[Fic] "Trollstuck," part 29 (end of ch. 7) - Homestuck

[edenfalling]

back to part 28

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Trollstuck, part 29
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====>Vriska: Converse

-- gleefulGorgon [GG] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] --

GG: attention vriska serket!
GG: ive tried everything else under the stars and ive run out of options
GG: so now im going to try something completely nuts and ask you directly
GG: PLEASE DONT KILL ARADIA
GG: aside from it being a douche move, it will doom our entire future!!!!!!
GG: even you cant be a big enough dumbass to want that
GG: right?
AG: Attention Jarlia Agaion!
AG: I'm so flattered to know you have such a high opinion of me.
GG: the tip top highest, you know it
GG: we are nothing but smiles and rainbows and hugs up in here
GG: that is the actual literal truth and in no way an expression of frustrated sarcasm
GG: :)
AG: Wow, what a 8urn. Not!
AG: 8esides, what makes you think I care a8out saving the future?
AG: Some things can't 8e changed.
AG: If we're all doomed anyway, why shouldn't I 8e the one to set the 8oard in motion!
GG: oh i dont know, maybe because THE FUTURE CAN BE CHANGED??????
AG: Can it? How sure are you?
AG: Have you ever had the same vision twice to prove that your actions made any difference?
AG: Don't you narrow your eyes at me.
AG: It's an honest question!
GG: since when do you take a leaf out of davvens book?
GG: i know what i know, and i pick my intervention points very carefully!
GG: there are shatterpoints in time and if you push them, everything changes!
GG: maybe i cant be sure what shape the change will take
GG: but i am definitely making a positive difference
GG: which is more than i can say for you!
AG: Flipping off your computer just makes you look like a giant dork.
GG: ......
GG: youre trying to make me think youre in my head arent you
GG: its not going to work, i know you cant control me
AG: Can't I? May8e I've just 8een pretending all this time.
AG: May8e all the times you laughed at me for my 'pathetic scra88ling' at the edges of your mind were only a ploy to lull you into false security.
AG: May8e I can even invade your dreams.
AG: Ahahahahahahahaha!
AG: 8ad 8ark8east, don't throw your computer across the 8lock!
AG: That won't solve any of your pro8lems.
GG: it solved the problem of me needing to break something
GG: preferably something in your color, like a bunch of your stupid words in your stupid quirk all over my screen
GG: and i have tons of computers so its not like i destroyed anything irreplaceable!
GG: not like you did when you broke tavros
GG: :)
AG: Nothing irreplaceable?
AG: What a8out your peace of mind? :::;)
GG: way to dodge the subject!
GG: i dont know how you can see what im doing but im pretty sure thats all you can do
GG: see
GG: not control
GG: not even manipulate, because i am on to you and your pathetic little tricks
GG: youre not anywhere near terezis or alondes league
GG: youre not even in karkats league!
AG: Since when has Karkat Vantas known jack shit a8out getting people to do what he wants????????
GG: exactly! :)
AG: Oooh, sick 8urn.
AG: You've got guts. I'll grant you that.
AG: Why the hell couldn't you teach Tavros how to show some spine instead of telling him it was ok to a8scond all the time?
GG: why the hell couldnt you just get off his back and let him be himself instead of trying to turn him into a little vriska shaped puppet??????
GG: but no
GG: we are not talking about you and tavros now
GG: we are talking about you and aradia and sollux
GG: im not letting you do that thing where you turn every conversation around and make yourself look like the victim and everyone else look like the bad guys
AG: Wow, how 8lind can you 8e?
AG: I am the victim!
AG: What did I ever do to Megido, huh?
AG: She had no right to set her ghosts on me and I have every right to fight 8ack.
GG: you hurt her friend very badly for no reason
GG: then you acted like it was his fault!
GG: thats what you did!
GG: and now youre just digging yourself deeper and trying to doom us all
GG: or did you forget that part already?
AG: Oh sure, I know how this tune goes.
AG: Everything is Vriska's fault! Not just our dum8 little pro8lems here and now, 8ut anything that ever went wrong in all of history!
AG: All the pro8lems. All of them!!!!!!!!
AG: If I'll get 8lamed for everything anyw8y, I might as well 8e responsi8le for as much as I can.
AG: I'll take your lies and m8ke them true!
GG: that is not what i said and you know it
GG: you can change the subject and insult me all you want, but i wont stop trolling you until you agree not to do anything terrible and stupid tonight
AG: That's all? Fine. I agree.
GG: ......
GG: ............
GG: ..................
GG: um
GG: good?
AG: I agree not to let Aradia keep tormenting me for no reason, 8ecause that would 8e a8solutely the most terri8le thing I can imagine!
AG: I agree not to 8uckle under pressure and do what other people want instead of what I know is right, 8ecause that would also 8e terri8le!
AG: And I agree to 8lock you so you can't distract me and make me lose track of time, 8ecause that would 8e incredi8ly stupid.
AG: Sucker!!!!!!!!

