caduuceus: (Default)
caduuceus ([personal profile] caduuceus) wrote2011-01-08 07:15 pm

Calliope Asgard app

OOC Information:
Name: Rj
Personal Journal: [personal profile] paranoidpatriot 
Contact: Plurk: ParanoidPatriot PM's work well too!
Other Characters: None

IC Information:
Character Name: Calliope
Canon: MS Paint Adventures/ Homestuck
Canon Point:
her last waking moment before Caliborn takes over
Age: While she is confirmed to exist in a different time-frame entirely (she speaks to people through a chat client that can access the past) Calliope's mentality seems to fit in with the rest of the cast just fine. Other than a few cultural miscommunications, she has little to no trouble understanding or carrying on a conversation with the Alpha's, so I would mentally peg her at about 17-19 or so)

House: Freyr
While it is true that Calliope identifies herself under the sign of the Caduceus and is certainly a devout and gentle soul, the purpose of the muse is to inspire action in others, helping them believe in their own potential, therefore I believe Freyr is a more befitting house.
Calliope is a "fan" at heart; every hobby she entertains has to do with either drawing, studying or writing about her favorite "characters" Roxy, Jake, Jane and Dirk. She views the other SBURB players not just as allies but as legendary heroes through which she feels compelled to inspire and in turn aspires to one day be like them. Like her namesake (the greek muse of epics) Calliope also writes her own "epics" although one might compare them more to fanfiction.
Freyr also speaks of loving inhuman beauty and while Calliope detests her own unnatural form, it should be noted that she finds other species attractive. She frequently tells Roxy how pretty she is, and what a joy she is to draw. The fact that she is not human herself, suggests that Calliope technically does love a beauty beyond what would be normal for her race.

Power:
Drawing Life

Personality:

Calliope is everything that her brother is not. She is sweet where he is spiteful, she is modest while he claims to be great at everything, she creates where he destroys; the two of them have been at odds and opposing opinions their entire lives, which poses a lot of problems given that they share a body.

Calliope and her "brother" Caliborn, are in fact, a single body within which two separate entities reside, known as a Cherub. Thus far the only other member of this species witnessed in MSPA is Lord English (rumored to be the 'big bad' of the series) the leader of the Felt.
Cherub live a solitary existence, at least in Caliborn and Calliope's case, they have never physically encountered another living being in all their lives. Only one consciousness can be awake while the other sleeps, they perform this switch by napping in their "bed" which they refer to as a Sarswapagus.

To keep themselves from going mad at their UniqUe biological sitUation, Calliope and Caliborn are under a truce they refer to as "the Game" which allows them to retain certain amounts of freedom while relinquishing others. The first rule of the game is don't mention the game never reveal your true name to anyone. For a cherub, to hear their opposing counterpart's name out loud causes that consciousness to fall asleep and the summoned one to consequently regain control. When Calliope's dreamself is murdered, she breaks this rule by revealing her name to Roxy.

In addition to hiding their blood colors (or the act of hemotyping) and sharing a specibus (the user can retrieve only what the other sibling has capatchalogued) each of the two also wear a shackle to "sleep." Calliope can not remove Caliborn's and he in turn can not remove hers although he does get around this by biting his leg off to keep their other from wandering out of their "hive" while they slumber. To break any of these rules is something they often refer to as "very bad jUjU."
*Interestingly enough, Juju are both what the Time/Space altering weapons wielded by the FELT are called, and are also something Caliborn and Calliope both possess. Although it has yet to be revealed what they specifically are, they can apparently upset the balance of the truce.


With a strong flair for optimism and a fondness for proper speech, Calliope is as polite as they come. She is always willing to give her friends a good pep talk (sometimes rehearsing them in advance) and offers advice where she can. Calliope's chat client is very similar to that of the troll's, only where their's begin their conversations with the phrase "__began trolling __" she instead swaps out the word "trolling" for "cheering".
While Calliope can become rather pessimistic when too many things go wrong, she generally keeps her attitude in check. Her speech comes off as so genial, in fact, that the one time she apologized for being rude to Jane, the other girl had not even noticed she was upset.

Never seeing anything beyond what her shackle allows leaves Calliope a highly curious and adventurous individual. She enjoys playing games (chess in particular) and chatting about her friend's lives (indulging in the latest gossip!). Her favorite subjects always revolve around people themselves, such as how different cultures like trolls and humans interact. Calliope's fascination over different species is well known to her friends, as she once offered Dirk a chance to read a a numerously page essay based on the
premise.
In addition to setting up Dirk and Roxy with the technology to speak with Jane and Jake, who also exist in a different time frame, Calliope too synched up her chat client to line up with theirs.

