#selaci

One of the more complex Suechained trolls for me to work out a good way to do.

Name: Selaci Lomeda (First name is drawn from Selachimorpha, the clade used for modern sharks; Lomeda is drawn from a heavily scrambled Megalodon, an ancient and massive shark. He usually goes by Bivali Poista- Bivali is taken from the class containing clams, while Poista is from the Finnish “poistaa”, meaning “remove”.)

Theme: Sharks. His theme within the Suechained group is seadwellers of colors lower than purple on the hemospectrum.

;~; You gotta fuckin’ know that I am terrified of sharks, and the image searches for this review were very trying for me but I love your trolls so so much I would look at a shark’s open mouth for them.

Age: 6 sweeps

Strife Specibus: Hookkind (though he rarely uses it any more)

Fetch Modus: Fishing, maybe? With him having to “catch” the card he wants and reel it in, and it resisting based on its importance.

Blood Color: Violet, though he currently presents as brown, for reasons which will be explained further down.

I read your reasons, and I think it’s a good one! I want a lot more information about his moirail, though, because stories about grief and the way it affects you are as much about the departed as they are about the living. I wonder if there’s a way for the moirail to be rustblooded? My reasoning:

Even if they died traumatically, there’s the added layer that they would’ve died much earlier than Selaci anyway, and that unwillingness to deal with the inevitable mortality of his loved ones (including his mom) would be an interesting theme to explore in contrast to his current bloodlust.

The association of sharks with blood in the water, which is a very human concept but rust would be the most immediate visual cue with their moirail’s blood being the thing that makes them snap

If ever there was a time to go for the “lowest of the low” blood caste trope, it would be here; it seems appropriate that someone so removed from the lower class would go for what they he would gain the most sympathy; if he cared about whether or not he was viewed as low caste, he would probably pick something higher up the hemospectrum, like an olive blood. In fact, olive blood also works quite well, since it would explain both his lack of psychic abilities and psychic resistance, as well as symbolize him as a troll who seeks greener pastures. Dealer’s choice! I’ll probably try oliveblood out in my redesign, but I’ll be happy to provide the other version if asked.

Symbol and meaning: Actual symbol is a simplified shark fin, though the one he’s using to hide himself has no meaning and was just something he drew up and thought looked alright.

If you decide to go with him using his moirail’s blood color, it stands to reason that he would also use his moirail’s shirt and symbol; it’s faster than making one up, and he can raid their hive for extra shirts

If that doesn’t track, my other suggestion would be to make his new symbol a simplified shark mouth with a tongue? As a bonus, it kind of looks like an open clam shell with a pearl.

Trolltag: ???

Old one could be…greatCarcharias? It’s pretty simple but in my defense Selaci didn’t seem like a very subtle person pre-getting-his-ears-ripped-off.

The new one…I kinda like the idea of a cheesy one like clamTastic.

(I just looked up the scientific name for clam and it’s Mercenaria mercenaria which is so ominous what are they planning, these shelled double mercenaries)

Quirk: ???

I mean there’s the very s^mple replacement of i’s w^th the l^ttle hats wh^ch looks l^ke a shark f^n along w^th th^s emoj^ o^^^^o to ^nd^cate a buncha fuck^n’ TEEF and also to m^rror h^s lusus’s dorsals in keeping with my suggestion below. (I originally tried owwwwo, but honestly I just saw an extended ‘owo’ which didn’t really parse with his personality I think.)

N{o}w that he’s underc{o}ver, I like the idea {o}f him using brackets ar{o}und the {o}’s like a pearl in a clamshell. It’s als{o} nice because it c{o}ntrasts what l{o}{o}ks like a sh{o}rtening {o}f the “I” s{o}und t{o} the lengthening {o}f the “O” sound.

Quirk Example (BOTH): The qu^ck brown fox jumps {o}ver the lazy red d{o}g.

I think it might be fun to have him slip up and use his “natural” quirk from time to time.

Important stuff: Selaci is currently masquerading as a brownblood in a desperate attempt to survive- within the past two sweeps, he’s managed to alienate many of his friends, get his lusus killed, and murder enough lowbloods to get the ones in his area to organize and attempt to execute him, resulting in him losing his fins. This honestly isn’t the first time he’s had to go on the run, though it is the first time he’s had to try to hide himself properly instead of just getting out of the area.

Lusus: Sharkmom, who had four pectoral fins and roughly all the teeth. Was killed maybe half a sweep ago by extremely angry lowbloods.

The lusus is usually the same “gender” as its troll, though for what it’s worth I’m p sure they don’t have a concept of gender and just answer to whatever their troll decides to call them. Given that you’ve listed his ancestor below as a woman, do you think he’s the type of highblood that researched his ancestor and decided to project some of those qualities onto his lusus? If not, “Sharkdad” works just as well, though I’ll continue to use Sharkmom throughout my review.

In terms of a shark lusus that doesn’t look like a traditional shark, what about this scary-ass dick shark that I am afraid of looking at directly:

I actually like the idea of four DORSAL fins; cuts a very intimidating and impressive figure in the water, and it’s the part of a shark that’s probablyt he most iconic.

Personality: As ruthless as anyone would expect of a young seadweller, and enjoys hunting down his “prey” the way most people enjoy their favorite video game. Right now, he’s doing his best to play the part of a meek little lowblood.

Hemoloyalty: Have you even read the rest of this? (He’s horribly, terrifyingly hemoloyal, and fails to see any real use for the vast majority of lowbloods other than cannon fodder and lusus food.)

Quadrants: None right now. Had a moirail, who died in a freak cliff-based accident a sweep ago and whose death did nothing good for his mental state. Has developed a friendship with Tetria.

Interests: Enjoys fishing, and has a knack for building stuff. Used to make jewelry from the bones and horns of his kills, though that’s obviously not an option any more.

