Gamzee Makara ♑ terminallyCapricious (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
honkalypse) wrote2012-01-02 04:30 pm
honkalypse) wrote2012-01-02 04:30 pm
Saudade App Test
PLAYER
NAME: Bear
PERSONAL JOURNAL:naturalcyber
EMAIL: realisticfakefish@gmail.com
MESSENGER(S): AIM (Naturalcyber), plurk (Naturalcyber), LJ or DW PM (Naturalcyber)
TIMEZONE: EST
AGE (b. year): 1983
PLAYED CHARACTERS: N/A
LINK TO RESERVE: here
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Gamzee Makara
AGE: 6 sweeps (approximately 13)
FANDOM: Homestuck
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
MSPA Wiki on Gamzee
Explains Troll relationships
Gamzee is actually a paradox clone--meaning he was never laid and hatched normally like other trolls, but was instead made through a complicated process called ectobiology and sent back in time as a wiggler so he could grow up. As an indigo blood, he's the highest caste of land-dwellers, and one of the longest lived castes complete with a special ability, but it comes with a price. Highbloods are known to be violently angry and unstable, prone to murderous insanity. Gamzee's child--well, wigglerhood-- is almost spent normally for a troll. He gets a lusus, which is a guardian creature that raises young trolls, and they in turn function almost like a "zookeeper" in return. His lusus, unfortunately, is a primarily aquatic seagoat, and terribly neglectful on top of that. This means he virtually raised himself, and is uninformed about many important facets of troll life. As a result he's definitely socially awkward, and has a terrible habit.
Trolls sleep in something called Sopor Slime in order to even sleep well, and also to keep violent and bloody nightmare/cultural memories away. Most young trolls learn from their lusi that eating it is very, very bad for trolls, but Gamzee didn't, so by the time he's six sweeps he is a full-on addict. He also discovered his violent religion, developed a strong wariness of the ocean/sea dwellers, and met his friends. Then canon finally starts, and he's first shown talking to his closest friend Karkat about some game he's heard about.
It turns out that Karkat and Gamzee's other friends are about to start playing a game they discovered, and because they need twelve players, he's included. He spends most of his time before entering the game spacing out and rapping with his friend Tavros, but when it comes time to help others enter and enter himself he proves quite efficient at what he needs to do. Once he's in the game he proves to be a pretty good fighter, but he'd much rather share his drugs and chill with the enemies. The first other troll Gamzee seeks out in game is Karkat, who ends up coming to his world. What else he does during the game isn't elaborated on, but when they go up against the final boss he somehow manages to do the most damage with a single attack (with the possible exception of a god-level player).
Then when they're about to get their award, a god-powered villain shows up and they have to flee to have any hope of survival. They end up hiding on an asteroid, while the villain rampages through the game world, killing all their dreamselves (kind of like extra lives). Gamzee isn't very effected by this and hangs out in the common area, offering his pile of bicycle horns up for naps. He doesn't have much impact in the discovery of another session of the game and how it destroyed their session, or of the other session's players.
The exact order of the rest of the events here is unclear in canon because it's so non-linear and often confusingly presented. A lot of the order is guesswork, but this order is as close as I can get, with some things headcanoned in an order that makes the most sense to me.
Then he goes sober. His first act is to finally take Karkat's order to troll the humans and he picks the one with the 'candy red text' to bother. It backfires hard, because he's linked to a video that slanders and slaughters his religion. He goes into a righteously motivated rage by the blasphemy and leaves the common room--shortly after causing Karkat to start worrying about him.
What happens during this time period isn't certain, but I headcanon that he was contacted by Doc Scratch, who's been manipulating the entire troll species, and also the human's session through Betty Crocker (who, coincidentally is behind the human, Dave, getting his hands on that video). When he shows up later his faith is completely broken and he's also aware of his ancestors and his indigo abilities. Doc Scratch would be able to easily manage exacerbating the video's effects with a few simple, seemingly innocent answers to questioning, and personally knows the entire history of the species to provide the other information.
Then Tavros, who is one of Gamzee's closest friends and who he has a crush on is murdered. Gamzee is present for another troll discovering the body, and at around this time or shortly after he contacts Karkat for the first time. Karkat has just witnessed the murder of two friends by another troll and is very freaked out. Gamzee's drastic change in personality, exhibiting signs of mental fragmentation and murderous intent makes this worse. Gamzee states that he freaks himself out now, and states his intent on killing everyone else. Karkat opens a transtimeline memo to warn everyone and gets contacted by Gamzee again, this time from the future. Gamzee, however, doesn't go through with his murder threats though (not yet), and instead spends time with Tavros's body--kissing him at least twice--and getting his revenge on Dave. He uses his special abilities to manipulate fear to mess with Dave and make the humans' universe "terminal." Then he contacts Dave to rub his face in it and ends up flirting and rapping with him instead.
Elsewhere Karkat tells Equius (a friend/enemy of Gamzee) to go find and stop Gamzee, and Equius prepares to do so by first having a feelings jam with his moirail, Nepeta. Then Equius goes off to find Gamzee.
At this time, I headcanon Gamzee contacting Karkat through the transtimeline memo, as Equius approaches him, and right before he heads to the roof. Gamzee then proceeds to taunt Equius, order him to kneel and then strangle him. Nepeta had followed and was watching, so she attacks Gamzee, who allows her to scratch up his face before beating her to death and heading up to the roof, where Vriska (who murdered Tavros) is.
Unfortunately he doesn't get to do anything before someone else breaks up the fight and kicks him so hard he goes flying off the roof. He switches tactics and begins altering the murder scenes to look like Vriska did those as well, and lure another troll, Terezi, into facing off with Vriska. While she plays at being an investigator, he decapitates the rest of the bodies and collects the heads, while occasionally checking up and making sure Terezi is doing what he wants and just messing with her head in general. He's present when Terezi finally faces off with Vriska, acting like a judge with a jury of severed heads while Terezi kills Vriska.
At this time, my best guess is that his second conversation with Doc Scratch occurs (he's still exhibiting the mental fragmentation) where he's told he's a sucker and was manipulated. (At one point it says 00:00 for this scene, but it also seems that Karkat has the same computer and is talking with John at the end of that countdown so I'm putting it here. In short: timelines are confusing and I don't have a clue.) Very shortly after Karkat appears and he and Gamzee face-off. The face-off ends not with a fight, but with shooshing and hugging, as Karkat successfully calms Gamzee down. This is the point he's being taken from.
