i wwas JUST about to praise tumblr for lettin me tag evverybody wwithout havvin to twweak things and then right at the last url it doesnt wwork anymore come the fuck on
anywway im eridan and honestly im not all that sure wwhy im still on this site after all this time its a fuckin hellhole that cant evven function properly
sigh
wwho are you
Your name is Gylian Albedo and it was just a normal, boring, sunny day. Same old routine as last week. And the week before. And the week before that. Do your duty. Walk downstairs, check the broodmother, walk upstairs, check the door. Take the grubtrain to the mountain entrance, check that door, walk a few miles along the perimeter. Check door, check door, check that broodmother, and this jadeblood, and make sure this place has enough food and this place has enough slurry and that place has newer drones than the other two because for some reason, something bigger and meaner than a cholerbear keeps getting in and killing trolls and ruining whole batches of grubs and blahh blah blah.
You're young for your color- A male jadeblood of muddy hue, aged about thirty two. You've been doing this since you were eight, and by god, it is the most boring thing you've ever done. Sure, they make it seem exciting, you muse to yourself, trudging along the tunnels. The pamphlets show jades having fun. They don't show the caste system on the inside- They don't show that once the big stone door closes behind you, you can never place foot away again.
You like the mountain caverns the best- They're a lovely temperature, not like the heat of the underground tunnels, and wind whistles through them constantly, bringing song and life and sometimes, whispers.
Lately the whispers have been getting louder- Rumors of drafting season come early, an explosion that rocked the nearby city of Yrona, a plume of smoke so large that it blocked out the moons and put the dust twisters to shame. Whispers of change, and of unrest. Some cerulean's been making trouble to the northeast, making a name for herself. Rumor has it she controls a whole city now. Some seadweller is rising in rank on the east shores. Two seaside cities have burned to the ground in blue flames dealt by violet blood.
But these are all just rumors, anyway. You're not allowed to travel to these places- No, you aren't allowed to leave the caverns. Yet. Besides, if you don't check these doors, check that the broodmothers are producing Quality Troll Grubs, no one will, for you are the Overseer (In Training.) The Overseer herself is getting on in age, and you have the privilege, no, the honor, of becoming the next. It's the only job that allows variety, the only job (Besides the ones dealing with cultivating lusii, in the jungles and forests beyond the mountains) that you could ever want.
All that goes out the window when something shifts, something changes. As you near the southwest desert entrance, your sense is pinged by something. Something is not quite right here, no. You aren't sure what it is- The air itself smells off, not like the desert. It smells like sweat, and it smells like roasted meat. In particular, you think, as you sniff experimentally. It smells like one of the ten-foot reptilian snake varieties, slick and oily and meaty. Your stomach rumbles lightly now, and you place one hand on it, shifting the clipboard in your hands. As you slip into your booth, your ears flick- Something is definitely not right here, you could have sworn you just heard someone shouting, someone laughing.
Shaking your head, you flick on the screen, putting in the buttons on your foodmaker for a cup of coffee. Decaf, of course, you can't have anything that could compromise your position for Overseer, and caffeine tends to make you Wired. As the screen turns on, a hum builds, slow and steady, and a microcamera blinks open on the side of the rock outside, building up its own electric field.
The pot starts up, and begins to brew. It stops after a moment, it finishes percolating, but you aren't paying attention. No, because what you see in your screen is something that you can't understand, something that there simply is no protocol for.
You have visitors. And you say visitors because one of them is Jade. (And a very pure hued jade at that. You wonder if she's been sent from Command.) You hope it's not someone looking out for your job. Godamnit, this could ruin your entire career. Regardless, this is your job. You have to decide now, to let them in or to keep them out, or forcibly remove them.
You flip up a plastic cap over a big, vibrant, yellow button, thumb hovering over it. Maybe if you close your eyes really hard for thirty seconds, the three trolls sitting literally on your doorstep will go away.
...
... Twenty-Nine, Thirty.
You sigh, and press the button. You'll at least need to interview the jade before you do anything like letting them in. And besides- With a hue as pure as hers, she can't be up to no good, right?
In which KK pisses off Kanaya after Kanaya pisses KK off.
Today at 4:39 AM
courtinggrievances
SHIT SUCKS MAN. SAME THING I TOLD TA.
courtinggrievances
JUST FUCKING FEELS BAD.
gravitatingapoptosis
I Realize You Are Having A Bad Time With This
But Leaving Him Out Of It Is For The Best
Trust me
courtinggrievances
I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO RESCUE HIM.
HE FEELS LIKE HE'S IN DANGER.
HE DOESN'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW IT.
YOU KNOW GAMZEE, HE ALWAYS... WAS A BIT OBLIVIOUS.
gravitatingapoptosis
The Entire Alternian Multiversal Race Is Not Yours To Save
courtinggrievances
THE WAY HE MADE IT SOUND... THEY JUST PICKED HIM UP AND BROUGHT HIM THERE.
courtinggrievances
I KNOW, I KNOW.
