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Cassius is a whole - heh - can of worms waiting to be opened. Things that might not be your cup of tea:
- Body horror of all kinds, as Cassius is a shell made up of all sorts of parts that can be torn, morphed, and moved.
- Worms, maggots, creepy crawlies.
- Meat consumption of the human variety.
- Self-mutilation.
- Self-cannibalism.
- Weird body fluids, especially in his eyes (they are pretty much pockets filled with maggot soup).
- Worms on people violence.
A lot of these are hard to avoid (like his worms, his shell, and his eyes), but if we talk it over, I can try to soften it a bit! I can keep everything else to the side, I'd just need to know beforehand. If that's not enough, that's okay! No worries, you take care of you. Comments are screened for privacy.
History
Cassius, before he'd become Cassius, has been told that he'd started out as a massive pool of worms working in unison to make what would be his first shell in the heart of his Garden. He doesn't actually remember this time - his first memories are of sudden, violent light and coming to some hulking, bleeding creature he'd known even then could kill him if it wished.
It didn't. Instead, it unraveled into something smaller. A child, one wet-eyed and alone and host to something they would only ever refer to as the Song. Grasping onto whatever they could at that point, they took comfort in meeting a fellow monster, moreso the temporary peace his home brought them.
They would be the one to give him the name of Cassius, and in turn, he named them his Hunter.
With a patch-work shell and threadbare understanding of how to function, Cassius inserted himself snug into the life of this struggling, monstrous pre-teen. It was a beneficial relationship on both ends - the stillness of the Garden helped soothe the Song in his Hunter's bones, and in turn, Cassius would learn a love of humanity and the means to communicate with it.
He'd also learn that not all monsters were creatures like him.
The peace that Cassius’ sanctuary offered his hunter was temporary, and soon the Song's demands were too much to resist. His hunter ventured into the outside, where the stench of humanity called to the primal, bloodthirsty thing inside of them. It was luck that brought them to their next victim: a monster preying on civilians, something that brought both his hunter relief and the Song excitement.
It was here that Cassius fell into his role as their keeper, reining them in with his worms and luring them back into his Garden when it became obvious the Song's influence was too great. It was also the point where his hunter realized that they could aim the Song at those that deserve it, instead of the innocent.
And so, Cassius and his Hunter fell into a cycle of hunting down monsters (both human and not) villain-of-the-week style. It was a comfortable thing, a routine that accompanied them across state lines and made the entirety of the U.S. their hunting ground. With time came control - his Hunter grew into a monster unchallenged, and Cassius refined himself and his Garden, the former aging and seeming more human while the latter became more of a home.
Years passed by in blurs of late-night hunts, reeling in his Hunter’s more violent impulses, and shitty offbeaten diner burgers. For a while, Cassius believed this was all what life was supposed to be.
Cue the arrival of his Gardener.
Kind, confident, and with a tongue as sharp as the monstrous bits in his hair, Hugh Argyros (a different one than the one that's found himself in Karteria, mind! There are many Hughs across many worlds - Cassius, too) quite literally dropped into their lives in the middle of a monster hunt. The resulting chaos was… loud. Too loud. The sudden addition of a new, panicked presence drew far more observers than they’d had in the past, and with it, a problem that they’ve never really had to deal with before: being known.
Despite spiriting Hugh, his hunter, and the monster away into his Garden as quickly as he could, it wasn’t enough to keep evidence of their workings off of what Hugh would call “the internet”. Obscured as the proof may have been (and it was obscured - hard to capture a good photo or video with a shaking hand as a mass of meat and teeth bounds across the pavement), it didn't keep strangers from dredging up his hunter's old ghosts when a connection was made. Cases that were long thought to have gone cold were once again in the public's eye, his hunter's image buzzing in screens across America.
But the nameless masses weren't the only ones interested in cold cases and cryptid sightings. It had also attracted the attention of something Cassius hadn't even known existed: another of his kind, metamorphosed beyond mere worms and maggots. Ophira.
