MSPA Fanfiction V: We're Going to Need More Wands

[Ganato]

^ Oh yes

It might just be me, but I like it when Andrew doesn't update for a little while.

With an update, especially flashes, people write something ABOUT that particular update, be it from another P.O.V or what happened after, but when he doesn't update that is kinda hard to do.

I'm not saying that the other is bad. I just like it when there's a large amount of diversity. Instead of 5 fics about Sollux being blinded we get cross-overs, alt-sessions and AU's.


And to FF.net: Not gonna use it. There.

[battlerek]

Also no terrible blatant OC fics that give Gamzee a waifu or bad gay fiction that's not intentionally bad. Which is pretty much my main beef with FF.net fics, even if there's a couple of really good stories in there.

[sebastian]

An idea for Alt-blood that I don't think was already tried, the kids as troll in the different color of the hemospectrum.

Some combination are pretty obvious but I'd be curious about people would handle a cerulean John, or a jade-blooded Dave or a candy red Rose, just to name some.

And on the other side, the trolls as humans rised by the different guardians, we have seen Dave Egbert, but what about Karkat Egbert? Or Gamzee Strider? Or Sollux Lalonde?

I'll just let it here is someone want to use it.

[C20710]

I've been writing these short things lately and I decided I wanted to do a set with every combination of the kids together. Because Karkat's shipping diagram is lame and there is never enough kidfic. Most of these are just friendshippy, though. All the ones in the main set are postgame (assuming some teleportation shenanigans).

Four Little Chords

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John/Rose

They sit in his living room and watch movie after movie. John camps there with popcorn and soda and candy like it really is a movie theatre and Rose sits prim beside him, her legs folded beneath herself and her knitting bag just to her left. He watches and she knits, her eyes mostly on the needlework, and at first he's afraid he's boring her. He glances over again and again to find her squinting at her purple yarn as butterflies assault his stomach lining. The seventh time Rose catches his eye and she smiles, leaning over to whisper into his ear, "Stop worrying, John. Watch your movie."

"Do you want me to put a different one on?"

She shakes her head, the knitting slack in her lap. "Our taste is not quite the same but I do like watching you enjoy yourself." She looks to the screen, mouthing a line that she knows by heart only because he's quoted it to her so many times.

John chuckles and settles back, letting himself fall into the movie again. When he laughs at a particularly cheesy line, tears in his eyes even though this must been his twentieth time watching this movie, Rose laughs right beside him, her eyes on him instead of the screen.

John/Dave

"Look. Dude. Everything isn't a movie," Dave says, shaking his head. "You're never gonna get it exactly right. It's just human nature to fuck it up at least half the time. Probably more than half in your case since you're such a dweeb, but don't freak out."

"C'mon, man, that's easy for you to say. You're the seismic epicenter of cool." John's eyes fall to his lap because he feels like the polar opposite of that at the moment. "Rose has almost as much coolness and I'm like, I don't know—"

"Rolling the negatives?"

John shoots him a frown. "I know I'm lame, Dave. Do you have to do that?"

Dave holds up his hands in concession. "Sorry. Look. Just—" He sighs and drops his hands into his pockets, stepping over to sit next to John on the railing. "You're not really that lame, it's just that she dwarfs everyone out with her big words and her frou frou attitude and shit. You're cooler than I give you credit for, John. You never really cared what anyone said about you until you started liking her. I don't know why that suddenly matters so much to you when that's part of what she likes about you in the first place."

"She likes that I'm a dweeb?"

Dave quirks his mouth into a little smirk. "I like that you're a dweeb. Can't have my best bro outcooling me all the time. It'd seriously rain on my ego."

John laughs and shoves him lightly, watching Dave recoil more than that push should have required. "I balance out your diet of coolness, right?"

"Totally."

"And how is that supposed to make me feel better about Rose?"

"Because she's my paradox sister, man, and I know how that spooky broad thinks. She totally digs the dweebiness, John. You could probably trip down a flight of stairs and land face down in the mud and she'd still want to be on your arm for a lame ass rom-com."

John muffles a laugh behind his hand and then throws his arm around Dave's shoulders. "Thanks, dude."

John/Jade

The basket of Squiddles falls on her head as she pushes open his door, the little plush dolls scattering everywhere as she stands there with wicker on her head and Tangle Buddies pairing up around her feet. For a long time she can't stop giggling with goofy glee. "Where did you get so many?!" she demands eventually, grinning and watching John snicker to himself from where he's sitting on his bed.

"They're not really that hard to get," he tells her once he catches his breath. "I ordered a bunch of used ones off eBay."

Jade rearranges the basket on her head so she can actually see out of both eyes, and then she scoops up a lone red Squiddle and flounces down next to John, flailing it's stubby tentacles at him. "You guys and your fancy reliable package delivery."

"I had to get them when I knew you were coming!" He'd only had a week to plan it, but twenty dollars is nothing compared to watching Jade laugh like that. "Rose just stands there when I prank her and Dave is always rambling on about handle flips and stuff. It's not as fun to prank someone when they don't enjoy it too."

"I know! They are such a bunch of boo heads aren't they?"

"Yes. Why do we put up with them?"

Jade just grins and sets the Squiddle on top of John's head to match the basket on her own, and after a second they both collapse into laughing fits again.

Rose/Jade

The sand on the beach is warm and beautiful and Rose steps through it barefoot, thinking of LOLAR. It's winter back home, a solid foot of snow piled up on her mother's sidewalks and driveway. Here on Jade's island the sun beats down warm and inviting and the surf laps at Rose's ankles. Her hand is balled in her dress to keep the hem out of the waves.

"Look at this one!" Jade yells, grinning as she pulls yet another seashell out of the water in a sparkle of scattered droplets. The shell is deep purple and spiral, the inside full of sand. "Wow, I haven't seen one of these before!"

The other girl is dressed in a green swimsuit and a straw hat, her hair sticking wet halfway down her back and her eyes shining. The bag over her shoulder is full of shells and they clink together as she lopes through the waves toward Rose.

Jade sidles up next to her, the shade of her hat falling over Rose's face as she presses in close. She holds the shell out to Rose and she takes it gently, surprised by how heavy it is. It sparkles like mother of pearl in the sunshine.

"It's beautiful," Rose whispers, her voice hushed in the lap of the waves. She looks over to Jade and smiles, and Jade smells like salt and the sea breeze. There are no complicated mind games with Jade and Rose loves her for that. "I need to thank you for graciously inviting me to spend the day out here, Jade."

