#beta ancestors

[eyeonyou]

TEXTPOSTS - RETURN OF THE MORE!

[radioactives0da]

BABETT!!!!

[ozuzo]

Happy 413 to the webcomic that changed everything! 💖

[nekropsii]

Ranked these little bitches based on how likely I think they are to shave their head - or at least give themself a terrible haircut - in the midst of a mental crisis.

[muwwwsky]

err.. i have too many favs.

[undeath1245]

Ancestors' alternate names

I've yet to read the webcomic, but I plan to immerse myself with it much later on. If you wish to kick my ass for insolent inaccuracy, please do so gently.

Honestly, if the ancestors weren't post-scratch versions of the alpha trolls, they would probably have different names, which is why I had already came up with alternate names for each of them! ^_^

The Handmaid → Ramewa Megido; a portmanteau of the words "ram" and "ewe".

The Summoner → Kordat Nitram; originated from the word "chordate", which describes a member of the third-largest phylum in the animal kingdom.

The Ѱiioniic → Dioskr Captor; originated from the name Dioscuri, the name of the twin sons of Zeus from Greek mythology.

The Signless → Kakrog Vantas; originated from the Sanskrit word for "cancer" ("कर्करोग", "karkarog").

The Disciple → Pureen Leijon; originated from the word "purr".

The Dolorosa → Partin Maryam; originated from the Greek word for "virgo" ("παρθενός", "parthenós").

Neophyte Redglare → Zeigos Pyrope; originated from the Greek word for "libra" ("ζυγός", "zygós").

Marquise Spinneret Mindfang → Diltro Serket; originated from the Greek word for "venom" ("δηλητήριο", "dilitírio").

Darkleer → Stalee Zahhak; originated from the word "stallion".

Grand Highblood → Hirkus Makara; originated from the species name for the goat (Capra hircus).

Orphaner Dualscar → Psidon Ampora; originated from the name Poseidon, the name of the god of the oceans from Greek mythology.

Her Imperious Condescension → Hapalo Peixes; originated from the genus name for the blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena).

Feel free to share me your own suggestions for the Ancestors' alternate names.

[apricotstop]

Ampora doodles I hate them so much

[mysterioushistorian]

The Beforus Ancestors

honestly, i didnt like how the drawings turned out. i searched for references for the ancestors but i didnt manage to draw them the way i wanted to. most of the designs are okay, though i still feel like some of them are missing something, like colors.

more info abt them ↓

The Treasure Huntress (aka. Beforan Aradia) She was a very skilled adventurer and loved finding historic artifacts. She had a special taste for East Beforan art and culture. During her adventures, she met a violetblooded sea dweller who also had a fascination for history and dedicated his life to study and learn more about it. Together, they traveled along each other with the goal of learning more about the history of their planet, and eventually, they developed feelings for each other. However, the warmblooded girl was pale, while the coolblooded boy was red. The unspoken tension between each other lead to a fight, which ended in surprise on both sides over the admittance of feelings. Not wanting to disappoint each other, they agreed to just stay friends.

The Guardian (Beforan Tavros) He he stood up for the rights of trolls in special needs, and by that, he was also heavily against culling (as in the Beforan meaning of culling), saying that nobody should be treated that way (as helpless and fragile, making them too dependant) and by doing that, they would be "hiding the truth of the world from the children" by basically being way too overprotective. He was a farm boy, living in the country sides with his moirail, who mainly took care of the stables. Their farm was open to public visits, and one day, a certain coolblooded visitor has caught his attention. He wished to re-encounter with the man someday. One day, he has suffered a very sudden mutation that made him sprout wings, with him finally being able to realize his dream of traveling the world to spread the word about the dangers of culling and the rights of trolls in special needs.

(please correct me if I got the wrong meaning of Beforan culling, as I will talk about it again)

Radiical Psygamer (Beforan Sollux) He was, perhaps, the greatest programmer that Beforus has ever seen. With his magnificent skills, he was responsible for massively improving trolls’ technology and has contributed to the creation of a few robots and helped with the coding of various popular games. He was, however, a terrible teacher, given his introversion and general social awkwardness. He was a big figure in the world of console games and was the first to actively encourage girls to play games too.

The Unculled (Beforan Karkat) Because of his rare candy red blood, no lusus wanted to raise him, leaving him there all alone. One day, he was found by a purpleblooded man who took him to his hive in hopes that someone would pick him. They waited, and waited, and waited… but no lusus came. Tired of waiting, the big troll decided to raise the grub himself. Because of his caretaker, the mutantblooded grew up to be loud, tough and intimidating, but had a big, friendly heart and cared for his loved ones a lot.

Sharpeye Furrline (Beforan Nepeta) She was a very skilled huntress. According to herself, she only killed what she ate, and if she didn’t eat, killing them would be mean. She could hunt creatures from a very small size to ones that were the double of her own. One day, while hunting for her dinner, she has killed a creature that was going to become a Lusus of a small wriggler. Therefore, she has accidentally unlocked the rage of a coolblooded troll. Terrified, she knew she couldn’t fight back, so she ran as fast as she could, far away from that beach. No one knows what happened to her.

The Seamstress (Beforan Kanaya) A rare jadeblood with a rare taste for fashion. She became known for her dresses with odd patterns, inspired by the landscapes around her. She also traveled in search of different sights and, consequently, more ideas for dresses. Her works have eventually caught the attention of the Empress, who offered her a job as her official seamstress.

The Attorney (Beforan Terezi) She was a blind woman who did not allow her disability to hold her back. She fought back against Beforus’ culling policy and became a excellent lawyer. Dedicating herself to fight against crime and bring justice to maintain the order and peacefulness of her planet, she chased a mischievous pirate lady who seemed to cause trouble everywhere she passed. She was The Unculled’s matesprit.

