BONUS ROUND 1

[hso_mods]

Bonus Round 1

Genre-Mixing

Hey, shippers! Welcome to your very first bonus round proper--we hope you have lots of fun with it! This time around we're going to be asking you to mix it up a little--each fanwork posted for this round will be a mish-mash of two different genres, blended together in a delightful incestuous slurry to create an UNSTOPPABLE CREATIVE CONCOCTION--er. Or. Something.

Yeah, we're genre-mixing. That's what we're doing this round.

Rules

1. Submit prompts! Prompts should consist of two different genres and one ship. This cannot be your team's ship! These are worth 5 points each, for a maximum of 100 points per team.


2. Look through the prompts and fill whichever you like!


3. You may not fill prompts for your ship, nor may you fill your own team's prompts.


4. Fills should be posted as replies to the prompts which they are for, following the format below. They may be any medium.

Title Format
If you are starting a new thread, please use this format in your title.
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.

If you are filling a prompt, use this format in your title.
FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.

Posts not using this format in the title will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, no matter what they contain. They, like all comments on the comm, are subject to the Wank Policy.

Scoring
For prompt posts: 5 points each (maximum of 100 per team)

For fills (as stated here):
First 5 entries in each post: 30 (per entry)
Entries 6-10 in each post: 20 (per entry)
Entries 11-15 in each post: 10 (per entry)
Entries 16+ in each post: 5 (per entry)

All scored content must be created/assembled new for this round.

If you have any questions, please ask them at the FAQ post here, or email them to us (homestuck.shipping at gmail). Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that we will see them in a timely fashion!

Comments

PROMPT: TEAM JOHN<3KARKAT

[fivetail]

Dave<3Rose, comedy + supernatural.

FILL: TEAM DAVE<3KANAYA<3ROSE

[tobias_fiori]

Being a monster hunter isn't as glamorous as it sounds. Sure, it means a chance to tussle with creepy critters of the night, but it also entails running from the cops when you end up lighting an old house on fire by accident. Turns out that "we were cleansing it of dark forces" does not excuse you from charges of arsony. Bummer.

It's not like they ever even find something spooky to smack around half the time. The last few months especially have been more of an extended road trip than anything else, and Rose is starting to get tired of eating trail mix for every meal. Dave tells her to go try out that crossbow on a rabbit or some shit so that they can get some real meat that isn't Slim Jims, and Rose slaps him upside the head with one her trashy truck stop novels and tells him to find a place to eat.

He pulls over at a small diner a few more miles up the road, some dinky little Ma-and-Pa shtick that's supposed to feel just like home. Considering their childhood consisted of occult combat training since elementary school, they could beg to differ, but food is food. They sit at the end of the counter and share a menu since the place looks pretty busy and the waiter keeps addressing them like they're a couple when he comes to take their order. It's a common misconception and Dave has stopped trying to pull the "shes my sister" card because Rose usually just ends up saying "That didn't stop you last night," and he really doesn't want to get side-eyed at a family diner.

When Rose is halfway through her sandwich and Dave is done with his and picking fries off her plate, they overhear some gossip at the next table over. They share a look with each other and straighten up a bit on their stools, paying close attention. Apparently, someone has been trashing this diner every other night and stealing all the raw cuts of meat. It sounds suspicious enough to warrant staying over night to check it out, so they camp out in their car in the parking lot until it's dark. Once the last of the patrons have left the diner and the owners have locked up they move in.

Dave shits around with some novelty lockpicking set he picked up last week and when he somehow manages to get one of the picks lodged into the keyhole, Rose tries the old tried-and-true credit cark trick. Thankfully, the door is old enough that it actually works.

"shit i thought that was only in the movies" Rose rolls her eyes and waits for him to pack up the rest of his kit before they enter together, crossbows poised for action. Dave mumbles that they must look pretty badass right now and Rose is inclined to agree but now is not the time. The old freezer in the back is standing ajar and in the dim fluorescent lighting there seems to be something hunched inside it. Rose signals for Dave to watch her back and crouches down to creep closer, peeking over the counter to get a better look. Whatever it is seems to be feeding. There's blood pooling on the floor around its pale feet.