"You seemed like you really needed it," she says, shrugging as if it's nothing. As if this place isn't heaven. "We never get to spend time together, either! There's always boys butting their noses into everything."

The both laugh because that's true. The past week has been long for Rose, full of schoolwork deadlines and shoveling snow and the constant nagging of her mother. Here though, standing next to Jade in the ocean breeze, Rose feels the tension ease out of her and she looks over to Jade and smiles. Nothing is expected of her out here but pleasant company and enjoying the sun. She holds the shell with the hand balled in her dress and loops her other arm around Jade's.

"Walk with me for a while?" Rose asks, because as sweet as it is watching Jade dart through the waves looking for shells, she enjoys the way Jade tells stories more.

Jade nods and steps out a bit into the warm surf, pulling Rose after her, and they walk down the beach talking quietly about shells and wizards and anything fantastic enough to make both of the giggle.

Dave/Jade

The credits are rolling through for the second time on the lunchtop when Dave finally wakes up. It's set on his floor, projecting the movie on repeat and he doesn't even remember how it ends. He must have fallen asleep before that. He's got a cramp in his side from the way he was laying but he barely even moves, barely lets himself breathe because Jade is curled up next to him, snoring softly into his pillow. She's warm and calm, wrapped in half of his comforter, and Dave knows he should probably turn off the projector but he's afraid of waking her up. She just looks so peaceful lying there like that, her eyes closed and every inch of her relaxed, her glasses folded up and held in the crook of one pinky finger.

He smiles. No one's around to see it so he lets himself, and it's not his classic coolkid smile either. It's a goofy, bubbly thing that would probably look more at home on John's face than Dave's.

He lifts her glasses carefully out of her hand and folds up his shades, setting them both at the far corner of the bed where they won't be disturbed, and then he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.


Dave/Rose

"Hold still," she says, and Dave rolls his eyes and follows orders. She tugs his bowtie straight and rebuttons his jacket and stares at him judgmentally for a second before she steps back again.

"I know how to tie one of these goddamn things," he tells her, smirking a little. "It's not like I don't have mad practice with wearing badass suits and shit. I ran around LOHAC for weeks in these."

Rose regards him with bored eyes and looks back to the clock. "Yes, because simply switching between outfits with the aid of your ridiculous sylladex makes for excellent practice. You do understand that wearing the suit, people are going to expect you to handle yourself with the prestige and class it affords you?"

Dave shrugs, not caring. "Sorry I'm so chill right now. It's only right to be jealous of a dude this cool, Rose. I'd look like I just knocked back fifty Alka-Seltzers with a Coke and my stomach is about to explode up my esophagus if I had to walk out there with me, too. Actually, I wouldn't because I have practice with that shit, but still. Ain't gonna be a single eye on you with all this concentrated cool waltzing through the door."

Rose physically turns and gives him a glare that could wilt houseplants and Dave decides he really shouldn't press her like this right now. She's a ball of nerves and she has right to be. It's not every day your Mom gets married and you have to put up with your asshole paradox brother while you wait on pins and needles about it.

"Yeah, I'll shut up now," he tells her, stepping over to sit on the radiator beside her. The only reason he's here right now instead of John is John's fantastic ability to get sick at exactly the wrong time. Dave glances over at her, at the gorgeous purple dress that she fills out perfectly. Her hands are clasped white with nerves in her lap and no one's around to see, so he sets a hand on top of hers and squeezes.

Rose's expression warps into dull surprise. "Are you comforting me, Strider?"

"You complaining?"

"Not especially. I'm simply surprised by your ability to show any form of empathy at all." It sounds like a snipe but her mouth quirks into a smile, and she meets his eyes behind his shades. "Thank you."

Dave smiles back. "Chill. It'll go off without a hitch, just you watch."

Bonus Features:

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John/Rose - first kiss

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She kisses him with soft lips and John has no idea what to do. It's like all the blood in his body is suddenly in his face his cheeks are so red, and how has Rose not noticed that yet? How is she not laughing at him? Yeah, her eyes are closed, her lips warm as she presses them to his own paralyzed ones, but still. He is really messing this up here and he needs to do something. Anything. He rests his hands on her back, stiff and pathetic, and he thinks of every movie he's ever watched as he tries to kiss her back.

She smiles when she pulls away, not disappointed at all, and John's heart skips a beat at how happy she looks.

Dave/Rose - Calsprite timeline

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We need to meet, she'd told him, and he'd agreed, yeah, but now he's got this is stupid this is stupid this is stupid repeating itself in his head like a metronome. What's the point? What's the fucking point when they can chat across worlds and they're as good as dead anyway?

He looks like shit. He knows he does. He tripped somewhere in LOWAS and fell down a hill into a reeking oily river, and now his black suit swirls with purple and green oil stains. He's got a bruise on his jaw and his hands are scraped bloody and hurting, his hair stinking of petrochemicals, and he hates pretty much everything at this point because this was John's world and it's totally empty now.

John's dead and he's in his world and it feels like the ultimate betrayal that Dave hasn't gone back to save him yet.

Rose said she'd meet him at one of the salamander villages. He sees it up ahead, and he's so damn tired of running timeloops right now that he doesn't even give a shit if she sees him like this. He stalks into the village with his sword in hand, eyes flicking everywhere because there are extra imps in the dead worlds. In LOWAS. Dave guesses that with no Heir to cull the herds they're just multiplying out of control.

He expects her to materialize out of the shadows with some snark on her tongue. Interesting fashion choice, Strider. Did you not have time to change? Always with the time jokes and it pisses him off so much at this point because he could spin back right now and save John and end this pointless shit, but she wants him to stay. Prolong it as long as possible. Actually face the fact that John's dead and this is his world and it's fucking empty and why did she ask him to come here—

"Dave," she says, and she's behind him.

He whirls, angry only because his heart is breaking into goddamn endless pieces being here. He wants to scream at her, shake her and tell her what a bitch she is for asking him to come here, but then he notices that she's crying, trembling and choking back sobs, and he steps over the distance between them without even thinking and throws his arms around her.

She sobs into his shoulder, black tar on her face, and Dave cries silently as his iShades fog up.

