parodeity | subnautica ic inbox 3.0;

You were tryin' to shove a cat into my hands so I'd be less dependent on you to cling to. I had objections to that, because I really fuckin' like having you as a constant source of physical affection and I don't want to replace you with a cat. Actually getting another pet because you want one is a totally different question.

How do I qualify as a constant source of physical affection?

[ they're on opposite sides of the same couch and that did not even confirm that dave does in fact want a cat ]

Because you're a source of physical affection I constantly want.

[duh]

But I'm not constantly available to you any more than you are to me.

Yeah. But... [Hm. How to say this in a way that makes sense.] I don't want a substitute, at least nothin' livin'. The kind of inanimate comfort I grew up with is one thing, but in terms of somethin' that can actually return physical affection, I'd rather have nothin' than not have you.

I don't know if it's too big a concern. There's always goin' to be one person or another available for that. [ like he's pretty sure roxy will never turn down a hug?

however, dave just wants a cat. he doesn't want to ask people for something they can refuse to give. at least if a cat or a dog refuses affection (peaches was a dog because he's pretty sure dogs do Not do that and that sounded cool when he was thirteen and pathetically desperate) it's not, like, personal. also they can be bribed with food he's pretty sure.

the magister never refuses him anything like that, admittedly. obama isn't the cuddliest but usually is ok with dave.

still. ]

This reminds me I was gonna do a Peaches does Sports arc.

Availability isn't really my concern here. Other people can't replace you and I don't want to make a cheap gesture towards somethin' that would only make me want you more.

[It doesn't matter that Roxy won't turn down a hug or that Jake will always try to overcome his own issues if Dirk needs him. He loves them and they're important but they are not Dave.]

That would've been pretty entertainin'.

[ ...

dave is becoming less certain it's ethical for him to get a cat, somehow. would it be cheap to get a cat to hug when he wants to hug something? god why is this a debate he is even thinking about ]

There was maybe gonna be a Space Jam mini arc that intersected with it, though I'm not sure I was gonna finish, like, either.

[get a fucking cat, Dave]

You are so bad at finishin' arcs, dude. I love it.

[Also. Going back to previous point.]

Do you want a cat? We could give it a ridiculous rapper pun nickname or somethin'.

It would be a cheap gesture or whatever, so we don't like, gotta.

[ dirk was not even remotely trying to talk him out of a cat and yet ]

I think it would be for the wrong reasons? Mom wouldn't approve.

[Fuck. Fuck his stupid mouth.]

It isn't a cheap gesture for you. It's the difference between wanting a pet to hug and appreciate, and wanting a pet as a substitute. I think you have more of a general desire for that kind of comfort which is okay. Mine is... targeted towards key people. I don't super get much out of hugs otherwise.

Is it like ethical to get a pet just because you want a thing to love you though?

[ why can't he just get a cat ]

That's entering the realm of the ethics of relations, which can be broken into the idea that all relationships are inherently selfish. Which is, philosophically, a dumb and unhelpful idea that I've definitely had a hard time not believing about myself while simultaneously being sure it doesn't apply to anyone else.

[At least he owns up to it. What an idiot.]

If you're concerned about the ethics of it, you should probably hang out with the cats and find out which ones seem to want to be around you. That puts it into a frame of reciprocal benefits, where both of you give affection to one another. That should be balanced enough.

What about hangin' out with kittens?

[ he wants a kitten. DID WE EVER FIX ALL THE CATS I FEEL LIKE WE DID NOT... ]

Kittens are also ethically acceptable.

[Dirk can't believe he gets to be jealous of kittens now. Fucking yay.]

[ dirk you have like horses this will be one kitten. maybe. if dave ever actually works up to catnapping a kitten. @ dave just take a cat ]

Would it be ok to take them away from the base though? What if they mind. What if they only want to hang out with me there.

[ like

at least he's probably not dissociating at this point as he agonizes about a cat but this is getting stupid ]

[the horses are not substitutes for cuddles!!]

You could try takin' it, or them, to the tower and give them a little while. Then bring them back to the base and see if you can tell which they prefer.

Yeah, ok. I'll consider it.

[ whether or not he decides towards the positive. if he does, dirk will probably just wake up to And Randomly, A Kitten someday. ]

I have to tell people this week. [ about the whole arrival and departure thing. he put it off too long with dealing with other shit pre-storm, then dealing with the...language thing after-effects, then like. this. god he's going to get yelled at again ]

Okay. [Dirk's posture changes, as he moves the pillow out from Lil Cal Replacement position.] Is that a request to unpause now?