She ducks down again and mouths to her partner, 'Get me some salt.'

"get some what" he whispers, a little too loudly, and she shushes him.

"Salt," she hisses. He looks around the diner then grabs a shaker off the table and tosses it over. It hits the floor with a crack about a foot away from her and she fixes him with the most unimpressed look she can manage. He only shrugs. That little shit. At least it didn't break open. She crawls over to grab it and unscrews the lid, carefully pouring out the salt to make a circle around herself. Dave joins her with a gesture and once they are both enclosed in the safety circle she stands up to take aim.

The freezer is empty.

"what the fuck" Dave says somewhere over her shoulder, and someone else a little further back says, "This Is Sugar."

They freeze. Dave makes a sound a little like a squeak and Rose turns her head slowly to see who is behind them. The monster is knelt down at the edge of their broken circle with her finger in her blood-smeared mouth.

"Sugar..." Somehow, between the shock and terror, Rose manages to feel a flicker of anger. She rounds on her brother. "Sugar? You gave me fucking sugar, Dave? What in the nine rings of hell is that going to do, satiate Satan's sweet tooth?"

"hey dont act like you never fuck up you gave me salt instead of sugar that one time we stopped at dennys"

"These are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS."

"Uh, Pardon Me-"

"my coffee tasted awful"

"We are going to DIE, Dave, and I can't say that I'm surprised it's due to your unfailing incompetence at, oh, pretty much everything!"

"I Am Not Going To Kill You, Actually-"

"oh so this is the thanks i get for saving your ass from that werewolf last month"

"That wasn't even a werewolf! It was a missing dog that we didn't even get to collect the reward for because someone happened to skewer it with a silver katana!"

"it was a pretty big dog..."

"Am I Interrupting Something?"

"How about you own up to your own mistakes for once in your life, huh?" She jams her finger into his chest and he slaps her hand away.

"pop off rose before i own up to your face"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"your face doesnt make sense"

"I Think I Am Going To Leave Now. If You Will Excuse Me." The vampire stands up to her full (and rather impressive) height and carefully steps around them as they roll past her on the floor, hissing and spitting at each other like a pair of frazzled cats. Humans are erratic, strange creatures that she would rather not get involved with. Especially not right after dinner.

They don't even notice she's left until they are both left nursing their wounds after Rose knocked her head against a table leg and accidentally kicked Dave in the crotch as a reflex. They both agreed that it was a literal low blow and ceased fire temporarily.

"we lost the fucking monster great way to waste a night" Dave grumbles, delicately pressing a pack of frozen peas to his lap.

"You should feel lucky we're even still alive," Rose replies sharply, picking bits of sugar and dirt out of her hair.

"christ are we really going to go at this again what do you want me to do say im sorry im a fucking-" She leans over the table and pulls him forward by the front of his shirt, cutting him off with a rough kiss before letting him fall back into his seat.

"Shut up, Dave. I want you to shut up. It's been a long night." Dave touches his mouth in disbelief, then lets his forehead rest on the table with a sigh. It's a little fucked up, but he guesses it doesn't really matter. People already think they're a couple.

PROMPT: TEAM JOHN<3KARKAT

[fivetail]

John<3Rose, post-apocalyptic + romantic comedy.

FILL: TEAM TEREZI >3> VRISKA

[cest_what]

Meet-Cute for the New Millennium

The umbrella was on its last legs. The umbrella was past its last legs, and would basically need little wheels to get anywhere, if getting somewhere was a thing that umbrellas did and, whoa, okay, that metaphor had got beyond him.

The point was, the umbrella was a broken piece of crap, spokes off everywhere and sad little dips in the canvas and a handle that only held together with wire teased out of a ball of steel wool, but it was the only one John had, and finding and repairing it had been a triumph, and he was really proud of it, okay, and not giving it up even when Jade made the sad eyes. (Well. Only sometimes.)

