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Name: Maneki - from Maneki-neko those lucky Japanese kitties
Belbog - from Belobog a Slavic god of Luck, Happiness, and Order.

Blood colour: █████████ - eye searing neon orange

Gender: Male

Symbol: cat head of some form please

Personality:
Maneki is a playful, lucky, and friendly troll all around. Despite his blood hue being mutant, he is extremely sociable and loves to meet new folk. Perhaps that plays in with his excessive curiosity, or with his empathy of other trolls. One is never too sure with the little troll.

His biggest hobbies are exploration, reading, and hunting. Exploring ruins and tunnels are the most fun for him, and he will scamper around the rebellion underground, learning the ins and outs until he understands most of the tunnels flawlessly. When he needs to sit still or be near his dearest Merm, he'll read books. Reading helps Maneki sate his curiosity while expanding his knowledge. It's a different form of exploration!

At night, he will read to Byakko and loves to invent new stories. Regailing Merm with his adventures is the absolute best, since Byakko seems to really get involved with what he says.

Byakko is Maneki's world. Most of what Maneki does is in order to make his Merm proud of him. This includes hunting. Byakko taught him to hunt and now he enjoys taking out squeakbeasts and multi-limbed gerbils, then returning and giving them as presents to her. A dear friend might find the carcass of a small creature near them. It's a sign of deep affection!

Since he was born and grew up in the Phoenix Initiative, Maneki is strongly against the hemospectrum. It wasn't until recently that he learned he was actually a mutant, and that has further spurred his decision against the caste system. When faced with someone who would be for the spectrum, he is most likely to fight and argue with them, even if that would be downright dangerous. He can be very hot tempered.

But if you talk to him about his own blood, he becomes nervous and conflicted. On one hand Maneki feels it should not matter, but Byakko has taught him to hide it and to be cautious. Just as she is careful to not bleed around others, Maneki tries to do the same. Of course, being as curious and brave as he is, that tends to be a back burner ideal. Being a part of the initiative and closer yet to those who know Byakko, he has never faced outright discrimination or danger for his blood. They are mostly, for the time, vague threats and possible problems. Things that make him worry, sure, but more like a troll worries about eventual drones knocking on the door asking for their filled pail. Things they know could happen, but seem too abstract to really fret over.

Still he is a little self-conscious of it, and would rather no one learn or know it. He just wants to be a normal teal blood with merm, having fun and playing all day.

He enjoys gambling games and betting, especially dares that end in small beetle rewards. He is surprisingly good with numbers and money. He loves the thrill of gambling and challenging fate, and also in relying on a combination of his own skills and that luck factor he believes is in his favor (read below for more elaboration on how it is not and the kid is just a dingus).

Maneki views himself as being overly lucky, but really it's just his endless cheery optimism. He's even been trapped in a small tunnel cavein. Sure he's hurt his arm a few times, but it never broke! His outlook on these events though emphasize how lucky he was to not be hurt. When he loses beetles on a game, he feels he is lucky to not have lost more than he did. Luck is both a state for Maneki and also an outlook.

Strengths:
++ Optimism (Luck)
Being allowed to live was lucky. If Byakko had not found him, he surely would have died. So lucky happenstances and windfalls follow him. While luck is rather uncontrollable and subjective, Maneki turns this into a quality due to seeing things AS lucky. Getting only hurt a little, find a beetle, getting a bun... All these things he would note as luck.

Of course, this isn't luck at all, but an endearing optimism that makes Maneki view things on a more positive side. So while the troll is eager to say it was luck, really it was just a positive outlook. Even things that others would view as unlucky, like breaking your arm, Maneki would spin into a lucky "Well I was lucky I didn't break more!". He is able to stay focused, and believe that things will get better, no matter how bleak a situation or issue might be.

++ Dedicated
Loyal to the bone. This plays in with his negative overzealous trait, but can be seen as a separate positive trait as well. Maneki believes in those who are his friends and the cause he fights for. Shaking his dedication will be nigh impossible. His dedication also extends to the desire to complete things or see things through. Whether it be a book, an art project, or even a fake spar, Maneki wants to see everything finished. He is also dedicated to his friends, and strives to create lasting bonds with those trolls around him.

++ Empathetic
Emotions and Empathy mix strongly with Maneki. On one hand, having read many books and studied with Byakko, learning the tenets of the organization, he feels he can empathize with the low blood struggle.

