MSPA Fanfiction IV

[Masterly]

Population: 13¾ - Kid's Night Out

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New Alternia, around noon. A few years into the future, but not many.


"But mamma, why do I gotta wear teh stupid sunglasses?"

Shula, one the one hand, was happy that the "stupid sunglasses" weren't as obnoxious as her mother's, but on the other hand any pair of sunglasses would be "stupid". Except maybe, maybe uncle Dave's.

"You're still just a vulnerable little wiggler, strawberry", Terezi answered sweetly. "Mommy burned her eyes out from being out in the sun back on our old planet and really? I'm just worried. Besides, these are nice, right?"

"But mamma! It's noon outside! It's not that bright, I can take it!"

Terezi had nothing to say against that.

"Okay, but at least give the sunglasses an honest try for me sometime? No better kid than a coolkid!"

That seemed reasonable enough to the little tyke, who nodded in agreement and pocketed the sunglasses into one of the two blank cards she had acquired for her wriggling day.

"Are you sure about this", Karkat asked as he brought the coats. "The humans may not be so friendly if a whole bunch of us go out, and you know we can't hurt anyone without getting the whole colony blown up."

"Oh, relax Karkles. It'll be fine. After all, they tolerate Gamzee of all people, and the first thing he did when he arrived was hunt down and kill two guys!"

"Yeah, that was kinda impressive. But then we are talking about those two guys, and you were there to defend him in court", Karkat reminisced as he pulled on his coat.

"Fun times, fun times. Gotta admit, I nearly soiled myself when I took the stand..."

Shula giggled at the idea.

"But hey, is Nepeta ready to go?" Terezi inquired.

"She should be. In case you feel like asking, no her grub is still pupating. But it shouldn't finish until next week."

There was a wholly expected knock on the door. Karkat opened and promptly got hugged by the girl he had spoken of just then. In turn, Nepeta got pried off quite literally with a white-red cane. This only served to make Shula laugh even more.

"Hi auntie Nepeta", Shula greeted.

"Hi cub! You ready for a pawsome night out to town?"

"YEAH!"

~~~

As Karkat, Terezi, Nepeta, Sollux and Shula walked through the streets of the nearby human city, they overheard many opinions, stated in hushed tones.

"Look at that, Martha. Honest-to-God aliens, right 'ere in Nevada!"

"The hell is that guy wearin' three-dee glasses for anyway?"

"They gotta be secret invaders, Joe. Just look at that guy in the middle -- I ain't never seen a scowl like that." "HEY, HUMAN ASSHOLE! YOU WANNA SAY THAT TO MY SCOWLY FACE?"

Please don't let him take out the Regisickle...

Karkat did not take out the Regisickle, or any other variant he had. It would've seemed that the human asshole hadn't expected Karkat to have heard that. The fact that Karkat's scowly face looked even more dangerous from the front probably helped.

"I don't know Ethel. The little one looks perfectly harmless to me." "Don't let that fool you. I'm sure they're just tryin' to look harmless."

Terezi nodded at Shula who, with the flick of a wrist, took out her brand new scythe just long enough for this Ethel human to see, then put it back. Including the disturbing grin she had learned from her mother.

"If you ask me Todd, I'd totally tap the girl in the green coat." "Are you even sure she is a girl, Matt?" "Well duh, have you seen that rack? Ofcourse she's a girl!" "Just sayin' Matt, how can you be sure?"

Nepeta took cover behind Sollux until the scary jocks were out of sight.

"Oh hey mister Jones. Isn't that the young alien man who always shops here?" "Why yes, yes it is. Hello mister Captor!" "Oh hey, thup mithter Joneth! Thee ya neckth week?" "I'll make sure all the stuff's in stock sir, don't you worry." "Well well Thollucks, getting chummy with the shopkeepers? H3H3H3H." "Ith all good buthineth, TZ. Joneth ith happy to therve hith... how'd he thay? 'Hith gray-thkinned candycorn overlordth'?"

~~~

The trolls found themselves at a toy store, where Nepeta and Shula stopped to look at the stuff in the windows.

"What. Is. That?" Shula asked in wonderment as she stared at a stuffed animal toy in the window. Nepeta looked over to see what it was.

"I caught one of those once. It's an Earth hopbea-"

"Bunny rabbit", Karkat interrupted. Nepeta gave him a confused look.