But it was a sad broken thing, and it was failing really pathetically against the stupid gusty storm that had blown up out of nowhere and caught John half a mile from the safehouse he and Jade had cobbled together.

He angled into the wind, picking his way down a slope of rubble gone slick and dangerous in the wet, and the umbrella turned inside out again. One of the spokes flipped backwards, nearly taking out his eye. He stumbled, yelping a curse as he stubbed his toe, and put his foot down on a slab of broken concrete that turned treacherously beneath his heel.

Somebody grabbed his hand, keeping him from falling. He stumbled against a warm body, reflexively steadying himself against the stranger's waist.

"I – oh," he said. "Oh. Um."

She met his wide eyes with strange pale ones of her own. "Bearing in mind that I have a knife, and will not hesitate to use it to discover the jewel-like colours of your insides should you demonstrate the need," she said, raising her voice over the rain, "can I offer you the shelter of my umbrella?"

The umbrella in question was huge and violet and barely battered at all, and John was mostly underneath it already.

"That would be awesome," he said, tucking himself closer. His own broken umbrella dangled from his hands and bumped against his shin.

"Hi," John said, grinning down at her. She was very warm, and her hair was brushing his shoulder, and now that he thought about it what she'd just said had been unnecessarily creepy, and all up it was making it hard to think. "Um. Thank you! That was really neat of you. I guess chivalry didn't die when the world ended, haha."

She gave him a startled look, and then a bright flash of a smile that did weird warm things to his chest. "There's a safehouse half a block away," she said, still raising her voice above the rain, "and when we get there I'm going to need you to repeat that in front of my brother. Come on."

Her umbrella turned inside out halfway there, of course, because chivalry was no match for post-apocalyptic weather. They ran the rest of the way with John's coat stretched over their heads, and it was all basically a disaster but also, kind of, sort of, maybe, a bit brilliant.

Her name was Rose, and she turned out to be just as weird as she seemed.

PROMPT: TEAM DAD♥ROXY

[tawny]

Bro♥John, fairytale & alternative history

PROMPT: TEAM DAD♥ROXY

[tawny]

Dirk♥Equius, spaghetti western & coming of age

PROMPT: TEAM DAD♥ROXY

[tawny]

Jane♥UU, "film" noir & slapstick

PROMPT: TEAM DAD♥ROXY

[tawny]

John♦Vriska, myths & star-crossed lovers

PROMPT: TEAM DAD♥ROXY

[tawny]

Dirk♥uu, regency romance & speculative fiction

PROMPT: TEAM DIRK<3JAKE<3JANE<3ROXY

[nextian]

Jane♥ or ♦Terezi, descent to the underworld with fearsome critters?

Re: PROMPT: TEAM DIRK<3JAKE<3JANE<3ROXY

[theycallmeruthless]

squeals

Good prompt (8

PROMPT: TEAM Dave<3Rose<3Terezi

[dragon_bagon]

Magical Realism + Zombies for Dave<3Terezi!

PROMPT: TEAM JAKE<3JANE

[primitiveradiogoddess]

Jade<3Nepeta, Cyberpunk + Film Noir

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT<3SOLLUX

[astraldeveloper]

Class S + genderswap Equius<3Karkat! (please please)

FILL: TEAM TEREZI<3VRISKA

[mishfin]

here you go!!! :')

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Disciple <3< Darkleer
saga + slice of life

PROMPT: TEAM BRO<3DAD

[wildlinguist]

Dirk<3Jake, Pirates + romantic comedy

FILL: TEAM ERIDAN<3KARKAT

[vampyk]

This is probably the first time I've written in a while, so I apologize for how crazy and sarcastic it all sounds. I'm tired, but I managed to whip up a sketch for it. Wonderful prompt, though!
____________________________________________________________________





You and Dirk work as crew members of a pirate ship. The captain is quite a considerate guy, and he (surprisingly) hasn’t thrown you two overboard yet for being the best slackers out there. You blame Dirk for that, though. He’s constantly throwing jokes and stuff at you, and you always have to do his chores. But you stink at cleaning, so the captain usually has to get some other guys of the crew to finish up after you.

