#aestiv tillan

[fantroll-purgatory]

Aestiv Tillan

@persephoneanmystery

(Time for the boys. I had forgotten just how fun it is to design fantrolls until I started back up with these dancestor trios! As with most of my Beforan trolls, this guy’s gonna be a thematic mess, but once we get the foundation down, the Alternian troll will come easy.)

Universe: Beforus

Name: Aestiv Tillan

“Aestiv” is a shortened form of “Aestival” which is the word for things relating to summer (similar to the other name I debated, Vernal “of spring”), which is a reference to the fact that looks at life like it’s the dog days of summer vacation. “Tillan” is a shortening of “Tillandia, which is a genus of bromeliad plants commonly known as “Air Plants”, a sly reference to his Aspect.

Haha, I do like this. Though if we do end up switching from Breath, the Tillan reference… Eh, it’s fine, it’s still a nice enough reference to his general attitude to work. They’re also really hardy and survivable plants that can take a lot of abuse before dying, so it makes sense for his… general being.

Age: Roughly 7 Sweeps

Theme/Story: As the third angle of a hellish quadrant-facilitating Love Triangle, Aestiv has always found himself caught in the middle. Culled practically after birth due to an accident that caused him to cease feeling pain, Aestiv has never wanted for anything, and was raised in the heart of the Blueblood aristocracy. For someone who’s lifespan is so short, he seems relatively relaxed, too relaxed even. Life is just a crazy ride, and he wants to enjoy every second it has to offer, even if means alienating his friends, shortening his lifespan, or leaving a path of broken hearts and bodies in his wake. Really, if Troll Ferris Bueller (Bueler?) wasn’t already a thing, he would be it.

Pain asymbolia is definitely a thing, and can result from injuries, but… I’m almost tempted to give him an inherited disorder instead? He could be culled not after an accident that Resulted in his condition, but rather could be culled after his Condition caused an incident. CIPA. Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. It’s a particular form of neuropathy where the afflicted individual can feel neither pain nor temperature (nor a few other sensations) and cannot sweat because of their body not perceiving heat. I thought of this because of the idea of the phrase “don’t sweat it.” Aestiv is so laid back he quite literally Physically Cannot Sweat It. A severe cut or Burn he received when he was younger and failed to notice, almost leading to his death, could’ve easily tipped the highbloods off and resulted in him being culled.

Strife Specibus: Canekind

While not much help in a fight, when it comes to it, Aestiv brandishes one of his foster-mother’s ornate walking sticks. [This is weak and I’m a bit stuck on this one.]

Okay this could be possibly the most random reference ever but you could give him gunkind and have him use a Smith and Wesson Model 64, because… 

The police officer from Ferris Bueller is carrying that model of gun. And it’s a ranged weapon, which reduces the risk of him getting hurt. 

Or you could do like… Carkind, since the car in Ferris Bueller is used as a way to obtain freedom and as a symbolic piece centering around Cameron’s controlling father. Plus breath is all about Direction and literal driving is a good way of showing that (see: John’s car adventure).

Or you could use phonekind, since Ferris’ “weapon” of choice in the movie is phones, which he frequently exploits to get what he wants. If he can’t be right in on the action, he might as well try to direct the flow via phone! Steer that course, passively, sir! 

Fetch Modus: Rube Modus

Named for the famous creator Rube Goldberg, Aestiv is stuck using the other items currently in his modus as parts to create a stupidly complex machine to try and knock the item he wants out of his Modus so he can use it.

You… are a genius.

Blood color: Rust

Aestiv takes the Rust love of adventure and spins it, turning it into a endless quest for excitement and adventure. Partially due to not feeling pain, anything and everything is fair game for him, no matter how dangerous or reckless it may seem. He won’t feel the consequences of whatever it is anyways.

Symbol and meaning: As (for the moment) a Breath Prospit Rustblood, Aestiv claims:

ARUS, THE WANDERER!

Trolltag: [AT] absonantTellurian

Aestiv gets a little self aware with his trolltag, but in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. “Absonant” means “discordant or unreasonable”, of which can be both when he wants to (which is always, of course). “Tellurian” is “someone from the earth” which is a twofold reference. Firstly to his telekinetics, which he uses to literally float off of the ground, but also his bottom of the barrel blood caste status. From the earth he came, and to the earth, soon, he will return.

God I love this. As always, I’m already loving this character.

Quirk: Like, far out, dude! Aestiv’s dialogue is kind of juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a mess of like, weird stoner dude clicheeeeeeeees maaaaaaaaaan, he really likes holding vooooowels too, but only certain ones, y’know? [I have no idea if I’m conveying this correctly]

I think you’re definitely doing it right. I know I’m calling back to Ferris Bueller a little too often here, but maybe you could have him ‘break the third wall’ a little. Like, jokingly narrate his own experiences to a “nonexistent” audience for funsies. Like he’s on the stage, running the show, here he is. 

