[open] ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

[alienates]

WHO: karkat and you!
WHERE: various locations, two prompts are at the high school though.
WHEN: forward dated to monday (4/10)
WHAT: guess who has two thumbs and just regained his troll horns? THIS GUY.
WARNINGS: none at the moment except for explicit language from karkat!



a; morning at recollé high

[ if you share a first period 12th grade english class with karkat, you will notice that at one point he gets up to go to the bathroom, leaving his backpack at his desk. you will also, eventually, notice that he just never comes back. it's almost like he just suddenly decided to skip altogether, which is a little weird considering all of his stuff is still at the classroom? he misses the rest of the class. if you have his phone number maybe you text him to see what's up?

likewise, if you enter one of the boys bathroom, you might spot karkat fussing over himself in front of the mirror. when he sees you come in, he will immediately stop what he's doing to rush into one of the bathroom stalls. you might catch what looks like two, small orange shapes on his head?? weird. anyway, karkat has made this bathroom stall his home and he is just camping out in here for whatever reason. ]

b; afternoon at recollé high

[ or it's his home until security kicks him out of the bathroom.

so now you might run into karkat frantically speed walking through the halls. he seems to have acquired a hat, which is fine, except for whenever a teacher makes him take it off in which case karkat goes back to covering his the top of his head with his hands.

whether you spot him while he's wearing the stylish hat or while he is trying to cover his new nubs on his head, he is not going to look very happy. ]

The "what the hell are you looking at?" line is really goddamn cliche, but I swear to god I will unironically use it if you don't stop staring.

c; late afternoon, all around the city

[ while karkat would love to just run home the second school ends, he unfortunately has shit to do today. you might spot him returning books to the library, or maybe at the freshens, buying pet food for his army of cats. maybe you run into him in the streets! no matter where you see him, though, he is going to be nervously tugging down his very fashionable hat and glaring at anyone who looks at him for longer than two seconds.

at one point you can even spot him inside the retrospec building! if you're on the outside, it'll just look like he's talking to himself. if you pop inside, you will discover that he is, in fact, talking to himself! well. he's yelling. at the nonexistent staff. ]

-- and hey, maybe next time you can turn my fucking dick into candy corn too, so that way when you're choking on it it'll be more pleasant, you shady, poor excuse of--

[ maybe you should just shut the door and walk away tbh. ]

d; evening, grub mart

[ finally, late at night, you can find karkat at his job at grub mart, a convenience store in tisse. unfortunately, due to dress code, karkat is not allowed to wear his hat, so his horns are just out there. he keeps trying to hide them like he had been earlier, but at this point he more or less has completely given up on life and is ready for death.

seriously just end him. ]

Comments

[sharplydressed]

[No judging here! Or at least if judging, very quiet judging... He'll wait a few seconds while Karkat tries those on after his attempted self-smothering, and then:]

If you don't like any of 'em, I've got a few others you could try out here.

[alienates]

[ i'm sorry that karkat doesn't know how to not be overdramatic about every little thing in his life

but there is a moment where he doesn't respond, and then he just sighs (again, in an overdramatic manner). ]

Just come over here, I'm going to show you something.

[sharplydressed]

[He's not alone in his penchant for dramatics, at the very least. Kashuu just somehow hasn't had any reason to bust his own out yet... Miracles.

But over to the changing area he'll trot, hats still in hand.]

What's up?

[alienates]

[ karkat does not respond right away, as he is trying to think if this is a good idea or not. but he then decides that kashuu is going to see them eventually, and karkat would rather control the terms of that reveal.

eventually, eventually, he pops his head out, with nothing on his head. ]

This.

[sharplydressed]

[There's some definite visible surprise for a second because WHAT. He's seen eyes and hair changing before, but this is his first run-in with someone dealing with something even more extreme.

It's a look that quickly becomes one of mixed sympathy and irritation, though, the latter directed at Retrospec in general.]

Lemme guess. A gift from our super benevolent Retrospec patrons?

[alienates]

Oh man, aren't they great? They are just the gift that keep goddamn giving, even though no one asked for it.

[ he goes back inside the dressing room since he doesn't want other people seeing the horns. ]

Anyway. This is my life now or whatever.

[sharplydressed]

That sucks.

[$#thatsroughbuddy

He really does feel badly though, even if he has approximately 0 things that are actually useful to say. Time to pick out the comfiest hats...]

They don't hurt or anything, right?

[alienates]

Not unless you yank on them.

[ which implies karkat has done exactly that.

the thing is, he knows that there's going to be more coming, because the version of him that he's seen in those visions had these horns and... more. but he can't bring himself to say that to anyone, because if he gives that thought a voice then it might really become true. and seriously, the horns are fucking enough. ]

[sharplydressed]

Geez... So I guess that means there's some kinda nerve connection going on somewhere? If it was just bone or something, maybe you could have that doctor on the network take a look. People get bone sanded down for like, tooth stuff or operations all the time, right?