PERSONALITY:
Gamzee's personality isn't always readily intuited by looking at the surface, in part because in canon he spends much of his time high on a substance that is at the very least somewhat mind-altering, and quite probably a heavy sedative and anti-psychotic compound based on how canon describes its effects. He exhibits drastic, violent swings in surface personality that may seem contradictory, depending on circumstances.
The state he is in during most of canon is a passive and incredibly high one. Gamzee is friendly and laid back, frequently to the point of non-action. In spite of the copious swearing he retains a childlike wonder at the world. Everything is a miracle and he doesn't want to lose that awe. He is also very easily distracted, even by things as simple as flashing colors. He'll even space out at nothing at all, and does so frequently enough that even people he doesn't talk to often are aware of this.
Underneath that, is a kid who is desperate to please, and also a little lonely. As he was badly neglected by his lusus (the closest thing trolls have to parents) he is at a disadvantage with basic knowledge and in some ways, interactions. However, in spite of this, he never expresses anger or bitterness at his absentee lusus. He waits patiently for his lusus to come back every single night with an unfaltering hope that if he waits long enough, his lusus will, and expresses only sadness when his lusus is killed. This extends to his friends as well. As long as it doesn't go against what his heart is telling him is right, he'll readily agree to just about anything to please his friends. He even agrees to give up his drugs and favorite beverage because a friend says they're bad for him, and is confused when the order is taken back. He says later to said friend that making him smile would be the "best fuckin miracle I ever did part of," and spends his conversations with another friend laying on encouragements and praise very thickly. He's supportive and very easy to get along with, if possessed of some severely annoying habits.
In fact, even when people who aren't particularly close to him come to him needing advice, he does his best to give it. He isn't very good at giving advice, but he tries hard. Still, everything isn't all innocence and miracles with Gamzee. He's (well, was) a devout believer in a particularly violent and morbid religion. He enthusiastically fanboys evil, insane clowns, and believes in a paradise where everyone will "bleed as equals" brought about by slaughter. He'd much rather chill with even his enemies, but it must be stressed that he's just as capable of ultra-violence and murder while high as he is sober. He's just too relaxed and disconnected from emotion and reality to actually go about acting on things like that most of the time.
So, that's what he's like while high, but things change when he goes off the drugs. The simplest changes come first. Gamzee suddenly becomes more active and interested in things. While he was disinterested in trolling the humans while high, one of the very first acts he takes newly sober is to follow Karkat's order to troll them. He's quite excited about the opportunity, even if he's poor at the actual trolling aspect because he's too friendly toward the human he chooses to contact, even to the point of helpfully explaining the metaphors he's using. So that's the most obvious change, at least at first. Initiative, interest, and engagement with the world.
Then things go to hell in a handbasket for him, including the murder of one of his close friends that he had a crush on. Most importantly though, the human he tried to troll manages to shatter his faith with one simple link and he goes full of rage and withdraws hard from contact with others--something until that point he hadn't done before. In fact, while the other trolls keep their hording tendencies (piles of things) private, he keeps his in the public space they all use and encourages others to use it, apparently staying there nearly constantly to the point that it severely worries his closest friend when he leaves the room. When he appears again he's full of anger and obviously unstable mentally. He shows signs of a fragmented sense of self ("they were always both me :o) AND ALSO MOTHERFUCKING ME Do:"), claims to be hearing voices telling him to kill everybody, and has a drastic reversal of his former opinions on the troll caste system. He goes from barely being aware of it and disregarding it to fully supporting it and lording his place near the top of it over everyone else. He also develops a morbid obsession with corpses and painting with blood.
However, in spite of his claims to want to kill everyone, he waits at the very least nearly an hour after his first declaration to start killing, and even then only kills someone who was specifically sent to stop him and then someone who attacked him out of vengeance. It should be noted that he arranges that initial murder in a way to make the victim die smiling (remember that miracle mentioned earlier? Yeah, he fulfilled it). He had at least one chance to kill someone before this, as he was clearly watching someone while she was unaware. Instead, he spends most of this time with the corpse of his murdered friend, and proceeds to declare his revenge on the human who broke his faith and then to start flirting (specifically, hate-flirting).
Gamzee admits that his current state freaks himself out in one conversation before making the murder threats, and later proceeds to contact the same person again and encourage him to go up to where he'll be, specifically saying, "i wonder if you can all be at with me in time and make me get my reconsider on?" In light of the fact that when the friend in question does show up, he manages to snap Gamzee out of it completely, these statements become at least partially a cry for help. Gamzee is at least partially aware that there's something wrong with him and wants his friend's attention and companionship (if not to be stopped completely), even when he's angry enough to want to destroy the entire universe.
Other changes that become apparent when he's off the drugs is that he's much more observant and capable of thinking ahead. He arranges murder scenes to look like someone else did it, and is able to take advantage of another person's worries and biases to get an outcome that he's looking for. He puts his observational and planning skills to sinister use while he's snapped, but they're definitely there.
Lastly, his best friend does manage to bring him out of the crazy and raging state with what amounts to the powers of friendship. He doesn't seem to be one hundred percent back to sanity afterwards (especially as he still has the morbid obsession with corpses and painting with blood, though no longer showing interest in killing) but he shows concern for his friends again and is much calmer; willing and able to return the calming and comfort his friend gave him. Still very observant as well, because he's the first to notice that a seemingly dead friend isn't as dead as they thought and has shown up while everyone else is consumed with grief.
So taking that all into account, Gamzee's base personality under all the influencing circumstances and events is very friendly, and chill. He values being social (albeit is awkward at attempting it), and is devoted to at least his best friend. He is a little morbid and odd at the best of times, and certainly has underlying anger problems, if only due to his caste being predisposed to such issues, but he's also intelligent and capable of thinking ahead as well as planning on the fly. He will need a lot of time and care to fully recover from his mental break, but he's out of the worst of it. He is also, as shown in one log, unfortunately easy to manipulate. He doesn't seem aware that his mysterious adviser doesn't have his best interest at heart until he's told point blank that he's a "sucker." He certainly has a whole bunch of flaws, but he's no more predisposed to evil than any of the other trolls.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Karkat: Gamzee's "best motherfucking friend" and moirail. Moirail being one of the four kinds of troll romance and resembling platonic soulmates. Specifically, what makes a moirail so important is their function in soothing and calming violent tendencies and anger, along with stabilizing emotions (feelings jams), and generally keeping their partner out of trouble. Even before they became moirails, Karkat was one of Gamzee's most important people, and now he is by far the most important person ever. Gamzee respects, trusts, and cares for Karkat, even when he's high, and even when he's at his craziest and most violent, he reaches out to try to incite Karkat to at least stop him. Karkat is his rock, and he does his awkward best to help Karkat in return. Though Gamzee would call it pity, he pretty much platonically loves Karkat forever and ever with everything, the end. Palemates for life.
