𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 ?

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The alarms blare overhead, with warning flashes of red that illuminate the darkness in pulsing waves. The power's out, maybe through the whole facility. So far, at least, every locked door they've needed to get through comes open with a simple pull. No need for keycards or codes. If Konstantin actually believed in miracles, he'd have to admit this is one.

As it is, it's no miracle — most likely just all the wrong things happening at the right time. A breach of security in a facility that's under-run, a system lockdown that backfired somehow. They can hear the shouts of workers rushing past, frenzied instructions to Shut it all down!, and they might have mere minutes to get the hell out of here.

A series of rapid-fire gunshots sounds from down the hall, and Konstantin thrusts out an arm to catch against the younger man at his side, pushing him back for a moment. Guess they won't be needing that desperate, dangerous escape plan after all; here's another option. It might be their only chance. It probably is. If Konstantin dies on the way out, he'd rather it be that way — better than staying trapped and kept alive here while they turn him into some kind of fucking weapon.

...But he has someone else he's trying to keep alive. And that is a driving motivation to stay alive, too.

"There!" he utters quick and quiet, pointing down a hall leading in the opposite direction from where those gunshots sounded. From the large windows lining the sterile white corridor, it's clearly nighttime. That's good, less visibility when — if — they manage to find an exit out of this place.

PLAYER INFO

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Player Name: Jhey
• Player Contact: horreur / hagfishs @ discord / pm
• Player Age: 30+
• Permissions: Here.


CHARACTER INFO

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• Character Name: Konstantin Sergeyevich Veshnyakov
• Character Age: 39
• Character Canon: Sputnik
• Canon Point: Movie end

• Character History: Here.

• Character Personality:

— Charismatic: There's a certain charm that Konstantin embodies extremely well, a charisma that he exudes seemingly without trying. It comes in the form of bright smiles, a sparkle to his eye, a natural ease around people and being the recipient of attention, but also giving attention — he's a highly proficient conversationalist, able to read the flow of an environment and provide what's needed, knowing how to make others feel comfortable, included. He's pleasant to be around, kind-natured, showing interest, taking initiative when it seems that someone else needs him to. It often includes a sort of playful teasing, an affectionate familiarity — and something bordering flirtatious more often than not, a state that he's also quite comfortable in. For Konstantin, this is all part of his own comfort zone, given his particular career and the social role he embodies, which is that of a cosmonaut, a commander, and a Hero of the people — in his culture, a literal rank he has earned. He has been specifically trained to play the part of the charming hero, something his natural personality can fall to with extreme ease. It's also in some ways a sort of coping and defensive mechanism for him, however, a "safe place" to fall back to when his world quite literally comes crashing down and he finds himself in an extremely new, harrowing, and frightening situation. With an alien forcibly inhabiting his body and being contained in a military research facility against his will, Konstantin defaults back to his "normalcy", putting on the charming smile, the flirtatious familiarity, the easy affection to the staff of scientists and doctors. It helps him cope, helps keep him grounded to something when he feels out of control.

— Clever: Konstantin is an immensely clever man, though it's a trait that may be unexpected of him if someone has only ever been exposed to that playful, charming personality of his. However, underneath that surface level, he's quite intelligent. A higher education was a requirement to be accepted into the cosmonaut corps, as well as training in the knowledge of technology and the sciences. Particularly as a Commander whose training extended even further, Konstantin is very skilled in these matters, as canonically evidenced by the way he's able to quickly and efficiently utilise parts of a television set for other purposes, and is well familiar with the inner workings of the technology of his time. He's also skilled at figuring things out, forming plans of action — shown in the way he implemented an escape plan from the facility he was being kept in. He's able to see the bigger picture, and to work the little pieces around him to make that happen. It also means he's very adept in manipulation, often utilising that charm and ease of his to coax people along a specific path.

