MSPA fan fiction 2

[Masterly]

...You just reminded my why I used to ship Solly and Aradia so much. Write more please

Used to?

It's a shame, most fics involving trolls usually center on Karkat, Terezi, and Kanaya (often with Rose as an important character unsurprisingly) so just seeing Solly and Aradia in important roles is great. Shipping them together is just gravy.

Very delicious gravy.

[ombrophilia]

Yes, Crafty, I am jumping on this train of "you already know my opinion of this fic". It's an unwieldlily-named train but it gets you where you're going. Which at this rate must be heartbreak city. Lousy goddamn stupid predestination.

[Metaflare]

...You just reminded my why I used to ship Solly and Aradia so much. Write more please

Used to?

SolluxxFeferi came along :[

[arcaneCalligramancer]

...You just reminded my why I used to ship Solly and Aradia so much. Write more please

Used to?

SolluxxFeferi came along :[

This is why Troll Jegus invented threesomes.

[raequiem]

I swear, I'm working on PTSD! Really! *dodges tomatoes*

In the meantime, have some Rose-centricity. Just little snippets and peeks into her life. This can be seen as in the same canon as PTSD if you tilt your head and squint.

Knitting

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Rose loves knitting. She loves the feel of the smooth needles in her hands, and the way the yarn twists around her fingers, almost playfully. She loves the quiet, comforting click-clack, click-clack as she works. She loves spreading a half-finished piece out on her lap and admiring the stitchwork, or the color, or the softness and warmth of the yarn. She loves flipping through a book to find the perfect pattern, or improvising one as she works.

But most of all, she loves the tangibility of the finished piece. It's not just something she did to pass the time, it's something she made that can keep someone warm, or be fashionable, or beautify a room. It's something she can give to someone and know, even if they don't, that she poured all her energy and passion into every single stitch.

When the game begins, of course, she doesn't have much time to knit. There are, after all, other priorities - namely survival, and attempting to save the doomed planet, and later to break the game that broke her. (That last one should really be a warning sign, if not to her than to someone. But there are bigger things at stake than one young girl's mental health.)

But some time later (it's impossible to keep track of time unless you're Dave, and she has no desire to ask him. She's not sure which would be worse - that it's been weeks since normalcy, or that somehow it's still April 13th and there's no hope in sight) she's idly watching over John's body as his dreamself roams Skaia looking for his father.

The image on her Hubtopband is remarkably clear, and as she watches John shivers fiercely, and attempts to curl into an even smaller ball, His face twists a bit uncomfortably, and he ducks his chin instinctlively to protect his neck from the chill.

Rose's hands move seemingly of their own accord, to her knittng bag, which she hasn't touched in too long. She sorts through the balls of yarn until she reaches the one she knows is just right - a bright blue skein, rather fuzzy, very thick and warm. Another quick rummage brings up a pair of plain needles (it would most likely be a Very Bad Idea to try knitting with the Thorns of Oglogoth). She casts on, building the first row of a scarf.

The scarf works up quiclky - apparently she's not as rusty as she thought - and she flies to the Gate that she knows will take her to John. She tiptoes up to his sleeping form as quietly as she can - who knows what he's doing on Skaia that could be ruined by an abrupt awakening - and gently tucks the scarf around his neck. He's really rather sweet when he sleeps, she thinks idly. Of course, he's also rather sweet when he's awake. It seems to be a constant state of being for John Egbert.

As she rises to leave, a movement catches her eye. John's hand curls around the scarf, and he smiles, pressing his nose to it in his sleep. Rose stifles a chuckle and heads back home. Yes, very sweet.

---

There are two ways to cast on - one is fast and tight, the other slower but more flexible. Rose tends to use the former - time is of the essence for everyone but Dave. The needles and yarn fly past her fingers, forming scarves, sweaters and blankets for her friends. And they're grateful, particularly John - his land is the coldest of the four, and he cherishes that first thick blue scarf.

But she begins to notice little signs that they aren't as comfortable as they seem - scarves that snag on any loose object, blankets that never seem to quite keep someone warm enough, sleeves and collars that get tugged at almost subconsciously. The others don't say anything, and neither does she, but when she gets a few minutes alone she practices the looser method until it's almost as fast. Fast may not be functional, but who says functional can't be fast?

And the next round of sweaters is appreciated even more.

---

The knit stitch is the simplest - slip the needle in, catch the yarn on the tip, and pull it through. She can pump out miles of that one without thinking. Several times she's dozed off, found herself on Derse, and later awoken to her body still knitting away.

She tries teaching Jade to knit, as they sit on the beach outside of Rose's house, because they're there and they're bored and the boys are off dreaming, doing something down on Skaia and up on Derse. And Jade gets so quiet when anyone mentions dreaming, Rose'll do anything to keep that dark look off her face.

But knitting frustrates her, too. "I'm doing the knit stitch, so why doesn't it look like knitting? I thought it was supposed to make little v's, like your sweaters! This is all lumpy and ugly, Rose!"

"That's because every time you change rows, you turn the work over, and knit stitch looks different on the front and the back. On the front it's nice little v's, but on the back it's lumpy. See, look on the inside of your sweater, there's little lumps there too."

Jade peers into her sleeve and grudgingly agrees. "But how do I make it all pretty on the front?"

So Rose teaches her the purl stitch. It takes Jade a few minutes to wrap her head around, but then she exclaims, "Oh, it's just knitting backwards! Of course!"

Rose smiles. "Not so difficult, is it?"

Jade shakes her head. "Nope! You just need to look at it from... a different... angle..." She stands, dropping the needles and yarn from her lap. "I think I know how I can help the guys." She runs down the beach, disappearing a few yards away from Rose.

Rose chuckles and picks up the abandoned knitting, dusting off the sparkling white sand and tucking it safely into her bag. She'd wondered how long it would take Jade to remember that she was the Witch of Space.

---

She worries about running out of yarn. There are no cute little yarn shops in the Medium, and she'd only had a few skeins stashed away when the game started. She tries to calculate how much longer she'll be able to work at this rate, and frowns. There should be at least a little more yarn than this - she hasn't used that much already, has she?

John, Jade and Dave are being alarmingly furtive lately, as well. Rose is an intelligent girl, she knows how to connect the dots. But she's not quite sure what picture they make. So she waits for their secret to reveal itself.

And it does, when John takes her hand and leads her up to the house, saying "We've got something for you."

"We?"

"Yup. Me, Dave and Jade. We noticed that you don't have very much yarn-"

"So we figured out a way to alchemize some," Dave interrupts. He and Jade are sitting among dozens of carved totems, each with a punched captchalogue card set on top. Rose glances at the nearest one - it holds the image of a bulky yarn in a deep red. The one next to it is finer, and yellowish-green. The next is purple wool, perfect for a new sweater.

Jade bounces with excitement. "This way, you can make as much as you need. You can change the thickness just by playing with the enlarger. And we even figured out how to make it different colors-"

"The point is, you don't have to worry about running out," says John. "Sorry we had to steal some of what you have, but-"

Rose cuts him off with a hug. "Thank you." She reaches out and pulls Jade and Dave over. "Thank you all so much."

It would be stupid to cry over a bunch of yarn.

She does anyway.

---

She's using the fine green thread to make a pair of lace gloves for Jade. Sometimes it seems like she knits more than she sleeps.

Yarn-over increases are easy, and exactly what they sound like. Bring the yarn over the needle, and it makes a new stitch. But it also makes a hole in the fabric. Sometimes that's a good thing, like in these lace gloves. The holes form a pattern, a picture, something beautiful. Jade will like these - the pattern looks like the sun, her favorite of the randomized symbols of her wardrobe.

But if she used yarn-overs in, say, a sweater, the holes would be a bad thing. They'd let the cold in, and hurt the overall integrity of the fabric. They might still be pretty, but they're just as likely to be a mess of Swiss cheese.

Dave scares her so much sometimes. His temporal abilities save his life time and time again, but she's seen the corpses of alternate versions of him, evidence of timelines gone bad. But he - some version of him - always comes back to them, to warn them about what has to happen and what'll get them killed.

