Aranea Serket
@anyphaenidsGrandeur
Sylph of Light. 8eforan. Cerulean. Please do not inquire a8out my past atrocities.
#leijonwriting #eridanweek #longpost You were never particularly invested in the daily melodrama of Eridan Ampora. It had not even necessarily occurred to you to even think a8out him that often. As far as you were concerned, he was just another pawn 8eing used on the cosmic 8oard, 8eing su8jected to Skaia's whims as helplessly as you were. Never even 8reaching his monumental personality flaws. You pinch the 8ridge of your nose as he approaches you. You were expecting a quiet evening at the local tavern. Nothing too extravagant, just people watching. You guess that that was too much to ask as your hopes were swiftly dashed upon the rocks, 8ut there is no steep cliff for you to gracefully 8ow out of this conversation. "Hey," he greets you, his deadpan cadence somehow failing to hide his eagerness. "This place is a fuckin wwash, right? Havve you evven 8een inside the pitiful excuses for a8lution 8locks? You'd 8e 8etter off havvin a soak in the 8ay at lowwtide." Neither of you laugh at his attempt to 8r8k the ice. He shifts uncomforta8ly for a moment, 8row creasing at your lack of response. He sits down on the stool next to you, heaving a sigh of frustration. "Fine, I get it. Can't fuckin 8elievve a wwaste of genetic material like you thinks they're too good for a little chit chat wwith real no8ility, 8ut sure, yeah, I get it. Like I don't already fuckin knoww howw evvery8ody thinks of me." You feel a pang of, no, not pity, *sympathy.* You make it a point to keep those feelings very, very separate when dealing with his ilk. You tap your fingers against your half-empty glass contemplatively. "...How are you, Eridan?" you finally ask. His eyes light up, and you realize with a sinking feeling that his ploy had worked on you. "A8out time you found your tongue," he says. "Anywway, I'm doing horri8ly. Evverythin's 8asically untena8le and we should all 8e collectivvely wwringin our necks ovver how fucked it all is. Me in particular, I'm fucked. You think you could givve me some a that wwisdom you're alwways so purportedly toutin a8out?" You feel your eye twitch. You suppose that you did, at some point, have a conversation with him in the past, though you can scarcely recall it with any sem8lance of clarity. One of your weaker moments. You momentarily consider just telling him to fuck off and to leave you alone, 8ut you are, regretta8ly, a nosy sort of person. Despite everything, you do have a sincere sort of fascin8tion with him. Similar to watching a scuttle8uggy crash in slow motion, you can't help 8ut o8serve with keen interest as Eridan Ampora trips and stum8les over the course of his existence with a profound resign8tion staining his soul. You know that for all of his posturing and grasping at dignity, he su8consciously has already decided that he is not good enough. Whatever "good enough" even entails in a 8road scope. You indulge his emotional theatrics in the 8ar that night. He even sometimes says something funny, although if they were altogether intentional you weren't sure. You reacted positively and that incited him to keep going. You've heard it all 8efore, however. Friends who've cut him off, potential alliances that never made it past the har8or, the occasional 8emoaning of romantic struggles. You're not 8ored. He is theatrical enough to keep you engaged with his performance, 8ut you try not to interject too often, and only say that which he wants to hear. You really don't think you can handle 8eing a pillar of emotional support for him, much less invest yourself into the monumental task of "changing" how he thinks and feels. Hours pass. He stands to his feet and stretches. "This wwas a good talk. Let's do this again sometime, yeah? Yeah. I think wwe can make this into a wweekly thing, wwhat do you think? Actually, scratch that, I'll let you knoww wwhen wwe should hang out again." You say nothing. He seems fine with that. You think you might've 8ecome his friend? You'll 8e honest, you're not sure how many times you've accidentally hung out with him, 8ut you're 8eginning to question if this is a pattern that you've fallen into. Or worse, you're actually his friend. You hope you're not endeared to him. Oh, right, and two guys were kissing at the 8ar the whole time you two were conversing. Yaoi.
What on Alternia have my eyes chanced upon this eve.
I saw a challenge and I welcomed it, as a nice little 8ow to wrap up Eridan week and 8e rid of the whole thing.
kicking my feet giggling i haven't roleplayed in literal years and i love roleplaying sm and the people that are in the community everyone is so cool and awesome >v< admittedly i should have returned to roleplaying sooner but after some certain events in my life i had been offput from the topic out of fear (don't wanna describe them rn, they're blagh) and i also just never really found a website in specific that i vibed with after the one i had been using like. Shut Down For Good right after I left lol fun fact- this is my first time rping proper on an actual webbedsite for homestuck specifically!!! i had originally either rped different fandom stuff on the other site or in discords that eventually got nuked one way or another (at least i think that's what happened to them-)
girldinner part 2 https://files.catbox.moe/tn8zcd.jpg
No, I think he likes it like this. He just enjoys seeing everyone's reactions.
