hashtagafreakingghost

[Dave's PokéGear is set to match conversation format unless he chooses otherwise, so this time she can see him when he laughs again, voicelessly, through his nose.]

Okay, okay. It's really not that difficult a concept, though. Time travel only causes a paradox along the alpha timeline if it instigates a contradiction, right? Like if someone went back from the future to, I dunno, stop their parents from porking and conceiving them. It wouldn't work because from that future's point of view, the parents have obviously already boinked. But if our Marty McFly went back and either didn't affect things or put into motion events that were supposed to happen, then it's fine even if he goes back to a time where he already exists. You see? So John and Baby John can chill together because, from John the elder's point of view, they already did when he was Baby John.

Edited 2016-02-26 04:03 (UTC)

[She's positively pouting, which combined with her tear-stained face (still red from the cold) makes her look a good deal younger.]

I guess that makes sense...but then when did it start? It's just a loop, forever and ever? That's so confusing. Time travel sucks.

[He snorts before he can stop himself.]

Yeah, tell me about it. Try living, like, literal weeks of the same twenty-four hour period and then see how you feel about it.

~~[There's a "your story is one of many possibilities" comment to be made here, but that's getting a tad too meta]~~

Oh my... Did you do that? What the heck.

Yeah, uh. That was my thing, I guess. You know, video games. Ridiculous powers. That kind of deal.

I was the Marty McFly of our team, basically. The Knight of Time.

[She chews on her bottom lip for a moment.]

That's a lot of pressure for one kid.

[Blink.]

...I mean.

[He rubs a hand down the short hairs at the back of his neck, then shakes his head a little.]

Not any more than anybody else. John was our leader and had to stumble blind through a lot of crap while we were still getting our shit together like particularly incompetent butt monkeys, and Rose was the one most active in figuring out what was going on, fighting for a way to survive an unwinnable session. And Jade was responsible for creating a whole goddamn universe for us to go to if we did. So really, the only difference for me was that I just literally had more time to dick around and get things done, and I didn't even really have that much weight on my shoulders, comparatively. And I had Terezi walking me through pretty much everything.

--Oh, shit, the trolls. I didn't explain them yet, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It sounds like all of you...

[It's pretty impossible for Ashley to hide the concern on her face, but she swallows down a question and gently nods. And shivers. And pulls a blanket up around her.]

Okay. Okay, um, go on. We...kind of threw out chronology.

Right. I mean, the chronology's kind of fucked to start with, for obvious reasons. We were sort of getting close anyway? To the part where the trolls come in, that is.

[He thinks back on it, and yeah, nothing really important happened between getting into the medium and Karkat's trolling campaign really starting in earnest. Probably. Who knows, time is a construct.]

Okay. So, I guess Karkat told you, but the trolls come from a totally different world. The thing is, they've got their version of SBURB, too. I think it's called SGRUB? Everything was a grub on Alternia, I don't even fucking know. So anyway, Karkat's leading their session, and as I understand it they actually do pretty well all the way up until the very end, when they're about to claim the prize for beating the game.

[~~'But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked.'~~]

But, uh. We kind of fucked it up for them, apparently.

Edited 2016-02-26 22:05 (UTC)

You...huh? Like...your game ran into theirs or something?

Sort of. ...gnh, okay. So you know how I said Jade was in charge of making a new universe in our session? That's what the ultimate prize of the game is; everyone's planet gets kind of flattened at the start, but at the end, you pretty much become the gods of a new world that you yourselves created.

The universe that the trolls created...was ours. The universe with the Earth me, Jade, and the rest of us are from. So there was some kind of causative connection, right? And when we kind of shat the end boss up for ourselves, he...went back somehow and fucked them over, too. Soooo they were understandably pretty pissed at us when they discovered our existence.

[Her mouth hangs open from about..."gods of a new world" 'til the end. Somewhat faintly:] They should put a...freakin' disclaimer on this game...

H- they made it...but they still, uh...lost? Is this another time travel paradox thing?

I...mmh, no, I don't think so. The universe got made fine, but Jack Noir--that's the boss guy I mentioned--attacked them before they could go through to it. They managed to escape, but it meant they were kind of stuck. And dude was still after them. So they started hassling us over the internet, except their timeline and ours weren't totally synced so it was just confusing and aggravating for everyone involved. Jade got the worst of it, though.

Over the internet when you were in the mediu-

[wait]

Are you...telling me they...were actually trolling you?

[He just tilts his shades down a little so she can see his eyebrows rise.]

Mmm.

[Really, Ashley. Duh.]

...

Okay. That's just a mean cosmic joke.

[it might be a little funny but what the fuck universe]

[He huffs another quiet laugh.]

Yeah, story of my life. Anyway, to our answer your question--yeah, they were ragging on us in the Medium, but because of the way their chat client lets them hit people up anywhere on the timeline--and don't even ask me how that's supposed to work, I have no damn clue--the way we experienced it was that these incomprehensible assholes out there were shitting on us our entire lives. So there were bad feelings on both sides already, they just stepped it up once our game was underway. But some of them ended up helping us out. Karkat was one, Terezi and Kanaya--the one Rose was macking on--were two others.

Huh. So- even before your game started, you had them just...messenging you out of the blue, and for them it was...a shorter amount of time? Just a bunch of angry alien trolls sending you angry trolling IMs?

Pretty much, yeah. I think they only knew about us for...a day, from their perspective? You'll have to ask Karkat, I spent so long running around hopping on I-beams and cheating the stock market that I'm not actually clear on the time frames for other people.

I'll...make sure to. Er- that won't be...weird for him, right? I think we accidentally kept skirting on some pretty strange subjects when we talked befor- you know, not important right now, never mind.

So, they started helping you. Over the course of a day?

[Dave opens his mouth for a moment to ask, then thinks back on the conversation that he totally was not just sitting there eavesdropping on and decides to let it be.]

I think so. I mean, it's not like they had to stick with us every second, so they could scroll around to whenever it seemed like we needed a hand. Terezi--Terezi was good at that, at keeping things more or less linear with me, especially given I could be running as many as thirteen time loops at once.

Karkat, though. Jesus. That idiot tried trolling John backwards through time. What an utterly magnificent tool.

[Don't ask about all the uncomfortable moments Dave please don't]

He- th- Dave, this sounds ridiculous. Is that what you meant about Jade making him have passwords...? So she could do things in order? Ugh, even if this wasn't a...horrible trick of a game, that would just- it sounds so frustrating!

[So just like Karkat. She's somewhat fond.]

Yeah, it was horseshit. It worked out for him and John in a weird way, though, because when he started trying to hassle John at the end, John was already friends with him and knew Karkat was just being Karkat, and when he got back to when John was just starting out, he was actually kind of understanding and helpful. John has that effect on people.

Really does sound like Chris... Alright, so- you're all trying to...to make a universe with aliens alternatingly helping you and annoying you, and somehow along the way you become friends. I'm understanding this right?

Pretty much, yeah. That seems like an accurate summary for the part before things went totally shithive bananas. You pick things up quick.

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