[Though he's not sure if the idea of taking the medical version of a belt sander to his noggin would be any more appealing than wearing hats for the foreseeable future... Especially if he'd then just have two random bald spots on his head or something.]

[alienates]

This is going to sound really stupid, but you know how when people got shit from the mail from Retrospec, and even though they never saw it before they feel like it belongs to them? That's... kind of how the horns feel?

[ well. obviously they belong to him now, they're attached to his head. ]

I mean, they're shit and I hate them, but I don't think I'd be able to get rid of them like that 'cause I just have this fucked up feeling that they're supposed to be here.

[sharplydressed]

[Well, he sure does understand how that feels too, even though it's at a much less Intense level than the "I woke up with literal horns" one that Karkat's stuck with.]

Oh... [It's an oh that says "that really sucks, then."] Well. ...I guess at least hats are pretty convenient? I mean, they're fashionable and there are hats for every weather. Just avoid going into churches, I guess.

[Don't they make people remove hats?? He honestly can't remember.]

[alienates]

Damn. I'm going to have to cancel all of my church plans then, what a travesty.

[ karkat was raised catholic but has not stepped foot in a church for... a very long time. he has no idea if they make you remove hats? he is not that interested in finding out. ]

They'd probably think I'm Satan incarnate with horns and all, anyway.

[sharplydressed]

Those are too cute to be actual Satan horns.

[They're so nubby and not at all intimidating... He's definitely thinking "they look like candy corn" to himself, but at least he just verbally leaves that out.]

Anyway, if it makes you feel any better, people will probably stop noticing 'em after a while. That's how it's been for everyone else I've talked to... Like, obviously Retrospec guys like us aren't part of that, but anyone who knows what's up with Retrospec and still gives you a hard time deserves to have their ass kicked anyway.

[alienates]

It both makes me feel better and greatly concerns me that they will stop noticing it? Like, that's fucked up, right? That they either don't think it's weird at all or they just eventually accept it as normal?

[ because while the people with the app do eventually get used to this kind of stuff, they don't accept it as normal. those are two very different things. ]

[sharplydressed]

Oh, definitely. I think it's almost worse when they do know something's weird at first but then just... kinda forget? Like, watching it happen makes it more disturbing or something.

[At least with the fruit and chocobo it wasn't a gradual transition...]

But you can enjoy the good part even if the bad part is still super weird, at least.

[alienates]

It will probably be a while before I can enjoy the good part since I'm still stuck in the "holy fucking shit I am a freak of nature" stage of things.

[ it's said as a joke, but there is a certain edge to his voice that highly implies it is not a joke. ]

[sharplydressed]

[A look of both understanding and pity... Mostly pity because--]

I'd try to say something to help but I already know that pretty much nothing helps with this stuff.

[It's a Long Road to accepting that you're becoming a horned satan or a sparkling vampire or whatever.]

Do the hats help any?

[alienates]

Yeah. I know I can't wear them all the time, but they're better than nothing.

[ he pokes his head out again, wearing one of the hats that kashuu handed him. ]

It's better than surgery.

[sharplydressed]

True, true. Way less permanent, too.

[At which point he'll give a double thumbs up like the cool kid he is, showing his approval for this hat choice.]

And way cuter than surgical bandages! That's a good look.

[alienates]

It's definitely better than pandas in space.

[ now that he is getting new hats, he can more comfortably insult the previous hat. ]

And I wouldn't be surprised if the horns just grew back or some other weird thing.

[sharplydressed]

Yeah, that's the kinda hat Jim would probably like.

[A meme hat for the memelord... He leans back a little to give Karkat's head a more critical once-over, checking to make sure the fabric doesn't make his horns stand out, and then nods to himself.]

Looks fine, though. ...And you're probably right about that, if only 'cause they like making our lives hard.

[alienates]

[ karkat makes a face because... yes, that seems exactly like the kind of hat that jim would unironically wear and now karkat is angry about it. ]

If they can make them appear once then there's really nothing stopping them for making it happen a second time.

[ which is concerning for a lot of reasons but karkat is not going to freak out about it here. ]

[sharplydressed]

[He's free now, at least... Free from one form of memery, but not the rest. Godspeed, Karkat.]

Pretty much. Best not to go through the effort, especially if you think you wouldn't be happy with 'em gone.

[And then, a gesture toward his Many Hats.]

D'you like any of the others?

[alienates]

[ he holds his arms out. he's just... gonna take them all, to try them on. ]

I think the most fucked up part is that I actually cannot tell if I'd be happy with them gone, even though I'm already not happy with them?

[sharplydressed]

[And he will just dump the whole pile into Karkat's waiting arms...]

I guess that's what happens when random people can influence how you feel about equally random things.

[Like voodoo swords, bat wings, or alien horns. What a time to be alive.]