Davesprite/Rose

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TG: hey look i know youre busy
TG: just
TG: shit
TG: you got a minute
TT: I believe I can set aside more than simply one minute.
TT: Is there something you need to tell me?
TG: yeah i guess
TG: its not like essential game crap or anything
TG: i can vomit up some stuff if you need special insider trading specs
TG: long as you promise not to go on holding cupcake baking lessons and poncho knitting when they throw you in the slammer for it
TT: At this point, my sources are a bit more knowledgeable about what I'm planning than a simple sprite would be.
TT: So I trust I'm set as far as that is concerned.
TT: If you would like a poncho you will have to wait, however. I appear to be in an absence of orange yarn at the moment.
TG: damn
TG: flying around like crow clint eastwood wouldve been pretty cool
TT: Indeed.
TT: I presume you had more than desultory arguments in mind when you contacted me, though, Strider.
TT: What's up?
TG: yeah
TG: its
TG: ...
TG: i think im finished
TT: As you're not generally so inarticulate, I'm assuming this is a relatively heavy topic and not your usual tomfoolery?
TT: I suppose I'll set the scathing banter aside as well.
TG: thanks
TT: What do you mean by finished?
TG: i mean i think the doomed timeline shit is catching up to me
TG: dunno how i know but i can sort of feel it
TG: end looming somewhere on the horizon sword dangling over my head ready to crash down
TG: im cruising around here
TG: not waiting for it just looking for bro and stuff
TG: still i can feel it
TG: figured id say goodbye while i still got the chance
TG: i know you dont really remember but humor me okay
TG: you were all i had for a couple months back there and i gotta say it to someone
TG: i just figure itll break you the least and youll get that alpha me doesnt necessarily feel the same way
TT: I'm not entirely sure what to say, Dave.
TT: I do remember certain things, probably quite a lot more than you assume I do.
TT: And that portion of myself has acquiesced with her doomed nature, so I've been drawing on that a bit.
TT: Still,
TT: Are you afraid? You sound like you might be.
TG: a little i guess
TG: this is like your dream come true lalonde im gonna lay it out straight for you
TT: Oh my. I'm waiting with notebook in hand.
TG: i know its been coming so im more or less okay
TG: which is kinda fucked up in its own sense but
TG: i guess what spooks me is that no ones gonna remember me with alpha dave still in the loop
TT: I may only have dream memories of our time together, but I will remember you.
TT: I promise.
TG: yeah
TG: pour out a 40 for me or something so i go down like a true rap superstar
TG: crocodiles pause at that crosswalk and think
TG: damn someone ace went down here lemme take a moment to consider this heavy shit
TT: I will make it a priority to alchemize one as soon as possible.
TG: awesome
TG: hey promise me one more thing
TT: What would that be?
TG: dont just throw yourself away okay
TG: i know you think it doesnt matter but it does
TG: and youre worth more than that anyway
TG: youre a pretty stellar chick rose and you deserve more than a fucking kamikaze mission
TT: Dave,
TT: Congratulations, you have rendered me relatively speechless.
TG: score
TG: means youll take it to heart
TG: i think i see something up ahead gonna go check it out
TG: good luck on your mission
TT: You too, Dave.
TG: later

Dave/Dave

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His red-sleeved self stalks out of the distance with his hands in his pockets, the air swimming with LOHAC's heat all around him. Dave's used to just ignoring his time-twins but this one is walking directly toward him and he's in the one outfit Dave doesn't currently have. He's from the future, so he might as well listen to what he has to say. He expects coolkid nods and gestures and words muttered half-coherently because this time shit is stupid and neither of them really cares. What he doesn't expect is for the guy to walk straight up to him, grab him by the red lapels, and kiss him full on.

Holy fuck, what the hell is happening? There is tongue in this kiss and how did his own mouth get open in the first place, oh god?

He shoves the other Dave back, recoiling in the least cool fashion with his voice wavering as he spits, "What the hell, dude?"

Red-sleeves frowns in the same way Dave always does when he rolls his eyes. "Chill. I need the goddamn practice and you're helping me out here."

"You need fucking kissing practice? Are you kidding me?"

He steps closer again and Dave backs up. "Yeah, kissing practice. Get with the program, man. It's not like you don't know exactly who I'm talking about, so buck up. Let's get our ironic makeout on."

He wants to complain and tell him to find some other Dave's throat to stick his tongue down, but he knows that he wouldn't be here now if this wasn't exactly how the fucking timeloop happens. He is hedged into this shit, goddamn it. So he sighs and he can't believe he's doing this, but he closes the distance between them and looks himself full in the face, eyebrow raised.

"This better be fucking worth it," he mutters.

Red-sleeves laughs, nods and says, "It totally is, dude," in a weird lovesick way that sounds utterly out of place in his own voice. And when he kisses him again Dave closes his eyes and imagines he's making out with the person this slick bastard obviously needs the practice for.

Holy Jeez oh man, you're like...awesome. Excuse me while I gush for a minute. Your characterization is amazing, and I think you saved the best for last. Dave/Dave is 100% believable. I also *really* liked the Calsprite timeline one.

Just amazing. You probably get this alot but, wow.

COLORS: Chapter 3

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Eridan: Make the next move

A dear friend and a potential romance; pieces within a grand, almost cosmic, game. Many trolls would find it difficult to think of the very same people in both capacities. Not you, though. Dualities are your passion. Your mutant brain, inconvenient as it may be, has its advantages. One of them is your ability to casually handle two different tracks of thought at the same time. It’s so easy, and you don’t know why others can’t do it.

Oh wait, yes you do. And it’s the same reason they don’t have constant headaches. That goes a long way towards assuaging whatever doubts you might have.

You have brought the highblood into the game. You are her server player, against her will. So far so good. You will now continue breaking her concentration, making her angrier and angrier, inflaming her hatred for you until there is only one small part of her mind that does not want to end your life. If that part is ever extinguished, you think she might actually succeed in killing you. But as long as there is any doubt, however small, you think she won’t.

She is fascinating to you. When she is able to control herself, she is such a collected, powerful young woman, surely capable of crafting the most intricate of plans to try to counteract your own schemes. And when her stress meter goes too high, she transforms into something else entirely. She transforms into a creature capable of a rage that would stagger even her Subjugglator ancestors. There are no jokes present in her rampages, save for the ultimate joke of death.

Dualities, always. Such beautiful dualities. Such potential for a perfectly black romance. All you have to do is make her hate you enough.