Tavros: Gamzee's other best friend, and "best bro." They're pretty close and comfortable with each other. Gamzee loves talking and rapping with Tavros, and is encouraging and supportive. He also has a flush crush (positive and romantic) on Tavros, though he's very awkward at expressing it. Tavros's death is one of the factors that led to his mental break, and he spends a long time with Tavros's corpse, even kissing him and carrying him (and later his decapitated head) around. To be fair, he was more than a little crazy at the time, and kissing is a means of revival of the dead, so it was more signs of desperately wanting to bring him back/keep part of him close than anything more sinister.
Dave: Dave is the primary reason Gamzee went nuts, though it wasn't intentional on Dave's part. Gamzee doesn't really care about that, however, and he's furious and hateful. Hateful to the point that it's romantic (which is a thing, for trolls). Except even when he's furious and kind of crazy, he expresses a twisted fondness, being threatening and kind of flirty at the same time. There's even some respect for Dave's skills in that confused mess of Gamzee's emotions, but they're too raw and confused for him to really make sense of them. It's anyone's guess as to how they'll settle, and very dependant on how his interactions with Dave go.
Vriska: Initially Gamzee is pretty afraid of her, and even admits it, but after she kills Tavros he makes two attempts to kill her, in between his other actions. He's cockblocked during the first, but then spends a long and complicated time manipulating someone else who can counter her abilities into doing it for him. He treats the event like a trial with him and his decapitated head collection as the judge and jury, obviously approving of the "guilty" verdict and the "death sentence." His feelings toward her are vindictive, vengeful anger and platonic hatred. If he ever chanced to meet her again, he'd probably try to kill her with extreme prejudice.
Equius: A friend/enemy. They used to speak every day, with Equius insulting Gamzee and trying to get him to act like a proper (violent, superior and commanding) highblood, alternately with orders and apologies for trying to order someone higher. Gamzee just let the insults roll off his back and would agree to follow the orders at least until Equius took them back. He also tried hard to order Equius around to please him, but failed pretty miserably. He really just wanted to make Equius happy, and this was twisted by his insanity. He finally acted like Equius wanted by killing him, and Equius died with a smile, as part of the "best fuckin miracle [Gamzee] ever did part of." Gamzee doesn't feel truly guilty or regretful over killing Equius, though he does acknowledge that killing your friends is a bad way to go about making them happy.
Gamzee interacts onscreen very little to not at all with the other trolls and kids, so if requested I'll detail headcanon relationships, but for now I'll only include the above.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Gamzee will be coming from right after he establishes his moirallegance with Karkat. Prior to this Gamzee broke horribly, and this event brings him back from the brink, and also firmly establishes his most important relationship. Being able to come back from rock bottom like that is a pretty strong show of his heart, and even if he's far from being back to full mental health he's firmly on the road to recovery.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
And then Karkat was there, more real and solid than anything else ever. No weapons or anger or violence, only hands raised to send warmth cascading over his skin and a voice that was so very soothing. Gamzee took a breath as the motherfucking rage receded and his head cleared. The realization hit with the force of a thousand stampeding hoofbeasts. He was all up and pale as fuck for his best friend, and Karkat was just as pale in return. Moirails. Calm, comfort, contentment.
The rage and violence and bloodlust was still all full up in him, screaming up in his thinkpan and demanding he up and do its bidding. Violence and death, with all the wicked pictures in the best rainbow colors. But Gamzee knew now that he could tell it to shut motherfucking up and it would listen. And maybe he didn't want to up and not listen to all of it--the colors were so enticing--but with Karkat's influence, he was in control of it, and it would never motherfucking have him by the horns again. Karkat was his moirail and it was good. Perfect. Gamzee smiled into the blazing warmth that was his moirail and took a breath--Good friend. Best motherfucking moirail.--
...But it was sucked right out instead of in and he choked, swallowed up in the sensation of falling. Down, down, down. Darkness clawed and surrounded him. He struggled, kicked and screamed, with only one thought ringing through him. "You can't motherfucking take him away. He's up and mine." But there were only the memories of that perfect moment, playing through his head over and over, as he fell down into forever.
Except light glowed up from beneath his feet. A rainbow in the most brilliant red with his own indigo and touches of the other colors sparkling like glass. It was the most wicked of pictures in crystalized blood that took his breath away in the best of ways. The falling stopped and he stood entranced at the play of color, then kneeled, smearing the blood all over himself onto the platform and adding to the motherfucking rainbow. He couldn't make sense of the picture, but it surely was one. The picture didn't matter, as he followed the trail of that red--of Karkat-- until he could bask in the center, ignoring everything else. Especially the voices. He didn't want to listen to the quiet, so very quiet, whispers to kill all the motherfuckers. He was motherfucking done with being a sucker and bathing in death. The colors were enough, and he didn't need to kill for that. Just make them bleed. But one of the voices was rising above the others, clear and not at all soft.
OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET YOUR FUCKING ASS INTO GEAR; WE DON'T HAVE ALL NIGHT, YOU SPONGE-DAMAGED IGNORAMUS.
That sounded like Karkat, and Gamzee listened. He listened and he climbed back to his feet, searching for the source of the voice, even if he already knew it was just in his head. Still, he couldn't not answer.
karkat, brother, why are you all up and echoing in my thinkpan
WHEN YOU SHOULD BE ALL MOTHERFUCKING AT MY SIDE.
and you'd better be telling at me what you want me to up and do.
I'M NOT KICKING NO PATIENCE FOR RIDDLES AND SHIT RIGHT NOW.
He didn't feel all calm anymore, and hearing but not seeing wasn't helping that at all. Gamzee stared hard out into the darkness, trying to figure out what the fuck was even going on. Was this a dream? Was he up and trapped inside his own head? What was even going on? But wait, there at the edge of the light was something he hadn't seen before. A hive shaped pedestal, glowing gently and with a round slab for the top. Gamzee knew what that was, even if he'd never seen it in person before. Too motherfucking small for what it was meant for, but he turned towards it--there was another. And another. His spin ended where it started. So there were three of them. Gamzee took a step forward, sure that whatever he needed to do involved these.
THAT'S IT. SHOOSH. DON'T GET UPSET. THERE'S POWER LOCKED INSIDE YOU AND EVEN A SPACEY DUMBFUCK LIKE YOU HAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU NEED TO UNLOCK IT IN ORDER TO USE IT. BE FUCKING SMART ABOUT YOUR CHOICE. WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING? OF COURSE YOU WILL. JUST GET ON WITH IT.