"It's called a bunny rabbit. Not a hopbeast. Those are almost, but not entirely similar."

"...I want one", Shula said slowly, her eyes wide.

Terezi pushed Nepeta away to get a whiff of what the others were talking about.

"You want this bunny rabbit?" she asked in a carefully calculated tone.

"I want it!"

Memes were a beautiful thing, the adults decided.

"Then let's see if the place is still open", Karkat announced as he went for the door. The toy store was indeed still open, and it was relatively brightly lit inside. Shula was quick to put her sunglasses on.

"Hello Nevada human toystore employee", Karkat said. It was something the humans had come to expect, probably from watching too many cheesy science-fiction movies. It was just a courtesy, and he didn't say anything else while Nepeta and Shula tried to find the shelf with the bunnies. Karkat and Sollux found themselves puzzled by some of the recent videogame releases.

"It's not there yet, isn't it, bro?"

"Yeah. But it thouldn't be too long now."

"I wonder how Vriska would take it if sales sucked. I mean, she helped a lot."

"Probably worthe than I would, KK. Muthh worthe. And hey, tho did you. That wath a pretty thweet catth with the collitthionth."

"...gog DAMN they're still making these Final Fantasy games!?"

"There it is", Shula called out. Nepeta came over in a bounce.

"Let me see how much it is... Terezi, do you have this much?"

"Girl, I didn't even bring my wallet! Ask Karkles."

"Oh hell no! I ain't paying for no gog damned half-assed Con Air refere-- ah geez again with the eyes..."

Invitations for details regarding Nepeta's kid are still open -- the only constant is that it's Leijon, not Vantas, and that it's not Blaise -- he's for much later. And why not throw in the potential Captor twins?

Did...did Gamzee hunt down ICP?

[DiophantianDigresser]

@Diophantian: Well, we do have separate Rom and Fan art threads, but until December we didn't have enough fics to fill even just the one thread so that probably would have been extreme. As for the fic, I always enjoy a quick pesterlog. I'm curious about your use of Kanaya's quirk in Rose's text. I've done something similar and I'm wondering if you were too.

As for punctuation, I actually went about eight chapters in a fic before I realized that Kanaya didn't use punctuation but did use contractions. Drove myself nuts trying to avoid using any.

Thank you for the explanation. Yes, the quirk was quite purposeful, I'm glad you saw it. Of course, the illustrious Hussmaster has made this more-or-less a canon sign of a troll/human relationship, but I debated how best to slip it in. To be honest, I wrote this more or less out of boredom, but decided I may as well get more involved in the community. I was worried since it's not particularly good.

I'm also going to take this opportunity to say that I'm really holding out for post-Rift Rose Kanaya. Probability dictates there will be at least one gay/lesbian pairing, and since NepetaxVriska isn't panning out...

[sarasvati]

lucid: just wanted to drop in and say i dig your alt!daves, but purple is my favorite. not specifically because of the character himself, but because the story just absolutely bleeds with the time and effort and care you've spent crafting him, stitching him together through literature, symbolism, and archetypes. it's the kind of character building i adore, just very solid and well-thought out. my second favorite thing? the formatting. just very clever and artistic (and it makes me jealous that i didn't do it first).

and since no one else announced it here, i'm totally going to, because it makes me EXCITED: new year's eve marked the opening of the ao3-hosted homestuck gift exchange! a whole bunch of talented people filled out a grand total of 18 prompts (mostly fic, but also art), and they're up in a nice, tidy collection for the whole fandom to enjoy. awesome job, everyone, and see you all in the new year. :D

[sebastian]

Population: 13¾ - Kid's Night Out

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A/N:

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It is not the same kind of stuffed bunny, ofcourse. That'd be too cheap to even consider. Also, the "teh" at the start is not a typo -- that's just how Shula talks. She says "mistah" and "teh". I also have a quirk worked out for her:
GP: but th3n mist3r gamz33 ki113d a11 t3h scary c1owns
Can you see the hidden meaning?

Invitations for details regarding Nepeta's kid are still open -- the only constant is that it's Leijon, not Vantas, and that it's not Blaise -- he's for much later. And why not throw in the potential Captor twins?

