#which just makes heh

[live-laugh-ukotoa]

"man i'm gonna get thrown tomatoes at for this-" TRY BEING A WC!JOEY APOLOGIST THE FANDOM DOESNT EVEN LIKE ME!!!!!

[eydilily]

would you bite the hand that feeds you?

[likesdoodling]

Behold~ Maglor being the drama queen I think he would have been~ (he's famous for being the best elvish singer around. No way he wasn't at least a lil melodramatic).

Side note - I know they didn't technically have a 'sun', but I wanted to draw a sunrise, so eh.

[beescake]

PLEASE PLEASE MEGADUMP THE ARASOL!!! PLEAAASEE MR BEESCAKE I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING YOU

HFHGHD GLADLY aaa i’ve been adding notes to it here and there for months but just hesitant to post it bcs im 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂

also this is just my own takeaway of the events, it doesn’t necessarily comply to the Ultimate Truth of Canon-Alignment or represent the actual facts of what hussie intended! v sentimental smh but hopefully its still interesting to read

i love when characters inform each other by proximity, it's one of my fave things to see in media :') it feels even more significant when two characters deliberately choose to stick together, so that when one operates, you can tell the other is similarly aligned in associative solidarity.

sollux is a keystone of this trope — whoever he aligns with is a wordless statement, a nod of approval. this stood out to me bcs the main four humans were alr friends by default, but once you reach hivebent you realize the trolls can actively choose who they want to hang out with.

and as we all know, after assessing every troll's biases/loyalties, sollux is the only one who maintains his selective preference for innately Good 👍 people.

aradia is such a beautiful character honestly, she evokes such incredible feelings in me. she might not have been consistently written with care but the best parts of her character are truly stunning. i think it's easy to remember sollux as the self-sacrificing one bc he's so open about it (and his friends frequently react to his Moments) but when you compare him to aradia, it's always struck me

how much more. raw it is

to be so alone as an agent of time, having to orchestrate immeasurably harrowing events nobody understands or gives a fuck about

with your role painted in the story as one who must tend to the needs of the narrative, responsible to match every next note

because when you're given the capabilities, it becomes your duty to carry it out.

it becomes expected of you to keep experimenting and arranging the machinations to work for everyone, dusting off hundreds of necessary failures to keep going

and having to be so unwavering in your drive knowing miserably that there's no one who can help you but yourself.

or alternatively: to make things fun! so other people won't think twice about letting you go off on your own.

sure she's had some very good buds, notably thanks to Team Charge v Team Scourge antics.

and yet, at the end of the day, the one friend that kept choosing her time and time again was the friend with the highest standards.

i can see why people like to define arasol as moirails/matesprits but surprisingly i find the nondescript, unlabeled aspect of their relationship more straightforward to understand.

there's no shortage of people who would accommodate sollux. most of the surviving trolls are his oldest friends bcs he’d chosen them well. his transparency with his feelings had built him strong friendships that won’t falter or break, regardless of how much of a dick he can be. they’ve already seen and accepted him at his worst, and they still like him for who he is.

contrast that with aradia, who'd been so approachable, friendly and reliable in her exchanges it was super fun to talk to her. but the moment she became depressed, all her connections broke down.

her friends became hesitant to interact with her (until she became god tier, “happy” and amicable again) because her gloom and resignation didn’t serve them. she dealt with it alone.

there’s def something of note here abt the disparity between the way male & female characters are written+perceived in homestuck (esp parallel arasol with davejade) but i won’t go into that lmaoo

with this in mind i like to think of sollux as a gift to her, a loyal companion given to complement and commend her resolve. she's capable of doing so much alone but hussie took the time to build her and sollux's relationship as one of a unit; a set.

the ambiguity of their status does complicate things, but i do believe it makes sense with their characters. aradia's relationship with romance is a rocky one, the dubious stringalong equius had with her is a pointed reminder that her feelings of attraction are ultimately controlled by the author writing her.

unlike the other trolls who can openly address and own up to their crushes, aradia had romantic emotions forced upon her (especially when hussie implies 'she kissed equius back on her own volition'). and it seems like her character is so intrinsically neutral abt attraction that even when forced by the almighty powers above, she's unable to retain it wholly.