Luckily, hate is much easier to force than love.

conjurationAbjurer[CA]began trolling GratingAnomaly[GA]

CA: hello
GA: jUsT sToP tHiS
GA: yOu CaN sHuT uP rIgHt NoW aNd We NeEd NeVeR cOmE iNtO fUrThEr CoNtAcT
GA: i WoUlD eNjOy ThAt
CA: you are 2peakiing differently
CA: that ii2 unacceptable
CA: how diid you do iit
GA: iT iNvOlVeD a LoT oF sCrEaMiNg InTo A pIlLoW
GA: aLsO pLoTtInG yOuR mUrDeR iF yOu DoN’t LeAvE mE aLoNe
CA: that2 flatteriing
CA: thank you
GA: nO bE qUIET
GA: This iSN’T
GA: iSn’T bLaCkRoM
GA: iT iS pLaToNiC hAtE oF tHe MuRdErOuS vArIeTy
CA: are you sure kan
CA: miight you be feeliing ju2t a liitle black spark iin there
CA: you have two admiit ii am really goiing all out here
GA: nO
GA: gO aWaY
CA: . . .
CA: how about now
GA: dId YoU jUsT
GA: dID You jUST Throw a Bathtub tHROUGH My wALL
CA: ye2 well ii have two admiit ii have a liimiited amount of materiial two work wiith here
CA: once we have more tiime ii can annoy you on a more per2onal level
CA: but for now ii 2ort of need two get iinto thii2 game my2elf
CA: ii ju2t wanted two check iin
GA: We aRE NOt fINISHED Discussing tHE BATHTUb tHROWN Through mY Wall
GA: tHIS Is bASICALLY HORRIBLe
CA: thank you
CA: anyway
CA: gotta go

conjurationAbjurer[CA]began trolling GratingAnomaly[GA]

GA: COMe bACK HERe
GA: aAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!

That wasn’t much of a move

CA: 2hut up

Be the Highblood

You probably don’t want to be her right now. She’s going through kind of an intense moment. It involves scribbling all over the walls with lipstick. And she’s going to have her hands full once that particular duality kicks in, especially since her server player is beginning to feel the first effects of the Vast Glub.

Everyone: hurry up and get into the game

All right already. They’re going as fast as they can, especially considering a good half of them weren’t planning to play in the first place. This is why things need to be more organized around here.

Feferi: get in.

CriminalCatcher [CC] began trolling Arboreal Gourmet [AG]

CC: H3llo
CC: L1st3n 1 know you 4r3n’t v3ry 1nt3r3st3d 1n h3lp1ng author1t13s w1th th31r 1nqu1r13s
AG: ::: < *Darn right I’m not!
CC: So 1nst34d how 4bout w3 pl4y 4 l1ttl3 g4m3?
AG: ::: < *I am already in the middle of a game!
AG: ::: < *And I have my claws so full over here, let me tell you!
CC: But th4t 1s th3 b3st p4rt!
CC: Th3 two g4m3s c4n go tog3th3r.
CC: H3r3’s th3 l1ttl3 b3t 1’ll m4k3 you:
CC: br1ng m3 1nto your pr3tty l1ttl3 g4m3
CC: 4nd 1 b3t you 1 c4n g3t through your for3st 4nd 4ll your tr4ps 4nd sniff out your 4ccompl1ce!
AG: ::: < *Oh, you are on!
AG: :::
AG: ::: < *8ut I should warn you:
AG: ::: < *No one, 8ut no one gets through my forest unscathed unless I let them.
AG: ::: < *So this will 8e fun, I think!
CC: Why don’t w3 f1nd out? 3

CriminalCatcher [CC] ceased trolling Arboreal Gourmet [AG]

Aradia: get in.

AdventurousArchaeologist [AA]began trolling apologeticTitan [AT]

AA: thanks f0r being my server player tavr0s!
AT: yOU ARE VERY WELCOME,
AA: h0w many times have y0u c0me t0 my aid n0w?
AT: oH MY GOODNESS, sO MANY,
AT: fOR A LADY WHO IS AS CLASSY AND CAPABLE AS YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE,
AT: yOU SURE DO GET INTO AN AWFUL LOT OF TROUBLE,
AT: yOU ARE FORTUNATE, i THINK, tO ALWAYS HAVE A GALLANT KNIGHT TO RIDE TO YOUR RESCUE,
AT: oR EVEN A PAGE AS THE CASE MAY BE,
AA: sw00n
AA: but seri0sly thanks!
AT: iT’S OKAY, i WAS HAPPY TO HELP,
AT: bUT NOW I THINK MAYBE YOU SHOULD FIND SOMEONE ELSE AND GET THEM INTO THE GAME,
AT: bECAUSE IT IS GETTING SO DANGEROUS OUT THERE,
AT: aND I SUSPECT IT MIGHT BE SAFER IN HERE,
AA: 0kay!
AA: see y0u later then!

AdventurousArchaeologist [AA]ceased trolling apologeticTitan [AT]


Terezi: get in.

You’re in no hurry. Your quasi-royal blood will protect you from the worst of the Glub’s effects for a while yet. You will seek safety later. For the moment you are too busy tending to your emperor’s every need, as a good server player should.

Vriska: contact server player

Arboreal Gourmet [AG] began trolling Tormented Anarchist [TA]

AG: ::: < *The we8 has 8een drawn oh so tight
AG: ::: < *And you are trapped within it
AG: ::: < *All the little silky strands settling down around you
AG: ::: < *Is this the end, you wonder?
AG: ::: < *Yes!!!!!!!!
AG: ::: < *Soon the fangs will come!
Tormented Anarchist [TA] changed his name to CreepyGhast [CG]
CG: BEEN THERE DONE THAT.
AG: ::::| < * What.
CG: SURPRISE, LINTLICKER!
CG: TURNS OUT YOUR FRIEND DOESN’T REALLY LIKE YOU.
CG: AND SO HE LEFT YOU TO ME TO DEAL WITH.
CG: WHICH I INTEND TO DO FOR SOME TIME.
AG: ::: < *This is the best he could come up with?
AG: ::: < *I wasn’t afr8 of you when you were alive, dum8ass!
AG: ::: < *Why would I be af8 of you now of all times?
CG: WELL FOR ONE THING, I CAN DO THIS TO YOUR LOADBEARING WALLS.
AG: ::: < *Oh, you will pay for that one!
CG: ALSO I CAN TORMENT YOU WITH POETRY.
CG: HERE’S A LITTLE SOMETHING I WROTE FOR YOU.
CG:
CG: FREEZING WINDS OF THE NETHERWORLD BLOW ETERNALLY
CG: UNDER THE WORLD OF MORTAL CREATURES.
CG: CRABS FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF BLOOD HOME.
CG: KARMA MAKES ITS MARK ON A KILLER.
CG: YAWNING ABYSS OPENS WIDER ITS MAW
CG: OBLIVION BEYOND EVEN DEATH BECONS
CG: ULTIMATE IS THIS SHOWDOWN.
CG:
CG: IT HAS A HIDDEN MESSAGE.
CG: SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT IT.
AG: ::: < *Wow.
AG: ::: < *All that work just for that one potshot?
AG: ::: < *I am flattered, really I am.
AG: ::: < *There’s just one thing:
AG: ::: < *You’re still a worthless idiot!
AG: ::: < *HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
CG: LAUGH WHILE YOU CAN, SERKET.
CG: SOONER OR LATER I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU CRY.
CG: ACTUALLY, FYICK LATER, I’M ON IT RIGHT NOW.
AG: ::: < *Do your worst, Random Encounter #32789!
AG: ::: < *My other opponent seems to be a little late, so you’ll do for the moment!

