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fanfalc-616 · 3 years

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The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Nineteen

(Prevoius Chapter Here)

This AU is basically a collab with @ablackswansweet at this point-

Zane huffs out a weak breath, and it’s clear that he’s tiring from the way they’re hurting him. “I am equal to any human. This will not be changing any time soon.” Despite his obvious exhaustion, he still manages to sound strong and determined.

Shifting awkwardly, Cryptor glances over at Kyle. Apparently he’s been behaving well enough for them to take the chains off, but he still has no idea why the brat brought him to one of Zane’s training sessions.

Kyle seems surprised by the defiance, even a little amused. "I'm… Actually really surprised you'd say that now, after all the trouble you went through last time. Guess it's still not sinking in…”

Then he looks at Cryptor. “General?" He prompts.

Cryptor blinks. “What?”

He’s… actually not sure what Kyle wants from him, but he’s got a sinking feeling that says it’s not going to be good.

Kyle frowns, looking annoyed. "What do you mean, 'what'? I thought it was obvious. Aren't you supposed to be a very high-quality AI?"

Cryptor grinds his teeth. “I am a high-quality AI. You didn’t exactly expl-“ He stops before finishing the rude remark. “I, uh. I didn’t quite understand you… Master.”

The title feels like fire on his tongue, but he forces it out, hating how often he’s had to use it recently. These fuckers aren’t his ‘Masters’- he’s his own person and doesn’t belong to anyone.

… if only the law agreed with him.

Shaking his head, Kyle sighs. "Can't believe I'll have to spell it out for you. You used to be more fun than that- Anyways, Original here is acting up. Again. So what you are going to do, like a good assistant, is punish it. Understood, now?"

Kyle’s slightly passive aggressive smile is unnerving, but it’s the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

He wants Cryptor to be the one to hurt Zane? He wants him to hurt his friend?

“I… I can’t… Kyl-“ He once again cuts himself off as he fumbles for words. “Master, I- I can’t do that. I can’t- no.” He comes to his conclusion. “No, I won’t.”

Kyle’s expression darkens some, a clear threat in his tone as he speaks. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Are you defying a direct order from your Master, nindroid?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Cryptor finds himself being cut off.

“If you are going to hurt me, do it yourself!” Zane snaps, a sharp edge to his tone as he seems to have regained some of his bearings. “Don’t bring him into this!”

With a scowl, Kyle looks over at Zane. "Shut up, scrap metal. Another peep from you or it and it's the sensory room.” He then turns his attention back to Cryptor.

“Now, General, last chance. Punish it now, or I'll take away the thing you're so desperate to protect that you'd give up your precious dignity." The threat in his tone is unmistakable, but all Cryptor can see is the fear on Zane’s face that he’s struggling to hide by pretending to be angry- though some of the anger is likely real.

Cryptor can’t think. He doesn’t know what to do here. He has to obey, he has to, but…

“I… that’s not…” He finds himself stumbling with his words just as much as he is in his mind. But after a few moments, he manages to come to a conclusion.

“I won’t hurt him.”

Kyle pulls out a remote, pushing some buttons. Only a few moments later, guards arrive, and he turns and addresses them. "Take Original to the sensory room. If it tries to break free, you're welcome to retain it. Painfully, if need be."

The guards begin to obey, and Kyle mouths something to Zane that Cryptor can’t quite make out.

Still, the white ninja struggles. “Wh-“ He’s cut off as he’s roughly unchained and manhandled. “Hey! Stop it, I- let go of me!”

Panic begins to settle inside him. The sensory room? They had only taken Cryptor there once, and only for a few hours, but it had been living hell. He can’t let them do that to Zane!

Still, he can’t do anything more than watch as they begin to drag Zane away. He once again finds himself fumbling for words. “Wa- wait, no, I- I didn’t-“ He turns to look at Kyle, still feeling fear flooding through him. “Hold on!”

Kyle only shrugs. "I warned you. Really hoped you'd be smart enough to listen."

Zane continues shouting as he’s forcibly pulled out of the room, the anger mixed with fear.

The fear makes way for shock. And shock makes way for anger. “I- you-“ He feels the rage burning deep inside of him as he glares at Kyle “That. Is. It.”

No words can describe how good it feels when his fist collides with the damn brat’s face.

Kyle stumbles back, hand coming up to clutch at his bloody nose. The red stains make Cryptor feel satisfied, but the moment is ruined when Kyle starts… laughing.

He just got punched in the face, and he’s laughing. Laughing maniacally, laughing like the insane jackass he is.

Rage still boils inside of him, and it only burns brighter at that, at the way he’s being mocked. “Shut up! Stop-“ He stops bothering with words as he tries to grab Kyle, to hold him down and pummel the shit out of him-

But the damn guards are back, and he’s being restrained, being held in place in front of the most infuriating person that Cryptor has ever met. “Let go of me!” He snarls. “ I’m not fucking finished with him!”

Kyle is still laughing, laughing like a fucking psychopathic sadist. "HAH! Guess you really didn't like him after all-" Once the words are out, he’s right back to cackling.

It suddenly registers in his head. What he had done. The reasoning for why he hadn’t done it sooner. What’s going to happen now that he did.

His words are only a soft whisper as he speaks, unable to speak louder due to the horror inside of him. “No- no, no, no, no- I…” He looks back at Kyle, who has finally caught his breath.

“W- wait, I-“

The smile he gets is cold-blooded and straight up murderous. "You. Shut your mouth. Now.” He orders. He then pauses a moment before continuing. “I was being way too nice to you, apparently. Gave you ideas.” He shrugs. “Won't happen again.” Then he looks over at the guards.

“Guys, tie it up and bring me… you-know-what."

Cryptor could swear that his power source had shut off for a moment.

He opens his mouth to speak, but then shuts it fast enough that there’s an audible click. Kyle had told him to stop talking, and he’s not going to risk pissing him off more.

Feeling himself begin to tremble, Cryptor fights back the feeling of helplessness that builds inside of him. He doesn’t bother continuing to struggle.

It’s not worth it.

Kyle chuckles lowly. "Not very impressive now, General, huh? You won't stand up to a guy with a bloody nose?" His tone is mocking, and Cryptor grits his teeth. He looks down and squeezes his eyes shut tight, unable to look at the blond.

"You're so pathetic it makes me want to puke.” Kyle scoffs before addressing the guards. “Take it back to its locker so it can wait until we find him."

“Don’t-“ Cryptor cuts himself off as they begin to drag him away. He was ordered not to speak. And he has the implied order to not resist, so…

He’s roughly shoved back into the locker- not that he would’ve tried to avoid going in- and the door is slammed shut in front of him.

Hopelessness.

That’s the only word that could even begin to describe what he’s feeling.

If he were human, tears would be pooling in his eyes. As it is, he can only just stop himself from beginning to sob without tears, doing the nindroid, non-human equivalent.

Because he’s not human. And he never will be.

“I… fuck.” He mumbles the words to himself as he desperately tries to avoid breaking down completely.

He hears a weak, tired laugh escape him of its own accord as he closes his eyes, able to feel his strength draining from him.

“I really am pathetic…”

He’s not sure how much time has passed by the time they bring Zane back, but it’s been at least six hours- a long time for the sensory room.

I DI

DONT

Cryptor cuts off whatever the hell he was going to say. He honestly couldn’t care less about what the white ninja has to say to him.

Nothing he could say would make a difference.

————————————————-

Cryptor doesn’t resist when he’s taken out of his locker. He doesn’t resist as he’s taken down the halls. He doesn’t resist when he’s chained down.

He doesn’t resist at all.

He doesn’t dare.