however, looking back to pre-game when she could actually "choose" her own feelings, she did have a crush on sollux.

their soft spots for each other were so obvious to the point where other people could see it.

taunting aside, when vriska comments on their unit as bf/gf it actually informs the audience that arasol's relationship is romantic in nature despite not aligning with the quadrant system.

even while dead, aradia could still describe her care for sollux, expressing that she would like to see him happy. if they had more time to explore their relationship on alternia, it's possible they could've settled in a quadrant once they grew older.

but going back to the lack of labels, their dynamic was affected once more when aradia became god tier.

to me, her ascension was both the perfect culmination and possible closure of her character. it's the light at the end of her journey toiling through countless of timelines where she had to actively assess and participate. that's why it's cool to see her being silly and having fun giving guidance, passively exploring and watching other people do their parts.

and yet the joy of her freedom makes it hard to explore further introspection. if we take her by her word, she'd already come to terms with the hurt she's been through and forgiven those involved.

i can't help feeling attuned to how impersonal and detached it can be, to devote and meld your identity so completely with your designated position as Maid of Time until you've become hard for your old friends (and even some readers!) to personally connect to.

idk post-canon but i assume there’s some degree of similarity to be bridged here with aradia's god tier and how the hs2 humans' Ultimate forms was described as a consolidation of all their possibilities. since aradia's classpect is inherently of service to Time, going god-tier may have elevated her beyond personhood with the "game construct" possessing her entirely. sollux doesn't realize the extent of it bcs he's still mortal, but a part of him may have subconsciously understood this.

i think there is a core aspect to aradia that was lost to the dehumanizing glory of god tier — a core aspect that may have contained an element of why sollux enjoyed talking to her in the first place.

to him, aradia hadn't just been a nice girl, she was a cool girl. despite not having much in common, he's still willing to chill next to her so she's not alone while she does what needs to get done.

back on alternia, they held a mutual and equal-level regard for each other that could've definitely settled into something permanent. but now, he's placed himself in a position where he can be kept around or left behind at will. the parameters of the relationship are largely in aradia's court, so any label she suggests to identify their relationship with he's likely to accept.

but that's why it's so difficult to label it. because god tier aradia may not necessarily Want quadrants or relationship labels. rather than the initial romantic attachment, their commitment to each other had evolved into one fundamentally of companionship.

no label? ok fine. no matter what, he still thinks she's a good soul worth latching on to. the best, actually. aradia > everyone else.

even if it gets stilted at times. there's an unexpected struggle to connect when sollux's go-to default for talking points is his feelings about things, and aradia may not want to talk about emotions all the time.

not to mention god tier aradia became an observer, especially of chaos. but sollux's avoidance of involvement comes partially from his innate pressure to get involved if something goes wrong. and he can't always tell when something goes wrong, because aradia doesn't mind if things go wrong anymore.

it's a non-negotiable preference that causes them to take the occasional time apart, a new boundary that wouldn't have existed before the game and aradia's god tier.

but just like how his friends tolerated his moods, sollux accepts aradia as she is. with no quadrants, their connection doesn't break down because there's no implicit romantic expectations to be disappointed by or resentful over.

sometimes when i see hs content that deliberately distances sollux from aradia, i assume this is the dissonance people might have felt. people might find it "easier" to be cynical about them bcs of this strange tension.

but idc lmao. grab that shit by the neck

lack of easy resolutions and cleanly tied ribbons is pretty standard of homestuck and imo it doesn't make arasol's dynamic any less incredible. with the right affection and consideration, there's still so much potential to develop the nuance of their relationship outside of the popular quadrant-based depictions.

hs has a lot of really great character compatibilities but the way aradia and sollux are in their own special orbit is why i can write this much about them in the first place. it's that frail innocence between first loves that makes it so sweet to me, two kids who grew up too fast playing guesswork without being clear where they're going.

ultimately i do think you're meant to feel a little tragedy for just how much they care for each other, even if they can't quite establish it in simple terms.

maybe they keep taking breaks to progress their own paths. maybe they remain as anchor partners while seeing other people. but even if you decide to separate them, they're still (awkwardly) texting each other updates all the while. and when they reunite it feels like coming home.