He's always been reckless, but this power over time means he has nothing to lose. Infinite extra tries. Infinite do-overs. As long as he can get a hand on his timetables, he's immortal.

Sometimes that reckless immortality is necessary, even vital. But it's mostly just dangerous. It leaves holes in the timeline and corpses on the ground. He loops time around itself and bends it to the picture he wants it to make, but nothing ever comes free.

And Rose shudders to think of the price Dave'll someday have to pay for his shenanigans.

---

Raised increases. Lift a new stitch from the space between two stitches. Create something where there was nothing at all.

It shapes a sweater to fit snug and warm, and leaves no sign of its existence except in the whole of the finished piece. Rose spreads out the current project, a hooded sweater. A shadow falls over her lap, and she looks up, squinting into the light.

John grins and sits beside her. "Whatcha doin'?"

"The usual. You?"

"Uggh. Arguing with the salamanders. You'd think they'd figure out I'm just trying to help!"

She turns her attention back to the sweater. "What are you trying to do?"

"Get them to take up weapons and fight for themselves! The imps are tearing their homes apart, and they just stand there bubbling away. It's all 'nooo, you're the Heir, it's your job to protect us!' I can't be everywhere at once!"

"This really bothers you, doesn't it?"

He looks at her oddly. "Of course it does! I can't just let them get hurt and killed, but I can't help them unless they help themselves, either. I don't know what else to do."

Rose smiles. "You'll make it work, John. I know you can."

He flops down on his back. "I sure hope so. It's hard, being the Heir."

"It's hard and nobody understands."

"What?"

"Nothing."

---

Sometimes stitches fall off the needle. The loops undo themselves, making a tangled mess where hours of work had been just seconds before. And she can scream and cry all she wants about it, but in the end she needs to sit down and pull out the knots and try again.

She's halfway through a blanket when Bubbles (John insists on calling him Casey, but she knows her familiar) stumbles up the beach toward her, bubbling frantically in alarm. He's followed by a horde of imps, all smacking him with swords and wings and tentacles.

Rose drops her needles and picks up the Thorns, dealing with the threat to her familiar as quickly as she can. But somewhere in the battle she absently kicks her work aside, and once the last imp is sent scurrying with a cursed backside, she goes back to assess the damage.

Bubbles nudges curiously at the abandoned knitting. Half the stitches have fallen off the left needle.

Rose sighs and pulls the salamander into her lap. "Come on, Viceroy. Let's try and fix this before it gets any worse." The little amphibian reaches out and tugs the blanket, unraveling nearly a dozen rows.

The girl swallows a scream.

---

Knit two together. Slip the needle into two separate stitches, and tie them together with a single strand.

Once, Jade very nearly gets overpowered by a crowd of imps. Rose and John are stuck in their own battle, and Dave is off doing some kind of weird time shit.

Jade's still horrified at the thought of using her rifle on anything alive, and no torment from the imps or coaxing from Rose and John can convince her otherwise. One imp bares rows of sharp white teeth, while another pulls the sword from its stomach and brandishes it menacingly. Jade whimpers, gun clutched to her chest, indecision written in every line of her body.

And suddenly Dave is there, sword at the ready. He quickly dispatches the imps closest to Jade, and scatters the rest with a look. He turns to her. "You okay?" She throws her arms around him and nearly drops her weapon.

Their own imps dealt with, John and Rose focus on his Serious Business goggles. John coughs first, and switches off the video feed. "I think we can leave them alone for a little while." Rose agrees, and they busy themselves with just about anything else for some time.

When they next see Dave and Jade, the only sign that anything unusual occurred in the interval is slightly ruffled hair on both parts, deep blushes from Jade and shit-eating grins from Dave. John and Rose figure that they really don't want to know.

---

Casting off is simply wrapping each loop around the next, forming a strong, smooth edge.

Rose is finishing another blanket, thick and woolen. She slips off the last stitch, tucks in the ends of her yarn, and gathers it up in her arms. She walks over to where John is sitting at the mouth of the cave, and drapes it over his shoulders. He smiles up at her. "Thanks." He lifts one side of the new blanket. "Join me?"

She does, and he arranges the blanket over them both. For a moment there is just silence, the comfort of companionship where nothing needs said. Then John opens his mouth to speak.

"Do you think it's true, that we're doomed?"

She considers for a moment before answering. "I think the game's not over yet, and until it is there's no point in wondering."

"So, we should just do what we can, and hope it all works out?"

"Exactly. It's all we can do."

He fiddles with the blanket again, draping his arm over her shoulders. "I think we'll be okay."

She wraps her own arm around his waist, and tucks her head against his shoulder. "I hope you're right."

Wrapped around each other, they watch Skaia spin across the sky.

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Let me know if this makes sense to non-knitters, particularly the terminology and descriptions.

Also I tried to add in some fighting just so it doesn't seem like all she does is sit around and knit and introspect. She does it a lot, but not all the time. :P

Yay procrastinating!

[Metaflare]

Rae, tell me the secret to how you write so good. IT'S A SUPERPOWER AINT IT

[raequiem]

Rae, tell me the secret to how you write so good. IT'S A SUPERPOWER AINT IT

I DON'T KNOW. I just get ideas and put them in words and stick them up here and apparently you guys like it? It's a mystery O.O

[Masterly]

Rae, tell me the secret to how you write so good. IT'S A SUPERPOWER AINT IT

I DON'T KNOW. I just get ideas and put them in words and stick them up here and apparently you guys like it? It's a mystery O.O

I wish I had a cool superpower like you. I guess I'll just have to settle for flying and laserbeams.

/sigh

[Shadow of the Lotus]

That was adorable Raequiem. I think my favorite part was actually when John clutched at the scarf Rose gave him while he was asleep. Just too adorable.

[chronicallyCrafty]

WHOA that was a nice warm welcome to this here forum! This fic's basically writing itself so there'll be much more of Momentum tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who offered encouragement so far, I dearly hope I don't disappoint :3

Raequiem, I really liked that. We've been getting so much dark!Rose lately it was refreshing to see something else And don't worry, all the terminology made sense to this non-knitter. I think you described each stitch well...and man do I love stories that parallel action with more mundane activities like knitting. Nicely done

[raequiem]

SotL: Is it even possible to write John as anything but adorable?

Crafty: Darkfic makes me sad. Sometimes you just need fuzzy fluff. And it's good to know I made sense! That was the one thing really concerning me when I was writing.

And yay, more Momentum!

[PaulPower]

Aww, that was lovely, raeqium. I can't say I always got the symbolism regarding the knitting, but that doesn't make it bad (although saying that, rereads are bringing the metaphors out more clearly so hey).

And yeah, there's been a lot of dark!Rose lately. Even I've succumbed to writing her like that. Well, it's logical given how her character's developing in the comic. Still... something like that makes me want to finish off Diamonds are Forever, too. I'll just have to plough through writing this bizarre rugby sideplot.

[orngjce223]

I am totally writing a musicfic along those lines. Stop me, please.

[sarasvati]

rae

rae

rae

this is important

marry me your fics are SO GOOD

[Isoraqathedh]

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Part 1
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6

Part 2
Chapter (7a) (7b) (7c)8 (9)

Part 3
Chapter 10 11
12

Part 4
Chapter 13

Chapter 14: Discovery
Chapter 15: Communication the Third

14 15

[chronicallyCrafty]

Back as promised! Here's some fic bright and early (for me, anyway). Part 2 is kind of hellishly long so I'll be posting sections of it throughout the day. Oh, and thanks for the colors help, raequiem!

Here's Part 1, if you missed it.

