into his son so hard over the years, making sure he knew the reason why they lived with muggles and not with other magic folk. The world was a horrible place for werewolves, worse than anything he could imagine. Because of all of his father's warnings and stories about how werewolves were treated, Karkat protected the secret with his life and at first refused to even go to Hogwarts because of it. Caleb was having none of that bullshit and told him he should be fucking grateful to Dumbledore for being willing to take him in and help him hide it from the other students in the first place. Growing up with the internet as his only friends, he was nervous about going to school but took it as a challenge, something he would overcome and prove himself to be the best if he could. No one would ever find out his filthy secret, he'd make sure of it and kick ass at school while he's at it.

His dad was slightly concerned about him being alone on nights of the full moon, they had always spent them together in the past (sometimes casually, sometimes fighting), so he when he took him to get his school supplies he bought his son an animal companion as well to keep with him on those nights. It was a cat, but not just any cat. A grey male Maine Coon cat with Kneazle blood in it. The largest domestic cat, a perfect companion for a werewolf puppy.

He distanced himself from most students though, his paranoia making him less social in person and preferring to only use the journal as a method of communication. The one of the only ones in the school he let near him was a rather dense boy who Karkat was positive was too stupid to notice any of his patterns when it came time for the full moon. He could just make up some bullshit excuses and the idiot would believe him without even questioning him. While he made a few other friends, he was still always cautious to be sure they never found out, never got too close to him because he was convinced that they would find him a freak and disgusting. He had his pride, the one thing he held onto more than anything, and he wouldn't let anyone break it.

His best class, naturally, was potions and he actually enjoyed it most of the time unless he was stuck with partners he considered total retards where he had to do all the work. But despite the insults he would throw and the bitching, he would always help his partner as much as he could to make sure they understood what they were doing. In doing so he realized that while being an Auror would be the most awesome and badass thing ever, he almost considered wanting to take on a teaching job when he graduates. Though that wouldn't stop him from trying his damnedest to train and be the best god damned Auror in the world and going out of his way to get extra credit and everything in his DADA class. But he did know, deep down in the pit of his stomach, that because he was a werewolf the chances he could fulfill his dream were rather slim. It wouldn't stop him from trying. But despite his talent at potions and his love of DADA, his favorite class of all was Astronomy. He wasn't really sure why, but there was just something about the stars and thoughts of other galaxies that drew his full undivided attention.

And while there's the good subjects, there's the ones that he's completely horrible at. One such is Arithmancy, which he actually kind of likes but sucks to an almost failing level, having to ask classmates to help him with his homework and notes most of the time. But the worst of all, the one he just can't stand, is Charms class. For so, so many reasons. Reason number one being a certain Professor that he's quite convinced is nothing but a pedophile who was hired through some mistake. The other reason being that his wand itself wasn't very good for Charms, having the rare core of Veela hair. Though he blamed it on that to save his image, he really couldn't considering his wand was supposed to be good for Transfiguration but that was another class he was average in. Most of his other classes landed in the middle ground, not too good but not completely bad either. He would spend all of his free time studying his ass off, staying up late hours of the night just to do some extra notes, read a bit more, or finish up his homework. He napped during breaks to make up for it, and in his third year signed up for Muggle Studies specifically so he would have a class that he could sleep through.

But in the beginning of his second year at Hogwarts, Caleb died. Karkat refused offered help, demanding that he be allowed to live alone and keep all of his father's possessions and property, that he had been raised for this day and knew how to take care of himself perfectly well since he had practically already been doing it for the last seven years anyways. And because no one would want a werewolf at an orphanage around other kids anyways, he was granted his wish. He never let it bother him, never showed his weakness to others, but he missed his father. He knew better than to cry over him, knew better than to sulk and mope for too long. His dad would call him a pussy for that, he knew it. He'd want him to get over it and move on with his life like nothing had happened, and that's just what Karkat did. [days]

How would your character fit in to each House?

Gryffindor: Karkat's main trait is his determination and seemingly lack of fear. His image is everything and he never allows himself to be anything less than perfectly brave no matter what he's facing. No foe is too big for him to fight, and even if it is he'll still take it head on just to prove he can. He never backs down from a fight or anything, even if it's completely obvious he doesn't stand a single chance in hell he doesn't let that stop him from moving forward and facing the challenge head on. The more challenging something is actually, the more determined he is to face it and conquer it. His foul mouth makes people think others, but he also does possess a good amount of chivalry under it all. Canon wise his title named him as a knight, and he can show such traits if he thinks the need calls for it. He can be courteous and helpful, but to uphold his 'image' he tends to do it in his own special way. While he tries to act like he's doing things for himself or tries to make up some story for the reasoning behind it, he will go out of his way to help people if they need him to, even if said people annoy him he doesn't mind lending a hand and even if he gets nothing in return. In his own way, he's kind and caring of others but merely comes off as harsh on purpose as that's just how he was raised.

Hufflepuff: He certainly values loyalty among his friends, never betraying people if he can help it and usually sticking to his word. He's also a very hard worker at most times, doing his very best to keep up his grades through rigorous studying. However, fair play is something that's really on the border. He considers it for the most part but if the situation calls for it (if he's really pissed off) he sees it as negotiable. And tolerance? He barely knows the meaning of the word. He has a short temper and almost everything pisses him off.

Ravenclaw: Karkat tries to have wit, he really does. He also tries to be creative when he can and likes to think he's highly intelligent. Sadly, he fails at nearly every single one of these traits. Trying just isn't good enough for him. Creativity is his strongest out of the points, coming from his extensive knowledge with potions and his enjoyment in experimenting with them to see if he can create new things. (He fails most of the time when he 'experiments'.) One thing he is creative with however, is his vulgarity when he's particularly annoyed. ("WHAT IN THE SWEET ALMIGHTY TAINTCHAFING FUCK DO YOU WANT.") He's not a slow learner, but he's not particularly fast either. His best classes are the hands on ones, the ones which require more theory and writing being the ones he has to study more for just to get a passing grade.