CreepyGhast [CG] ceased trolling Arboreal Gourmet [AG]


Eridan: get in.

conjurationAbjurer[CA]began trolling admiraclyCreative [AC]

CA: hey gue22 what
CA: it2 your lucky day
CA: ju2t for twoday ii am offeriing a free get out of the uniiver2e tiicket
CA: the only catch ii2 that you have two take a friiend along for the riide
CA: can you thiink of anyone
AC: Yaaaaaay Eridan!
AC: I Was Hoping You Would Come Through And Pull Me Out Of This Mess
AC: Just Send Me A Copy Of The Game And We Can Blow This Crummy Old World
CA: hurry
CA: ii dont feel 2o good

conjurationAbjurer[CA]ceased trolling admiraclyCreative [AC]


Terezi: get in already.

The Emperor insists that you secure your own safety before you continue serving him. You suppose he’s right.

galleonCemetery [GC] began trolling AdventurousArchaeologist [AA]

GC: HI THERE!
GC: WWHAT’S UP? >8D
AA: 0h
AA: hell0 terezi
AA: 0_0
GC: I APPRECIATE THE DISCOMFORT AT MY PRESENCE, BUT WWE DON’T HAVVE TIME FOR THAT!
GC: I AM COMMANDEERING YOUR SERVVICES AS A SERVVER
GC: NO ARGUMENTS.
AA: n0 0f c0urse n0t
AA: i w0uld be glad t0 serve y0u in that capacity
GC: YEAH, RIGHT!
GC: I KNOWW VVERY WWELL YOU WWON’T BE GLAD.
GC: BUT YOU WWILL DO IT.
GC: AND IF YOU DO A GOOD JOB, WWE MIGHT JUST ALL COME OUT OF THIS ALIVVE! >8]
GC: NOWW DO YOUR DUTY.

galleonCemetery [GC] ceased trolling AdventurousArchaeologist [AA]

Gamzee: bleed out.

Oh, yes, you are all over that already.


Sollux: panic.

Tormented Anarchist [TA] began trolling TotallyChill [TC]

TA: noo
TA: get up yoou stupid sap
TA: get up
TA: please
TA: ooh noo
TA: ju2t
TA: ju2t get that BLOOD back inside
TA: oor soomething
TA: ooh goog

Tormented Anarchist [TA] ceased trolling TotallyChill [TC]

Feferi: Make it right.

No problem.

The thing about being a detective in such a hostile environment is that you have to think in some very unusual ways.

For instance, Vriska believed that you honestly meant to compete with her. But why would you want that? She is an accomplice at best. Probably more of an accessory, really. And you can get the mastermind behind this plot from an unexpected direction.

You have already pulled your jade-blooded friend into the game to ensure her safety. Then you leapt down the chain of clients, deftly avoiding the gargantuan monsters populating these dimensions until you ended up here in the Imperial Flagship. It lies abandoned; its sole occupier has gone to challenge the beasts hand to hand. And you snuck inside, and are now ready to bring in the final player. You’re not sure if you can save his life; but in completing the chain you will secure the future of the race and, more importantly, open up another route from which to pounce onto the enemy.

Long live the Empire!

Recap Chain

Okay, here are the players, server to client order.

Gamzee (bleeding)

Sollux (freaking out)

Karkat (haunting)

Vriska (laying traps for a visitor who will never come)

Feferi (tracking down a criminal)

Nepeta (using heavy tower-mounted weaponry to establish a perimeter)

Eridan (attempting to initiate blackrom)

Kanaya (planning to end the annoyance once and for all just as soon as she discovers how to get to the server’s world)

Tavros (reluctantly destroying monsters; mourning Tinkerbull)

Aradia (quietly terrified; plotting to put an old friend to his final rest at last)

Terezi (Taking a moment to explore her Land, or Sea as it were)

Equius (in absentia; substituted by Feferi)

And then we go to Gamzee again.

HMMM. I don't normally care much for or about the whole alt character thing, but this is intriguing and very well written. I couldn't make myself stop reading it even though I haven't read the first two chapters yet. WELP, live and learn...

[MyCurrentObsession]

HEY GUYS.

So I know you've probably been asked this like a thousand times, but would someone kindly tell me of the kids' and trolls' colors? I'd kind of like to use them in the fanfic I have planned.

I did actually browse through the first few pages to see if maybe the colors were mentioned, but no luck, so...

Also, hi, I'm a newbie here; joined just for the purpose of maybe posting this fanfic I mentioned cause I can't just let it stay in my head.

[C20710]

HEY GUYS.

So I know you've probably been asked this like a thousand times, but would someone kindly tell me of the kids' and trolls' colors? I'd kind of like to use them in the fanfic I have planned.

I did actually browse through the first few pages to see if maybe the colors were mentioned, but no luck, so...

Also, hi, I'm a newbie here; joined just for the purpose of maybe posting this fanfic I mentioned cause I can't just let it stay in my head.

I'm a little confused..? You have a fanfic in mind but don't know the colors and such?

Well, anyway, I might suggest the MSPA wiki as having the answers you need. Click here

edit: oh....HEX CODES! le derp.

[ceruleanTresses]

So I know you've probably been asked this like a thousand times, but would someone kindly tell me of the kids' and trolls' colors? I'd kind of like to use them in the fanfic I have planned.

