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pesterloglog · 1 year ago

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Aranea Serket, Terezi Pyrope

Act 6, page 4767-4778

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Hahahahahahahaha!

AG: Aaaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaa........ man, fuck this.

AG: It's a real pain in the ass typing out long victorious laughs with only one hand, you know?

AG: Gonna have to patch this thing up somehow. May8e I'll pay a visit to my neigh8or a little l8er.

AG: Getting my arm fixed nearly ought to 8e worth enduring the stench. Aw yeah. Sick 8urn from outta nowhere. Take that, Zahhak.

AG: Haha! NEIGH8or. I can't 8elieve I only thought of that now! I 8et he'll get kick out of that.

AG: I 8et you even more he won't laugh though. What a 8oring piece of shit.

AG: I know YOU would think it's funny though. Right Terezi?

AG: Man, I sure am glad this little feud of ours is 8asically over. We're totally even!

AG: Now we can just go 8ack to 8eing friends, and things will 8e gr8.

AG: Hmmmmmmmm........

AG: Hahahaha! You won't 8elieve this, 8ut it only occurred to me now that you won't even 8e a8le to read this!

AG: Even if you do somehow manage to stum8le 8ack to your hive........ you're 8lind now! Whoooooooops.

AG: It would 8e a real shame if we couldn't 8ury the hatchet and 8e gr8 friends again 8ecause of a stupid 8ullshit reason like that.

AG: Oh, I know.

AG: May8e I'll mindjack some random chump and send him to your hive so he can read my messages to you out loud!

AG: What a perfect solution. He can 8e your assisted living slave.

AG: I would have had the perfect candid8 all lined up, 8ut he recently lost the use of his legs unfortun8ly. Oh well, I'll just roll with the punches like I always do and find someone else.

AG: Just say the word, and I'll make him do whatever you want! Read my awesome notes to you, hang some more plush dragons from your tree, pre-chew your food........

AG: Well, may8e not pre-chew it, since I didn't exactly knock your teeth out, did I?

AG: May8e more like pre-look-at your food, to make sure there are 8ugs in it.

AG: See, isn't it gr8 when we're helping each other out instead of maiming each other repeatedly?

AG: This is how it should 8e 8etween Scourge Sisters. All the maimings and 8acksta88ings should 8e saved for the friends and foes who get in our way, don't you think?

AG: Hey, what do you want to do for our next campaign, 8tw?

AG: We can take the next one easy. I'll try to think of something 8etter suited to your new disa8ility!

AG: I mean, I've ALREADY pretty much nixed anything involving stairs, 8ecause of Tavros. Lol.

AG: 8n't no one can say I'm not willing to meet people half way!!!!!!!!

AG: Whew........

AG: I'm losing a lot of 8lood here.

AG: Good thing I seem to have a ton of the stuff. We high8loods are made of some pretty tough shit.

AG: What a fucking mess, though. Not really looking forward to cleaning this up.

AG: I've got to say, your prank was pretty good. Still not sure how you pulled it off. Pretty inconvenient though!

AG: It's too 8ad you're not going to get to read this for a while, if ever. We could 8e 8onding over the gr8 pranks we just pulled on each other!

AG: Oh well.

AG: Guess I'll take off. 8efore I drop dead like some kind of loser and you never get to hear from me again.

AG: See you around, sis.

GC: WOW

GC: 1 C4NT B3L13V3 1 4LMOST FORGOT

GC: WH4T 4 COMPL3T3LY CR4ZY B1TCH YOU W3R3

AG: Hey now!

AG: What kind of attitude is that to 8ring into this memory?

GC: OH

GC: Y34H

GC: SORRY >:[

AG: Easy, there.

AG: No need to waste good remorse on such a trivial exchange.

AG: I am only reminding you,

AG: That if you 8ring too much 8aggage from the past into the memory, it is dou8tful your experience will 8e either therapeutic or cathartic.

