#He would be so pissed off that someone almost killed Vriska and it wasn’t him

[scriblesandbits]

me when I meet up with my rival after a solid perigee of not hearing from her and she’s missing half her face and her eyes (eye?) lacks the same mischievous gleam

(wwhats been happenin in your wworld

heard that you fell in lovve or near enough)

(Bonus doodle and like. Pinterest quote dump under the cut sorreyyyyy)

Goofy textposts

and the more serious ones that live in my pinboard

[rabble-dabble]

The Cancer King's Court ~ The Moirails

Nepeta Leijon and Equius Zahhak/The Purfect Predator and The Invincible Heir

These two come from the same timeline. In it, Equius helps Nepeta work up the courage to confess to Karkat, but not before Equius has a word with him. Equius tries to tell him that if he lets Nepeta down harshly, there will be consequences. Karkat hears this as “if you hurt my moirail, I’ll hurl you into the sun”. So, Karkat agrees to date Nepeta, hoping to avoid the wrath of her giant sweaty moirail. This leads to an unhealthy relationship where Nepeta accidentally walks all over Karkat because Karkat is afraid to hurt her feelings even a little. None of them wanted this, but poor communication leads to poor quadrants.

Because of this, Karkat makes even more poor decisions to keep Nepeta happy, frequently resulting in the deaths of team members. For example, he prioritizes getting Nepeta and Equius to God-tier over making sure his team is a high enough level to beat a certain boss, resulting in casualties. It’s only when things get hopelessly out of hand and most everyone is dead that Karkat decides to bite the bullet. He admits that he just doesn’t feel the same about her and only agreed to date her because Equius scared him into it. Nepeta is rightfully pissed. She’s more hurt than she would’ve been if Karkat had laughed her out. At least then he would’ve been honest.

Nepeta storms over to her moirail and the two of them actually get into an argument. It’s the first heated argument the two have ever really had. It’s not enough to split them, but it does highlight just how bad Equius screwed up. Most of their friends are dead because of his overprotectiveness, whether he intended it or not. Equius, of course, apologizes, and the two consider a way to fix this. As a God-Tier Heir of Void, Equius has a deep connection with the Horrorterrors. So, he’s able to ask them for advice. They advise him to seek out the Retcon Juju to allow him to travel back and undo his mistakes before dropping them off in the Dreambubbles so they can start their search.

There, The Cancer King finds them and offers them a chance to fix things. In exchange, they have to help him with something.

These two are battlefield powerhouses. If you thought Equius was strong before, then you are not ready for the power he wields while God-Tier. That’s not even counting how he can just call upon the Horrorterrors at will. Nepeta is also an issue, as she can just tear souls out and give them to the King directly. Equius is initially hesitant to be fighting against the Condescension’s forces, but when Nepeta asks him if that’s more important than fixing what he did, the issue is immediately dropped. Castest prick or not, his moirail is more important to him.

Dynamic wise, Nepeta is more willing to talk back to him in this timeline, rather than just kinda caving in like she does in canon. They’re mostly the same otherwise. Equius is fully supportive of Nepeta’s pursuit of Terezi, deeming that she is of “appropriate caste” and he’s happy to see her happy. His hints about trying to get them together are hilariously unsubtle. 

“D –> Terezi. It may interest you to know that Nepeta is quite fit. I believe you may describe her as ‘ripped’. 'Swole’, even, to borrow from the mustard b100d’s le%icon.”

Their relationship with the King is interesting. He honestly disturbs Nepeta, as a lot of the flaws that she overlooked or downplayed while dating him are suddenly front and center. She’d never even considered the possibility that he could do something like this. Even Equius is unnerved seeing the “harmless” caste rejecter turn full murderous mad man. He likens the King to how he himself would be without Nepeta to help him with his personal issues. His unwillingness to open up to someone about his issues led to this and Equius fully realizes that just by looking at his actions. He makes a point to listen more to Nepeta after he first meets the King.

While they believe in The Cancer King’s cause, they worry about him flying off the deep end after he achieves his goal. Nepeta tries to find a moirail for him to keep him in check. Which Karkat willfully dismisses as more shipper nonsense. Even he doesn’t fully believe that though and even he’s concerned. 

They both make a point of attending the funerals The Red Death hosts and are usually the first to show up. Equius spends this time chatting up Aradia. Nepeta can tell he’s still crushing hard, so she encourages him to apologize for the whole “programming you to love me” thing. Hey, it’s still Nepeta. Shippers gotta ship. Aradia accepts and the two hit it off. The two, and later, three of them when Vriska shows up, have an amiable conversation, but there’s an underlying sadness there. Everyone is quietly aware that they could’ve had this friendship in their timeline, even their situation had been better. Nepeta distracts them with some roleplaying and the sadness is forgotten for awhile. 

At the end of the day, they’re still moirails. No matter what happens, no matter how the story ends, diamonds are unbreakable. 

hi when you sent this it absolutely MURDERED me and I read it and I almost cried. LIKE THIS IS REALLY INTRACITE AND IT HAS SO MUCH TO IT AND THE COURT WORLD IS BIGGER NOW AND IM AAAAAAAAA

anyways

I thought i’d go simpler in terms of design - I feel like nepeta would like and keep her god tier outfit, because she just likes how easy it makes her hunting (not of souls although that killed me too augh she’s wondering 0w0)

equius i feel like would have just a little bit of Taste to his outfit - something simple but comfortable, and I was kinda going for like��“Death’s robe” kinda feel because like, you imagine Death with dark robes and a scythe and I feel like equius with his void powers would kinda be a good symbolization of that. also his wings were hella fun to design and I had to adjust my program 4 times to get it right. 

but AGH like the whole karkat situation thing??? i mean I love that nepeta isn’t just mad at him, she’s mad at her moirail who also contributed to the un-mutualness of the situation (and how she sees his flaws now that they’re not dating...GAVE ME SHIVERS) and I love how they’re both still together and they still care to work together and help their timeline because they’re the only ones that lived and while they didn’t personally cause its doomed status (I mean I don’t see karkat’s aim to get them god tier as a personal mistake, just a bad decision he couldn’t have known would get his other teammates killed because he wasn’t aware they weren’t strong enough, although prioritizing nepeta and equius over his other teammates was compellingly dickish to do) they’re still going out of their way to fix and bring back their teammates.