You love jokes. Jokes are great. You don’t have anything against Dirk, it’s just that his jokes quite literally suck and shouldn’t even be considered jokes. Most of them are sexual innuendo or deadpan anyway, and it’s quite obvious that he somewhat likes you. You don’t know how to respond to that. You’ll appreciate that he tries, at the least.

It’s getting late and the sun is setting—and you see Strider striding up to you to bother you some more.. He better be looking for something serious to talk about since you’re busy scrubbing the part of the deck that he was supposed to scrub.

He isn’t going to say anything serious. You can tell.

You two start discussing some of the usual things. The "usual things" consists of you complaining about how lazy he is and that you have to do all his work and him coming up with excuses of why he shouldn’t sweep or scrub or wash something. The "usual things" don’t consist of anything serious.

"You should get to work, Dirk. I don’t think Cap’ll be happy when he finds out that you’re walking around with his parrot on your shoulder. Help me sweep. " You toss him the other broom.

He gives in and helps you—you’re glad. But he’s definitely not going to shut up, and you know that.

"I’ve been teaching him some phrases. He’s a quick learner. " He looks satisfied as he glances at the bird on his shoulder. It’s like he’s expecting you to be impressed with all his hard work. Pffah.

You snort, wondering if he actually believes he can teach it to rap-off (as he calls it) with him, or something. "You’re ridiculous. He’s a parrot. He can’t compete with your mad skills. " You intended that to be sarcastic, but he looks like he’s going to take it as a compliment.

"Mad skills? You really think I’m that good? " He shrugs and starts sweeping again. "Yeah, I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t be competing with an old bird that can’t do anything but sit on your shoulder and stare people down. "

You sigh and stay quiet as the two of you work on swiping down the whole deck. You wonder when he’s going to disturb the silence again with another attempt at impressing you. Soon enough, he looks up at you with a smile, and you can tell he’s going to say something else stupid. Your mouth turns into a fine line as you wait for the millionth joke of the day. Patience, you tell yourself.

"Other than rapping, you know what else I’m good at? "

Here it comes.

"What. "

"This. " He gives you an extremely flirty smirk, and you feel your face go hot because he’s really stupid and that seriously stunk and wow, he’s an idiot and you’re one too for putting up with him. You feel embarrassed for him because of how terrible that was.

"Ughhh, Strider! Jesus flippin' christ on a cracker Dirk, I think you should stop!" Great, that sounded terrible.

"Okay, but the deck's not the only thing we'll be sweeping up once we're finished. " He sounds so serious, and you guess this is another of his deadpan jokes. You give him an annoyed look and settle to not responding to his chattering for the rest of the day.

"Dirk, please just stop and help me sweep, okay?"

This guy’s impossible, and you wonder if there even is a way to shut him up.

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

WQ <> PM
Spy thriller & western

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Propagandistic fiction + fairytale
Signless <3 Feferi

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT<3SOLLUX

[astraldeveloper]

family saga + historical Dave<3Rose<3Terezi?

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

choose your own adventure + cautionary tale
Vriska <3< Aradia

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT<3SOLLUX

[astraldeveloper]

prehistoric fiction + children's literature Equius♣(Vriska♣Sollux)

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Terezi <3 Dave
after school special + instruction manual

FILL: TEAM KARKAT<3KARKAT

[janeybriggs]

warning this story is kind of a nsfw spectacle, also there is leetspeak

hope you like it!!! xoxo
----------------------------------------------------------

They've put out two chairs for you to sit on. Ridiculous! You jump onto one of them and motion for Dave to come sit on your lap. His hair smells like oranges that haven't been washed in a while. It's adorable. You put your bag of props on the other chair.

Apparently you're not facing the camera, so John walks around you until it's in the right place. He asks if you have the script, but you tell him you'll PL4Y 1T BY 34R, of which he approves. He yells ACTION!, and you elbow Dave gently in the ribs to remind him to start talking.