Accompanied by a hoard of followers and a cloud of mosquitoes, she’d come for his Garden when he was furthest from it, having been lured away with his companions to a murder cult basement by her people and given a preview of the hunger that plagued her. It was here that Cassius had learned that creatures like him could be hollowed out and consumed before they were birthed, and it was here that everything started to crumble.
Invading and forcibly rooting his Garden from the inside, she’d ripped Cassius’ consciousness back to his birthplace and trapped him there in a ring of sickened smoke and salt. From there it was a race against time, a question of whether his hunter and gardener would find him before Ophira completed her ritual.
They managed to, but not before Ophira had taken partial control of Cassius’ Garden. With both worms and mosquitos under her command, she did everything she could to keep them away from Cassius until the ritual could be completed. For a moment, it looked like it would work, but Cassius’ gardener pushed through at the last moment, breaking the circle just enough to weaken its hold.
And Cassius broke free furious.
Taking control of what was left of his Garden, his anger pushed him to new heights. Wasps bloomed from his worms by the hundreds, and together with his hunter and his gardener, he wrenched his home free of Ophira's hold and shunted her and what was left of her followers out into the space between his Garden and the Earth.
Recovery was slow, but steady. When it was clear the threat had passed and the effects of the ritual were thoroughly stamped out, routine welcomed them like an old friend.
At least until his gardener and hunter wake up one day to find him completely gone, spirited away to a different world completely: Karteria!
It didn't. Instead, it unraveled into something smaller. A child, one wet-eyed and alone and host to something they would only ever refer to as the Song. Grasping onto whatever they could at that point, they took comfort in meeting a fellow monster, moreso the temporary peace his home brought them.
They would be the one to give him the name of Cassius, and in turn, he named them his Hunter.
With a patch-work shell and threadbare understanding of how to function, Cassius inserted himself snug into the life of this struggling, monstrous pre-teen. It was a beneficial relationship on both ends - the stillness of the Garden helped soothe the Song in his Hunter's bones, and in turn, Cassius would learn a love of humanity and the means to communicate with it.
He'd also learn that not all monsters were creatures like him.
The peace that Cassius’ sanctuary offered his hunter was temporary, and soon the Song's demands were too much to resist. His hunter ventured into the outside, where the stench of humanity called to the primal, bloodthirsty thing inside of them. It was luck that brought them to their next victim: a monster preying on civilians, something that brought both his hunter relief and the Song excitement.
It was here that Cassius fell into his role as their keeper, reining them in with his worms and luring them back into his Garden when it became obvious the Song's influence was too great. It was also the point where his hunter realized that they could aim the Song at those that deserve it, instead of the innocent.
And so, Cassius and his Hunter fell into a cycle of hunting down monsters (both human and not) villain-of-the-week style. It was a comfortable thing, a routine that accompanied them across state lines and made the entirety of the U.S. their hunting ground. With time came control - his Hunter grew into a monster unchallenged, and Cassius refined himself and his Garden, the former aging and seeming more human while the latter became more of a home.
Years passed by in blurs of late-night hunts, reeling in his Hunter’s more violent impulses, and shitty offbeaten diner burgers. For a while, Cassius believed this was all what life was supposed to be.
Cue the arrival of his Gardener.
Kind, confident, and with a tongue as sharp as the monstrous bits in his hair, Hugh Argyros (a different one than the one that's found himself in Karteria, mind! There are many Hughs across many worlds - Cassius, too) quite literally dropped into their lives in the middle of a monster hunt. The resulting chaos was… loud. Too loud. The sudden addition of a new, panicked presence drew far more observers than they’d had in the past, and with it, a problem that they’ve never really had to deal with before: being known.
