S.C.O.R.P.I.O. (on hiatus)

[ArchmageFestus]

> Examine poster of your ancestor.
> Explain why you have a random 14-ball on your desk.

[Loreweaver]

> Examine poster of your ancestor.
> Explain why you have a random 14-ball on your desk.

[PumpkinMan]

> Check your excavation tools. Would be kind of embarrassing to get there and realize you forgot something.

[The Mather1]

>Aradia: Show your combat skills with the piano.

[Menek]

Okay, so things (read: school) happened and I definitely can't make an update tonight and I don't even have crappy filler to make up for it I'm sorryyyyy for being lame don't kill me

BUT. I come bearing semi-important news.

My fall break is coming up quick, right after tomorrow, so that means I will have lots and lots of free time. And we all know that free time = better and faster updates and redoing old panels, right?

...No?

Welp, now you do.

I will of course keep all the old versions and dump them on dA or something in case you'd like to see the old versions out of curiosity/compare the possible improvement/prefer the old version/laugh at my inadequacy because that's what I'd do if I weren't me and were you instead(??)..

I think that's it for now, I'll edit this post if I remember anything.
ilu all and thank you much for your patience, I now have a date with AP Psych homework oh god i am not looking forward to this sobsob

[Loreweaver]

Good luck, Menek.

[CalamityCons]

> I like your hair, Aradia. Did you do it yourself?

[MathGirl277]

+1 Reader. I like this FA.

> Aradia: Tell us about the role of the Bardageddons. What is their duty?

[Menek]

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oh ty Loreweaver, I did manage to get my homework done that day. Took an all-nighter but who cares.

...Wait did that other news post seem a little whiny?
...It did, didn't it.
Damn.

also yay readers~!

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>Examine poster of your ancestor.



Oh, nononono! This is not your ANCESTOR at all!

...Not that you'd mind if she WAS, because that probably would be the best thing ever.

Alas, she is simply a fellow, and very successful, bardageddon, who goes by the name of REGINA SPEKTR. She has been your idol for many a sweep, and has simultaneously driven you mad with jealousy. How does she manage to be both an artist and a muse? What visions are she getting that produce the wonders she sings? How is she, despite her age, still sane, while most other bardageddons would have been driven past insane by then? If she is indeed insane, how can she can hide it so well?
How is it that she manages to elicit feelings both black and red from your heart without ever speaking a word to you?
HOW????

ARGH.

<3 / <3<



>Why do you have a random 14-ball?



Ah. That...

That would be a gift from one of your frien- whup nope he is not your friend, not anymore. Not after all the stuff he's pulled. It would be more fitting to call him your...ex-friend, you guess? That seems about right.

This ex-friend of yours, while he was still your friend-friend, decided the number 14 suited you, and gave you a pool ball to make that connection apparent. It's even sort of teal-colored.
You really should have thrown this thing away since you're reminded of him every time you look at it, but for some reason you couldn't and still can't. Maybe it's cursed to make the person who has it be unable to get rid of it?

(Except that's stupid and there are probably reasons for it that are less stupid. Like maybe it's a side effect of your denial, or the unwillingness to completely be done with your ex-friend, or even your innate-yet-unapparent bardageddon powers subconsciously telling you that this ball will become relevant in the future at some point. All are valid reasons, really.)

But you're just going to back away from this psychoanalytical bullshit right now because you do not really want to have a feelings jam with voices in your head about some stupid pool ball sitting on your desk.

No offense or anything.

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"Menek, what are you doing?"
"making a 1FR update"
"It's 2 o' clock in the morning. Why on alternia are you making a 1FR update?"
"because ive lost control of my life"
guys I'm so out of it I'm quoting Rugrats sort of??? what is this.

This is a small and crappy update because I'm tired.
...Yeah, that's the only excuse I have. /lame

I will make larger and better updates later of course! Probably later today, too!
Just not right now. Because I shouldn't even be awake. Lousy goddamn stupid brain.


P.S. do you guys even KNOW how hard it is to find decent pictures of solo pool balls? STUPIDLY hard, I'll tell you. They're either badly drawn or too small or pixelated or watermarked (why? do they think I'm going to steal their photo of a stupid 8 ball?), which is why I had to draw the close-up here. And will probably have to draw all close-ups from now on, because jeez.

[Loreweaver]

> Prepare for imminent guest.

[MathGirl277]

> Talk about your ex-friend.

[ArchmageFestus]

((Hm?
I thought that sharing symbol and blood color (and apparently horns) meant that the other person was your ancestor?
SHRUG))
> Go do something completely silly and irrelevant HURRY HURRY GO GO GO

[Menek]

>Tell us about the role of the Bardageddons. What is their duty?