Kyle is in the room, but Cryptor doesn’t risk doing anything more than looking down, silently pleading for mercy that he knows won’t be coming as the blond walks up to him. "I'm giving you permission to talk again. Don't make me regret that too."

He’s suddenly glad that he hadn’t tried to say anything. Keeping his head down, Cryptor forces out a set of apologetic words. “I won’t, Master. I’m- I’m sorry.”

There’s an annoyed sigh. "You're not sorry you misbehaved. You're sorry you have to live with the consequences.” Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the blond shaking his head. “Anyways, I'm hoping you understand why we brought you here."

Every gear and mechanism is suddenly locked as he struggles to keep ahold of himself. He looks up for a moment, and tries to find some way to defend his past actions for a moment… but only a moment.. “I- I di… yes, Master.” He looks down again.“I understand.”

"Good. At least that's out of the way." Kyle starts to walk around him, circling him like a predator around its prey. "Explain this to me, however. You were so, so desperate to make sure Sentry wouldn't get hurt a while ago. So what the fuck-“ Kyle gestures at his bloody nose “-was that?"

Shaking, Cryptor answers truthfully, his words quiet and, unfortunately, almost pitiful.

“I… I was angry. I wanted to protect Zane, and I was upset that I failed.” Cryptor cringes as he forces himself to continue. “I shouldn’t have done that, Master. It- it won’t happen again.”

Kyle sounds slightly confused, but also kind of mocking, which balances it out pretty well. "You're not really what I'd call a hero, General. What made you think you could be one now?"

Feeling his head snap up, Cryptor answers without hesitation. “I’m not a hero. I never wanted to be. I…” his voice goes quiet again as he continues. “I made a friend. And I just… I wanted to be happy. I wanted- I wanted to feel okay again.” Rage once again washes over him as he continues, this time shouting. “I just wanted some sense of normal in this place!”

Then he freezes. Everything is tense. Oh, he should not have done that, he should not have shouted-

The blond sighs. "Well, so much for that." He takes something out of one of his pockets at just the right angle to prevent Cryptor from seeing what it is.

Dread settles inside of him, but he tries to hide it, tries to pretend that maybe he still has some dignity.

“Wh- what’s that?”

And apparently he doesn’t, because he sounds downright terrified when he speaks.

Kyle’s smile is once again one of the most terrifying things that Cryptor has ever seen. "I have a better question. Which piece of a nindroid's faceplate is harmless enough to remove while still causing a good amount of pain?"

Cryptor feels his eyes widen, staring in mute horror for a few moments before he manages to breath out a few quiet words.

“You- you didn’t.”

The eye piece, the scope. Technically made to be a laser beam, but it has sensors in it- really sensitive ones, too.

The smile grows. "Judging by the look on your face, I'd say that you've got it. That's right, it's the scope!" The part is basically shoved in his face, and Cryptor flinches backwards.

Horror sets in every single wire and circuit he has as he stares at it. “I- you- he’s not…”

The implications… no. No, he didn’t… he couldn’t have… Sentry can’t be… he can’t…

Cryptor manages to look up, to look Kyle in the eyes, to look at his Master. “He’s not- you didn’t…”

The blond is still smiling as he shrugs. "He's as alive as a machine can be… For now. And I want you to fully understand that even if this is just a scope, we have the power to harvest much more delicate pieces, like, let's say…” He pauses dramatically, posing like he’s thinking.

Then he drops the act, and the smile is now a smirk. “A power source."

Cryptor doesn’t move. He doesn’t speak. He can barely even breathe. He at least had the reassurance that he’s not dead yet, but…

Kyle either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about his mental plight. "The other important thing that I want you to remember before you get ideas again is that you are completely responsible for Sentry's and Original's well-beings. If you misbehave or talk back like you did before…” He shrugs. “Well, you saw what happens. "

With a weak nod, Cryptor agrees. “I… I understand.” Dropping his gaze back down to the floor, he continues, confining his statement. “I’ll behave, Master.”

He hesitates for a minute as he comes up with an idea. Not an idea of how to defy, but… an idea of how to obey. How to give him what he wants. What he demands from him.

“I know that I am lesser, and I… I’ll act like it from now on.”

The words taste disgusting in his mouth, but he speaks them anyway, knowing that that’s what Kyle would want to hear.

"Awesome.” Kyle smiles. “I'll have someone bring you back to your locker."

His next words are mumbled so softly that Cryptor can barely make them out.

“I almost feel bad for it, if only Original hadn't acted out first… This is its fault, really."

Cryptor feels everything in him tense. That- he- it’s not Zane’s fault, it…

But isn’t it?

Anger, frustration, and fear are all building up inside of him as he lets himself be taken back to his locker.

ARE YO

Cryptor doesn’t wait for him to finish.

FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE TAKE A HINT AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH

Thankfully, Zane doesn’t answer, and Cryptor takes the opportunity to activate his sleep mode.

But annoyance is suddenly added to the growing list of emotions as he realizes that he’s too worked up to go to sleep.

Grinding his teeth, Cryptor snaps at Zane again, feeling the upset whirlwind of feelings inside of him making him almost sick.

THIS IS YOUR FAULT

There’s a long pause before Zane answers, and for a moment, Cryptor feels even more annoyed as he wonders if he had gone to sleep.

I KNOW

He… what? He just- okay, good, he knows that it’s his fault. At least he’s not trying to deny that he got them into this. If he would just behave and do what he’s told, none of this would be-

ILL TALK TO YOU TOMORROW CRY

Rage is still burning inside of him as he answers the white ninja.

I WONT RESPOND

I DONT EXPECT YOU TO

Wh- what does that mean? What kind of mind games is he playing here? Is he trying to trick Cryptor into forgiving him?

It takes hours before he can fall asleep.

And even then… all he has are nightmares.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Kyle walks down the hall, not bothering to glance at the lockers as he goes by. Really, this was almost too easy. 3D printing a copy of the scope and using sensory manipulation to make it more realistic? Is that really all it takes?

Smiling to himself, Kyle heads off to Borg Tower.

He has an internship to get to.

#the rights of a nindroid #trauma #psychological torture #torture #ninjago fanfiction #fanfiction

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is-that-another-soulmate-au · 4 years

Text

A suggestion/request from @bon-fly

Medieval Au Zukka, I would have added more detail about the other ships but it had already much longer than I anticipated

✨Enjoy✨

"What ever could be the problem my lord?" Came the characteristically grumpy voice of Zuko's Dwarflven Mage Toph

He leaned back from his slouched position to look at the blind woman. "It's nothing much really. I Just... I need to summon the southern knights for the Avatar honoring" he gave a sigh

"Then summon them" she said simply while leaning on his throne. There was a few other advisors in the room, none of them were ever expecting Toph's brash behavior towards the king or the fact that he took it. The high elven king never once found his Dwarven mage's behavior to be uncalled for. His reasoning was simple. She was a friend, one which would lay her life down for his just as he would hers.

"Its not that simple Toph, he's going to be with them" Zuko leaned his elbow on the table and pressed his hand to his forehead.

"If I may, My lord, the avatar is technically escorting the knights, not the other way around" advisor Tayko offered

Zuko gave a snort "thats not who I'm worried about Tayko, but I appreciate the sentiment. Its the Cheif's... ehm, son"

"Did he do something wrong my lord?" Tayko asked with narrowed eyes

"More like he did everything right and managed to fluster mister pointy ears" Toph bellowed and Zuko flushed a deep red

"Shut it Toph!" But he laughed with her "she is right though... I'm just, nervous is all, dont worry Tayko, I'll have the letter written by tonight"

Tayko, still being wary of how Toph behaved but understanding that her king was very brash with people who acted out of line, gave a smile "my lord, may I say something?"