and well. more than anything, i like to believe that they do want to be exclusive.

they're just afraid. after all, they're still learning how to love, beyond the projections of the foursquare quadrant system they had inadvertently distanced themselves from since young.

they might not have everything figured out, but they'll get there eventually if you just hold them together and write them there.

optional post-canon segment:

one of the limitations of main hs is that (monogamous) relationships are often written as the go-to solution to wrap up character growth; it's an easy "patch" to imagine characters getting their happy ending because they have a partner, and those who don't end up with someone don't get that closure (most notably jade).

hs2 reaffirms this by suggesting that aradia's character cannot progress without letting sollux go, because happily settling in a relationship automatically locks your potential.

that pathetic panel of sollux staring emptily into the sky is still my fave hs2 spoiler ngl i find the impact of their parting so emotionally provoking precisely bcs they were written in original hs to be each other's forever, coming back together again and again

but now, they're subject to the decisions of the post-canon authors who might choose to deviate from that.

it's not new for them to part, but now there's an underlying worry that her dropping him off this time might be the last time. while i think the prospect of shattering their stability to make them grow separately sounds fun on paper, no amount of me desperately hoping for a good execution is gonna guarantee it

idk. i guess prediction-wise im expecting sollux in classic dramatic-hs2 fashion to tell dave to back off aradia LMAO. otherwise it's just gon be sollux and karkat pathetically watching aradia and dave from a distance swimming in their unresolved feelings for narratively-powerful time players smh obvs it sounds corny as hell but who knows its still plausible

srsly tho i hope they take the opportunity to develop arasol's relationship in a fresh direction that doesn't hurt me too badly...... and i hope they force sollux out of his comfort zone. i like watching him struggle :-)

[nekrosmos]

Price is cold, very cold, Nik helps him out (SFW) | AO3

The stiffness in Price’s fingers had settled in a long time ago, hands pinned firmly under his armpits while shifting his weight around, hoping to get some heat back in his extremities, without much success. Every exhale gave him a proper view of how cold it really was, making him miss the countless ops in middle eastern summers that made him sweat every last drop of water in his body and burnt his skin. 

Yet, there stood Nikolai, next to him, jacket opened, a cigarette in his hands, looking like this was just a slightly chilly evening. Unbelievable. 

“Fucking hell, Nik.”

This got the Russian to raise an eyebrow at him, his dark eyes glaring into Price’s briefly, before handing him the cigarette he had just lit up.

“Hmh? Want one?”

A short laugh escaped Price’s lips as he shook his head, teeth shuddering as he opened his mouth. 

“Nah. All I want is some fucking heat, Nik.” He grumbled, words barely audible between his trembling and the slight wind piercing through his bones. “You owe me dinner for this.”

This whole thing had been Nik’s idea. A weapon’s deal, probably just a regular work day for him, if Nik hadn't smelled something fishy about this one. On such a short notice, all he could do was ask John for help and backup, something the captain was happy to provide, despite the negative temperatures. He just wished the asshole they were waiting for would show up quicker so the two of them could get back to their van. 

It was Nik’s turn to chuckle softly, exhaling the smoke slowly as he did so. He took a step closer to Price and the captain immediately felt the heat radiating off of him, his bigger shape gently pressing itself against his, leaving what little heat John had left in his own body to gather at the tip of his ears, under his beanie. 

“Is the cold that bad ?” The Russian asked, a wider smile on his face as he let one of his hands wander to the back of John’s neck, gloved fingers toying with his scarf. 

A soft, barely audible swear word was all John was able to answer, his cheeks warming up as he felt the warm leather gloves press against the skin of his neck. His blue eyes darted around the alley the two were standing in, checking if anyone was around, a habit of his he found difficult to get rid of. Things were still pretty recent with Nik, and it didn’t matter how safe he felt around the man or how capable he knew the two of them to be at protecting themselves, there would still be apprehension whenever Nikolai touched him this way outside.

Another exhale, John’s lips quivering as he stared into Nikolai’s dark eyes, whole body shaking under several layers of clothes as his answer. 

“Give me your hands.” Nik simply added, placing his cigarette between his lips and opening both of his palms, waiting for John to oblige him. 

