day 52. oughh

GA: Im Not Surprised To See You Endorse His Paranoia Without Hesitation [...] GA: These Events Are Inevitable And Regardless Of Whatever Emotional Entanglements Obfuscate Their Significance They Will Ultimately Serve An Important Purpose [...] GA: And Karkats Notion Of A Curse Is Inseparable From His Perception Of Events As Intrinsically Negative And As Tailored To His Personal Dissatisfaction

Sure, Karkat’s taking it a little personally, but let’s give him a little credit here. When he complains about how badly things are going, he’s correct. The literal apocalypse is at his door, his whole species is going extinct, and he and the other survivors are watching their parents die before their eyes, before being spirited away to an uncertain fate. And this is all, apparently, business as usual, as far as fate is concerned. 

Sorry, Paradox Space, but I have to second-guess you, here. Why, exactly, are the lusi dying? Why does everyone keep dying in alt-timelines? Why is Sburb designed to destroy civilizations?  These events are ‘inevitable’, alright, but why? Why are these specific, tragic events inevitable, and not others? 

Sure, maybe these things are needed to fulfil time loops, way down the line. But that just pushes the question down the stream, doesn’t it? Why do we have the time loops we have, and why do they all seem to suck so bad?

This is all to say - whatever important purpose GA seems to have heard about, it’s going to be a pretty hard sell. 

GA: And Your Bad Luck Is The Same Way GA: I Believe Anyway [...] GA: What Would Happen If You Just Cleaned Up A Bit GA: Dont You Think You Would Step On A Few Less Hard Triangles

Good advice for the real world - but in Homestuck, as always, things aren’t so simple. Whitetext was quick to take credit for Vriska’s bad luck earlier on, after all.

Plus, in the real world, ‘luck’ is when random events fall in one’s favor. The Homestuck universe might not even have random events, so luck might work very differently there. We just don’t know yet. 

AG: Meddler. Why you so meddley, Miss Meddlesome McFussyfangs???????? GA: Because Youre Dangerous [...] GA: And Dangerous People Can Be Really Important GA: Maybe Even The Most Important Sometimes

Vriska will be a key player in the session. She’s got powerful psychic abilities, she’s full of drive, and she even has experience with optimizing game systems. 

There are dozens of ways I could imagine her putting her psionics to constructive use, but the question isn’t whether she could do so - it’s whether she would. Maybe losing Spidermom will help her to grow beyond the life she’s been forced to live... or maybe she’ll start maiming players that don't try hard enough.

Aw, fuck. It’s going to be both, isn’t it? 

GA: But It Just Means Theres Got To Be Someone Around To Keep An Eye On Them GA: And If Not Me Then Who

Why just you, GA? It feels suboptimal to assign only one troll to Vriska Duty. That’s a lot of pressure for GA alone, especially given she’s going to have her own Quest to contend with. 

It really feels like keeping Vriska reined in should be a team effort - I’d pick Terezi, Aradia and GA. Admittedly, I doubt Aradia would be up for it, but we should definitely figure something out, so GA isn’t stuck doing this on her own. 

AG: Or you know, if you're so h8gh 8nd might8 an8 th8nk you're so gr8at, m8y88 you c8uld oh I d8n't kn8w........ AG: TRY AND ST8P ME FROM DO8NG B8D THINGS???????? GA: That Wouldnt Work GA: If I Tried To Stop You You Would Regard Me As An Enemy

We’re finally seeing those extra 8s, so it seems Vriska is genuinely bothered about this. I have a couple guesses for what’s going on here. 

Vriska wants to be seen as a real threat. GA isn’t trying to stop her, so she feels like she’s being underestimated. 

Vriska is desperate for someone to rein her in, because, on some level, she recognizes that her behavior is wrong, dangerous, or destructive.

Vriska sees GA as a threat. She’s only pretending to be agitated, and wants to provoke GA into dealing with her alone, so that she can take her out of the picture. 

Option 1 feels too simple, and Option 3 doesn’t feel like Vriska’s style. She seems to wear her emotions on her sleeve, and I don’t know if she could fake a reaction like this. 

Does Vriska actually want to be stopped? That might explain why she’s so intent on making an enemy out of everyone she talks to.

AG: 8ut I'm starting to think you are full of shit, and I am quite sure she will 8e QU8TE FIN8! GA: Youre Right Anything Can Happen I Guess GA: But Just So You Know Im Sorry For Your Loss In Advance

Damn, dude. 

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] AG: Aaaaaaaah! AG: Man, why d8dn't I just get th8 last w8rd and sign off real qu8ck like I usu8lly do????????

Unsurprisingly, social interactions are just another thing Vriska has to ‘win’.

By Emman Montalvan for InStyle Mexico Magazine - 2024

From Kacey’s Instagram - 2024

June 3rd (Mon) 19:00~ On TBS's "CDTV Live! Live!" Perfume's Nocchi will be appearing 💫

Performed a collaborative song with Sheena Ringo called "First KO Victory aka "1RKO".

Goodwill Belief

I believe in the inherent goodness of humanity. Not because we are, For I understand history and have no interest in repeating it, Nor because we will, For I understand tomorrow is a mirror And anything we see is merely the echoes of what is already in our heads.