Arachnid Cap8tain (Beforan Vriska) A troublemaker who caused mischief together with her pirate crew. She considered The Attorney her rival, as she was the only one who insisted in chasing her and never gave up on her quest to capture the spider pirate. A completely platonic rivalry. She held a special interest for snooker and said that the Ball 8 was actually “her lucky ball”.

The Horseman (Beforan Equius) A STRONG man who really liked horses. He lived in a farm with his moirail and was responsible for taking care of the stables. Because of his interest, they ended up having way too many horses, which resulted in them having to build a larger stable for all of them. He loved every single one of them and took great care of each one. He said he occasionally had dreams where he was half a man and half a horse (basically a centaur), which is the origin of his title.

The Clownish Caretaker (Beforan Gamzee) He rescued lususless grubs and wrigglers with an absent lusus and took care of them temporarily, until a new lusus came to become their official guardian. Despite being tall, lanky and overall intimidating, he was a very sweet and cheerful man, and loved entertaining others. Just like others, he was also heavily against culling and said that “every motherfucker should know and be able to defend themselves.” One day, a lusus was coming to his hive to pick up a grub, but it was killed by Shapeye Furrline. The man never felt so much rage before. The pure platonic hate he held towards the woman was bigger than the amount of hate he thought he could feel. Despite that, and contrary to popular belief, he did not chase the lady and took him quite some time to calm down. He was responsible for raising The Unculled and made sure to treat him properly.

The Historian (Beforan Eridan) A seadweller with a huge fascination for history, he dedicated his life to learn more about the mysteries of his world. He read diares and looked for accurate informations, instead of believing in telltale stories. He studied ancient walls and occasionally collected some artifacts, purely for research reasons, and that’s when he met The Treasure Huntress. They decided to travel together, and it did not take long for him to become flushed for her. Unfortunately, she did not return the feelings, instead being pale for him. They agreed to stay friends, but very deep inside, he was still a bit disappointed.

Her Glorious Imperialist (Beforan Feferi) The ruler of Beforus. She was a very kind and sweet woman, undoubtedly one of the best rules Beforus has ever seen. She treated her people with fairness, yet despise that, she was pro-culling, saying that some should not face the dangers of the world. After offering a job for The Seamstress, she and the jadeblood grew close. Despite being the one in charge of the planet, she decided to take care of Arachnid Cap8tain herself, and being a seadweller, it wasn’t hard to find her. She still congratulated The Attorney for her efforts in chasing the troublemaker pirate.

[propheticclown]

This one template except this is my first time seriously drawing ever and it’s very clear that I’m not an artist at all (This took like three hours I despise drawing.)

Again, I legitimately don’t draw. I much prefer writing, but my partner wanted to do this with me so I attempted to somewhat draw.

[eyeonyou]

Beta Ancestors (1/2) - this is pretty outside my comfort zone, but I’m really enjoying it! The psiionic took a long time (RIP carpal tunnel)

[sarmaleattheseaside]

2020 cat beta trolls and 2022 cat ancestors

[starwrighter]

I am not a baby!!(Yes you are)

(Prompt)  (Masterpost) (Previous) (next) (Ao3 link)

( Part three bby! Come get ya’ll juice) @unknownthreat @avelnfear @adeniumdream @meira-3919 @thought-u-said-dragon-queen @hugsandchaos @blep-23  @ashoutinthedarkness 

“Zero human life signs detected" A terrifying string of words to hear after crawling out a lifepod. It didn’t sound plausible, there were dozens of life pods on that ship! Dozens of pods that should have launched with him in the crash, that means dozens of people who should be more alive than him were wandering around this planet. They had too be!

Alterra tech wasn’t as advanced as the corporation wanted him to believe. A thorough scan of the entire planet couldn’t be performed in a matter of seconds. The tablet was impressive sure, but it couldn’t replace the complex tech and the brilliant minds from the brightest of space programs. Living people were unpredictable, especially in times of disaster like this. It would’ve been easy for them to accidentally walk out of range or be skipped over by whatever scan was sent out. All he knew about this planet was that there was water as far as the eye could see. There had to be people somewhere on the planet. The area he landed in was safe from what he could tell, he could only hope the same for the others.

Shallow water surrounded him a tropical warmth to it. The ground was a mix between soft sand he could dig his feet and stone. Giant coral tubes were scattered throughout the area and Danny found himself giggling as he darted through them as fast as he could manage.

“Vital signs abnormal. Self scan recommended,” Danny frowned glaring down at the PDA, a flashing light dutifully reminding him to head up for air. Scrunching his nose Danny dismissed the notifications. Notifications and reminders that would be lifesaving for a normal human would be inaccurate and possibly harmful if you applied it to him. His body needed less oxygen so his heart was slower. It made perfect sense to him but it was very difficult to explain to a trained medical professional that he was just built different without exposing the existence of halfa. Explaining his existence to the Ai was a task he wasn’t looking forward to. Maybe he should play along and pretend to be a dumb baby so he didn’t have to. Explaining how he’s still alive when his heart wasn’t pumping anywhere close to the speed needed for his circulatory system to function.  

Maybe if he scanned himself like his PDA suggested he’d get accurate medical information for once in his half-life. His semi normal life was over the moment he melted into goo and his grave was dug the moment the PDA noticed the irregularities, no harm in digging himself a deeper grave right? Better to be comfy in your grave than fight to be tossed in a ditch. 

Swimming up to the surface Danny allowed himself to think deeply about his situation for the first time since landing on this rock. Alterra drew it’s information from building off confirmed databases, creating new ones and synthesizing theories when they lacked information. For all the GIW’s and his parent’s hard work their research on ectoplasm and ecto entities didn’t exist in any official database outside of fairytales and myths. To his PDA ectoplasm was something they’ve never seen before; something that they’d study without the bias of his parents or the GIW skewing the results. 

