Work Text:
Life Death
on Alternia isn't quite as
may have had its bad as you thought
bad breaks, had its it'd be in that
highs game's death toll ghostly
& its has been paid robotic
lows, in full with shell,
but interest. The but
the time to dance the
to time's own
deathly waltz
is over now;
you're alive
and happy
once more,
and you do
very much
intend on
staying
that
way
.
It starts with a soft
whispering at the back
of your head as the sounds of the dead and
the damned grow louder and louder and
louder until your eyes pop and it
leaves you
scream ing
wonder ing
why they
won't just
shut up,
shut up,
2hut UP!!!
and then
you're dead.
But not for long, because there's yet
more to be done. You were always fated to
die twice, so you awake
on Derse and start
to play the game.
You'd always dreamed of
flying, of letting the
wind blow beneath your
feet as you soar through
the country- side without
a care in the world, besides
your FLARPing and beside
your lusus. Unluckily,
Pupa Pan only shows up
to those trolls who
completely believe,
not in him but in themselves, and
the fake confidence that Rufio gave you
you just simply couldn't
make up for it. Twice she
gave you a chance for you
to redeem yourself, but
it was too little, too
late. You might not have
deserved it all, but
that doesn't change the fact that
it's adios, Toreasnore.
You are Karkat Vantas, and
you're a natural-born leader with
righteous fury, a perfect example of your race.
One day you'll be a threshecutioner, striking fear
into the hearts of renegade trolls
all across the majestic Alternian empire.
You know that this is what you were
hatched to do, you know know that it's
been your purpose ever since you tore
your way from the brooding caverns onto
the unforgiving surface of
the Alternian deserts. You're Except none
a ruthless killing of that is true in the
machine. slightest. You hide
behind a hardened
outward shell of
inventive invective,
as your friends fall apart; even the
universe that you wrought with your blood
and sweat and tears treats you with impudence;
it's all fueled by your self-hatred reflected at
the world that cursed you with the symbol of a long-forgotten
heretic. But really? It doesn't matter. Because they
all know it's all a charade. And they all
appreciate you just the same.
If only you believed it.
You saw him
die hiding in grates,
you saw the highblood
choke the life out of
your best furiend, your
meowrail. You knew that
you didn't have a chance
against him, but you knew
that you'd rather die
and live in a dream a bubble
with him than hide and win a
hollow victory. So you pounced
scratched and fought but all to
no avail. You died there in
the lab, but at least you
died with him. In the end
your moirail
is the most
impurrtant
thing in the
world to you.
And now you
can be with him
together, furever.
You'd always But like When you
tried your you'd always found them,
hardest to said, each the showdown
live up to one of you of murderers
your handle, has a very hoping to re- deem
to help the important themselves through killing
rebirth of job to do. the others, you knew just
troll-kind. You came what you had to do.
But your back blood- Your turn to shine.
friend had less and You kick the clown in
turned, his bloodthirty the bulge, claim his
allegiance and full of trophy for your own.
shifted. He desire to The prince, your killer,
killed you auspistice he deserves more than
& left you 'tween Erid- you can give him.
for dead. an's halves. You'll have to settle
Arming him And while for simply chainsawing
with wands you're at him in two. And your
might have it, perhaps erstwhile unrequited
been a establish matesprit? She very well
mistake. superiority. deserves a death of her
own. But you aren't the
one to give it to her;
you'd rather just
tell her: you're finished
with putting up with her.
You're your own troll now.
You swear you can
hear Redglare's voice in your
ear through the centuries that
separate the two of you, and
she's telling you to kill your
best enemy, your worst friend,
your kismesprit your matesis,
sight-robber companion
manipulator confidante
pirate partner
murderer Vriska.
But you can see the dread Marquise Spinneret Mindfang must
be brought to justice and you are just the one to do it.
Your cane goes in clean, but it comes out stained sour.
Her body falls to the ground in a blueberry pool, so dark against her
orange god-tier outfit. You murmur a quiet apology into the infinite
void of the Veil, but both of you always knew it would end like this.
You won. You But Then
got all of a Marquise needs you found John.
the levels, a Summoner to be He was every-
and all the hers and despite thing you had
sweet loot. all your effort, hoped for and
There isn't he was nowhere somehow more.
a troll who near what the He trusted you
can withstand journals that completely, no
the spider8ite you'd stayed up matter how
and FLARPers reading all day foolish it may
all over cower said he'd be. have been. And
at the thought Even when you in him you found
of the dread- killed him in what you might
ed Mindfang. the Veil, you have missed.
And the best didn't feel the He could have
part is, you satisfaction taught you how
have even come you hoped you to be a human,
to believe would. Only how to live
your own lies. emptiness came. life the way And
he lived his. now he
But then your future bled out doesn't even
onto that dull, gray stone floor. remember
who you
are.
Your fierce loyalty to your
moirail despite her low blood
(you gave her your old jacket)
was always your most
powerful strength,
and unfor- tunately,
also your greatest
weakness. In the end, your b100-
b100ded instincts & desire to
protect your moirail
left you at, as
you'd punningly put
it, cross purposes.
Perhaps it would've
been better not to have
sought the highblood.
But what's done's is
still done.
And she
fur-gives
you always.
You used to cloud your
think pan with that poison
sopor slime and hide the true
self beneath a smog of honks.
There was nobody to stop you
from wasting your true potential
on juggling clubs and miracles.
But then you stopped and for
the first time, you felt yourself.
You struck back at the ones who had mocked
you, you gave Dave dreams that would now
haunt him for the the rest of that
pathetic life. And you know the
best part of the ult- imate
joke the game had told,
is that you'll get away
with it. Because
they can't
kill you now
that you've
turned over
a new leaf.
After all, it wasn't your
motherfucking fault,
was it?
You are going to murder
all the land dwellers. You're going to fill
all of your quadrants, and Fef will be your
matesprit. You could even get Karkat to be your
kismesis! Or maybe Vriska! You are going
to be the scourge of the high seas.
But you know none of that
really will ever happen, be- cause you made
your own death warrant when you be- trayed
your kind killed your Empress and when you ruined
the matri- orb. You died just like you had
lived: torn apart by your quadrants
From the very start, you
had always believed that
your destiny was uniting
landdwellers & seadwellers
together, to usher in
a new era of tolerance.
Whether they wanted it
or not. In retrospect
that might have been
kiiind of naive .
And now the seadwellers are gone, killed by the self-same bloodthirstiness
that drove the Empress's fleet across thousands on thousands of light-sweeps
to dominate any species with the sheer gall to live on a resource-rich planet.
But while you drift
among the bubbles of
dreams you see another
session, the one that you
created. They definitely
do look like they could use
help! It's cute how glubbing
scared they are of the gods.
They want to be your fronds!