There it was. That edge of calm that Karkat could provide, even as a voice in his head. Even if the voice was in his head, he could do this, and find that control he needed. So he had to choose a key and unlock something? Gamzee could do that. The pedestals were too small to climb on, but as he closed in, he saw objects suspended above them. The one furthest left had Karkat's sickles floating above it, crossed and braced in a defensive position. He veered and crossed over, already knowing that they wouldn't--couldn't--be his choice, but drawn inexorably anyway.
THE POWER OF THE GUARDIAN. THE COMPASSION TO AID THE WORTHLESS IDIOTS YOU CALL FRIENDS. THE STRENGTH TO STAND FIRM AND FUCKING DEFEND ALL.
Yes, that was Karkat, and that was why he was so drawn. Gamzee wanted that, but he knew all up in his heart that he was the destroyer. It was through the defender guiding him in attacking their enemies that he gained that ability to protect. He was a weapon, not a barrier. There was no choice at all; this was Karkat's key, not his. He could never choose this. Gamzee turned his back--
And laughed.
looks like a brother will have to up and make a real motherfucking choice.
THOSE ARE BOTH MINE.
The closer pedestal had his deuce clubs, spinning softly in a column of light. The second had a shimmering sign in his own indigo. It was the Jokerkind specibus symbol, except the face of the joker was what he vaguely remembered as the symbol of rage. Gamzee's first impulse was the clubs. They were familiar and comforting; something he'd always had at his side. But Jokerkind and Rage were a part of him too, and he couldn't go on kicking ignorance about what he motherfucking was. But they were also keys, so it wasn't the objects, but what they would unlock that was important. Well, he'd have to find out what that motherfucking was, wouldn't he? Gamzee approached the other two pedestals.
tell at me what these motherfucking keys up and open.
FILL A BROTHER'S THINKPAN ALL UP WITH THAT WICKED KNOWLEDGE.
THE POWER OF THE WARRIOR. BURNING UP WITH ALL OF THE COURAGE. BRING DOWN FUCKING DESTRUCTION ON YOUR ENEMIES BEFORE THEY CAN CRY FOR MERCY. IS THIS YOUR CHOICE, YOU DIM BULB?
He liked the sound of that. Gamzee wasn't the most courageous motherfucker, but he wasn't bad at it either. It fit his clubs pretty well, he thought. And that would be the other thing what Karkat would actually have to choose between, if he were here. Fuck, he missed his moirail. He could choose the clubs and be good with it, but he wouldn't choose yet. There was still that indigo sign he needed to up and get his learning on about. So he approached the last pedestal and got his listen on. Creating wonders and opening up ruin on what up and threatened them? That was like the miracles what had up and been so motherfucking cruelly snatched from him. He would miss the clubs, but this was his choice. To fill the void, and to support Karkat who was all up and needing some miracles in his life. The sign turned into light and stardust when he up and touched it, but Gamzee didn't feel at all surprised. Now, what the motherfuck was he supposed to be up and unlocking and how did he go about getting that done?
WAIT ONE FUCKING SECOND, GREEDY GRUBMUNCHER. YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING UP TO GET SOMETHING. SO MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND MAKE IT FAST--I BET YOU'RE SO FUCKING PROUD TO HAVE IT ALREADY DONE. FINE. IS THAT YOUR CHOICE? YOU'D BETTER BE FUCKING SURE BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET ANY SECOND CHANCES IF YOU ROYALLY FUCK THIS UP.
Gamzee didn't say anything, because he knew the Karkat-voice in his head was up and already knowing. He was sure. Time to get their motherfucking unlocking on, him and Karkat-voice. He looked around, wondering if a fucking door would up and make with appearifying all of a sudden, but the floor started to crack and crumble instead. There was nowhere to run, and nothing to up and do but fall again.
Motherfuck.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
In terms of Awakening, Gamzee has chosen to be an Artificer. As he doesn't know any KH magic, he'll have to learn it, but he'll be very quick at adapting and learning once he realizes he needs to. He'll probably focus a lot on combining weapons with magic, and take very, very well to the Darkness-based spells. He'll have his deuce clubs on his person, or at least be able to summon them at will.
In canon terms of total damage he's capable of, Gamzee is probably one of the strongest trolls, with the potential exception of Vriska (who is god-tier, with all the power that implies). He's physically strong enough to hold another troll off the ground with one hand around her wrist and effortlessly scratch his own face with the weapon she was wielding. He is able to wield a variety of weapons with crack skill (bow, clubs, hammer, and theoretically any other) due to his strife-specibus of Jokerkind, but he does favor blunt force weapons like clubs and hammers. Additionally, he is insanely fast, capable of flash-stepping effortlessly and often. His character class, however, is that of Bard, which strongly implies he's not a pure physical fighter, though in canon his game given skills are never elaborated on. I headcanon that it's a lot like DnD's Bard class, a jack of all trades with weapons and magic. What fighting he's seen doing in canon relies primarily on speed, accuracy and near-acrobatic grace rather than pure brute force. He's very strong, but much, much faster in comparison.
In Penrose, he'll obviously not be nearly as hax with physical fighting/weapons, forcing him to rely even more on speed and grace/accuracy, due to his choice of path. And he would probably have to actually learn how to wield any new weapon he tries for, rather than relying on the "magic" of Jokerkind to automatically master them. Once he does master a weapon, he will be very good at it, though. And he'll have already mastered clubs, bow and hammer. Any of his Bard of Rage skills will just be replaced by KH style magic.
In canon he also has one natural psychic ability. This ability is called "Chucklevoodoo" and it gives him the ability to discover and manipulate the fear(s) of others. The primary way to do this is via dreams, where he can alter the dreamer's subconscious to prominently feature the dreamer's fears to increase them to a potentially great extent. Word of god hints that the ability can also be used to manipulate those who are awake. He's at least used it to torment dreams, and probably to manipulate Terezi a little while he was messing with her.
I don't know if he'd be allowed to keep the ability or not, but if he isn't, it could be partially replicated with a melding--Obscuraga and Confuse would handle part of the effects.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
--He's a Homestuck character, and so has a quirk that is shown in canon. It's used to represent both how he speaks (volume changes) and types so I plan on using it for log-style interactions as well as text (he will, of course, work to get his Elo modified as soon as he can, because it will feel wrong to him not to have his color). I will have a permissions post up so other players can opt out of his text, and work with any that do how to proceed.