Jazz and his friends would still accept him no matter what conclusion the PDA drew on his existence. If worse came to worst he could always pull a couple strings with Technus or ask tucker to wipe it’s memory for him when he got home.

With a small gasp for air Danny dove back down into the shallow waters. Brightly colored fish roamed, nibbling at plants and flitting away in terror when he drew near. Only one of the fish didn’t seem to mind his presence. A slim yellow fish with purple fins, goldish stripes and stalked eyes that gave it resemblance to that of a crab or a snail. It glided slowly through the water, ignoring Danny in favor of munching on bits of greenery growing out of the sand. Danny took to ignoring it right back, it was boring, and not as fun to spook while he scrounged for materials.

A creature that was 60% eye was the most entertaining to startle. Despite the little blue fish being bigger than his head it was still terrified of him, darting away at a sped Danny could just barely keep up with. They dodged and weaved leading him in circles until he either got dizzy and lost sight of them or got bored of spinning.

He plucked mushrooms out of the ground, the purple ring surrounding pink insides left a chalky residue that stung his finger tips. Danny didn’t even want to chance eating these, they felt compressed like all it would take was one wrong cut for them to explode into a million pieces. According to his PDA they could be used to make batteries . Rumor has it, battery acid doesn’t taste that good. A high pitched whistling similar to a dog whistle played from his PDA getting louder and higher in pitch the closer he brought the mushroom to his mouth. It was funny how the PDA thought it could stop him if he really wanted to eat poison. Though, if it would stop the PDA from screaming Danny would graciously hold the battery mushrooms in his backpack not his mouth.

Danny used Wilson to bash up stone outcrops, praying the fire extinguisher wouldn’t break against the stone. Shoving chunk after chunk of titanium into his backpack he prayed Alterra had something in their storage modules separating the possibly explosive thing away from each other. Copper was what he needed yet it seemed like it was as rare as gold here. All he needed was one piece, one single piece to make the battery needed for a scanner. Did copper even exist on this planet? It was the main component to most things technological so if it didn’t exist here he was screwed. Hoarding massive amounts of titanium wouldn’t make up for it’s lack in conductivity. Powering tools took electricity, and he didn’t exactly want to risk using a faulty battery in the middle of the ocean. Copper was a must have for the machinery he needed, the fabricator wouldn’t let him substitute materials nor did he have the materials to substitute. For now, he was forced to continue his search, smacking away at the limestone in hopes of the ancients deciding to show mercy and give him what he needed.

 Breaks for  air were few and far between, the PDA catching on to the difference in biology quicker than he thought it would. Who knew not drowning when all data says you should leaves one eager to reevaluate their data. Oxygen alerts popped up after a minute and a half instead of the normal thirty second warnings. It wasn’t anywhere near his breath holding record before the crash but it was enough to make the PDA slightly less annoying so he considered that a win. When copper finally dropped from an outcrop, he almost cried from relief; not that his tears would mean anything in the ocean. Relief soon morphed into annoyance as every single one of the outcrops he broke afterwards dropped copper. Of course the moment he didn’t need it anymore was the moment it became the only thing that would ever drop! Why wouldn’t it work that way? Clockwork was laughing at him right now he could feel it. Swimming into the nearest cave to drown out of spite didn’t seem that bad of an idea anymore.

“Detecting sulfur deposits in the local cave systems. Sulfur is an essential component of the repair tool.” A colorful, yet morbid animation played on the screen. It depicted a small child putting sulfur into their mouth before being stamped by the image of a skull. It covered the child’s entire body and as the skull faded off screen so did the child, a small grave stone replacing them. This warning was unnecessary but an accurate assumption of his survival skills. Jazz always said he was like a toddler, putting anything and everything he could in his mouth. While not exactly true, she’d seen him eat a plastic spork and watched him drink ectoplasm so he couldn't plead his case without proving her point. Eating random objects was one of his favorite ways to freak people out! 

A piercing shriek broke through his thoughts. It sounded like someone taking a wheezing breath when they had the flu and it was rapidly approaching him. A flash red entered his his vison and Danny only had time to make brief eye contact with an alien that vaguely resembled a pufferfish before it exploded sending a cloud of loose sand into the water. 

What the hell was that thing!? It just self destructed for no reason! There wasn’t even time for him to get a good look at it before it exploded! It was like the fish took one look at Danny and decided a violent death by self-destruction was the only answer. Why the hell would the PDA warn him about sulfur deposits when their were living tracking missiles swimming around? Did he swim into their territory? Was it protecting something? Ancients he hoped he hadn’t stressed a parent into killing itself to protect it’s babies.

 Heading deeper into the caves, he swam towards where he saw Bomberfish emerge. A plant, with a dark beige base almost blended in with the sand. If not for the vibrant red petals with yellow lining bloomed around what looked like pollen but smelled like rotten eggs he might’ve missed it. The pollen was brittle crumpling into a powder like state that sifted though his closed fist. It didn’t take long for him to realize this “Pollen was actually one of the sulfur deposits he was warned about. A gurgle was heard and he twirled around to face the noise. An eye was peeking out through a plant the familiar red petals hiding the boom fish from sight. These things were ultra territorial, or maybe they were guarding the sulfur for some reason? There weren’t any eggs nearby for them to protect. “Living grenades nearby” would’ve been a more fitting warning than “hey you probably shouldn’t eat this” Then again if you told him directly that there were grenade fish in the caves, he would be rushing in there to see it with his own two eyes. The whole point of a warning would be null if it unintentionally encouraged people to rush towards danger with the promise of seeing something cool. He kicked the sand, hiding himself behind the open sulfur plant and waited for the agitated fish to go back into hiding. A cluster of mushrooms nearby illuminated his face as he carefully pocketed the sulfur. Fleeing the cave, he ignored the bomber fishes warning cry as he swam away fast enough to avoid triggering it.

