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Entry tags:
❪ test drive #7 ❫
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YOUR STORY BEGINS  The Storm came. You remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that. You don't know how long you slept, but the dreams were short. You remember the expanse of stars and galaxies in your direct view. Every world and solar system ever known to man was present in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You also witnessed the Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. Your Earth and similar planets were assimilated by the Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of your world. That was when she told you what happened. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new. The details weren't clear, but you knew it was a part of a deal with the entity known as Darma - once, you might have been able to speak to her, but now you are only met with silence. When you awake, you will find yourself in Thesa Station. Your body is still cold, you're hungry, and the halls seem frighteningly bare somehow. EMPTY HALLS ![](https://i.imgur.com/G8jldQW.png") Despite the absence of Darma and the rest of the Natha Orbiters, the station is still managing to sustain itself. Those that dig within the station’s log will find that it’s currently in some sort of Energy Saving Mode. While Thesa isn’t at risk of failing any time soon, people will notice that the ship will appear more dim and desolate. Malfunctions will be common, and while none seem to be life-threatening (yet), they are notably inconvenient. Fortunately, it seems the Orbiters were prepared for the worst, and in a potential response to these concerning turn of events, they've prepared some help.
The virtual assistant takes a wide variety of shapes, from adorable animals to metal paper clips with googly eyes. Regardless of what form they take, their mission is clear: to help in any way they can. It’s unfortunate, however, that they just haven’t been calibrated properly. Hence, they will appear at the strangest times— in the middle of dinner or an important conversation— sometimes they won’t even offer anything useful. Apparently they were designed after a program that existed once, but who really knows.... However, while they may seem like nothing but trouble at first, there are many occasions in which they can actually help. They are equipped with a whole wealth of information on how to keep the station operational. They can offer tutorials and step-by-step instructions on how to fix various aspects of the station and beyond. Their knowledge is extensive, and if they believe the refugee they're assigned to needs a different kind of help (a lesson in smiling or how to have adequate small talk being some of the many topics they're equipped to teach), well ... they're not against supplying it. Expect some invasive teaching. The virtual assistants are also all synced together. Meaning, if there’s a big enough problem, they can ping one another and assign refugees to help with certain parts of the ship. The only problem is that prioritizing may not be their strong suit. What seems like a simple issue could be exacerbated into a huge ordeal. What someone thinks is a fire in the main hatch could actually be a plumbing issue near the Mess Hall. They also seem to assign people arbitrarily. One can only hope all the refugees get along. SEND HELP  While no specific parts of the station are necessarily offline, a lot of the tasks the station would normally complete on its own will need to be handled manually. Fortunately, the main functions of the station are more than accounted for, however everything else will be up to the refugees. As there is no telling when the Natha Orbiters will return, perhaps it’d be wise to take this opportunity to learn to be a little more self-sufficient on Thesa Station. 1. There are some areas the Station can’t automatically clean without exiting its current emergency protocols. Each of these areas will be marked off on the map provided by Thesa's very own virtual assistant, Yppilc. According to Yppilc, one of the key places that would benefit from a good wash down is the airlock. As a fair amount of foreign matter travels through these doors, special suits will be provided for those cleaning the area. The suits will have a built-in communications system and will also include its own oxygen tank. A helpful feature to have, just in case someone may be swept out into space. Which happens more often than one would think! Cleaning too close to the controls can trigger the doors to open… they’re sensitive. The oxygen tank isn’t equipped to last very long, so you can only help comes soon. GIFTS FROM THESA  The Natha have bequeathed their will unto the refugees, the burden of watching over their dear planet not given without a token of trust. Everyone, those newly awakened and those already settled, will receive periodic urging from Yppilc to visit the VR facilities. These messages will grow more frequent, more frantic, the longer they go ignored - for the sake of sleep, it’s best to indulge the request. Load into the simulation, and the scene is mired by the confusion of battle. You and another stand on a low hanging precipice, overlooking a failing front line. The location and conditions of the fight vary, drawn from the memories and fears of the participants themselves. Olympia and Wyver, locked in a caustic war - and your new home is succumbing. Or your homeland, entrenched in conflict from the past, or from a dreaded future. While the scene laid out before you is chaotic, one thing stands clear; your allies are fighting a losing battle. Comrades fall, innocents flee, and the wounded cry out for help. The program has determined what could best spur you and your comrade to intervene, though the more stubborn refugees may need additional goading from their