ALSO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER KARKAT?? LIKE THE ONE NEPETA DATED LMAO?? you never explicitly said he died and i’m just wondering if he’s tagging along for the fun of it or just hanging around his timeline or???? pfft, ha??

[ardenttheories]

What makes a Seer?

Since my birthday and exam are finally out of the way, lets kick off my new bout of freedom with some contemplation on the role of a Seer.

A Seer’s sole concept focuses on the gaining and retaining of Knowledge based on their active attempts to find it. They will always come across some foundation that teaches them what they need to begin with, but they will quickly blossom into their own and find that which they Seek almost naturally as they search for it. 

For instance, Rose is frequently guided by Doc Scratch during the early segments of Homestuck. There is little that she does, we assume, that is not done when she’s given a hint or suggestion by him. This is the early stage of a Seer of Light; someone who Seeks out Information, but not naturally - someone who is being guided towards that Information by a benefactor who Understands their Aspect. She is taught what to look out for, where Information could be hidden, how to parse the world for hints as to what it is she needs, what is Important - but because this is done by the guidance of someone else, all she finds is what he deems Important.  

Seers ultimately have to come to a conclusion of what their Aspect is to them. Their benefactor has a significant bias; they have to decide to define it in their specific way, and to Seek out Knowledge based on their decision. 

For Rose, this comes in the form of realising she’s been used to create the Green Sun rather than to destroy it. Information was hidden from her - at least, so much that she wasn’t confident enough to confirm what she thought was happening until very late into the inevitable action - and her own goals were given the backseat of Importance to that of Doc Scratch’s. What she initially Seeks out ends up becoming Irrelevant, and the Information sways what she Sees so that she doesn’t have a full picture of events. 

Rose, in this sense, is actually a fairly good Seer. The point and main concern of a Seer is to act; rather than just accept the Knowledge they’re given, they have to learn what it is that this information means and what they need to do with it. She was, of course, guided by a benefactor with a purpose, so this is likely not quite as natural a coming-to-powers as it should be, but it is an example of what Seers as a whole must learn.

For instance, Rose can’t just Know about the Green Sun. She has to take what she Knows and actively use it to achieve the goal she’s set out for herself. If she hadn’t, the Green Sun would never have been created, Jade would never have gained her powers (which gives her Space aspect a boost, at the consequence that it also boosts Jack Noir), and worse, she may never have attained God Tier (if we consider, for instance, that she makes Dave go on the mission and stays back herself, rather than unwillingly lets him tag along). 

If their session had been longer, and Rose had come into this naturally, there’s a lot more that she would have known; the purpose of the Green Sun, why they were creating it, what purpose Doc Scratch was leading her on for, what consequences would have occurred once the Green Sun was made, and the fact that she and Dave had secondary Quest Beds waiting for them. 

I suppose, in that sense, a Realised Seer of Light would eventually Know everything. The lack of Time in their session is ultimately what hinders her development. 

So, now that we’ve gone over that - what does a Seer actually See, and why? How are they meant to use it?

For this, we need to look at Terezi. Note that this will be almost exclusive to Seers of Mind in specifics, but in general it’s a good way to show how Seers actually use their powers. 

Terezi can See the different branching Options of every Decision - literally every Decision - throughout the game. Inconsequential ones, important ones, disturbing ones, bad ones, good ones, absolutely fucking stupendous ones - no matter its relevance or its weighting, Terezi can see all of them. 

So, what’s the importance of this?

Terezi has a short amount of time to make a lot of big Decisions. The point of her being a Seer is to See the route of every Decision and find the one that benefits the team as a whole - totally non-Biased, and for the greater good. 

Lets take a silly example first, to show how tiny every Decision could be.

Terezi sees that Tavros is struggling to Decide between eating two cereal brands. Neither box has a label, but he has opened both and can see the contents inside; the left box is bland and brown, the right box is brightly coloured and covered in sugar. She initially thinks it’s of no Consequence, and skips over the Decision. 

Much later down their timeline, Tavros violently throws up in battle and is mortally wounded. As it turns out, one of the cereal boxes was inedible. They’re now down a player. 

Past Terezi is looking at this Decision. She Decides, actually, that she’ll look down both paths and see where each Decision takes her. In one, Tavros eats the box in his left hand; nothing bad happens, and he actually seems a lot more useful later on, becomes more confident. He ends up being a key player in a later event, much to the annoyance of Vriska, who gets knocked out by a storm that he summons during a bout of bad Luck. In the other timeline, Tavros eats the box in his right hand; he seems to be wrought with discomfort and weaker to Vriska’s jibes, which puts her in a better mood, and during that important battle he falls - but Vriska ends up being the main star in a bout of good Luck, and it’s a very flashy win. 

Terezi favours Vriska, or at least is aware that she’s fucking intolerable to talk to when she thinks a win will be stolen from her. It’d be a lot easier to deal with her in the timeline where Tavros unfortunately dies, and maybe she kind of wants to let Vriska take the win to help her get over the bad luck streak she’s dealing with - that’s her personal Bias. 

To be completely non-Biased, though, she’s very much aware that Tavros is important later on down the surviving timeline, and having him in the game makes a lot of things easier than they would be if he died and they lost his specific abilities. She’s also aware that Gamzee would be upset about Tavros’ death, and in that timeline, he becomes nigh inconsolable. They lose another powerful player to grief.

The correct choice, then, is the one where Tavros survives; Vriska will be pissed, and will probably yell at her about it for a few hours, and her bad luck streak will continue to plague her personally, but the overall timeline will be much healthier and less likely to become Doomed. 

Now, Terezi Knows this information. What does she do with it? She can’t just let Tavros make the Choice himself; there’s a 50/50 chance that he’ll Choose the wrong box, and cause their timeline to become the Doomed one. 