GC: UH

GC: WH4T

AG: You were the one who invoked this memory after all.

AG: Isn't this why you are here? Is it not what you have 8een hoping for and fretting you may find since your journey 8egan?

AG: A chance to say you are sorry?

GC: VR1SK4

GC: YOU SOUND R34LLY D1FF3R3NT

GC: WH4T H4PP3N3D TO YOU OUT H3R3?

AG: Sorry for the ruse.

AG: Though it isn't as far from the truth as it possi8ly could 8e, I am not who you think I am.

GC: >:?

AG: I of course needed to visit you through a memory, and interestingly, this is the one you gave me.

AG: No ill will or upsetting hijinks were intended.

GC: WHO 4R3 YOU?

AG: Aranea.

GC: OK

GC: 4ND??

AG: And I am your friend's ancestor.

AG: In fact, I am yours too, in a way.

GC: R34LLY??

AG: Yes. Though not quite how you are picturing.

AG: She had an ancestor whom she was aware of, and technically that is who I am.

AG: That is to say, she is who I would have 8ecome on your world, had I arrived in her place. Alas, I did not.

AG: She was a figure in your history who preceded you 8y thousands of solar sweeps.

AG: Whereas I preceded your entire civilization 8y 8illions.

GC: >:o

GC: 1 DONT G3T 1T

AG: That's ok. There is plenty of time to sort it all out.

AG: I've 8een keeping an eye on you all for quite a while. Your whole planet, actually. It was very interesting this time around, to say the least.

AG: It even had a different name! "Alternia." Haha. How heavy handed can you get?

AG: The man responsi8le was a 8it of a wise guy. He rewrote everything. He had a knack for overzealous storytelling, which is a harmless enough ha8it usually. I'm guilty of it myself sometimes.

AG: 8ut it is not so harmless when the perpetrator is omniscient and omnipotent.

GC: OMN1SC13NT?

GC: YOU M34N

GC: MR M1LKSH4K3???

AG: That's right.

AG: 8ut he's dead now, and his story is over. The 8ook on our universe is closed, 8oth for my instance and yours.

AG: This 8eing the case, I thought it was the right time to introduce myself. The com8ined work of my group and yours is unfinished, and the outcome has not 8een assured.

AG: The true ultimate reward has yet to 8e achieved. No safe haven has 8een created that is free from the devastation caused 8y Mr. Milkshake's grand deception.

AG: Our race still teeters on extinction. The mem8ers of your party, and one noteworthy fugitive, are the sole survivors.

AG: We must work together to create that haven and restore our race, so that the sacrifices we all made will not 8e in vain.

AG: 8ut in order to repair the unthinka8le damage that has 8een done, we need to allow ourselves the chance to heal first.

AG: Old wounds, old regrets. They will serve no purpose on the rest of your journey.

GC: R3GR3TS

GC: 4R3 YOU T4LK1NG 4BOUT M3 4ND VR1SK4?

AG: Sure. You have to start somewhere.

GC: DO YOU KNOW WH3R3 SH3 1S?

AG: Not at the moment.

AG: 8ut the more time you spend here, the more likely it is you will find whomever you are looking for.

AG: On the other hand, if it is the unknowa8le will of the gods, you may dance around each other indefinitely as you pass through this space. It is hard to say.

GC: OH

GC: OK TH3N

GC: 1M NOT SUR3 WH3TH3R TO B3 R3L13V3D OR FRUSTR4T3D BY TH4T

AG: Well, if she had 8een dwelling in this 8u88le like you thought, what would you want to say to her?

AG: Surely you would not have just argued a8out the past.

GC: NO

GC: 1 ST1LL DONT KNOW WH4T 1 WOULD S4Y TO H3R

AG: Then what would you say to me?