«hey kids,» he says, «me and my buddy tz are here keep it real about...» he turns towards you, smelling faintly confused. «tz, what are we here to keep it real about?»
You give him one of your brightest smiles.
«W3 4R3 H3R3 TO K33P 1T R34L 4BOUT S4F3 S3X! SP3C1F1C4LLY, S4F3 S3X B3TW33N TROLLS 4ND HUM4NS!»
He nods sagely, turning back in John's general direction.

«yes thats right it has come to our attention that some of my fellow humans think that just because youre fucking an alien means you can forego all the usual safety precautions,» he says, «but that shits as wrong as my sister being responsible for the wellbeing of small children.»

«don't be mean to rose, dave!» John says, laughing. Dave scoffs.

«anyway were gonna make a series of instructional videos teaching you all about our awesome sex safety skills, heres the first one, just sit tight and pay close attention, close as-»

You interrupt him.

«FOR OUR F1RST 1NSTRUCT1ON4L V1D3O,» you say, «W3 W1LL SHOW YOU HOW TO PR4CT1C3 S4F3 S3X WH3N 4 TROLL 1S P3N3TR4T1NG 4 HUM4NS NOOK OR 4NY OTH3R OR1F1C3! D4V3, TH3 PROPS»

You hear him going through the contents of the bag until he finds what he's looking for. He sits up straight and holds it towards the camera.

«so yeah normally in my earth human health class theyd give us a carrot to put the condom on but since todays special is about troll dicks were gonna demonstrate on this gross looking thing i found behind the sink»
He wriggles a little.
«terezi before we start i have to know: is this a dead baby?»
He holds it up in front of you and you lean in and give it an investigative lick.

«NOP3!» you say. «1 B3L13V3 1T 1S TH3 R3M41NS OF ON3 OF YOUR HUM4N FRU1T GUSH3RS!»
«sweet,» he says, placing it in his lap while he finds the condom.

It's hard to believe that you at one point in time didn't know what condoms were. How naive you were! Dave says that unsafe sex is COMPL3T3LY 1LL3G4L according to human law. You do not believe him entirely, but it never hurts to take precautions to be on the right side of the law. Plus, they make sex a lot less messy! It took a while of fiddling with the captcha codes to make them suit your needs, but you think it was worth it.

In front of you Dave is opening the condom wrapper carefully. This is one of the cherry-flavored ones, you notice.

«as you may know it is of absolutely fucking paramount importance that you do not get any holes in this shit, so keep your spiky troll claws out of the way,» he says, holding up the condom. You can't really smell what he's doing with it, but you know the drill well enough to narrate his actions.


«4ND TH3N, HOLD1NG TH3 CONDOM 4S MY 4SS1ST4NT D4V3 D3MONSTR4T3S, YOU S1MPLY ROLL 1T ONTO TH3 BULG3.»

«since troll dicks are like fucking sentinent tentacles you may have to use a little force but generally it should be fine,» Dave adds, holding up the condom-clad gusher. It smells delicious.

«4ND TH4TS 1T! YOU C4N NOW H4V3 S4F3 P3N3TR4T1V3 S3X W1TH YOUR HUM4N P4RTN3R!» you say as John turns the camera off, gives you a thumbs up, and says something about letting you have some alone time now. Dave throws the gusher at him before reponsitioning himself on the chair to face you, but John uses his wind powers to send it back, hitting the back of Dave's neck. You're still laughing when he leans in to kiss you.

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

PM <3 AR <3 WV
Cyberpunk & great escape

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Vriska <> John
underdog sports team + action/adventure

FILL: TEAM TEREZI<3VRISKA

[skaiasthelimit]

Don't worry John- we'll 8e the 8est 8efore you know it!

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Signless <3 Grand Highblood
Bodice-ripper & Alien invasion

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Nepeta <> Equius
epistolary + road trip

PROMPT: TEAM Eridan <3 Roxy

[lustfullyc.livejournal.com]

Art styles count. Yes?
Well then could some one make a Pirate/Mermaid chibi thing for Jade<3<Feferi?