I have must missed it, but who is Nepeta's kid father?
Also, do you plan in doing hybrids? Because now there would be a whole planet of possible human mates to pick from (I don't know why, but I imagined Tavros having a human girlfriend, maybe even just because I'd like to see Vriska's reaction.)

[Wigmund]

I have must missed it, but who is Nepeta's kid father?

Karkat. Nepeta 'borrowed' him from Terezi at the end of the previous fic.

[sebastian]

I have must missed it, but who is Nepeta's kid father?

Karkat. Nepeta 'borrowed' him from Terezi at the end of the previous fic.

Oh, wow, I totally missed that fic.

Vantas, you dog.

And poor Equius.

[Caprisaurus]

I giggled when I read when Gamzee killed them.
That made my day so much
But yaaaay! Population and Grublings!

[Kawa]

Okay, let's take this from the top.

Masterly: Very Yes. Terezi had her first Earth trial thanks to that.

sebastian: I might. I've considered the possibility before, and your Tavros idea makes it an interesting concept to explore. Of course, I could be evil, since it's Tavros...
Also, FUCKING WOOF!

Caprisaurus: My pleasure.

[Isoraqathedh]

Ahem. I haven't posted here for more than a thread. Blame my stupidity in doing works of fiction.

But, I have been thinking on something lately. The planets are so vague. I will address this, no matter how silly it looks like.

No. 4.13.05 // No. 1.14.05: Basic Statistics · Land of Wind and Shade

Template (what to fill in) cribbed from Planetocopia.

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1. Sun: Skaia. Completely useless as a light-giver. Without the Hidden Lamps of LOLAR, LOWAS, like the other two, are in eternal night.
2. Orbit: 0.04 AU, completely circular. Note that LOWAS is in 1:1:1:1 orbital resonance with the other three planets of Skaia.
3. Axial tilt: Irrelevant. See "day", below.
4. Year: 37.48 years.
5. Seasons: It's that same, muggy temperature all year round anywhere in the world. Like Venus, only cold.
6. Mass: 8,793,378,327,000,000,000 kg
7. Density: 5.5 million kg/m^3! Superdense rock is the only way that the planet can be that small!
8. Diameter: 7244 km. Much smaller than Earth, but still enough to hold on to an atmosphere. Well, more of an atmosphere than ambient anyway.
9. Surface area: 164 900 000 sq km in total.
10. Gravity: 1.14 G, or 11·184 m/s^2.
11. Moons: none. What?
12. Rings: also none. Also what?
13. Day: What day? The planet is spinless. That's right, the planets are born without a spin!
14. Water: No water, but oil is everywhere. If all that of oil is water, it'd amount to 12.6% of the Earth.
15. Sea: 61% of the world, chopping the planet into two roughly equal continents. It runs down a meridian, grows fatter and thinner at times, but it's basically a divider. It's pretty wide though, but fairly shallow: only 1500 m deep on average.
16. Land: The remaining 39% of the world. Two major continents. They're made out of slightly less dense rock at 484 t/m^3, but it's still immensely heavy. (This ties in well with the flashes; ever wondered why John can't kick the little stones? They weigh half a ton!
17. Tectonic activity: none. This planet has no hot core anymore. In fact, it was never born with a hot core.
18. Relief: very little below sea level, with the lowest point being only 2.4 km below the sea. The land is crazy rugged though, and the highest point is of course the spire that John's house sits upon, at almost 30 km up. It's well approaching 1 atm there. (1 atm is the ambient in the Incipisphere.)
19. Atmosphere: Shared with all else in the Incipisphere, a sample of Earth air. Piles to 1.9 atm at the bottom of the planet; thins to 1 atm at the top.
20. Air pressure at sea level: 1.9 atm.
21. CO2: 3.4 mU, like Earth's.
22. Temperature: World-wide average: 18°C
23. Sky color: grey, due to the clouds. Indigo without them.
24. Cloud cover: 100% due to the stupid creature under the megatonne rocks.
25. Albedo (reflectivity): With Earth as 100, 4. This thing sucks in as much radiation as it can.
26. Polar caps: No water.
27. Climate belts: One. No spin.
28. Age: about 6 hours.
29. Biomass: 6% of Earth's. Average density: 8% of Earth's.
30. Habitat diversity: Very low. It's a global climate after all.
31. Biodiversity: there are only like ten species!
32. Intelligent species: One, although their intelligence is questioned.
33. Civilization: One again.

