parodeity | subnautica ic inbox 2.0;

I don't think you can blame a group of kids for their relationships with their caretakers. Whatever a thirteen year old might do, it's a guardian's responsibility to negotiate the difficulties. There were very few direct guardian relationships on our side, but the one we had was successful in no small part because Jane's Dad was able to bridge the gap with his teen daughter.

[Dirk has stiffened an improbable fraction, but not after what Dave said about guardians. It was the part that came first.

Somehow, that hurt]

[ shit. dave doesn't react at all, but mentally flips gears, trying to work out a way to shift things yet again. he settles for rambling until he sees an opening. ]

Maybe. Those relationships all ended the same way, and they're kinda not relevant at this point in this context. But I'd warn you that you don't know everythin' we've ever done or the ways in which we've ruined other people or ourselves. But maybe you'll hear about those things someday and we can reopen the conversation? Most of them, I'm not the person who should tell you about any of it.

[ since it isn't all just him. ]

The Crockerbert Dad bein' so damn similar either side is still a weird paradoxical fact. But he's probably one of the coolest things p space has insisted on as bein' a thing? Signed Stiller pics aside.

It wouldn't be my place to ask for details, except maybe if Rose chose to seek consultation from someone who understood Roxy but was not her. Even without details, I'd stand by an argument that is not unlike one you once gave to me. There is a difference in terms of power between peers who are trying to figure out themselves and how relationships work, and the dynamic between an adult and their charge.

Jane's Dad is a pretty cool guy. I've always really respected him, even during their contentious years. Dude saved Detective Pony from one of those classic Sburb house shenanigan explosions.

[Dirk is speaking calmly, but he isn't actually relaxing. His eyes are focused on a point somewhere between here and the tower wall.]

Was he super into clowns post-scratch or was that uniquely John's Dad?

[ dave lets amusement seep into his tone and it isn't entirely manufactured about john's dad but he's calling it up on purpose. not enough to be weird, just enough to convey a sense of ease. ]

Because holy shit did that guy like clowns thanks to John's night-graffiti. Whiiiich I don't know if you guys had? Did you tag your room while you slept, bro, or was that strictly an original universe problem?

[ the casual use of "bro" is equally deliberate while seeming not deliberate. the question itself is casual and entirely genuine, because it occurs to him that's a thing he doesn't know. ]

Like, is sleep tagging an issue for prototyped sessions only? God the game mechanics make NO sense even in context.

Detectives and sitcoms. I don't know if that's Jane's subconscious dream graffiting or simply her Dad's decision to try to emulate her interests.

[Dirk seems to have hit an odd equilibrium in calm without being properly relaxed. Dave's strategies aren't hurting, but they aren't doing anything at all.]

[ it's truly amazing how quickly he can fuck up. dave is pretty sure he does not deserve a medal for that talent, however. he does not ask if dirk is still sure, but instead continues to tug the conversation elsewhere. ]

You get one guess what I drew - and one guess for Rose. Then I'll tell you the truth, although hers is way weirder. As expected?

Puppets and tentacle monsters. [A pause.] No, wizards. There was something about passive aggressive wizards in that household, wasn't there?

[Like, it isn't bad? Dirk is fine. He is taking the same approach he does to getting a knife through a limb. 'Okay, so that's there. Can't treat it at the moment. Cool.']

Bro, c'mon, you should know better than anyone what the manifestation of my subconscious fears and desires take shape as. I'll give you a second guess.

[ the answer is of course: sbahj comics. ]

As to passive aggressive wizards, I think they were mostly passagg on Rose's part. What she wrote was apparently some super evil genetic code. Using only the word "Meow".

Edited 2017-01-16 22:22 (UTC)

That sounds fake, but I'll accept it.

[Everything in Paradox Space sounds fake.]

SBAHJ?

It totally wasn't fake, I got shanked over that and had to throw myself into lava?

[ there isn't even any hint as to that being forced casual because it isn't. he died and had to get rid of his corpse, that was super pedestrian. ]

The code was super real and also I think it says something that Rose's subconcious manifested a portion of an evil genetic code that the ring gods asked her to burn?? Also yeah.

