Untangle the strings

Turning the tides. ((An ask blog set in a world of angst)) What led to this end? The story so far

[youvereachedthebadend]

Don't worry, I don't get it either. How've things been?

"Fairly good," Stacy says. "We had a parent teacher conference lately, apparently the teachers are concerned that Ryan isn't getting along with other kids."

"Not in like, a serious way, though," Chase says. "He just doesn't hang out with them. And spends a lot of time with Delilah during recess." He sighs. "Making friends is hard, especially after everything that happened. He really bonded with the other kids in the ones who know, and some of them don't go to this school."

"Well, hopefully he'll be able to make friends during the summer," Stacy adds. "Our complex has other kids in it, maybe they just need to get to know each other. I'm more concerned with their exams coming up."

"It'll be fine, they're smart kids," Chase says. "Even if they missed a bunch of school, I doubt they'd fail, you know?"

"True." Stacy nods. Then she laughs. "I guess our own lives are going alright, if we just start talking about the kids right away."

[youvereachedthebadend]

Chase! How’s it going?

Chase is in the passenger seat of a minivan, with Stacy in the driver’s seat next to him. The car is parked of a long line all stopped along the curb. Up ahead, little kids are pouring out of the open doors of a school building.

“Oh, hey guys!” Chase says, grinning.

“Hey.” Stacy nods. “It’s going good. We’re just picking up Ryan and Lilah from school now.”

“Like the new car?” Chase gestures at the interior. It’s mostly clean, though there are a handful of crayons in the backseat cup holder that are slowly melting in the heat. “It’s a rental—or, uh, a lease? They’re different, I guess.”

“Think of a lease like testing a car for a long time before buying it,” Stacy says, glancing at him.

“Right, right.” Chase nods.

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Stacy smiles softly.

“Not really,” Chase admits, and Stacy laughs.

[youvereachedthebadend]

I don’t think we’ve talked to Chase and Stacy yet

“Ah.” Jackie nods. “What would they be doing this time of day, anyway?”

“Likely picking up the kids from their school,” Henrik says. “They have that rental car now so they do not need the bus.”

“Right! I forgot about that!” Jackie nods. “Heh. Now they can take us places.”

“If they would want, yes.” Schneep nods. “Tell them hi from us when you see them, voices.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

Haha, we don’t even know if our Deltarunes would be the same across universes

“Ha! True.” Jackie grins. “Universes are weird like that.”

“We have not met a major difference yet—despite the whole corruption thing and existence of magic in general,” Henrik says.

“Which is weird, isn’t it?” Jackie says. “Life is weird. Anyway, how have things been for you voices so far? You saw everyone, right?”

[youvereachedthebadend]

Hehe our universe has already gotten chapters 3 + 4 of Deltarune. They're really good!

"You have?!" Jackie gasps. "Oh, don't say anything! But... glad that they're good!" He pauses. "Sooo... are there any more hints to who the Knight is? Is it Kris? Because that's been driving me crazy."

"You just told them to not say anything!" Schneep laughs.

"I can't help but be curious!" Jackie says. "But please tell me it's not Kris, that would be so dumb. Oh, do we have a flower shop Dark World? I would love that."

"Stop asking questions!" Schneep says, still laughing. "We will find out eventually!"

"Yeah, in yeaaaaars." Jackie sighs and slumps in his seat.

[youvereachedthebadend]

"what route would you two go on first? Kill everyone? Spare some or spare all? Again each choice you make matters."

"Well... I do not know, because I didn't know that those two options were options in the first place," Schneep says.

"Yeah, that's the game's whole gimmick," Jackie says. "Because a lot of times in games, choices don't actually matter, but it does in that one. No hints, voices!" Jackie grins. "We want him to have a completely blind experience. He's already at risk for remembering the game, anyway. And I think it's more fun if you figure out how the game works on your own."

Schneep nods. "Yes, I agree. I-I will try to be nice, because I do not enjoy being mean in games when the option comes up, but I may make mistakes. I would prefer to learn that they are mistakes on my own time, though."

[youvereachedthebadend]

Ooh, I bet you’ll love Undertale!

“That is what Jack and Chase keep saying!” Henrik agrees.