Although her friend's never seem to hesitate trusting her with their information, Calliope is rather exclusive about anything regarding herself; presumably due to the rules of the game she plays with Caliborn. While Roxy occasionally tries to get her to open up about herself and her many "causal spoilers", the alpha's have become used to Calliope's cagey attitude and simply label it as "one of her many eccentricities."

As strong-willed as the cherub tries to be, having nothing else in the universe appear to match her visage takes a large toll on Calliope's self esteem (Caliborn's frequent insults have likely not helped this fact.) Desperate to belong to something, she cosplays as her favorite species, the troll, and dons a wig, grey face paint and horns. Calliope is convinced she is ugly that she has
gone as far to mention that no one would ever "kiss" her ( which is also a means of reviving someone from death in SBURB) because of her unsightly appearance.

In addition to her troll
cosplay, Calliope also adopts the use of troll slang and a typing quirk. Her writing style, other than to use all lowercase letters and only capitalize the U's, is also to speak in very "proper" English phrases (ex: sod off!, huzzah, blimey!) It should be noted that while Calliope chooses to use British etiquette (a pun on her being a "lime blood" AKA a "limey") there is no proof she actually has an English accent. It is likely, as Calliope has never encountered another living being on her planet, that she merely imitates what she has read, which was referenced when Dirk felt the need to point out no one actually says "by jove" any more.

A great deal of Calliope's interests all stem from a book in her possesion known as "the Tome". In it's pages contains the story of the prescratch generation of SBURB users: John, Rose, Jane, Dave and their twelve patron trolls. Having been written by Rose as a supposed "strategy guide" to help others succeed at playing SBURB where they themselves failed, the Tome has given Calliope vast details of the "beta" storyline presumably leading up to the creation of the Alpha's universe; the exception being any mention of Lord English which Gamzee appears to have scribbled out. With the tome as her only gate to the outside world, Calliope began to write her own pieces of the story, often inserting her own "trollsona" version of herself to spectate and try to
help in their struggles.

Whether all of her knowledge came from this one book alone is uncertain, as Calliope has also mentioned that she has been a Prospit dreamer all her life (like all space players). Since Skaia sometimes grants the ability for people to see visions in it's clouds, it is entirely possible this ability has also added to her knowledge.

Calliope is nothing if not dedicated. As the one with the Tome, she knows that her purpose is to help someone succeed in finally winning SBURB (or SGRUB to the trolls) and is willing to do whatever is necessary for the Alpha crew to achieve their goal. Even after Caliborn gets the Jack Noir from their session to kill her dream-self, she remains steadfast in working towards helping Roxy and the others achieve their full power by speaking through her dreams. As deeply as she cares for the alpha kids, Calliope rarely hesitates putting them into danger when she knows it will benefit them in the long run. In a recent update she goes as far as to tell Roxy to
kill herself to become a god tier. Not one to stop trusting her friend, Roxy agrees without hesitation, proving how strong their bond is.

While Calliope is not a true pacifist she does take the more passive approach to fighting. Rather than being the one directly charging into action, Calliope instead prefers to rev up people to do it for her. While this may seem manipulative or deceitful, Calliope sees it more as 'inspiring' the heroes to do what they were already meant to do. It can also be noted that while Calliope has a very peaceful nature and does not upset easily, she is a fan of troll culture (which can be seen as downright barbaric at times) and carries a
gun. Her need to often stand up to her brother's taunts have taught her to maintain a proper defense and composure in times of danger.

Although Calliope never claims to have favorites, it is clear Jane and Roxy are the two she trusts above all others. When Calliope is aware she may not wake up again, it is Roxy she breaks the rules for and tells her name, species, and class. Similarily, she also gives Jane the code to replicate her own juju (which could very well kill a cherub in the wrong hands). Despite how strong these bonds may seem at times, Calliope has mentioned that cherubs can not fall in love. After a miscommunication between herself and Roxy, Calliope confesses that she finds the idea of love fascinating because she is not fully capable of feeling it herself. This is likely because existing as one half of a personality does not give her the freedom to do so.