I believe that we are capable of more, Because to do otherwise Is to accept that this is all we are capable of.

ugh and ew

Get that protein. #everyday #everydaypicture #littlebitofsugar #2204 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn0jexeOhZc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Anthony Fineran (B 1981), 11 55 Rate Set 2204, 2023

GA: Just Wanted To Know GA: Is Your Lusus Dead Yet AG: Huh? What kind of question is that! AG: Is this a trick? Are you trying to sa8otage me? Are you in cahoots with someone????????

Poor Vriska. Even more than the average troll, she simply isn’t able to conceptualize a non-confrontational interaction. Her last conversational partner surely didn’t help, either. 

GA: No There Was No Plot Or Conspiracy Or Any Trace Of Saboteurs Operating Through The Special And Magical Union One Can Only Describe As Being In Cahoots With Another

We’ve seen a good few trolls now, but GA’s conversational style is still my favorite. 

Back in Act 4, I thought she was either struggling with the language, or deliberately acting ‘alien’ -  but it’s obvious by now that this is just what she’s like, and I love it. 

GA: When A Virgin Mother Grub Abdicates And Renounces Brooding GA: Her Time Will Be Relatively Short

It seems Mother Grubs are occasionally known to do this - but it’s a little unclear what drives them. Why did this particular Grub adopt a Player?

We know that brooding on a doomed planet is pointless, and that Alternia's only hope lies in GA and her companions. Maybe Grubmom is also aware of this, somehow - she wouldn’t be the first lusus who seemed to know more than they should.

GA: They Are All Dying GA: Or Are Going To Soon GA: I Believe Its A Preemptive Consequence Of The Game We Are About To Play

Is it? The human Guardians didn’t die like this - but then again, the human Guardians were charged by Sburb to set up the Veil. The lusi aren’t the trolls’ biological parents, so maybe they’re less important to the game. 

AG: Now you have me a little worried. Man! I hope she's ok.

She won’t be, but that might actually help you out, when the time comes to fight your Underlings.

GA: Karkat Thinks Its His Fault GA: He Believes His Actions Triggered An Inauspicious Chain Reaction [...] AG: Wow, between his curse and my shitty luck we are so screwed. GA: Im Not Surprised To See You Endorse His Paranoia Without Hesitation

The narration didn’t explicitly state that the virus killed the lusi:

Karkat and his friends and everyone they would ever meet thereafter would experience great misfortune on account of the curse unwittingly implemented through Sollux's esoteric MOBIUS DOUBLE REACHAROUND VIRUS.

Every troll's lusus would soon die.

The virus certainly does something, and all the lusi are fated to die - but Karkat’s the one who conflated the two. The poor guy jumped to the first conclusion that allowed him to blame himself, because despite all his bluster, he has a pretty nasty inferiority complex. 

mandymooremm: When telling the fam your big news is captured on film. Cc: @ sterlingkbrown @ sullivangrams @ thatwasus 📸 by @ wobby_wob

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 3XL IRMA TUNIC. .

(▶︎ Anbessa | Akalé Wubé & Manu Dibango | Akalé Wubéから)

Anbessa by Akalé Wubé & Manu Dibango

En décembre 2013, Alain Pilot et sa « Bande Passante » sur RFI célèbrent les 80 ans de Manu Dibango en réunissant autour du grand maître de la musique africaine des invités prestigieux dont les ambassadeurs de l’Ethio-Jazz : Akalé Wubé. Le groupe décide de reprendre en live sur les ondes African Pop Session et Ekedi – toutes deux composées et enregistrées par le saxophoniste Camerounais au début des années 70 – et sont très vite rejoints par Manu Dibango armé de son saxophone. ​ Deux enregistrements live de ces versions seront tirés de cette rencontre inédite et improvisée. ​ Une grande complicité s’installe très vite entre eux et, quelques mois plus tard, Akalé Wubé invite Manu Dibango sur leur titre Anbessa (Le Lion en Amharique) spécialement composé pour lui rendre hommage. Cette nouvelle collaboration leur permettra de partager des scènes à plusieurs reprises au cours des années suivantes. C’est ensuite sous l’impulsion de Manu Dibango, et avec le souvenir de cette live session chez RFI, qu’ils reprennent ensemble la route du studio afin qu’Akalé Wubé arrange et ré- enregistre avec lui 5 autres pépites méconnues de son répertoire : La Colère des Dieux, Du Bush a Bush, Gentlemen de Camp Yabassi, Otetena Munja et Peaceful Homeland. Malheureusement, Le Lion ne pourra se rendre au studio du groupe parisien début 2020 pour y poser ses derniers solos, le destin en ayant décidé autrement... Akalé Wubé rend aujourd’hui un hommage fort et sincère à cette amitié à travers l’album Anbessa – réunissant l’intégralité des morceaux écrits par ou pour Manu Dibango et interprétés par le groupe – sur vinyle. クレジット2022年4月23日リリース Saxophone : Manu Dibango Drums : David Georgelet Bass : Oliver Degabriele Guitar : Loïc Réchard Flutes / Sax : Etienne de la Sayette Krar / trumpet / Percussions : Paul Bouclier

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Chaps 1/4 zip Sweater. Inv T3 .