Doc Scratch

The thing you immediately realize about Homestuck is that it's an intensely personal story, in its own way. Sure, it's about Alternia, the planet you'd spent months on, and about trolls, the species whose members you befriended. Sure, it talks about all sorts of concepts, like quadrants, that you remember hearing about from your moirail. God, Polypa. She wasn't in the story. You're worried about her. Her, and Mallek, and Stelsa, and Tyzias, and...God. You remember how you felt when it talked about the Vast Glub. You're so fucking scared for your friends. You hope they manage to play burb, or find another way out, or... There are two big things that have been bugging you. One is the terror of realizing who, exactly, stole you away onto Alternia's moon - the fact that he's still alive means one of two things, and both options are terrible. Either he's still alive because Spades Slick hasn't set his house on fire and killed Snowman yet... or he's still alive because you helped him meddle with the timeline. You can't stand the thought that you helped that creep. Even without the unnatural compulsion he'd put you under, you still value friendship. It's why you kept those friendships going, even after you'd "successfully" befriended people. You care. And you're pretty sure there's a little girl you need to help break out. You take care to not be spotted as you sneak out of the computer room. You're not sure, but there's always a chance of some Felt goons hanging around the place...Even if you sort-of held your own in a fight against Nikhee Moolah once, you've fallen behind on your training. And you don't think your training can help you evade a gun. Creeping around the corner, you feel horrible dread as you see -- oh, no. That's Spades Slick talking to Doc Scratch. A weird, nervous laugh bubbles up into your throat, and you struggle to keep quiet. You know exactly when you are. Even if you managed to get out of this mansion the normal way, you're too far into the future to meet up with any of your friends. Nobody on Alternia is alive anymore, that you know for sure. You've gotta figure out what to do next. There's still a bit of time before the place gets set on fire plenty of time to make a plan. From what you can remember of Act 5 Act 2, Doc Scratch uses that typewriter to talk to Rose on LOHAC. That gives you exclusive access to a semi-realized Seer of Light -- surely she can help you come up with a good plan! Somehow not attracting attention from either figure at the parlor's entrance, you scramble over to the typewriter Oh, fuck. He doesn't print out Rose's end of the conversation, because he's omniscient. C'mon, think! What did she say at this point in the comic? With accuracy you had no idea you possessed, you recall Rose's first lines. You type back eagerly. ...in goddamn white ink. Fuck this guy, really. If you had to guess what Rose was seeing, it'd be something. And if you were to pretend you and Rose had a back and forth going. “None whatsoever.” You didn't type that... Uh oh. You stop pretending you know what Rose is saying in time for Doc Scratch to wallop you with Spade Slick's cane. Fuck, that smarts. Hey, look at you, using old-timey slang.

“This was low of you. Honestly,”

Your hand is on your jaw, trying to see if it's broken. It probably is. Fuck. This hurts like fucking hell.

“I give you a gift, and you repay me by attempting to sabotage me?”

You promise you weren't trying to sabotage him. You try to, at least. You're probably bleeding all over Scratch's nice green rug, but honestly, fuck this guy. Who uses white ink?