“If you asked me or Marvin we would also say that,” Jackie says. “Trisha probably would too. And Fern. And all your DnD friends. You know what, I bet Jameson would even say you’d love the game, because even he experienced it in some way despite not usually being a video game person.”

“Well I am certainly looking forward to it now.” Henrik sits down next to Jackie with his own rice bowl and starts to eat. “It must have been very big.”

“Yeah, and now there’s another game by the same guy that’s promising to be even bigger.” Jackie nods. “Deltarune. But there are only two chapters of that out.”

Schneep chuckles. “I see.”

“Unrelated note, you chose a great place to order lunch from,” Jackie says, raising his fork. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” Schneep taps his fork against Jackie’s.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Ooh, what game is it?

“Something called ‘Undertale’,” Henrik says.

Jackie laughs. “I don’t think that counts as an indie game anymore. I mean… I guess it was basically made by one person. But with its cultural impact, I don’t know.”

“Jack apparently played it on his channel years ago,” Schneep says. “Anti, too, technically, since it was before the Split. I know, I checked the date of the videos.”

Jackie grins. “Well I promise you, you’ve definitely seen and heard references to the game, even if you don’t remember playing it. Have you ever heard Chase say ‘get dunked on’?”

“Is that not basketball?” Schneep asks.

“It is, but also… eh, you’ll see. No spoilers. They might jog your memory too quickly.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

Hey, what's something that's bringing you joy right now, and what's something you're looking forward to?

Jackie laughs. “You know, it’s funny to hear you say that now. Because I’ve been, like, internalizing that idea.”

“Oh?” Henrik carefully slides Trisha’s rice bowl into the fridge, stacking it among other boxes and Tupperware. “You are?”

“Yeah, whenever I’ve had like a really shitty day, I like, try to think of that,” Jackie says. “Cause like—I like my job, but it can be tough and exhausting, you know? So I try to keep that in mind. That there’s always going to be one small thing to bring you joy, or whatever. Right now, I’m happy that Schneep got me food.”

Henrik chuckles and closes the fridge. “As for me, I am saving up for a small laptop of my own. Just something to do browsing on, perhaps a handful of video games for my spare time.”

“Picking up gaming? That’s new for you.” Jackie sounds both surprised and somewhat impressed.

“We were talking about birthdays the other day, and Chase told me there was some big ‘indie’ game that came out on my birthday,” Henrik says. “I apparently played it in the past, but that memory has not returned. So I am curious.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

"does it sometimes seem normal that sometimes you approach people but for some unknown reason they seem to get away from you once you slightly get attached to them? Just had a thought and wanted to say it out loud."

“Hm? I do not understand.” Henrik tilts his head, pausing with the fridge open.

“That… I don’t know if that’s normal,” Jackie says. “But normal is relative. But not all normals are good. Does… does that make sense? It can seem normal, but it… shouldn’t be.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

"Hey you two i ....have been trying to keep this weird blackout/second personality at bay ... strangely it didn't happen again.... wouldn't want to ruin anything further between me and you all. Anyways sometimes change is good... whether it's good or bad ,but changes are a necessity and a part of life."

“Second personality?” Jackie blinks. “Uh… good luck with that? Not exactly sure what to say.”

“Good to hear from you again, though,” Henrik adds. “Anyway… yes, you are correct. Nothing can stop life from changing.” He sighs. “Everything changes… yet somehow, it sometimes seems the same.”

“Because change is a constant, I guess.” Jackie shrugs. “Also here’s the plastic forks for the bowls.” He holds those up.

“Ah, thank you. I will go put Trisha’s in the fridge.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

Yeah, getting adult friend groups together is HARD, especially now that you're not all living together. You can definitely handle the challenge, though, haha

"Hey, I was about to say something like that!" Jackie grins. "Look, Schneep, we've all been through a lot. Scheduling issues is nothing compared to all that!" He takes an aluminum dish out of the bag, then a second one, and a third. "Besides, we're the only ones who really know about what happened. I don't think we'd let each other go even if we wanted to."

Schneep smiles slightly. "You all are right. I just... I sometimes miss the convenience of living all together."

"Yeah. The Place sucked, but it made it really easy to find each other." Jackie nods. "Nothing wrong with missing that. By the way, why'd you order three rice bowls? Splitting the third with Trisha?"