IT'S A HARD CONCEPT TO LEARN.
MULTIVERSE, WHO KNEW HUH.
gravitatingapoptosis
Isnt That What They Do
To Everyone
He Could Be Worse
courtinggrievances
YEAH BUT. EVERYONE ELSE WOULD KNOW HOW BAD IT WOULD BE.
GAMZEE... HE'D JUST GO WITH IT, NOT KNOWING THAT SHIT UNTIL HE RAN OUT OF SLIME.
gravitatingapoptosis
You Always Knew Him Better Than I Did
courtinggrievances
I KNEW HIM BETTER THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE DID.
HE WAS AN ANNOYING JACKASS, STUBBORN AS FUCK, BUT STILL A DECENT TROLL UNDER ALL THAT MAKEUP AND SLIME.
I JUST FEEL BAD I CAN'T HELP THIS ONE.
gravitatingapoptosis
Karkat
courtinggrievances
KIND OF MAKES ME WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO OURS.
HUFF.
gravitatingapoptosis
You Can Only Handle One Crusade At Once And We Have Enough To Deal With
courtinggrievances
I KNOW. BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP MY FEELINGS FROM BEING A THING THAT HAPPENS.
gravitatingapoptosis
No But You Can Choose To Not Act On Them
courtinggrievances
KANAYA.
IT'S LIKE YOU'RE MEETING ME FOR THE FIRST TIME.
courtinggrievances
AHHAHA.
YEAH I GUESS SO, BUT I DEFINITELY CAN'T RESIST COMPLAINING ABOUT IT.
YOU KNOW ME. HAH.
gravitatingapoptosis
This Is Only Going To Get Harder
courtinggrievances
NO SHIT!
gravitatingapoptosis
I Realize You Enjoy Airing Your Grievances But Its
There Is No Point
courtinggrievances
THIS IS MY BLOG, ISN'T IT.
THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO CARE ABOUT WHAT I THINK ON THE MATTERS AT HAND.
AIRING MY GRIEVANCES IS JUST SOMETHING I NEED TO DO ON IT.
gravitatingapoptosis
Pick A Crusade And Focus Or We Arent Getting Anywhere
courtinggrievances
WE AREN'T GETTING ANYWHERE ***ANYWAY***!!!!
STOP FUCKING CALLING THIS A CRUSADE, STOP FUCKING TREATING THESE THINGS LIKE THEY'RE SOMETHING I CAN JUST PICK AND CHOOSE.
YOU THINK I WANT TO BE LIKE THIS?
gravitatingapoptosis
I Am Painfully Aware We Arent Getting Anywhere Trust Me
courtinggrievances
YEAH, AS ARE WE ALL.
YOU KIND OF MADE THAT CRYSTAL FUCKING CLEAR ALREADY.
gravitatingapoptosis
What Have I Made Clear
courtinggrievances
HOW AWARE YOU ARE THAT NOTHING IS HAPPENING.
HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU CAME TO HELP US NOT GET LOST AND HERE WE ARE, STUCK.
I GET JUST HOW FUCKING FRUSTRATING THIS SHIT IS, I DO.
NOT A REASON FOR YOU TO THROW YOUR EMOTIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE OUT THE WINDOW.
WE'RE ALL TIRED, WE'RE ALL THIRSTY, WE'RE ALL HOT AND SANDY AND FOR FUCKS SAKE, I WOULD LITERALLY KILL SOMEONE FOR AN ABLUTION, BUT IT'S NO REASON TO SHIT ON MY FEELINGS ABOUT SOME OTHER DUDE THAT, IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, I KNOW DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER.
I KNOW WE CAN'T HELP THAT GUY.
IT'S AN "INTERNET" THING BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? SO IS FEX. AND PAL. AND GRAND. AND ALL THESE PEOPLE WE'VE MET HERE.
AND THEY STILL MANAGE TO HELP US.
I'M NOT GOING TO SUDDENLY FEEL BETTER ABOUT NOT PICKING "HIS CRUSADE" JUST BECAUSE YOU TELL ME THERE'S NO POINT TO IT.
I KNOW THERE'S NO POINT TO IT.
I KNOW THERE'S NO POINT TO ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT WE'RE DOING. CROSSING THE DESERT, RUNNING FROM THE EMPIRE, GOING INTO THE CAVERNS?
IT'S A FUCKING DEATHTRAP, AND I FUCKING. I KNOW THIS.
BUT FOR FUCKS SAKE, KANAYA. I HAVE TO TRY.
IF NOT FOR ME... THEN FOR THE PEOPLE WHOSE VOICES AREN'T AS LOUD AS MINE.