[Another moment of tension, although this one ebbs back into the prior state shortly. Dead Daves are still not Dirk's favourite thing.]

Why was throwing yourself into lava part of this? But yeah, neither of the other elements seem especially surprising.

Because Jade was my server player? But also because leaving bodies around is generally a bad thing? If dead-end loops were a thing here, I would still be on dead Dave cleanup duty.

[ someone had to be.

"tickets for the strider blurtscapades are refundable" no. hm. ]

It's all ancient history.

Right. Sparing your loved ones the sight of your dead body has been generally mandated as a considerate thing to do, you gotta assume.

[And if he left the dead Dave piles around, then everyone would be able to know how often Dave died. Dirk wonders if that is a big motivating factor to burial by lava.]

And also the practical thing.

[ dead bodies kind of decompose okay yeah dirk doesn't need to hear any of this jesus ]

So, ignoring the turn for the morbid that is genetically hardwired into both myself and Rose for inexplicable reasons, you didn't do any night-writing?

No. Possibly I became conscious of my waking state too early on Derse. If my subconscious wrote itself on the walls in any metaphorical way, it would be in its externalization through my various splinters. Both those I consciously created and those which manifested without my own intent reflected back aspects of my personality and mind that I preferred to not confront directly.

[It's a kind of natural analysis. The capacity to turn an analytic lens on himself is well-honed from those years of splinters; the scalpel doesn't bother him and he's more than familiar with what happens if you put a piece of him under the microscope.]

I don't know why I bothered to say the reasons were inexplicable.

[ dirk is the source code for the morbid turns rose and dave are incapable of not taking. ]

I'd like to know why the fuck we were always awake, actually. We don't share a class or aspect. Only the role of prince of the fuckin' moon, and honestly Rose was always better royalty than I was; she actually did the whole...talking to horrorterrors thing.

Same here, only Roxy talked less and drifted to commune subconsciously more. I was not a fan of those guys.

[horrorterrors are unsettling and he'd rather have prospit]

[ this earns dirk a stare, which dave physically pulls back from leaning on dirk to deliver. ]

You...did not like the elder gods.

Infinite monsters is not my favourite thing to look up at every day, no.

[He doesn't know why Dave is so surprised. Horrorterrors are creepy.]

Huh. [ all right then. he slides off the desk, tilting his head up towards the ceiling. ]

Glow in the dark stars.

[Without Dave leaning on him anymore, Dirk pulls his legs up off the desk. Crosses them, folds his hands in his lap.]

We can do that.

I always kind of figured you'd try to understand them like she did. I never wanted to listen.

[ to the horrorterrors, he means. he'd done his best never to look at them shades off until rose had basically told him he needed to do so. ]

Well, I guess Rose was probs right about "not all bad", but I can't say I was a fan of their methods.

[ he's meandering now, going to put the book on the dresser designated as his and then rummaging through a drawer. ]

Maybe fondness for creepy horrorterrors is just a Lalonde thing. We instead carry the bizarre genetic trait of finding monstrous beings beyond human comprehension mildly unsettling.

[Dirk will. Just sit there. Watching and not moving. Don't want to risk jostling the metaphorical knife wound!]

I don't know. It would be an interesting idea, but most of my time on Derse was occupied trying to understand the evil fish queen and plan against her. That and dragging Roxy down whenever she wandered off again.

I was-wasn't supposed to realize I was awake first. I don't think I would have done much with it anyway, though. You're more productive than me.

[ no stutter: a weird phrasing instead, half-muttered before he comes up with the digital camera he hadn't shoved in his sylladex earlier, dave turns, leaning against the dresser, and thumbs through his latest shots. ]

The Dersite Queen was more of a threat to our group than yours was, and I had the opportunity to understand exactly what kind of problem she posed. Calliope was a little more free-flowing with the spoilers, and our circumstances inclined us to trust her when she talked crazy shit about a video game.

Do you not want me to understand you?

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