For a moment, John stared at him, a frown on his face as he tried to understand what his plan could be. Another gust of wind rushing through the alley and piercing through his body was enough to convince him, however, finally removing his hands from beneath his armpits and placing them inside of Nikolai’s. 

“Better not start making me dance a waltz or anything.” Price mumbled, his apprehensions still very much in the back of his mind.

“A good idea for later.” Nik teased in return. 

His smile couldn’t have been wider as he closed his fingers around John’s hands, pulling them closer until they were resting against Nik’s sides, under his jacket. It was like placing your hands directly on a heater, the warmth immediately spreading inside John’s fingers, almost painfully so for half a second, until it became enjoyable again. 

“Better?” Nik asked as he let go of John’s hands, letting them rest against his sides before grabbing his cigarette again and slowly letting the smoke out. 

“Yeah. Fuck, Nik.” 

The urge to push his entire body against Nik’s, let his arms wrap themselves around his bigger shape and let his head rest in the crook of his neck, taking in all of his familiar and comforting scent was strong, too strong. There were still outside, in the cold, waiting for this fucking arms dealer to show up and all Price could think about was how good it would be to be pinned under Nik’s weight, how warm he would feel in his arms, his hot breath hitting the back of his neck as Nik laid on top of him, hips against his, hearing him whisper the most salacious praises in his ears while he - 

“John. John ? They’re here.” 

“Bollocks.” 

Price’s hands quickly let go of Nik, moving to the inside of his jacket’s pockets instead, fingers resting against the pistol concealed in it as three figures approached them with heavy cases in their hands. 

…

As the heavy van door slammed next to him, Price let out a sigh of relief. The inside of the vehicle was definitely an improvement from the outside temperature. He sat in the passenger seat, watching Nik take his place as the driver, the Russian humming happily as he placed his keys against the dashboard. 

“That went pretty well, didn’t it?” He asked, his usual smile still on his face. 

“The bloke I shot in the foot after they tried to grab us wouldn’t agree with you.” 

“Da, but they were very reasonable after that.” 

The inside of the van was suddenly filled with the sound of joyful laughter as the two men leaned against each other, one of Nik’s big hands first resting against Price’s shoulder, only to move to his chin, raising it up slightly, enough that his lips could meet John’s. Fifteen minutes ago, Nikolai was holding an eastern European mobster in a tight headlock, ready to crack his skull open, a proud display of his strength and resolve, and now, he was tenderly kissing his love, smiling behind his lips as his fingers dig into John’s beard, gently brushing against his skin. John loved that about him. 

“Still cold?” His deep voice was like a reassuring embrace to Price. 

“It’s better than standing outside but yeah, I’m still fucking freezing.” 

Nikolai nodded, grabbing his keys and turning the engine on. 

“I know a good way to warm you up.” 

The shit eating grin on his face was enough of a clue for John to understand what he meant by that, his insides twisting in anticipation. 

“Dinner first. You owe me, Nik.” 

“Da, da. I’m a gentleman, after all.” 

“Huh-huh.” 

Another shared laugh echoed inside the vehicle as they took off. No matter how cold John was at the moment, he had no doubts in his mind that Nik would indeed find a way to warm him up tonight. 

[larrylimericks]

15Jun24

Some your-names said Louis’s a slag; In Mexico, gave him a shag. Ten or more touched the sky! He sparked up to reply: Fuck your rumors and also jet lag.

[alohaasaloevera]

ok maybe klance is boring cause it’s everywhere and maybe they don’t share too many scenes together so but I don’t really give a shit! look at them! they’re so…klance. i say there’s another few months give or take before my interest in them finally burns out and it stays dormant for like two years before I pick it up again and i go feral over the two because they’re KLANCE

[s0fter-sin]

sometimes i think about how wild a mw2 movie would be if they just dropped soapghost right in the middle with no warning or marketing. like imagine it being beat for beat the exact same, it’s your typical military action movie, promoted as just another military action movie then after they get to the safe house, ghost has to patch up soap and he’s still out of it, overwhelmed by the betrayal and everything he’s seen and ghost needs to ground him and keep him in the present, to remind him that he’s alive and safe so he kisses him and they have sex. the tantrums and the rants and the “ReAl sOLdiErS aRen’t liKe ThAt”, god i can taste it and it’s delicious

[footballandshit]

i walk into bookstore.

i see a "booktok" section.

i walk out of the bookstore.