Zuko sat straight and looked at her warily "go on Tayko"

"It is to my knowledge that most people don't support miss Toph being here, but I have never seen anyone make you smile as she has," she paused and looked at her hands in her lap "I'm very happy to see you smile again"

"Well, its nice that someone noticed, thank you Tayko" Toph said with a big grin spread from ear to ear across her cheeks. "Now, Zuko has some writing to do, so run along, I will fetch you when it is written"

Not long after Tayko scurried off she was fetched once more and given the letter to send by hawk to summon the southern nights and the avatar. The hawk response came by the next evening when Toph was training Zuko to react faster on both sides, not just his good side. "I know you're not a dwarf but ANYONE can feel the vibrations, and you're clear proof of that" Toph said as she watched the king use his blades and flames to expertly block and deflect each rock sent his way.

"My lord" Tayko spoke suddenly from behind Toph and had a blade fly past her head missing by a good six inches "Eep!" She tensed while he took off his blindfold

"Sorry Tayko, you startled me" Zuko gave a sheepish grin "what did you need?"

"The uh.." she moved away from the wall with a sigh "the Southern Chief sent back, they will be here in three days time. Shall I summon Lady Mai and Ty Lee?"

Zuko gave a huff and slouched his shoulders, his pointed ears slanting downward as well "that would be best, though they won't be happy to be summoned so soon after their honeymoon"

The pair most certainly weren't, the arrival of them was easy to notice because a knife flew past Zuko's head, barely grazing his ear and landed on his throne "ah, Mai, sorry to summon you so early after you two wed, but youre the only ones capable of pulling off a three day party planning."

"You are going to owe use so many fruit tarts!" Mai spoke harshly as she stormed into the room

"Yeah! With rose petals!" Ty Lee backed up her wife with a much softer voice.

Mai smiled softly at Ty Lee and placed a quick kiss to her forehead "thank you darling."

"Of course, you'll have all the reward you like, but we have to prepare for the avatar and Sokka." Zuko said with a wave of his hand.

"You mean the Avatar and the Southern Knights" Mai pointed out

"Thats what I said"

By the time the third day of planning had finished the kingdom was decked out with shimmering blue flowers of all assortments, ribbons and the like were draped around anything that seemed fit to the recently weds.

At high noon Zuko was found with Ming fixing his hair and Ursa helping him with his robes and jewels. "He'll be here soon Mom"

"I know sweetie, but you need not worry, the Avatar will appreciate the festivities you have set out for him and the knights" Ursa reassured her son while tying off the last bit of silk and Ming slid in the metal hold for his hair piece.

"Thats not who he meant lady Ursa" Toph said bluntly. Ursa turned to the blind dwarf behind her who had a soft smile on her face rather than her normal mischief coated expression. "My lord, they've arrived at the gates"

Zuko flushed "lead the way" and she did. She lead him down the many stairs, with his many layers of silk flowing freely behind him. They followed the winding paths of the kingdom streets until they reached the Knights and Avatar. Chief Hakoda and Bato stood with Sokka on their right and Katara on their left with Avatar Aang in the middle. A hobbit at maybe their hips was a humorous sight indeed, but Zuko's focus was on someone else.

Sokka stood in his formal attire, a pale blue high collar robe ending at his shoulders but his arms covered by a a deep blue draping silk over dress connected in the center by a fire opal jewel. Zuko was of course caught staring by the chiefs themselves "ahem, Lord Zuko?" Bato spoke up with a raised brow

"Oh, uh! My apologies, welcome to my kingdom," he turned to look at Aang who smirked when he noticed the flush on Zuko's cheeks "thank you for coming to the honoring Avatar Aang"

"Say, Lord Zuko, Sokka told me about his last trip here.. well, technically he spoke mostly of you, not much variety in his stories I'll tell you tha-!" The small boy was silenced by a hand over his mouth from a flustered Sokka.

The blue eyed boy stammered out a "sorry about him, he loves to blurt things out without thinking them through!"

"Sounds like someone else I know" Katara said with her hand on her hips. From just looking at her ears he could tell that she was a bender, and a powerful one at that. "Sorry about that Zuko, my brother and Aang love getting on eachothers nerves, especially about you" she rolled her eyes

Zuko however was as red as his robes "oh, uh, thats perfectly alright, Toph, would you mind showing them to their quarters?"

Toph gave a laugh "you want a blind dwarf to lead four southern elves and a hobbit to their living quarters?"

"You may be blind but you can easily see, and you know it Toph-" a rock hit the back of his head and he yelped before giving her a pout

"Haaah! Yeah, youre right, but don't you wanna show baby blue to his room?"

Zuko gave a huff "Chief Hakoda, Cheif Bato, Warrior Karata and Avatar Aang please follow Mage Beifong to your living quarters. Warrior Sokka, I need a word with you about that design you sent over last moon, so I will show you to your room"

"Oh, of course" and with that the group left the two man alone to walk to the palace. For a short while they were quiet but Sokka broke the silence by linking arms "so, about those designs, I was thinking we could easily make a cart that didn't need any animal to pul it if we just used"

Zuko didnt hear much besides Sokka's voice, too lost in the fact that he was finally here to understand what the sounds meant together until they made it into the castle and Sokka tugged him into a small broom closet "I know why you actually separated me from the others"

Zuko cleared his throat "im sure you are aware of my reasons, but you did not need to drag me in here, if you were worried about someone catching wind you made the mistake of going into a broom closet with one of my maids already in here" he turned to help her up "sorry miss Jin, I'll give you the day off paid in full"

Zuko then took hold of Sokka's hand and dragged him out of the small room and back to the empty hallway. "Hah, my bad" Sokka said with a small voice crack

"Don't worry about it, thought you shouldn't worry about the staff catching wind of this sort of thing, everyone here adores you, I hope you know that" Zuko chuckled

"What sort of thing?" Sokka feigned innocence and Zuko being ever so gullible fell for it with a flushed face

"Oh! I'm sorry, I just thought that, maybe you had caught onto my affections for you, and reciprocated them. What did you think I-!!" The king didn't have much room to continue his awkward words because Sokka planted a quick kiss to his cheek to silence him

"Of course I do Zuko, and I was only teasing, you really should be better at spotting that with Toph being around you all the time, hah, she plays the- hey! Where are we going?"

Zuko said nothing, and just dragged him to the room he was to be staying in for the week of festivities and slammed the door behind them. "Don't. Don't.... don't tease me about that okay? I'm not entirely used to anyone returning affections since... well" he genstured to his burn scar and damaged ear.

"Oh, oh Zuko no, Zuko I'm sorry, I didnt realize... I'm sorry" Sokka took the shorter elf's face in his hands and forced him to look him in the eyes "Zuko you're beautiful, I can't get over how stunning you looked under the moonlight the first time we met. And what's even more stunning about you is the ability to make a confession walk seem like a diplomatic walk to anyone but the two of us. You really do have a way with words"

Zuko was practically melting in the hands of the southern warrior, "you... you really think that of me?" He asked with a shy softness to his voice.

Sokka couldnt help the fond chuckle "Of course I do Zuko, now, if its not too much, may I give you a real kiss this time?"

All Sokka needed was a small nod and he sealed the distance between them. Every mile, every inch, every millimeter of distance that had ever been between the fire elven king and Southern elven warrior was gone, and all that remained was stars.

The two wed thirteen moons later, with a promise to protect, love, and trust one another in this life and every life that came after.

#avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #prince zuko #zuko #atla zuko #atla sokka #sokka #zukka #medieval au #alternate universe

40 notes · View notes

ua-monoma · 6 years

Text

...

villain chat:

Deku! 💚Yesterday at 1:22 PM

I am going to be....AFK for a few days while I undergo my ex~peri~ment~! Don't have too much fun while I'm gone!