Aspirations-wise: I would like Gamzee to grow and stabilize mentally and emotionally. He has a lot to learn about socializing, and would benefit from a wide range of new friends of different cultures and species.
NAME: Bear
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
naturalcyber EMAIL: realisticfakefish@gmail.com
MESSENGER(S): AIM (Naturalcyber), plurk (Naturalcyber), LJ or DW PM (Naturalcyber)
TIMEZONE: EST
AGE (b. year): 1983
PLAYED CHARACTERS: N/A
LINK TO RESERVE: here
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Gamzee Makara
AGE: 6 sweeps (approximately 13)
FANDOM: Homestuck
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
MSPA Wiki on Gamzee
Explains Troll relationships
Gamzee is actually a paradox clone--meaning he was never laid and hatched normally like other trolls, but was instead made through a complicated process called ectobiology and sent back in time as a wiggler so he could grow up. As an indigo blood, he's the highest caste of land-dwellers, and one of the longest lived castes complete with a special ability, but it comes with a price. Highbloods are known to be violently angry and unstable, prone to murderous insanity. Gamzee's child--well, wigglerhood-- is almost spent normally for a troll. He gets a lusus, which is a guardian creature that raises young trolls, and they in turn function almost like a "zookeeper" in return. His lusus, unfortunately, is a primarily aquatic seagoat, and terribly neglectful on top of that. This means he virtually raised himself, and is uninformed about many important facets of troll life. As a result he's definitely socially awkward, and has a terrible habit.
Trolls sleep in something called Sopor Slime in order to even sleep well, and also to keep violent and bloody nightmare/cultural memories away. Most young trolls learn from their lusi that eating it is very, very bad for trolls, but Gamzee didn't, so by the time he's six sweeps he is a full-on addict. He also discovered his violent religion, developed a strong wariness of the ocean/sea dwellers, and met his friends. Then canon finally starts, and he's first shown talking to his closest friend Karkat about some game he's heard about.
It turns out that Karkat and Gamzee's other friends are about to start playing a game they discovered, and because they need twelve players, he's included. He spends most of his time before entering the game spacing out and rapping with his friend Tavros, but when it comes time to help others enter and enter himself he proves quite efficient at what he needs to do. Once he's in the game he proves to be a pretty good fighter, but he'd much rather share his drugs and chill with the enemies. The first other troll Gamzee seeks out in game is Karkat, who ends up coming to his world. What else he does during the game isn't elaborated on, but when they go up against the final boss he somehow manages to do the most damage with a single attack (with the possible exception of a god-level player).
Then when they're about to get their award, a god-powered villain shows up and they have to flee to have any hope of survival. They end up hiding on an asteroid, while the villain rampages through the game world, killing all their dreamselves (kind of like extra lives). Gamzee isn't very effected by this and hangs out in the common area, offering his pile of bicycle horns up for naps. He doesn't have much impact in the discovery of another session of the game and how it destroyed their session, or of the other session's players.
The exact order of the rest of the events here is unclear in canon because it's so non-linear and often confusingly presented. A lot of the order is guesswork, but this order is as close as I can get, with some things headcanoned in an order that makes the most sense to me.
Then he goes sober. His first act is to finally take Karkat's order to troll the humans and he picks the one with the 'candy red text' to bother. It backfires hard, because he's linked to a video that slanders and slaughters his religion. He goes into a righteously motivated rage by the blasphemy and leaves the common room--shortly after causing Karkat to start worrying about him.
What happens during this time period isn't certain, but I headcanon that he was contacted by Doc Scratch, who's been manipulating the entire troll species, and also the human's session through Betty Crocker (who, coincidentally is behind the human, Dave, getting his hands on that video). When he shows up later his faith is completely broken and he's also aware of his ancestors and his indigo abilities. Doc Scratch would be able to easily manage exacerbating the video's effects with a few simple, seemingly innocent answers to questioning, and personally knows the entire history of the species to provide the other information.
Then Tavros, who is one of Gamzee's closest friends and who he has a crush on is murdered. Gamzee is present for another troll discovering the body, and at around this time or shortly after he contacts Karkat for the first time. Karkat has just witnessed the murder of two friends by another troll and is very freaked out. Gamzee's drastic change in personality, exhibiting signs of mental fragmentation and murderous intent makes this worse. Gamzee states that he freaks himself out now, and states his intent on killing everyone else. Karkat opens a transtimeline memo to warn everyone and gets contacted by Gamzee again, this time from the future. Gamzee, however, doesn't go through with his murder threats though (not yet), and instead spends time with Tavros's body--kissing him at least twice--and getting his revenge on Dave. He uses his special abilities to manipulate fear to mess with Dave and make the humans' universe "terminal." Then he contacts Dave to rub his face in it and ends up flirting and rapping with him instead.
Elsewhere Karkat tells Equius (a friend/enemy of Gamzee) to go find and stop Gamzee, and Equius prepares to do so by first having a feelings jam with his moirail, Nepeta. Then Equius goes off to find Gamzee.
At this time, I headcanon Gamzee contacting Karkat through the transtimeline memo, as Equius approaches him, and right before he heads to the roof. Gamzee then proceeds to taunt Equius, order him to kneel and then strangle him. Nepeta had followed and was watching, so she attacks Gamzee, who allows her to scratch up his face before beating her to death and heading up to the roof, where Vriska (who murdered Tavros) is.
Unfortunately he doesn't get to do anything before someone else breaks up the fight and kicks him so hard he goes flying off the roof. He switches tactics and begins altering the murder scenes to look like Vriska did those as well, and lure another troll, Terezi, into facing off with Vriska. While she plays at being an investigator, he decapitates the rest of the bodies and collects the heads, while occasionally checking up and making sure Terezi is doing what he wants and just messing with her head in general. He's present when Terezi finally faces off with Vriska, acting like a judge with a jury of severed heads while Terezi kills Vriska.
At this time, my best guess is that his second conversation with Doc Scratch occurs (he's still exhibiting the mental fragmentation) where he's told he's a sucker and was manipulated. (At one point it says 00:00 for this scene, but it also seems that Karkat has the same computer and is talking with John at the end of that countdown so I'm putting it here. In short: timelines are confusing and I don't have a clue.) Very shortly after Karkat appears and he and Gamzee face-off. The face-off ends not with a fight, but with shooshing and hugging, as Karkat successfully calms Gamzee down. This is the point he's being taken from.
PERSONALITY:
Gamzee's personality isn't always readily intuited by looking at the surface, in part because in canon he spends much of his time high on a substance that is at the very least somewhat mind-altering, and quite probably a heavy sedative and anti-psychotic compound based on how canon describes its effects. He exhibits drastic, violent swings in surface personality that may seem contradictory, depending on circumstances.