[orngjce223]

...Although my headcanon is that the entire Incipisphere is filled with an approximately uniform Earthlike atmosphere, explaining why hoverboard!John can breathe even when in the Medium between planets. :v

[Summergale]

Sorry this took so long to do. :<

The Knight and the Witch
Chapter 2

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Dave takes a moment to react, stepping back and fumbling with his strife specibi. The hastily-chugged drink has dulled his reflexes, however, and he feels a sharp pain in his stomach and then a sudden warmth. The douchebag pulls the knife away - it glints a sickening, cady-bright shade of red - and flees as Dave presses his hands against his rapidly dampening suit. The screaming of frightened patrons and the forgotten music muddle themselves up in the back of the former Knight's mind as the world lurches. He remains slumped against the wall through sheer force of will.

"Dave!" Jade screams. She rushes to his side, touching his shoulder and reaching uncertainly into her bag. Her fingers clasp tight around her phone and she clumsily dials 911. The whole time she's talking ("My friend's just been stabbed...") she's focusing on Dave's face, which is looking paler and paler ("...the Midnight Club, on 612th Street...") every moment. She can just about see his eyes behind his glasses ("...please, we need an ambulance!") and they're as wide as hers.

It can't be more than a minute, two at a stretch, when the first vehicle arrives outside. A paramedic in full uniform rushes in, and Jade notices in a vague, detatched way that this medic is female, with jade streaks in her hair and a soothing voice. A second medic follows the first, and together they manage to get Dave out of the noisy club. Jade follows in the same way a lonely puppy might, holding tight to her handbag. It's at about this time she notices her hands are covered in blood, although mercifully there's none on her dress. The whole thing seems unreal, as if it's all some terrible dream and soon Jade will wake up and everything will be fine. But nothing's ever gone right for her, has it?

She stands there and watches the ambulance leave - sirens on at full blast - and takes a few shaky breaths of freezing April air. The police arrive shortly after that, one man with short dair hair and frameless glasses, the other a woman with brown hair and obnoxiously bright red, pointed shades. The first officer glances at Jade's hands - sees the blood - and carefully speaks.
"Tho what happened, mithhh...?"
"H-Harley. Jade Harley," she manages in a squeak. Tears only now threaten to overspill as she tries to remain calm and steadily begins to fail. "A m-man was being mean to me so D-Dave tried to help me, and th-the man pulled out... pulled out a kn-knife! He stabbed Dave!" she wails, finally bursting into tears. The police officer pulls a small packet of tissues from his packet and offers them to Jade, and she takes them. She uses one to wipe the blood off her hands and then dabs at her eyes with the second. She's strong. She can do this.
"My name ith Tholluxth, and my partner here ith Terezi. Now, can you dethcribe the man who thtabbed your boyfriend, pleathe?" he asks, and Jade gulps.
"He was... about y-your height, with blonde hair and a shirt that w-was kinda too big for him, I think?" she begins, stammering nervously.

Eventually she's done telling the story and Sollux lets her go. Jade quietly paces back into the Midnight Club and imediately walks out again. There's blood on one wall and on the floor, and it's starting to smell. She quietly takes Sollux to one side and asks him to please, please, take her to the hospital so that she can see how Dave is doing. He accepts.
The drive is short, and the pair remain silent. That's okay. Jade's fine with that. If she speaks any more before she knows how Dave is doing then she feels like she might be sick, or she might start crying again.

Once they're at the hospital Jade sits in the waiting room and feels all the nervous energy drain from her. She's only eighteen and she's wondering if her best friend is going to be alive in a few hours' time. Bad enough that she worried like that four years ago, but at least then there was always the possibility of a dreamself ressurection. Now she sits and waits, counting the tiles on the ceiling and singing songs to herself in a tired monotone. Other than her there's nobody else in the waiting room - Sollux pressed a small scrap of paper with a number written on it and told her to call him if she didn't have a lift home, then left without a further word. She sinks down into the seat and switches her attention to the TV on the wall opposite her. It's so late (or is it early?) that it's been turned off, but there's something bugging Jade. It's at about that time she realises it's slightly uneven, and curses the remnant of her former powers.

