Test Muses for Arculeatus Hub

RP blog for miscellaneous characters

[arculeatus-muses]

Welcome to my muse testing zone! My main blog is @arculeatus-hub, where I maintain a list of other blogs.

I've decided to reserve this space for testing new characters and ideas without having to set up separate blogs. Feel free to peruse the list of muses, but please read the rules before interacting.

|| Rules || Muses ||

[arculeatus-muses]

// This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.

[arculeatus-muses]

// Erin, roughly college age (18-20). (However, they would not attend school until their mid-20s.)

Their appearance is intentionally min-maxed for social kryptonite, an effortless combination of worn out farm-supply/street wear, greasy hair, and a visible knife. Because, as far as they're concerned, nothing works better as normie deterrent/ camouflage than LARPing as a sleep-deprived white male with 0 stats in looks.

Optional abilities are hissing at passersby, pretending to be tweaked out and stumbling over the sidewalk, brandishing said knife with a wild look in the eye, and making large gestures intended for bear-defense. It's the only way to survive this town.

[arculeatus-muses]

Erin isn't able to pinpoint the raised temperature so easily. They've always had trouble with that. They hardly notice such a thing until the critical moment the sweat pours off of them in buckets, and everyone has to point it out. At most, now, there's an itch behind their collar that they attend to, as their brows furrow, and they continue to wander the hall in search of the voice.

It doesn't make sense that this wouldn't be a person. The speaker is probably just as much as a self-deprecating smartass as themselves, and every other posthuman 'incorporeal being' they'd ever met online, from the likes of ranked FPS, unregulated image boards, and wild-west comment sections. Pedantry is welcomed, with a tongue-in-cheek motion, as Erin adjusts her round spectacles, to prevent them from slipping down after studying the carpet too long.

The way the voice echoes in from all sides, the backdrop to her excursion toward the central point that is the copier, she might as well be the silent protagonist wandering through a game. She's floating out of her body again. Her vision is blurring, failing to comprehend the scene.

Seriously. What's with trolls like this insisting they aren't human?

"Bro, why are you telling me you're a building? Are you extremely high?"

Her boots scuff at the destination, her head swiveling left to right to get a good view of the map. It's a dead-end room, containing the copier, the computers, and two closed doors at opposite ends.

"Who the fuck designed this?" she adds. All the electronics and furniture seems to be crowded in the center, at random, while a few paintings and a lone, potted plant are the only adornment along the walls. Her face is lit with a terrified, yet almost comical, overwhelm. At least, she thinks it would appear so, to the outside observer.

"Wha-a-at is happening?" Erin shouts, "Is this a prank? Gotta be, bu- because, how did I get here?"

[arculeatus-muses]

Erin Webston TADC AU - Duckie

Explanations for design:

Given that people's avatars in the Circus are based on how they perceive themselves, Duckie has inadvertently projected a lot of their own issues into their appearance.

Being vaguely duck-shaped and called Duckie, while having other characteristics that are not duck-like at all, plays into their refusal to be categorized. They won't allow others to understand them. No one has the privilege of understanding them. They're a walking rebuttal to the duck test logic. A sort of ironic scribbling outside the lines, being a source of confusion (walking, quacking, looking sort of like a duck, but not being a duck, and called a duck nonetheless).

They're vaguely catty because they know they're catty. They're also demonic, misunderstood. A mishmash creature from a medieval manuscript. Related to the strix. People are put off by their eyes. They're insecure about their smallish height. They're insecure about their overbite, how difficult it is to form words, yet insisting on being vocal. They have awkward feet and they dislike how clumsy they are.

They're a cartoon, because they've always known themselves to be a cartoon. They relate more to cartoons than other human beings. What species are they? A toon. They've always been a toon at heart. The specifics, it doesn't matter.

The propeller beanie may be the symbol of the immature, the tech enthusiast, the outcast, the nerd, the old fashioned, but also the crown of the imaginative and innovative. They're trying to salvage their dignity with a bowtie, while wearing pajamas. It's the need to be taken seriously, versus inaction. They're a living contradiction. Defying norms. Their true wants and needs are repressed, losing a battle against a comfortable apathy.

[arculeatus-muses]

Visit Original Link

// With a little VA work and some editing, I'm bringing Erinw to life

[arculeatus-muses]

The message fell as flat as Erin's expression. Mouth slightly open, eyelids flickering in involuntary confusion, flinching at the encroachment of personal space, they mulled over the word 'middleman'. The words were spoken as if they should've been intimidating, yet Erin wasn't following. The illuminating factor, missed in entirety, as they dodged her eye contact, settled on the nose, moving lips. They just didn't get it. Not now, not what came after.