Lastly it should be noted that, for all that she is, Calliope is the half of one whole. With a cherub's life cycle calling for one personality to dominate the other, joining them as a unified consciousness, losing Caliborn will be temporarily damaging.
Just as yin and yang are meant to represent not just opposites but forces that complement each other, Calliope had wanted to unite with her brother, where he instead sought to eliminate her personality entirely. Without Caliborn to embody all her negative traits, it is highly likely Asgard will give Calliope more room to develop into her own person rather than permanently being just the "good" half of another.

Samples;
Network Sample:

☤1st Cheer [text]☤

[Today's feed in Asgard is interrupted by a bizarrely chipper, heavily robed figure. A shroud hangs from her shoulders, wrapping about her head and concealing the lower portion of her face. From it's rather cartoonish quality, it is obvious the speaker has drawn it on herself. She offers a cheerful wave.

Even half concealed, it has taken no small amount of courage for Calliope to appear on screen. Being ripped unceremoniously from home to a battle she knows nothing of is unsettling to say the least, but if there is anything she can fake well, it is optimism, most importantly-
games are never won by players who never make a move.]


greetings! ^U^

dUe to circUmstances i woUld rather not go into
i cannot reveal my name at this present time.
bUt let me jUst say it is a pleasUre to meet all of yoU
and as a new addition to the hoUse of Freyr, i extend my hand in friendship and servitUde! :U
rest assUred i will do whatever is in my power to aid in yoUr strUggles!
thoUgh i will not claim to know everything there is to know aboUt this place or its inhabitants
i do fancy i know a smidge aboUt art.
and i can think of no better way to bring coloUr back than throUgh it's mediUm.
if anyone shoUld have any UsefUl alternatives, i woUld be delighted to hear those as well!

by asgard's ever approaching brilliance,
i say today is the day we start to make things better!


Log Sample:

Ta!
i'd best pop off to secUre some shUt eye
<kisses!>


...

"..secUre some shUt eye."

Turning off her communicator. Calliope stared blankly at the neatly wrapped, cushy, surface known as a bed. It had been so long since she allowed herself the solace of slumber. She removed the glove from one of her elongated claws to examine the plush surface... and hesitated.

Sleep had never been something that inspired fear in her, not like it did now. To Nap was to have a time of peace, a moment to relax under the clouds of Prospit and eagerly await more visions from Skaia, moreover they were a chance to get away from her brother.

He would destroy this place.

Nearly a fortnight had passed and still there had been no sign of Caliborn; the revelation was as much of a relief as it was maddening.
At this rate, the naturally occurring spirals in her pronounced cheeks might as well fill into solid green orbs, but she had not predominated his consciousness, she knows she couldn't have.  He had always been too stubborn for that.

Anxiety and irritability had been bubbling up inside her all week; feelings she couldn't comprehend. Was it really just weariness contributing to her sour demeanor or could her brother's influence have found a way to seep into her waking consciousness? What if he was already here?
There was no way to be sure. Like the interwoven caduceus, one could never tell with absolute clarity where one snake ended and another began; which coil belonged to which serpent. If the gods had looked upon them in such a way, how could they truly have known which aspects belonged to which personality?   

More troubling still was the lack of evidence that any power here could keep a fully realized cherub at bay. She didn't have his Juju, she had no shackle, if Caliborn managed to possess her form without the sarswapagus, there would be no telling what he might do, no one left to confine him, save for the gods themselves.

They wouldn't bother with a lowly, green skull monster.

Calliope shoved her face into her palms with a distraught sigh. Asgard was beautiful, she met people she idolized- and trolls, real multi-color-blooded trolls!- experienced wonders beyond her own imagination and at the same time she had never felt so empty.

Whoever had thought ripping a cherub in two would make each half whole was wrong,
Nothing was never gained anything by taking something else away
It only changed what was lost.

"oh sod it!"

i have heard of a cUrious sUbstance known as caffeine
might anyone know where i can procUre it?


Final note:
I understand allowing me to app Calliope can be a risky decision; there are still a few key facts we do not yet know, but I believe her hesitation to tell "spoilers" in canon, and many text conversations establish her personality firmly. Regardless of what plot turns may come our way: whether Calliope has been Caliborn all this time, is secretly the big bad, or ends up completely being something other than is expected, I feel I have enough material to play her sufficiently.

Since Calliope and Caliborn have very different personalities and separate dream selves, I would like to request that I be able to play Calliope alone, and leave Caliborn up for someone else to app. If a Caliborn player should come along and request us to share a body once more, or any other sort of biological request I will happily work with them to keep things as IC as possible.