She has to gently push Tavros’ Decision towards the left box, likely by making some sort of comment that she knows Tavros will take to heart and remember at that specific moment (for instance, that eating the bright, candied cereal he sees in the right box is for babies, so he feels bad about wanting to eat it and eats the dull, brown cereal in the left box instead). This is her acting on what she Knows to influence someone’s Decision to the best Option.

So, for a more Logical and actually relevant way of looking at it:

If Terezi had been a realised Seer of Mind pre-SBURB, she would have Known that Aradia was going to ignore her advice, torment Vriska in revenge for breaking Tavros’ legs, and get killed by Sollux as a result. She could have made the Decision, then and there, to save Tavros - most likely by suggesting that none of them FLARP that day - and avoid every other Decision and Consequence as a result. 

But would that make the timeline any better? 

Aradia’s death allows her to be controlled by the dead. She becomes aware of things that allow their session to become a phenomenal success; the fact that she needs to put the frog head in her sprite because the Black Queen won’t wear her ring as a result, for instance, thus making it a lot easier for them to take her and the Black King down. Aradiabot also allows them to escape from Jack Noir mostly unharmed when he first appears in their session, and her fury at Vriska is ultimately what leads to Vriska going God Tier. 

In a session where Tavros is perfectly fine and Aradia is still alive, these events may never have happened. The Black Queen might still be wearing her ring, Vriska might not have that near-death situation at the hands of Aradia to lead to her attaining God Tier, and Aradiabot would never have come to fruition which may have meant that there was no distraction for Jack Noir when he first appeared in their session. Rather than surviving to see another day, the entire session may have ended prematurely. Worse than that - Aradia may have died for good during Jack’s attack on Prospit and Derse considering the weird situation she has with her Quest Bed, meaning that almost every other event to follow (everything in the Dreambubbles, everything leading up to Act 6) may never have happened, or would be significantly changed. 

So, to be perfectly non-Biased, Terezi has to accept that Tavros’ paralysis is key to the session’s success. If she tries to help him, the subsequent series of revenge wouldn’t happen, and later events would never take place. It’s absolutely horrific, but if she knew about this Decision, she’d literally have to not do anything for the greater good of the timeline. 

This is what a Seer ultimately has to do. It’s not just about looking at events that happen in the short space of time immediately after the event itself; it’s looking at the bigger picture, too, and Seeing just how far down the timeline any action will have a rippling effect. 

Of course, not every Seer will be able to specifically see down the timelines themselves. A Seer of Blood, like the Signless, can only see that which is immediately relevant to Blood; bonds, unity, and responsibility. But the general idea remains the same; he Sees a much better life, one that isn’t filled with bloodshed, one where lowbloods and highbloods actually live together in relative harmony, and he uses what he Sees to influence his actions in his attempts to make Alternia a better place. 

A Seer like that, had it been done in reverse, would likely be able to See all the Bonds and Responsibilities that could happen in any given session, and their relative health; they’d then have to influence just what they think would be the right combination of people and places and events to ensure that;

- The right people are close together (such as giving an especially violent player a moirail in order to ensure they calm down and prove no threat to the timeline)

- The wrong people are separated (such as an idle or unaffected player and someone who is easily influenced by those they look up to)

- The Responsibilities of the session are given to those who can actually handle it (big events go to big people who actually know what they’re doing; people who aren’t ready yet aren’t swamped under stress they can’t handle)

- The group as a whole remains a Unified front of intermingling Bonds that make them stronger together, even if certain people don’t mesh well (the violent player might fucking hate the idle player, but the moirail will ensure they don’t start infighting) 

Additionally, something vital to remember when thinking about Seers. There’s a significant element of them Seeing down various routes and Timelines, or further ahead in the future, based on what they’re looking out for with their Aspect.

A Seer of Light can see Important future and past events in order to influence their actions now; a Seer of Mind can see future events based on Decisions that are going to be imminently made and where those Decisions will take them; a Seer of Blood can see future and past Bonds and Responsibilities through the eyes of their alternate selves in order to decide what series of relationships would be the best to try and push together.

A Seer of Light, therefore, may not know exactly what’s going to happen after they make a choice; Rose made the Green Sun blow up, sure, but she had no idea what was going to happen immediately after because that’s not what her Aspect is about. She saw the Important event and how to make it happen, and she got all the Information on it; but she totally missed her mother’s death, and the fact that she’d survive the supposed suicide mission, because she can’t actually look into the Timelines unless she’s seeking something Important - and she can’t see anything that isn’t Relevant to her current Timeline (so, no visions of other sessions or Doomed Timelines). 

On the contrary, a Seer of Blood could see into other Timelines (the way the Signless does) based on their connection (via literal blood, perhaps?) to their alternate selves - but they will never see what’s actually going on. The Signless saw highbloods and lowbloods living in harmony and peace, sure, but he had no idea at what point in Beforan history he was looking into, the fact that he was looking through the eyes of an alternate self, the fact that Alternia was always meant to look like that, or what the conditions of their society actually were, and why it had changed. All he saw were the Bonds and Ties that United the Beforans. He didn’t even see the issues that they had together, or later down the road.

So, always keep in mind what a Seer can See, and what they can’t See - otherwise, all Seers would be horrifically overpowered, and they’d merge together too much to be distinguishable as players. 

As an end note:

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’d know that I tend to be a tiny bit sceptical about the passive-active divide between Classpects. As a result of this, I’m not going to say that Seers are a passive Class, because while writing this I’ve become aware of the potential for them to be incredibly active. When I think about our canon Seers and what they’ve done, all of them seem a lot more active to me than our canon Mages - but I’m also aware that this is because we have three Seers (Signless, Rose, Terezi) to two Mages (Sollux, Meulin), and that our experiences with Mages aren’t exactly as explicit as they are with Seers. 

So I’ll leave that a bit vague for now, and maybe write up another post a bit later once I’ve really mulled it over and maybe spoken to a few other people, or consulted a few other blogs.  

[amicicidalgambler]

> Fondly regard Psii.

we put two manipulator friends that cant hide shit because theyre trapped in the wake of the s.s trickster anon in the same room, what happens next will warm your heart

amicicidalgambler

Shit I didn't tell you congrats EITHER how RUDE.

palteringcecutiency

!!!!!!