FILL: TEAM FEFERI<3VRISKA

[theamazingkid]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5gwbnRxV81qgxnlno1_r2_500.png

hehe this was really fun!

PROMPT: TEAM KARKAT <3 NEPETA

[slippy]

Diaries and Journals + Dying earth scifi
Rose <3 Feferi

FILL: TEAM Dave<3<Karkat<3Terezi<3Dave

[aigroe]

I hope this is what you wanted! also it... turned into angst oops

---

4.12.2016

My name is Rose Lalonde. It is my birthday; I am eighteen years old. Today I was shot in the shin whilst running from the Condesce’s drones. As a result I’m unlikely to be running much in the near future.

Feferi has encouraged me to record my thoughts and feelings in this diary, though I can’t say I see the point (unless I am to analyse myself, which is inefficient at best). Still, my more fictitious works have long passed into oblivion and it’s unlikely anyone else exists who is as informed as I am with regard to of our plight. The onus is therefore on me to keep some kind of record for future generations, the low probability of there being any future generations notwithstanding.

We won. This should have been our reward. A perfect planet laid out for us. And so it was, for the first year or so. The dream bubbles deposited our friends safe and sound. We got to live happily ever after, reunited with the friends we had lost on a near-perfect copy of the Earth we had destroyed.

It was 2010 when the Condesce’s ship came through. We don’t know how she entered our universe, why she’s here or what she wants. As far as I can tell she is searching for a way to recreate the race she once ruled over, fuelled by some desperate desire to return to a home that no longer exists. She is as much a product of the game as we are.

We tried to keep the trolls’ continuing existence secret from her whilst fighting back against her growing power. She is a leech that latches on to anything it can reach and sucks all vitality from it. Perhaps we held her back, but it cost so much and the end result was the same. We weren’t deluded, though I was perhaps the only one who could see how slim our chances were.

She discovered them eventually. Vriska grew tired of waiting and went on a suicide mission to stop her, and now everything we have built is quite literally crashing down around us.

Feferi is doing her best to heal my injury but these weapons are like nothing we’ve seen before. She can keep me alive indefinitely but unless my leg heals I will be entirely dependant on her.

We were headed that way anyway. She is much better equipped to cope with the water. She is also physically and mentally stronger than me. You could say that she’s thriving. The environment now is better suited to her than it was when we first made it.

She insists that I get some rest.

5.12.2040

The horrorterrors came just now and I don’t know ghhas’t thuftg ga'knatt luian’gung ftathk

-

I know if I sleep for even a moment they'll come for me but as I get more and more tired I can feel my eyes closing of their own accord and I know that when I do sleep they will be on me. There is a cold ache at the very back of my head, somewhere below my pituitary gland if I remember correctly. I don’t know if they’re stronger because I am weak or if perhaps the Furthest Ring has some involvement. There aren’t any other humans for miles around, so it’s impossible to tell whether this is specific to me.

It must be. Their touch is so intimate.

I thought perhaps my god tier would protect me. I don’t know any more what’s a part of the game and what is yet another blip in the data.

-

Feferi is exhausted but it’s nothing new for her. Our sparkling new world made no room for recuperacoons. She is keeping me up with every method she can think of. We have gone through the entire repertoire of the Squiddles soundtrack at least twice.

She is reading over my shoulder as I write. Her skin is cold and prohibits any kind of comfort. We may have finally found a way to keep me awake.

6.12.2040

I fell asleep in her arms and slept through much of the day and following night. When I woke she was leaving to find some breakfast. We dined on fat fish and seaweed, regular staples of our diet now that so much of the world is under water.

I am cold almost all of the time but she says I am the warmest thing in this stinking hideout. She has such resilience against the horrorterrors that it seems to rub off on me. When she is with me they are kept at bay.

Outside the weather is much as it always is. The rain falls with little enthusiasm. The roar of the river permeates everything like it is constantly angry that it is constrained. Its fingers creep into the remnants of meadows and tickle the waterlogged earth.