I'M SORRY YOU DON'T FEEL THAT WAY.
gravitatingapoptosis
I Realize You Are Noble With A Bleeding Heart But Is It Too Much To Expect You To Grow Up A Little And Get Some Controll Over Yourself Before You End Up Running Yourself Into Something You Cant Get Out Of Because Karkat You Cant Do Shit If Youre Dead
courtinggrievances
I'M NOT GOING TO WAIT UNTIL THE DRONES COME TO PICK ME UP. I'M GOING TO FUCKING FIGHT, AND BELIEVE YOU ME, I'M GOING TO FIGHT HARD, TOOTH AND NAIL AND HORN AND FIST. I'VE ALREADY DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE, I'M HERE, I'VE SURVIVED.
IS IT TOO MUCH TO EXPECT OF YOU TO HAVE A LITTLE FUCKING TRUST IN ME?
AS FOR GROW UP. WELL.
I MEAN YOU MAY LIVE A FUCKING LONG LIFESPAN, BUT MINE'S ALMOST HALF OVER ALREADY.
I'M NOT EVEN A BLIP IN HER RADAR, BY THE TIME SHE GETS BACK HERE, I'LL EITHER BE OLD OR GONE, AND IT'LL BE UP TO SOLLUX TO CARRY ON THE DREAM HE HAS.
I DID MY GROWING UP.
WHEN I WAS SIX.
DON'T KNOW IF YOU DID, THOUGH.
GUESS YOU KIND OF STAGNATED IN YOUR DESERT WITH YOUR CLOTHING AND PLANTS AND EMPIRICAL PROPAGANDA ABOUT A LIFE WITHOUT SUN OR MEANING.
I MEAN SURE! THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
NOT DYING? I'M GLAD YOU HAVE THAT OPTION!
GLAD THAT YOU HAVE A FUTURE TO LOOK FORWARD TO. I CERTAINLY DON'T. NOT UNLESS I FIGHT FOR IT.
AS FOR ME, WELL.
I THINK I RAN MYSELF INTO A WALL I COULDN'T GET OUT OF WHEN I WAS HATCHED.
IF ANYONE CAN DO THIS SHIT, THIS IMPOSSIBLE SHIT ABOUT REVOLUTION AND OVERTHROWING TYRANNY AND TURNING EMPIRIALISTIC VALUES ON THEIR SIDE, IT'S ME, AND YOU BETTER DAMN BELIEVE IT.
courtingGrievances [CG] ceased trolling gravitatingApoptosis [GA] at 5:20 AM --
First it was hot, sandy, and terrible. The wind blew sand so rough into the faces of your group that your nose felt raw and hot, blistered with the sun's heat. At the beginning of this whole thing, you could barely stand to be in the sun for thirty minutes.
You've been in the desert for what seems like weeks. But what is in reality is probably three days. Slogging through the dust and sand has given you calves of steel, you're sure, but you think you've lost a bit of your mind in the process.
Sun. Wind. Heat. Dryness. Blistering. Scorching. Burning.
The rain is a welcome addition to the cacophony in your head.
Clouds. Wind. Wet. The lightning is gorgeous, though, streaks of red and blue and white and yellow arcing through the sky, illuminating the towering forms of the storm clouds above you.
Kanaya was right, you would know it when you see it. It truly is a stunning sight.
You hitch your backpack up on your shoulders a bit, eyes like dim embers underneath your hood, raindrops dripping down your nose. You're actually, you know. Happy. The rain is cool, but you know that as soon as it gets hot again... everything will become muggy, and it will be even worse than before. You'll be miserable.
But one glance to the side and you know you will never be as miserable as Sollux is feeling right now. Lightning arcs up and down his horns, and his hand is clenched in yours so you can lead him with you while he keeps his eyes shut tight. The lightning is attracted to him, and you know it fills him with power... and fills him with a headache so large that you can't even possibly imagine the magnitude.
You squeeze his hand and continue on. An hour passes. The storm lightens a little, passing overhead until the rain is just a drizzle, and the wind has become lighter, more of a cool breeze than a howling gust.
Your stomach painfully reminds you- Sollux was right. You haven't eaten much in these past three days. The 100+ degree heat takes away your appetite. Sollux makes sure you drink water every time you stop... or he did. You've started not feeling so good, and you've refused him the last couple of times he's offered you water, or pretended to drink, because it makes your stomach ache with pain, makes it hurt to walk. "So close," You'd tell him. "I can make it. I can SMELL Kanaya's. I can smell her plants, I can smell the greenage."
You have to stop now, and you let go of his hand. Your legs hurt, your stomach hurts. Sollux is brimming with so much energy that holding him is like holding something with a small current running through it.
"Kk?" He mumbles, then, louder. "Karkat." Then he tugs your arm and you look at him. You're so tired. You've been slogging through the rain for eight hours. You slept maybe five hours before that. The first time you’d slept in the past few days. Before that, eight or twelve more hours of walking. The sand-mud combo drags you down and makes it hard to raise your legs, you've been knee deep at points, you're so tired of this, you just... want to take a small nap, actually, you want to take a break, but you can't seem to open your mouth at the moment. You don't have the /energy/. You just blink at him, and he tilts his head. How's he doing that, it's like he's tilting his whole body just to look at you.
Maybe Kanaya's tag for you was more appropriate than you thought.