After about five minutes of trying to ignore the way space feels uncomfortable around her, Jade finally slides into sleep. She dreams, and her dreams are uneventful. She no longer dreams of Prospit, nor of the Furthest Ring - why would she? They've been free of the Incipisphere for four years. No, she dreams of normal things now. She's so tired.

It feels like she's slept for hours when someone shakes her shoulder gently.
"Miss Harley?" a voice asks. Jade struggles back to conciousness, blinks a few times, and pushes her glasses back up her face. The girl speaking to her is soft spoken, with dark red makeup on. She smiles at Jade, who simply nods sleepily.
"Is... Is Dave going to be okay?" the Witch suddenly yelps, sitting up sharply. "Please, tell me he's going to be okay!"

The nurse merely smiles. "He'll be fine with some rest, Miss Harley. Would you like to see him?"
Of course she does.

Author's Notes

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oh noooooooo

Yeah I have no idea if people tend to survive stabs to the stomach but Dave is awesome so he can do that okay

also spot the trolls, yaaaaaay

[Kawa]

orngjce223, does that even count as head canon? It seemed pretty damn obvious.

Also, decided to open a formspring for no good reason, link down there.

[Isoraqathedh]

That was noted in the stats. "(1 atm is the ambient in the Incipisphere.)".

If only I can tackle the Holy Grail: Alternia. It's gonna be hard.

[Caprisaurus]

Sorry this took so long to do. :<

The Knight and the Witch
Chapter 2

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Dave takes a moment to react, stepping back and fumbling with his strife specibi. The hastily-chugged drink has dulled his reflexes, however, and he feels a sharp pain in his stomach and then a sudden warmth. The douchebag pulls the knife away - it glints a sickening, cady-bright shade of red - and flees as Dave presses his hands against his rapidly dampening suit. The screaming of frightened patrons and the forgotten music muddle themselves up in the back of the former Knight's mind as the world lurches. He remains slumped against the wall through sheer force of will.

"Dave!" Jade screams. She rushes to his side, touching his shoulder and reaching uncertainly into her bag. Her fingers clasp tight around her phone and she clumsily dials 911. The whole time she's talking ("My friend's just been stabbed...") she's focusing on Dave's face, which is looking paler and paler ("...the Midnight Club, on 612th Street...") every moment. She can just about see his eyes behind his glasses ("...please, we need an ambulance!") and they're as wide as hers.

It can't be more than a minute, two at a stretch, when the first vehicle arrives outside. A paramedic in full uniform rushes in, and Jade notices in a vague, detatched way that this medic is female, with jade streaks in her hair and a soothing voice. A second medic follows the first, and together they manage to get Dave out of the noisy club. Jade follows in the same way a lonely puppy might, holding tight to her handbag. It's at about this time she notices her hands are covered in blood, although mercifully there's none on her dress. The whole thing seems unreal, as if it's all some terrible dream and soon Jade will wake up and everything will be fine. But nothing's ever gone right for her, has it?

She stands there and watches the ambulance leave - sirens on at full blast - and takes a few shaky breaths of freezing April air. The police arrive shortly after that, one man with short dair hair and frameless glasses, the other a woman with brown hair and obnoxiously bright red, pointed shades. The first officer glances at Jade's hands - sees the blood - and carefully speaks.
"Tho what happened, mithhh...?"
"H-Harley. Jade Harley," she manages in a squeak. Tears only now threaten to overspill as she tries to remain calm and steadily begins to fail. "A m-man was being mean to me so D-Dave tried to help me, and th-the man pulled out... pulled out a kn-knife! He stabbed Dave!" she wails, finally bursting into tears. The police officer pulls a small packet of tissues from his packet and offers them to Jade, and she takes them. She uses one to wipe the blood off her hands and then dabs at her eyes with the second. She's strong. She can do this.
"My name ith Tholluxth, and my partner here ith Terezi. Now, can you dethcribe the man who thtabbed your boyfriend, pleathe?" he asks, and Jade gulps.
"He was... about y-your height, with blonde hair and a shirt that w-was kinda too big for him, I think?" she begins, stammering nervously.

Eventually she's done telling the story and Sollux lets her go. Jade quietly paces back into the Midnight Club and imediately walks out again. There's blood on one wall and on the floor, and it's starting to smell. She quietly takes Sollux to one side and asks him to please, please, take her to the hospital so that she can see how Dave is doing. He accepts.
The drive is short, and the pair remain silent. That's okay. Jade's fine with that. If she speaks any more before she knows how Dave is doing then she feels like she might be sick, or she might start crying again.