When he is calm, Maneki can be adept at reading emotional clues, mostly from body language an speech. Due to his upbringing and how kind and optimistic he can be, he is very eager to lend others an ear an a shoulder to lean on. However, others emotions can effect him if he's not careful, and Maneki isn't the best at hiding his own emotions. He tries, but he keeps his heart on his sleeve more often than not. This can be very detrimental when it comes to his temper, which at this stage in his life can be set off relatively easy.

Alone, and with no others near, Maneki tends to become very calm and logical. Things that might have stirred anger in him, had another been near, can be dealt with and put to the side. This can be good when trying to solve very complex problems, but can be bad when he needs to do something and can't find the emotional motivation. For those moments, he relies on books or pamphlets (if it's the Phoenix Organization material). Using that source, he can stimulate emotions in himself that can be useful. It's not to say he's emotionless, but a lot of his emotions do come from interactions with other trolls.

++ Friendly
Maneki enjoys socializing and meeting new trolls, despite being warned about his blood. Part of this is due to his reckless bravery and his excessive curiosity. The other part is that he has lived in isolation, so new trolls are an exciting prospect. He loves, absolutely loves, to chat up new trolls and make new friends. Especially if he can get them to join the Phoenix Initiative! His bonds tend to be deep and strong, as dedication to friends and their feelings is a major part of his being. He isn't one to just leave a friend if they don't agree with him, but that doesn't mean he is going to roll over and ignore how he feels and what he thinks.

Flaws:
-- Emotional
Maneki becomes easily emotional, despite his best attempts to not do so. He tends to feel things stronger. He tends to reflect his own emotions (without realizing it) onto others. Someone might not be upset or angry, but if Maneki is upset or angry, he will assume that the person is too. So, while being outside the hemospectrum and in fear of his life, he reflects that fear onto ALL lower bloods. Unlike Lowbloods, he does not fear or dislike all high or mid bloods. PI has taught him to view every Troll individually and equally. He is more cautious and a little more nervous around.

Anger is another emotion he puts on others and can be triggered in himself. His emotional triggers tend to be the blood caste, his own blood being spilled, and the rebellion. On top of this, he loves to rough house and when he gets too hurt, he might lash out with real anger instead of playing. This plays back into his blood getting out. He doesn't actively avoid getting cuts of scratches, but once he is in danger or being cut or scratched, his panic and anger rises steadily. The abstract (discussed in personality section) becomes real.

-- Overzealous
Byakko, being his lusus, helped formed his thoughts on the rebellion and Alternia society. Maneki believes with every bone of his body the rebellion is the way to go. Any sort of negative criticism, despite if it is well deserved or not, is taken as an affront. Maneki denies all forms of criticism. Defectors are the highest form of betrayal to Maneki. Those who are not apart of the rebellion just have not be informed of the goods they are going to bring to Alternia.

Another topic of overzealous energy is Merm. Merm can do no wrong and Maneki will not accept a word otherwise.
-- Brave
Almost stupidly so, the kid doesn't seem to understand danger very well, especially since he has almost always had an adult or battle-adept teenager by his side. He is willing to stand up for others, argue with highbloods, and explore caves that look like they might collapse. He is wiling to throw himself into a battle for his comrades, even if there is little chance of winning. Maneki is determined to take on anything and anyone (except maybe Merm). For now, his bravery stems from a childlike invincibility combined with that optimistic outlook that says even the hardest situations have a solution.

-- Excessively Curious
Wearing your mutant color out in a crowd is a dumb idea, but until Maneki tries it at least once, his curiosity is going to drive him nuts. He must see and try things, even if they are going to end horribly. Maneki's drive to discover and explore has led him to danger, and yet the urge never slackens.

Weapon: Claws yo Claws

Appearance: Honestly most of it is up to Ami! There are a few things:
- Horns like Cat Ears
- YO a long leash belt like in this pic (ty Mea) ((Maybe split in two like the two tails of a bakeneko? owo ))
- Also a bandaid over his nose like in the pic
- proudly wears his eye searing color loudly. (when in public he uses teal like merm. Always like merm).

Home: Byakko's house! and occasionally the rebel underground where he PLAYS IN THE TUNNELS

Lusus: Byakko aka MERM, Mom, Mum, and Yako.

Maneki's earliest memory is of Byakko. Merm, as he frequently calls her, is his everything. His life revolves around the fellow mutant. From delivering her piles of mice and dead creatures, regaling her with stories and tall tales, to snuggling on her in the evenings as the sun comes out, the little troll finds his lusus trollicus the highlight of his life.

Most of what Maneki does is a faint echo of Byakko, because he loves her a lot and wants to make Mom proud. Mom is the best troll mom and he wants her to know this yes. Go troll mom go.