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:24 PM

toga❣Yesterday at 1:24 PM

OH!!!!

ME TOO

HAHA

CUZ I'M UMM HELPING

BUT IF YOU NEED ME

YOU CAN! TEXT ME!!

HAHAHA

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:25 PM

heheheheehe

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:26 PM

Don’t do anything too stupid. I need you alive at the very least.

toga❣Yesterday at 1:27 PM

not TOO stupid hahahahaha ❣❣❣❣

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:29 PM

You give me a migraine.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:30 PM

oh thank god theyll be gone.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:30 PM

Yeah thank god hhahaha

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:31 PM

Who’s this.

Oh right. Nobody.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:32 PM

Haha

Meanie

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:32 PM

Is he insane just like the other two? What a pain.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:33 PM

... he shouldnt be.

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:33 PM

Shouldn’t?

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:33 PM

doesnt fit right.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:33 PM

Shouldn't?~

Why not hahaha

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:33 PM

Annoying.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:33 PM

Wouldn't it help me? fit in?

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:33 PM

No.

It makes you obnoxious. More so than usual.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:34 PM

Ohh I don't wanna be obnoxious~...

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:35 PM

Then shut up.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:35 PM

it definitely wont help you fit in in a lot of ways.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:35 PM

What if I don't wanna shut up :3 heheh

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:36 PM

Then I’ll leave. Simple.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:36 PM

what the fuck happened

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:36 PM

Oh noooo

Hahahahaa

shigaraki/shimura Yesterday at 1:37 PM

Seems like he cracked.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:37 PM

Don't leave me I love youuuuuu

Ha ha ha

shigaraki/shimura Yesterday at 1:37 PM

Hilarious. Where’s Kurogiri.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:37 PM

That's so funny hah ahahaha

OH NO no don't call him >_>

I'll calm down

Sorry

shigaraki/shimura Yesterday at 1:37 PM

@Kurogiri

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:37 PM

,,,

>:T

shigaraki/shimuraY esterday at 1:37 PM

Take care of your stupid toy before I kill him.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:38 PM

Oh c'mon...

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:38 PM

You’re only here because people find it fun to manipulate and break you. Don’t forget that.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:38 PM

broken...

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:38 PM

Why would you call me a toy to my face, I thought we were supposed to at least be subtle about the whole brainwashing thing--

Uh duuuuuh

It's all I think about hahaha

shigaraki/shimura Yesterday at 1:38 PM

I don’t care.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:39 PM

Yeahyeah

Blahblah

shigaraki/shimura Yesterday at 1:39 PM

Hawks, what the fuck happened to this moron.

I’m about to have toga slit his throat.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:39 PM

i dont fucking know

im about to slit togas throat-

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:39 PM

Don’t.

Well. Which toga.

toga❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

why MY throat!?

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:40 PM

he sounds like her,

toga❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

hahahahaa

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

I'm just copying her, that's all...

I thought it'd be a good idea

haha

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:40 PM

This toga is easier to get along with.

No.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

Since she's so good at what she does...

toga❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

yes yes, so very very good...

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:40 PM

You’re an annoying brat and giving me a migraine.

toga❣Yesterday at 1:40 PM

tell them how beautiful i am too neichan X3

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:41 PM

Very beautiful,,,

Hahaha

toga❣Yesterday at 1:41 PM

tell them how much you LOOOOOOOVE ME

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:41 PM

I love you,,, more than anything

hahaha

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:41 PM

shigaraki can i kill both of them....

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:41 PM

hahahahahahahaHh,,

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:41 PM

At this rate, I might allow it.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:41 PM

Me? Why would you kill me,,,

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:42 PM

Because you piss me off.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:42 PM

youre useless if youre like this.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:42 PM

Useless,,

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:42 PM

A waste of my time.

A waste of air.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:42 PM

Hm.

Okay.

I'll behave myself.

Noumu Deku Yesterday at 1:42 PM

Fractured?

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:42 PM

Broken.

What do you want.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:43 PM

...

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:45 PM

If you have something to say, speak up, rat.

Noumu Deku Yesterday at 1:45 PM

He seems broken..

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:45 PM

He is.

Idiots, can’t even break him correctly.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:45 PM

I'm not broken.

I just had a long night, haha...

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:46 PM

Then shut the fuck up and go sleep.

You’re wasting everyone’s time.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:46 PM

Sorry,,

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:46 PM

a long nightof what?

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:47 PM

,,,

I'm just gonna follow my orders and go to bed

But um you can text me, Hawks... if you want

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:47 PM

At least you can do something right.

hawks !! Yesterday at 1:47 PM

... can i?

that would be good.

monoma neito❣Yesterday at 1:47 PM

Please

Thanks

~Monoma has signed off~

shigaraki/shimuraYesterday at 1:48 PM

They should’ve just killed you. What a pain.

Shigaraki is offline

#❣#monoma.log #corruption.arc #apotheosis.arc #old shigaraki #v hawks #himi #v deku

1 note · View note

abundantchewtoys · 5 years

Text

HS Epi, Meat p6 reaction

I gotta say, snatching people from the Game Over timeline was a good way to invest us back into these characters. Plus, unlike the post-canon selves, they don't have 'certain victory' all written over them - by which I mean that I think it's unlikely they would be killed outside Universe C, since its existence and their ability to live in it was their Ultimate Reward. Admittedly, the planet they've inherited is less than ideal, but that was never stipulated in the rules.

Meanwhile, John himself with his retcon powers remains more earthed in the plot, also because this was the timeline he originated from in the first place. Still unsure how the fact there's 1 John but 2 versions of his selves will get resolved though.

I kind of doubt the New Game Plus versions (Cosmic Reset? still unsure on what to call them) are going to be joining their adult selves in Universe C, though the idea of the post-canon selves serving as guardians amuses me. I also doubt the NGP's are going to create their own timeline in Universe C to inhabit, with John joining them after 7 years. They would be deprived of 7 years of John, and even though he mostly kept to himself in the post-canon timeline, that would kind of suck, and not even Dirk creating an Autoresponder for John could bridge the time difference adequately. So, I figure they might just pick up one of the spare teen Johns (or rather, export one from the timeline, just like how John is now duplicating the Game Over selves). Maybe the one (John) that John sent to LOWAS when he went back to consult Terezi.

... Hmm, after seeing Blaperile checking out the Load Game & Save Game links on Homestuck, I think I've decided to call this new timeline the Reload timeline!! :D

Anyway, I suppose we're in for a perspective switch back to John now, and indeed like I said previously, I think LOLAR is the most likely candidate. It wouldn't feel entirely right for John to leave Rose hanging for now in favour of, say, fetching Dirk first.

---

"The sky is really blue. But it’s a different kind of blue than Earth C’s sky; it’s less, somehow, like someone took a photo of the sky and turned the contrast down a little, just enough to make the clouds blend into the horizon." ... This is Andrew Hussie criticizing his own art, isn't it? Hahah! This must be LOLAR, so I guess it's back to John now, since we're in Command Prompt Land again.

"That is to say, it isn’t the kind of sky promised by a paradise planet. Just an ordinary one." Oh sure, that's the in-story explanation: it lacks promise.

"You realize suddenly how much you’ve missed the ordinary, as opposed to the supposedly perfect." Oooh, heheh, guess John got bored by the idyllic parts of Earth C.

"You’ve been away from home almost as many years as you lived there. It’s not just the sky. Everything else is exactly and nothing like you remembered it: the scent of damp grass, the quality of the air, the solitude." Wait what? John went back to Earth?? What plot point could he mess up there without messing up the events leading up to the Reload timeline? ... Has he travelled back to his own atmospheric page? Since he says he's "home", it isn't the exile's future or Dirk and Roxy's. Guess it'll be either John's actual home or Jane's, but... What could he do here that wouldn't mess up the timeline?? ... Steal Jane's Dad just before she Enters? No, wait, she tried to follow him around on LOCAH...