— Resilient: Resilience is another trait that's been fostered by Konstantin's training through the cosmonaut corps. It wasn't an easy process by any means, being quite grueling and challenging in parts, and involving a great deal of physical and psychological strength. Physically, he's been trained to peak performance, kept in shape and subject to routine medical examinations. But especially psychologically, Konstantin is a force to be reckoned with, having undergone extensive psychological training, given the emphasis on such being part of the "improved" cosmonaut corps training procedures of his particular time, the early eighties. His resilience shows itself throughout his experiences in canon, from the way he's able to maintain a level head when in horrifying situations, to the fact he keeps having hope that he'll be able to overcome the barricades around him and succeed in his goal to escape the military facility, reach his mother, and rescue his child. Certainly, he's not immune to crumbling at times, having little moments where his anger, upset, and fear cause him to falter, but it's generally when he's in solitude, away from being perceived by anyone else. He's able to keep going, and to make decisions that may be tough, not dwelling on them but acting. Perhaps the most extreme example of this is when he decides, within seconds, that the only and best course of action he can take is to end his own life, and he does so without hesitating.

— Avoidant: It may seem in contrast with his determined attitude and tenacity, but Konstantin's method of dealing with certain problems is avoidance, and at times, to literally run away from them. The biggest example of this is seen in the revelation that he shares a child with a woman he once had relations with, and did not marry (in his time and culture, such a thing would be an enormous stain on his reputation). While Konstantin didn't actually know about the little boy until very recently (getting a phone call that the woman had died and the child had been placed in an orphanage) and had plans to go collect him once he did learn of his existence, he claims that he still feels that he "chose space" over his son, insinuating that to some degree, he did run away — from marriage, from a family life. Given his own traumas over being abandoned by his father as a child, Konstantin fears such things (and deeply fears being a father or hurting a child the same way he was hurt.... which he ended up doing, even if inadvertently.) While "avoidant" isn't a huge part of how he typically functions, it is certainly a part that must be noted.

— Insecure: Again, this trait may seem a contrast with his confidence and self-assurance, but while those things aren't forced, they definitely rest at a certain "surface level" place that covers up self-doubt and even self-dislike. Being "a Hero" may be Konstantin's comfort zone and something he has worked very hard to become and embody, but deep down, he doesn't see himself as much of one, especially not anymore. Given what he recently learned about having a son who has been placed in an orphanage because he had no legal father, and the fact he has been utilised for bloodshed by the military facility he's been confined in for several weeks (they were keeping Konstantin to observe and study the alien entity within him, but also to begin the process of weaponising it, and began routinely feeding it human criminals), Konstantin's self-image of "a Hero" has not only been challenged but freshly shattered. His guilt and horror eat away at him, leading him to eventually have an emotional breakdown, to cry, and to need to be embraced in order to calm down again — weaknesses quite unbefitting a strong, "masculine" Soviet Hero. He very much views his possession by the alien entity as a "punishment" for his son's abandonment and suffering, and is continually haunted by that guilt.

— Ruthless: There is a certain ruthlessness to be found in Konstantin, something that has never quite been revealed before his recent circumstances, likely because it never needed to be. But his actions prove that once pushed against the wall and desperate, he will do whatever it takes to meet his goal, when it's important enough to him. This is seen in how he will do anything (and outright says he will) to escape the facility and rescue his son. It raises some upsetting moral dilemmas with other characters, especially the psychiatrist who is helping him, as she accuses him of being monstrous for allowing the facility to continue feeding the alien living human beings (albeit ones who have committed horrible crimes). Meanwhile, Konstantin knows if he challenges them, they'll never let him go, and so pretends that he doesn't know about what's going on, while forming a plan of escape. Whatever the deeper ethics of allowing horrible criminals to meet a gruesome end, the objective fact itself is that Konstantin does in this situation allow fellow human beings to suffer and die for his own cause. He'll do what it takes, even if it's at the cost of his own "humanity" — although it should be noted that in the very end, he did what he had to in order to save humanity, opting to kill himself rather than be used as a lab rat while the alien was turned into a weapon. The potential to be "ruthless" is there in him and he can utilise it when he needs to, but it's certainly situational and complicated.

• Character Skills: Most notably, Konstantin is a Commander of the Cosmonaut Corps, which involves extensive training in various areas:

• vigorous physical training and conditioning (giving him a general advantage in stamina and health, although this will be challenged by the long-term, unpleasant Alien Parasite Effects...)

• vigorous psychological training and conditioning (giving him an extremely stable and capable "psychological readiness", a strong resilience to stress, emotional stability, familiarisation with psychological reactions and how to gauge them in others, etc.)