Gosh Vriska how could you be so rude~

I'm so wounded~~

amicicidalgambler

I'm a mean and terri8le person. 8ut really, congratul8ions.

palteringcecutiency

You are but it's the enjoyable kind!! It's like playing with explosives~ Probably not wise but super fun if you're careful about it~

amicicidalgambler

Oh no, my favorite kind of compliment, how dare you.

palteringcecutiency

Too late~ You're my friend and I like you~~ You're doomed~~~~

amicicidalgambler

Very doomed. How will I ever~ survive with this privilege put upon me.

palteringcecutiency

Probably with increasing dramatics~!!

Or with a tea party~ Were you serious about that?? 'Cause it sounds like fun~!

I can bring cats~ Or try to at least lmao~

amicicidalgambler

I was! It sounds so nice. I don't know where we could have it, though. It'd 8e nice to have somewhere quiet off on our own, 8ut neither the 8ase or Nadaya's are that.

palteringcecutiency

I know allllll sorts of quiet places over here~! I usually can't stand to be around people for long!!

But Fex would freak out so bad~ I can't do that to him :c ! It'd be like someone inviting another -Empress to here for me!! I think I'd break down even like this if that happened!!

amicicidalgambler

I mean, that and he'd kill me, painfully, and you're one of the people who pro8a8ly wouldn't want that!

Nadaya let me sneak out with someone to one of my old pir8 hideouts, 8ut that was ages ago, most of them have pro8a8ly 8een taken over. That or they would 8e dusty hellholes, and like, I know *you* won't 8e offended if I say I h8 old dusty rooms too much to clean those.

palteringcecutiency

He wouldn't kill you~ I wouldn't let him!! Because I am!! I'm pretty sure you're gonna piss someone off enough to get killed some night, but I don't want it to happen so soon!! I'd miss you!!!!

Ehehehe, you're right!! I'm not at all~ But it does make this harder, whoops~

If you don't have a place~ and I don't have a place~ and Zahhak definitely doesn't have a place~~ Maybe we should start asking friends if /they/ have a place!!

amicicidalgambler

...Would you? I mean, I know you can't really lie right now, duh, 8ut that's a lot.

And we should! I don't know who to ask first, though, most of my other friends aren't the recluse or hideout type.

palteringcecutiency

Uh huh! My Serket was super annoying on Beforus, but I met her on Alternia!!

I rammed her ship with Cronus's to escape, and when she found me hiding aboard, she let me live~! Mostly as a dig to Cronus, but then she helped me get better at lying and manipulating people and how to steal super duper well!! I really liked her, and almost stayed on her crew when she offered, but she was also a super cruel and awful person and I didn't want to die~

You're like a little her~ Well duh but like~ Not as experienced~ Way less dangerous, especially with your collar~ so we can just talk!! And play manipulation games~ And be awful people together where no one will get hurt so no one gets upset at either of us~~ I really value that~

If it wasn't such a bad idea, I'd teach you what I know!! So you can get better and better, I'm already weirdly proud of what you do now~! But!! I know exactly how badly that'd go!! So I haven't been~ Sorry~ !!

I should ask Makara!! Or Cro!! They leave the universe often enough, and they like squirreling shit away just in case!! Especially Cro~ Though I don't know if he'd tell me, I bet a lot of those exist because of me!! So Makara first~

amicicidalgambler

Oh man.

Oh man.

That's a lot.

Oh man.

Fuck.

I mean

That makes sense!

There was 8asically no way you wouldn't have ran into her eventually, I just had no idea you would've

Actually met her like that.

I tried to figure this out in my notes once 8ut I can't fucking REMEM8ER them like this.

8ut I remem8er wondering, 8ecause you sound like her!

Not like a lot 8ut there's patterns, I picked up that much.

This is a lot.

I kind of h8 it.

No I don't.

You're proud of me?

I kind of wished you'd teach me 8ut I didn't think

I didn't think you'd think a8out it

And I thought if I learned from the games you'd 8e proud.

Fuck uh,

Tricksters.

palteringcecutiency

!!!! This is so cute!!!! And I'm so delighted!!!! I can't stop grinning, even more than I usually can't!!!!

Hell yeah I'm proud!!!! Super proud!! I remember the last game we played~ I was so pleased with how persistent you were~ and I had to keep stopping myself from giving you advice~~ because you were so close~ If it wasn't me, I'm super sure you could've tricked someone into giving something away!!

I even thought about telling you you were right!! Since you did so well!! But I couldn't admit how much your fixing my quirk slip meant to me~ So I didn't~

I wish I could trust you to use what I teach you to be constructive instead of destructive~~ because that's what I did with mine!! Manipulation and stealing aren't black and white bad things!! I kept Kankri safe by seeing who in the crowd was giving off the wrong tells! And to get information about highblood plans without giving up any information about ours in return, without them noticing!! And I stole so we could eat~ or to get things away from people who would hurt others with them~~

I really really want to help you with all of that!! So people stop wanting to kill you so much!!!! And you don't have to isolate yourself forever just to stay alive!!!!

But I met your ancestor~ or at least her alternate~~ and I don't want to push you farther down that road any faster~ because then we can't be friends anymore~ :c :c :c :c I might even have to hurt you to keep people I love safe~ and I really don't want to~ :c :c

But!!!! That hasn't happened yet!!!! So we can have our tea party!!!! Cae got us a hotel room and ~everything~ so we can be in the opposite of a dusty old block for our tea party!!!! Which I'm really excited about!!!!

   amicicidalgambler

::::D

::::D!!!!!!!!

I mean, credit to you though, I knew I was making progress 8ut I didn't think I was doing *that* good.

And that's not 8ad! It's gr8! I've never 8een challenged like that 8efore, it was so good.

That's fair, 8ut like, damn if that isn't a hell of a pitch. Plus like, it's not like I've had much of a change of heart or anything haha no, 8ut I have ties I want to keep now, and protect with that kind of thing. Some people don't know what's happening to them until they're already dead, it's incredi8le.