Despite spiriting Hugh, his hunter, and the monster away into his Garden as quickly as he could, it wasn’t enough to keep evidence of their workings off of what Hugh would call “the internet”. Obscured as the proof may have been (and it was obscured - hard to capture a good photo or video with a shaking hand as a mass of meat and teeth bounds across the pavement), it didn't keep strangers from dredging up his hunter's old ghosts when a connection was made. Cases that were long thought to have gone cold were once again in the public's eye, his hunter's image buzzing in screens across America.
But the nameless masses weren't the only ones interested in cold cases and cryptid sightings. It had also attracted the attention of something Cassius hadn't even known existed: another of his kind, metamorphosed beyond mere worms and maggots. Ophira.
Accompanied by a hoard of followers and a cloud of mosquitoes, she’d come for his Garden when he was furthest from it, having been lured away with his companions to a murder cult basement by her people and given a preview of the hunger that plagued her. It was here that Cassius had learned that creatures like him could be hollowed out and consumed before they were birthed, and it was here that everything started to crumble.
Invading and forcibly rooting his Garden from the inside, she’d ripped Cassius’ consciousness back to his birthplace and trapped him there in a ring of sickened smoke and salt. From there it was a race against time, a question of whether his hunter and gardener would find him before Ophira completed her ritual.
They managed to, but not before Ophira had taken partial control of Cassius’ Garden. With both worms and mosquitos under her command, she did everything she could to keep them away from Cassius until the ritual could be completed. For a moment, it looked like it would work, but Cassius’ gardener pushed through at the last moment, breaking the circle just enough to weaken its hold.
And Cassius broke free furious.
Taking control of what was left of his Garden, his anger pushed him to new heights. Wasps bloomed from his worms by the hundreds, and together with his hunter and his gardener, he wrenched his home free of Ophira's hold and shunted her and what was left of her followers out into the space between his Garden and the Earth.
Recovery was slow, but steady. When it was clear the threat had passed and the effects of the ritual were thoroughly stamped out, routine welcomed them like an old friend.
At least until his gardener and hunter wake up one day to find him completely gone, spirited away to a different world completely: Karteria!
karteria app
OOC INFORMATION
Name: Mia
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact: journal pm, please
Other characters: N/A
Permissions & opt-out: both right here
IC INFORMATION
Name: Cassius
Canon: Original
Age: Technically been awake for 15ish years? Appears as a mid-twenties man.
Gender: Presents as male
Species: Sentient Mass of Worms
Appearance: here
Canon point: A half-ish year after dealing with Ophira
History: Here
Personality answers:
3. Cassius would pick touch! His years with his hunter have left him with little respect for personal boundaries, and if he wasn't squirming in some corner without blinking, he'd be attached to his hunter's hip or his gardener's, molding himself to their shape, absorbing their warmth (because Cassius loves being warm), and changing his squirm to meet their heartbeats. Cas doesn't really smell or taste in the way normal people do - his sense of smell is limited because of his worms, and food is either “yeah, that's meat”, or too much if strayed far from his diet. His sense of sight is translated to him directly from worms and worm bits, so his sense of touch is pretty much the most valuable to him followed by his hearing.
As for coping, Cassius would be glued to both his hunter and his gardener 24/7, if not with his shell, then some maggoty extension of him they could keep close in a pocket or curled up around an ear (or, more in his Hunter’s case, buried inside of their chest). While he'd miss having his conversations (for Cassius is very conversational), he'd be mostly content with feeling their warmth, heartbeat, and knowing that his loved ones were safe. He would probably even go so far as to hibernate his main body to focus on feeling his family.
4. Physical appearance is kind of nebulous ground for Cassius considering he’s a massive pile of worms! He doesn’t really value what he looks like in the sense that he wants to be attractive or likes the way he looks, it's more that he’s attached to the familiarity and comfort his form provides. He finds satisfaction in being recognized and welcomed with warmth, at having an identity and a home in his people whether it be as a puddle of worms or person-shaped.