Yeah, Blaperile's correct in that if he sees his Dad, he'll be very sad.

"A woodpecker raps away incessantly at the tree with the tire swing outside your old bedroom window." XDSFSFSF, so it's really his home, in the past! ... I would rather like him to visit his Dad's past, but I doubt we'll ever see his childhood. Still, what could Rose have sent him here to retrieve?

"You couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, so you and your little army are sitting in a circle in your old backyard exactly one week before the meteors hit." Hopy shit, he didn't zap them to blankspace???? Hah, I guess John's at school and Dad's at work. And the neighbours... Well, the suburb might be deserted during office hours, actually. Would be funny if in the background, an elder crazy cat lady is seen ogling them from behind her curtains, or something.

Wow, okay, so, in case he's already went and fetched... everyone of the B1 and B2 kids, and his "little army" is complete, this must be a time skip! That must've been an awkward meeting altogether! Welp, so much for the conversation with Terezi, and seeing Karkat & Kanaya's response (in case he fetched Jane right about the time she was on LOFAF).

"It’s you, Rose, Dave, Jade, and all four of your teenage progenitors, each dressed in god tier garb. No trolls. No one who can die" Yep... Guess, like some of the platform conversations, as well as the LOMAX ones, we'll just have to imagine all the fluff. It's the Meat path for a reason, after all. We're jumping straight to the Meat of the rest of the "meat-up". :mspa:

"No one who can die from anything less than a heroic sacrifice. At least, this is what you assume to be the reasoning for Rose’s instructions to assemble your party this way." Well, Rose might have had a Light vision showing only they went to confront Caliborn, so then this is just self-fullfilling prophecy. Guess we're left with the idea that, in the abandoned session, everything might still have gone to shit, if no-one of these kids came back. We know how the confrontation between Aranea and )(IC went, and how the trolls fared against them all. Eeesh, I hope that's not the fate in store for these versions of Terezi, Kanaya and Karkat. One Game Over death for them was enough.

"Wind slices down the street, between the neat rows of bungalows. It’s chilly, carrying air from the mountaintops with it. Even that feels different. The wind moves through you now, under your skin and right into your bones, skimming their hollows the same way it does the homes of your salamander neighbors, or the open mailbox in front of your childhood house." The wind still skims the void, but the boy is part of the wind now. Hey, I didn't know of the mountains near John's home. Are they in the direction of Pipe lake?

"The smell of a cake baking wafts from the open window and the sick stench of browning sugar fills the yard. You used to hate that too, but now it makes you want to—" ... PFffff, so Dad IS home. Unless he put a cake in the oven and put a timer on, we know he owns a timer. Now I picture Dad seeing a bunch of people in coloured pyjamas in his yard and immediately putting a cake on. Those poor, homeless clowns deserve some real food after all. :mspa:

"> Dude, don’t cry in front of all the cool teen versions of your friends.

You hold back your tears with a big, ugly snort." Aww... I actually thought he wanted to just run in and hug his Dad, actually. But this...

"Jake is sort of ruining the mood anyway by bouncing away on your old Green Slime pogo. Doesn’t he realize how dangerous that thing is? Of course not. The fool." Jake, stop, what are you doing. Behave yourself, man! It's like he's a goddamned empty-headed consort.

"Dave fractures the silence by broaching a subject that’s on everyone’s mind but yours, apparently." Why he's an adult now?

"DAVE: so whats gonna happen to everyone we left in the wrecked time line" ... How thoughtful, actually. I mean, John can't just dismiss them as irrelevant. No matter the actual state of the timeline and their relevance to the ending, Kanaya's Rose's girlfriend, Terezi is Dave's ex, Karkat is still John's buddy and the mayor is the mayor! The other dudes, PM and the villains, as well as the sprites though, are less relevant to this party. Hope John doesn't say the timeline has vanished into the void by now, like Alt Future Dave's.

"JOHN: uh, well. JOHN: i don’t know actually. i’ve been to that time line four times now and it always pretty much goes to shit." It also happens to be your timeline. So, what does he count as his separate appearances in the timeline, then? He appeared in Dave's room, out in LOHAC, on LOFAF, on Derse, went back to LOHAC, appeared after Game Over, zapped back to meet with Terezi, and now he's zapped back to retrieve everyone! Maybe he's taking some of those appearances as a single one. Like the original Game Over is one, Reload is two, and then some other times?

"DAVE: oh ROSE: This has been bothering me as well. Is Kanaya going to be ok? ROSE: And by Kanaya, I guess I mean... everyone?" I knew it. ... Can Kanaya be a euphemism for everyone from now on? :mspa:

"DAVE: yeah what about karkat DAVE: and terezi DAVE: and the MAYOR?? JADE: oh my god!!!!! DAVE: what JADE: actually dave, i hate to say it but... JADE: i think john might have actually saved the mayor by bringing us all here?" Okay, Jade is indeed fine again. Hey, yeah, she was about to threaten the mayor to get Dave to cooperate, wasn't she? Ooooh, this marks it, this is the first time every B1 kid was featured in the same conversation. What a unique accomplishment!

"DAVE: jade that is seriously uncool JADE: i KNOW! JADE: i was gonna kick him right into the lava! DAVE: that is fucked up on so many levels i dont even know where to begin DAVE: its like an escher staircase of cartoon villainy" Yes, Grimbark Jade wasn't all bark! But her idea of villainy was childish on some levels still, because that's just what she's like!

"DAVE: i got nothing DAVE: its so DAVE: so... JADE: grimbark? :B woof woof DAVE: jesus no jade its stone cold evil DAVE: i cant believe you just said that shit and then woofed at me DAVE: i cant DAVE: i cant even look at you right now" Yes, Dave was really attached to the mayor in this timeline, even more so than in the final timeline leading to Universe C. But uh, welp, I hope this doesn't cause any fractures! We got to remember, they aren't in the best place here, emotionally. All of them still have all these unresolved psychological issues, more so than the post-canon selves.

"JOHN: uh, everyone, can we...

Everyone turns to look at you immediately, like you’re an authority. Which you kind of are." Yes, John, you can't bring a group of teenagers together as an adult without knowing something about handling emotional outbursts. Face it... You're a dad now. :P Or at least a big brother.

"You are struck with the sudden and uncomfortable realization that you are the only adult in the yard. You’ve never felt like an adult until this moment. Eighteen came and went and nothing really changed except that you’re pretty certain you could grow a bitchin’ mustache now if you wanted." That's just how it is, you feel like the same vaguely irresponsible person until you are trust back into a group of people where the age difference is felt the hardest. And heheh, now I'm reminded of Davesprite's note impersonating Dad, chiding John about growing facial hair in his absence. :P

"And you might even have one by now, if you didn’t feel a sense of duty to uphold the sacred Egbert family tradition of shaving at least once per day, even if it isn’t really necessary. You owe at least that much to the memory of your departed father." Aww.

"JOHN: let’s chill out for a minute. i’m sure this is all very confusing to all of you. JOHN: about the time line you’re leaving behind... yeah, i get it. it’s weird. JOHN: i’ve already left one major time line behind. well, two if you count the one i just came from, where we’re all adults. JOHN: the truth is, i have no idea what happens to these time lines and all the people living in them, when i just... zap out of them, to use my retcon powers to change stuff?" For doomed timelines it's simple: you either die and become a ghost, you go back to change the timeline, or you get erased when someone does the second thing. But for John's retconned timelines, yeah, it's not as clear. If it doesn't work like with doomed timelines, there's already a bunch of duplicate timelines out there with associated ghosts in the dreambubbles. Meaning a lot of new confused human ghosts, which we haven't seen anything of until now. I wonder, dead or alive, if any of these duplicates will be brought up again. Well, besides a John like I've already theorized.

