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CHARACTER NAME: Alpha Dave Strider
SERIES: [Homestuck Wiki]
CANON POINT: shortly after being knocked out by a yarnball shortly after cutting Derse's moon free, Act 5
AGE: 13
APPEARANCE: [x]; Homestuck's main style of art is largely symbolic and (author-approved) up to interpretation (this includes race, hair color, etc.). I play Dave as caucasian and pretty fuckin' pale with white-blonde hair. Slim fencer's build. Shorter side of average height for his age.

PERSONALITY:

Dave Strider is the king of cool—or, at the very least, the archduke who's been vying for the king's throne since babehood. The man who raised Dave, Bro Strider, used his own highly unique style of 'parenting' that integrated itself into pretty much every facet of the kid's daily life. Namely, Dave grew up under a few set principles:

- everything has to be cool
- to attain such fuck-pure coolness, sarcasm and ‘irony’ should be used liberally
- puppets are pretty damn ace
- a brutal swordfight or two per day is inevitable and a practical use of one’s time.

The main chorus of the Strider theme song is: to live a life without giving a single fuck—not a hint of emotion splayed across a perpetual pokerface. There is nothing so important that someone should lose their shit over it. Nothing so great that it can't be mocked and treated like dust to be brushed off. Everything doesn't really matter. Everything's so okay it burns with the white-hot aura of who cares (hell, Dave literally says: "because downplaying feelings is the chief rule of cool"). Occasional smirks or momentary lapses into anger are the only acceptable breaks to an otherwise flawless persona.

Too bad Dave isn't perfect. As much as he lives and breathes the aforementioned credo, there are times when Dave’s cool is 'busted,' revealing a couple of the cards in his hands. This gives Dave the unfortunate habit of always wanting to change the topic whenever it goes anywhere near uncomfortable or too-boring territory (unless he’s trying to get under someone else's skin—but that's a whole other ballgame). As much as he aims to bottle up his emotions, there are times when miniscule fractures in his epic coolness expose how everything is not as chill as he would like. (For example: After Bro’s untimely death, he ends up tripping and lying on his face for an excessive amount of time, presumably experiencing a full-body sense of failure over how Bro is gone. This is not the coolest way to handle one’s grief. Before and after, he tries to disregard it by claiming there was no love lost between them due to his uncomfortable childhood.) Dave experiences a full spectrum of emotions, but he’s been learning how to numb and erase any expression of them for years. When he's angry, he doesn’t seem all that angry. When he's sad, you can't really tell. When he's happy, the smiles are slight and the affection is all subtle and shit, including manly statements like “one day your gooberish ways are gonna land you in a jam and i know im going to have to get you off the hook but its cool i got your back bro" (from a letter he sent to John). At heart, he's a hipster that’s gone to the edge and back. He liked those video games and beat them long before the tester version hit the mean streets of Japan. And it's okay.

Okay, time to tackle this not-all-that-ironic thing that Dave calls irony. For Mr. Joe Cool over here, 'irony' is saying the opposite of what he really means and doing things that aren't necessarily 'cool.' Of course, this works on the principal belief that the bro doing uncool things is actually so fucking awesome that the uncoolness becomes cool by association. Get it? It's like being the captain of the U.S.S Chill-- despite having openly claimed you hate boats-- and now you’re painting it baby pink. Totally makes sense. See, the genuine nuances of an ironic existence are largely lost on Dave; if he happens upon actual irony, it tends to be an accident on his part. Instead, Dave's obsession with 'irony' is more an inclination toward being insincere. Unsurprisingly, this ties in with Dave's need to appear cool and unaffected by even the most devastating of circumstances. Thus, he continues with it even as people fall like flies around him or the end of all universes approaches. While the breaks from his 'irony' become larger and larger as the series progresses (and everyone gets somewhat distracted by looming obliteration), Dave's penchant for sarcasm and condescension is a personality quirk that just don't quit.