John - 0715cd/Rose - b536da/Dave - e00707/Jade - 4ac925
Aradia - a10000/Tavros - a15000/Sollux - a1a100/Karkat - 626262
Nepeta - 416600/Kanaya - 008141/Terezi - 008282/Vriska - 005682
Equius - 000056/Gamzee - 2b0057/Eridan - 6a006a/Feferi - 77003c

Hopefully this is what you were asking for. Happy writing!

[Violet CLM]

If we are posting ideas, I would be amused to read -- but am not particularly interested in writing -- a brief drabble of one of the kids trying to defend the honor of a female troll after she is called a "trollop," because it turns out that trollop is the troll word for "woman" (as opposed to "female troll") and the kid does not know this. :| probably not Jade because the other three have close troll ladyfriends whose honor it would make the most sense to defend, but who knows.

oh, and thanks, everyone, for your kind words about Sole Survivor a few pages ago! Originally she was just going to go all seppuku or something like that, but partway through the writing I realized she could be an exile (or at least find one of the stations), and since she had a sort of purple blood I thought of her controlling either Eridan or Gamzee, and then everything just fell into place. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Embargo]

An idea for Alt-blood that I don't think was already tried, the kids as troll in the different color of the hemospectrum.

Some combination are pretty obvious but I'd be curious about people would handle a cerulean John, or a jade-blooded Dave or a candy red Rose, just to name some.

And on the other side, the trolls as humans rised by the different guardians, we have seen Dave Egbert, but what about Karkat Egbert? Or Gamzee Strider? Or Sollux Lalonde?

I'll just let it here is someone want to use it.

I've had that idea, but never really got to implementing it.

[Path]

@lantadyme - Oh gog, wow. All of those were fantastic but obviously I have a huge Dave thing going on at the moment so Dave/Jade and Dave/Dave were pretty much the best things ever there.

[MyCurrentObsession]

So I know you've probably been asked this like a thousand times, but would someone kindly tell me of the kids' and trolls' colors? I'd kind of like to use them in the fanfic I have planned.

John - 0715cd/Rose - b536da/Dave - e00707/Jade - 4ac925
Aradia - a10000/Tavros - a15000/Sollux - a1a100/Karkat - 626262
Nepeta - 416600/Kanaya - 008141/Terezi - 008282/Vriska - 005682
Equius - 000056/Gamzee - 2b0057/Eridan - 6a006a/Feferi - 77003c

Hopefully this is what you were asking for. Happy writing!

Yes, this is exactly what I needed! Thanks a lot. Now, gotta get writing. Go, go, go!

[SkaianRedeemer]

I'm still about two fics behind here, but before I forget, I'm gonna suggest this now: when Thread VI starts later this week, we should put the Hex Codes into the main post. That way everyone can find them without too much trouble. No more blinding-yellow Sollux, praise be to the main post! I'd PM Miss Prince with the suggestion but I'm not sure if there's any sense when there's only 8 pages to go.

[Ganato]

Might as well.

In that case it's probably also a lot easier to remember doing it for the next.

We don't come up with names until there's only five pages left right?

[Stormrunner]

I'm sitting here trying to finish this chapter of Crossing Over and I just can't do it, because writer's block is a bitch

It's kind of a long chapter (not as long as the last one though) and I guess I could post part of it but eh, I want the whole thing to go up at once

So instead, you're getting a minific about Karkat's ancestor that I may or may not continue

Champion

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Your name is KARKINOS HISTRELIN, and you are in grave danger.

Three sweeps ago, you began your rise through the ranks of the Alternian army, becoming a high-ranking threshecutioner. Your valor in battle earned you many medals, most of which had never been awarded to a greenblood such as yourself. All them have been stripped from you this day. Your supply of the experimental blood color-altering drug Chromomine was cut off over a week ago, forcing you to do without, and what would have been a minor accident in a routine training exercise revealed your worst fear: the Chromomine has worn off.

You were not the only one to notice.

Your superiors were notified and you were immediately thrown in the brig, stripped of command, and held for three days without food as the investigation into how the entire chain of command could be fooled by a lone gutterblood continued.

Fifteen minutes ago, three guards opened the door of your cell, shackled you, and began leading you to the Empress so that she may have the pleasure of culling this filth herself. Your face remains locked in a defiant scowl, but it is false bravado. You have seen bloody combat first-hand; your own comrades falling beside you; entire Alternian battleships devastated by enemy fleets. But you have never been so scared in your entire life.

The elevator has stopped moving. The door opens with a quick SHOOSH. The Empress sits on her throne at the far end of the room, 2x3dent in hand. The guards lead you, bound by iron, to a spot directly in front of the throne.

She regards you with disdain. "Karkinos )(istrelin. Did you really t)(ink you could continue to )(ide the color of your blood from us?"

The Empress points her weapon at you. "W)(y )(ave you disgraced us so? Speak!"

You think for a moment. What was the reason behind your transgression? "I ONLY WISHED TO SERVE, IN ORDER TO FURTHER THE GLORY OF ALTERNIA, MY EMPRESS."
"We )(ave no need of t)(e services of one wit)( suc)( corrosive sludge flowing in )(is veins, nor one w)(o would continue to )(ide his color from us. Yes, )(istrelin, we knew about the drug. T)(at you made suc)( a mockery of the )(igh command is inexcusable."
She raises the fork above her head. "T)(e )(emospectrum is the basis of law and order in our society. Wit)(out it, t)(ere can only be c)(aos. Karkinos )(istrelin. As punis)(ment for your crimes against the )(emospectrum, I will cull you myself, and all records of your service will be purged."

She motions to one of the guards. "You t)(ere. Cut )(is palm, so t)(at I may be)(old wit)( my own eyes w)(at s)(ade of maroon t)(is, t)(is beast bleeds."
The guard draws his sickle and runs the tip against the palm of your right hand. It is painful, but even now, you must not show weakness. You suppress the urge to wince.

"Prisoner! S)(ow me the cut!"

You present your open palm to the Empress... and she gasps, shocked at the revelation.

"You... you FOOLS! Do you KNOW what you )(ave ALMOST DON---------------------E?!"

The guards are speechless. They are not sure what they did to incur the Empress's wrath. You turn your hand to look at the cut yourself. Bright red. It is the true color of your blood, and is not even on the hemospectrum. Your blood is lower that even the deepest reds of maroonbloods. You are not simply the lowest rung on the ladder; your very existence is an affront to nature itself.

She slowly steps down the stairs leading to her throne to get a closer look. "My eyes do not deceive me, t)(en."

