#s166

It looks like it's time to choose, Dave Strider.

Will you let Rose go gentle into that good night?

Or will you rage, against the dying of the Light?

TT: I guess I could wake back you up, if you really want. […] TT: But you have to promise to stay put. TT: Don't try to stop me. Just let it go.

You stole his martyrdom with a ball of yarn. Do you really, honestly think he won't do the same for you?

The second that Dave emerges from this bubble, he’s going to do everything in his power to try and save your life. I know it, he knows it, and you know it, and that’s why you’re dragging this out so much. You know he won't let you go, but you're convinced that he needs to.

TT: It really makes no sense for you to go. This was never your preoccupation. TT: They selected me a long time ago.

And you’re deep within in their domain, now, so I'm sure their voices are clearer than they've ever been before.

Maybe the Horrorterrors believe this death is a necessary sacrifice – but that’s easy for them to say, isn’t it? They’re not the ones risking their lives, here – and, honestly, you might be risking your afterlife, too. If anything could obliterate you without leaving a ghost, it’s a Green Sun supernova.

TT: Yes, they helped you chart a path through the Ring. And they will open that path for a pilot they have marked. TT: I believe I fit the description. I'm not sure about you.

You believe you fit the description?

So all that talk about how the gods 'selected' you is complete bullshit, then, because you’re just fucking guessing. You're hoping, because the one apparent alternative is unacceptable to you.

Rose, please think this through. Think about the situation you’ve been maneuvered into, and who’s been doing the maneuvering. Consider whether this dichotomy you've been trapped in is real, or manufactured – and consider the possibility that you don’t have to let your loved ones die, or die for them.

TG: why do you think that TT: I am the pilot. That's all there is to say on the matter. TG: but i dont want you to die

When I’m reading these characters’ lines, I often imagine I'm hearing their voices.

TT: Help John and Jade. TG: this isnt right

...I'm honestly kind of inarticulate, at this point.

This is just a deeply fucked-up situation - but at the same time, it's proving to be one of the most heartwarming scenes in the comic. Bittersweet might be the best way to describe it.

TT: I'll wake you, but only if you promise to rejoin the others. TT: Could you give a message to John for me?

I'm too weepy for theories, at the moment.

“I’m sorry.” is the best and only guess I have.

TG: if im promising not to chase you down then theres not really any hurry to wake up TT: Aw, are you sure? TT: I was looking forward to bowling another wicked googly with the yarn. TT: Sportsways. TG: nah ill stay asleep a while

Dave! <3

Dang it, dude. You’re getting dangerously close to S-Tier on the strength of this conversation alone.

Something tells me this ain’t no ghost.

Well, kids? Are you next?

TG: im stuttering this dude is making me nervous TT: You don't remember him? TG: no

You might not remember him, but one of your altselves died by his hand. It sounds like there’s some very slight memory bleed between the two Daves – just enough to give him goosebumps here, as some primal part of him remembers what if felt like to be stabbed.

This actually has some fairly wide-reaching implications, if true. For example, if Dave can remember his altself’s experiences, what’s stopping the Scratched kids from remembering their previous lives? Even if the memories are only processed as vague ‘feelings’, it would still be very interesting for Reboot!John and co. to be thrust into a session which is both new, and hauntingly familiar.

We might have seen this phenomenon before, actually.

Typheus!John seemed awfully emotional when he first laid eyes on Dad. I guess he was dimly aware that the man had been kidnapped by imps, but there might have been something else going on, too.

And this is just heartbreaking.

See, Dave’s natural tendency is to turn every conversation into a joke, and thus avoid any genuine display of emotion - but, right here and now, he's starting to do the opposite. He and Rose will slip into an extended Strider metaphor – and then Dave will slip back out again, pivoting back into the serious conversation.

Dave, for possibly the first time ever, is trying his absolute damnedest to stay sincere – because if he can’t make an authentic argument against Rose’s plan, his sister will die.

TG: the sport pile doesnt stop from getting taller TT: Does the officiator have a means of measurement on hand? TT: I wouldn't want to be crushed by a nonregulation sport pile. TG: what do you care youll be dead like the mission thieving poser you are TT: Poser? […] TG: yes poser it should be my torso getting pulverized by that avalanche of overpaid beefcakes and you know it

There he goes again! Dave is fighting his own instincts here, constantly forcing the pair back into a serious conversation. He’s that affected by Rose’s imminent fate.

As for Rose...

... on reflection, I think her attempt at psychoanalysis says a lot more about her mental state than it did about Dave's.

Despite her handle, Rose isn't an actual psychotherapist; she's a thirteen-year-old kid. In reality, she has no idea what's going on in Dave's head - so when she steered the conversation the way she did, she wasn't following any actual thread of psychological understanding. Some of her guesses might have been on the mark, but at the end of the day, she was just ad-libbing.

And while she was ad-libbing, she just happened to steer the conversation in a direction that supported her claim to the suicide mission.

This is Rose's own attempt to save her friend. She's desperately trying to convince Dave - and herself - that she's the one who needs to die.

TT: Were we pursuing the hackneyed debate over who has the best claim to self sacrifice, TT: Or seeing who can out-dumbass the other with obtuse sports lingo? TG: there obviously stopped being a difference between those things the question is offensive

Come on, Rose. If you check out early, this stupid, ridiculous, wonderful argument will be the last one you'll ever have with Dave Strider.

TT: I am piloting the moon through the Furthest Ring right now. TT: At the moment, it's passing through a dream bubble. I am visiting your dream in person.

Rose might be able to speak to Dave, for now - but in reality, she's all alone out here.

I don't think she'll be alone forever, though. Aradia seems to be planning to meet her at the Sun - and, according to the Maid of Time herself, she's here to help.

Things might seem pretty grim for our Seer, but Aradia's still trying to lend her fellow Derse girl a hand. This time, maybe Rose will be able to take it.

TG: this sucks TG: could you just please turn the thing around and come back TT: Why? TT: I'm already out here. Might as well go through with it. TG: we agreed id do it though

This is so fucked. They’re both desperately trying to save each other’s lives – and no matter who wins, we'll still lose. Just like the Sprites, these kids need some sort of miracle.

TG: or at least you pretended to agree TG: just before going into a major league wind up with your nap yarn TT: A major league wind up? TG: sports TT: It's always been pretty sad that I seem to know more about sports than you. Which is really saying something. TG: all im saying is TG: no one likes a basketball hog TT: It's probably just "ball hog." TG: i just think you should know TG: that in the athletic arena of competitive achievement TG: its a widely known fact that cherry picking posers get showered in nothin but boos

They think this is the last conversation they’ll ever have, and this is what they’re doing - which, honestly, makes perfect sense.

They don't want to think about what's about to happen, so their conversation gives way to petty bickering. After all, this is the last chance they'll have to enjoy a silly little squabble, before everything comes to an end.

Zellige 170+169

Zellige 166 - Esagramma  {6/2}

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx_jDy3Psg8)