"Well, one is for me, one is for her when she gets back from work, and one is for you," Henrik explains.

Jackie blinks. Then grins. "Hey, you didn't need to do that!"

"I wanted to! Besides, I am sure you get really hungry from all your running around during your shift."

"I'm actually pretty durable," Jackie says. "I think. Is that even the right word? Hm."

[youvereachedthebadend]

How have things been since we last saw you?

“Oh, it has all been very normal,” Schneep says. “Which is a relief. Oh Jackie, look! Clara bought me and the rest of the Dragons group these candles!” He hurries over to the table and picks up an orange candle in a jar. “This one smells like spicy lemon, it is called ‘Searing Smite,’ isn’t that clever?”

“I like how you call it the Dragons group,” Jackie chuckles, setting the food bag down on the counter. “Hey Schneep, did Jack tell you that he’s going to move out soon? He’s getting that apartment he was looking at on the party day.”

“Oh! Yes, he texted that to me.” Henrik nods. “Very good for him and Anti.” He sighs. “I just hope this won’t mean we will see them less. I feel like I do not see you all as much now that I live here with Trisha.”

[youvereachedthebadend]

Oh, that’s awesome!! Not that using them is bad, but needing them less is really great!

"Hah... I never thought of it that way," Schneep smiles slightly. "I suppose it is good."

"Yeah, exactly!" Jackie grins. "Anyway, do you want your rice bowl now?" He holds up his food bag.

"Yes yes, of course." Schneep nods. "Can you come in and chat while you do that?"

"Hm... I guess for a bit, I don't have any other orders coming in." Jackie takes out his phone, checking it. "I just gotta report that I dropped it off real quick." He taps away at the screen for a moment, then puts his phone away again. "Only for a bit, though, okay? I still want to get more orders done before my shift ends."

"Of course, of course." Schneep steps aside so Jackie can come into the apartment.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Huh, I wonder why corruption affected how much you like kids

Where are you headed? Just work stuff?

"I think... empathy in general just comes a bit harder now," Jackie mumbles. "I-I've talked about it in therapy. Kids... well, they're so different than you, right? I mean, we were all kids, but it's hard to remember, so it's... hard to remember how things are for them sometimes." He sighs. "Anyway. It's sort of work stuff. Here, you'll see soon."

He reaches a landing, and gets off the stairs, having arrived at a hall full of doors. He stops at the first one, knocking on it. After a moment, the door is opened... by Schneep. "Ah, Jackie!" he grins. "So good to see you!"

"So good to see me that you just had to order food through me?" Jackie raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like it's so good to see the food."

"Well, that too," Henrik chuckles. "Sorry, I just got off work and I was hungry, then I remembered you were on shift and thought it would be nice to see you." He gestures at his clothes as he speaks; he's still wearing a pair of blue scrubs.

"It's nice to see you two, but we can hang out without the food included," Jackie says, grinning slightly. Then he glances down at Schneep's clothes. "Huh. You're not wearing your yarn bracelets."

Henrik blinks. "Oh! I-I'm not. They are not allowed at work, you see, but I... usually put them on as soon as possible. I suppose I forgot."

[youvereachedthebadend]

"opinions on kids in general?"

“In general?” Jackie repeats. “Uhhh they’re alright. Some are cute, some are annoying. But they’re just like… tiny people who haven’t experienced much. They’re… there.” He frowns. “I used to really like kids, before the whole corruption thing…” For a moment, he pauses. Then shakes his head. “Chase’s kids are great, though. Ryan and Delilah are adorable. I don’t think you’ve met them yet, since you’re new.”

As he’s talking, he makes his way to a staircase and starts climbing upwards.

[youvereachedthebadend]

Jackie! I hear your birthday is coming up?

“Hm? Oh yeah!”

Jackie is walking down the street, a red cloth bag hanging from his shoulder. The area around him is apartment buildings of various sizes. It looks vaguely familiar.

“July 10th, baby!” Jackie chuckles. “It’s weird to think about. I don’t even know how old I’ll be. I was like, 28 when the time loop started, and technically I think I’d be… 32 right now? If time had continued normally? But I still feel young, you know? But maybe everyone in their 30s feels like they’re not ready to grow up.” He stops outside a building and heads in, shoving the door open with his shoulder.