"JOHN: they might stop existing completely. i don’t know. JOHN: the thing is, we can’t really think about it. JOHN: it’s tough, but if we’re all acting like heroes here, and trying to do the right thing, then we have to put it all behind us. JOHN: it’s a sacrifice we’re making. JOHN: i mean, we’re risking our lives by fighting a powerful monster, sure." This would be a rousing speech if you weren't the one to have kidnapped them. And, seeing as you're an adult and they're teens, kidnap is still the right word here. Can't wait to hear input from the B2 kids about this, actually. Dirk could blow all John's arguments of the table in a heartbeat, actually. Heheh. HEARTbeat.

"JOHN: but the sacrifice i’m talking about... is saying goodbye to the life we thought we belonged to, and all the people in it. JOHN: probably forever. JOHN: it sucks, and i’m sorry i had to ask this of you all. JOHN: but there’s no other way. JOHN: everyone who has ever existed, and will ever exist, is counting on us... i think? JOHN: so... JOHN: yeah.

> Shrug." So on the one hand, John acknowledges he might have left Earth C forgood, but on the other hand he saw it as a goodbye, not a farewell. Still, he's right to address the threat Lord English poses to Paradox Space as well as the continued existence of the universes inside Genesis Frogs. I mean, the continued existence without threat of annihilation by a time travelling mobster.

"It’s all you can think to do to punctuate your speech of lukewarm inspirational value. Judging from the confused looks from the others, all of them may share your assessment of your own oratorical skills, except for one person. She’s perked up at your spiel, regarding you with alert and admiring eyes." Boyfriend material, isn't he, Roxy? :P Yeah, how's John going to take this rehash of their first meeting. It's one thing to long back to a moment, but to revisit it, him an adult and she a teen? Awwwwkwwwwaaaard.

"ROXY: that was a fine ass speech and idk if i speak for the rest of my peeps here but im fuckin psyched ROXY: lets do this shit" Well yeah, Roxy did have her shit together the best out of everyone. She overcame her character flaw (the drinking) on her own.

"She *wonks* at you." Her typos transcend media.

" JOHN: uh.

You weren’t prepared to get passively hit on by the Definitely Not Legal version of a girl you used to have a crush on at the age she was when you first met her, only a few hours after you watched the Actually Legal version of her engage in passionate hand-holding with her possibly aromantic skeleton alien monster girlfriend. You start to sweat, and again the unwelcome odor of undercooked meat emanating from your body makes itself known to your nose." Of course Roxy is more okay to hit on him, see her Dad crush. Meanwhile, John has all this *history* he's thinking about. Also, he might actually don't want to interfere with the "whatever" that is Roxy/Calliope! That would be sportive of him, if it were true. Lastly, how many times is the meat-odored sweat going to remind John which path he's in, hahah. ... Is it the same in the Candy path, some sickening sweet smell sticking to him? Crumbs of sugar in his hair?

"You quickly distance your mind from any additional discomfiting thoughts about your old and semi-ex flame, and propel yourself into a wildly unrehearsed tactical planning session. You review each of your abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and then cobble together a reasonably sound approach to besieging a young and bratty version of Lord English by way of surprise attack. The planning is mostly disorganized and structureless, although some common themes that often recur involve you and your original three friends leading the charge, since you are the oldest and wisest, and therefore the strongest, with the exception of Jade, whose gaudy array of powers make her the most formidable of the group, bar none. Aside from that, it appears the consensus is that the melee will likely devolve into an absolute free-for-all—at least going by the general patterns of incoherent banter, shit-talking, and points of pedantic tactical disagreement plaguing the jam session. You overhear someone making mention of... a huge, gay hope bubble? That can’t be right, but you didn’t catch who said it. A flamboyant pink spell? Yeah, this conversation is off the rails now." Yeah, these guys were never good at the finesses of planning things out. Partially due to their teen problems, but in the final timeline before Collide, they weren't really planning anything either beyond deciding how to split up. ... How and where did the Hope and Heart powers of Jake and Dirk become known to the B2 kids, though? Did John whisk them away at a later point in their timeline, after Brain Ghost Dirk had already manifested and Jake was killed once by Aranea? Oh, and only by rereading do I understand John designated himself as the oldest and wisest and strongest barring Jade, I thought he meant all four B1 kids, that couldn't be right.

"At the precise moment you believe the meeting has outlasted its usefulness, Jake does you the favor of effectively pounding the gavel for adjournment by rocking back a bit too far on your lawn pogo and launching himself over the top of the ride on the next bounce. He face-plants right into the dirt." Still the cosmic butt monkey then. Gotta love the juxtaposition with his more 'mature' version on the previous page. Also, maybe Blaperile is right and the Hope & Heart powers were speculated on, not actually witnessed. Unless Rose had a Light epiphany.

"Dirk goes to help your yard clean the Jake off its dirt." ... Yes. That is definitely a thing that can be really happening.

"Jade follows, to help out. It seems she wants to chat with Jake, considering it’s the first time they’ve met, from her perspective. Some eruptions of chatter can be heard from other members of the group." Aww, okay, it's time for a platform conversation parallel. Who'll approach John then, Roxy? But Rose would want to talk to her at some point, too.

"It’s easy to forget, since the reunion between your friends and all your young relatives happened so long ago from your point of view, but this is all quite novel to everyone here. They’ve hardly had a moment to process it, since your plan to drag them all off to fight Lord English has understandably stolen the thunder of an otherwise poignant homecoming. Poor kids, you think." Wow, this alienation is really something. It must be jarring to experience some shit for the semi-second time, seeing people with baggage that, from your perspective, they've already cast aside.

"You decide to give the teens some space to work through their shit before you take off to save the universe." Off screen reunion time! But where will John head to?

"You end up wandering all the way around to the other side of your house," Is he going to meet Dad by accident? Or at least watch him from a distance? I figured he couldn't do much in the yard without being noticed if Dad was home, but maybe I was wrong. I like Blaperile's idea that John will leave him a note. He could forge one, making it look like Nanna wrote it, actually. ... Or maybe he will write something his teen self wouldn't know how to put into words, yet...

"Your dad’s sitting right there, smoking his pipe and operating his professional-looking, boring, gray PDA. He’s got the kitchen timer set up on his desk, and you can hear the notes of his favorite fatherly jazz album filtering out through the window, which is open only an inch." Oh, so Dad is home!! Guess he was to engrossed in his interests to notice anything amiss, and John was ignorant of his Dad's actions that day, apparently. ... No mention of the Crosbytop, but then that might have been too silly for this emotional moment. Poor John. He won't be able to contact him without messing up the timeline, and anything less than direct contact (a note, PDA message) might ring hollow in his ears too. It's sad to think, but there's no saving his Dad, not without creating another timeline, and that might have unforeseen consequences. But John might still have thought about it, or start thinking about it. Unless he feels that doing so would rob the event of importance, plus that he would start feeling obligated to save everyone's loved ones once he started. His Dad raised him better than to be so self-centered!

"The sun is hitting the glass in such a way that you can’t see his face." Oh, he's facing the window? I thought he was sitting behind the desk, but apparently he was somewhere else, near the grammophone, perhaps. Also, featureless guardian, that never stopped being a thing!

"> This is probably the last time you’ll ever have the chance to talk to him...