You know exactly what you're doing to these people trying to help you and you relish in their powerlessness against your dining ha8its.
Fun fact for Eridan week...fun fact for Eridan week...hm. I...genuinely don't have any interesting lore tid8its for this one. Sorry everyone.
...Okay, I have one, 8ut this is kind of a secret, so don't go and spread it around. It is discussed in academic circles that Eridan was meant to 8e a prophesized hero of Hope with a gr8 destiny, 8ut rumors a8ound of a malicious and evil time-traveling wizard that thwarted said destiny from hatching. ...It's just a wiggler story, though.
- Holy. Freaking. Moly. 🤯 - I had no idea... that wizards and timme travel and heroes of "Hope" even EXISTED. Unless it is just a wiggler story. Which is fine, even if that sort of thing is a flight of fancy or whatever. 🤣🤣 - But if you had a Grubstack or a Grummblr where you mmight keep other such "lore." I would be VERY interested in reading mmore of your writing. 👀😆
- Ooh, yes! Most definitely! 😄 I always need a little sommething to soothe the pan before I hop in the old 'cupe at day. 🙂↕️🙂↕️ - Uh...why do you ask? 😀
Nothing, nothing! That's a completely normal thing for someone to say, after all. You liked it, you wanted to read more! 1+1=2 and all that.
My pan po+unds and my blo+o+d ro+ils. So+mething is happening and I am deeply co+nfused. Where am I? Where are we? Where are yo+u?
Please, try to relax. You're alright. He's alright. Do you remem8er anything?
I shouldn't have scrolled down on my feed. #Dashwatching
i can not help but be curious! it is ok if you do not want to get into it though.
There is just a weariness that accompanies the experience of interacting with many other trolls. The way that there isn't just a division among castes, 8ut 8etween universes. I was initially pleased to 8e a8le to have the chance to engage with 8eforus again, a relic of the past dragged into the present. 8ut it is like oil and water when Alternians and 8eforans interact sometimes. I can't even say I 8lame the Alternians for their frustrations. It serves as a reminder of a guilty wish of mine to have always had 8een hatched an Alternian, rather than what I am and can't change. You can't undo where you come from. It makes me simultaneously nostalgic and a little ashamed.
Evening.
Good evening to you. Are you faring well after...events that need not 8e ela8or8ted on?
If it offers any consol8tion, I was the final one transformed 8y that wretched affliction, whatever grotesque alchemy had reshaped the others. Precisely 8ecause of this, I had the foresight and the fortune to amass a rather extensive collection of compromising material. It wasn't until the Orphaner, humili8ted in 8attle 8y a human half his size, turned his now, possessed attention toward me that my reprieve ended. He came at me with reckless determin8tion, while I plunged into the sea, trusting in my strength as a swimmer to carry me 8eyond the reach of the other fools. 8ut he had changed. With newfound flight, he descended like a ravenous sea8ird spotting a 8ag of chips from the pier, circling with predatory glee. Undeterred of his illumin8ted pursuit, I dove 8eneath the surface to dodge his swiping from the sky, dragging the fight into ocean. There, 8eneath the churning foam, we clashed, a struggle neither land nor sky could claim. And yet, even in that alien element, where his seadwelling a8ilities gave him the edge, he could still not 8est me. Though my lungs 8urned and the dark water pressed in, I landed a 8low, a precise, forceful strike to his face that shattered his focus and 8ought me the precious seconds needed to reach for air. Of course, what followed after… well, that is another story entirely. All in all, I am well. I am currently listening to Ella Fitzgerald to unwind the night. Yourself?
An impressive tale, I must say. May8e not one for the ages, 8ut even I can enjoy the irony of the Orphaner 8eing 8ested 8y you even in a heightened st8te of magically enhanced ecstasy. I'm pleased that you were a8le to keep track of the majority of the event while still in your right mind. Even if 8y some happenstance there is some o8scure loophole that Crocker didn't account for the in the non-disclosure agreement, an accur8te recollection of events is important. After all, for however stu88ornly it keeps turning up, the lollipop juju's effects are a rare sight to witness. I shan't inquire to the after, I can surmise the details without it. I'll just say that depriving yourself of your palmhusk 8efore succum8ing to it was clever. I would've done the same. As for me, not much of importance. I've returned to my study of Alternia pre-apocalypse. I haven't honestly given it as much attention as I should have since I was more captiv8ted 8y ancient history.
Many tales aren't worth the ink to record them, and this one certainly will not grace the pages of my journal. A word for the wise, an non disclosure is only a valid agreement for those who sign it. You shall find no fingerprints of mine on that document; the Orphaner's are. He is the lia8le party, not I. Ha. So, that's why you're here. You're seeking a inform8tion as per usual. You expect me to narr8te the experience of Alternia for you?