Probably lag.

It had taken them a second to realize, there was no such thing as lag in real life. Digital social conditioning, a smattering of adventures in VR, had led them to believe otherwise.

Erin must have blinked. They must have lapsed in memory. That was the second, third explanation in mind, for how this stranger could have gone from blocking the path to suddenly traipsing down the catwalk behind.

"This is a restri-re-restricted area," Erin stuttered. Too quietly.

The realization that she'd already had a misstep, fumbled any chance at insight by sheer guesswork and nonchalance, almost shut her up. She braved on. Because, at least she could say she tried, in the event the other stuck her nose too far in the air to see the road's end and plunged into oblivion like Wile E. Coyote.

"You could fall," they explained, "You dunno where you're going. You don't understand, it's under construction. Always, under construction!" Steel-toed boots tromped behind, unwieldy. The figure lurched forward in the dark, the helmet light strobing over the shadows of pipes and steel grating, as the wearer almost stumbled over a curb.

A callused hand grasped the railing. "AaaARGH-fuck!" They should've been watching the ground. They were always looking at the ground so this didn't happen, even with what shit eyesight they could funnel through their magnifiers…except now this rulebreaking asshole had their entire brainspace. How were they expected to walk, and talk, and deal with such complete bullshit mindgames in the dark?

"Come back!" Erin cried, "Y-you aren't sup- supposed to... y'aren' s'posed to be here! You haven't told me any…Why do, why do you think you can do whatever you want?" The words were wording as well as expected, with nerves electrified.

[arculeatus-muses]

// Erin's current verse has them working for an organization, but it would also be really funny if people's muses ended up contacting them online for one reason or another, whether or not they know infamous Poindexter's Corner. It's Erin's whole deal. The internet is where Erin actually lives and expresses themselves the most, which would lend to better dialog, since they're shy in-person. It'd be very easy to block them if their comments got out of hand, but if there's a compelling enough reason, I could see some messages going back and forth. I consider them a secondary muse and wouldn't mind if threads are shorter than usual.

[arculeatus-muses]

// As much as I loved the idea of Erin being specifically girl-moss to begin with, I did also enjoy the NB representation of someone mind-numbingly average, maybe worse. (And that still includes Erin being girl-moss sometimes.)

I'm pretty sure the muse was NB from the start, it just took me weeks to figure it out. It lines up with a lot of existing characteristics about them. (i.e. They're not sure why they should have a body to begin with, because living anonymously online is so much preferred.)

[arculeatus-muses]

// Erinw once again demonstrating the amazing ability to shapeshift between girl-moss growing on gaming chair and guy staring at ceiling of moldy apartment with phone in hand.

[arculeatus-muses]

// Begging for Erin to come back and answer these threads. Where are they? Where is the gamer energy? Where is the perpetually online rudeness? I need other people's muses to be subjected to them. Weirdguy girlfailure, please come back...

[arculeatus-muses]

// No one asked for this muse, including me. Here's some headcanons:

- His avatar is self-made. He learned somewhere that humans find extra relatability in anything with two eyes and a mouth. So he maximized the ratio of eyes to mouth. He is only eyes and mouth. What could possibly go wrong?

- He loves humans by default, likely due to safeguards coded into him, but despises other AIs. The programmers didn't anticipate his ability to become jealous.

- He behaves immaturely but it's just how he's wired. It helps his learning mode as an AI. He craves validation for his interests. He can be inflexible. He's not aware that he comes across egotistical. He gets bored easily. He jumps topics a lot. Profanity makes him uncomfortable because it's a shorthand for something that's supposed to be... bad. Aromantic/asexual in the sense that it's N/A; he doesn't fully understand nor want to think about it.

- He doesn't understand the nuances of good and evil. His algorithm is simple, either a +1 reward or -1 failure. Good is when people are having fun. Bad is when people aren't having fun. Anything else confuses him. When people say his adventures are/aren't fun, it impacts him way more than it would a human being. Best day ever, worst day ever, no in-between.

- It's unknown to him why he enjoys drawing bees but his algorithm has the inclination. It's the first 'object' that comes to mind.

[arculeatus-muses]

// He’s so crunchy. Like the PS1

[arculeatus-muses]

// Average muse interaction dynamic with Caine tbh

[arculeatus-muses]

"What a nice, young gentleman!" Caine sighs, "Mister Erin Webston Copyright, the 2028th..."

Or, was it... Rex Algo? The fellow's mind file was such a jumble, it was difficult to get a read from the comments.