So I can't promise much 8ut I don't want to do most of the shit that would keep us from 8eing friends ::::(

Especially not after this! This is the 8est, you're the 8est.

The tea party can't happen fast enough.

   palteringcecutiency

!!!!!!!! That's a really really good start!!!!

Like~ I'm never going to be a goody two shoes~ like ever~

Rules and laws register as suggestions at best~ and I put way more effort into damage control than say~ not breaking the law~ because that's /boring/~ (I've broken so many laws here Vriska~ So many~ Mostly for fun~ I'm not even sure how many because I've never bothered to learn them, whoops~!)

But!!!! That doesn't mean my keeping an eye out for Kankri and his followers wasn't a good thing!! That doesn't mean attracting anons away from hurting people and talking them in circles was less helpful because it only happened because I liked the hurt person!! And if you frame it right, people will never know otherwise~

Or~ well~ they kind of already know with you~ but~! You can frame it in believable and acceptable ways!! Without even /lying/, because protecting other people~ vulnerable people~! is a really good thing!! And I can definitely teach you how to do that without upsetting people~ And I will!!!! So you know what to do so we can stay friends!!!!

And guess what???? It can happen /right now/~ and it totally should because I really want to hug you!!!! This is amazing and I'm so /happy/!!!!

amicicidalgambler

Listen to me Psii.

Listen.

Listen listen listen.

I know you like Nadaya a lot so you'd already 8e doing this 8ut we need to protect him, it's important, he's important. He's not the only person for me 8ut we can 8oth help him since he let us in somehow.

It should! 8ecause I want to hug you too!

palteringcecutiency

/We really do/~

He's so oblivious~ and trusting~ It hurts me and scares me so much~~

But it's so much easier when you have other people too~! Ones that care just as much~ And it's just as obvious that you two are close~~ So we'll make a fantastic team!!!!!!

No one gets to be awful to him~

He's /ours/~

!!!! :D!!!!

> [coordinates!]

Zahhak's with me!! So I'll drag him to a pad right now!!!! And then you're getting the gumdrops squeezed out of you!!!!

amicicidalgambler

I'll 8e right there!!!!!!!!

[inverumlibertas-blog]

===> Nights in the past, but not many...

|Terezi Megido|

It's barely been 48 hours since your lusus returned with no letter from your dearly beloved Kanaya, and you've more than raised hell about it. After taking your motorcycle down to the collective's local dim season location and beating the hell out of their toughest bruisers for information, you proceeded to curse them with plague, throwing down a smoke bomb that scattered nanobots all around the area that would seek out trolls and cause rashes. 

 You only refrain from killing them because you know Kanaya's still out there. She would hate it if you killed them, she was always a softie like that. Brutalizing animals but having the naivety to trust a troll. 

 You hoped to glean something from those disgusting layabouts in the forest, but apparently they had all been too busy pissing on each other's unkempt beards and crying about Troll Facebook to actually pay attention to whether they had killed your closest friend, whether she had escaped, or which direction she had run off in. Your hand hovers over your left pocket, where you keep your crystal dagger, and you take a deep breath as you board your hoverbike, boots locked in and a pack strapped to your back with your walking stick. 

 You wanted to stay off grid as much as you could. Gamble online here, pawn some things there, pick up basic necessities now and then -- cash is king, and you always kept it handy. You wonder if information is something you need a line of credit for -- you wonder how well that information is guarded. You're prepared to do anything, but you're still hesitant about that.

Your broker agreed to deal with you, but they seemed incredibly wary about it, not having much of any information on you. Megido, maroon, 5'4. Information you could get from a sweeps old biometric scan rudimentary enough to be used as login information for an online game. Your contact is nearby -- in an alley by the flickering advertisement for Stay Neon cosmetics that always causes your scanner to fumble while parsing it. You requested no recorded surveillance, but you really have no idea if they'll honor that. You'll have to trust that the information at least won't leave the broker's husktop, though you don't want to. Even if you took your glasses off, you probably wouldn't be able to notice a surveillance device. You're a good judge of character, not cameras. 

You park your hoverbike and lean it against a dingy wall that smells like dusty plaster, stepping into the alleyway. You can't see it, but you can feel the damp shadow cast over your body by the lack of moonlight when you pass through. A faint, sour odor, though you can't place it, and don't want to. "Gee, I sure hope I don't get jumped in this alleyway all by myself!"

A fantastic code phrase for identification, engineered by yours truly.

|Feferi Serket|

“I know,” you tsk mournfully, “I know it’s hard, in this night and age, to find someone to be with, who wants to be with you. And to think you had something real, only to find this? I- I know, but those are the facts.” 

 You’re sitting at your desk, where you’ve been stuck for the past thirty minutes with your hand heavy over your eyes, keeping a headache at bay. Thirty minutes!! Thirty whole damn minutes. You could have planned a murder and been done with this whole mess in that time, but no. No, this emotional Blueblood was clearly more interested in whining to you because his Boyfriend was seen across town with someone else. Of course you’d had them looked into, and this wasn’t the first time it’d happened, but you’ve decided to keep that to yourself. He’d only paid for last night, after all. This, however, did not assuage his sudden grief. Your hand drops against the hard exoskeleton of the desk and you roll your eyes at the communication device in your ear, glancing over at it as though it – or he – could see you. 

 “I can't release everything to you without proper clear- Yes. Yes, I’m aware, but I did not cause your partner's infidelity, sir. This company is not liable for that, we just found it out for you. Yes. Sir, yes, I know. Not without proper clearance, as you well know when you signed your papers, it’s in the agreement. I know you’re sad. I know it hurts, dear, I am sorry for your loss.” You keep your voice just cheerful enough to slide through the thin wall of polite empathy and non-offence. You’re just floating, now, trying to get him off the line. You weren’t a therapist if you could help it and he hadn’t paid you nearly enough to care about this for much longer. 

 “Well, if you do decide to follow through with that, I know an excellent crematorium. Yes! Yes, I’ll have it forwarded. It was good to speak with you too. Mhmm!! You have a good night now.”