Momentum, Part 2(.1)

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apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: hey s0llux!
TA: hii aradiia.
TA: youre up pretty late.
AA: yep! i just g0t back fr0m digging 0ut my newest excavati0n site
TA: excavatiion?
TA: liike archeology?
AA: y0u g0t it! tavr0s and i just finished 0ur last flarp campaign s0 i figured n0w w0uld be a g00d time t0 start
TA: that2 riight you two are partner2.
AA: team charge f0rever! haha
TA: eheheh 2ound2 liike you guy2 have fun wiith that.
AA: y0u d0nt flarp d0 y0u s0llux?
TA: nah ii could never get iintwo iit.
TA: the game mechaniic2 are two 2iimple and hackiing iit would be two temptiing.
AA: 0h
AA: that w0uldnt be very fair
TA: exactly.
AA: s0 what d0 y0u d0 in y0ur free time?
AA: just c0de all day l0ng
AA: mr genius mcsmartyfangs
AA: 0_0
TA: eheheh wow no.
TA: well ye2.
TA: that2 ba2iically what ii do all day.
TA: but iim no genius.
AA: 0h c0me 0n!
AA: half the time i talk t0 y0u y0ure g0ing 0ff 0n h0w amazing y0u are!
AA: even terezi says y0ure brilliant
TA: 2he 2aiid that?
AA: well 0kay n0t in th0se w0rds specifically
AA: but m0re 0r less
TA: iit2 not really all that great ii promii2e.
TA: more liike ii know how two fuck around wiith 2hiit tiil iit doe2 what ii want.
TA: whiich ii dont know ii gue22 ii2 the 2ame thiing.
AA: …
AA: s0 are you agreeing with me 0r n0t 0_0
TA: who know2.
TA: 2ometiime2 ii have a hard tiime thiinkiing iim worth anythiing.
AA: ive n0ticed!
AA: well just between y0u and me s0llux
AA: i think y0ure pretty amazing
AA: and if y0u believed in that all the time instead 0f 0nly half the time
AA: i think y0ud be a l0t happier
AA: anyway its getting light 0ut
AA: we sh0uld b0th be getting t0 sleep
AA: ill talk t0 y0u later s0llux!

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

TA: …thank2 aradiia.
TA: ii gue22 try not two have two many niightmare2.
TA: or 2omethiing.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

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arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

AC: :33 < *ac spots a ruthless wild beast tamer and quickly ducks behind a huge boulder!*
AC: :33 < *but then she realizes its aa whos come to play with her and l33ps out and rubs against aas legs*
AC: :33 < hiiiii aradia!
AC: oops, i mean
AC: *she says that*
AA: hell0 nepeta
AA: i mean
AA: *the ruthless wild beast tamer wh0s n0t actually ruthless 0r a beast tamer happily rubs the cats belly in greeting*
AA: w0w s0rry
AA: im n0t very g00d at this
AC: :33 < thats ok
AC :33 < its pretty diffurent from flarping!
AA: speaking 0f which
AA: did y0u ask yet
AC: :33 < oh
AC: :33 < yes, i did
AC: :33 < he wont let me :(( hes being purrfectly impossible about it!
AA: did y0u tell him wh0 y0u w0uld be playing with
AC: :33 < yes he made me >:((
AC: :33 < even though terezi would be my partner
AC: :33 < he says shes a bad influence
AC: :33 < and a “disgrace to b100-b100ds” or something stupid like that
AA: i can 0nly imagine what he had t0 say about tavr0s and me
AC: :33 < :((
AC: :33 < i did everything i could pawsibly think of
AC: :33 < i told him if hed just talk to you hed s33 how wrong he was!
AC: :33 < but he wouldnt listen
AA: that seems t0 be the case m0st 0f the time
AC: :33 < more like all of the time!
AC: :33 < *ac rolls up into a ball of bristly anger!!*
AC: :33 < *but thats really tiring so she cant hold it for long*
AA: d0nt w0rry nepeta
AA: y0u did y0ur best
AA: well find s0me0ne else t0 play with us
AC: :33 < :(( good luck!
AA: i supp0se i sh0uld als0 wish y0u g00d luck
AA: it cant be easy t0 deal with a m0irail wh0 d0esnt listen

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

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apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: s0llux?
TA: oh hey.
AA: hi
AA: I have a questi0n f0r y0u
TA: fiire away.
TA: mr geniius mc2martyfang2 at your 2erviice.
AA: um
AA: i kn0w y0u said y0u d0nt flarp usually but
AA: we really need a f0urth
AA: i d0nt kn0w wh0 else t0 ask
TA: oh hell.
TA: aradiia we talked about thii2.
AA: i kn0w
AA: s0rry nevermind
TA: nah iit2 cool.
TA: you guy2 2eem really de2perate though.
AA: well
AA: terezi says she kn0ws s0me0ne wh0d d0 it
AA: theyve been partners bef0re
AA: but i d0nt kn0w
AA: ive heard s0me bad things ab0ut her
TA: what from the voiice2?
AA: 0_0
AA: n0 the flarp f0rums
TA: oh.
TA: who know2 that could ju2t be a bunch of 2ii22y newb2 complaiiniing about gettiing theiir a22e2 handed two them.
AA: maybe
TA: doe2nt 2ound liike a challenge team charge cant handle two me.
AA: haha thats right!
AA: 0k i think ill g0 let them kn0w the deal
TA: tell me how iit goe2.
AA: will d0!

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

More later today!

As with before, concrit's more than welcome ._.

[raequiem]

Crafty you and your fic are delightful. I love your alive!Aradia sosomuch (well actually she's already one of my favorite characters ever but you make her EVEN BETTER with your characterization and cuteness and STUFF). Poor Sollux. I sadfaced after that first one so hard :'(

And a;dslkfhqa;poguhTHANK YOU GUISE SO MUCH. I love you all to bits and pieces, and when I get derpy ideas like this in my brain it's awesome to find out that other people like them.

Paul: DO IT. Write more now put it in my eyes please thankyou.

Saras: YOU BE QUIET. I will not marry you because I am UNWORTHY and WORSHIP AT YOUR TOES and squee at everything you ever post. So when you say stuff like this it makes my week and I can't take that much happiness. STOP THAT.

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I am ADDICTED to WEIRD CAPSLOCKING in case you haven't NOTICED.

[sarasvati]

Saras: YOU BE QUIET. I will not marry you because I am UNWORTHY and WORSHIP AT YOUR TOES and squee at everything you ever post. So when you say stuff like this it makes my week and I can't take that much happiness. STOP THAT.

YOU ARENT THE BOSS OF ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chronicallyCrafty]

Raequiem: I had fun going off what little we know about Aradia before she died. Too bad it's only gonna make later parts of the story that much sadder

Anyway, here, have some more fic. Oh, and more characters, too. I wanted to post this earlier, but long classes are long.

(Parts: 1, 2.1)

Momentum, Part 2(.2)

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twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