Now all he needed was to craft a battery for the scanner and silicone rubber for the repair tool. Silicone rubber could be made with something called a creepvine seed cluster. Creepvine sounded like a plant your camp counselor would warn you about before going on nature hike. Something that would give you ugly rashes when you inevitably stumbled into a patch of it. The PDA showed him what the materials he needed looked like but not where they were found. Creepvine seed clusters were bulbous yellow seeds that like the name suggested grew in clusters.

It was just his luck that the thing he needed wasn’t in the shallows. In fact, it was located in one of the places he’d been avoiding. Bordering the shallows, tall stalks of kelp grew so tall it almost breached the surface and dense enough that to classify as a forest or at least the ocean equivalent of a forest. The seed clusters were bioluminescent, growing off certain kelp stalks while others remained seedless. The glowing bulbs illuminated chunks of what he could only assume were pieces of the Aroura. A creature long and sleek with jagged teeth lurked in the green tinted waters. Watching, waiting, and ready to strike the moment it’s pray wandered from the safety of the shallows. Often it snatched up pieces of metal, thrashing around with it like an alligator with it’s prey. Sometimes it wandered to the shallows, drawn in by the metallic sheen of scrap and scattered storage crates or lured by dozen of vibrantly colored fish that flourished in the shallows. They never stayed for long, perhaps an instinctual knowledge that scaring prey into migrating elsewhere wouldn’t be good for it’s survival. Picking off stragglers and hunting occasionally was much easier than having to hunt down your preys new breeding ground whenever you wanted to eat. 

While their trips to the shallows were short, he didn’t trust a particularly tasty looking prey wouldn’t give them the confidence to venture farther into the shallows. There was no way of knowing a metal muncher wouldn’t stalk him back to the shallows if they saw him on his little errand. No way of telling if their interest in metal was limited to just scraps. The fabricator was his only lifeline right now, his only hope for tools and drinkable water. A fabricator that was built into the wall of a lifepod made primarily of metal that would look oh so tasty to a jagged toothed alligator with a craving for titanium. 

There were a lot of things he wanted to do on an alien planet but he didn't want to swim into the home of the metal munching monsters! It was safer to just stay here where the only real threat was a living grenade with territorial issues and the gasmask manatee. The Metal muncher was gigantic and Danny was the perfect bite sized snack! Most of the tastier looking fish were smaller than he was and all Danny had to defend himself was a fire extinguisher and ice powers with the effectiveness of a slushy machine. He’d be the appetizer to tide them over before the main course of a life pod slightly charred! 

Impulsiveness and an apparent lack of self preservation was what he was known for by his community but contrary to popular belief Danny didn’t want to die. Back home, he had the strength to hold his own against the attacking ghosts and the friends to back him up when brute force and bullshittery failed. Now he had neither. Hours after the crash and he still couldn’t go ghost; trying to access his powers was as helpful as it’d been during the crash. Worst of all, his friends were lightyears away with no way of reaching him or even knowing what happened. The situation was dire and rescue couldn’t save him or the other potential survivors if he acted stupid and got himself killed. Believe it or not impulsiveness isn’t the same as stupidity; the two could come hand and hand but that didn’t make them the same when they’re separate. No matter what his grades said about him he wasn’t stupid. 

Daniel James Fenton, that’s who he is and Fenton’s aren’t stupid.

 Common sense ran scarce in their family but intelligence was plentiful. Jazz might be hoarding all the common sense but Danny had just enough to make his own rational decisions every once in a while. Provoking something that big without at least the foundations of a plan would cross the line of impulsiveness and land him with a dunce cap sitting in the corner of his lifepod. That is if he wasn’t torn to shreds first

He couldn’t beat a metal muncher in face to face fight, better to avoid it as much as possible. Out maneuvering  one of them wasn’t even an option. His swimming was slow and uncoordinated like the rest of his tiny body. At least stealth would be easier for him like this. The kelp twirled into itself an easy place to hide. Hiding wouldn’t help if they smelt him, the gators snout was long enough to snatch him out of any hiding spot he found. What he needed was something to defend himself but unfortunately, the only weapon he was allowed to fabricate required silicone rubber to make. So unless he wanted to blunt force one of them to death with a fire extinguisher his wit was his only other weapon. Metal munchers seemed to get distracted easily, diverting their attention from him would be an easy task. If he could spare some titanium or catch some of the smaller slower fish he could sneak through the kelp forests mostly unbothered.

Offering food was the safer bet. Carrying around a chunk of metal would slow him down and give the overgrown gators a chance to eat him and his peace offering. Danny chased down fish, snatching up the slower ones in his little hands. They slipped out of his grasp often, his dull nails did nothing to keep  the fish from squirming out of his grasp. Sharpened canines although small did great work to puncture and kill whatever unfortunate creature he caught in his maw. It they tasted terrible but what more could you expect of holding a raw fish in your mouth? With a dead fish in his hand, he surfaced for one long gasp of air before delving into the kelp forests. Hope the metal muncher didn’t prefer live feedings.  

“Life on this planet grows in distinct and diverse ecological biomes. Further study recommended.” The PDA piped up, playing another short animation of a child using a scanner. The child had three extra fingers sprouting on their wrist and there was an eerie emptiness in the eyes that screamed AI generated. Dismissing the notification Danny began to stalk around the biome. Chunks of sandstone dropped silver, lead and, sometimes gold. A notification popped up for two of the three. Blue lights flashed in his face and Danny had to duck away, hiding inside the curling vines of kelp. The PDA instructed him on handling lead including the usual warning of “Don’t eat it,” given whenever he picked up anything that wasn’t a fish. 

It wasn’t his fault that rocks looked so tasty! The only rock he actually put in his mouth turned out to be salt give him a break! A pain in his gums made the concept of chewing on things he wasn’t supposed to more appealing then it was. 