[lyril]

lumpus is a fascinating specimen glad theres other people also fond of him

HE SURE IS i will be honest i almost like him a Little Too Much because i Also live in my fantasy world of make believe where camp lazlo is a little more than a 6.4/10 show (I STILL LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!) and instead also includes all my insane 20k spiels of backstory stringing and talks about character writing but

(also. i do think it's funny how popular slinkman is in comparison, i love him just as much, but i actually see people mention really liking slinkman pretty frequently if someone happens to posts about camp lazlo which is GOOD because he DESERVES IT MAJORLY but the lumpus bug has Also caught me something awful even though i hate him and he sucks so i'm alone adrift in the world out here...)

edited this just for him

[konstantya]

I survived my Christmas marathon!

Now I get to detox from three straight days of extreme food and drink decadence.

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

ford: here’s the current plan: i dive down while the shiver-flock is distracted, get through the coral, grab one of the urchins, and then we make a run for the ship as soon as i surface

stan: hm, alright, i hear ya. counterpoint: we don’t have any diving gear

ford: i’ll hold my breath

stan: six, and i say this with the upmost respect, you can’t even hold your breath going up and down the stairs. your lungs are worse than mine, somehow, and i don’t know how you even managed that

ford: okay. ouch

stan: and, i mean, what if you get a brain-eating amoeba or somethin’?

ford: bold of you to assume i don’t already have twenty anomalous variants swimming around in my grey matter

stan: okay, what about bacteria and parasites and viruses? the ocean is chock full of micro-shit that wants to kill you

ford: i am encroaching on their home without their consent. as far as i’m concerned, they have every right to do so

stan: for fuck’s sake- ford

ford: what?

stan: i’m asking you to take care of yourself for once here

ford: do you have another plan?

stan: uh…no

ford: then, and i say this with the upmost respect, don’t fucking tell me what to do

stan: i-

ford: i’m sorry, that was rude, i appreciate your advice

stan: hey, thanks

ford: i’m still doing it though

stan: (sigh) yeah, i kinda figured

[thesingingrevolution]

i’ve always loved hetalia spain and i remember when i got into hetalia in 2017 i used to go crazy asking my best friend who’s argentinian but grew up in spain about stuff related to spain that i heard in his character songs so im finding texts from years and years ago where we’re talking about cosechas and the fiesta de San Fermín 😭

[warmsol]

i miss makoa and elia so much but my motivation to story tell is at zeroooooo

[infizero]

oblivion theory is the best deltarune theory bcuz every inconsistency with the legend and the knight and everything is just explained away by "this whole premise is fabricated so you'll keep playing the game forever" and it also makes actual perfect sense

[hallufabrication]

It's a small world

A fic about various things I wanted to write about instead of rambling about them; focuses on Manta and Hannah. The whole thing is under the cut.

Manta didn’t expect his and Hannah’s connection to fizzle out the way it did.

Not that he was expecting anything specific; She wasn’t someone he would really consider a friend. At the same time, though, he couldn’t deny that they weren’t exactly strangers, either. They hung out sometimes, she tried to help him during his illegal race against Corto, and they bonded over how great they thought Teach tech was – something that left a bitter taste in his mouth now.

He would have expected some kind of a lukewarm goodbye, or an awkward wave as they stepped onto the boats meant to take them to their homes. But as the boat steering towards the Solar Sea took off, there was no exchange between them - in fact, he wasn’t even anywhere nearby, instead preparing for his and Shino’s attempt at getting a better life for themselves.

He did think then if he should have approached her outburst the day before the way he did. Back then, he didn’t see it as anything more than a show of weakness; she wouldn’t have lasted a day in what he had to live through on Polaris. Why should she get sympathy for being a double-crosser? For only feeling bad now that it was too late anyway, now that Gavinda’s plan was in full swing?

But it wasn’t too late. Not to her and the Tikis, anyway. And she did her part in fighting against Teach…

Unlike him, at first.