Once they're at the hospital Jade sits in the waiting room and feels all the nervous energy drain from her. She's only eighteen and she's wondering if her best friend is going to be alive in a few hours' time. Bad enough that she worried like that four years ago, but at least then there was always the possibility of a dreamself ressurection. Now she sits and waits, counting the tiles on the ceiling and singing songs to herself in a tired monotone. Other than her there's nobody else in the waiting room - Sollux pressed a small scrap of paper with a number written on it and told her to call him if she didn't have a lift home, then left without a further word. She sinks down into the seat and switches her attention to the TV on the wall opposite her. It's so late (or is it early?) that it's been turned off, but there's something bugging Jade. It's at about that time she realises it's slightly uneven, and curses the remnant of her former powers.

After about five minutes of trying to ignore the way space feels uncomfortable around her, Jade finally slides into sleep. She dreams, and her dreams are uneventful. She no longer dreams of Prospit, nor of the Furthest Ring - why would she? They've been free of the Incipisphere for four years. No, she dreams of normal things now. She's so tired.

It feels like she's slept for hours when someone shakes her shoulder gently.
"Miss Harley?" a voice asks. Jade struggles back to conciousness, blinks a few times, and pushes her glasses back up her face. The girl speaking to her is soft spoken, with dark red makeup on. She smiles at Jade, who simply nods sleepily.
"Is... Is Dave going to be okay?" the Witch suddenly yelps, sitting up sharply. "Please, tell me he's going to be okay!"

The nurse merely smiles. "He'll be fine with some rest, Miss Harley. Would you like to see him?"
Of course she does.

Author's Notes

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oh noooooooo

Yeah I have no idea if people tend to survive stabs to the stomach but Dave is awesome so he can do that okay

also spot the trolls, yaaaaaay

GNEE!
YAAAYY!!
Ugh, I want more and more and more each time, I'm getting so greedy ; n;

[orngjce223]

orngjce223, does that even count as head canon? It seemed pretty damn obvious.

"Obvious" != "canon". I just like keeping this distinction straight, that's all.

[Bratmon]

Insert this in any setting where the kids rebuild Earth.

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Like everyone else, Andrew Hussie was shocked at the news that he was living on a new Earth. But, much like everyone else, he still had hazy memories of the apocalypse, and didn't doubt the story when he heard it on the news.

After the shock had worn off, he went back to writing his adventure The Midnight Crew. To be honest, the story was kinda boring him, and he preparing to wrap it up. He was preparing for a new story, a collab with his roommate, Ryan North, a really awesome guy.

Then the news turned to an interview with Dave Strider, one of the teenagers who had saved the world (The story was incredible, but unbeknown to him, the kids had fixed it so everyone believed them.) Andrew swore he recognized the guy but had never heard his name. He remembered him from somewhere, but he couldn't place where.

It was the same for the other kids as well. It always bothered him that he's seen all these people before, but he had know idea where.


Meanwhile on a forsaken hard drive, long forgotten in a move more than a year ago, lied Andrew's discarded original sketches for an adventure called Homestuck, an adventure that was never written.

[Kawa]

And then the fourth wall was officially no more.

[Caprisaurus]

@@Bratmon
...That was brilliant and Kawa basically summed it up.

Also, am I bad person for wanting a fantroll in the same universe as Shula JUST so we could do logs?
Because I love her so much. She's like a ball of adorable.
-resumes lurking formspring-

[DJ-P0N3]

Ugh ugh ugh
The finale for 1-up, down-1 has already reached 10 pages in length and I have no idea if it exceeds the character limit for the fora.
So I decided to something incredibly stupid and pointless.
Hiyo Formspring

But If anyone can get back to me on this I would love you dearly, if not I might have to double post the parts of the finale.

[Kawa]

I can't see why that would make you a "bad person", Capri.

<-- what do you mean "adorable"? Mo' like adorabloodthirsty amirite?

MayorSillyBiscuits: I see no problem with splitting it up. Go for it!

[DJ-P0N3]

The worst part is I haven't even finished it.

Stupid fucking
god damn
finale

[Caprisaurus]

I can't see why that would make you a "bad person", Capri.