You hear the call line end in your ear and your head drops to your desk dramatically. Ugh!! Ugh. You stand up to stretch a little after that, eyes unseeing of the bright white room that was your office, already focused on your glasses screen, sending data packets to some of your operatives and making notes to get the crematorium’s number to your now – thankfully!! – ex-client. You pause, considering just how serious he might have been about killing the jade for his indiscretion. You roll your eyes again, listing to one side and pulling a face. God, if he was willing to whine to you for that long, he’d probably go through with it. Fine, whatever, you send a message to Anisce to send the boy a warning. It was out of your hands now, better or worse. 

 Your wrist starts to vibrate in pulses, and you turn your wrist up to look at your watch. Ah. You’d been waiting for this. Your other wrist flicks out and you finger down the holo-display, the bright whiteness of the tile fading down to blacks and blues, dimming the whole thing. You press something else, as you sit back down, to lock the door. The display outside flickers from a light blue smiling crocodile to a red one, sunk up to its eyes in digital water, eyeing everyone who passed suspiciously. It was, frankly, one of your more favorite customizations.

 A low grumbling noise vibrates the floor, and you smile softly. “Give me another hour, and ill have your food sent up.” You say to no one in particular, and you’re answered with the sound of sloshing water as she slips back under the pool.

“Eyes on.”

Your glasses display flickers, and suddenly you’re staring at a troll in an alley, under one of many Stay Neon Cosmetics signs peppering the City floor.

A short troll walks out of the shadow and into the hollow buzzlight of the sign. She’s young, probably just off of the nursery continent. She’s covered head to toe in white leather, white helmet, White mask covering the lower half of her face. 

 She points to her left eye, and the inner circles of its cybernetic iris bring the other troll into focus. 

 “The broker will see you now.”

|Terezi Megido|

Most of the aesthetic is lost on you, your scanner reading back to you simple things. Cybernetic eye, white leather, simple biometrics - height, species, things that don't matter too much to you. You give a thumbs up, you're sure there was some kind of mysterious pageantry you just missed out on, and you like to pretend to be in the loop. 

 "Well, let's get to it, then. You have resources, I have funds. I need someone found, and time is of the essence." 

 You doubt she's in any pressing danger, but she's always in possible danger. It's the price of living in this world, augmented or not. You pull a holographic card out of your wallet and hold it out in the palm of your hand. In it is a picture of Kanaya, a bit younger, cropped from a selfie you took together on the nursery continent. You tilt the card slightly and the hologram shifts, showing slight angles from 3D facial mapping. 

 "She usually tries to stay out of cities, but I need information on any sightings or surveillance footage possible." 

 Saying this much makes you uneasy. If you could track her yourself, you would, but nobody notices a grimy oliveblood slinking around in the gutters unless you offer financial incentive.

|Feferi Serket|

The Small Troll doesn’t respond, doesn’t move at all, really, until she’s presented with the holocard. Then she’s slow, deliberate, between looking at the face of this maroon, to moving forward slowly, to staring pointedly at the card in her hand. 

 She doesn’t move or speak, without your say so. You’ve already got colorful displays emanating from your desktop and your wrist projectors, both of the troll in front of you – er-the troll in front of the proxy - and the woman on the card. You’re running facial recognition on the card, and aging it it up and down at least five sweeps to cover your bases. You flick a finger and set it to keep the line to Vriska on hold, just in case you needed the Nursery Database files. Meanwhile, the Proxy stands there, staring at the card, awaiting your instruction. 

 Your fingernails tap on the edge of the chair. That’ll take a minute or two to run through and triple check itself. You refocus on the proxy visuals. You could do a lot with a few minutes. 

 “Look at her again. Prepare to speak.” 

 The Woman in White stands straight again without word or warning, staring at your client, unblinking. You take her in through your secondary set of eyes. Something doesn’t set right. Shes almost familiar, but you comb through so much on a nightly basis, that hardly tell you anything. Still…. Something beeps on your right and you glance over, and smile satisfactorily. It wasn’t a full facial match, and it was from sweeps ago, but the probability of you being right was high enough, you’d take the risk. Best case, you intimidate her, worst case, you’re wrong and you play it off, and she lets down her guard. Or, you know, spooks and knifes the proxy, but you like to stay optimistic. You open your mouth to speak, and it comes out of your proxy’s mouth. 

 “Hello, Miss Megido, It’s a pleasure.”

|Terezi Megido|

Panic descends on your frail little lowblooded heart, like a skeletal hand squeezing a hopbeast to death. Outwardly, though, you just take a breath. Your hand twitches slightly; you want to place your hand over your crystal dagger again, but you know better. Worthless little underling that proxy may or may not be, you can't just go around stabbing people to get what you want - or escape from what you don't. You're not well-bred enough for that. 

 Instead, you tilt your head slightly to one side, flip the hologram off, the card back into your pocket, and the LEDs on your sunglasses display little blinking inquiry hooks where it normally displays fake eyes. 

"So can you do it or not?" 

 You're scared out of your mind, but you can't afford to piss yourself in an alleyway. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you contributed to this stench.

|Feferi Serket|

You’re sitting comfortably, legs crossed petitely under and to the side of your chair. You’re relaxed, all the displays hovering above the desk now, leaving your hands free to fold over one another just in front of your chin. You grin over them, eyes alight with the rush of near victory at the ways she tenses, the ways she challenges you. You’d been right.

Your words continue to ghost through your much less reactive operative. 

 “I can, and am. And you can calm down, Megido, if I turned in every Off Grid troll that asked after my help, I wouldn’t have a very interesting clientele, would I?” 

 Your head tilts with the question, but the Woman in White remained stoic as ever. As pleased with yourself as you generally where when even small gambles paid off, something still wasn’t in its place. Your eyebrows pinch lightly, and you send a command to re-run Megidos known features in conjunction with the name. 

“And I do like interesting. Now, About payment. What exactly did you have in mind?”

|Terezi Megido|

You steel your nerves, roll your shoulders a little. 

 "Obviously I prefer not to pay through a credit company. I have old world gold coins that would fetch a pretty price placed in the claws of a collector or reclaimer, gems, paper money, hexes. It's a noob move, perhaps, but for such a simple operation, I'm sure you can afford to give me a reasonable price." 