The state he is in during most of canon is a passive and incredibly high one. Gamzee is friendly and laid back, frequently to the point of non-action. In spite of the copious swearing he retains a childlike wonder at the world. Everything is a miracle and he doesn't want to lose that awe. He is also very easily distracted, even by things as simple as flashing colors. He'll even space out at nothing at all, and does so frequently enough that even people he doesn't talk to often are aware of this.
Underneath that, is a kid who is desperate to please, and also a little lonely. As he was badly neglected by his lusus (the closest thing trolls have to parents) he is at a disadvantage with basic knowledge and in some ways, interactions. However, in spite of this, he never expresses anger or bitterness at his absentee lusus. He waits patiently for his lusus to come back every single night with an unfaltering hope that if he waits long enough, his lusus will, and expresses only sadness when his lusus is killed. This extends to his friends as well. As long as it doesn't go against what his heart is telling him is right, he'll readily agree to just about anything to please his friends. He even agrees to give up his drugs and favorite beverage because a friend says they're bad for him, and is confused when the order is taken back. He says later to said friend that making him smile would be the "best fuckin miracle I ever did part of," and spends his conversations with another friend laying on encouragements and praise very thickly. He's supportive and very easy to get along with, if possessed of some severely annoying habits.
In fact, even when people who aren't particularly close to him come to him needing advice, he does his best to give it. He isn't very good at giving advice, but he tries hard. Still, everything isn't all innocence and miracles with Gamzee. He's (well, was) a devout believer in a particularly violent and morbid religion. He enthusiastically fanboys evil, insane clowns, and believes in a paradise where everyone will "bleed as equals" brought about by slaughter. He'd much rather chill with even his enemies, but it must be stressed that he's just as capable of ultra-violence and murder while high as he is sober. He's just too relaxed and disconnected from emotion and reality to actually go about acting on things like that most of the time.
So, that's what he's like while high, but things change when he goes off the drugs. The simplest changes come first. Gamzee suddenly becomes more active and interested in things. While he was disinterested in trolling the humans while high, one of the very first acts he takes newly sober is to follow Karkat's order to troll them. He's quite excited about the opportunity, even if he's poor at the actual trolling aspect because he's too friendly toward the human he chooses to contact, even to the point of helpfully explaining the metaphors he's using. So that's the most obvious change, at least at first. Initiative, interest, and engagement with the world.
Then things go to hell in a handbasket for him, including the murder of one of his close friends that he had a crush on. Most importantly though, the human he tried to troll manages to shatter his faith with one simple link and he goes full of rage and withdraws hard from contact with others--something until that point he hadn't done before. In fact, while the other trolls keep their hording tendencies (piles of things) private, he keeps his in the public space they all use and encourages others to use it, apparently staying there nearly constantly to the point that it severely worries his closest friend when he leaves the room. When he appears again he's full of anger and obviously unstable mentally. He shows signs of a fragmented sense of self ("they were always both me :o) AND ALSO MOTHERFUCKING ME Do:"), claims to be hearing voices telling him to kill everybody, and has a drastic reversal of his former opinions on the troll caste system. He goes from barely being aware of it and disregarding it to fully supporting it and lording his place near the top of it over everyone else. He also develops a morbid obsession with corpses and painting with blood.
However, in spite of his claims to want to kill everyone, he waits at the very least nearly an hour after his first declaration to start killing, and even then only kills someone who was specifically sent to stop him and then someone who attacked him out of vengeance. It should be noted that he arranges that initial murder in a way to make the victim die smiling (remember that miracle mentioned earlier? Yeah, he fulfilled it). He had at least one chance to kill someone before this, as he was clearly watching someone while she was unaware. Instead, he spends most of this time with the corpse of his murdered friend, and proceeds to declare his revenge on the human who broke his faith and then to start flirting (specifically, hate-flirting).
Gamzee admits that his current state freaks himself out in one conversation before making the murder threats, and later proceeds to contact the same person again and encourage him to go up to where he'll be, specifically saying, "i wonder if you can all be at with me in time and make me get my reconsider on?" In light of the fact that when the friend in question does show up, he manages to snap Gamzee out of it completely, these statements become at least partially a cry for help. Gamzee is at least partially aware that there's something wrong with him and wants his friend's attention and companionship (if not to be stopped completely), even when he's angry enough to want to destroy the entire universe.
Other changes that become apparent when he's off the drugs is that he's much more observant and capable of thinking ahead. He arranges murder scenes to look like someone else did it, and is able to take advantage of another person's worries and biases to get an outcome that he's looking for. He puts his observational and planning skills to sinister use while he's snapped, but they're definitely there.
Lastly, his best friend does manage to bring him out of the crazy and raging state with what amounts to the powers of friendship. He doesn't seem to be one hundred percent back to sanity afterwards (especially as he still has the morbid obsession with corpses and painting with blood, though no longer showing interest in killing) but he shows concern for his friends again and is much calmer; willing and able to return the calming and comfort his friend gave him. Still very observant as well, because he's the first to notice that a seemingly dead friend isn't as dead as they thought and has shown up while everyone else is consumed with grief.
So taking that all into account, Gamzee's base personality under all the influencing circumstances and events is very friendly, and chill. He values being social (albeit is awkward at attempting it), and is devoted to at least his best friend. He is a little morbid and odd at the best of times, and certainly has underlying anger problems, if only due to his caste being predisposed to such issues, but he's also intelligent and capable of thinking ahead as well as planning on the fly. He will need a lot of time and care to fully recover from his mental break, but he's out of the worst of it. He is also, as shown in one log, unfortunately easy to manipulate. He doesn't seem aware that his mysterious adviser doesn't have his best interest at heart until he's told point blank that he's a "sucker." He certainly has a whole bunch of flaws, but he's no more predisposed to evil than any of the other trolls.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Karkat: Gamzee's "best motherfucking friend" and moirail. Moirail being one of the four kinds of troll romance and resembling platonic soulmates. Specifically, what makes a moirail so important is their function in soothing and calming violent tendencies and anger, along with stabilizing emotions (feelings jams), and generally keeping their partner out of trouble. Even before they became moirails, Karkat was one of Gamzee's most important people, and now he is by far the most important person ever. Gamzee respects, trusts, and cares for Karkat, even when he's high, and even when he's at his craziest and most violent, he reaches out to try to incite Karkat to at least stop him. Karkat is his rock, and he does his awkward best to help Karkat in return. Though Gamzee would call it pity, he pretty much platonically loves Karkat forever and ever with everything, the end. Palemates for life.