No, Hannah wasn’t weak. After everything, Manta could tell that much.

Maybe he shouldn’t have underestimated how cruel Teach could have been to her. Maybe that shouldn’t have been his last words to her.

“Oh well. Too bad”, he thought, going back to packing his stuff. What’s done is done.

He hasn’t really thought about this, or anything related to the Mirages, for the next few months. He had more important things on his mind - building a new life from scratch with Shino (and Debbie) on an entirely new island was challenging enough to take away any time he could have had for reminiscing about his old acquaintances from the Whale Cup.

They weren’t on his mind these few months later, as he was walking through one of the lesser known alleys of Tortuga to his boat, either - at least not until he saw a familiar looking silhouette walking through one of the streets he’d usually pass.

“Hannah?” He called out instinctively, more out of surprise than anything else.

“Oh– hi, Manta.” She replied, turning around to face him. “Been a while, huh?”

“Yeah, but– What are you doing here?”

“On Tortuga? I came for the Rotor Punch, obviously.” She shrugged. “But, I wanted to see how you’re doing with my own two eyes while I’m here, too.”

“You heard of me?” He asked, squinting his eyes.

“Duh. It’d be harder to not hear of the famous White Tiger, honestly.” She said, leaning on the wall next to her. “You’re taking Aquagram by storm– You know that, right?”

He shrugged and made an indecipherable hum. Debbie did tell him that he was getting more popular day by day, but he never really got interested in how popular he was outside of Tortuga, exactly. His winning streak mattered to him more than whatever she was doing over on her hologlove.

“Wait, but– Rotor Punch? You’re competing?”

“What, you think I can’t handle it?”

“It’s just– I didn’t know if you’d still be racing after… Everything.”

Hannah frowned for a short second, but quickly smirked instead.

“It takes more than that to make me quit, you know. I managed to get into Solar Empire’s drone guard.”

She crossed her arms, still leaning on the wall.

“So, I’m the one representing the Empire this year.”

“Oh, wow. You got yourself a solid position, huh?” He said, walking over and sitting down on the stairs next to her. “How’d you even do that?”

“Eh, turns out getting to the finals of the Whale Cup was good enough of an achievement to sign up. Only had to climb a few ranks after that.”

“Pshf, sounds easy.” He teased. She only hummed in response.

“What about Adam? Is he participating with you?”

A slight grimace showed up on Hannah’s face. Manta wasn’t sure how to decipher what emotion it was supposed to show.

“...No, he’s not. He hasn’t reached out to me after Teach’s defeat.”

“Oh.” Manta said. “...Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Hannah sighed, sitting next to him on the stairs.

“...I haven’t tried to reach him, either. At first I thought I should, since Teach manipulated him, too, but… He was always more invested in her plans than I was. It seems like we both picked our sides.”

“...I see.”

“Yeah.”

A moment of silence fell upon them.

“And you’re…not worried?”

Hannah glared at him for a few seconds before deciding on an answer.

“I… don’t know. I have mixed feelings about it all.” She stated, resting her chin on her hand.

“Teach was cruel to him, too. She’s not going to suddenly do a 180. But, if that was his choice, then–”

She suddenly waved with the same hand in the air, leaning back.

“--so be it! I’m not going to chase after someone who made up their mind!”

She let out something between a groan and a sigh, hiding her face with her hands for a moment.

“...What’s it to you, anyway? I didn’t take you for the type to talk about this kinda stuff.”

Manta shrugged, looking somewhere else.

“You were the one who said it’s been a while.”

“Heh– yeah, that’s true.” She chuckled. “I guess it did a number on you.”

“Hmm.”

They sat for a moment in silence before Hannah stood up from the stairs.

“...Well, I should go. I take it you’re taking part in the Rotor Punch too, right?”

“Of course. Who do you take me for?”

“Yeah, thought so.” She smirked again, turning back to go about her way.

“I’ll see you around, then. Just don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

“Psh, as if I’d need that. But yeah. See you around.” He replied, also getting up from the sidewalk.

As he got back to walking to his boat, he felt a sense of a relief he didn’t expect.

Turns out, he was sorta glad to see her again.