Special Abilities (if any): As apparently revealed in Hiveswap (?) all Rustbloods can speak to the dead. Aestiv uses this mostly to try and up his game, getting information about things he can’t see himself, or stories of crazy things other trolls have done. Rustbloods tend to have Telekinetic abilities, and Aestiv is no exception. Using what he dubs his “ghost hand tricks” he can grab things without touching them, float around in the air, and sometimes even throw himself with great force!

Pretty great way to learn how to do some death-defying stunts, if he talks to the dead stuntlie. I’m sure that Xtreme Hardcore Deathly Sports are a big thing on Alternia, but I wonder how big they are on Beforus? Not huge, I imagine. So dead people is probably his BEST resource for that kinda shit. I love the ghost hands, too. You know that vine smack cam thing people do? Imagine him doing that with his ghost hands.

Lusus: Due to being Culled, Aestiv’s never had a lusus to call his own. His foster mother’s lusus was some giant kind of beast, iron plated and fierce, back in the day. She’s been dead for much of his life, so he doesn’t have any kind of connection to it. He lives in his foster-mother’s Hive in the center of Beforan high society, though her penchant for blue decor often makes him stand out like a sore thumb.

Interests: Cheesy Heist Movies, Even Cheesier Teen Movies, Being Incredibly Dramatic, Really Obnoxious Pop Music, The Latest Fad, New Troll Recreational Drugs, Daredevil Stunts

Give him an interest in FLARP. Not because he’s actually invested in roleplay or anything, but because FLARP’s fatal. You know how people like… create meme characters that defy the rules and are stupid bullshit on purpose to piss off really dedicator roleplayers? Well, he should. He should do that. 

Appearance: Aestiv’s wardrobe is taken right from his favorite slice of life movies, white shirt proudly displaying his symbol in red, blue and red letterman jacket (from what school he attended, nobody can say), blue jeans and sneakers. He’s gone through varying stages of trying to dye his hair blue like some of the real bluebloods he associates with, but the most he has ever gotten to stick were the tips of his hair that he’s always trying to style between his proportionally large horns.

Personality: Partially due to his highblood, coddled upbringing, partially due to not feeling anything in the way of pain, Aestiv is something of a spoiled, rich playboy. Which means that at all times, he is incredibly bored. The Rustblood penchant for excitement and adventure lives even in the laziest of them, and Aestiv is no exception. Instead of doing something productive with that impulse, Aestiv does his best to just… mess with people. He’ll disappear for days on end, just to end up being hidden in the kitchen cabinets, observing the rest of the house, falling to the floor in a fit of belly laughter when his clever ruse is discovered. He’ll sneak out at night (often scaring his poor foster-mother half to death) with an elaborate series of tricks and overly complicated machines just to see how long it takes someone to notice he’s gone. He’ll just appear at friends’ Hives out of the blue and blare bad troll pop music just to see how they react. Aestiv isn’t a trickster because he’s a coward, he’s a trickster because he wants to be noticed. Testing the limits of everyone and everything around him is just a natural way of doing it, really. When push comes to real shove, Aestiv is a surprisingly dedicated friend, despite his laziness. When he channels that restless energy of his into something productive, it often goes his way, which he is endlessly smug about. It’s that kind of effortless cool that draws people to him, but also aggravates them when they try to get close to him. An endless smile is impossible to read if it never falters, after all.

I… Adore him.

Title: Rogue of Breath (????)

Once again, I am stumped. I am defaulting a bit on Breath, which is what I had in mind when I nailed down his concept, but I’ll go into my thought process for that. I tend to base a lot of a character’s flaws on their Aspect, so here we are.

Aestiv is kind of the worst elements of a Breath player all in one. While he could (and really, should) grow into a better, more determined person, he allows the the breeze to stagnate around him, and become a miasma, sickening anyone he comes into contact with. While Ferris Bueller (who Aestiv owes a little inspiration) could be considered a more chaotic Breath figure, Ferris’ aim is to take his friend out of his comfort zone and make him appreciate living a bit more- a lesson in camaraderie that Aestiv could stand to learn. At his current personality, while not necessarily so gullible (maybe a little deaf to the ways of the world) he certainly is “avoidant and volatile”.