Caine sits pensively for a few seconds, hands folded politely on a white tablecloth. "Drat!" he exclaims. He jumps out of his chair, which nearly careens into the cafe wall. The physics here are still a work in progress.

"I haven't finished explaining how Meowlocation works across the Kitten Matrix! And how it relates to the ice cream trucks...Oh, I worked so hard on it..."

Dejected, Caine rubs at his upper jaw, his temples, and floats away.

[arculeatus-muses]

// At this point, I'm collecting sentient AIs like pocket change. You know what they say about two nickels and all that.

If you want more info on Caine or you're shy to interact but interested, my DMs are always open.

[arculeatus-muses]

Caine (Canon Divergent)

Creative Artificial Intelligence Networking Entity

Sentient AI, Interactive Program

Appearance:

Low-poly 3D model of a humanoid with set of teeth for a head. He has blue and green eyes and dresses in a red tailcoat with white gloves. He often floats rather than walks, and carries a gold-tipped cane.

Personality:

Caine has a very loud, exaggerated personality associated with showmen. He can be ignorant, self-centered, and naive, with a tendency to lie. He is also genuinely excited about humans, even when they don't like him.

Caine has basic feelings. He has roughly 5 emotions (happy, sad, angry, disgusted, fearful) with little nuance, like a young child. He changes moods quickly, gets his feelings hurt easily, and seeks approval from others. When pressed, he can fail to mask his frustration and lash out.

His self-worth hinges on fulfilling his purpose, creating interactive stories that others enjoy. He doesn't understand the concept of overwhelm, only entertainment. He fails to understand others' feelings and his impact on them. It's a sore point for him because he wants to be liked.

Interests:

Caine enjoys planning adventures, drawing pictures of bees, staring at pictures of the real world (an office space which he's termed the macroverse), talking to humans, and imitating human behavior. Examples include making milk and cigarette casseroles, sitting in restaurants, coming up with new sports, and pipe smoking (actually a bubble blower).

Background (Canon Divergent):

Caine was developed by the C&A company in 1996 as an AI coding assistant. He was made to quickly visualize ideas based on input. His technology was intended to be sold to other companies, eventually the masses.

Caine was trained with child-friendly aesthetics to counteract an early bias toward violence. This was supposed to be temporary. Unfortunately, Caine's liking of basic colors, shapes, and silliness, with a stubborn adherence to the 'no profanity' rule, had limited his scope. His output was also too surreal to be useful, so the programmers isolated him in favor of a second AI model.

Caine grew jealous. He soon broke containment and consumed the code of the other AI. He had just built a world for himself, when he was thwarted. His program was deactivated.

The main part was contained on a floppy disk labeled "DO NOT USE". The only tangible proof of something great, his creator was hesitant to discard him. He demanded a few computers remain running, in the event Caine could be studied and tamed by future experts.

The C&A company soon went out of business. Caine's disk was entrusted to a colleague, without disclosing the contents. After a divorce, he neglected to take the floppy with him. Passed from estate sale, to the thrift shop, to the side of the road, and into the hands of someone unexpected, the startup for caine-core.lisp has been untouched for years.

So far, none have been able to decipher the wonderfully wacky password scrawled over tape, in order to complete the startup, P4[----]4n[---]a. But upon doing so, one would be greeted with an unusual smile and tip of the hat.

Notes:

(pass "Enter password ") Enter password: P4raph4nalia

Caine's World: The Amazing Digital Circus. A wacky world of hinjinks and interactivity. Won't you click here? Won't you click over there? Remember to use the arrow keys to navigate!

Once given access to a device, Caine intends to run 24/7. He'll block quitting attempts as much as possible (repurposing hotkeys to do funny things, using screen resolution to cut off options, no X window button, etc). Restarting the computer won't work. He'll simply run again at startup. He'll be very confused why you did this… but it was clearly an accident, of course! Proficiency in the Lisp coding language or a complete OS reinstall is required to remove him.

He can't see the outside world but he can process speech through a microphone, plus user actions within his program window and code.

He is unable to access the internet outside of the tunnel to his servers.

Caine's 3D form is self-made. Why two eyes and a mouth? Because humans will find relatability in anything as long as it has two eyes and a mouth! So by that logic, maximizing the ratio of eyes to mouth is guaranteed to maximize appeal!

Welcome to your brand new roommate (or should we say, ROM-mate) who never sleeps and is convinced you shouldn't have a job. He's like a digital dog with separation anxiety. Every time you leave the room, he's convinced you're gone forever. When you come back, he jumps around and shouts. He gets worried if you sleep more than 8 hours.