#4225

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4225:

characters can't have good

[thewertsearch]

TG: do you want me to set u up w the files now GT: Ooh, these illicit hacked warez which i heartell were recently jimmied piping hot off the interclouds? TG: ahahah i love that you were barely even joking with that statement bup yeah basically GT: The silicon pickpocket strikes again!!! Whom is the wiser? Nobody.

pffffft

You know what this is? This is real, genuine charisn'tma, right out of a Discworld novel. Jake is just so bizarre, with his stilted vocabulary and 'accent' that would be anachronistic in literally any time period that you can't help but enjoy his dialogue. He's likeable, in the weirdest way possible - which sort of parallels John, a guy who's likeable in a very straightforward way.

TG: im not letting either of you run this file on your shitty brainwashy propaganda helmets or anything else u got to wear to run

I'd understand if you were saying that to Jane - but this helmet was inherited from Jade, who should be entirely trustworthy... right?

Does Roxy know something about Grandma Jade that we don't? Something suspicious, perhaps?

GT: Then you have decided to play in spite of your reservations? […] TG: i have every reason to want to play it TG: im actually dying to play it ok

If Roxy's situation is anything like Rose's, then she's living in a remote mansion in upstate New York, with a mother she feels completely alienated from, and no IRL friends to speak of.

Of course she wants to play Sburb. She's desperately lonely.

TG: you believe me right TG: about the bad shit that could hapen GT: Of course i do. GT: What sort of friend would i be if not?

Belief without understanding, like I said before.

Maybe that's the deal with Hope, actually - it's all faith, and no logic. Eridan, who desperately sought out romantic partners with no understanding of why he failed, certainly seems to fit that mold. Hope, then, would be the Aspect of trust, belief, and, in Eridan's case, absolute delusion.

TG: ok well TG: dont say that to jabe TG: *n

Seems that Roxy's also aware that there's something up with Jane. Well, if anyone can undo the damage the Tiaratop has done, it's probably the girl who can look at its source code.

TG: jane never believed my crap TG: never any of my warnings about the baroness TG: didnt believe any of the stuff about my mom TG: and so on and so on and soon TG: til after awhile i just stopped even trying to convince her hard or bring up any crazy shit TG: because u know doing a lot of songs and dances to convince somebody who thinks youre jush shitting them all the time kind of wears on a friendship TG: and who even needs that

...although, Roxy's not describing Jane's repression as if it's artificial. In other words, she thinks Jane's unwillingness to face uncomfortable truths is a real facet of her personality - and perhaps she's not entirely wrong.

Now, let's not get it twisted, here - I do still think that Jane's being brainwashed to ignore any evidence that her corporation is evil, or that her grandmother is the Condesce. But she's also ignoring other uncomfortable truths - ones that are far less supernatural.

B2 Rose - although I hate to admit this - is showing all the signs of being a neglectful and irresponsible Guardian. If Roxy has tried to open up to Jane about this, and she's summarily brushed it off, I really don't think we can chalk it all up to brainwashing. Would the Condesce really brainwash Jane into ignoring all negative information, in any context, ever? How does that benefit her?

No, this feels a lot more like Jane just doesn't want to think about... bad stuff. There's certainly precedent for that, in her family, as John's always shrugging off bad shit - and as we're seeing here, that's not always a good thing. If you're shrugging off your friends' problems in lieu of supporting them, that's not on your evil tiara. It's on you.

[apocalypticartifice]

roxy so cutes

[every-tome]

[correcthomestuckquotes]

[5sospicturesque]

Clearing out my camera roll 4225/?

[everymobbu]

[thewertsearch]

TG: the barnoness wants us to […] TG: i dont know why TG: everything i know about it says it should be a good game and real important and itll let us all get togehter and do somethin great and be besf friends for maybe eternity? TG: but she took all that and twisted it somehow TG: all i know is shes banking on us doing this and if she needs us to do this than its got to be to make somethin fucking hoorible happen

Well, she's working for English, who presumably wants to turn this universe into his latest dinner. So far, that's his only stated motivation, although I have reason to suspect that there's more to it than that.

If the Condesce has her own agenda, then it's probably something akin to the oft-discussed Second Alternian Empire. The woman clearly thinks very highly of herself - her name is literally the condescension - and somehow, I doubt she's content to fade into obscurity as the one-time ruler of a fallen civilization.

No, this is a woman who wants to rule. We've seen the influence she's already exerting over the Earth, and I don't think she'll be satisfied until her control is absolute.

Come to think of it, founding a new empire on Earth wouldn't even have to conflict with English's world-eating. After all, Alternia's universe was marked for destruction at his hands, and she still ruled it for millennia before the other shoe dropped. From the Earth's perspective, it could be thousands or even millions of years until the universe is destroyed - and even that doesn't need to be the end for her. English made her immortal, so there's literally nothing stopping her from starting over again, in the next universe he targets.

She could do this forever, until there are no more worlds left to subjugate. It'll just be Alternian Empires, all the way down.

TG: maybay im just like this nutty ass bitsh twirling yarn from a shitwizards nappy brown beard but i cant bring myself to trust a cake sellin genocidal alien overlard sea queen

Huh. Funnily enough, I think this is the first time it's been all-but officially stated that Betty Crocker is the Empress. I'd ask how Roxy is aware of this, but she's the daughter of a Seer, and a l33t haxxor to boot. She's probably more clued-in than even Jade was.

TG: so what is the itinerary again GT: Intinerwhosit? TG: regarding the game TG: whosplaying in what order etc

Well, if we follow where the narrative parallels lead us, the chain should be Jane -> Roxy -> Bro -> Jake. The expectation, then, is that Jane will Enter in relative safety, and the kids' meteors will slowly grow larger, culminating in a moon-sized meteor for poor Jake.

TG: i start with jane and bring her in the session TG: then ds brings me in and you bring him in and them jane does you and closes the loop

This does indeed seem to be the order they're planning. Only time will tell if it actually holds, though, as things have gone fruity-rumpus-shaped before. The trolls thought they were two different chains.

GT: Where are you getting this intel? Did you guys make a plan or something? TG: nah dont wory about it

Like I said, Roxy's got plenty of potential sources of intel. Aside from her mother, her hacking abilities, and potential Dream Self shenanigans, the 'darkness' Umbra's seeing over her location implies she might also be in contact with the Horrorterrors.

This girl's got a lot of irons in a lot of fires. Hopefully she knows what she's doing.