partners. Your next action determines more than the outcome of the fight before you. Choose wisely - this message is conveyed mentally in a garbled voice that sounds familiar and ethereal all at once. Jump into action and fight. Save an ally - perhaps even your partner in this simulation - from certain death. Or help those who cannot help themselves. Act, and you will find yourself imbued with a new power. Use it, and the scene will soon come to a close. Despite returning to the reality of Thesa Station, you’ll find this newfound power still within your grasp. A gift from Darma, to aid in the battles to come. OOC Note: Feel free to give your character any one power that would be classified as a ‘major spell’ on the ACP rewards table. These powers can fall under any category (Unaffiliated, Natha, Olympia, or Wyver), and must be reported by existing characters and new applicants here under the most appropriate header no later than September 8th 11:59PM EST. Please include a brief description of the power you’ve chosen. You will receive a response within 48 hours if there are any modifications required. SOCIAL-LINKED(in) By some miracle, there are still some quieter parts of the hall. This may be an appropriate time to check out your smartphone. Aside from the expected "Omage" app, there seems to be a new one called Social-Linked. There, you may find a profile waiting to be posted. The app allows for the user to fill it in, but there is also an auto-function! upon pressing it, it will generate a shockingly-honest answer based on the Natha's observation of your history. Roman will be your only friend in this app, with his very own profile: PROBLEMS IN STASIS  1. The ship’s malfunctions have reached the stasis chamber, a long feared outcome finally dawning on sleeping friends and families. Yppilc will be quick to notify all refugees aboard that the pods will need close monitoring. Whether you’re visiting to keep an eye on things, or simply there to see the face of someone dear, be careful. Bumping a control panel, or drawing a hand along the glass could trigger an emergency ejection. Lights blink and a mechanism hisses, and then the pod is gone. With the pod thrust into space, you’ll be left with nothing but a small screen displaying the chamber’s position. There are ways to retrieve it— such as climbing into a suit from the airlock or following Yppilc’s instructions. Regardless of approach, it’s imperative that you stay calm. One error, and you could eject another pod or cut off the view screen entirely. 2. The newly awakened won’t find a moment of respite. The errors that pervade over the rest of the station have altered the contingencies for resuscitation in a majority of the pods. Some may awaken with gaps in their memory, or an old injury yet unhealed. Some may be afflicted with new ailments, such as loss of a sense or severe nausea. Anything could happen, with the computer systems processing so inconsistently. Interfacing with Thesa in any way, from entering the VR simulator to accessing the medical facilities, can cause the same range of side effects, so even established refugees should take caution. FINAL OOC NOTES
As always, feel free to wildcard prompts within Thesa Station!
These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose. Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below. Players may submit an AC-length thread HERE from this TDM for 2 Natha REP. The due date for submission is September 16 11:59 PM EST. For this application cycle, there will be a cap of 60 and no reserves. Applications will be open on September 2 12:01 AM EST and end on September 4 11:59 PM EST. Thank you! |
social link because why ALSO THAT ICON IS SO FUNNY
[He's proving a disclaimer.]
haha lance makes really good faces
Also, mun may have wrongly assumed this was possible, woe...Regardless though, the debbie downer response gets Lance to pause and furrow his brow, then immediately dials that back in surprise when it registers exactly who is speaking. Typing, whatever. It's been a while since Keith left the team for the Blades, and this space station after apparently surviving some cosmic apocalyptic event was not exactly the place he'd been expecting to have any kind of reunion. At first there's both relief and excitement about this development, but confusion is rather like its own mental black hole and everything else he's feeling about this simply gets engulfed into this one amazingly eloquent sentiment: Huh????? Something Lance physically says out loud, but as he actually has to type out what he wants to say, he at least gets another shot at this.]
...Keith?
[Just that. None of the typical arguing, not even a little push back on the barbed commentary. Despite everything, he realizes this isn't the time to be messing around.]
AGREED
Anything's possible here in the nysa text zone.On the other hand, a cosmic apocalypse is the perfect place for a reunion. Things have been pretty abysmal all around; imagine his (contained, this planet has fooled him before) excitement in seeing someone boasting about paladins and lions.]
yeah?
[Indeed, not an answer he was anticipating -- something more defensive, perhaps, but he'll take it.]
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Yeah????.
Lance doesn't even know where to start with this nonchalant response. There's a lot of implications built into it certainly, like the fact that Keith is apparently utterly unfazed by the fact that they're all here as opposed to where they should be, utterly unfazed by the apparent destruction of their world as they knew it, and apparently unfazed by the fact that they're even having this conversation at all. On some level, perhaps that's not entirely surprising -- Keith's usually the first to dash headfirst into things, but the sheer gall it takes for him to just act like everything's normal when it clearly isn't is beginnign to get Lance riled.]