GC: 1 WOULD S4Y

GC: 3V3N THOUGH SH3 D1D SOM3 B4D TH1NGS 4ND W4S TOT4LLY 1MPOSS1BL3 MOST OF TH3 T1M3

GC: 1 W1SH SH3 W4SNT D34D

GC: 1S 1T W31RD TO M1SS SOM3BODY WHO D1D NOTH1NG BUT C4US3 PROBL3MS?

AG: No. I can empathize.

AG: She was a serious trou8lemaker in your party. Many player groups have to deal with those.

AG: I feel as though we had one of the worst cases in our party. 8ut when all was said and done, she was still our friend.

GC: 1 K33P WOND3R1NG 1F TH3R3 W4S 4NOTH3R W4Y

GC: SOM3TH1NG OTH3R TH4N L3TT1NG H3R GO, OR K1LL1NG H3R

GC: 1 TRY TO R3M3MB3R WH4T 1 S4W WH3N 1 LOOK3D 1NTO TH3 VORT1C3S OF POSS1B1L1TY

GC: 4ND 1 JUST C4NT R3M3MB3R 4NYTH1NG B3S1D3S THOS3 OPT1ONS

GC: 3V3N 1F THOS3 OTH3R CHO1C3S WOULD H4V3 R3SULT3D 1N D34TH FOR 3V3RYON3

GC: W4S TH4T R34LLY 4LL 1 W4S C4P4BL3 OF?

GC: 31TH3R LOS1NG TH3 N3RV3 TO GO THROUGH W1TH 1T, OR ST4BB1NG H3R 1N TH3 B4CK, 4ND NOTH1NG 3LS3?

AG: At that moment, perhaps.

AG: You know very well the channels of possi8ility at that exact juncture resulted from her decision paths as well as yours.

AG: 8ut even so, when it comes to your key decisions, the possi8ilities are pro8a8ly fewer and more discrete than you have presumed.

AG: Otherwise you would not see results consolidated into those vortices, would you? Possi8ility would resem8le an enormous hazy field of infinitely su8tle variations and micro-choices.

AG: Imagine if at that moment you truly were capa8le of anything, no matter how outlandish, a8surd, or patently fruitless. How would this vast amount of information present itself to you through your senses? What difference would it make in your final decision if all other tri8utaries of whim spilled into the same decaying future? And what would this make of your agency as a hero meant to learn and grow?

AG: Look at it this way. Imagine that over the course of someone's life, they are truly capa8le of every conceiva8le action at any moment, and did indeed take each of those actions in different 8ranching realities. Doesn't a scenario like that deaden a person's agency just as much as one where their fate is decidedly etched in stone as a single path of unavoida8le decisions? Who exactly is that person who can and does take all conceiva8le actions, other than someone perfectly generic, who only appears to have unique predilections and motives when you examine the ar8itrary path they happen to occupy?

GC: UM

GC: 1 DONT KNOW

AG: Pardon the esoteric tangent. These are my instincts as a Hero of Light kicking in. It's hard for us to resist prattling on a8out matters like this.

GC: OH GOD

GC: L1K3 ROS3

GC: Y34H SH3 N3V3R SHUTS UP 4BOUT 1T

GC: NO OFF3NS3 >:]

AG: ::::)

AG: You may seek to understand your decisions and look for justice in their consequences. You may wonder why honora8le choices from the innocent are punished 8y 8anishment to a timeline in which everyone dies and all is gradually dissolved.

AG: It helps to understand your role, not just as a hero who must overcome, 8ut as a single capillary within a much larger 8ioexistential system.

AG: Think of it like circulatory system, where the veins and capillaries that do not help the overall flow of 8lood through the system are likely to wither and die. Those are doomed offshoots.

AG: Reality itself is using you and many others to propagate its own existence. Strictly speaking, there is only one path to its successful propagation. 8ut it still permits you to make choices. Not all that are conceiva8le, 8ut some nevertheless, as dictated 8y who you are and the challenges you face. And you are free to make key decisions however you like, as long as you understand that some of these paths unfairly or not will lead to o8livion. 8ecause those choices do not contri8ute constructively to the perpetuation of all existence, including your own.