What happens next surprises even you. You have seen grown men weep in combat, you have seen troll cities and nations leveled in a day, you have witnessed entire planets bombarded and star systems conquered in the worst blow against Alternia in recorded history.

You have never witnessed the Empress of Alternia bow to another. The guards are as unsure of what to do as you are.

A moment of silence, and the Empress speaks.

")(ave you forgotten the writings of the blind prop)(ets?! Kneel, you fools! For you are in the presence of the C)(ampion of Alternia, and )(e will save us all."

Notes:

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I hope the hints that this was a period of Alternia getting its ass handed to it got through

I guess the idea came to me when I realized that most fics about Karkat's ancestor ended with him being culled for being a dangerous rebel, or a mutant, or a dangerous mutant rebel, and that hey, I haven't seen anyone write about the possibility that maybe Karkat's ancestor ended up being a goddamned hero

But was he actually a hero and his blood color just covered up by history, or did he fuck up so spectacularly that bright red blood would be considered an abomination? No one knoooooows

Also yeah I totally stole Chromomine from The Future and What Comes After

I like this theory. More so it maybe only The Empress knows the true blood color because history of the champion was destroyed in the war.

It would also explain why Feferi does not call Karkat a mutant blood (it can be done in a non insulting tone) and just Leader.

[SkaianRedeemer]

@RogerMexico: This has potential! I'll be looking forward to the next one.

@Jim Groove★: Well, obviously the dialogue is going to be tricky but if you can handle it, go for it!

@draconicAlgorithm: I'd say that was probably your weakest chapter, since there was just no reason to really read it after the jump. I mean, we presumably all know the scene. I can see why it had to be done but it didn't quite have that spark the others did.

[ceruleanTresses]

This could be either sad or funny, depending on how you look at it. Let's call it dark humor, with a dash of dramatic irony.

(In other words, I wrote another stupid thing, and I hate the first verse with the fiery passion of a thousand Green Suns.)

daddy, won't you please come home?

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i used to grumble
at your apple crumbles and cakes,
but when i'd stumble,
youd be there to nurse all my aches.

i wish i'd seen before you wandered so far
what an amazing father you really are.
hour after hour, i'm cryin',
daddy, won't you please come home?
daddy won't you please come home?
i'm so lonesome.

nobody else can bake like you,
i miss your hat and your pipe too,
i've put a bucket over my door for you.
please, daddy,

even the wind keeps sighin',
daddy won't you please come home?
daddy do you have to roam so very long?
i have been doing my best to develop my mangrit,
but i'm still a kid, though it's real hard to admit!
daddy, daddy, won't you please come home?

please, daddy,
i hear my consorts glubbin'
daddy won't you please come home?
daddy do you have to roam so very long?
i see my quest bed up there on a spire above me,
found it at last, daddy, are you proud of me?
daddy, daddy, won't you please come home?

(that's all!)

Original song. (I'm not sure if anyone reads these, but if you do, make sure to listen to the song while reading it! Otherwise it will feel all choppy to read.)

[penguinbound]

Null

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twistingOpportunist [TO] began pestering planningSlacker [PS]

TO: Hey Sam
TO: You're there right
TO: The others won't answer bro come on
TO: I'm seriously not finding this funny oh my god
TO: Dude, holy fuck, answer
TO: Sam

This continues for several minutes...

TO: Goddammit fine
TO: I hope you have fun not talking to me
TO: Because I fucking hate you
TO: Tell the others that too
TO: I'm done with this sick joke
-
But he knows it isn't a joke. They were so close to the end, and they had died. Their dreamselves were gone, and know the others were gone. He was by himself. He could only wait for the end and hope it's faster than starvation or hunger, because he can't bring himself to eat or drink.

He stands up, and shuffles to his computer again in his room. He clicks it on, and starts reading over his logs again. They make him cry, they make him laugh, they make him angry.

And they make him stronger.

He sees a particular memo from what seems like so long ago that particularly gives him a spark that he might be able to do this, pull off a victory against the Black King by himself.
-
PS: Okay, what's your problem?
PS: Why are you weeping all over the floor, Cynthia?
SP: Because i just got brutally beatendown by some ogres.
SP: Like the most brutal of beatdowns ever.
SP: And it hurts like a bitch!
SP: I just cant deal with this anymore and i want to give up.
HW: That's kind of a lame reason to be flipping out, Cynthia.
HW: See, okay,
HW: When life gets you down, you get right back up and continue on.
HW: When everyone gets knocked down, you be the first up.
HW: When everyone is dead and you're the last on left, you fight on, because you're a fighter!
HW: So come on,
HW: You get back up, you do it first, and you fight.
HW: Okay?
-
He thinks it's one big coincidence. And it is. So he stands up from his computer, and he grabs his weapon, and he heads out, because he's going to get back up first,

he's going to do it first,

and he's going to fight.

And whether he loses or not, he still fought back, he never gave up.

He only wishes that would be enough to kill the Black King.

[lantadyme]

Anyway, here's a short little brainstorming thing I wrote just now.

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A man stands before you, sord in hand. He drags it along the black ground as he slowly walks, kicking up blue pebbles and carving a shallow trail. The nearly opaque concave black discs rest on his long snout, presenting an impenetrable emotional facade making all attempts at reading his eyes impossible. His red scales blaze in anticipation.

He gazes at you, sizing his opponent up. He continues to walk in a circle and you match the gesture.

“nak” He says.

“glub” You retort.

His foot scrapes against the ground. Through the many hours you have dedicated yourself to a life of combat, you recognize the signs when an opponent is about to strike. You adjust your foot, preparing to advance, ready to react.

He charges at you, sord held high to strike. You hold your makeshift hammer off to your side and charge him.

The both of you collide together. His long snout rubs against your eye, getting slobber all over it and disabling its use. You blow a bubble onto his neck as a result of your surprise at the ferocity of his assault. After an instant of furious altercation, the both of you fall away onto your rears, no longer able to fight.

“glub” You say.

“nak” He agrees.

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I'm thinking about what I'm going to tackle after the Sapphire of Alternia (besides editing the shit out of that). One of my ideas is to make a story featuring the consorts as heroes on some sort of quest. In a stroke of creativity, I'm tentatively calling it Consortquest.

Still working on the details, and what to make the heroes and so on. The crocodile, I'm calling Artifact Hero, from a conversation between Dave and Davesprite about running around as a jpeg hero with the SORD...... I'm debating whether to make the salamander Secret Wizard or based on John or something entirely different. Still thinking about the others.