TA: hey aradiia.
TA: um.
TA: are you there?
TA: gue22 not nevermiind then.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: 0h s0llux hi!
AA: s0rry im a little busy
AA: ill get back t0 y0u 0k?
TA: uh.
TA: ok 2ure.
AA: whew
AA: s0rry ab0ut that
AA: we were just finishing up 0ur campaign
TA: oh crap ii forgot that wa2 twoday.
TA: how diid iit go?
AA: i d0nt kn0w
AA: she seemed 0k
AA: maybe a little aggressive f0r playing with us f0r the first time
AA: she didnt pull any punches thats f0r sure
AA: she sure did seem t0 enj0y picking 0n tavr0s th0ugh
TA: ii2nt that her job a2 hii2
TA: uh
TA: whatever you call what 2he wa2 doiing.
AA: cl0uder yeah
AA: i d0nt kn0w maybe im just being paran0id!
AA: i guess we will see what kind 0f player ag shapes up t0 be
TA: waiit.
TA: ag?
AA: 0h yeah her handle
TA: a2 iin arachniid2griip?
AA: wh0a
AA: h0w did y0u kn0w 0_0
TA: iit2 one of the name2 ii hear occa2iionally when ii do hear iit though iit2 loud.
AA: 0_0
AA: what d0es that mean
TA: ii dont know 2omethiing horriible probably.
AA: 0h n0
AA: what d0 y0u think we sh0uld d0
TA: ii wa2 ju2t jokiing aradiia ii actually dont know that iit mean2 anythiing.
AA: 0h
AA: well 0k
AA: i still h0pe it d0esnt mean anything awful
TA: me two.
TA: ju2t uh.
TA: be careful ii gue22.
AA: we will!
AA: s0 what was it y0u wanted t0 talk ab0ut bef0re
TA: huh?
AA: y0u seemed t0 have s0mething t0 say when y0u started talking t0 me bef0re
AA: 0_0
TA: oh riight.
TA: ii gue22 ii ju2t wanted two 2ay
TA: uh
TA: thank2 for before.
AA: f0r what
TA: before when we were talkiing about me beiing two hard on my2elf.
AA: oh that
AA: y0u already thanked me f0r that silly!
TA: yeah riight ok but ii diidnt feel liike iit wa2 enough.
TA: 2o
TA: ii wa2 wonderiing.
TA: ii know iit2 a long trek and you dont have two iif you dont want two but iif you wanted two maybe come vii2iit 2ometiime.
TA: you know.
TA: you can.
TA: vii2iit that ii2.
TA: nevermiind iit wa2 a 2tupiid iidea forget ii 2aiid anythiing.
AA: 0_0
AA: s0llux!
TA: god what.
AA: this is exactly the kind 0f thing i was talking ab0ut
AA: its n0t a stupid idea
AA: in fact i think its a great idea and im h0n0red
AA: s0 id l0ve t0 c0me
AA: h0w ab0ut in tw0 days
TA: why two?
AA: haha because its y0ur fav0rite number
TA: eheheh
TA: ok iill 2ee you then.
TA: iill be waiitiing for you out2iide.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

AA: uh

twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

TA: 2orry ii diidnt mean two do that 2o fa2t.
AA: 0_0
TA: 2leep well aradiia.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

AA: 0_0
AA: y0u t00 s0llux

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

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There was a knock on the door. That was unusual nowadays, but right at this moment not unexpected. Tools were set down and blocks were crossed as the impatient knock rapped again on her door.

“I’m coming I’m coming! Geeeeeeeez!”

The heavy panel slid open to reveal the moist and perpetually frustrated face of her neighbor. Living in close vicinity though they did, there was no direct path from his hive to hers. A long distance had to be traveled to get from one to the other on foot, hence the excessive sweating. At least, she hoped that was the cause. He was known to have less savory reasons to sweat.

“Hey Equius! Did you bring it?”

“The radiation engine, you mean? Did you think I would have come all this way without it?”

“Of course not!” Vriska grinned, holding out her hands for the part. “Ok so hurry up and give it here!” He paused, staring down at the girl’s skinny arms and frowned deeper.

“Perhaps it’s better if I brought it in to your work station.”

“Hey sure, whatever.” Shrugging, Vriska weaved her way through her mess of a hive, dodging scattered bits of discarded machinery and clothing and other various items, towards a large central room, where a skeleton of some large machine hung by wires from the ceiling. “You can set it down there.”

Equius carefully lowered the radiation engine to the appointed location and took a step back to briefly glance over her work in progress.

“Thanks buddy! And hey, since you came all this way you might as well make yourself at home and keep me company!”

Brief reactions flickered upon his face in quick succession, half-hidden by his cracked shades, but eventually he nodded and carefully pulled up a chair by her workspace.

“I can accept your hospitality only briefly. Nepeta has been causing trouble of late and I feel it would be wise to return to a position of availability as soon as possible.”

“Oh yeah?” Despite the disapproving look Equius cast her over the gossipy glint in her one visible eye, Vriska didn’t bother to feign disinterest. The motions of her hands as she regained her tools were decidedly automatic as she lent him her near-full attention. “What’s the crazy cat girl been up to this time?”

“You will show me a little more respect by not speaking of my moirail in such derogatory terms,” Equius snapped, his hand clenching a spare tube just lightly enough to bend it into a neat right angle.

“Right right ok, soooooooorry!” A grimace formed and dissolved from her face, though her concentration still deviated from the work at hand. There were several minutes of silence.

“So what’s she doing?”

The tube broke into two pieces. “It is hardly any of your business, Vriska Serket, and you will stop this pattern of interrogation immediately. Had I known your interest in keeping me here longer than I intended was for such impertinent purposes, I—”

“Oh come on Zahhak, it’s obviously bugging you.” Vriska finally looked up, having the foresight to hide a toothy smile. “And with it having to do with her you really don’t have anyone else to talk to, do you?”

The comment sent him careening into surprised silence, and she allowed herself a satisfied smile and a mental pat on the back. Oh, well done, me! Didn’t even have to resort to tricksy mind-powers. Take that, Pyrope!

Equius let out a sigh that was half-angry hiss. “She has been perfectly impossible to deal with all week long. First she wanted to partake in that awful FLARP game—”

“Oh I hope you didn’t let her!” Vriska drawled sarcastically. “It’s dangerous you know!”

Normally at this point he would fly into a rage about her “juvenile” use of sarcasm, but luckily for her, he was already airborne and headed for a different target. “Of course I said no! And to think of the low-bloods she wanted to play with—”

“Wait what? Who asked her to play?”

“Two of the most abject peasants to ever cling like sludge-sucking wormbeasts to the very frayed end of the hemospectrum, and one Terezi Pyrope, who might as well be.”

“…Interesting,” Vriska muttered to herself, but Equius was too worked up to notice. Chair forgotten, he had risen to his feet and begun to pace in agitation.

“And then not three days later she comes regaling me with tales of their…their flushed leanings! It’s positively depraved!”

“Depraved. Yeah. Uh-huh.” Drowning her interest in feigned indifference, Vriska set to work attaching the engine he had given her to her newest doomsday device. “I’m sure it couldn’t have been that bad Equius!”

“Not that—”

“Please don’t sweat on anything,” she interrupted, glancing up with a disgusted twitch to her eyebrow.

“Not that bad!” he repeated, ignoring her. A fine blue sheen had overcome most of his revealed skin, and a faint sound of cracking could be heard as he ground his already ruined teeth in fury. “Getting two days’ worth of nothing but stories of a red-blood and a yellow-blood’s romantic misadventures is not that bad?!”

“…What yellow-blood, I thought—”

“VRISKA DO YOU HAVE A TOWEL?”

She winced and slowly rose to her feet. “Uh…yeah. Just hold your musclebeasts, sheesh.”

Though Vriska kept an unkempt stack in that very same block, she went after one from a different pile down the hall to give herself time to think. If text color was any indication—and it always was—then the red-blood Nepeta had mentioned had to be apocalypseArisen. But the other one was not her failure of a partner. No, then who…

Towel retrieved, she slowed her steps, still deep in thought. What about that hacker kid Terezi yakked about sometimes? Could he be the yellow-blood? Interesting. This was definitely something to be looked into.

…After Equius left. She sighed upon re-entering the room. Though his rage seemed to have calmed a little, he was sweating more than ever and stood still in a corner clutching his elbows with his freakishly powerful fingers. Vriska held the towel out to him by its corner. “Here.” Extending her arm as far as it would go, she tried to keep her face from falling into a deep grimace. A weak grin was all she could manage. “You can keep it. My gift to you. Like in return for the radiation engine. Yeah!”

He took the towel without a word and began to wick the bluish fluid from his forehead. It stained. She felt a little sick.

“Soooooooo thanks for everything, guess you’ve gotta get back to that moirail of yours now huh? Too bad! We were having such a nice chat!” Vriska was spared the unpleasant task of shoving him towards the door of her hive; he finally managed to start walking on his own, and she followed him down the hall to the exit.

“Maybe some other time, buddy, huh? I’ll let you know if I need any more parts! Ok? Alright? Seeeeeeee youuuuuuuu!”