-- arachnidsGrip [AG] has blocked gleefulGorgon [GG] --

====>Observe

Jarlia's projected image keeps typing furiously on the handheld pad she yanked out of her sylladex to replace her ruined desktop, but Trollian conveniently dumps her words into a junk file for you to read or delete later at your leisure. No more chimes and irritating green text clog up your screen or your mind.

You check the time in the bottom corner of your screen and scowl. If Jarlia was telling the truth about trolling you as a last resort, that means she's probably told a bunch of your other mutual acquaintances. There's nothing any of them can do to stop you, of course, but why take the chance? The sooner you start, the sooner you finish.

You raise your hands to your temples and close your eyes, focusing on Sollux and his strange half-permeable, half-impenetrable mind.

Your computer chimes again.

Argh!

====>Answer

-- tentacleTormentrix [TT] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] --

TT: -> I've opened a memo. <-
TT: -> You will join it. <-
AG: Oh yeah? What's in it for me?
TT: -> The satisfaction of your curiosity. Nothing more, nothing less. <-
TT: -> I'm certain you could carry on quite swimmingly without the knowledge I am prepared to impart,
TT: -> but I'm equally certain you won't want to. <-
TT: =:)
TT: -> Au revoir, my fellow Seeker in the Abyss. <-

-- tentacleTormentrix [TT] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] --

AG: 8itch, come 8ack and say th8t to my f8ce!
AG: ........
AG: Shit.

====>Now what?

You are not going to join the stupid memo. You are not going to join the stupid memo. You are not going to join the--

Oh, who are you kidding, of course you're going to join the memo.

But first you take a minute to glare at your secret advantage. Being able to spy on Jarlia wasn't as useful as you'd hoped, but maybe spying on Alonde will have better results. If nothing else, you might get some tips on how to deal with the horrorterrors in the future. Alonde may go on and on and on about research and training and mental preparation -- you have never met a troll who likes the sound of her own voice as much as that seawitch! -- but you know it's all a cover for the shortcuts she doesn't want anyone to find out.

You are the empress of shortcuts, and not a single one will escape your sight. None of them!

Obligingly, the projected scene splits in two: one fake window onto Jarlia batting at a thorny vine with her computer pad, and another fake window onto Alonde sitting on one of her hive's ridiculous number of balconies, spray kicking up off the coral reef and dampening her pitch-black skirt. It's a very dramatic image -- the lonely seadweller in her dark tower, straight out of those awful gothic novels Kanaya pretends she doesn't read. You bet fussyfangs would drool. (You bet Alonde knows that, too.)

You bite your lip. If Alonde's outside, you won't be able to get much spying done, which makes this memo a total waste of time. And you don't have all the time in the world.

Just as you're about to close your eyes and get back to concentrating on Sollux, Alonde looks up from her own handheld computer pad. Impossibly, despite the miles and magic, her eyes meet yours.