Oh, where to begin?



They are a branch of musincisions, who are basically servants of the empire that use instruments to fight and enjoy freaking everyone right the fuck out with their broken, rhythmless tunes. That's really all there is to say, musincisions aren't anything special.

Bardageddons, however, are.

As mentioned before, they have the ability of spontaneous foresight of things not meant to happen that they gain at some point during their maturation. This results in the composition of songs that relay these prophetic visions, albeit very cryptically, and it falls upon the composer's shoulders to play their songs to the trolls that need to hear them.

In a nutshell, they're rare, musical highblood prophets, whose supposed duty is to inform people of things they shouldn't be doing.

But hey, since we're already talking about them, let's just put all of the facts on the table so everyone can see them. All of them.

Bardageddons have their own little culture of sorts. For one, it is customary to NOT put your symbol on the front of your shirt, since most people cannot see it when you're playing. (And if you're a bardageddon, you are playing a lot.) Second, you commonly only specialize in one "kind" of instrument, like strings, keys, percussion, or wind, and from those you specialize in one specific instrument, like a flute or a violin like you. Third, you are practically expected to lace all of your songs with risky jabs at their receivers, especially if their blood is higher than yours. Related to the third is the fourth, you are expected to tell off your blood superiors off if they try to order the musincision in you to do their dirty work.

Unsurprisingly, this has led to the death of many a bardageddon at the hands of many an angry highblood.
That is also the reason why they're rare and the Condesce made it illegal to kill any of them.

Which translates to you as the freedom to sass your friends around whenever you can, of course.





>Check your excavation tools to see that you have everything.

Well, let's see here.



Shovel, spade, emergency grappling hook, chisel, dynamite, hammer...that's everything, you think. Even if you forgot something you can just get Eridan to use his wave powers to do it for you or something.



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sorry this update is crap and took forever, I'm in a funk.

though I'll show you guys this panel I decided to scrap because I don't exactly remember why I made it;

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it was going to be her reminscing about her ex-friend, but instead it sort of warped her current thoughts around and gave her the creepy eye or something idk. And then I decided not to reveal TOO much about this ex-friend. So. Yeah. (sorry mathgirl)
It's unfinished and I don't really know if it looks creepy or not because I'm desensitized to freaking everything, but there you go.

[MathGirl277]

It seems as though you have some very interesting plans for this FA, Menek. I can't wait to see this story unfold. I don't have any commands right now.

By the way, that eye of the ex-friend feels like its staring into my soul. So yes, its creepy.

[Menek]

oops I realized there was a bunch of stuff I didn't address in that other post. I'll just do that here.

I thought that sharing symbol and blood color (and apparently horns) meant that the other person was your ancestor?

Mmmm, nope! There's no way Aradia and her ancestor would be the only two Aries in all of paradox space and time, or that Eridan and HIS ancestor are the only two Aquarius. That's just silly, considering there is/was billions of trolls alive.
(Except Karkat, or in this case Vriska, but they're weirdos and don't count.)

It seems as though you have some very interesting plans for this FA, Menek. I can't wait to see this story unfold.

Aww, thank you. :D
I get pretty excited about drawing this except when I'm in an artist's funk grarghldffvfd but I'll get over it so it doesn't matter.

By the way, that eye of the ex-friend feels like its staring into my soul. So yes, its creepy.

Oh, good.
Or is that not good?

hmmmmm

spoiler'd for stupid v

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> I like your hair, Aradia. Did you do it yourself?

(ahahahaha guys wtf is my life)

[Ario]

*delurks*
Very interesting adventure.
Aradia: > What instruments do you think your friends would play if they were bardageddons?
also hey, brass is also an instrument type, but I guess you paired it with woodwinds by saying winds.
*goes back to lurking corner*

[Menek]

>Prepare for your guest.

Baa, you've BEEN ready. As ready as you care to be anyways.

Though...



You wonder if maybe you should take Mom down? Having a lusus hanging from your wall might freak Eridan out a bit and give him the wrong idea. Or he might be freaked out by the fact that your lusus was black. Or he might just not care at all. Or he might be more freaked out about all the instruments lying around for some reason. Or...

You know what. Screw it. Everything is staying right where it is, and if he has a problem, he can DEAL WITH IT because this is YOUR HIVE and YOUR MESSES and YOUR RULES, dammit.

Since you now have nothing better to do, it's safe to say that it is now





officially





KARAOKE TIME!!!



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this is stupid.
(I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY ARCHMAGE. YOU AND YOUR WISH FOR IRRELEVANT SHENANIGANS.)