I can now move my leg and take shuffling steps across the room, leaning on her for support. Slowly but surely, it’s healing.

9.12.2040

We went swimming together today, hoping the exercise would tease out the last aches in my leg. The water was murky and far from calm, but she held me and laughed when a wave knocked me backwards and left me gasping for air. When I’d caught my breath she kissed me. Her lips tasted of salt and I felt something dark move under my skin.

Perhaps the similarity to the Condesce should unnerve me, but it doesn’t. She is everything the Condesce isn’t and if anyone can stop her, it’s Feferi.

We managed a few moments of radio connection today. Florida and New York are both entirely submerged and it’s uncertain how long the rest of America will last. Not satisfied with destroying our species, the Condesce seems also set on destroying our planet, and once she’s finished with us I have no doubt she’ll move onto the next universe she can find.

There’s no way the new Earth can survive this kind of punishment. It’s dying no matter what we do. My main worry is for Feferi and myself in the immediate future. Since Vriska died we have been separated from our friends and I don’t know what has become of them, or if they are still alive. There was a garbled missive from Dave a few weeks ago which made it sound like Terezi was not in great shape, but other than that it’s been silent.

We can survive until our heroic deaths and I will not be unhappy as long as Feferi is here. I have no intention to seek out heroism but I have a terrible feeling that it is seeking us.

15.12.2040

Another drone attack. We dumped their bodies in the river.

19.12.2040

Drones again. Feferi’s arm is broken. Judging by the rate of healing it will be back to normal within a day or so.

22.12.2040

Attacked. Feferi’s arm was still weak but we fought them off.

23.12.2040

Attacked.

24.12.2040

Attacked.

25.12.2040

Attacked. Christmas Day. We celebrated with some old chocolate we’d been saving.

26.12.2040

Attacked.

11.01.2041

The Condesce found us.

Several of her drones had escaped the more recent fights unscathed. We think they told her where we were.

She used her psychic abilities on me and there is a short period during which my memory is hazy. However, Feferi distracted her and from then on the Condesce’s attention was largely focused on Feferi. For my part I had my hands full fighting off drones.

After some

-

I fell asleep whilst writing.

I managed to keep the drones off and was slowly wearing them down, but in the meantime I was becoming increasingly tired. The paths highlighted in my mind’s eye became less a matter of dealing the most damage and more simply keeping them off whilst expending the least energy. Feferi and the Condesce showed no sign of tiring.

The world was blurring into a series of glowing pathways overlaid onto the usual drizzle of rain gleaming on metal by the time I had incapacitated all of the drones. I stumbled and collapsed to my knees in exhaustion and may have been unconscious for a moment. When I woke the Condesce and Feferi were still fighting.

The Condesce was paying no attention to me as she lashed out at Feferi. As I stood, slowed by my aching muscles, I saw a single thread of possibility grow brighter and brighter. My arms moved without any conscious intention to ready my needles. I ran, a burst of adrenaline forcing my feet to move. I called on the horrorterrors that were never too well suppressed to help me.

In a few seconds it was over. The Condesce staggered under my weight as I leapt at her and drove my needles into her back. She drove an elbow into my stomach and desperately tried to swing her trident at me, but I kept the needles impaled into her as tendrils flowed from my skin and wrapped around her throat. Feferi took the opportunity to stab her ancestor in the gut.

The empress’ blood stained the ground bright purple.

The heir to the empire caught me as I blacked out.

12.01.2040

We’re still alive and will continue in such a state until chance sees fit to end us. The waters won’t stop rising and we have no idea how to reverse it. From what we can estimate we have a few years until the entire continent is underwater.

Feferi has plans to perhaps find the Condesce’s ship and assume control. We could pilot it anywhere, though there’s nowhere I want to go. After seeking out whatever other trolls and humans are left alive it’s possible we’ll stay in orbit around our drowned prize indefinitely.

I don’t know if drowning constitutes a heroic death. I have no desire to find out.