No. You called pause. It's just a statement that I gotta regardless of how anythin' else plays out.

[ dirk asked him not to warn people ahead of time and dave doesn't even want to and honestly he doesn't want to do much of anything but that's the next step: just tell everyone all at once and wash his hands of it and try to avoid having to tell them anything ever again or just forcing himself to do so immediately or just...

trying not to learn anything new might actually be easiest. then he's not trapped into a thousand moves he can't make because there wouldn't be any moves to make.

new plan: try not to learn anything about anything. ]

It doesn't change anythin' else.

Okay, I'm unpausin'.

[It's terrifying. He doesn't want to. He doesn't want to destroy everything like this.]

I want to ask a question. Maybe it's irrelevant, but it's one thing that I don't fully understand. I do understand your need for privacy. I understand why you need to know that the information you share with me won't go elsewhere. I agree with that, and might ask the same of you in return if it ever comes up. What I don't understand, and what you started talkin' about, was the idea that you didn't want to give a heads-up. With the Kharaa thing you indicated you didn't actually want me and Rose to tell people close to us but you did it anyway because you didn't want us to get into trouble with people. What is it that makes that idea uncomfortable? Or is there somethin' that's escaped my understanding of the situation, or anythin' else.

You can just say you don't want to answer or talk about it if you want. I don't really expect it to help. More than anything, this is pertinent to my desire to understand you and the way you think.

I don't know. Mostly pointless shit? [ the idea shouldn't be uncomfortable and it's kind of a useless train of thought when simply setting the "don't want to" aside isn't an option. ] It isn't really my shit to put on lockdown. Nothin' I know is like that. Everythin' is always relevant information to someone, somehow. Even shit I would prefer is not, which I'm pretty sure this doesn't qualify as.

[ the shit he fullstop doesn't want getting out also is stuff people probably deserve to know. there is nothing that doesn't belong to someone else at least a little or doesn't hurt them by not being told. it's a rabbit hole of considerations and it was stupid to open the door. ]

I told you we were makin' a bigger deal of it than we had to. I can tell people. It's fine. I just...wish that existin' didn't mean I have to do all these things for other people, always, small and big. Or - that's not even it, of course I'll always do whatever for everyone else that's not a thing I hate exactly, I'm not playin' the reluctant hero card since that's ridiculous, but I don't know. I'm just tired? It's irrelevant because to keep the peace I will just go through the same song and dance with however many people I gotta before doin' the song and dance with everyone left over even if I'm not happy about it. I'd do it with shit that I hate talkin' about and shit I don't. It doesn't matter. I think that probably bein' alive at all means you're like, 99% of the time always gonna be on marionette strings makin' sure you're playin' the part you're supposed to be playin', and sometimes I get weird about it?

[ that sounded. confused. why does dave try to explain his thought processes ever. ]

It's not a choice. It's a requirement and an expectation and somethin' that cannot be refused. And it's for somethin' stupid, which makes it even stupider to care. I guess?

[He listens and tries to follow. Dave is speaking in vague terms, in slips and referents that don't all match up. It's difficult for Dirk to put all of them together but he tries. Like before, when in moments like this, he tries to understand.]

So... Things like this make it feel like, or I guess maybe are a reminder of the fact that, your life doesn't belong to you. That includes information you possess, which you feel you don't have a right to privacy over because you owe it to other people. So it reinforces the idea that you don't have a choice in these things. Which, in the sense of addin' no privacy to no choice with a dash of marionettin', that returns you to the space of your apartment by forcin' you to operate within the same framework that happened there.

I don't know if that's right or if I'm missin' something important, or I put it in the wrong terms.

It's nothin' I'm not capable of handlin'. Though I guess I tried to cut myself out of havin' to tell everyone myself even when givin' in my tryin' to make other people to the warnings.

[ so he wouldn't have to make a non-choice multiple times? but then he threatened to do that anyway, so it was a pointless gambit. ]

I don't really have a right to privacy over any of the shit in my life, dude. It's all relevant to someone else and it's all shit other people probably need in order to not hurt or whatever. But I'm not sure if that really matters or if it matters in a bad way. It's kind of normal. There's probably other shit to it but it's mostly ridiculous to contemplate.

I don't know that I follow the logic of no right to privacy to anything. [The stupid ethical photograph thing. Is that this? Did he sew the seeds of this? A good thought warped, a good idea twisted.] There's lots of shit you don't owe it to anyone to tell. Isn't there?

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