AG: Such is the 8urden assumed 8y anyone who plays this game.

GC: Y34H

GC: 1 GU3SS 1 UND3RSTOOD SOM3 OF TH4T, BUT N3V3R QU1T3 PUT 1T 4LL TOG3TH3R TH4T W4Y

GC: 1 DONT TH1NK 1 W4S 4 GR34T S33R OF M1ND

AG: Well, you aren't finished 8eing one, are you?

GC: M3H

GC: 1 DONT TH1NK OF MYS3LF TH4T W4Y 4NYMOR3

GC: 1 US3D TO F33L L1K3 SOM3 PR3TTY HOT SH1T!

GC: D1R3CT1NG B4TTL3 TR4FF1C 4G41NST TH3 K1NG, 4ND 4LL FL1PP1NG CO1NS 1N P3OPL3S F4C3S 4ND STUFF

GC: 1T S33MS S1LLY NOW. 1 DONT TH1NK 1 3V3R KN3W WH4T 1 W4S DO1NG

GC: WH3N 1 CONFRONT3D H3R, 4ND 1T W4S T1M3 TO M4K3 UP MY M1ND

GC: 1 THOUGHT 1 H4D 1T 4LL F1GUR3D OUT, L1K3 TH1S W4S WH4T 1 H4D TO DO. NOT JUST TO S4V3 3V3RYBODY, BUT 4S SOM3 STUP1D R1T3 OF P4SS4G3 OR SOM3TH1NG?

GC: TH3N 1T C4M3 T1M3 TO DO 1T, 4ND 1T W4S 4LL H4PP3N1NG SO F4ST...

GC: 4ND 1 FORC3D MY OWN H4ND. 1 COULD 31TH3R L3T 3V3RYON3 D13 1N ON3 R34L1TY, OR K1LL 4 FR13ND 1N 4NOTH3R

GC: 4ND 1 T3LL MYS3LF THOS3 W3R3 TH3 ONLY TWO VORT1C3S 1 S4W...

GC: BUT TH3N, 1 W4S TH3 ON3 WHO M4D3 TH3 S3R13S OF D3C1S1ONS WH1CH L3D UP TO TH4T CHO1C3, 4ND COMPL3T3LY P41NT3D TH3 OPT1ONS 1NTO TH4T CORN3R

GC: 4NYW4Y

GC: 1 JUST W1SH 1 COULD T3LL H3R TH4T

AG: Which one would you tell it to?

GC: HUH?

AG: The one who fought with Noir, or the one who didn't?

GC: OH

GC: 1 M34N

GC: 1 GU3SS 31TH3R?

GC: BUT 1 W4S TH1NK1NG MOR3 4BOUT TH3 ON3 WHOS3 D34TH 1M 4CTU4LLY R3SPONS1BL3 FOR

AG: Ah.

AG: Well, this could either 8e my experience as an ancient ghost talking, or the perspective I am naturally given to as a Light player,

AG: 8ut aren't you equally responsi8le for 8oth?

GC: >:\

GC: 1 GU3SS

AG: I can see why you would feel more responsi8ility for one than the other.

AG: My perspective is informed 8y my class and aspect. It was to my advantage as a healer to see things a little differently. To find equanimity across many different outcomes.

GC: OH?

AG: There's more to the realization of our roles than gaining flashy powers.

AG: And there's more to healing than repairing 8attle damage.

AG: You killed a friend and you understanda8ly feel regret.

AG: 8ut it's done. She is gone and you are still here.

AG: Now what?

GC: ...

AG: You could look for a8solution through rationalization. Everyone would have died if you didn't take action, so why trou8le yourself with guilty emotion?

AG: 8ut there is no real healing power in 8elieving that. And I don't think it's what you wanted to tell yourself anyway, is it?

GC: NOT R34LLY

AG: Or what a8out through renunciation of responsi8ility? If you were just a tool used 8y reality to perpetuate itself, where is the 8lame?