Blood almost seems like too much of a cop-out, of course the guy who wants to just flow through life would be challenged by Blood, the Aspect of unity and bonds. But Aestiv at his best likely isn’t a real leader- he doesn’t possess Karkat’s quadrant skills or Kankri’s obsession with social justice. Sometimes a man just really is that shallow. [Arcer, The Officer]

Time is traditionally the aspect of the Red, and his kind of “aloof trickster asshole” mien certainly fits the Time mold of “scary competent when they wanna be, self propelled, go getters”. Time could force Aestiv into being a better person by sharpening his good traits instead of dulling his negative ones, but is eternal struggle really something he can handle, or should handle? I don’t know. [Arist, The Headstrong]

And then, of course, everyone’s favorite chaos Aspect: Rage. Rage is the breakdown of order, the destruction of the mundane, and ideally, the building blocks for something else. Rage players tend to wreak havoc on pretty much anything that ends up in their path. The focus on raw, brute strength doesn’t fit Aestiv’s playstyle.  [Aricorn, The Runaway]

Currently, as a character focused on trickery and slyness I wanted to go with one of the “Taker” classes: Thief and Rogue. As a Rogue of Breath, Aestiv would be forced to try and use that wind that always seems to be under his feet to aid his team, allowing him to take them along for the ride that he always seems to be on. Thief (especially of an Aspect like Breath) might make him… worse than he already is, taking his team’s momentum for his own.

God I’ve been stumped about this since the second you sent him in. I DEFINITELY think he needs to be a rogue. That kind of responsibility and taking-on role is something that is absolutely necessary for a character like him. I think… I think I DO want him to be a breath player. A Rogue of Breath. Because breath can be used for such good, he just needs to learn a little responsibility. 

And his inverse would be Knight of Blood, which means he could easily experience a brief inversion where he becomes overwhelmed by these bonds… these responsibilities… And learns a little more about himself and how he should treat others. 

Though god I think Time is also a good one for him, because he does show some space tendencies. That Enjoying the Journey and not caring about the Destination tendencies. Time is this constant wheel of struggling and fighting and that kind of is what he’s doing in a way- he’s just fighting something a little more theoretical and a little more lackadaisically? In a lot of ways, he really is quite literally fighting the clock. Fighting the measures of safety put on him. Fighting his body’s necessary need for strictness and safety. 

And him learning to see a little more value in a GOAL might be good for him. Taking his natural ability to accomplish anything and tying more strict responsibility onto it could be really good for him. It could also bring him face to face with his mortality in a way that might act as a wakeup call. 

And him passively redistributed time could be… A good metaphor. Like him fighting and being killed by Scoria on Alternia Timeline being quite literally him Giving Up his time as an act of responsibility. Though I guess that could be read as a passive allocation of movement based upon the bonds he feels to others, too… 

My conclusion here is Breath and Time are probably equally good choices for him, but I’m leaning a little (.05%) towards Rogue of Breath just because THEMES. 

Land: Land of Gales and Glitter

The wind almost whips the jacket right off of Aestiv as he steps out onto his land, an initially featureless expanse of golden sand. But that’s no sand, that’s glitter- shiny and raining down from above. Buried beneath his feet are the remains of a thousand civilizations, a million lifetimes.

Something is robbing each attempt at civilization on this planet from being able to spread their wings and fly. Even if they crash, it would certainly be better than this. An attempt can be learned from, destroying it leaves no room for further growth. Only by sifting through the sand, finding the pockets of Consorts still eking out an existence here, can Aestiv try and take back the things the Denizen has stolen.

As always I Love your planets… so much… And it cements my feelings about agreeing with Rogue of Breath a little more.

Dream Planet: Prospit

Aestiv lives in something of a rose-tinted summer daydream. To him, everything is warm and sunny and flows nicely. Why bother fighting the river when it’s going to sweep you away regardless? While not really a believer in Fate, Aestiv is a believer in letting things go and letting the universe deal with it.

Very prospitan! 

Okay okay design time: 

Horns: I took them from the top symbol, really. I wanted to make them big and fun and dangerous. 

Hair: I absolutely based the front parts off of Ferris Bueller’s hair. But nice and spikey. I tried to get the blue tips on there but I just couldn’t get it to look good, so regular color it is. 

Eyes and mouth: I edited the eyes and mouth both from Tavros. I thought they had the kind of mischevious look that a guy like this needed. I added the light in his eye because Matthew Broderick just has these noticeably twinkle eyes. We just couldn’t have troll Ferris Bueller without shiny eyes.

Jacket: Life is hard and so was drawing this jacket but I think it looks alright. I can’t tell if it looks more like a varsity jacket or a windbreaker, but either way it’s fitting so that’s fine. 

Pants: They’re just Karkat’s, but light blue. 

Shoes: I just stole Jake’s and added a grey line between the outlines instead of white, because this really is what Ferris Bueller’s shoes look like. 

As always I… absolutely love this guy. I think he’s pretty themeatically solid. I almost recommended giving him a little more internal conflict? But really sometimes you do need a character who just starts off without that kind of thing over them. And he’s a Beautiful menace. 

-CD

#persephoneanmystery #aestiv tillan #aestiv #tillan #rustblood #maroonblood #review #redesign #cd review #submission