I've got the next couple of panels planned out, and after that we'll be switching characters (either CG or AC since Aradia won't be contacting anyone right now). Don't worry, the karaoke bit doesn't last long and you won't actually get to witness a lot of singing so you can spare your brain the imaginary grating voices.

And if you want Aradia to sing something, by all means, request/commandize it. Otherwise I'm going to put on random overrated songs that will piss her off lol :U

also props to whoever knows/remembers what the last panel references

[The Mather1]

>Aradia: Sing a really embarrassing love song, don't notice Eridan's arrival until you're done.
>Eridan: Arrive only half a minute into the song.

[Loreweaver]

>Aradia: Sing a really embarrassing love song, don't notice Eridan's arrival until you're done.
>Eridan: Arrive only half a minute into the song.

Yeeeessss

[MathGirl277]

>Aradia: Sing a really embarrassing love song, don't notice Eridan's arrival until you're done.
>Eridan: Arrive only half a minute into the song.

Yeeeessss

Eridan: Be all flustered and awkward, as Eridan's are wont to do.
Aradia: Don't care whatsoever. If anything, try and embarrass him even more.

[ArchmageFestus]

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(I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY ARCHMAGE. YOU AND YOUR WISH FOR IRRELEVANT SHENANIGANS.)

Yep! XD
((Also HISSSSSSSSSSSS))

[Menek]

Now to just turn this on...











No.

Very funny, karaoke station, but there will be no Jutsyn Beibur in this hive. You will simply not allow it.

Stupid greenblood acting like he can sing. The nerve.



While you figure this out, why don't we go and check on you friend and his lusus?

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small update tonight, just to show I'm not dead.
but I will say that the next update is literally in the works /right this second/, and...

drumroll goes here

I FINALLY UPDATED THE FIRST 10 PANELS OR SO! (or if you're reading this within minutes of posting somehow, updatING) WOOOOOOO okay it's not THAT exciting, but yay for improved art.
At least I think it looks better.


oh and if you couldn't tell I have an issue with sticking Troll on the front of people's names
I don't know why, I just DO. dkfaasdf


also, if you're wondering why the font is weird on aradia's pound!, I make the character's sound effects look like their writing, and Aradia makes all her ds/ps/bs/os look like notes. /explanations

[Loreweaver]

Very nice 8D

> Eridan: Be dealing with your lusus humming horrible music. This is why you don't take him anywhere.

[Menek]

>Aradia: Be Eridan.



You are now ERIDAN, and you're going to be honest right now.

You're a genius.

This is not you being a conceited prick of a narrator; you literally have an IQ that beats ALBRET FUCKING ENSTIN. You understand how things work, can do complicated math in your head, memorize everything you see, photographic memory, etctera etcetera ad nauseum.

Your point is, despite your ability to figure out how most things work and find logical, scientific explanations for why they work that way...






...you have NO. CLUE. About how Aradia's hive is even POSSIBLE.

When she said her hive was in a tree that was in a mountain range, you expected the tree's roots to actually, you know, be IN the mountain. Instead, the roots are all on the side of the mountain and don't really look like they're all that sturdy or even supportive, and the tree's center of balance is obviously way, way to the right, so that combined with the lack of root support mean the whole thing should be crashing down at any second or breaking off when the next storm blows through.

And yet it's big enough to have been here for many, many sweeps, thus enduring many, many storms and earthquakes and fuck knows what else the nature mother grub throws at it.

This place defies the laws of gravity, physics, and common sense all in one go.

Why the hell does she live here?!






This guy's not helping your oncoming migraine either.

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ERIDAN: oh mmy god.
ERIDAN: do youu evvenn knnoww wwhat youu're sinnginn?
ERIDAN: i'mm juust glad nno onne else cann hear youu.
ERIDAN: wwait, nno, thenn that mmeanns i havve to listenn to youu.
ERIDAN: fuuck.

Being forced to share a psychic connection with your lusus makes you wonder who you killed in a past life to deserve such a terrible fate. Thankfully, the brain waves are impossible to transcribe into text so the rest of us do not have to suffer with you.

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I am just getting slower and slower at updating, you guys. I blame it on my perfectionism.
Worry not, the next couple of panels are planned and in the works. Then we can FINALLY switch to someone else already.

But hey, slow or not, I AM getting better at drawing and anatomy and stuff. That's making me happy at least~

Also totally planning something special for Halloween.
...Okay, it won't be, like AWESOME. But it'll be something! :D

have i mentioned i cant consistently draw eridan for crap sobsobsob

[The Mather1]

>Eridan: Enter.
>Aradia: Be singing 'Never Gonna Give You Up' totally unironically.
>Eridan: Flush. Oh god, is she [troll equivalent of trolling] you or admitting a redrom crush for you?