capeandcowl | fourth carcino ♋ text

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karkat vantas | threshecutioner

fourth carcino ♋ text

THERE ARE SOME ISSUES I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS.
TO EXPLORE, IF YOU WILL.
EVEN DISCUSS, WHILE WE'RE AT IT.
ALLOW ME TO PRESENT MY GRIEVANCES:
WHAT THE FUCK IS *WRONG* WITH YOU GUYS?
WHAT HAS EVEN BEEN *HAPPENING*?
ARE YOU ALL INSANE? YES, YOU ARE. YOU ARE INSANE. I AM SURROUNDED BY PSYCHOPATHS.
I NEED NEW FRIENDS.
YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT'S THE BEST IDEA I'VE EVER HAD.
FRIENDSHIP POSITIONS OPEN. REQUIREMENTS: NOT BEING A MURDER-HAPPY, REVENGE-OBSESSED PYSCHO WHOSE IDEA OF RESOLVING A SITUATION IS IN ACTUALITY MAKING EVERYTHING A SOLID BILLION TIMES WORSE.

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[ oh no why would you ask him that question. that's the worst question.

he is silent for a good five minutes before answering. ]

I want him to pay.

[ because she is someone who GENUINELY LIKES ERIDAN
SOMEHOW, THESE PEOPLE EXIST. ]

But not with death. Then with what? Dismemberment? Imprisonment? Exile?

[ what could eridan pay with? there is literally no reason for karkat to want to have any mercy on him. he killed his friends. he killed karkat, left him to die a terrified, painful death all alone. he'd betrayed karkat and their friendship on every conceivable level.

if karkat were to answer completely honestly, his answer would be something like i want to make him feel as shitty as i do.

but... ]

I don't know. Okay? I don't know. Why do you care? What does this have to do with you, what business is any of this of yours? I don't even know you.

Because this isn't contained to just you and the other trolls. It's not even contained to you and the others from your universe. Most of you, you have friends and allies among people not from your universe. As partners in quadrants, or as pseudo-lusus parents, or just, well, friends. When you all fight against one another, it's not in a vacuum. It is a vacuum. It drags everyone else into it, too. And so the conflict and fighting, it just spreads. It keeps growing.

I may not care what happens to me, but I can't stand all this fighting. I'm sick of seeing the people important to me get hurt or killed because of this mess, just as much as as you are.

So maybe I want to help out the guy who might actually stand a chance of stabilizing things.

Is that business enough?

[ ok

yeah.

there aren't many ways for him to argue with that and not come out of it as a filthy hypocrite. ]

Then you're talking to the wrong person. I'm not stabilizing anything, it's because of me that this clusterfuck started in the first place.

[ out-stubborning the resistant for the sake of moving the plot is one of her few unique skills. good luck, karkat. ]

Because of you, because you died?

I wouldn't have if I'd used my head and listened to the warnings I'd been having shoved down my auricular tracts for quite literally months on end. But, no, past Karkat has an undying penchant for making the worst possible decisions and inciting the worst possible outcomes in all timelines, in all realities.

Unless you told them to kill Eridan, or forced him to kill you, then forget all that for now. Nobody can know when Eridan will get back, and I don't think either of us want him to get murdered the moment he does as, I don't know, a preventative measure to make sure he doesn't go after who killed him.

Or have I misjudged you?

I might as well have. This was completely within my power to prevent, and like with many other things, I completely shat the cocoon and now we all have to lie in it and marinate in the stinking juices of aromatic failure. But fine. What do you suggest we do, since you're so knowledgeable and involved?

Edited 2012-05-04 23:45 (UTC)

That's what I'm still trying to figure out. [a sigh.] Be sarcastic all you want, you're not going to make stop caring.

A lot of the conflict, from what I've seen, centers on Eridan and Gamzee, individually. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they're entirely to blame for it, either. Accidents happen. And provocation makes it worse. The back-and-forth "justified aggression" is even more ridiculous.

[tired, and with a sigh:] Honestly, sometimes it seems like the "easiest" way to prevent more bloodshed is to just separate you all and prevent any cross-communication. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? But that's just wishful thinking.

[ there's a short pause on his end. ]

Our species is naturally bloodthirsty. Killing is encouraged in our society, even rewarded. If you don't grow up to be ruthless and a murderer, you'll end up killed yourself. That's how it works for us. That's just the way things are. But there are boundaries, even on Alternia. It can't just be a constant, unfettered bloodbath. We'd wipe ourselves out in a week. That's what the conciliatory quadrants are for. Moirallegiance and auspisticism. Moirallegiance is the pacification of a violent, dangerous, or self destructive partner. I'm Gamzee's moirail. I can keep him from murdering people left and right- if I'm alive. Eridan's moirail, on the other hand... [ he grits his teeth a little. ] It's an insult to the quadrant. I've witnessed nothing between them even remotely pale. It's like they're moirails in name alone- though Eridan is moronically invested in their "relationship". If his moirail actually behaved like one, he might be less of a threat.