That all said, he is very aware that he is an unnerving creature to those that do not have a monster’s instincts, and has given his best in trying to appear as human as he possibly can. While a lot of the details still escape him - working eyes or warm cheeks, for example - he is constantly tweaking things here and there in an effort to scare the humans less. He loves humanity! He does not love it when they run away before he can ask his many, many questions.
8. Emotions, when it comes to Cassius, are things he is still trying to work through. While he does recognize things like happiness and satisfaction, the more negative side of emotion - anger, sadness, jealousy - is something he is still not all too familiar with, even after his years of living. Not to say he doesn't get upset, just that it's… harder. Harder to trigger, harder to control, harder to forgive.
A surefire way of truly upsetting him, though, would be achieved through not Cassius himself, but those he's grown attached to. See, Cassius doesn't feel much pain on the physical level, and he doesn't bear enough understanding of the intricacies of human tone and language to figure out when he's being slighted. He does, however, understand what it means when his gardener comes back to him bruised, or when his hunter is curled up isolated deep in his Garden. Cassius may not have much understanding of himself, but he understands his loved ones’ hurts and takes their pain onto himself. To truly upset Cassius, you would have to hurt his people.
His anger comes in the form of wasps and wormtrails up the legs. He is a monster at his core, and his upset can be just as monstrous. It comes like a swarm above and below, and it doesn't really stop until it burns itself out. Or, as is often the case, he can be soothed back by one of the hurt parties.
As for forgiveness - perhaps. But it would take work, depending on the hurts perceived.
9. Justice, to Cassius, is a merciless and brutal thing his hunter has carried on their shoulders for years. Don't hurt those that don't deserve it, hunt down the ones that do - it is one of the earliest lessons given to him by his hunter, and he has internalized it with all of the enthusiasm of a baby duck. He considers justice a relief, if not to the victims themselves, then to those that would have been next even if they aren't aware. Cassius sees justice in black and white, having utmost faith in his hunter’s judgement to weed out the worst.
If you take his hunter out of the equation though, things become painted in uncomfortable shades of grey. See, Cassius holds himself strictly to his hunter's moral code and has relied heavily on their ability to smell out the darker parts of humanity. Without his hunter there to tell him who is good and who is bad, Cassius… struggles. With no way of knowing who deserves justice (aside from seeing terrible acts himself), Cassius defaults to not acting at all. Now, this wouldn't be much of a problem for normal people, but Cassius has tied many things to justice - including his diet. His most common source of meat comes from those his hunter kills, acting as cleanup, and if he's unsure of a person's guilt, he'd rather turn his worms on each other (which he gains nothing from, effectively starving himself), or resort to less nutritious sources of meat, like fish.
Inventory:
A multi-tool pocket knife given to him by his Gardener. Has little worms etched into the metal. Cassius was told the answers to all the world's problems are held in it, and he is still trying to decipher them.
A baby's first letters book, worn with age and clearly loved.
A small gardening set, consisting of a watering can, a hand shovel, a hand rake, and a pair of gloves.
Powers/Abilities:
Cassius' shell, made up entirely of recycled worm parts, has a few nifty tricks to it:
◦ It can shapeshift! Sort of. With enough time and elbow grease, Cas can change his size, shape, and color to whatever he feels like. Think of it as crimes-against-nature arts n crafts! It's a process that he doesn't undergo often - he quite likes the way he looks, and won't venture out unless prompted by others.
◦ It has regenerative properties! Sort of. If his shell takes any damage that results in small tears or cuts, he can glue himself back together with the power of worm goo and tiny mouths. Anything more serious requires him to make more parts to patch himself up with, which takes time. If the entire shell is unsalvageable, Cassius will abandon it in favor of making a new one. This is a lengthy, meticulous process that leaves his worms exposed until he can make himself another skin.
◦ It doesn't feel pain. Human bodies have nervous systems, Cassius' doesn't (yet), and any pain his worms would feel is muted. You could tear this boy wide open and he'd feel more put out than anything.