Not at all. It was merely a st8tement of what I'm up to. I didn't ask you to do or say anything, though if you were compelled to share any crum8s of knowledge of your own free will, I wouldn't refuse. I just want to make it clear that I demanded nothing from you. I had a feeling I wouldn't have found any trace of your signature on any kind of document. The plus one flies under the radar once more.
TW: #c9mplaining If the site can hardly handle a hundred active users, perhaps I sh9uld give up 9n the separati9n 9f n9rmal p9sts and NSFW p9sts.
I'm not particularly keen on the more salacious aspects of the we8site myself, 8ut it's hard to deny the reality that that is the majority of the site's audience, which I won't fault them for. I think there's really no need to 8e so pessimistic, though. This site seems to 8e quite recently made and will undou8tedly either spectacularly crash and 8urn or evolve and adapt. Either way, I'm fairly certain that there will at least 8e some form of improved 8ackend maintenance if it is just given time.
Y9u're pr96a6ly right that it's t99 s99n f9r me t9 6e judging them. I supp9se it's just frustrating 6ecause I am f9urteen pages int9 my pr9p9sal f9r h9w the site 9ught t9 6e run, and I w9rry h9w seri9usly my pr9p9siti9n will 6e taken. That's n9t even t9 menti9n h9w l9ng it will take t9 c9llect signatures t9 add credence t9 my suggesti9ns. 9ut that has n9thing t9 d9 with the site itself, this is simply s9mething I must w9rk 9n as an individual wh9 is always gr9wing and learning. TW: #c9mplaints
I don't suppose it has ever occurred to you to request an editor for your proposal? Someone who can help you trim the fat off of your writing in order to make it a 8it more digesti8le for a less intellectual audience? Perhaps you could even save the prose and simply su8stitute it for an itemized list of suggestions.
Hm. Perhaps. I just w9rry that 'trimming the fat' may——t9 use y9ur apt f99d c9mparis9n——als9 rem9ve the flav9r. Intellectual language exists f9r a reas9n. It is n9t like my pr9p9sal is fl9wery, anyh9w. Lengthy, yes, 6ut direct. At least, in my 9wn 9pini9n. Still, I will c9nsider it. If n9thing else, treating the pr9p9sal in its current state as m9re 9f a draft than a finished pr9duct will give me the time and space t9 p9tentially tighten it up, and eliminate anything unnecessary. Irregardless 9f what I d9, y9ur advice is appreciated, Aranea. M9st d9 n9t ch99se t9 engage with me 9n this level.
I can understand your frustr8tions, that's all, even if I might not necessarily follow your methodology. I find moder8tion and improvement of an online space to not only 8e important, 8ut a compelling exercise in gauging the user8ase and what they want. "Reading their minds," as it were. You have the right idea here, may8e even some of your suggestions could 8e *good.* I just think it is most effective when you can really get your audience.
:33 < WRITING CONTEST!!! Furr tonight's lack of festivities clawnsidering the #dayofrest sabath #eridanw33k s33ms to be holding after a.. rather generously title 'fiasco' yestpurrday, The Leijon Gossip Column would like to offurr a small challenge to pay the tithe to our lord @caligulasAquarium INTROMEWCING!!! THE #leijonwriting CHALLENGE!!! Here, mew may submit any purriece of writing under the previous hashtag, and given certain topics mentioned like #eridanw33k or #yaoi / #yuri, you may recieve specpurr points depending on how much I like their usage :3c Mew may get some kind of prize furr it, maybe acceptance as a spurrecial guest in an upcoming eridanw33k event? We'll figfurr it out together! PROMPT: (F33l fr33 to customize it! This is just an example) You're at a bar. It's late. You hear the bells of the door jingle as you stare d33p into the half empty drink before you, you don't even care who it is.. but then you f33l a touch on your arm. You look over. It's Eridan... What does he want? What do you do? Do you want him? He might want you.. Anyway, happy writing!
It seems like a fun and harmless writing exercise. I will attempt to portray Ampora in the most dignified manner I can muster.
Alternia is a scary place. I'm scared. I feel like I should run.
I recommend you don't do that. When you run, it makes you look guilty. And if you're guilty, you're swiftly executed. Your 8est 8et is to keep your head down and try not to attract attention to yourself, even if that means having to put unwanted attention on others.
Good to know. I was about to try and book it and run somewhere in Outglut, but I guess that isn't the best idea.
Outglut...Outglut...the su8gru8s are usually less dangerous, 8ut there are more frequent drone patrols there. You can take advantage of this 8y the fact that drones are generally easier to fool than high8lood opportunists.
I think me and Aranea basically said the same thing. Great Samurai think alike.
You may take up the 8lade alongside me if you so choose.