#s137

[thewertsearch]

Cal, get the fuck out of the frame. You're obliterating the vibe.

GG: ummmmmm hey guys i hope im not interrupting!!! TA: well, yeah, y0u kind 0f were […] AA: sollux try to be polite […] AA: jade is very nice and she did nothing wrong AA: none of them did so when you wake up maybe you should try to reconcile with them [...] TA: did Y0U? AA: did i what TA: be nice t0 them 0r whatever bef0re y0u expl0ded. AA: well no […] [Robo]AA: what actually happened after i died it sounds complicated

Not significantly moreso than your life was.

Although, this is additional evidence that Aradia had no idea she was going to resurrect on Derse. Even our most knowledgeable Player is less clued-in than she thinks.

GG: i have just been enjoying these little naps more and more lately! GG: each time i go to sleep i meet more new people and learn so much GG: but i still cant get karkat to take a nap, boy talk about a guy who is anti nap! TA: ahahahah, yeah, what a d0uche! GG: seeeeeriously!

A more pissed-off Jade meets a less pissed-off Sollux, and they're meeting in the middle for some Mage/Witch solidarity.

The guy's been free of his Voices for about two minutes, and he's already bonding with the humans he used to hate. Here for it!

GG: […] i should really thank feferi again for setting it up so we could meet like this! TA: wait, ff is here? […] TA: 0h g0d, why didn't that 0ccur t0 me, where is she?? GG: ummm probably in another bubble GG: but youll find her! maybe during your next nap… TA: well shit, why can't i just g0 glub ar0und 0ut there in the ring and find her n0w? […] AA: navigating between bubbles is difficult here AA: its better to drift between them naturally as they intersect AA: not spatially but through common points in memory

I'm starting to understand the mechanics here. You start out in a bubble simulating one of your memories, but you can move to adjacent bubbles if they're simulating the same scene, regardless of who is remembering it.

So, initially, you can only visit people that you share memories with - but after that, you can visit someone they share memories with, and so on. Eventually, you can visit anyone in the Ring, provided you're linked by some chain of memories.

It's easy to imagine how Jade arrived here. She wasn't originally present for this memory, but she has spoken to Aradia before, and probably joined her bubble while it was simulating one of their Pesterchum conversations. You don't get kicked out of a bubble when it changes, so Jade was able to stay after it morphed into Alternia. If she wanted to find someone she'd never met, such as Dad Egbert, she'd have to visit John's bubble as an intermediate.

Aradia's a special case, since she can circumvent normal bubble navigation by flying out of bounds - presumably because, unlike all her companions, she's here in the flesh.

AA: to navigate the furthest ring you need to have mastered the flow of time! AA: that is why i am here AA: i am alive again so i may assist the dead in this way

It's poetic, I think, that the ex-ghost is the one managing the affairs of the dead. I guess she knows how disorienting it is to be suddenly disembodied.

[starryevermore]

“you won’t even be a memory!” “yes he will! you won’t!” ⇨ “mr. lawrence, what is your relationship to this terry silver?” “ma’am, I have no idea who that even is.”

[thewertsearch]

AA: i did find s0me 0ther neat things d0wn here t00 which are strange but quite harmless and n0t f0reb0ding in the least! […] TA: hey diidn't you al2o fiind 2ome biit2 and piiece2 of your biizarre robot doppelganger. AA: i wasnt g0ing t0 tell y0u ab0ut that!

I bet you weren't.

Before she even died, Aradia was confronted with physical evidence of her robotic fate. The soulbot was modelled after a slightly older Aradia, but her destiny is fast approaching, and she'll look more like her own tomb every day.

AA: damn it h0w did y0u kn0w TA: ii don't know, ii ju2t "remembered" 2ome more 2hiit about thii2 dii2covery, god 2orry.

Now that he’s able to chill out a little, it turns out Sollux is actually a pretty funny guy.

I’m happy my Zodiac-assigned troll is finally catching a break, and I can't wait to see more of this version of him.

AA: sorry to interrupt i wanted to give you both the chance to remember but it doesnt look like this is going anywhere!

Less than a minute ago, she was embedded in a pleasant memory of her living self - but the moment she realized what was happening, her humanity was ripped away all over again.

Life really sucks when you're Doomed Aradia #385.