Cassius' worms, the most important part of him, also have a few things to them:
◦ They're carnivores! Even the most earthworm-like of his mass eats meat, and they're pretty good at it, chewing through flesh like softened butter. Their little mouths are strong enough to bore through bone, too.
◦ They can change shape, species, and size to Cassius' will. It's easiest for him to do when they're still within his shell, so they tend to keep to whatever form they take when out of it. That said, while his worms can take on the look of most worms, maggots, and things in between, there are certain types he cannot mimic, such as hammerhead worms or parasitic ones.
◦ Cassius has access to all of his worms' senses, and has the ability to focus completely on one, or muddle them out. He also always knows where his worms are, and often uses this to keep tabs on those he cares about. Both of these peter out the further his worms get from him, and his worms will become dormant once they have left his radius of control completely (which can extend up to a city block). Outside of his radius, the feedback amounts to a muddled suggestion of senses, and an idea of a direction.
◦ His consciousness follows his shell and the worms within it when outside of his Garden. He does not know what would happen should every worm within his shell die while being unable to access his Garden, but the best guess is... well. Death. Without access to his Garden, Cassius' worm replenishment is limited to how fast they can reproduce.
And speaking of his Garden:
◦ It's a pocket dimension that houses an unfathomable amount of worms of all shapes and sizes! It hosts an incredibly large hedge maze - the only thing aside from the roses and the Gazebo in the heart of it that isn't made of worms. The grass is worms, the walls are worms, and in the high, high ceiling, dormant worms the width of skyscrapers mimic the night sky.
◦ His Garden can appear anywhere Cassius has been before, but has to meet specific conditions (cannot have too thick a layer between it and earth, cannot be placed upon metal, has to have enough space topside to fit his gate, etc) for it to take root.
◦ With his Garden near, Cassius is pretty close to immortal - when the loss of his worms becomes too great, he can simply just summon more through the gate to replenish what worms he has lost. In his Garden, however, Cassius is all of the worms.
Nerf notes: For his Garden, I figured he'd have access cut off completely! Either to do with something not meshing well with it in the soil, or just because of the radiation in general acting as a barrier.
For his worms, I was planning on self-nerfing his range to somewhere within a dozen feet for his immediate/active range, due to having an anchor now firmly in the neck of his shell.
Other:
Cassius is pretty good at gardening. Being made of things that can root through the soil harmlessly helps with that.
Samples: Here & HerePlayer Goals: So, real talk - I'm new to Dreamwidth games! And rusty as an RPer in general. I wanted to app with Cassius because he's comfortable to me and I thought he'd have some interesting interactions to offer. He's also never been on his own, and I wanted to explore how he'd grow as a person/monster without the influence of his Hunter. Personal personal goals are to meet new people, make some friends, make Cassius grow into a Real BoyTM.
Soul Choice: Terra! Specifically, a climbing rose. Cassius has always had a connection to roses outside of his worms because of his Garden, and I just want to kind of lean into that part of his aesthetics. Plus, y'know, some good potential for the HorrorsTM.
get to know him
Who he is:
What he is:
What he can do:
Other:
Cassius, nicknamed Cas by those who care for him, is a human-shaped sack filled with wormy, wriggling bodies of all kinds. He comes from an alternate Earth that has old, old things bumping in the dark, and travels frequently across states to hunt them down with his pair of fellow monsters (whom he lovingly refers to as his Hunter and his Gardener). When not hunting down old terrors, or wrestling in the not-so-human impulses of the company he keeps, Cassius helps his Hunter deal with a different sort of monster entirely: human ones.
Cassius is a curious creature, and he wants to absorb as much as he can about people and the world they live in in hopes of it making him a little more human. What he does know is a slippery slope of accuracy, his primary source for years being a hot mess of a pre-teen's education and educated guesses. Expect him to be wrong about things often, and kind of stubborn about it!