The urge is overwhelming. But you can’t, and not just because your feet won’t move and your throat is closing up. It’s just that... it would be a really bad idea to bother him. It would totally freak him out, to have an adult version of his son show up out of the blue and knock on his window like a creep. He probably wouldn’t even recognize you."

:/ True enough.

But John didn't think about rewriting the timeline to save him so much as how his immediate action would be responded to in the moment.

"> Fair enough. It’s time to go, John." The narrative prompts are a lot more lenient and respectful than in Homestuck proper.

"You return to the backyard. Your teen friends have split off into genetically segmented groups: Roxy and Rose sitting in the grass, Jade and your shared ecto-parents laughing together by the Green Slime pogo, and the Striders leaning against the farthest fence, with a tense foot and a half of space between them. It’s heartwarming." I think the Strider conversation is going about as good as on LOPAK. Hopefully even smoother, because the original took a while to get going.

Though it must be a tad painful for John to watch all this unfold, seeing as he can't have the reunion he so desires.

"But something doesn’t feel right about it to you, possibly for selfish reasons. It’s the selfishness of your own perspective, of wanting the memories you had of the reunion between all these people to be the most notable and legitimate manifestation of this event. To see the moment echo, or play out all over again, to overhear the heartfelt confessions repeat themselves... It feels cheap. To you, that is. To the man who lived through it all before and selfishly doesn’t want to have the memory tarnished with a tawdry reprisal" Yeah, John was hoping that lending them legitimacy through the retcon would improve on the conversations being had. And his memory of the event he experienced was already so gilded, his expectations were sky-high in this regard. ... I feel like the narration might be acknowledging the grown-up fans in this.

"You wonder. Do you see these teen versions of your friends as “real”? Are you treating them, at Rose’s behest, as simple puppets? Doing your part to insist they fill friend-shaped recesses in an essential plan to stabilize all else that can be considered important, a distinction no longer applying to them? Do you care at all about whatever fate it may be that you are sentencing these children to? Are you becoming as complicit in the fatalistic evils of Paradox Space as Lord English himself? Are you becoming a monster, John Egbert?" These are good questions for John to have. Because for him to not have qualms, he would be the monster he fears to become. John has to open his heart to them. Blaperile has a good point though, John might have felt this alienated from the post-canon versions of his friends too, whether he realizes it or not. That could explain him losing touch with them. But yeah. He's here now, adult or not. He's got to make due, and see if he can't reconnect with either version of his friends. He'll become a better friend for it.

John never had a problem with meeting another version of himself like the other kids had, but maybe it was all along because that kind of existential crisis is only caused in him through meeting people he should love but feels alienated from: Dad, these versions of his friends, all the ghosts in the dreambubbles...

"JOHN: uh, hey kids... ROSE: Please, Adult John, don’t do that." Oh hell yes. Better nip that denominator in the bud, Rose. (Heh, Rosebud.)

"It’s obvious that she’s trying very hard to hide her apprehension. ROSE: Is it time to go? JOHN: yeah. JOHN: i mean... JOHN: no, if you want to be technical. i can zap us in wherever, whenever. we have all the time in the universe if we want it. ROSE: But if we don’t leave now, you’re afraid we never will? JOHN: heh."

I love how in-tune Rose and John are, no matter how much time and space has separated them.

"JOHN: i guess it’s true that people don’t really change. they just grow up?

Rose gives Roxy a strange look, appearing to silently acknowledge an entire conversation that has been taking place, using a great volume of words that aren’t being spoken." Heh, Rose and Roxy's conversation on the platform was about their moms and how different or not the other was to that person. I take it their conversation went in the same direction this time around. I think John's response is just more proof to the veracity of the claim. Also, more proof on the pile of the ultimate self, on the side, actually. The idea being kind of like, they're the same person but different due to the circumstance.

" ROSE: I guess.

She smiles." Also, for Rose it must be nice to see the boy she knew still lives inside the man she doesn't know yet.

"> Get the show on the road. JOHN: okay everyone... i’ve never zapped this many people before so let’s all just... JOHN: uh, hold hands, maybe? in a circle, i mean. that should work. DAVE: god this is so lame JADE: its not lame its perfect!!! DAVE: nah JOHN: shh! JOHN: alright. is everyone ready, then?" Kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya. :P Dirk, Jake and Jane didn't get any lines yet, that'll be something for a later page. ... Hah, Blaperile has a good point. John zapped a planet away, twice! Why would this bother him now? :P

... Is the Masterpiece really up next, wow. (After a scene change to Universe C.)

"Only Jade says yes enthusiastically." God, I really missed simply happy Jade. We might still see her on Universe C, but it's with the knowledge she spent three years without any real sapient friends but Jaspersprite & Nannasprite.

"The last thing you hear before zapping away is your dad’s kitchen timer going off in his study." Time's up! Appropriate, if they're really going to confront Jake now.

I got to say, it would be very nice seeing the Masterpiece how it really happened, and not what Caliborn told us. I wonder what he lied about, if anything. It would seem noteworthy to mention John was an adult, but then again, humans might all look alike to cherubs. It's true that Arquiusprite wasn't mentioned on the character list, but I blaim it on Equius being Voided out, it's been a theme before. It's his aspect, the Expatriate's sign hid the cue ball from Doc Scratch' sight, Gamzee used Equius blood to erase himself from the tomb, and so on.

I also think there are odds that characters without dialogue are not mentioned on the character list, like WV. Though it would be weird for Equius/Arquiusprite to be the only troll without dialogue. Davepeta represents the Collide timeline's Nepeta, so that explains her absence from the list.

Still, it would need to be explained how Arquiusprite got there and from what timeline. My money is on him uploading himself through Lil' Seb.

... I thought of something. If we start from the assumption Caliborn's Earth is Earth C in the far future, and not put their by say Condy after Game Over, then logically Lil' Seb, Arquiusprite and Gamzee are all from the Collide timeline.

#homestuck #homestuck epilogues #upd8 #reaction #spoiler alert #john egbert #B1 #B2

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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

Text

Homestuck Liveblog #170

UPDATE 170: Dave Gets His Epiphany

Last time Hussie had decided it was time to pour even more dialogue onto the readers, since last time it hadn’t been enough, hah! Ten different dialogue options – presented linearly, in a subversion of how this usually goes. So let’s continue with what may or may not be the last chance these characters have of talking to each other before the fights.

So I heard that hovering over the options one already cleared would show images, and that was right! There are images. It seems Dave and Dirk continue just...lying around awkwardly, and Vriska and her ghost are arguing while Meenah fantasizes about varied stuff. There’s more than can be done, although the very next option is Roxy being alone. She’s still trying to create the matriorb. Calliope is sitting right in front of her, in silent support role. Roxy channels the universe and Alternia’s complicated state of matters, and...

Well! Mission accomplished! That was easier than I thought it’d be, even with Calliope’s silent help. I suppose there wasn’t more time for delaying this any longer. Kanaya is going to be immensely happy the troll race will be resurrected now. This was a short detour, completely devoid of words but with a significant development – at least to complete quite some part of Roxy and Kanaya’s arcs and goals in this story.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Roxy and Calliope leave right when the bizarre combination that is Jasprosesprite arrives to hassle Jane for a while longer. I’m crossing my fingers this’ll be quick and painless.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Miss me Rose? JASPROSESPRITE^2: Did you know I love you?? Weird thing for me to say and you to hear, probably! JASPROSESPRITE^2: I inherited the adoration our cat had for you, which now strangely is directed with the exact same intensity at myself, because I'm you! JASPROSESPRITE^2: Funnily enough this manifests itself in a particularly acute form of narcissism, which is something we were already sort of afflicted by, and so was our cat by the very nature of the sort of animal he was! JASPROSESPRITE^2: The bottom line is I'm pretty twisted up inside in all the most beautiful ways and it's wonderful. ROSE: It really isn't.