Dave and his friends are quite an interesting combination. While it can be assumed that Dave isn't truly all rockhard badass and insufferable prick, he doesn’t break down into heart-of-gold mode when he's talking to John (his bestie) as opposed to Karkat (an annoying douchebag). Dave's affections toward his friends are shown in varying degrees. With John, it's a constant snarkfest peppered with such ninja-stealthed fondness that it has yet to be detected by the naked eye (as when Dave bought John the rabbit toy from Con Air even though he insults the ‘great’ Nicholas Cage as much as possible). Dave recognizes John as the hero—if not always the leader—and implicitly believes he's doing what needs doing. He trusts John to be a man by taking care of himself, and only interferes with whatever when it's absolutely necessary. On the other hand, Dave relates to his genetic-sister Rose through a continual battle of wits in which either side refuses to back down. However, Dave has recently broken that by hesitantly admitting he doesn't want Rose to die (something that took more effort than Courier text can convey, considering how he reacted to his guardian's death). When with Jade, young Mister Strider turns the dial down from eleven to ten-point-five, since she's a sweet girl and not the sort to appreciate being called a dumbass even if he doesn't really mean it. The trolls all receive their own, unique verbal ass-whopping: Karkat's treated like the crabby brat he is, whereas Terezi gets equal parts why-are-you-my-friend-type friendship and steady partner-in-crime vibes. Most of the other trolls are swept up into horrible rap battles where they generally perform so godfuck awfully that even Dave tells them to stop. There are limits to everything, even irony.

So how do others view Dave? There's this spectrum-- on one end he's the coolest kid ever (start taking notes, children), and on the other he's a downright asshole who deserves to cry while sitting in a boiling pot of oniony soup. His closest friends see him through both rose-colored glasses and dark, bitter shades all at once-- they recognize he's impossible, but have to admit he's surprisingly dependable when it comes down to the crunch. As for the troll crowd, the majority of them are often subjected to Dave being purposefully intolerable. No matter how hard they work at disturbing him, they either don’t reach their goal or end up having the tables completely turned in the human kid’s favor. Terezi, the only troll Dave really ends up befriending, had to work pretty hard to break past initial barriers, and is still kept at arm’s length. Not that Dave can be blamed for distance-- Terezi did try to get John killed and all. In the end, Dave’s the guy you want to punch in the face, but won’t because he’s watching your back (while mocking your haircut).

How does Dave view himself? As a fucking pariah of the elitist brand of awwwww yea. He's the most charismatic mastermind and he damn well knows it. Who wouldn't want this gloriously sweet dude right here—all cloaked in a hot as hell T-shirt emblazoned with a broken record when he's not otherwise classy-ing it up in a suit that isn't green? Dave is the universe-imploding bomb, second only to Bro in perfected coolness. His JPEG artifact-infested webcomics are the shit. His raps are phat and fat with heavy talent all up in your grill. Seeing a bunch of other Daves-- those born from doomed timelines and stable timeloops alike-- is a dream come true for him. More than enough Strider to go around and hang with, talking about liking things before liking things was cool. He loves this guy. There is nothing that isn't awesome about this guy. But, he's not the hero. He's not capable of that bravery and good-heartedness. When pulling out Caledfwlch—the Legendary Piece of Shit— from its stone resting place, Dave has to break it in twain. Dave accepts, almost too easily, that he’s not the one with a 'pure heart' (whereas he believes John could have gotten the thing King Arthur-style, all in one piece).

Dave's motivations are originally easy to guess based on that whole coolness and irony obsession. He intensely hero-worships his Bro, and while he tries to stay mad sick enough to be his own person, there's always this need to hold up the Strider household's ideals. Before his dimension's universe became a video game (and was in danger of ending altogether), Dave had the chillest goal of becoming a DJ, and being the cleverest, smoothest motherfucker imaginable. After being dragged and dropped inside the Sburb beta, everything changed for him. Dave doesn't think of himself as a hero by any stretch—he can't, since it would mean too much. Yet, his rather epic change in environment made him transform from something of an egotistical jackass to the egotistical jackass with half a sword and the will to survive. Davesprite--an alternate Dave--may be a changed person after spending four months in a doomed timeline, but his experiences can still be accepted as a ‘what if’ scenario for Alpha Dave. What would he do under duress, and how does being stuck in Sburb affect him? Well, it's obvious his devotion to his friends is just that: actual, loyal devotion. Except-- no, he's not going to follow them around, hold their hands, and make sure they’re perfectly safe. If they 'check out' as Rose did, he recognizes he can't drag them up from the depths of what the fuck ever they got into. Nonetheless, Dave is doing his best to keep them all alive. Knowing he can’t fully trust Terezi, he still follows her advice toward the least horrendous future. What other choices does he have? They have to stop Jack (the Big Bad). They have to save the universe-cum-reality. They're going to get all the sweet bitches because of it.