A loud shriek erupted, so loud it made his ears ring. Gnashing teeth and dilated pupils stared back at him through the creepvine. With a scream Danny chucked a fish at the creatures face hitting it square in the jaw. Shoving as many seed clusters into his backpack, Danny swam as fast as he could towards the shallows. An indignant shriek of a gator no longer distracted by its snack rang out behind him motivating him to swim faster. 

His life pod was in sight, so close yet so far away. With a monster chasing him the short distance felt like miles. Fish scattered in all directions at the sight of his pursuer distracting the gator just long enough for him climb the latter to the top of his lifepod. Air burned his lungs adrenaline rushing through his veins as he stared intently at the retreating form of the metal muncher. The PDA was talking to him. Words that sounded vaguely comforting were drowned out by his rapid breaths and the ringing in his ears.

“Scary,” His voice came out hoarse way too young to belong to him. A string of certain words didn’t make it past his lips. He didn’t know what he was calling scary specifically, everything that’d happened in the past twenty four hours was terrifying. From the crash to the feeling of helplessness he got from being shrunk and hunted. The sky was darkening, soon, the only light he’d have would be from the flames ravaging the Aroura. Another terrifying thought, the Aroura was a tough ship, what could’ve possibly caused that much damage. When Danny was recruited the ship was hyped up as unbreakable, a perfect example of mankind’s brilliance. It wasn’t negligence or a maintenance error, the ship was fine before entering this solar system. With his duel obsession he should have been at his strongest. It couldn’t be a coincidence that his powers went kaput the exact moment the aroura crashes. Something was fishy here and it wasn’t just the living grenades.

The top hatch was heavy and difficult to open. An air tight seal just like the bottom hatch doing more to keep him out than it could with any water. It’d be a lie to say the hiss of air that escaped when it opened wasn’t satisfying If he wanted to investigate further, he needed to repair his life pod. He watched in awe as the fabricator took things from his backpack and turned into something else. Creepvine seeds to silicon rubber, copper and mushrooms to a battery. Silicone rubber, sulfur and titanium to an O2 tank, fins, the survival knife, and the repair tool. A battery and a single piece of titanium built up into a functional biometrical scanner. It was incredible, in just a few minutes Danny went from having nothing to having a knife and other less important tools. If things stayed this easy he’d be ready to fight a minor deity in a matter of days! 

A barrage of PDA messages hit him, all somewhat snarky congratulations for crafting but Danny couldn’t care less. His focus was fixated on repairing all the sparking bits and bobs of the lifepod. It was like magic the lights flickered to life as if they’d never been broken in the first place

“Lifepod secondary systems online. Running full environmental diagnostic and outputting results to databank.” The PDA pinged as Danny stepped over the puddle of goop to get to the radio. 

“Radio online. Broadcasting emergency distress signal, ”Just like the lights the radio was fixed in a matter of seconds. He couldn’t push down the giddy hopefulness at the sight of blinking red light, a message already was a good sign.

“This is Aurora. Distress signal received. Rescue operation will be dispatched to your location in 9...9...9...9...9.. hours. Continue to monitor for emergency transmissions from other life pods,”

That... That did not sound good.

[nekropsii]

What is the deal with the pre-scratch version of the Beta Trolls?

As in, the Beforan Ancestors? There isn’t much of a “deal” with them. We’re given no information on them - and surprisingly, I never really speculated on it all that much. If anyone tells you there is a concrete, canonical “deal” with them, they are lying to you.

We can only really make things up based on the information given to us about Beforus.

I do have a friend with quite interesting thoughts on Beforan Feferi and Kanaya, but I’ll leave it up to him whether or not he wants to divulge his takes…

[davekat-sucks]

I know Hussie wanted some excuse to parody fanfiction or some shit but I think the concept of troll ancestors/dancestors is absolutely dumb when everyone is born from an incestuous slurry and they have no concept of human family. Lusus shit is cool as fuck and if anything, because of their genetics, it makes more sense for trolls sense of family to be formed through an adoptive sense than a biological sense. In fan works I also wish there was way more stuff between trolls and their lusii (a cooler, more interesting and far more sensible much more previously established canon concept) than just making trolls have this more traditional and human family unit and structure (like making the characters be offspring, siblings then parents).

Like yeah that’s cute and all but the concept of this fantasy alien race being raised by cool mythical and fantastical beasts and monsters as the norm and lack that traditional human sense of family > what if the aliens were even more like humans and raised just like normal humans. Just takes away another fun element that made the trolls more fantastical and alien.

If anything with the ancestors/dancestors, I think it would have been much better if they were more like these historical figures of a specific caste each troll idolized or looked up to or was inspired by. Vriska and Mindfang are already an example of this.

Part of it is that lusus would use their scent to select the troll. Lusus who were with the Ancestors, would pick up the scent of their descendants upon being hatched. It would be something if the Ancestors were historical figures that just happen to have similar blood color as the troll cast or have different signs if familial connection isn't needed. It's also stated from Andrew Hussie that lusus stay with the trolls for life even in adulthood. So technically, the trolls' lusus would have been alive a little longer within the Sgrub session if they had used a different corpse for the kernelsprite (similar to how the Beta Kids' guardians were alive after entering Sburb). Could there be potential to explore if a lusus grows fond of a troll that they do not wish to adopt another in its place? Even for dark topics like child neglect or abuse, lusii needs a troll to care for them could show they aren't just mindless animals. They are as intelligent as any other living thing.

[the-tomcat-disposable]

Where The Rivers Are Poisoned

Summary: Tayo and Nah'ri moth-sit.