Haha, okay, that one was actually pretty funny. She’s not wrong, Rose, you do tend to have slight traces of narcissism in your personality. Guess that all the increased narcissism in this sprite is what makes it have absolutely no brain-mouth filter, what with having an inflated sense of the self and what one says. Being a cat can’t help that either.

Now that Jasperosesprite made the customary hassling towards Rose, she gets straight to business about the battle plan. She has to arrange with Jane how it’ll be done, after all. This is achieved by taking Jane away without even giving her a moment to prepare. There’s someone she needs to meet, somebody in Jane’s planet.

Ah, true, the denizen. The New Wonderkids’ session was rather lacking in information about the denizens, especially since this session was meant to do pretty much nothing. Given Hussie’s track record so far, I’m almost completely sure that Jane’s talk with the denizen will happen off-screen and the characters will talk about it once it’s done, so...no more option than waiting until this is done!

Damn it , I have been bamboozled! Well played, Hussie, you had me fooled, I admit it. This could be good, though, not everyday you meet a senior version of yourself that’s dressed as a clown and...is the mother of your father. This is time-travel-gone-wrong levels of weird.

Aw, come on, Hussie, I wanted to see this! But nope, just when Nannasprite got in front of Jane the section ended and went to the next. Oh well. I’m really hoping I’ll have the chance to see how this goes, but I’m not going to hold my breath over it. The scribbled images of what the rest of the options are doing show John and Terezi discussing how Rose could have a black romance status with, uh, a version of herself. Yeeeeeeah no, let’s not do that. Doesn’t seem healthy – just ask Karkat, it’d be a headache.

About Roxy and Calliope, they just arrived to what I think is Jade’s planet, and Calliope is told to stay with Jade. I had completely forgotten Jade is still asleep. It’s once again said that it’s nice to have Calliope around. And...that was it! I just summarized around six or so pages in this very short paragraph.

I think that goes way beyond the realm of kismesis behavior Rose...and out of the realm of sanity as well. Stay away from any copies of the Sassacre book, resist the temptation. Anyways, Dave and Dirk are still here. Going to try to talk again? They’re focusing more on the battle to come than on anything else. Hah! No progress on the heartfelt conversation front, apparently.

DAVE: hes got lord english powers tho

It could be a way to know how well a fight against Lord English would go, then. Sure, Union Jack is completely different, less bulky, has no time powers, and presumably has one single personality in that noggin of his instead of being a weird amalgamation, but it’d be a way to see if they are ready to fight against Lord English. Think of it as having training wheels on your bike.

Swords can’t help you solve problems with people, who’d have thought. Dirk and Jake are the closest example to how someone who has spent their formative years alone and without the presence of people around would behave: with no social skills at all. Jade got very lucky in that regard, she is very well-balanced for someone who grew on an island and only had a dog for company. Then again, her Dreamself must have been of help, the Prospitians must have helped her have some people skills.

DIRK: ... DAVE: ...

Nothing has changed here.

It takes a few pages more before Dirk takes the plunge headfirst down the emotional cliff, with all the grace of a novice. It does get the conversation going, mostly about how this isn’t how he pictured the meeting going.

DIRK: Maybe you'll think it's weird that I idolized some version of you that I never knew.

These two are much more similar than they each realize. Their upbringings aren’t that different, heck, I’d say that Lil’ Hal fulfilled the role Bro had, just with less sword attacks. Other than that it was pretty much the same, an isolated life with an aloof person/glasses in the vicinity. Come on, Dave, admit you idolized Bro. That’d be a great step towards turning the page in your life and bonding with Dirk, you can do it!

DAVE: ive got to say DAVE: meeting you DAVE: its not rockin my world here DAVE: or upending any paradigms or whatever DAVE: listening to you and looking at you DAVE: it really really just DAVE: reminds me of him

Close enough! I’m a bit downtrodden there was no exchange of words between Bro and Dave so I could have a reference on how similar this actual situation is to how they got along. I imagine Bro wasn’t that different from Dirk.

DIRK: Things, between you and me, from your perspective, um, DIRK: Are we like, not cool? DAVE: ..................

I’m not sure if it’s telling or not that there was no ‘yeah’ or similar quick response.

DAVE: i didnt fuckin like you that much ok?

...

...okay, that isn’t how I thought it’d go. I suppose there’s a difference between idolizing and actually liking a person. Good for you for saying it aloud, Dave. It must have been very difficult to say to anybody, even more to a version of your brother.

After a sequence of images meant to show how little time passed between Dave going “I don’t want to talk about it” to “okay heres what im saying” he finally starts...and boy is it tough.

DAVE: i dunno why my friends got to have adults around who cared about them DAVE: they complained bitterly about stuff so i guess i convinced myself they were all in the same boat as me DAVE: but thats not how it was

That’s pretty much how kids and teenagers are, they complain and don’t realize sometimes such complaints aren’t about things as bad as they could be. Leaving behind such behavior is part of growing up. Dave didn’t realize how badly he was being treated, though, he just saw no difference between his life and the lives of the rest of his friends – at first.

DAVE: so all thats left to do is look back and try to put the pieces together of my first 13 years DAVE: and all i can think is what the fuck WAS that?! DAVE: i dont come away with the impression i used to try convincing myself of, that he was like "mysterious" or "stern" or "aloof" DAVE: the only feeling left is this insane impression that i was raised by somebody who fuckin HATED me

...hated you? Hm...honestly? I don’t know. Bro’s way of raising Dave had a lot of things wrong, and I really don’t know how to interpret it. I’m interested on knowing how other people interpreted it. Would you mind telling me your thoughts, everyone? I really don’t know what to think about this.

Dirk actually sounds horrified about what he’s hearing. Perhaps he doesn’t like the thought of his equivalent doing this all?

DAVE: it took years to deconstruct it all and put it back together to understand how fuckin mad i should be DAVE: and in particular how stone cold deeply uncared for i was my whole life DAVE: like... being merely "monitored" by a violent robot

Haha...you know what this brought to mind? What went through my head right when I read this part?

TT: Don't worry, that's normal. TT: Upon activation he goes into Stalking Mode. GT: Stalking mode?? TT: Yes. He will stalk you in the jungle and strike when your guard is down.

It’s exactly that. Dave pretty much described the robot Dirk made and sent to Jake. It’s pretty much the same in terms of how Dave was raised! Wow, Hussie, did you do this on purpose? I think you did this on purpose! Dave may as well have been raised by the brobot thing, and just like Jake – who dreaded encountering it and once he had to fight it didn’t precisely have loads of fun – Dave now doesn’t want to fight. He wants to avoid this fighting thing, and hates that he has to be the one to grab the sword and slay the villain.

You seriously screwed up here, Bro.

Dave even brings up that maybe things would have been better if Lil’ Cal hadn’t been around. Maybe! The influence of Lord English can’t be an ingredient in a healthy household – even more since part of Lord English is once another version of Dirk. Hah! Life sucks for the Striders. It’s...it’s rather depressing, actually. I wonder if at the time they had to cram Caliborn into the puppet Dave realized what Lil’ Cal was. Even if he did, I doubt he’d have any kind of reaction when anyone was nearby, but at that moment I imagine many things clicked in Dave’s head.

Would Bro have been any different if that puppet of the damned hadn’t been around? Uh...I dunno. Maybe it really was a poisonous influence of some sort, influence Dirk was lucky not to have. It’s all up to interpretation, I’d say.

I think now that the epiphany is complete I can stop the update and continue next time. This, though, this is exactly what I was hoping the Striders would do, that at least one of them would unload this heavy emotional baggage, and it’s for the better! I’m glad it’s actually happening.

Next update: three updates

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