You can also expect him to be unintentionally… off putting when interacting with others. Cassius hasn't had a lot of experience with people outside the ones he can count on his hand (his Hunter, his Gardener, the occasional waitress, and most recently, Ophira), and it's left him with little ability to understand the nuance of human tones, language, and expressions. He is honest to a fault, even when he probably shouldn't be, and especially when he shouldn't be (e.g, his diet and his anatomy).
But above all, Cassius is a loyal friend.
What he is:
Cassius is, as previously stated, millions of squirming worms packed inside of a human-shaped shell. Though he gives his best efforts at mimicking a person, he isn't quite knowledgeable enough to capture humanity's finer details, and it's pretty obvious from the get-go that there's something uncanny valley about him!
His shell, primarily made of insect parts mushed down and reformed into papery skin, is pale and constantly rippling with movement of some kind. The parts of it that run thin (fingers, toes, joints, and facial features) are blue-tinged, and when torn, his shell becomes a wilted, purplish brown that oozes instead of bleeds. His shell and his worms both run cool, so he's always looking for a warm body to encompass.
He hasn't quite figured out how eyes work yet, and leaves them hollowed for the most part. A thin film domes over each socket, the cavities filled with a dark murky, equally squirmy liquid to keep them from collapsing. Gotta make sure his eyelids have something to shape them; it's important in not scaring the locals, you know! Now, if only he'd remember how to blink.
His hair falls loosey goosey to his shoulders in flaxen, silken strands. He's not too great at textures, either, because it doesn't feel like human hair at all. Maybe more of a fine, room-temp spaghetti. Not too awful, but definitely off-putting if not expected.
But of course, this is all subject to change because -
What he can do:
His shell is customizable! With a little time, creative experimentation, and elbow grease, Cassius can construct himself new, exciting features for his shell, or, if he so desires, completely rebuild himself from scratch. He doesn't do it often, mind; Cas isn't naturally a creative thinker, and most, if not all, of his past endeavors have come from input or inquiries from his abysmally small friend circle.
(Before anyone asks, yes, he can make tentacles, and no, the texture is not. Great. At least if you're human.)
Cas doesn't stray too far from his base look, though! It's how his Hunter found him, what his family is most familiar with, and he's quite attached to it, often going back to it shortly after any drastic changes.
His carnivorous worms, however, have no attachment to their shape. While any worm that breaches his shell tends to keep to the species it emerges as, any beneath the surface still can be shaped into any reasonably sized wriggly friend Cassius needs it to be, even if he doesn't quite know it. They don't tend to stray too far from him - any worm that extends past his range of half a mile goes dormant.
Recently, due to a terrible experience with another being of his kind, he's even discovered he can make wasps out of his worms when he focuses! Trauma gives character development and bullshit metamorphosis, apparently, though it doesn't come to him as naturally as his worms do. It's more than likely he'll only use them when no other choice presents itself, because wasps are harder to restructure.
Worms aside, Cassius also has access to his Garden, a pocket dimension he's able to root into existence as long as the space is big enough and the layers between it and any source of earth aren't too thick. The inside of it - a giant, twisting rose hedge maze with a looming stretch of high ceiling - is made entirely of worms, save for the hedges and roses themselves and the structure that sits in the heart of his maze. The ceiling is also covered in worms. Big worms.
Other:
Cassius gardens! While his Garden can only grow roses and rejects most seeds and flora, he’s found that importing outside soil via planters allows him to add a lot more color to his sanctuary. He is very fond of his lilies and his hydrangea.
Cassius doesn't actually know how he came to be or why - or more accurately, he doesn't know to his current knowledge. It wouldn't be the first time someone's triggered a casual lore drop that's been lying dormant just waiting for the right question. All Cassius really knows is that his then-young Hunter had found him New in the heart of his Garden with the feeling of being Not Yet Finished, though what that means is, again, something he has yet to unlock. Unfortunately for those around him, this is just how Cassius works.