The door closed with a satisfied SLAM behind him, and she leaned against it, a little flushed from both the effort of dealing with her neighbor and the excitement that came from a newly-hatching plan. She had some pretty great information here. All that was left was to figure out how to use it…

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arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Heeeeeeeey Scourge Sister num8er two!!!!!!!!
GC: NUMB3R TWO? >:?
GC: S1NC3 WH3N 4R3 W3 R4NK3D?
GC: WH4T 1F 1 W4NT TO B3 NUMB3R ON3?? >:P
AG: Ok yeah sure what8ver you can 8e num8er one if you w8nt.
GC: OK4Y COOL >:]
AG: Or may8e you can 8e num8er one half the time 8nd num8er two half the time.
AG: That’s fair right? ::::)
GC: Y34H OK4Y TH4T SOUNDS R34SON4BL3
AG: Isn’t that like something your h8cker friend does?
AG: Th8t cute little halfsies thing?
GC: OH Y34H H3S 4LL 1NTO TH3 CUT3 L1TTL3 H4LFS13S TH1NG
GC: WHY DO YOU 4SK? >:?
AG: No re8son it just remind8d me.
AG: You t8lk a8out him a lot. :::;)
GC: 1 WOULDNT S4Y 4 LOT
AG: Ok 8nough to m8ke me curious!
AG: 8speci8lly 8s I m8y need 8 h8cker for my new8st project.
GC: >:O
GC: YOU M34N YOUR N3W DOOMSD4Y D3V1C3?
AG: 8f course wh8t 8lse would I mean?
GC: 1 DONT KNOW 1T JUST S33MS L1K3 WH3N YOUR3 LY1NG YOUR T3XT G3TS MOR3 4ND MOR3 OV3RRUN W1TH 31GHTS >:/
AG: Wh8t????????
AG: M8y8e I’m just 8xc8t8d?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
AG: Come on T8rezi I wouldn’t lie to my f8vor8 Scourge Sister would I? D::::
GC: W3LL NO 1 GU3SS NOT
GC: BUT L3T TH3 COURT R3COGN1Z3 TH4T YOU ONLY H4V3 ON3 SCOURG3 S1ST3R >:P
AG: Ok th8 court r8cognizes th8t or wh8tever but you’re still my f8vor8! :::;)
GC: OK4Y TH4TS F1N3
AG: So c8n you put me in touch w8th him?
GC: OK4Y SUR3 1 GU3SS >:/
GC: 1 C4NT PROM1S3 H3LL W4NT TO T4LK TO YOU THOUGH
GC: H3 C4N B3 K1ND OF D1FF1CULT SOM3T1M3S
GC: H1S H4NDL3 1S TW1N4RM4G3DDONS
AG: Just to confirm, th8t’s twinArm8geddons?
GC: …UH
GC: YOU KNOW SOM3T1M3S 1 F33L L1K3 TH1S TYP1NG QU1RK TH1NG 1S 4 L1TTL3 MOR3 TROUBL3 TH4N 1TS WORTH >:/
AG: Nah it’s ok I’ve got 8t!
AG: Th8nks Terezi!
GC: NO PROBL3M
GC: 1D S4Y GOOD LUCK W1TH YOUR D3V1C3 BUT 1 GU3SS TH4TS TH3 K1ND OF TH1NG 1 SHOULD HOP3 YOU DONT H4V3 GOOD LUCK W1TH >:?
AG: H8h8! W8ll you c8n wish me good luck 8nyw8y! It’s not l8ke I’m going to use it!
GC: OK4Y W3LL GOOD LUCK ON YOUR PROJ3CT TH3N >:]
AG: Th8nks!
AG: >::::D

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

Bluhbluh, concrit, I like it, bluhbluhbluh.

Back to writing!

[-Benedict]

*reiterates he's going to take a break from fanfiction*
*gets another idea*

Oh well, at least this is a change of scene for me, as it's sadfic - which is pretty much a collector's item from me when it comes to fanfic. Featuring John, Rose, Nannasprite and I guess Casey. John/Rose platonic. Character death.

Reformat

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> John: Level up for slaying the lich.

You have climbed to the the WIND WAKER rung on your ECHELADDER.

Your SPRITE can now follow you as far as the LAND OF LIGHT AND RAIN.

Show Spritelog

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NANNASPRITE: ... Hell0... John d34r...
JOHN: nanna!
JOHN: are you feeling any better?
NANNASPRITE: ..... N0t r34lly, n0...
NANNASPRITE: The corrup%on ii2... contiinuiing two spr34d...
JOHN: oh no...
ROSE: That's too bad.
JOHN: rose?
JOHN: CASEY!
CASEY/BUBBLES: Glub!
ROSE: You know the Viceroy, then. I suspected as much.
ROSE: Also, while I'm glad to see you John, and I appreciate a good hug as much as the next person...
ROSE: ... could you perhaps slacken off a bit?
ROSE: I'm finding it just a bit difficult to breathe.
JOHN: haha, sorry, you know i can't resist a good con air moment.
JOHN: i'm reuniting with my loving wife and daughter for the third time today!
JOHN: that's got to be some sort of record.
ROSE: Ha. I suppose it must be.
ROSE: For somewhat flexible values of "reunite", "wife" and "daughter", anyway.
NANNASPRITE: You.... )(ave a l0t 0f nerve 2howiing up here... S33r...
ROSE: This is my land, sprite. I go where I please.
ROSE: And thank you, yes, I'd like to think I have a lot of nerve.
JOHN: rose! that's not fair!
JOHN: it's great to see you, but i'm still not happy about what you did to nanna!
ROSE: ... yes. I can see that now.
ROSE: I will admit that my choice of persuasion methods against her was... regrettable.
JOHN: that doesn't necessarily mean you regret it!
ROSE: Well done, John. You spotted the political phrasing expertly.
ROSE: Yet another reason why you're our leader.
JOHN: rose, for the last time, i'm NOT your leader!
ROSE: John, for the last time, you ARE.
ROSE: And, for what it's worth, I do regret my actions against your Nanna.
ROSE: My primary goal was to help you. To save you some time installing gristTorrent.
ROSE: The last thing I would want to do is hurt you. But I can see now how upset you are.
ROSE: So... I apologise. Sorry.
JOHN: ... ok. i guess i can forgive you.
JOHN: you are my friend, after all.
JOHN: just because you've been acting kinda weird lately, that doesn't wipe out all the good times we've had over the years.
ROSE: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.
NANNASPRITE: 1'm s0rry t0..... interrupt you br1ght y0ung th1ngs... 8ut I'm tryiing two d13 with... dignity 0ver here...
ROSE: My apologies, Nanna. Please continue.
NANNASPRITE: John d34r... there is a p13c3... of c0de that you can u2e.... two reformat a 2priite so you can... repr0t0type it...
NANNASPRITE: I want y0u two...... u2e iit on m3.
JOHN: what?
NANNASPRITE: The commands are..... "open console".... followed by "format sprite(413, 1)".... followed by "y"....
NANNASPRITE: .... n0t including quotation mar%, of course!.... )(oo... h00 )(00...
JOHN: you want me to kill you?
NANNASPRITE: ... I'm..... d34d alr34dy d34r...
NANNASPRITE: Twiice 0ver iin fact!
NANNASPRITE: Pl34se d0n't think of it as... killing me...
NANNASPRITE: ... There'2 n0 h0pe for m3 now...
ROSE: She has a point, John.
ROSE: It would be a kindness.
JOHN: says the person who got her in this mess in the first place!
JOHN: ... sorry, i didn't mean it to come out like that.
ROSE: No, I understand, John.
ROSE: If it was the other way around, and you'd corrupted Jaspersprite, I would be furious.
ROSE: Although for what it's worth I don't think you'd be capable of what I did to Nannasprite.
ROSE: You're far too good a person.
ROSE: But you don't have to be a bad person to put someone or something out of its misery.
JOHN: ... okay, then. i'm sorry about this, nanna...
NANNASPRITE: ... Don't be, d34r... You're a strong young man.... You've gr0wn s0 much...
NANNASPRITE: ... your fat)(er and I 4r3 so... proud of you.....
JOHN: ...
JOHN: open console
NANNASPRITE: .... Console is now open...
JOHN: format sprite(413, 1)
NANNASPRITE: Are you sure you want to format this sprite?..... y/n...
ROSE: ... John? Aren't you going to answer her?
JOHN: y
NANNASPRITE: ... Thank you, John...
NANNASPRITE: Goodbye..... dear...
JOHN: bye nanna :'(
NANNASPRITE: Hoo.... hoo..... hoo......
JOHN: she's gone.
ROSE: You did the right thing, John.
JOHN: then why do i feel so bad about it?
ROSE: Because the right thing is rarely easy.
JOHN: i guess...
JOHN: what now, though?
ROSE: How do you mean?
JOHN: well, what am i going to reprototype with?
ROSE: Hmm.
ROSE: Actually, I think I have an idea...