Dave's most obvious strengths and weaknesses aren’t very complex. He's a good fighter and he keeps his eye on the prize. Emotions (haha, yeah-- those) don't tend to shift his focus or alter his path. He can deal with a lot of pressure—a lot of pain and potential sacrifice-- without losing his shit or even the lint from his pockets. Naturally, this leads to one clear-cut weakness: he's a shaken soda bottle waiting to burst wide open. Small things can earn some annoyance from him—showing a bit of anger isn't completely uncommon—but he doesn’t allow himself to grieve over anything. Anything major is tucked away inside. Eventually? There's going to be nowhere left to tuck all these fears and worries. His humanity doesn't show under the heavy cloak of cool, and his ability to empathize with others is severely hampered because of it.

Anything else? Adapting Dave to Exit Void's setting shouldn't be very difficult. While no part of him wants to be torn away from the important things he was doing in Sburb, he's grown used to the idea of being trapped in video games without his full consent. Monsters? No big. His life in danger? Le yawn. He's dealt with that, and he'll deal with it again. Once he's able to take his time and learn the system, he'll try his damnedest to manipulate it; he played the stocks in Lohac, his designated world in Sburb, and he'd see if he can't tamper with the systems KERNOS Co. has set up for their players. Dave will be the thorn in everyone's collective sides, in other words, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Final notes: In-jokes are everything. Eye-covering shades forever (because red eyes are for hiding and because irony). And don't let your guard down. It's not worth it.

ABILITIES:

Dave's abilities largely fall into two realms: sword-fighting and time manipulation.

Since he was born created, Dave has been under the tutelage of his older Bro and has presumably trained with bladekinds throughout the last thirteen years. His style includes a lot of furious slashing and long lunges—it's not that he follows any one 'art' of swordplay. He merely does whatever it takes to stab an enemy and not get slaughtered in turn. Unfortunately, as he is but a human kid, Dave's not the strongest player on the field by a long shot. He's good, though. And he's fucking jackrabbit quick. In his universe, Striders (and a few others), seem to be masters of a lowgrade version of the flashstep, which may explain some of how he zig-zags around.

As for the time manipulation*, this is obviously a tricky area. In Sburb, Dave appears to be largely unlimited in what he can do via traversing the timestream. He can also use his powers to speed up processes (he uses this to speed up the breeding of universe frogs) or to temporarily 'freeze' his opponents. In order to put some limitations on Dave, time travel will be a lot more physically taxing to him in the game, and the whole of it will be nigh on impossible if he doesn't have his Timetables or any similar time-related item on him. Likewise, speeding anything up or sloooooowing it down will take a pronounced toll, require far more concentration (spinning of dem record wheels), and sometimes go on the fritz. He's not in Sburb anymore, after all, and it would make sense for his powers to no longer be easy and seamless game mechanics.

Now, being a character from Homestuck, Dave doesn't fight or 'hold' things like a normal person. Written into his genetic sequence are two 'program'-esque extensions: his sylladex (which is run through a fetch modus) that allows him to captchalogue artifacts, and his strife specibus portfolio. In English now, you say? Dave carries items not in his pockets or a bag, but in his own, personal hammerspace. They're kept in his 'syllabus' (dat hammerspace) in card form—cards which can be given to others—until he needs them. Likewise in this very symbolic subspace, he has his ½bladekind and regular bladekind strife specibi (which, as far as Exit Void is concerned, means he can only wield broken or whole swords in battle). In order to put a limit on what Dave can or cannot 'carry,' his sylladex will only have twenty-five cards in it at the start (and likely throughout the duration) of his stay.

[*OOC Note: Whenever Dave is going to engage in any time shenanigans that would change the course of a conversation/battle, I'll make sure to OOCly converse with anyone involved beforehand and assure a compromise/agreement can be reached.]

POSSESSIONS:
Note: everything but the clothes on his back is being held in his sylladex

- his Derse outfit (which will quickly be exchanged for something else)
- all of these outfits minus that awful green one
- iShades
- Turntop
- Snoop Dogg Snow Cone Machete
- Sord…..
- a broken Caledscratch
- Royal Deringer
- Scarlet Ribbitar

TL;DR fantastic clothing options, time-travel shit, and a bunch of swords (a good amount of which are broken)