CW: eye injury

This is Tayo (any pronouns), Nah'ri (she/they), Ares (he/they), and the moth (they/them)

The dark dragon reared its head and its eye flashed red as it focused on the kid. The poor thing only had 3 stars on its back, and attempted to scurry for shelter under something— a ribcage! It reeked of darkness and decay, but it could work. As the moth attempted to wade through the thick, dark water as fast as possible, the beast roared as it swooped down on its meal. Only, they found themselves alive by some miracle.

A shriek, pop, and a crackle sounded behind them as they honked for someone to help them. Their call was answered by the honking of another kid tumbling out of the air with seemingly no cape. They landed in front of them with a splat and stood up to immediately offer a candle to light. Once the moth had done so, they noticed their outfit looked like a magician's... a flamboyant one.

Did megabird send them a circus performer to help?

The second thing they noticed is that this stranger's wings were tied around their waist instead of resting on their shoulders. How odd, but they didn't have time to question it before another kid landed next to them, lighting their candle and honking for them to accept their white ones. This kid had strange wings that were more like a scarf and green pants that matched the thick fog of the wasteland. They also seemed to be wearing heavy shoes and lacked a mask. Their expression seemed unfriendly, but they had offered them friendship.

"Thanks to you, I lost 5 winged lights! Ugh, whatever, I'll find them eventually," they spoke with a harsh tone and a thick accent as they slammed down a square brazier and lit it, "anyways, name's Nah'ri, that's my friend Tayo."

Tayo waved and honked, and without warning, both the moth and Tayo had been grabbed by their hands and lifted off the ground. They flew fairly high up and the moth now saw how many of those dark dragons were stalking the area for light. They honked with terror and, as they began their descent, the moth looked down at their landing spot. A bonfire! It seemed out of place in this green hell, but it was a light source away from the blue spotlights of the dark dragons.

Upon landing gently next to the spirit, the moth pulled out their candle to burn away the darkness that they were encased in, only to be tugged away. "Don't do that yet, you're not ready," Nah'ri warned. Her tone seemed to signify that this spirit was genuinely torturous to relive, so they obliged. They sat by the bonfire as they watched their new "friend" prop an unconscious Tayo up against the stone wall.

"Does he usually... faint out of nowhere?"

"Yeah. If he moves too fast, he faints," Nah'ri spoke plainly as she let out a loud honk to knock over the crabs and set a few in the bonfire, "I'm not sure why."

"Oh. Well I guess I'll—" the moth began to stand up and walk away on their own before Nah'ri put a firm hand on their shoulder suddenly. She said nothing and glanced around as if embarrassed.

"Don't. Not yet," she glanced back at their still unconscious friend, then sighed as they looked back to the new kid, "kid, what's your name?"

"Uh- Everest."

"Well, Everest, you should wait for Tayo to wake up, he loves to make new friends. He— we'll— help you to the temple," she explained, seemingly forced, then coughed and walked back to the bonfire to sit closer to Tayo than she was before and crossed her arms, "it's too dangerous for a new kid. I'm just... looking out for you."

Tayo woke with a soft honk, and Nah'ri's eyes lit up with joy. Her entire demeanor changed to a much more softer one when she was with Tayo, it seemed. They were trying their best to fight back the endearing smile that crept onto their face as they climbed the bonfire to toss down a crab to share with her— and Everest, they supposed.

Nah'ri handed them a crab leg, which they nearly declined before their stomach roared. They ate it and half of another crab in minutes, leaving Tayo overjoyed to find such a wild flame like herself. Though the moth couldn't see Tayo's expression behind her mask, they assumed from the look in their eyes that they were grinning with joy.

Everest fell backwards into the sand and flailed their arms at the subsequent dust cloud settling on top of them and huffed as Nah'ri scoffed and bickered about their manners to Tayo, who brushed her off with a honk and paced slowly towards the moth. He looked over his shoulders to his friend with a honk.

"Everest," Nah'ri spoke with a huff as they slouched against the wall with their arms crossed and stared over them, "just tell me when you two are done." Tayo honked a few times. "Yeah, sure. Of course we will."

Tayo kneeled down besides Everest as they sat up, supporting themselves with a hand and accepting Tayo's white candles. They were slightly taken aback by Tayo's voice, which they titled their head at.

"What? Did I not sound how you expected?" the sound of Tayo's grin faltered, and quickly returned as they spoke in a deeper voice, "I can change it, if you'd like!"

The moth honked as they sat upright and crossed their legs, glancing at Nah'ri grinning while drawing in the sand with a crab legs, then staring up at Tayo with bright yellow eyes, "you can do that?! How?"

Tayo stood up and dug their staff into the ground and spun around it, "I used to preform in the Valley after I had gotten my cool outfit." Nah'ri glanced up at them, as if they were tempted to correct them, then looked back down at their drawing. Tayo hummed and walked over to Nah'ri, careful to step around the lines in the sand, and tapped her chin as she examined them. She made a few more marks and nodded.

"Ah, I forgot that," Nah'ri murmured, nodding and standing up, "right, you're ready?"

Tayo nodded and pressed his mask against her face with a laugh as he caught Everest squinting at them. Nah'ri hoisted their friend onto their shoulders and Tayo rested their head atop Nah'ri's after adjusting their hat.

Nah'ri slid over to Everest and held out a hand, which they took and all three of them were far up in the air in a few flaps of their wings. Tayo hummed a familiar tune, one that Everest had heard when the first stepped into this vast world. Occasionally, Nah'ri surveyed their surroundings and landed on a ledge to allow their wings some rest.

On one ledge, Tayo had removed their hat and handed it to Everest, watching them run in circles as they jumped to catch a butterfly in their hat. This annoyed Nah'ri just slightly, who scolded Tayo for causing a distraction. They bickered back and forth until Everest had caught it and sighed with relief, just for them to yelp and nearly fall into the dark water below when it flew away upon lifting the hat.

"Had enough fun, Everest?" Nah'ri pouted. The moth in question stood back up with a jump and ran back towards the pair. Nah'ri kneeled down and Everest carefully placed the hat back atop Tayo's head where it belonged. Tayo let out an amused huff as they adjusted it.