> Rose: Put something weird in the seizure kernel.

Show Spritelog

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ROSESPRITE: Well, this is an unusual sensation.
JOHN: rose, what did you do?
ROSESPRITE: I would have thought that was obvious. I jumped into your reformatted sprite and prototyped it with myself.
ROSESPRITE: Kanaya said that my viewport would turn black shortly. I assessed the possible reasons why this might happen.
ROSESPRITE: This seemed to be the possibility that would present the most benefits and fewest drawbacks.
JOHN: but why?
ROSESPRITE: Four reasons, principally:
ROSESPRITE: One: to escape the fate that is apparently in store for me.
ROSESPRITE: Prototyping is a way to resurrect dead entities... and to enable doomed ones to avoid their doom.
ROSESPRITE: If it worked for Dave, it can work for me.
JOHN: how do you mean, doomed?
ROSESPRITE: Surviving remnants of a doomed timeline are themselves doomed.
ROSESPRITE: The doomed timeline in our case being the one where you and Jade died.
ROSESPRITE: In the other timeline I made the decision to preserve some of my essence by causing my dreamself to merge with me.
ROSESPRITE: That merger sealed my fate. Foolish, but understandable.
JOHN: but i thought the whole point of this was that we were trying to break fate?
ROSESPRITE: We are. I just did.
JOHN: i'm not sure i follow.
ROSESPRITE: I'm not sure you'd want to.
ROSESPRITE: Anyway, reason number two: poetic justice.
ROSESPRITE: I ruined Nannasprite. It is fitting that I should replace her.
JOHN: that's not much of a reason!
ROSESPRITE: Really? I damaged something of yours, John.
ROSESPRITE: You don't feel any need for retribution?
JOHN: rose... you were trying to help me.
JOHN: i can't agree with what you did, but i can see why you did it.
JOHN: i wouldn't want revenge. i mean, i wouldn't want to hurt you either!
ROSESPRITE: ... In that case, let's move on to reason three. This is an upgrade of sorts, John.
ROSESPRITE: Unlike Davesprite I took all of my equipment into the sprite with me. So I retain my magical powers, while adding sprite abilities to my repertoire.
JOHN: but... aren't you going to miss being human?
ROSESPRITE: ... yes. There are a number of things I will miss.
ROSESPRITE: But I don't think any of them are going to crop up within the next 24 hours.
ROSESPRITE: Maybe if we get out of this we'll be able to find a way to reverse the process.
ROSESPRITE: But that's a bridge to cross when we get to it.
JOHN: well i'll tell you one thing, rose.
JOHN: if there is a way, we'll find it.
JOHN: i know we will.
ROSESPRITE: John... you are a credit to the human race.
ROSESPRITE: Your optimism, your modesty, your loyalty to your friends, your capacity for forgiveness...
ROSESPRITE: I can think of few finer representatives to carry the torch for our destroyed civilisation.
JOHN: that's garbage and you know it.
JOHN: there's loads of people who'd be smarter and more badass than me.
JOHN: like... um...
ROSESPRITE: John, if you say Nicholas Cage or Bruce Willis, I will scream.
JOHN: actually I was going to say you.
ROSESPRITE: ...
ROSESPRITE: Reason number four.
ROSESPRITE: My primary goal was - and still is - to help you.
ROSESPRITE: What better way than as your sprite?
JOHN: rose... i...
JOHN: i guess i can't do anything about it, can i?
JOHN: ok, what happens now?
ROSESPRITE: I'm glad you asked. I have an alchemy suggestion for you.
ROSESPRITE: Wizard Statue && Umbrella...

uHHHH so I really like this fanfic and I made a sprite-fanart thingy because rosesprite is awesome

BLUH

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DON'T FORGET THAT I SUCK, YOU GUYS

[Metaflare]

cC, as much as I love this story, I'm dreading the inevitable sadness that will occur

[PaulPower]

uHHHH so I really like this fanfic and I made a sprite-fanart thingy because rosesprite is awesome

BLUH

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DON'T FORGET THAT I SUCK, YOU GUYS

Oh, wow. I'm honoured. Thanks!

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Although technically Rose should be turquoise because she's John's sprite. But still, I'm honoured .

Paul: DO IT. Write more now put it in my eyes please thankyou.

All right, all right . I'll see if I can get it done in the next couple of days.

Calling it now: eventually everyone will end up a sprite in fanfiction.

No exceptions.

Y'know, between this and Where Four Will Gather I seem to have become the cheerleader for Kidsprite fics. I wonder if that says something disturbing about me.

[chronicallyCrafty]

OH HEY THE FORUMS ARE BACK UP

I'm gonna get back to spamming this thread now :T

@Meta: Yeah, I tend to be attracted to the doomed and the imminently deceased :T It's just gonna get worse, I'm afraid. But you knew that.

(Parts: 1, 2.1, 2.2)

Momentum, Part 2(.3)

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Sollux wiped up the last drip of honey from the floor and shoved the final wire against the wall of his respiteblock, and then moved to the window and glanced out into the star-filled sky. With his elbow on the narrow sill and his chin resting on a closed fist, he had the perfect view of TamaT, one of the forty-eight constellations cemented into Alternian mythological culture. If he believed in that sort of nonsense, this particular one held some sort of special meaning for him. He didn’t, of course. Pretty juvenile, all things told, mapping out your life based on the connections some ancient troll made between dots in the sky that he thought was some sort of unfinished work of art. But he did rather like it in its symmetry. Instead of driving himself crazy waiting, he stared at the collection of stars, focused on where the lines went between those bright spots of light against the dark night sky. It was dipping lower and lower towards the horizon these days; in a few weeks, it would be out of sight entirely, ushering in the end of the 11th perigee.

A groan and some stomping echoed down from the ceiling of his block. Great. Just another reminder of how completely useless his lusus was and how much this 12th perigee’s eve was going to suck—

“Grrrruuuuuuuuuummmmmmmbllllle!”

“Thut the fuck up already, you thtupid good for nothing cuthtodian! I jutht fed you!” Sollux prepared to tear his gaze away from the scene outside his hive to go collect more honey; tonight of all nights was not the time for that idiot to be getting all worked up. But something caught his attention in the very corner of his red eye.

“Oh thhit, oh thhit!” Sollux cast around desperately, making certain everything was in its proper place. Oh man, his respiteblock was still a complete and utter mess. Why the hell had he invited Aradia over? What a stupid idea!! Stupid stupid dumb!

Before his lusus could start up his moaning again, the young troll heard his name being called, the distance to the ground dimming her voice. Too late to start worrying! He’d better head down and get her before she thought he forgot or something. God damn it, what a stupid idea this was!

Red and blue energy prickled the air around him and slowly lifted him off his feet. He would leave from the roof, and maybe succeed in shutting his lusus up before she heard it yammering.

He reached the roof just as a message was sent to his Trollian handle. The noise indicating its arrival sounded, but he was not around to hear it, and in any case his monitor had been shut off.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AG: Heeeeeeeey Mr. H8cker Dude!
AG: I need to 8orrow some 8f your 8mazing skills! ::::)
AG: Are you th8re????????
AG: No?
AG: D8mn.
AG: Well get 8ack to me wh8n you 8re ok?
AG: :::;)

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

“Sollux?” Her voice grew more distinct the quieter his lusus became and the further he got from the rooftop of his hive.