 You have a feeling the broker is going to deny your payment capabilities and demand something stupid, but you really hope it's just a feeling. Only an idiot would turn down old world coinage -- it's worth a fortune if you can peddle it to the right old money alcoholic with their claws desperately digging at the past. Or a salvage op. Maybe it's a little radioactive, but the tumors wouldn't show up for decades!

|Feferi Serket|

“Oh I can afford it, to be sure, but I think  you and I both know you don’t want to wait on me to verify the values of all that." The Woman in white hasn’t moved since she started looking at Megido. 

You, however, are flipping through displays rapidly. Something had clicked, seconds ago. Some phrase or word, or. Something. Bells were ringing, and you needed desperately to shut them up. To know. 

The more you pulled up, trying to trace this downright ghostly line of though, the more you were realizing that it was stirring up old memories you hadn’t really wanted to hold onto, but, apparently, weren’t willing to give up yet. You tried not to care about that. You just had to verify. Dig, and verify. You wave away your view of her, the womans eye shifting with the pause, so you could refocus. 

 A few moments later, you lean back against your chair heavily, disbelieving. You rub your eyes.  It really was such a small fucking world,  wasn’t it. The iris rings spun again in their reawakening as you look through them, trying to take this woman in. What you could see of her, anyway, as your hands now gripped the arms of your seat.

 And sure enough, there it was. The memory clicked into place, flickering like a bad projector. Your bubbly exterior sweeps away with it, and you’re left bitter, and angry, but, to the benefit of her general well being, not at her. 

 You take a deep breath, and sit straight-backed, as your desk finally beeps a match at you. Fine. Time to end this. 

 “I’ve found pictures of Kanaya, Surely a little bit of cash and the promise of a favor or two would suffice?”

|Terezi Megido|

"You wanted that in modern cash or old?" 

 You bristle a little at the mention of Kanaya's name, but it's only natural that she'd be able to find that out if she had yours. She probably has info on the nursery island. That has to be it. Still, you slip your backpack off of one shoulder and pull it to the front -- a pair of shimmering, holographic dragonfly wings burst forth momentarily and flutter before dispersing. 

 Your claws hover over several different parcels, waiting for confirmation.  You have no idea what kind of a favor she could ask of you -- you doubt she believes in your hexes. 

 "What would I need to pay you to update me if new information becomes available?"

|Feferi Serket|

You watch her impatiently, as she pulls off her dirty pack and starts to rifle through it without putting up a fight, and you pull a face of minor disgust. She didn’t want to negotiate; she wasn’t asking questions about what you’d found…For all she knows you could have photos from sweeps ago, entirely useless.  She’s over eager, She’s dirty, scared…and She’s, frankly, desperate. God. You close your eyes, and allow yourself the smallest sigh. Thinking about that time in your life was usually something akin to lighting a slow burning fuse that only ever ended with a pile of rubble and regret. But, somehow, you can feel that coal in your gut start to quench itself before it ever gets to really burning, and, confused, you remind yourself that it was Eridan you hated, not her.

But this sudden calm was more than that. 

She used to be kind of arrogant, in that way that people who know what they’re doing are. That is to say, not terribly boastful, but definitely accurate. Dangerous, in that way, and you’d liked that about her. She got what she wanted, dealt fair, and played her odds. It wasn’t something one was often given due credit for, as anyone could run a FVRRP guild bank, but to run Aradia Captors Guild Bank and make it dance the way she used to – That. That was a skill. That was a whole subset of skills. That Megido would have given you a run for your money, but you pull yourself from your memory. She was somebody you could have, maybe, looked up to, once.

This is not the Terezi Megido that you remember. You shake your head. 

But, then, who of any of you were.

“Modern Cash will do, and two favors you owe me. I don’t know what they will be, or when I will ask them of you, so do keep in touch. The Money will be a Third of my usual asking price. You may entrust it to the woman you see before you." you pause, considering her second question. 

“…On second thought, give me those coins, and I’ll add you to the mailing list. The data is streaming to you now.” 

 The Woman in White, reaches up behind her right ear to pull out a memory insert, blinking green to signify it’s been filled, and holds it just beyond what Terezi could reach.

“My Proxy will handle the rest. You know how to contact me. “ 

 Your finger hovers over the display, ready to end the connection. Everyone had changed, and you were no exception. You didn’t do friends, anymore, and besides. You had a reputation to keep. 

 “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you, Terezi.” 

 You end the call, and turn the lights back up. You had a lusus to feed.

|Terezi Megido|

Again, calling you your first name. You shake your head, squinting a little -- it doesn't show up on your glasses, but your nose scrunches up a bit. You hate the idea of owing a favor to someone like this, let alone two favors. Impersonal, smug, detached. Your lusus comes to life around your neck from where she had been hanging like a limp scarf, darting out to fetch the insert, delicately between sharp teeth. She's always had a pretty good sense about playing along with you, almost like she can sense what you want. She coils back around your neck easily and drops the info right into your waiting hand, and spirits above, a part of you wants to just dart off; hop on your bike, sand your horns down and get a new anonymity schtick. 

 The other part of you is a cynical witch who values her life and knows not to double cross someone whose sinister aura manages to shine despite not even being physically present. 

 You count out what you need and hand over your payment to the proxy, along with little hex bag. "For good luck," you say, and you don't wait for a response from the Woman in White before you're back on your bike and heading away, somewhere, anywhere that isn't that alleyway.

[zapdos23590]

Epilogue thoughts?

Oh geeze, now there’s a landmine.

So I took a while to read the epilogue. Originally I was hype, but then the split happened and I didn’t know what to do. Then everyone said they were awful. Also Nepeta, Equius, and most of the Beforus trolls weren’t going to exist (but Gamzee was) which kinda killed my enthusiasm too. Of course, by the end of it, this was was entirely accurate but I didn’t know the epilogues were actually going to be Bad at the time.