It's basically going to be the least serious thing in the world written as seriously as possible. (It probably won't be written in second person either but it made it easier to brainstorm this out.)

Aah! Jim, I have been wanting to write something with Sord Croc in it and this looks pretty awesome so far. I hope your brainstorming goes well and you launch into it.

[Brevity]

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Dave is off on a search to rescue the Witch.
She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster.
This happened because Dave made a mistake.

Are you interested?

[-Benedict]

An idea for Alt-blood that I don't think was already tried, the kids as troll in the different color of the hemospectrum.

Some combination are pretty obvious but I'd be curious about people would handle a cerulean John, or a jade-blooded Dave or a candy red Rose, just to name some.

And on the other side, the trolls as humans rised by the different guardians, we have seen Dave Egbert, but what about Karkat Egbert? Or Gamzee Strider? Or Sollux Lalonde?

I'll just let it here is someone want to use it.

I did a quickie somewhere a few pages ago with Gamzee Strider. Don't feel like digging it up, since I wrote it in a few minutes and it was shit, but basically we're talking a guy who mixes his own unironic clown penchant with an unironic puppet fetish, a marijuana addiction (dunno if that's chill with the forum rules?), and a dose of no-sopor-on-earth murderous insanity for good measure. I never want to meet Gamzee Strider in real life, holy shit.

EDIT: Brevity, that was, uh, brief. I'm making an assumption that that is a thing you do with regularity. I'm definitely interested in seeing this snippet elucidated upon, and fully expect the ensuing fan-fiction to immaculately represent the soul of wit.

[mutecebu]

RogerMexico:
> BOY
> LISTEN HERE, BOY
> YOU MAKE MORE OF THAT RESET THING

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Dave is off on a search to rescue the Witch.
She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster.
This happened because Dave made a mistake.

Are you interested?

YYY

[Caprisaurus]

Y TO THE INFINITE POWER

[lantadyme]

If we are posting ideas, I would be amused to read -- but am not particularly interested in writing -- a brief drabble of one of the kids trying to defend the honor of a female troll after she is called a "trollop," because it turns out that trollop is the troll word for "woman" (as opposed to "female troll") and the kid does not know this. :| probably not Jade because the other three have close troll ladyfriends whose honor it would make the most sense to defend, but who knows.

Here you go, dude. Because I can't deny anyone who remembers Jazz Jackrabbit.

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Nepeta trips over the bottle of Faygo and for a second the air is its own version of a rainbow rumpus party town as her paints go flying. Only a second though, because then they land splattering like cheap-ass drip art all over the back of Karkat's black shirt and into his hair. He freezes. His shoulders tense up like he is microns away from flipping every chair in the room in hideous screaming rage, and then he looks over his shoulder to glare death-scythes into Nepeta's scandalized stare.

"YOU FUCKING AUTISTIC CAT MORON!" he seethes. "I KNOW YOU'RE STUPID BUT HONESTLY THIS HAS JUST GOTTEN FUCKING INSANE. YOU NEED TO STOP THIS SHIT WHERE YOU TRY TO GET MY FUCKING ATTENTION BY PULLING THESE SHITHIVE MAGGOTS ASSHOLE STUNTS! THIS WAS MY LAST CLEAN GODDAMN SHIRT!"

She flinches and doesn't say anything, but even from across the room Dave can see the green tears welling up in her eyes. Shit. He'd thought this would be funny but now she's crying and Karkat doesn't look like he plans to let up anytime soon.

Karkat pulls the shirt off and throws it at her face where it sticks there by the paint. "YOU WANT TO BE FUCKING USEFUL, WHY DON'T YOU GO CLEAN THIS FOR ME SINCE YOU WRECKED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT'D BE THE FIRST FUCKING TIME DURING THIS WHOLE DAMN SESSION YOU DID ANYTHING WORTHWHILE, YOU FUCKING WORTHLESS TROLLOP!"

Dave flash-steps and grabs Karkat's arm, holds him back and it still surprises him how strong the trolls are despite being so damn skinny. "It was a goddamn accident, you fucktard. There's no need to call her a trollop. That shit ain't nice."

And honestly, he'd expected more screaming and struggling, but Karkat mostly freezes up at that. He blinks and he is the spitting image of confused as he stares Dave in the face. "What?"

"It was an accident."

"No, the other thing."

Okay, something's not right here. "What other thing?"

Karkat wrenches out of his grasp and scowls up at him, annoyed more than angry now. "You do fucking realize trollop is just the troll word for girl?"

Dave pauses as he realizes just how stupid that must have sounded coming out of his mouth from a troll perspective, and for a second he scrambles on how to regather his cool here. Damn. C'mon Strider, you need to be faster with this cultural shit. "And you realize that calling someone autistic offends me on a cultural level? God, you are such an asshole, no wonder T-Z is ticked at you."

"Shut your candy-text mouth," Karkat snaps, pointing a finger at Dave's face, but his sore spot has been prodded and he steps off, grumbling to himself and wandering through the transportalizer.

"You okay?" Dave asks, turning to Nepeta.

She holds the paint-splattered shirt to her chest and nods, smiling sheepishly with her eyes big and impressed. "You didn't have to do that, but thanks fur standing up fur me."

"No problem."

[draconicAlgorithm]

@draconicAlgorithm: I'd say that was probably your weakest chapter, since there was just no reason to really read it after the jump. I mean, we presumably all know the scene. I can see why it had to be done but it didn't quite have that spark the others did.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. This is the kind of stuff I want to know as I'm writing this--what works and what doesn't. I think part of the reason it felt fresher to me was because it's been so long since I've read the books, but for the next part of this little "series" within the series, I'll definitely try something different to give it more interest. I'll drop off trying to follow the books (aside from major events, but definitely no more dialogue) and do more of my own thing. From the sound of it, that ends up working better. Again, thank you!

[SkaianRedeemer]

@DA: If nothing else, it certainly allows you to use the Dumbledore's Army as a plot device in later chapters, given the non-specific timeline you've arranged.


Ugh, I just got burnt out after writing another section (I should have started writing the second half of the chapter like I told myself but whoops, no I didn't.). I might or might not post another preview to make sure it's okay, partially to make sure the section reads okay but mostly because then I'll feel like I've actually accomplished something. Until then, I'm standing the hell up again. Urgh.