“Thorry I kept you waiting,” he called, trying hard to swallow his anxiety. In the glow of the rising moons she looked radiant, large eyes wide with the confusion that came with unknown surroundings. “It, uh… It wathn’t too hard to get here, I hope.”

“I managed.” She answered him with a smile, but it was weary. His heart felt as if it wanted to crush him.

“Thorry,” he repeated, floating downward until he was near her. It was hard to look at her, what with the light of the moons reflecting pink and green from her eyes and off her hair and especially with the blinding blaze of his guilt. “I thould have gone to pick you up. Or thecured thome other way to get you here. Or—”

“Sollux?” The smile was gone from her face. She stared up at him, floating a few inches above the surface of the planet, and frowned almost deep enough to ground him.

“What?” he muttered miserably.

“Shut up.”

“Ok.”

Aradia took a step closer to him, and another when he backed off in response, and tried to hold his gaze. “It wasn’t any trouble. And even if it was, it would have been worth it. Ok?”

He glanced briefly at her, then away again, feeling his cheeks burn yellow.

“Ok thure whatever.”

“You’re doing that thing again.”

He risked a glance at her. With her lips pursed and her arms folded, she looked ready to punch him—or worse, walk away. But she merely sighed, loosened her arms, and moved forward to touch his shoulder gently. “I can’t be mad at you, you’re doing that enough for the both of us. But I’m asking you to stop. I was ok coming all the way here to see you. And I would do it again.”

“Aradia…”

“So let’s go up, huh?”

Sollux froze. Admittedly, this entire situation hadn’t been thought through all the way, but the issue with this part in particular suddenly dawned on him. He could ask her to climb up all those stairs to the top of his communal hivestem, where he lived, or he could merely take her up with him—but that would mean…that would mean…

Oh my GOD you are such a wuuuuuuuuss!

“What?”

Aradia blinked. “I said we should go up. Is that ok?”

Sollux’s heart was pounding, and suddenly it was not due to the realization that he was going to have to get very close to the girl for whom he had recently come to understand he had acquired some sort of flushed feelings. The voices had never been that direct, that distinct, before. And they’d never sounded like that. What was—

“Sollux…? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head a little, then grinned at her. “Nothing’th wrong. You ready to go?”

“I—yes?” Sollux’s personality could certainly change quickly. But then, that was one of the things Aradia found utterly fascinating about him.

It was definitely a shift, when he took her smoothly around the waist and began to take her off the ground with him. But she didn’t have time to be nervous or to question it; the feeling of flying overcame any fear, and her eyes widened to look down and take in the way the planet grew small and far away below them. By the time they got up to his hive, he was back to his usual shy self, but, she felt, she had seen a side of him he rarely showed to anyone else.



“Oh man. Toooooooo easy Sollux Captor!” Vriska sat back in her chair, grinning and breathless with her achievement. For a mind so supposedly brilliant, he offered little challenge. She would have to try again later to make sure this wasn’t just a fluke, but she was pretty sure that she would be able to make use of him if she needed to. And surely an opportunity would eventually present itself. One always did.

One more section of part 2 left~ /frantic typing

[raequiem]

Vriska, you stone-cold bitch.

Crafty, please type more frantically! I want more cuteness!

Also I am DRAWING THINGS AGAIN who put that pencil in my hand. I DID mention that the next chapter of PTSD would be illustrated, didn't I?

[chronicallyCrafty]

JUST FOR YOU RAEQUIEM

Not even gonna bother with posting links to the other parts, the last post is two up @_@ AFTER THIS GUYS I SWEAR I'LL STOP SPAMMING YOU FOR A BIT :V And maybe do something productive like homework or something.

Momentum, Part 2(.4)

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apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: s0llux guess what i f0und!
AA: s0llux?
AA: are y0u there?
TA: yeah 2orry.
TA: anyway ii dont know ii can never gue22 when you a2k me two gue22.
TA: ii mean ii could but that would be cheatiing.
AA: haha yeah it w0uld be!
AA: s0 d0nt d0 it!
TA: ok ii promii2e ii wont.
TA: but then ii have no iidea what you found.
TA: 2o tell me.
AA: 0k fine mr grumpypants wh0 d0esnt like t0 play games!!
AA: 0_0
TA: are you angry wiith me?
AA: N0!!
AA: i was just kidding
AA: anyway the thing that i f0und
AA: was b0nes
AA: in my excavati0n site
AA: like a wh0le skelet0n!
AA: like s0mething had been buried there
AA: isnt that weird?
TA: whoa yeah that ii2 pretty weiird.
TA: what2 iit a 2keleton of?
AA: im n0t sure actually
AA: here take a l00k
-- apocalypseArisen [AA] sent twinArmageddons [TA] the file “weirdb0nes.jpg” --
AA: what d0 y0u make 0f it
TA: hmm hard two 2ay wiithout 2eeiing iit iin per2on.
TA: the piicture qualiity ii2 kiind of crappy 2orry.
AA: 0_0
AA: i kn0w it is but thats the best i c0uld d0
TA: iit2 fiine but ii gue22 ii cant really help deciipher iit.
AA: with just the picture y0u mean?
TA: yeah.
AA: well why d0nt y0u c0me 0ver and take a l00k at it
AA: if y0ure n0t t00 busy that is
AA: …s0llux?
TA: wow um.
TA: iid be happy two iif you know la2t tiime wa2nt two awkward for you or anythiing.
AA: it was t0tally 0k!
AA: ive 0nly t0ld y0u that like a milli0n times since then!
TA: eheheh yeah ii know.
AA: d0nt y0u dare ap0l0gize again
AA: l00k s0llux i enj0y spending time with y0u
AA: even if y0u think y0ure awkward
AA: maybe y0u are a little but thats 0ne 0f the things i like ab0ut y0u!
AA: s0 d0 me and y0urself a fav0r and st0p w0rrying ab0ut it
AA: 0_0
TA: …
AA: what
TA: ii dont know iit 2ounded liike you really meant that.
AA: 0f c0urse i meant it!
TA: well.
AA: well what!
TA: well ok iif you want me two look at iit.
TA: iit2 better than 2iittiing here 2tariing at thii2 2hiitty piicture.
AA: is it really that bad
TA: no ii wa2 ju2t jokiing.
AA: 0_0
TA: iill be there iin a 2econd.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

AA: wait s0llux
AA: i didnt mean immediately
AA: 0_0
AA: 0h shit

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Aradia had never cleaned so fast before in her life. FLARP books were shoved into a pile in a corner, with a collection of six red dice scattered on top; her excavation and adventuring tools were thrown into another corner, now spattered with mud since she’d had little time to clean them off. She herself had been given none of the same attention. Too busy ensuring her respiteblock was presentable, she had failed to remember the state of her own person, and by the time she glanced out the window and noticed the distant glow of the psionic on his way to her hive, she had no time to fill up her ablution trap. She changed hastily, but dirt still sat beneath her fingernails and clung tenaciously in her long hair. Her lusus attempted to lick off what she could of the dirt smeared on Aradia’s face, but in the end, the combination of that and the towel she applied were barely enough to remove the worst of the grime on her person.

Finally, she had to accept that this was the best she could do. She hurried out the front door to her modest hive just in time to watch him descend from the sky in flashes of blue and red that took turns illuminating her form against the darkness of the starlit night. His glasses had been removed, presumably to better see where he was going. Her expression shifted from delight at his presence to confused surprise as she realized that his eyes were somehow exactly the same colors as his lenses.

As he drifted to the ground, he gave himself a moment to return the shades to his face, and she gave herself the same time to school her emotions back into something resembling calmness.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon!” she said, hurrying over to him, as a way to explain her appearance.

He shrugged a little, seeming more at ease than he had been the last time they met face to face. “You theemed exthited about the boneth tho I wanted to come thee them ath thoon ath pothible.”

Red tinting her cheeks briefly, Aradia smiled a little and nodded, inclining her head towards one of the holes in the earth outside her hive. “Over here, then.”