• social training (within his culture's norms and expectations of "social excellence", but also training in social interactions with others, how to integrate well with others, how to be a good leader, etc.)

• knowledge of space science and technology (giving him the understanding of the inner workings of various technology, which could come in handy with some of the items around town, etc.)

• recent experience being trapped in a confined environment (he's just freshly returned from space, but also was kept in a small room in a military research facility for several weeks)

• Character Inventory:

— ITEM ONE: a nevalyashka doll
— ITEM TWO: an X-ray of the alien inside of his stomach
— ITEM THREE: a photograph of himself in the military uniform of the cosmonaut corps (much like this one, although his most recent photo taken, which includes the Hero of the Soviet Union medal upon his uniform)

• Important Notes: This character comes with an alien entity that is physically bound to / functions as a part of his body. (If needed, I have more information on the alien here under 'The Alien' section that describes it in greater detail, as well as including nerfing under different sections, which, if accepted, would be edited to suit any changes the mod wishes to make!) However, I've written a shorter summary version below that just really focuses on those nerfing parts for the sake of this application, if that works. Please feel free to let me know if any further clarification or changes are needed!

— Alien Summary: While in space on his way returning to Earth, Konstantin came into contact with a rogue alien entity that forced its way into his body. While little is known about this species, it needs a host in order to survive outside of space's atmosphere, and utilises the cosmonaut's body like its own "spacesuit" for protection. It also established a "bond" with him, technically functioning as symbiotic to such a degree that they can no longer survive without one another, although also being quite parasitic in appearance and nature. It mainly has to stay inside of his stomach, and when within his body, it's a relatively small (although still quite large for a foreign object, being nearly a foot long), simple snakelike / wormlike creature. When it needs to feed, it secretes a toxin that causes a seizure-like reaction in Konstantin that knocks him out, and exits him through his mouth, able to exist outside of him for about an hour. Once ingesting oxygen, it can expand in size and girth, as well as develop more features (eyes, teeth, and vestigial limbs) that can be used to explore its environment and feed on the hormone cortisol, which it procures from a victim's blood — typically feeding from the head/brain. A side result to its tether with Konstantin is that he retains its memories and it also retains sensations from his hormonal fluctuations.

— Alien Nerfing: The alien's extremely sensitive body will be weakened to the atmosphere itself; it's unable to survive well in extreme temperatures and will be very averse to the cold and snow of Milton. Therefore, it will be spending more time inside of Konstantin's body and out of the cold, not emerging from him nightly, but only sparingly. Aurora nights will also be especially damaging to it, given its extreme sensitivity to lights, sounds, etc. By the end of his canon, the alien had also matured enough that it could shapeshift into a more developed state when needed, with fully-formed arms and legs to suit its current environment where it was being treated like a weapon. In Singillatim which presents an entirely new environment (with entirely new survival needs), it will remain more "underdeveloped" and larval both inside and outside of him, conserving its weakened energy and preferring to stay within its host most of the time.

While the alien will still need to feed on cortisol, it will not have routine access to humans. Due to the cold setting weakening it and its inability to heal itself when wounded causing the alien to stay inside of Konstantin more, it will not be regularly eating on its own. He will often have to keep it fed himself, feeding from animals (their brains / blood...) This means that he (and it) will be consistently weaker and sicker, as Konstantin will refuse to feed from any humans (although an NPC or two miiight get munched along the way by the alien itself here or there, temporarily helping it stabilise for a bit.)

In Singillatim, the alien will function almost exclusively as a parasite rather than a symbiote. While still a part of his body / requiring his body for survival, it will provide no benefits in return. It will be unable to regenerate / heal him (or itself) if wounded, and will have no benefits on his physical state at all. The "mental link" between them will also be severed completely, meaning that Konstantin will be unable to access any memories from the creature. Due to its sensitivity of his hormone levels on a biological level, it will still be reactive to his emotions and "mimic" them — becoming agitated when he is, developing "attachments" for things he has positive hormonal fluctuations towards, etc. — but this will purely be from a place that's physiological, with no mental connection at all.

• Writing Samples:

— SAMPLE ONE: game setting samples
— SAMPLE TWO: psl setting sample

SHITPOSTS — 💫

LONG HAVE WE AWAITED THE DISTANT PLANETS
the chilly worlds, and the silent fields

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