[thewertsearch]

AA: is it coming back yet TA: is WHAT c0ming back, wh0 ARE y0u? TA: wh0a h0ld 0n. TA: why am i talking like y0u suddenly?

Blankness isn't always a bad thing.

Unlike Aradia's ghostly depression, Sollux's emptiness will come as something of a relief, because it means his head is finally free of voices.

What's up, Jade? I guess you are the most likely human to be sleeping at any given time.

Feferi's Horrorterror alliance is really starting to pay dividends. Now that Jade's joined the party, the humans can finally consult with the living Aradia, who's regained her will to help. She's been dropping hints about what she knows for a long time, and she has to be ready to spill by now.

In short: It's time to hear from the only troll who actually knows what's going on.

TA: h0ly shit, i can't see! AA: yes thats what being blind means TA: w0w, awes0me! way t0 be awes0mely sympathetic t00 my terrible new pr0blem, aa. AA: sollux will you shut up and stop being so tragic for once AA: you knew this was going to happen! your prophecies of personal doom were practically all you ever talked about AA: i think you were looking forward to this honestly [Robo] AA: shes right TA: i can't believe this, it's alm0st as if i'm getting… TA: D0UBLE TEAMED.

These two are playing off each other extremely well.

You can really see the cute couple that they'd have made in life - and perhaps in death, too, since Sollux is destined to die again. Either way, he and Aradia will be seeing a lot of each other.

TA: that didn't feel right at all, i think i might have t0 retire the wh0le bifurcati0n gimmick, puns and all. TA: actually that is kind 0f a relief, maybe y0u're right, i'm feeling better ab0ut this already.

Those visions were really fucking with his head, I think, moreso than he ever let on. Getting KOed by a Hope laser might have been the best thing that ever happened to him.

So, uh.... I guess, thank you, Eridan?

AA: great! AA: you should be able to relax now that youve been released from the curse of your vision twofold just like you said youd be AA: you are now merely doomed!

TA: i'm g0ing t0 die again, aren't i.

AA: see you soon ;)

[Robo] AA: being d00med isnt that bad [Robo] AA: i spent m0st 0f my life that way remember […] [Robo] AA: actually i guess i dont have to keep talking like im doomed anymore do i

You deserve to cheer up a little, so I'm glad you're also letting go of the 'doomed' schtick.

This afterlife seems like a pretty sweet deal, especially for a Time Player. You retain your personhood, you can reunite with your co-Players, and for the first time since the meteors hit, you're not on the clock.

Side note - if the Aradiabots were using the zeroes because they were timeline-doomed, why was Alpha Aradia using it? Did she just feel inescapably doomed? I guess that tracks.

[bloggers-secretfiles]

Story #137: Uhm, okay. One day, theres this guy who forgot to click the anon button when he sent me a message. It was a message saying I look  really beautiful for him and some stuff like that. I was really shocked to see that because I think no one really admires me. Then he sent me a message again saying don’t publish the ask. So I didn’t. We talked after that. He confessed. He said he have some crush on me for a long time. And that really made me feel the whole zoo in my stomach after a long time.

The truth is, I really liked him before. I guess it was also december back then. But not the like as in like. I was just curious to know him. Then I saw that he was in a relationship with another blogger and they were so sweet as hell. Like ew. Hahahahahaha. Lets just say that I realy hate seeing sweet stuff before and until now. Maybe because my life is full of bitterness waht. Haha. So yeah. It wasn’t really a big deal for me, I was just curious. So I forgot about him after that. Thats why I am so shocked to see him messaged me. It was so random. I didn’t know whether to believe it or not. Now were in a MU stage. He says he loves me. He gets jealous whenever I am talking to another guy and it is too cute to believe its true. He makes me smile. He makes me overthink. He makes me go from angry to happy. He makes me blush. He makes me feel special. He makes me feel those feelings I haven’t felt for a long time.

Gahd, Is it really possible to fall inlove to someone you haven’t even met personally? I don’t know. It scares me to believe. It scares me to try. I think its too impossible. I want to believe him but my doubts are making me not to.

But all It know is that I do want him in my life. I dont want this to stop. I just hope this is not like some summer romance. Because even though I am doing my best to not get too attached to him. Im slowly falling <strong>hard.</strong> 

-Q.E.