AG: 8ut that would 8e another empty idea that has no power to heal.

GC: Y34H

GC: 1V3 TR13D R4T1ON4L1Z1NG STUFF TH4T W4Y

GC: DO3SNT R34LLY H3LP

AG: You've 8een lead to 8elieve such acts of violence are natural for your kind, and that if you're upset 8y the consequences then something is wrong with you.

AG: 8ut it isn't as natural as you might think. That conditioning was a part of Milkshake's long con.

AG: Violence was respected and cele8rated on your world, 8ut remorse was rarely felt and pain could never heal due to such empty justifications. We died out a wounded race, and you are all that's left.

AG: The process of healing first involves sifting through what it isn't, which happens to 8e almost everything your trou8led mind has to offer.

GC: TH3N WH4T DO 1 DO?

GC: WH4TS TH3 4NSW3R?

AG: There isn't one.

AG: It takes time, and is only accelerated 8y looking at things honestly.

AG: This is what I did as a Sylph of Light. Helped people see things.

AG: I could even perform the feat literally, if you wanted.

GC: WHO4 WH4T?

AG: It's up to you of course.

GC: HMM

GC: TH4NKS FOR 4SK1NG

GC: BUT 1D R4TH3R JUST ST4Y TH1S W4Y

GC: L34RN1NG TO S3NS3 TH1NGS TH1S W4Y W4S TH3 ONLY CONN3CT1ON 1 3V3R H4D W1TH MY LUSUS B3FOR3 SH3 D13D

GC: 1T R3M1NDS M3 OF H3R

GC: TH4T PROB4BLY SOUNDS DUMB THOUGH

AG: Not at all. That's a very good reason.

AG: I thought the polite thing to do was at least offer.

GC: 1TS COOL TH4T YOU W4NT TO H3LP H34L M3 4ND 4LL

GC: BUT

GC: 1 ST1LL DONT R34LLY KNOW 4NYTH1NG 4BOUT YOU

GC: OTH3R TH4N TH4T YOU S33M L1K3 SOM3 SORT OF MUCH N1C3R VR1SK4

GC: WH3R3 W3R3 YOU FROM 4G41N? 4LT3RN14 B3FOR3 V4N1LL4 M1LKSH4K3 N4M3D 1T TH4T?

AG: Yes. 8ut in a different universe instance, I often refer to as A1. The shorthand helps avoid confusion, trust me.

AG: My group of twelve played the game, 8ut failed. It overwhelmed us. A lot went wrong. The reckoning destroyed our 8attlefield well 8efore we had any hope of winning.

AG: I sought advice from Echidna, and she told me how to scratch the session to give us another chance.

AG: 8ut the choice to do so came with accepting the annihilation of our existing forms. In the new instance, we would lead completely different lives with no memory of what happened.

AG: So we did, and created A2. Your instance, your world, and your game in which we were all inexplica8ly created in the first place.

AG: As I said, this time around the world was........ interesting.

GC: TH4T'S WH3N TROLLS B3C4M3 T3RR1BL3?

AG: Not all of you.

AG: Some had lessons from the old world to teach others. 8ut few ever heard them.

GC: SO 1N YOUR T1M3, 3V3RYON3 W4S 4S N1C3 4S YOU?

AG: Not exactly. 8ut life was pretty mild and uneventful.

AG: I'm not even sure if I was especially nice, 8y our standards.

AG: Mostly kind of 8oring.

AG: No8ody from my party liked me a whole lot.

AG: I think I talked too much, and had a ha8it of 8ringing conversations 8ack around to myself.

AG: Not that it matters anymore, 8ut it was not the 8est way to make friends.

GC: H3H3H3H3. YOU R34LLY 4R3 L1K3 4 N1C3 VR1SK4

GC: 1 DUNNO, 1 W4S FR13NDS W1TH H3R 4ND SH3 D1D 4LMOST NOTH1NG BUT T4LK 4BOUT H3RS3LF

GC: 1M PR3TTY SUR3 YOU 4ND 1 WOULD H4V3 B33N GOOD FR13NDS TOO!

