#radima

Saw Us, loved it, had this idea kicking around in my head for two trolls and wanted to get it out with my precious half hour of free time.

I FINALLY saw Us, after about a million years of wanting to, and I’ve gotta say that I’m surprised that we haven’t gotten any Cherubs for this concept yet. I hope we get some. But anyways this is a FANTASTIC troll. I honestly probably won’t have much to say besides praise throughout this review, because like… yeah.

AU Details:

Deliberately kept sketchy since the movie didn’t elaborate much either.

The Tethered live in sea-accessible caves on a conquered planet of the Condesce’s. The result of a seadweller experiment that involved deliberately splitting an egg and taking one of the resulting trolls belowground and injecting them liberally with burgundy blood in the hopes of forging a psychic link through which their aboveground counterpart could be controlled. Unfortunately, since this experiment was largely carried out with upper class bluebloods, their Tethered were psychically susceptible to the link and instead found themselves helplessly puppeted around. Disheartened, the seadwellers abandoned their monstrous experiment, that they might at least serve as adequate food to the feral lusii that lived in the abandoned breeding caverns.

Troll 1: RADIMA AVISCH

Jordan Peele was clearly trying to go for a “Red Queen” thing with the two women’s names, so I created Radima’s first name from Romanch for “queen.” Her second name comes from “giavisch,” the Romanch word for “desire,” which is one of the meanings of Adelaide’s married name, Wilson.

Queen of Desire is a great name for this character and a character inspired by Adelaide in general. One of my favorite parts of the movie was definitely the dual sympathy and criticism of Adelaide and this hits that note well. 

Age: 18 Sweeps

Strife Specibus: pokerkind

Also kicks like Joey’s in Hiveswap.

Fetch Modus: PAS DE DEUX

Items must be put in two at a time and can only be retrieved as such. Sometimes items will “trade partners” and eject with a different one than it started with (the reasoning for new pairings is unknown).

Blood color: Mutated teal

Has burgundyblood psychic susceptibility, theoretically.

Symbol and meaning:

Teal bunny based vaguely off Limini, Bergun’s original sign.

Something like this maybe? 

LIMINI - THE ABIDER 

To abide, of course, meaning to acquiesce your will… Very fitting.  Trolltag: therandomMinornote [TM]

In the trailer, Adelaide’s snapping is a little off in rhythm, which is odd since she’s a ballerina. Radima, similarly, does not fit in, and it shows in the fact that her trolltag’s cadene doesn’t match the traditional two-word format. It’s from a lyric of Janelle Monae’s “I Like That,” which appears on the Us soundtrack and is itself a nod to duality and varying from the norm. Furthermore, the abbreviation [TM] is once again her trying to mark herself as sufficiently “real.”

Quirk: Sorry, I’m not one for small talk.

Only odd in that she has no quirk at all. It unsettles other trolls.

Special Abilities (if any):

Passive psychic link to Bergun in which Bergun is propelled around is Radima’s emotions are sufficiently elevated. Potentially an example of a “success” from the previously mentioned experiment.

Lusus: A massive wolpertinger.

Radima seemed distant from it every since an incident in which she wandered off at about 3 sweeps old, and flinched whenever she saw it. Seemed palpably relieved when it was killed by another, bigger lusus.

Personality:

Warm and loving to those she trusts, friendly but reserved to those she doesn’t. Radima seems to lack the zeal for widespread social change characteristic of her fellow tealbloods. She prefers to keep to herself and moderate a local library, where she can help others learn of the world she calls home.

Interests:

Ballet, books, music, gardening. Has a very strong aversion to water and the beach.

Title: Thief of Life

Pretty self-explanatory; she knocked out and replaced Bergun when they were 3 sweeps old. While she keeps to herself, she is relentlessly driven.

I am almost tempted to make the obvious Heart-Mind suggestion considering the fact that those are more related to concepts of identity than Life and Doom, but Bergun/Red definitely are so community-motivated that they sidestep the internalized issues/struggle of Heart-Mind. Life is about essence and growth and she did steal Bergun’s developmental energy very literally, so it’s Fair And Fitting. that’s a lot of words to say I agree. 