"Sorry, it kept getting away!" Everest apologized once Nah'ri stood back up and offered their hand.

"It's fine, you're a moth. I don't expect anything differently."

They took Nah'ri's hand and were pulled up into the air again, flying effortlessly over one of the dark dragons that terrified them to their core. They'd looked back warily at the monsters as they flew through a passageway, briefly hearing a distant roar as they landed for Nah'ri to take a brief break.

"Someone got hurt, we need to go—" before Everest finished their sentence, Tayo loudly interrupted to ruffle their hair.

"Don't worry about 'em! I know them, I met them some time ago. They told me to buzz off when me and Nah'ri recollected the winged light that got scattered around," Tayo shrugged. Nah'ri chuckled and muttered in response, "hm, seems like them alright."

Everest scratched their head as they were essentially dragged along on foot up a sandy hill, "huh? They don't want help? Why?"

Tayo began to speak, but she was cut off by her friend, "no clue, but they've never really seemed to like people. Anyways, Ares should be nearby, we should check on him."

As they approached a spear and shield halfway buried in the dune, they heard the jungle of a bell. Nah'ri inhaled sharply as she came to a halt a few feet away.

"Wait, you and that freak back there have hi—" Tayo began to question, but fell off her back onto the sand with an 'umf', and Everest giggled as they let go of Nah'ri and ran to Tayo to pull him back onto his feet. "Yea, that was Phobos, they don't like anyone."

Tayo thanked Everest for the help and groaned as he and Nah'ri approached the shield together, Everest trailing not far behind. "Megabird, is everyone in the Wasteland cranky and weird? Sheesh!" Tayo scoffed. The bell rang as another person stood up from behind the shield, keeping their hands on it, and moving their head to face the noise.

Everest caught up with them and panted. When they looked up, they tilted their head at the stranger, who honked in response to Tayo's words. Tayo began to explain their situation to them as the currently grey figure honked and glanced held out a candle towards no one in specific. Their was a silent few seconds before Nah'ri nudged Everest in the direction of the candle.

"That's for you. He can't see you," Nah'ri explained, "as in, he's blind." Everest nodded in understanding, holding their candle to his and honking in awe as his outfit came into view. He was dressed head to toe in black, with a blindfold, antlers, and fluffy ears.

"This is Ares, they don't really like talking to people," Ares honked and faced Nah'ri, "no, we didn't bring a table or tea. Sorry."

Everest circled them curiously and reached for his blindfold, "well, maybe they'd see better if they took this off!" Both Nah'ri and Tayo reached for Everest to stop them with a worried look on their faces.

"Everest— wait!" they shouted simultaneously.

Ares tilted his head towards and swiftly lifted their hands to their face as they felt their blindfold being loosened and then fall off. One hand pulled down his hat to cover his eyes as he lowered to sit against the earth.

Everest clutched his blindfold in their hands and froze, looking at their friends apologetically. "Sorry! Sorry, I'll—" Everest began to hand the blindfold back to Ares, who turned towards Everest and blindly flailed one hand around and snatched it back.

"Now, what the Eden did you think you were doing?!" Nah'ri scolded. She placed her hands on her hips and stomped towards Everest with genuine anger. Tayo followed behind her and pulled her backwards by her cape just as they lifted their hand to flick Everest's mask. Nah'ri's anger turned to shock as she yelped and hissed a curse at her friend.

"Relax, they're just a kid, alright? They're new to the world," Tayo rested a hand on their shoulder as they softened, "remember how the moths used to—and still do—ask really intrusive questions about my condition?"

Nah'ri inhaled calmly, "yeah... it wasn't none of their business, but they were just asking and making assumptions because they haven't seen it before." Tayo nodded with a grin beneath their mask as Nah'ri looked back towards Everest, now much kinder, "look, kid, I'm... I'm s—"

As Nah'ri choked on their words, Ares honked in despair. The group looked over instinctively to find that their witch hat had been stolen from their hands by a passing breeze. As they began reach to grab it, Everest flapped their wings and glided towards it. They caught it not far away and skipped on back, looking towards Nah'ri. She smiled approvingly! They handed Ares their hat and looked up at them as they placed it back on their head.

Nah'ri tried her best to restrain a giggle as Everest gasped at the sight. As they adjusted it to ensure it wouldn't take off again and felt their blindfold for which side was to face outwards, the moth saw why they covered their face; they had a huge scar across their eyes and hollow eye sockets with perfectly rounded dark stone orbs inside of them.

They honked loudly and ran over to Tayo, pointing back at Ares who tied their blindfold back on and tilted their head towards Everest's commotion. Ares honked a few times and Nah'ri reassured them that this wouldn't become a huge deal.

"Tayo, his eyes are dark stones! He has a super weird scar! How did that happen?!"

Tayo let out an anxious chuckle and rubbed the back of their neck, "well, it's not really my place to explain. You can ask him."

"Bad idea, he doesn't like to talk about it," Nah'ri spoke, and Ares shot up with a scared honk, "and I told him that this wouldn't happen."

Ares hid behind the shield again with an anxious honk, and Tayo chuckled, gesturing Everest towards him. "C'mon, Nah'ri, our buddy here could use a few friends! They could end up as close as us."

Nah'ri murmured something about Eden that Everest didn't catch as they kneeled in front of Ares and laid out seven white candles in front of them. Ares had sat with his face against their knees and a bright blue hue emanated from it. They moved their hands over the offerings and considered for a while before accepting them.

Everest glanced back towards Tayo, who was still talking with their... partner? It was hard to tell what those two had but Everest suspected that there was something deeper than friendship between them. Tayo gasped and turned Nah'ri's face towards the other two. Nah'ri seemed surprised.

