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[krmvgivv]

Hey, you've reached Dipper! I'm not here right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you soon!

...

But if this is paranormal-related? Hang up now, call back, let it ring exactly twice, then hang up again. Don't leave a message. I'll get back to you even sooner.


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[krmvgivv]

[NO RESPONSE. DIPPER IS GIVING CHARA THE SILENT TREATMENT.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Chara waits five minutes.

Then LOADs.

And repeats. And repeats.

And will keep repeating. They're getting a headache from it, but hey. They're determined.

And just for kicks, a reminder from another timeline:]

...Hey. You know that I can trap you in the same five minutes indefinitely until I get whatever I decide I want, right?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper considers just ignoring them again, but eh.]

Yep. It's great. I'm almost done with my book and no one's yelled at me to eat or shower or sleep.

[Which might be... a little bit of an exaggeration as far as how easy a time he's been having reading through the saves. At least he had the book next to him already, but he keeps having to open it and find his place again, and luckily it's one he's read before or he would be having a much more difficult time keeping track of the plot. But Chara doesn't need to know that.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Well, that's interesting. Time to consider the obvious two possibilities.

Possibility one: he's telling the truth. He remembers more acutely than Sans. As acutely as Flowey or Frisk. Which is... telling. Strange, and telling. Is he an anomaly too? Did something inject him with more determination than a SOUL (or lack thereof) is meant to hold? If so... why not Mabel, too?

Possibility two: he's bluffing. The question there is... why? Where's the tactical advantage in that? Does he hope it'll discourage Chara from using SAVEs around him? Does he NOT want Chara to slip up in deleted timelines and offer him useful weapons like their surname was?

Hm. Either way, anyway, it's very thoroughly distracted from the topic of LOVE. So, not a total waste.]

I'm glad you're enjoying it. Further good news: as long as you're in this time loop, I'm the only person you'll actually be able to carry a coherent conversation on with.

[I mean, unless he feels like texting Frisk.]

A cozy little fate, huh?

[krmvgivv]

[Possibility 3: Dipper's just a stubborn asshole and sometimes being a stubborn asshole is more important than tactical advantage. Plus, he's pretty sure Chara will break before he does. Dipper has a book.

And it's good practice too. The more Chara uses their power frivolously, the better he'll get at weathering it and remembering things through it.]

Same to you. Guess you must really like texting me.

[fulllifeconsequences]

I'm very used to not being heard by anyone else, Dipper. This is just temporarily trading one partner for another.

[But it is true that LOADs cost them something, and cost Dipper nothing. They'll probably tire out before he does, especially if his power is great enough that the skips in time don't interrupt his consciousness in the least.

Hm.]

[krmvgivv]

That's pretty sad.

[Honestly, Dipper doesn't even.... remember what Chara's trying to get out of him, which might be because there have been too many resets and might be because he skipped straight past thinking about it and into stubborn refusal. Maybe both. But he's not going to ask. That would mean admitting defeat and acknowledging less than completely perfect recall.]

Not sad enough to make me put down my book though. This chapter's really good.

[fulllifeconsequences]

Oh? What chapter are you on?

[One more test, perhaps.]

[krmvgivv]

14. Are you gonna ask what book I'm reading or are you just gonna guess by what books have a good 14th chapter?

[Also he's not saying where he started.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

Careless, Dipper.

You already told me what book it is. You were on chapter 16.

[Let's see what he does with that. How confident is he in his recall?]

[krmvgivv]

[...Not 100% certain. The problem with it being a book he's read before is that while it does help him follow the plot despite the resets, it also means he might not be picking up exactly where he left off.

He's 100% certain that Chara would make stuff up to mess with him, though. And pretty certain he hasn't told Chara what the book is.]

Sure I did. What book is it then?

[fulllifeconsequences]

Why are you interrogating me? Nothing wrong with MY ability to remember.

It came up after the second time I explained what QPU stands for. You do remember that, don't you?

[Does he remember those utter bullshit remarks about Dating Power and QPU only came up once? Does he remember them at all? Let's see how hard he avoids the question.]

[krmvgivv]

I remember being annoyed about you testing me. Wow, that hasn't changed. I'm not telling you anything.

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Answer: he avoids it pretty hard.]

You don't have to tell me anything. I've found out enough.

[And he hasn't found out too much. That very first split, that first branching choice, has been buried under a dozen petty annoyances. They can keep their LOVE all to themselves, and Dipper walks off either feeling vaguely irritated or smugly self-satisfied for thinking he kept up with all those LOADs.]

See you later, Dipper. Or sooner. Time is bullshit, right?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper... feels vaguely the same, honestly. He has learned more about Chara, more about his own abilities, and doesn't think he's let on too much about how much he can or can't recall. Not as much, perhaps, as he would like to after being pushed that hard, but still a lot. And now his head hurts, and he hopes this means Chara's done, since he really wants to whine about all this to Mabel.

But he can't resist trying to get the last word in.]

Not at dd&md. You've definitely convinced me you'll cheat.