Tavros: Gamzee's other best friend, and "best bro." They're pretty close and comfortable with each other. Gamzee loves talking and rapping with Tavros, and is encouraging and supportive. He also has a flush crush (positive and romantic) on Tavros, though he's very awkward at expressing it. Tavros's death is one of the factors that led to his mental break, and he spends a long time with Tavros's corpse, even kissing him and carrying him (and later his decapitated head) around. To be fair, he was more than a little crazy at the time, and kissing is a means of revival of the dead, so it was more signs of desperately wanting to bring him back/keep part of him close than anything more sinister.
Dave: Dave is the primary reason Gamzee went nuts, though it wasn't intentional on Dave's part. Gamzee doesn't really care about that, however, and he's furious and hateful. Hateful to the point that it's romantic (which is a thing, for trolls). Except even when he's furious and kind of crazy, he expresses a twisted fondness, being threatening and kind of flirty at the same time. There's even some respect for Dave's skills in that confused mess of Gamzee's emotions, but they're too raw and confused for him to really make sense of them. It's anyone's guess as to how they'll settle, and very dependant on how his interactions with Dave go.
Vriska: Initially Gamzee is pretty afraid of her, and even admits it, but after she kills Tavros he makes two attempts to kill her, in between his other actions. He's cockblocked during the first, but then spends a long and complicated time manipulating someone else who can counter her abilities into doing it for him. He treats the event like a trial with him and his decapitated head collection as the judge and jury, obviously approving of the "guilty" verdict and the "death sentence." His feelings toward her are vindictive, vengeful anger and platonic hatred. If he ever chanced to meet her again, he'd probably try to kill her with extreme prejudice.
Equius: A friend/enemy. They used to speak every day, with Equius insulting Gamzee and trying to get him to act like a proper (violent, superior and commanding) highblood, alternately with orders and apologies for trying to order someone higher. Gamzee just let the insults roll off his back and would agree to follow the orders at least until Equius took them back. He also tried hard to order Equius around to please him, but failed pretty miserably. He really just wanted to make Equius happy, and this was twisted by his insanity. He finally acted like Equius wanted by killing him, and Equius died with a smile, as part of the "best fuckin miracle [Gamzee] ever did part of." Gamzee doesn't feel truly guilty or regretful over killing Equius, though he does acknowledge that killing your friends is a bad way to go about making them happy.
Gamzee interacts onscreen very little to not at all with the other trolls and kids, so if requested I'll detail headcanon relationships, but for now I'll only include the above.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Gamzee will be coming from right after he establishes his moirallegance with Karkat. Prior to this Gamzee broke horribly, and this event brings him back from the brink, and also firmly establishes his most important relationship. Being able to come back from rock bottom like that is a pretty strong show of his heart, and even if he's far from being back to full mental health he's firmly on the road to recovery.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
And then Karkat was there, more real and solid than anything else ever. No weapons or anger or violence, only hands raised to send warmth cascading over his skin and a voice that was so very soothing. Gamzee took a breath as the motherfucking rage receded and his head cleared. The realization hit with the force of a thousand stampeding hoofbeasts. He was all up and pale as fuck for his best friend, and Karkat was just as pale in return. Moirails. Calm, comfort, contentment.
The rage and violence and bloodlust was still all full up in him, screaming up in his thinkpan and demanding he up and do its bidding. Violence and death, with all the wicked pictures in the best rainbow colors. But Gamzee knew now that he could tell it to shut motherfucking up and it would listen. And maybe he didn't want to up and not listen to all of it--the colors were so enticing--but with Karkat's influence, he was in control of it, and it would never motherfucking have him by the horns again. Karkat was his moirail and it was good. Perfect. Gamzee smiled into the blazing warmth that was his moirail and took a breath--Good friend. Best motherfucking moirail.--
...But it was sucked right out instead of in and he choked, swallowed up in the sensation of falling. Down, down, down. Darkness clawed and surrounded him. He struggled, kicked and screamed, with only one thought ringing through him. "You can't motherfucking take him away. He's up and mine." But there were only the memories of that perfect moment, playing through his head over and over, as he fell down into forever.
Except light glowed up from beneath his feet. A rainbow in the most brilliant red with his own indigo and touches of the other colors sparkling like glass. It was the most wicked of pictures in crystalized blood that took his breath away in the best of ways. The falling stopped and he stood entranced at the play of color, then kneeled, smearing the blood all over himself onto the platform and adding to the motherfucking rainbow. He couldn't make sense of the picture, but it surely was one. The picture didn't matter, as he followed the trail of that red--of Karkat-- until he could bask in the center, ignoring everything else. Especially the voices. He didn't want to listen to the quiet, so very quiet, whispers to kill all the motherfuckers. He was motherfucking done with being a sucker and bathing in death. The colors were enough, and he didn't need to kill for that. Just make them bleed. But one of the voices was rising above the others, clear and not at all soft.
OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET YOUR FUCKING ASS INTO GEAR; WE DON'T HAVE ALL NIGHT, YOU SPONGE-DAMAGED IGNORAMUS.
That sounded like Karkat, and Gamzee listened. He listened and he climbed back to his feet, searching for the source of the voice, even if he already knew it was just in his head. Still, he couldn't not answer.
karkat, brother, why are you all up and echoing in my thinkpan
WHEN YOU SHOULD BE ALL MOTHERFUCKING AT MY SIDE.
and you'd better be telling at me what you want me to up and do.
I'M NOT KICKING NO PATIENCE FOR RIDDLES AND SHIT RIGHT NOW.
He didn't feel all calm anymore, and hearing but not seeing wasn't helping that at all. Gamzee stared hard out into the darkness, trying to figure out what the fuck was even going on. Was this a dream? Was he up and trapped inside his own head? What was even going on? But wait, there at the edge of the light was something he hadn't seen before. A hive shaped pedestal, glowing gently and with a round slab for the top. Gamzee knew what that was, even if he'd never seen it in person before. Too motherfucking small for what it was meant for, but he turned towards it--there was another. And another. His spin ended where it started. So there were three of them. Gamzee took a step forward, sure that whatever he needed to do involved these.
THAT'S IT. SHOOSH. DON'T GET UPSET. THERE'S POWER LOCKED INSIDE YOU AND EVEN A SPACEY DUMBFUCK LIKE YOU HAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU NEED TO UNLOCK IT IN ORDER TO USE IT. BE FUCKING SMART ABOUT YOUR CHOICE. WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING? OF COURSE YOU WILL. JUST GET ON WITH IT.