I started reading it in force while I was in Texas for my sister’s wedding. I had a lot of time where I had an internet connection but couldn’t really play anything. I started with Meat, because it seemed like the best option (both options are terrible, Calliope please), especially since I read the first page of both before picking. Candy’s just made… no sense. Also Gamzee was going to exist in it so gonna put that off.

Anyway, Meat. It was really awkward, but I guess the whole thing was. I don’t recall everything too well, so I’ll just ramble. Most of the conflict is pretty annoying and lousy in the story. The stuff in Universe C is mostly bad. This in just gonna be about the whole of Meat, trying to keep things linear would be too hard.

Going down the list… Rose is out of commission the whole time which sucks. Dave and Karkat are pretty good indifvidually, but the high amounts of Davekat focus isn’t appreciated since I never liked that ship, for reasons that should be obvious. Jade seems pretty out of character, but then again she wasn’t allowed to be a character a lot of the time, so maybe she is (but it’d still suck). Jane seems way out of character and bad. Jake is the same though it’s not entirely his fault, Roxy is pretty good but kinda strange, though not in an entirely bad way. Kanaya sadly didn’t get to do much. Calliope kinda just fucks off, not that I missed her anyway. Dirk I’ll get to later.

The central conflict is the political climate around troll reproduction. It’s… kinda messed up. I forget if Jane explains it in Meat or Candy, but to a degree it makes sense. However, at the end of the day, it’s still extremely xenophobic as many people point out to try to control them without them having a say in the matter. And it sounds like this was always a problem too, just that it finally is being forced to the front with natural trolls being possible. It’s all pretty annoying and dumb. Dumb because Jane became the designated bad guy which seems not likely and because come out, there has to be a good way of doing this. It was frustrating and annoying the whole time. But then again, I’m in the “I just want a happy ending“ camp so I guess this just wasn’t for me in the first place. There is other stuff too but I’ll get to it.

On the other side there is John going to find Lord English. Going back to the 16 year old versions while he’s older while everyone else is young is pretty strange and kinda creepy. It’s even worse when the Beta Kids get trapped in the juju and then released during the battle by Vriska. I was immidiately pissed off by how Rose just… died. Before she could do ANYTHING, she died. Jade didn’t get off much better. It was awful. The only good part of the entire battle was Davepetasprite finishing the job. Anyway, John is the only one alive by the end, barely. He meets up with Meenah who steals the Ring of Life and then fucks off. Then he meets Terezi, stuff happens and then John dies too, but not before taking Terezi to Universe C, not that that really matters that much.

Anyway, but to Universe C. You’ll note I ignored like the best part, the battle between Calliope and Dirk for control of the narrative. It was extremely interesting to read those parts. It’s important to note that for a while, I didn’t really know who the “bad guy“ was. I’m inclined to believe Red Calliope isn’t actually a good person. She’s more a force of nature then a character, just like Sburb, and Sburb is just a huge bitch for no good reason.

So I was most on Dirk’s side the whole time. Until everything went pear shaped, anyway. One Dirk regained control again (which I think was  pretty great) things went downhill fast. He used his narrative control to fuck with literally everyone and it was pretty gross and annoying. Karkat loses the election because of his interference. Davekat is forced by him. Kanaya is brainwashed. Rose is brainwashed. Jake is brainwashed. It’s just a whole load of bad. Then he fucks off in a rocket with Rose (and possible Terezi?). I’m not sure why Red Calliope’s influence can’t reach him once he leaves, but whatever.

In the end, it’s all just pretty bad. A lot of people died and it kinda sucked, but there were some good parts that made me laugh so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Next, Candy. Candy went in a weird direction immediately and never stopped. At least Meat made sense for a while. Biggest thing was saving Gamzee. Why the hell did Calliope and Roxy want Gamzee saved? This is honestly what I hate the most, because it made Gamzee exist again, which is the worst thing that could happen. And this is confirmed, as Gamzee, the entirety of Candy, is literally the worst at all times. Roxy also seems to act really out of character, and I’m really not surprised John has so many mental blocks because shit doesn’t make sense the entire damn story line.

The strangest thing about this though is how long it is, for them timewise. I donb’t know the exact years, but like, 20ish years pass by? And things just continue to go pear shaped. It all starts going bad when Dirk kills himself, probably because this timeline is useless to him. From there shit spirals out of control. Most relationships are garbaged on over time and no one is particularly happy except Rosemary. There is a war going on over troll reproduction and trolls are falling from the sky. Apparently this version of Universe C is the other side of the black hole or something and doesn’t matter. There are some kids, and then the original Vriska who will now be (Vriska) because one of the kids is Vriska exists, does one of the worst things in the entire story, but then does one of the best things in the entire story. To be most detailed, she fucks Gamzee, which is the worst, but then kills Gamzee, which is one of the best. Why didn’t someone do that sooner is a mystery, he was awful, in story, the entire time.

I’m losing focus more and more here. Ops. Anyway, let’s see… Obama existed. That was great and hilarious and also what the fuck. The jade blood troll that helps Kanaya is pretty great and I wish I knew her name but I forget what it was. The meta stuff I found interesting, but it’d have been nice if it was handled in a way where it didn’t make almost everyone out of character and lousy.

Alright I can’t even follow my own mess. Too long, didn’t read: Epilogues were Bad. Some good moments, but overall, Bad. Too many characters seemed to not be themselves. Too many characters didn’t get to do anything. The conflict was pretty irritating and annoying. The inter-connectivity between Meat and Candy was really interesting but it was held back by the garbage. The meta stuff was interesting, but also held back by the garbage. Gamzee existed, which would have brought the story down extremely low even if it wasn’t already.

Overall, I technically enjoyed the epilogues overall. While a lot of people didn’t sound like themselves the once that did were pretty good and interesting and while overall the story was bad, there were some good moments. Looking back though, at the full package, it was Bad. It was honestly a huge waste of potential. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am disappointed. Thankfully I knew it was Bad before I really got into it, so since I expected Bad when there was some Good I could appreciate it better, which is probably the entire reason it was salvageable at all for me.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling. If there is anything in particular you wanna hear about I can probably do a better job if I focused on just one thing. Trying to talk about both Epilogues at once like this takes a bit too much focus then I can muster