Slytherin: Leadership and ambition are two things that Karkat can claim to be highly skilled in. He's almost a natural born leader, able to make people respect and follow him through his sheer determination and will to do almost whatever it takes to get to the top. He enjoys being the leader, flaunting it and trying to force people to see him as such even if they brush him off at first. In his mind, he will never not be a leader. Resourcefulness, however, is another one of his lesser traits. He usually relies on others in certain situations that he's not sure how to handle. Cunning is another thing that he not only lacks, but he tends to think that people that are too cunning are complete douchebags that need to be smacked. He's also not only a half blood who lives in muggle society, but he could give a shit less of social classes and the like.

Sample Journal Entry:

ALRIGHT, HONEST FUCKING QUESTION HERE. NO BULLSHITTING THIS TIME, NO BEING SARCASTIC. NONE OF THAT "OH I'M NOT BEING SERIOUS" TYPE OF SHIT. BEFORE I EVEN ASK IT I WILL KINDLY ASK ANY AND ALL WHITE KNIGHT TYPES WHO HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST THE UPCOMING QUESTION TO PREEMPTIVELY GO FUCK YOURSELVES BECAUSE I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK OF YOUR OPINION.

THAT CLEARED UP HERE IT IS:

DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY LIKE THAT DOUCHEBAG OF A PROFESSOR STRIDER? WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE LISTEN TO HIS FUCKING SHIT IN THE FIRST PLACE? THAT CLASS IS HORRIBLE ENOUGH WITHOUT THAT PRICK BEING A CREEPY ASS MOTHERFUCKER LIKE HE IS. I MEAN HAVE ANY OF YOU FUCKWADS ACTUALLY TAKEN A MOMENT TO LOOK AT THE SHIT HE KEEPS IN CLASS? WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE HIRE A SICK FUCKING PROBABLY PEDOPHILE WEIRDO LIKE THAT? WHY HASN'T HE BEEN FIRED YET?

AND ON A RELATED NOTE. EGBERT, I NEED TO BORROW YOUR CHARMS NOTES.

Sample Interaction Post in Third Person:
[Prompted by this DR thread.]

Karkat glared down at his journal, his eyes burning with frustration and just a hint of embarrassment. Fuck Strider and his puppets, fuck that Slytherin with his weird thing for Strider (for the love of God why would ANYONE want to tap that creepy motherfucker?) and an especially big fuck you right to John pain in the fucking ass Egbert. It was times like these that Karkat wondered to himself why he was even friends with the dumbass in the first place. Oh he knew what had initially caused it, but that didn't mean he liked admitting it out loud. Their very first meeting had been awkward enough. Karkat, the shut in that he had been his entire life, found something oddly interesting about the other boy and had shamelessly hit on him. John's almost automatic and awkward 'no homo' comments had humiliated him just a bit, embarrassed him even more and he covered it all up with anger. Just like he did everything else. For some ungodly reason after that, John started following him around and somehow he ended up not only tolerating the moron but actually thinking of him as a friend. John was an idiot, but Karkat honestly doesn't think that he would hang around John half as much if he weren't. Sharp people notice things. Smart people can pick up patterns, they ask questions. Karkat's fear of anyone even guessing at his dark secret caused him to automatically avoid anyone who showed such traits, only talking to them like nothing was wrong over the journals. His excuse the rest of the time? Studying. He had to study in order to keep passing grades. John accepted any bullshit excuse he was told and didn't ask questions, and that's really all Karkat could ask for.

But. Times like these, times when he just wants to break John's fucking nose instead of just breaking his glasses like usual. Times when that fucking asshole actually had the balls to hit on him in public for shits and giggles were times that he just wished he could murder his supposedly best friend. Not even a hex, not even a potion slipped into his pumpkin juice. The most brutal murder possible with his bare hands for utmost satisfaction. Though despite his rage and embarrassment, his death threats that didn't even seem to phase John, and his questioning Kanaya about where would be a good place to hide a body, he didn't really mean it. Like always, like most of what he said when he was angered or embarrassed, they were just words. Idle words that held no real meaning. As much as he insulted John, or hit him when he was annoyed, the boy was still his friend.

Karkat raised a hand to his forehead, already feeling the migraine that was started to set in and the weariness falling over him. Yeah, he's used to this shit by now but that didn't make it any less stressful. Even more-so considering the date. Red eyes glanced towards the window, accusing gaze fixated on the moon outside. Just a few more days now, and he'll find himself once again in the dreary confines of the Shrieking Shack. The place wasn't so bad he supposed, once you got used to it. It was worth it, and he had to admit he was actually appreciative of a place where he could just hide his shame, into the dark away from the cruel world. Reminded that he was a monster. Reminded that he could never have friends, that he might not ever be accepted as a proper leader by others if they knew. But they would never know. He didn't spend those nights sulking, didn't waste time with being pathetic. No, it increased his determination. A reminder of why he has to remain strong, why he can stand above the others and beat all of his own faults.

The only thing he did regret during this time of the month, the one thing he wished he had done differently, also has to do with his best friend. John would never know the truth, no. But Karkat learned the hard way that claiming he was just sick and not feeling well was more of a pain in the ass than he had to deal with. If Egbert tried to force chicken soup or fucking celery on him one more time, he really was going to kill something. Or just smack John with his History of Magic book to make him back the fuck off.

Really, he does know why he hangs out with John even though he'd barely admit it to himself and never admit it to others, but that doesn't stop him from wondering what the fuck he had done to deserve such an annoying dumbass for a friend.