She holds up her pad to show you the waiting memo, and smiles.

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End Chapter Seven

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Next section, yet another inadvisible memo, featuring Alonde, Vriska, and Jarlia!

I can probably squeeze additional characters in if anyone would like, but your options are somewhat limited by plot and other restrictions. Karkat's not currently available since he is attempting to troll Jothan, Jothan is unconscious and then talking to Karkat, Equius is salvaging the doomsday device, Eridan is pissed off at Alonde, Gamzee & Tavros are bad options on account of pie, Aradia is still afk, and Sollux is still out with a migraine. The available characters are, therefore, Nepeta (who just finished telling Jarlia about everyone's plans and might want to see how they're working out), Kanaya (who I think is still unaware of the mess but may stumble across the memo in an attempt to contact Alonde for other reasons), Feferi (who is likewise unaware but might want to talk to Alonde about Eridan), and Davven and/or Terezi (who might or might not be done with their own conversation, depending on how hard it was to convince Davven that Aradia's plight isn't a prank, and on how much time they wasted exchanging shitty art).

Or I could just go with the three characters I already have lined up. *shrug* It's up to you guys, I guess -- I will try to write the memo on Saturday, assuming all goes well. :-)

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continue to part 30

I am very glad to be working on this story again! During the several-month hiatus, I forgot how much fun it is to sit down and write whatever without worrying too much about artistry and structure and so on. In some ways, relinquishing total control of the plot means I also let go of a lot of stress -- if I'm not 100% in charge, there is no way to make the story "perfect," which means I don't have to try and can just play around instead. :-)

Comments

[askerian]

oh lord jarlia no. anyone could have told you it would only make things worse. x__x

I like how Alonde handles things though, ohohoho. >:D

Don't think we need anyone, and if Kanaya bumbling in will only worsen things then i dunno if i want her there, but it could be interesting too. Otherwise, maybe Terezi? Though while she knows how to handle vriska usually their issues might be too recent to help much... :/

[edenfalling]

There's a reason she said, way back in her conversation with Karkat, that rocket science is easier than romance. *wince* I tend to think that Jade generally makes friends easily and gets along with people because she is a cheerful and friendly person, but she's not really good at, hmmm, the more subtle nuances of social interaction. She can do sarcasm and teasing, but she's less good at persuasive arguments, and manipulation is really not her field. She's very straightforward, which can be a weakness as well as a strength.

Rose, on the other hand, is an old hand at convolution. *grin*

I honestly could not tell you what Kanaya's presence might or might not do to the conversation -- I do not plan the chatlogs to that level of detail. I usually have a few points I need to hit, sometimes in a certain order, but beyond that it's all improvisation. Now that you mention it, Terezi is probably still too angry, hurt, and guilty to deal well with Vriska, and I don't want Scourge Sister angst to drown out the other participants in the memo, so on due consideration I will not have her join this one.

[explodingfrogs.livejournal.com]

Just as you're about to close your eyes and get back to concentrating on Sollux, Alonde looks up from her own handheld computer pad. Impossibly, despite the miles and magic, her eyes meet yours.

She holds up her pad to show you the waiting memo, and smiles.

Ohgogyes. I love it when that happens. Just oh-so-casually breaking the rules of time, space, and causality to puncture the overconfident seer's ego. Alonde has style.

As for who the memo should include? Everyone available, of course. To maximize conversational trainwreck potential. And Vriska distraction potential.

[edenfalling]

I figure that Alonde is, of all the characters, the one most likely to sense when she's being spied on via eldritch shenanigans. Feferi is probably second-most likely, due to long familiarity with Gl'bgolyb. Sollux and Aradia might pick up on it through disturbances among the voices of the doomed and the dead, but that's a coin toss at best. Everyone else would be completely in the dark.

(Vriska does not think her plans through very well.)

I am pondering memo mechanics as I type. We shall see how it goes!