<-- what do you mean "adorable"? Mo' like adorabloodthirsty amirite?

MayorSillyBiscuits: I see no problem with splitting it up. Go for it!

Adorabloodthirsty fits it perfectly.
..Must resist urge to hug, lest I get hurt.

And because I feel like I'm jumping on on something I shouldn't somewhat.
Oh well, I still shall read population. Such a good story c:

[Katrika]

A completely original poem.

Going to do one for all the lands.

LOWAS

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Beneath the gray, fireflies dance
A muted vista, wind and shade
But do not stop at just a glace
At sights begging to be surveyed

A subtle glow trapped in the trees
Reflects on rivers, dark and shy
A whispered voice, a constant breeze
A soft gray blanket blocks the sky

The pipeworks are the planet’s veins
The Slumb’ring One breathes at it’s heart
It’s always dim, but never rains
Like an unchanging work of art

A marble painted on a wall
No stars to light it’s cradled form
Just lightning bugs, so bright, so small
Always the calm, never the storm

Beneath the gray, fireflies dance
A muted vista, wind and shade
But do not stop at just a glace
At sights begging to be surveyed

[Wigmund]

I think I'm a bad person because while reading Population and seeing mentions of Nepeta's rack, I wonder just how big they got

Damn you Kawa for turning me into a pervert How could you!?


EDIT: Lovely poem Katrika.

[Sionnan]

More Strider fic, with tentative Bro back story.

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He sat in a corner in his room. The only light he permitted himself was the feeble nightlight that sputtered a weak fan of yellow light into the dingy room, because otherwise it would risk invoking the wrath of That Guy. He couldn't remember his name, mostly because Mom was drunk when she said it, and he didn't quite grasp how to pick about similar-sounding consonants when slurred that badly. That, and That Guy had ignored him resolutely, save to yell at him for being in the way or in sight. That Guy had a recent moment where he had stormed in drunk, screaming at him for wasting electricity with his lamp, and proceeded to take the bulb out and throw it outside into the street.

Since that moment, he'd been very careful never to leave his light on after he went to bed. Which was getting earlier and earlier now; Mom would "put him to bed" before she and That Guy left in his car, telling him to not make noise and just go to sleep. Last night it had been six o'clock, but tonight he had put himself to bed because no one had come home yet. It was eight o'clock when he decided he should go to bed, because he didn't want to get caught up so late, even if he had been waiting for Mom to show up. She had been asleep on the couch, reeking pungently of beer, when he left to walk to school, and she was gone when he came back.

School was nice that day. He didn't have lunch money, because Mom wasn't awake to give him any, and That Guy had taken to emptying the jar on the kitchen counter she usually put it in. So he just drifted into the cafeteria and sat with his friend, who gave him parts of their lunch. Their teacher, Mrs. Mason, had them sing happy birthday to him, and she handed out a small candy bar to each of them.

He was almost relieved when he came back to find the apartment empty, and set about in a somewhat guarded fashion watching whatever he wanted on TV. That Guy tended to monopolize it, so it had been a while since he could watch his favorite cartoon after school. After a few hours, he was starting to get a little worried that no one, not even Mom, was showing up. He scavenged dinner from the fridge with what he could stand on to reach, which turned out to be a couple pieces of bread left in the bag, some apple juice, and some peanut butter.

At eight, he brushed his teeth and went to his room, vaguely worried but somehow relieved he was still alone. He shut his light off regardless, feeling a species of dread creep into his chest when he realized the light from his room could be seen from the street. He wasn't particularly tired, so he sat on the floor of his room, holding the giant puppet he had since he could remember. He wound it's tattered orange arms around his shoulders, and held it close. It felt like a hug, so he was happy enough with it. He reached up into it's back, and found the little mechanism that let him move it's jaw, and sang softly as he manipulated it.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Charlie, happy birthday to you!"

He sighed, and snuggled the puppet close, feeling the reassuring weight of its wooden head cradling his shoulder and neck. "Thank you, Cal. I love you."

Sidenote:

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I'm not sure at all I'm liking where I'm going with Bro's history, mostly because a lot of fandom writers (though not the one in this one, thankfully) like to go to the darkside and targedy and woez to elaborate on characters. But I will say that it's not just a pet hobby of mind to put Bro through the wringer because I think it's cool. Or hot. Or whatever.