AG: Thanks!

AG: It goes to show, just 8ecause your race is peaceful doesn't mean you don't have pro8lems.

AG: I used to fantasize a8out 8eing someone really outgoing and dramatic.

AG: Someone who had the confidence do whatever she wanted, like go on the most outrageous adventures without caring what anyone thought a8out her.

AG: Like someone from a 8ook, you know?

GC: Y3S!

GC: 1 US3D TO TH1NK 4BOUT TH4T 4 LOT TOO >:]

AG: It turned out I actually got what I wanted after the reset. Unfortunately it came along with our people's enslavement and near extinction.

AG: Not that I really got to live as her, exactly. 8ut at least I got a chance to follow her life. And it was a very long life.

AG: 8eing here for ages has its 8enefits.

GC: 3X4CTLY HOW LONG H4V3 YOU 4LL B33N L1V1NG 1N DR34M BUBBL3S?

GC: OR 1 M34N...

GC: NOT L1V1NG

AG: It has 8een a very long time.

AG: So long, time has 8een stripped of the meaning it never really had in the first place.

AG: It doesn't really pass in the same way it does when you're alive. Concepts like "now" and "how long" are figures of speech used to make communication simpler.

AG: I've quit trying to give expression to the elusive temporal properties of this place. It's easier staying conversational.

AG: 8ut I will say that 8eing here "for so long" lends itself to a certain detachment from what you see. Otherwise, monitoring the atrocities stemming from our failure wouldn't 8e much fun.

GC: DO YOU M1SS YOUR WORLD 4S MUCH 4S 1 DO?

AG: Yes, sometimes.

AG: 8ut missing it usually invites memories of home to serve as the stage.

AG: Not that it's a su8stitute for the previous reality. 8ut the reminders of home are everywhere.

GC: WH4T 4BOUT YOUR FR13NDS? 1 GU3SS YOU ST1LL G3T TO H4NG OUT W1TH TH3M 4LL?

AG: Yes. I see them often enough.

AG: Except for one, whom I haven't seen at all since 8efore we all died.

AG: In fact, she's the only reason we are here in the first place, as opposed to merely ceasing to exist upon the scratch.

AG: In life, she was the only one I would have called a close friend, in a way.

AG: The thing is, no8ody liked her much either. We had that in common. ::::)

GC: WOW, 1TS B33N TH4T LONG S1NC3 YOU S4W H3R?

AG: Remem8er how I said the gods could keep you dancing around someone you're looking for indefinitely?

GC: Y34H BUT...

GC: B1LL1ONS OF SW33PS??

AG: Well, "8illions," yes. In a manner of speaking.

GC: 1S SH3 BY 4NY CH4NC3 TH3 TROUBL3M4K3R YOU W3R3 T4LK1NG 4BOUT?

AG: That's right. In fact, we are on our way to visit her now.

GC: OH

GC: SO TH4TS WH3R3 TH1S BR4NCH 1S T4K1NG US!

AG: Notice the moon up there?

AG: And not the larger green interloper. That one never 8elonged to my world. It is your memory, not mine.

GC: Y34H TH3 CUT3 L1TTL3 BUBBL3GUM MOONS! TH4TS WH3R3 SH3 1S?

AG: It's the setting of the memory she entered.

AG: From her perspective, she has just arrived here.

AG: Your friends should 8e joining us too, 8efore your meteor clears the 8u88le.

AG: May8e together we can 8ring the Thief of Life up to speed.

#homestuck #aranea serket #terezi pyrope #homestuck act 6 #page 4767 #page 4768 #page 4769 #page 4770 #page 4771 #page 4772 #page 4773 #page 4774 #page 4775 #page 4776 #page 4777 #page 4778 #homestuck act 6 intermission 2

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