Dislikes: Has an intense fear of heights, and dislikes being away from the water for long periods of time. When he still had them, hated having his fins touched; as it is right now, he’s still highly uncomfortable with allowing anyone to see the scars from their removal.

Title: Seer of Life (No clue how I decided on this, honestly.)

Hm. I really like Doom given his theme around death and working through it. I think…maybe Mage of Death? Like his current issue is that he’s not actually engaging with his grief and is instead acting out in other ways, and I feel that Skaia would want him to confront that before he’s ready to win a game, not because it’s better for his personal growth, but because it would make him a more effective player.

A Mage of Death, I think, would have had to come to terms with the inevitability of death. He’d have to be positively ruthless in following the rules to win the game to its logical end. Of course, this doesn’t mean he has to do that! Sollux was a Mage of Doom who learned to be happy when he abandoned the role that the game had assigned him, and it’s possible that Selaci may do the same! Or, he may overembrace the role and kill others even if the game is technically winnable with them in play.

Land: Land of Cliffs and Basins (His quest is to refill the basins, bringing water to the consorts.)

I like Land of Fame and Fortune to complement his inflated self-importance as a highblood. Probably very Vegas-like in nature, with a vibe similar to LOHAC. His quest could be to erect a mausoleum for dead consorts to get them to appreciate the fortune of being alive? I don’t actually know if it tracks…

Dream Planet: Derse (as he’s trying desperately to avoid the fate his ancestor suffered.)

Hm. I wonder if it would actually be more interesting to place him on Prospit? I like the idea of him being literally haunted by the memory of his dead ancestor every time he sleeps. Imagine the paranoia it would breed! It would also tie into the theme of inevitability granted to him by the Doom aspect.

Ancestor: The Huntress, who patrolled the shores near her hive and killed any lowbloods she found. Was eventually caught by a group of lowbloods she had attempted to kill before, who cut her fins and limbs off, strung her up from a cliff in a cage, and left her to bleed out.

As stated above, a troll’s ancestor is typically the same gender as they are unless there’s a specific design reason, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to change the title and I will refer to her with she/her pronouns throughout this review. For what it’s worth, I chuckled over “The Hunterer.”

Dancestor: ???

How about Charia Lomeda, after the great white shark? Given her Alternian self’s fate, I like the idea that she’s a lifeguard who allows certain lower-blooded swimmers to drown (with the argument that their blood color indicated that they would die soon anyway, making them not worth the effort), giving her a passive role in mass death.

Beforan self: ???

For ONCE I actually have an idea about this, which is that this is a universe in which Sharkmom stays with the Sharkman and the two hunt in a tag team for lowbloods who have angered the Condesce. He loses his fins one day when his mother mistakes him for prey, straining their relationship. However, when Sharkmom is killed by the local lowbloods in an effort to establish a base, the Sharkman begins silently picking off the remaining lowbloods regardless of their crimes, until a brave lowblood (possibly based off his moirail?) shoots a hole in the air tank he must now use to breathe underwater. The pressurized can explodes, and he finally dies.

Hive: Currently living in a simplistic, abandoned hive, as the one he was living in before (taken from an indigoblood, who was promptly fed to Sharkmom) was utterly destroyed by the latest attempt to kill him.

Appearance notes: The blood color he’s currently using is that of his old moirail.

Other notes: The whole thing with how Selaci’s ancestor died is intended to reference what usually happens to sharks caught for their fins. Additionally, the clam thing in his alternate name is a character design reference for him, as he was originally going to be clam-based.

I like that part especially, since one of my favorite parts of Homestuck is the lore referencing “hidden” parts of the story.

Anyway, on to the redesign!

As usual, let’s go top to bottom. I actually designed pre-finless Selaci before figuring out what he looked like after going on the run.

Horns – I mean Kanaya-like horns may not be the most interesting of horns but it matches his symbol shape so well.

Hair – I love giving seadwellers short hair because in my personal opinion it’s the most convenient. I gave him a mohawk with 4 spikes to remain consistent with the redesign of his lusus. For the finless version, I tried to imagine what the hairstyle would look like if he was growing it out for the first time. The awkwardness is deliberate and draws from personal experience of what it’s like to grow your hair out. As an added bonus, his new hair’s softer ridges sort of resembles a carton clam.

Eyebrows and Eyes – I took off the eyebrows because honestly not a lot of the trolls have eyebrows in their sprite unless it would be considered a defining feature. For the eyes, I notice you used one of fan-troll’s standard ones, but I figured that if I was gonna hammer home the “4 dorsal fins” design concept I might as well stick ‘em on the eyes as well. Yeah, yeah when we started this blog we said only women had eyelash definition but a) given that you’ve given him a female lusus and ancestor there’s a design reason and b) Hussie’s creation of like 3 alien races that adhere to the gender binary is silly and I don’t really think it makes a lot of sense.

Mouth – for the pre-finless, I basically looked up kids’ sharkteeth (where some teeth grow behind others) and did my best to replicate that in a whole mess of pixels. I also gave him shark bite piercings for what I hope are self-evident reasons. Post-finless, I imagine he wouldn’t smile quite so much.

Shirt – I will cop to changing the shirt just so I could have enough area to fit the new symbol. As of the Hiveswap leaks, we can confirm that, while trolls usually need their symbol on a black shirt, it doesn’t always need to be centered, so I moved it to the side. Shoutout to fan-troll for the base of that shirt, and for those of you reading who want to make quick, easy, beautiful sprites, I highly recommend you check that sheet out.

Shoes – I changed ‘em to the Rugged Shark outdoor shoes using fan-troll’s template.

Aaaand that’s about it! As always, thank you for the pleasure of reviewing one of your fantrolls.