There it was. That edge of calm that Karkat could provide, even as a voice in his head. Even if the voice was in his head, he could do this, and find that control he needed. So he had to choose a key and unlock something? Gamzee could do that. The pedestals were too small to climb on, but as he closed in, he saw objects suspended above them. The one furthest left had Karkat's sickles floating above it, crossed and braced in a defensive position. He veered and crossed over, already knowing that they wouldn't--couldn't--be his choice, but drawn inexorably anyway.
THE POWER OF THE GUARDIAN. THE COMPASSION TO AID THE WORTHLESS IDIOTS YOU CALL FRIENDS. THE STRENGTH TO STAND FIRM AND FUCKING DEFEND ALL.
Yes, that was Karkat, and that was why he was so drawn. Gamzee wanted that, but he knew all up in his heart that he was the destroyer. It was through the defender guiding him in attacking their enemies that he gained that ability to protect. He was a weapon, not a barrier. There was no choice at all; this was Karkat's key, not his. He could never choose this. Gamzee turned his back--
And laughed.
looks like a brother will have to up and make a real motherfucking choice.
THOSE ARE BOTH MINE.
The closer pedestal had his deuce clubs, spinning softly in a column of light. The second had a shimmering sign in his own indigo. It was the Jokerkind specibus symbol, except the face of the joker was what he vaguely remembered as the symbol of rage. Gamzee's first impulse was the clubs. They were familiar and comforting; something he'd always had at his side. But Jokerkind and Rage were a part of him too, and he couldn't go on kicking ignorance about what he motherfucking was. But they were also keys, so it wasn't the objects, but what they would unlock that was important. Well, he'd have to find out what that motherfucking was, wouldn't he? Gamzee approached the other two pedestals.
tell at me what these motherfucking keys up and open.
FILL A BROTHER'S THINKPAN ALL UP WITH THAT WICKED KNOWLEDGE.
THE POWER OF THE WARRIOR. BURNING UP WITH ALL OF THE COURAGE. BRING DOWN FUCKING DESTRUCTION ON YOUR ENEMIES BEFORE THEY CAN CRY FOR MERCY. IS THIS YOUR CHOICE, YOU DIM BULB?
He liked the sound of that. Gamzee wasn't the most courageous motherfucker, but he wasn't bad at it either. It fit his clubs pretty well, he thought. And that would be the other thing what Karkat would actually have to choose between, if he were here. Fuck, he missed his moirail. He could choose the clubs and be good with it, but he wouldn't choose yet. There was still that indigo sign he needed to up and get his learning on about. So he approached the last pedestal and got his listen on. Creating wonders and opening up ruin on what up and threatened them? That was like the miracles what had up and been so motherfucking cruelly snatched from him. He would miss the clubs, but this was his choice. To fill the void, and to support Karkat who was all up and needing some miracles in his life. The sign turned into light and stardust when he up and touched it, but Gamzee didn't feel at all surprised. Now, what the motherfuck was he supposed to be up and unlocking and how did he go about getting that done?
WAIT ONE FUCKING SECOND, GREEDY GRUBMUNCHER. YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING UP TO GET SOMETHING. SO MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND MAKE IT FAST--I BET YOU'RE SO FUCKING PROUD TO HAVE IT ALREADY DONE. FINE. IS THAT YOUR CHOICE? YOU'D BETTER BE FUCKING SURE BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET ANY SECOND CHANCES IF YOU ROYALLY FUCK THIS UP.
Gamzee didn't say anything, because he knew the Karkat-voice in his head was up and already knowing. He was sure. Time to get their motherfucking unlocking on, him and Karkat-voice. He looked around, wondering if a fucking door would up and make with appearifying all of a sudden, but the floor started to crack and crumble instead. There was nowhere to run, and nothing to up and do but fall again.
Motherfuck.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
In terms of Awakening, Gamzee has chosen to be an Artificer. As he doesn't know any KH magic, he'll have to learn it, but he'll be very quick at adapting and learning once he realizes he needs to. He'll probably focus a lot on combining weapons with magic, and take very, very well to the Darkness-based spells. He'll have his deuce clubs on his person, or at least be able to summon them at will.
In canon terms of total damage he's capable of, Gamzee is probably one of the strongest trolls, with the potential exception of Vriska (who is god-tier, with all the power that implies). He's physically strong enough to hold another troll off the ground with one hand around her wrist and effortlessly scratch his own face with the weapon she was wielding. He is able to wield a variety of weapons with crack skill (bow, clubs, hammer, and theoretically any other) due to his strife-specibus of Jokerkind, but he does favor blunt force weapons like clubs and hammers. Additionally, he is insanely fast, capable of flash-stepping effortlessly and often. His character class, however, is that of Bard, which strongly implies he's not a pure physical fighter, though in canon his game given skills are never elaborated on. I headcanon that it's a lot like DnD's Bard class, a jack of all trades with weapons and magic. What fighting he's seen doing in canon relies primarily on speed, accuracy and near-acrobatic grace rather than pure brute force. He's very strong, but much, much faster in comparison.
In Penrose, he'll obviously not be nearly as hax with physical fighting/weapons, forcing him to rely even more on speed and grace/accuracy, due to his choice of path. And he would probably have to actually learn how to wield any new weapon he tries for, rather than relying on the "magic" of Jokerkind to automatically master them. Once he does master a weapon, he will be very good at it, though. And he'll have already mastered clubs, bow and hammer. Any of his Bard of Rage skills will just be replaced by KH style magic.
In canon he also has one natural psychic ability. This ability is called "Chucklevoodoo" and it gives him the ability to discover and manipulate the fear(s) of others. The primary way to do this is via dreams, where he can alter the dreamer's subconscious to prominently feature the dreamer's fears to increase them to a potentially great extent. Word of god hints that the ability can also be used to manipulate those who are awake. He's at least used it to torment dreams, and probably to manipulate Terezi a little while he was messing with her.
I don't know if he'd be allowed to keep the ability or not, but if he isn't, it could be partially replicated with a melding--Obscuraga and Confuse would handle part of the effects.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
--He's a Homestuck character, and so has a quirk that is shown in canon. It's used to represent both how he speaks (volume changes) and types so I plan on using it for log-style interactions as well as text (he will, of course, work to get his Elo modified as soon as he can, because it will feel wrong to him not to have his color). I will have a permissions post up so other players can opt out of his text, and work with any that do how to proceed.
Aspirations-wise: I would like Gamzee to grow and stabilize mentally and emotionally. He has a lot to learn about socializing, and would benefit from a wide range of new friends of different cultures and species.