Then there's auspistice... Auspistice is when one party mediates between two others to stabilize and calm a feud in order to keep them from tearing each other's throats out.

There are constructs in place that can keep us in check. There are ways to stabilize what's going on. The issue is that moirallegiance and auspisticism are romances- you can't force them on someone who doesn't accept or want them. It has to be a mutual, balanced thing.

[ An affirmative hum in response. ]

Yeah, that's about what I've heard about the quadrants.

As far as Edward Nygma's concerned... for one thing, he wouldn't let any of you witness it; that isn't the kind of person he is. He doesn't show his heart near the surface in public like that. Just because you can't see him pacifying Eridan in a big show over the Network doesn't mean it doesn't happen. ... Or vice versa. Aside from that, it's not even just a moirallegiance they have, either, but a human parent-child relationship as well. I'm pretty sure you don't have that on Alternia, so it's possible that the behavior you find "insulting" is meant for the other half of what they are.

It may seem a sham to you, but he does care about Eridan. It's mutual. And considering what's hiding in his heart... I think Eridan's keeping him from self-destruction. It's not as simple as you think.

And Eridan'd be a lot less defensive if they stopped focusing on and attacking Edward. So you know.

But getting back to the topic, it sounds like it's the auspisticism that's lacking on most fronts here.

I don't see any results either. [ HUFFS HE DOESN'T LIKE IT ] Whatever it is that's between them, it isn't working the way it should.

[ he chews that one over. ]

I would try to fill that position, but most, if not all places where I could make a suitable mediator involve people I'm already in another quadrant with, or don't feel that way towards. It's a tricky thing. I know a lot about this stuff, okay, I'm practically an expert. [ he's not going to touch on the fact that he might need an auspistice himself. ]

Mmm... When Eridan gets back, I'll talk to Edward, see what's up, let you know. Is that alright? I'm less likely to alienate him than one of you guys, I think. [ she pauses. ] Since he knows I'm not likely to attack either of them or throw anyone to the sharks.

Of the ones from your planet that are here, can you think of anyone who could take that role? Of auspistice, I mean.

Okay. You do that, and report back to me after you do.

[ hmm. ]

It depends on which pairs are being mediated here. Who we're trying to set up with functional ashen partners.

Well, Gamzee and Eridan for starters. Even if you're here, with their history, it seems like something more happening is inevitable.

A few others, but who do you think needs them?

Ugh. The first requirement would be that a mediator should be capable of not ending up killed by either of their ashen quadrantmates. I don't know if anyone among us could make sense of that almighty clusterfuck without getting their head blown or ripped off.

[ we'll move on to that next question. ]

As for people who need one, Kanaya and Eridan, Gamzee and Kanaya, Terezi said she and Gamzee already had one. God, I don't even know if there are enough of us to mediate all these ludicrous feuds. Why the fuck are we all such psychos? [ eridan and himself. /:B ]

Sheesh, might as well round it out with one for Eridan and Terezi, too. [ just, massaging her temple at this clusterfuck too karkat. ] I'd volunteer myself, but I don't think I'm qualified, and I'd rather not lose the other eye.

Do we know anyone who's on decent terms with both Gamzee and Eridan? Someone neither of them would be partial to dismembering or otherwise maiming and mangling? That's generally how an auspistice begins. I've seen it happen time and time again in cinematographic sociological studies. [ otherwise known as shitty romcoms. ]

Uhhh... [ This is a pause that drags out for a few seconds because, really, who DOESN'T gamzee threaten and terrify? ]

I don't know, that Quentin Quire guy, maybe? From what I've seen he manages civil conversations with both of them.

You mean the obnoxious douchebag who insists on giving people the inanest possible aliases his stunted psyche can dream up?

Yeah, probably? I've never talked to him, personally.

But can you think of someone who can put up with Eridan and Gamzee and keep them from killing one another and from being killed? Because that's... a very short list, I think.

And you think this Quentin Quire guy can live up to those standards?

Better luck than either of us.

But I'll try digging the archives tonight, see if there are any other names I can turn up.

Good. You do that. I'll expect a full and thorough briefing on your findings.

I'll draw us up some charts so we can get this shit organized, with regards to which of these snotslurping basket cases need their dumbass grudges tempered.

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fourth carcino ♋ text

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