Land: Land of Smoke and Mirrors (LOSAM)

The land is full of references to magic, from puzzle-like mirrors to adorable fluffy bunnies. The fumes threaten to choke her if she doesn’t figure out how to restore life to the planet to sap it of its excess carbon dioxide.

Dream Planet: Prospit

Radima could not think of a way to live a happy life without hurting another, and the resulting fear is directly because she cannot believe it was a destiny she was allowed to thwart. She knows that Bergun MUST come for her.

Appearance:

Radima uses black and teal in excessive amounts, as if to say “how do you do, fellow tealbloods???”

Troll 2: BERGUN ZWILIG

She named herself. A short version of Burgundy (the blood color she’s believed to have), AND one of the names of a former Swiss municipality (Bergun/Bravuogn), a double-named place. Last name derived from the German word for “twin,” which may seem on the nose but Adelaide’s maiden name is “Thomas,” which means the same thing in Aramaic.

She presumably named herself, which makes it seem even more likely that she would think to pick something obvious like Another Word For Twin. 

Age: 18 sweeps

Strife Specibus: scissorkind

Fetch Modus: NUTCRACKER

She needs to crack the cards open, which puts captcha cards at a worrying premium. If she exerts too much force she may also damage the item inside in addition to the card itself. Bee – caarefuul –

Blood color: Teal

Presents as burgundy, same as the other Tethered.

Symbol and meaning:

Burgundy bunny based vaguely off Arsci, Radima’s original sign

Something like- 

ARSCI - THE MEDIC

That’s a fun one. 

Trolltag: distonicInsurgent [DI]

Both a reference to her dystonic voice and her dystopic circumstances. Insurgent is obvious but it also carries the root for rising up, which is great.

Quirk: Oonce – uupoon – aa – time –

Doubles audible vowels and breaks up her words with harsh breaths.

Special Abilities (if any):

Passive psychic link to Radima. Unclear if there’s any utility there.

Lusus: None but the feral, flayed rabbit lusii that roam the caverns.

The serve as effective guards, terrifying caretakers, and – if one can get the jump on one – a wholesome meal. They’re a reference to the Hare of Inuyaba, who used deception to cross what should have been an uncrossable barrier and was flayed alive when the deception was revealed. The actual myth resolves with the rabbit being healed after someone showed it kindness, but in this case it only serves to highlight the brutality of the underground.

Personality:

Bergun was born aboveground and continues to be a tealblood to her bones, inciting rebellion with harsh and terrifying speeches.

Interests:

Murder, ballet, sewing (making the jumpsuits for herself and the other insurgents is extremely grounding for her because it’s one of the few things she has that has nothing to do with Radima), sign language (a specific one crafted by the Tethered, unmappable to existing Alternian languages)

She also has a love for Rebellion. And maybe fantasy stories. One of the things Red clings onto is stories from her childhood, since she isn’t given the chance to read any more after she is taken, presumably. You could probably give her a love for that, too. Storytelling. 

Title: Page of Doom

Once again, self explanatory. Bergun was dragged underground by Radima, and while she herself was subjected to doom, she allowed it to simmer for 15 sweeps before the resulting backlash erupted from underground. She is herself the inevitable force Radima fears so much.

Land: Land of Tethers and Tightropes (LOTAT)

In a cruel twist of fate, Bergun’s land is covered in ropes, which are stretched across cliffs high above the valleys below, the Land so covered in fog that she can’t see the bottom. This is the highest above ground she’ll ever be. But is the quickest way to reach the denizen by cutting the rope and seeing where the fall takes her?

Dream Planet: Derse

Which she herself is a destiny for Radima, Bergun’s own arc is about rejecting the rules put in place for how the Tethered ought to behave.

Appearance:

I was just thinking the burgundy jumpsuit, and the same sprite as Radima’s but for fatigued, but I am very open to suggestions!

I love all of this and as I said, I feel like I didn’t have many suggestions. This is just an all around great troll and a fantastic interpretation of the characters in Us. Thank you for sharing!