#s67

That's right, Terezi - cogs are still turning, out here in the Veil. You might have completed your session, but its time mechanics are still very much in play - and you're predestined for a new objective.

Let me be the first to welcome you to Sgrub's postgame.

GC: 1 SHOULD PROB4BLY RUN TH1S BY GC: UH GC: MY L34D3R [...] TG: whos he really TG: your boyfriend or something [...] GC: 1TS B33N SORT OF COMPL1C4T3D W1TH H1M [...] GC: 4CTU4LLY H3S K1ND OF SM4RT4SSY L1K3 YOU NOW TH4T 1 TH1NK 4BOUT 1T

My sister in Skaia, you are in the smartass webcomic.

GC: BUT YOU S33M C4LM 1NST34D OF SHOUTY 4LL TH3 T1M3

The operative word is seem. I think Dave is quite a bit more anxious than Karkat - he's just better at bottling it up, as we've seen before.

Plus, Karkat is always loud, even when he's calm.

That's something he does share with Dave - they both act like they have just one emotion, which masks what they're actually feeling.

Damn it, you'll fry your iShades!

Terezi said they'd try to eat him - but also that that this would be a friendly act. Consorts are weird, and I love it.

TG: if you say i warned you about tears or something one more time TG: i swear to gog GC: DONT! GC: DONT S4Y YOUR3 GO1NG TO DO 4N 4CROB4T1C SOM3RS4ULT OR P1RHOU3TT3 OFF OF SOM3TH1NG, J3GUS GC: 1 G3T 1T 4LR34DY! TG: ok fine TG: our memes can cancel each other out this time

Alternians use 'trolling' to describe harassment, the same way we do - but they also use it to describe their species.

If your culture forces you to be constantly antagonistic, it makes sense that it would bleed into your language. Trolls, it says, are antagonistic - not by behavior, but by definition.

GC: C4N YOU SHOW M3 YOUR COM1C TG: nah GC: COM3 ON GC: 1 W1LL DR4W YOU SOM3TH1NG 1N R3TURN GC: 1T W1LL B3 4 CULTUR4L 3XCH4NG3

The first cultural artifact seen by a troll - our Pioneer plaque - is going to be Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh, it's a proto-SBaHJ!

The comic is clearly modelled after Hussie's early art style, but beyond that, there's not much to say about it. It's not particularly funny or memorable - but that's the point. Dave hasn't found his spark.

GC: TH3R3 1S 4 LOT 1N YOUR M1ND WH1CH 1S CONC34L3D FROM YOUR SURF4C3 P3RC3PT1ON GC: YOU JUST N33D TO TRY TO B3COM3 4W4R3 OF 1T GC: CLOS3 YOUR 3Y3S GC: 4ND T3LL M3 WH4T YOU S33 1N YOUR M1NDSP4C3 TG: ok TG: i see TG: that fucking puppet

Well, you would.

Your alt-self is already awake on Derse.

I think you just took a peek through his eyes - and that fucking puppet was waiting for you.

TG: wheres this drawing you promised me [...] GC: http://tinyurl.com/FORB3NST1LL3R

Terezi is responsible for Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff?

The night was quiet and still. Eerily so. Yet the Mudwangs crossed campus quickly after Vax scried on Huon Hurrard seemingly ambushing Larry Dennit Jr. in his office. Prior to leaving, Elder Gikandi encouraged them to remember to work together, and gave them each a magical item of great power. Whilst on the way, the warlock used his magical goggles to investigate the area and caught on to a scrying orb following the party. With knowing glances, Vax alerted the group before flying into the air to throw off their observer. 

Arriving at Larry’s office, they observed guard posts seemingly abandoned with the doors left open to the wind. Inside, they found a heavily decorated messenger bag filled with doodles and schematics- the satchel of Rinna A’ran, who’d volunteered to keep an eye on Larry for her friends. Fearing for her safety, the Mudwangs proceeded cautiously forth and entered Larry’s office, where the (Acting) Elder was speaking with an aide in seeming peace.

While an office cat lounged lazily by the roaring fire, Rucker and Shakan approached Larry, trying to clarify whether Huon had attacked or threatened him. Larry seemed perturbed by their intrusion, considering this could be considered judicial harassment given the recent conclusion of the trial. When pressed, the Elder grew increasingly agitated, insulting the Mudwangs and calling out Shakan for his continued foolishness. Sensing things were amiss, the Mudwangs tried to assess the play when suddenly Larry and his aide attacked, transforming into hideous creatures of smoke and claws as they screamed and battered at the warriors.

The Mudwangs fought off the monsters, eventually felling them before the cat transformed into Huon, who gleefully taunted Shakan for trying to set things straight. Disappearing into the fire with a burst of flames, Shakan saw that his true adversary had opened a portal elsewhere. Not willing to let the writer of his assassination attempt free after coming so far, Shakan plunged into the fiery portal, with his tribesmen following close behind.

—

They thudded onto hard earth, somewhere without light and smelling of dank earth. As the casters illuminated their shields and weapons for better vision, they found themselves in a narrow, earthen hallway that eventually began doubling back and forth, evidently the start of some underground maze.

The men quickly found other, less fortunate maze runners who had either been torn apart by purple-scaled creatures or had their heads exploded outward by… something. The creatures- nothics, or mutated wizards who’d gone insane in their pursuit of knowledge- harried and psychically pried into the minds of the Mudwnags, who fought off the vile creatures lurking in the shadows. 

Amid the harrasment from the nothics, as well as the threatening rumblings of massive creatures moving through the earth nearby, the Mudwangs encountered some Academy students- some who seemed truly lost, others who had been corrupted by bulging creatures that resembled ambulatory brains. The Mudwangs heard whispers of power and secrets in their minds from these various adversaries, as well as misleading distractions meant to confuse and lure the men into the maddening maze. Yet they emerged relatively intact at the heart of the spiraling hallways, where another portal waited ahead.