"Well, would you look at that," Nah'ri teased, "Ares wants to talk?"

"Shut up," Ares hissed weakly, then stood up, flicking their ears, "let's get moving."

"What about your eyes?" Everest asked, following Ares as they walked in the direction of the broken temple. Nah'ri had walked ahead with Tayo on their back. Tayo offered Ares a boost as he climbed up onto their back and Nah'ri offered Everest her hand.

"I don't like to talk about it..." Nah'ri took off once Everest grabbed on and Ares held onto Tayo tight. They looked straight ahead with a pout as Everest looked towards them curiously.

"That's okay."

...

The journey was quiet, with occasional humming as the reached the temple. Tayo had been the one holding the most conversation, asking Everest of their interests and such. They had learned that Everest enjoyed tea and cinnamon rolls from the Aviary Village cafe. Tayo preferred crab and soup. They offered to perform in the Village Theater, confident that they still could put on a good performance despite their condition, but Everest insisted that they would prefer not to watch the lead role faint on-stage. Ares laughed at that, to which Tayo responded with threatening to drop him.

Nah'ri and Everest's feet touched the ground and Nah'ri held out a candle to the dark stone diamond in the center of the platform. after a few moments, the gate began opening and the one- two- no, three dark dragons emerged. Everest's grip on Nah'ri's hand tightened as their vision began to blur as the dragons closed in on the four of them. The last thing they remember seeing was an equally terrified expression on Ares's face as they were pulled into the temple.

...

They had woken up a while later, and it was dark. They must have been out for a long time. They blinked their eyes open and held out a candle. So, this must be the Wasteland Elder's temple. It took them a moment to understand what happened before they fainted, and they looked around frantically to find their friends. They were relieved to find Tayo and Nah'ri just to the right of the elder's altar in the center.

They'd curled up together against the stone, illuminated by lit candles, and Tayo had set her mask and glasses on top of the stone behind them and Nah'ri's red horns were beside them. Huh, those were a headband. It was a cute sight, to see how close they were. Tayo was holding onto Nah'ri as though she was going to slip away from her, and Nah'ri looked completely relaxed.

As the moth considered trying on Tayo's mask, a yawn and the sound of water being shaken in a jar alerted them. They turned to spot Ares sitting on the sand not far away. They slid over and Ares's ear flicked. They tucked their blindfold into the waistband of their dress and stared forward.

"Everest?" they questioned as said moth sat besides them. They hummed a yes in response and pointed to the jar.

"What's that?"

"You're going to need to be a little more specific," Ares spoke as he yawned again, "my jar, I'm assuming?"

Everest hummed a yes and looked up at their now hollow eye sockets. It was a lot more unnerving in the dark, so they pulled their candle from their chest and set it in front of them in the earth. That did not make it less unsettling.

Ares tipped the jar and his two dark stone eyes fell out into his palm. Everest watched him as he pushed them into the sockets and shifted slightly. "This jar has clean water inside it to wash my eyes."

Everest nodded, "ah, I see."

"I don't," Ares grinned. There was an awkward silence and their smile dropped, "not funny? Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Everest reassured, then shifted to face him and sat with their legs crossed, "can I ask you questions?"

Ares thought for a few seconds, then yawned and laid against the sand, "sure. Can't promise I'll answer them, though." They stared at the ceiling and blinked uncomfortably, though that just seemed to be how they adjusted their prosthetic eyes.

Everest looked over towards the other two, still sound asleep though now in a more comfortable position against the floor, "what's their deal? Are they... you know, together or what."

Ares shrugged, "not sure. It's not my business."

Everest pouted at their answer and sighed, removing their mask and rubbing their eyes. They set their mask besides them. "Well, sure, okay," Everest began, "but you've never at least gotten suspicious? They're spooning right now."

Ares thought while they fidgeted with the sleeves of their dress, "like I said, not my business. Whatever they have is for them to sort out." Their tone was tinged with slight annoyance. They should drop the topic. Maybe they'll ask them themselves when they're awake.

"Alright," Everest sighed, "you're very reserved. Why?"

"After that stunt earlier, I'm not too keen to speak to you," Ares hissed and turned their back to the moth. Everest pouted, "I apologized!"

"I couldn't hear it!" they hissed loudly as they shot up and turned, jabbing the moth's chest with an accusatory finger and enraged expression that startled Everest. They retracted their hand and breathed slowly upon realizing their outburst, but his scowl remained on his face, "don't go around taking people's blindfolds off, they might need it."

"Okay, sorry," Everest muttered as Ares huffed and turned back over with their back to them. It was only then when they noticed the amount of stars marking their cape.

"How'd you get so many winged lights?" the moth questioned, and Ares groaned, pulling his hat down over his face and cape further over themselves.

"Eden. Now let me sleep."

Everest slowly reached for their cape to feel the stars on their cape, but he stood up and grabbed his jar and walked closer to the altar and laid down against the floor near a row of candles. He removed his hat and placed it beneath his head. He had gotten comfortable when he heard footsteps approach him and stop in front of him, and sighed.

"What?" they whispered, and heard Everest sit next to them, but they said nothing for a while.

"I know you're still there."

"Did it hurt?" Everest whispered inquisitively and suddenly, "losing your eyes, I mean."

He didn't respond. They felt a warm hand near their face and swatted it away. Everest backed away and stood up to set their mask on the stone of the altar before laying on their back next to Ares. Their breathing slowed to a steady pace as they began to snore lightly, but Everest still had many more questions to ask!

What was Eden? They suspected that that's where the light called them to, but would find out eventually. What's after this temple? Would it be safe, like the previous realms? Why were Nah'ri and Tayo not afraid of the dark dragons? How did Ares lose his eyes, and, upon observation, another question arose...

Why does Ares sleep with his eyes open? That's weird.

[ludodraw]

Idk how to background ;-;