He followed her on foot now to the location of her discovery. The pit was deep, and a crude ladder made of thin pieces of wood and sturdy vines had been slung against the side for her use in reaching the bottom. She prepared to descend, but he shook his head, instead holding out an arm for her. “I can take uth down,” he promised, and the sureness of his voice and in the way he stood was maddening and intriguing both in contrast to how he usually was. Their contact when she stepped into his arms caused her to blush this time instead of him; her heart pounded in her throat as they descended, and even as she broke away to go clear the tarp from her discovery.

Oh wow look at you! Aren’t we Mr. Confident today?

“Thut up,” Sollux muttered, face pinching in distaste as Aradia was distracted. The new, more insistent voice was back, and he already had a dislike for it that exceeded his usual annoyance. This one had the gall to be both loud and demanding, and he would have liked nothing more than to be able to drown it out. But since it had surfaced it had been nothing but pestering, wheedling, and intrusive, and it wouldn’t leave him alone for a span of more than a few hours at a time.

No way! I’m seriously impressed here! Don’t you think she is too? Look how proud she is of her stupid bones and how much your opinion of them means to her! Soooooooo cute!

Sollux decided to ignore it. Even as it went on to insist that he wouldn’t be able to for long, he erased all evidence of the voice from his expression and stood by Aradia’s side, looking down at the skeleton she had unearthed.

“Wow. Thith thertainly ithn’t a troll, that’th for thure.”

“That’s what I thought, too. But it’s no wild animal I’ve ever seen before. It doesn’t look familiar at all?” Aradia looked up to him, curious, expectant. “I figured if anyone knew what it might be, it would be you.”

Fuuuuuuuuck Captor she’s basically in scarlet throes for you! Damned if I know why she thinks so highly of you!

Sollux had had enough of this musclebeast shit. He wasn’t going to let that stupid voice convince him of anything or convince him to do anything, not today. Not ever again, he vowed to himself.

Oh yeah good luck with that!

It was hard, but he kept his expression neutral as he perused the find. “Maybe if you unearth it,” he suggested, “and lay out the boneth the way they thould go, and take a better picthure, I can write a program to help vithualize what it might have looked like, and then we can find out what it might be bathed on that.”

Her eyes widened at him as if he had just explained to her in simple terms how the universe had come into being. “Sollux, that’s brilliant! I can’t believe I never thought of that!”

Nice job Mr. Smooth Guy! I might be getting all hot and bothered under the collar here myself!

“Eheheh,” he chuckled, managing to display only the briefest of blushes. He hid a clenched fist behind his back. “You jutht got tho exthited you couldn’t think thtraight about how to analythe the thituathion.”

“You’re right, I guess. Wow, I can’t wait to finish digging this up now and get to work on it!”

As he watched her, he couldn’t help but let some of her excitement affect him. Seeing her this happy…well, he rarely experienced much more than a quiet sense of contentment at anything before his usual self-loathing overrode him, but for some reason her achievement—her happiness—more than anything he had ever managed to do, was making him happier than he could ever remember being.

“Aradia…”

“Yes, Sollux?” It was hard to look at him, what with the light of the moons reflecting pink and green off his shades and his hair and especially with the deafening way his intense stare at her was making her heart pound.

As he leaned in slowly, he was sure she could hear his own pulse jamming through veins and arteries like a rushing yellow river, but he didn’t realize it would only be drowned out by her own vital beat. Both felt at once mobile and frozen, stuck on the single track that brought them painfully slowly together, until they were close enough to—

Yes! You smooth operator! Kiss her! Go ahead, do it!

Aradia’s eyes were closed, and anyway she wouldn’t be able to see the way his eyes narrowed in sudden fury behind his dark lenses.

Fuck you! he thought back, enraged. Thtop telling me what to do!!

No way you’re too much fun! Anyway you’re keeping your lady waiting! Come on do it! DOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!

NO!!

A brief jolt of energy escaped Sollux before he could reign it in, and in his quick thinking he pulled away just enough to keep it from reaching Aradia. Before she could look up at him with eyes confused and probably hurt, he scooped her into a hug and pressed her forehead against his chest.

Oh my god so lame! You basically just ruined any chance you ever had with her!

Get out of my head! Leave me alone!

Fine! But only because you’re being soooooooo boring!

I don’t care what you think about me!

Hahahahahahahaha! But you will! Anyway I’ll leave you alone this time but I’ll be back! Sayonara, Captor!

“Sollux…”

“I thould probably get going,” he murmured into Aradia’s hair, trying not to feel miserable. “I forgot to feed my luthuth before I left.”

They broke apart, and neither could look at the other.

“Ok, yes, you should probably do that.”

“Yeah, well… Let me know when you’ve got thith unearthed. I’ll bring you thomething to take better picthureth with later.”

“Ok, thanks…”

“Tho…”

“I’ll. Talk to you on Trollian, then?”

“Yeah ok thure.”

“Ok. …Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Aradia saw the bi-colored energy pick up around Sollux’s body and lift him off the ground. Her heartbeat feeling hollower now in her chest, she finally looked up soon enough to watch him float away from her, back to his own hivestem. He only glanced back once, but by then he was too far away to see the disappointed frown she made with trembling lips.


Vriska was too gleeful to care whether or not Equius could hear her laughing from across the chasm between their hives. Oh, that had been just too much fun! Sure he’d been able to ignore her command, but that had just made it all the better! Now she knew when he’d listen to her and when he wouldn’t, and thanks to her abilities she knew more about Sollux Captor than she was sure he’d ever wish for her to know. Her run of good luck just never seemed to end!

From her little advantage she knew that her need of this new information would be coming around soon enough. In the meantime, Aradia would certainly be distracted come their next campaign, which would make for an interesting game for once. She couldn’t wait.

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caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

CA: hey kan
CA: hey
CA: kan are you there
GA: Why Is It You Always Assume That I Am Not Present Or That I Am Ignoring You When I Fail To Answer Within Moments Of Your Pestering
CA: wwoww fuck sorry
CA: im a little agitated here is all
CA: but nevvermind if you arent up to listenin thats fine
CA: forget it
GA: I Apologize For Making Assumptions
GA: Pray Tell Why You Are So Agitated
CA: its your fuckin moirail
GA: Oh
GA: Has She Overstepped Some Caliginous Boundary I Should Be Made Aware Of
GA: ?
CA: if by that you mean shes pretty much dumpin me for some lowwblood chump then yeah id say shes been ovversteppin some boundaries real hard
GA: Wait
GA: What
CA: kar just told me
CA: she just ran some orangeblood shes been flarpin wwith off a cliff or somethin
CA: apparently shes been hittin him pretty damn hard since they started playin
CA: this is musclebeast shit kan she cant do this to me
CA: howw the fucks a assblood like that gonna make a better kismesis than me
CA: you got to do somethin about her kan im beggin you
GA: Hold On

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]

GA: Vriska
GA: What Are You Doing
GA: Answer Me
GA: Eridan Just Informed Me Of Your Flarp Escapade
AG: Wh8t?
GA: With A Certain Boy
GA: And A Certain Cliff
GA: Would You Care To Explain
AG: I’m a l8ttle 8usy.
GA: I Imagine That Is Only To Be Expected
GA: I Am Certain His Friends Are More Than A Little Angry With You
AG: Th8t sounds a8out right.
GA: Do You Feel Any Remorse Over This At All
AG: Wow you know wh8t Mary8m 8s much 8s I find your m8ddlesome w8ys utterly r8lieving, l8ke a mess8ge from god 8t the time in my l8fe wh8n I 8m most morally vulnera8le,
AG: 8nd 8s much as I would like to sit here and 8llow you to nurse 8ll my emotion8l wounds for hours and hours on 8nd,
AG: This m8y 8e 8n utt8r shock to you 8ut
AG: I’m a l8ttle 8usy!!!!!!!!
AG: So leave me 8lone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

arachnidsGrip [AG] blocked grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

GA: Vriska
GA: Dont Do That
GA: Vriska
GA: !

...Oops did I do cute wrong

I think I did it wrong