If Merm isn't there to go with Maneki outside of the base, either busy or doesn't want to go, he tags along with another phoenix initiative member. So,in a way, almost all phoenix initiative members are like his lusii (but merm is the best just sayin').

Thank you Ami!! I edited some stuff and took out teasing (I was using it as a placeholder to add in flirty when he was a teen, but eh XD). I added brave there. Also expanded on empathy since I wrote it wonky 6__9 Hopefully that makes sense, but if not let me know!

-scuttles to resubmit for a cit- <3

So i changed luck to optomism, and added a blurb at the end to help elucidate what I meant better. Hope that wooorks. It's been a while since I have looked at him so I am going to tweak that and resubmit. >__<;

Thank you so much! I'm sorry for double putting him up there, that was an accident ; I thought the original one had been forgotten to get crossed out. x__x sorry if it seemed I was trying to rush you! That was totally not the case.

So I reworded some things, mostly in what you had mentioned. The only thing that didn't get changed it hot tempered, because I get what you're saying and I agree with you. Having a mix of both hyperemotionality and empathy would be great, but I'm just not sure HOW to approach that. Do you have any suggestions for how that could be rewritten to include both?

OH and as for empathy I took out the highblood part (i can't remember why that was there tbh ...) and emphasized his belief in his own skill. It is tentative, and I was hoping to let it pass until Teen hood where rp would help hammer out if it is a real trait or not. But not sure if that'd work.

Ironically both my comments deal with his empathy vs hyperemotionality.

BURSTS IN AND THROWS SPARKLES EVERYWHERE (ﾉ>ω<)ﾉﾞ.+:｡
okay I'm just going to jump right into this...!

"Sure he's hurt his rm a few times, but it never broke!"
random, I assume you meant arm and mistyped

Empathetic/Emotional:
"At the same time, ALL high or mid bloods become enemies, the killers. He is hostile towards them, and would be surprised to see a low blood acting happy/friendly to a higher blood."
I'm not 100% sold on this as it currently reads, given the PI is all about dat equality and some of the members would fall into that category. I'm sure Akko would point out the dangers of highbloods, but also emphasize not all of them were like that! I do think it would be logical to say he was hostile/defensive towards mid/highbloods because of his lack of real experience with them, and the confusion between the conflicting things he's been told/read.

I think some of the Empathetic/Emotional trait reads almost negative at times. Namely the parts that would fit under 'emotional', and perhaps the bit about projecting his emotions on others regardless of how they might feel. But that shouldn't be a problem! You could probably just move those bits to Maneki's Hot Tempered flaw, and relabel that something closer to Emotional. The hot tempered flaw fits directly into that in my opinion, so I think that would be a good way to divide some of that strength up and tie it all together~

I don't really have much else to say in terms of actual crit, it seems like you've wrapped pretty much everything up! there's a few things I'd love to see elaborated on, but they're more suggestions/things to muse over than anything so like.... yeah. >w <

How does he feel about his own blood mutation? Does it not phase him at all (equality yay, or perhaps because of a lack of genuine understanding), is he self concious about it despite his beliefs, does being 'different' in the eyes of society leave him bitter at all? He has no real world understanding of it yet, so I'm interested mostly to see how that'll change as he does. o:

Under hot tempered, it mentions when he gets hurt while playfighting he can get angry. Does he not like being physically hurt or 'losing', or does potentially bleeding/being exposed play a part? I only ask because the latter is one of Akko's triggers, haha. Likewise I'm also curious as to how much he takes care to conceal his mutation, (things like general mindfulness not to get cut/scratched, not necessarily related to fighting), or if it's something he doesn't actively think about (to Merms horror)- which ties back to the whole 'what does he think of himself?' sorta thing.

AWRIGHT!!! You've done a very nice job of responding to crits! At this point I'm throwing the stamp your way with a couple of small notes:

You go into a lot of Maneki's flaws within his empathetic trait, because it feeds into his emotionality. I would shift those into his personality section or his "emotional" flaw, because it's getting a bit muddy with all of the opposing information.

"Things that make him worry, sure, but more like a troll worries about eventual drones knocking on the door asking for their filled pail. Things they know could happen, but seem too abstract to really fret over. " --> In Homestuck this is the case, but in Hivestuck canon breeding isn't mandatory (that's a bit iffy on Gaia in general, whoops). I like and understand the sentiment; I'd probably replace it with a note about Alternia's mandatory military enlistment!

Make sure you address these things, and...

WELCOME, BYABY