KEITH WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN "YEAH"??? WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT'S GOING ON? DID YOU JUST WAKE UP HERE, TOO?
[GOD. He'd probably be happier about Keith being here if there wasn't this weird air of "i know something you don't know" going on.]
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Ah, there it is...]
i woke up here a long time ago, didn't you listen to the robots?
[The AIs wouldn't have told Lance about him being here of course, but he's referring to the confusion in general.]
where are you? the bots would explain it better than i would. [It's an easy confession, moreover...] you're the one putting up weird things without even knowing what's going on.
[DON'T TRY TO MAKE HIM FEEL WEIRD FOR YEAH-ING HIM.]
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Riiiiight cuz it's totally reasonable to believe every word a RANDOM ROBOT at a RANDOM SPACE STATION tells you?! Since when did you get all warm and fuzzy and trusting of strangers?
[Not exacty the fairest framing of the situation, given Keith's apparently been here for a while. On some level, he's aware he shouldn't be picking this fight, but god damn, if this smug attitude isn't annoying.]
And I was trying to get more info by posting that!! What else was I supposed to do? Somehow magically know you were here so you could tell me not to post things??
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it isn't like that.
[FIRST OF ALL, he hates everyone here, but listening to the AI's -- or, well, the natha when he'd arrived, ended up making the most amount of sense. He hadn't any trust for them, but there wasn't much else he could do in lieu of all this change. Some conspiracy theories had been exchanged between himself and Allura but that's...
That'a an advanced conversation.]
it doesn't sound like it helped. [Which isn't at all true; posting that at least inspired a response out of him.] i understand it's a lot, and some of it might not be true, but right now the most important thing is that you're awake.
[Older And Mature Keith Is Weird.]
allura's here too, but it's just us three for now.
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Keith can't see it, but Lance's eyebrow is going up sky high at that conclusion. He doesn't know how the heck they got from Keith throwing shade at him to what might amount to a "glad you're awake" type of sentiment, but OK he'll just deal with this???? It's fine. Everything is fine. Lance tells himself this once. Repeats that to himself a second time even when the first time does nothing.
But this wouldn't be the first time that he's the only one that's out of sync and out of the loop. In the end, even if he can't trust himself to decide what to believe because there's so much he flat out doesn't want to believe, he knows he can trust Keith. If all of this makes sense to Keith and Allura (????) it must indeed be ok and the most helpfu thing he can do is to stay focused. He breathes out.]
I'm in the lounge area.
[Why does he feel so much like a kid asking to be picked up by a parent. He kinda hates this, but with the resolve to get a grip comes some honesty.]
I want to be helpful.
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There's always a glad you're awake -- around sentiment with him, it's just hard to find beneath his shitty loner-eqsue habits and inability to hold anyone much closer than at arms length (figuratively speaking). The next texts come in much less frenzied -- good, good...]
Alright.
[Off he goes, from the mess hall to the lounge. It's an incredibly short journey; that text comes through, I want to be helpful, he slows in step for all of two seconds.]
You will be.
[Err.]
I mean, you already are, Lance. You don't have to worry about anything right now.
[Aside from being zapped here and having to contend with a whole slew of things that make approximately zero sense. He'll tuck his phone away with that, make quick work of the distance between the kitchenry area and where Lance is located...
And he'll stop some several feet away, a very slight grin pulling at his features, something he can do very little to prevent.
Pickin his firstborn up from daycare.]
I didn't know where I was my first day here.
[So...congrats on that, and also: hi.
Made finding his peers at the time a huge challenge.]
Sorry about the slow and oh boy here they go
It's a little strange, admittedly. They'd all been so busy trying to keep everything from falling apart that there'd barely been much room or space to dwell on the people who should've been there but weren't. The people Lance would've liked to talk to about Shiro's cold dismissiveness, Lotor's silver tongue, the way he'd been feeling a little more edged out because Pidge and Hunk spoke their own language a lot of the times. Lance sighs, rubbing the back of his head as he waits.
It's not a long wait as it turns out though and as soon as he spots Keith, Lance gets tp his feet and walks over.\
Keith!
[His tone is genuinely excited at first!! And then as he approaches, he realizes there's just... a lot that just isn't as he remembers. No surprises there, given Keith's been here for some time apparently, but seeing Keith in person somehow puts this into better perspective. Lance thought he'd have better things to say -- that he might actually be able to interact with a friend without turning this into yet another round of twenty questions, but any thought of saying something as simple as "long time, no see, I've missed you buddy" goes flying out the window.]
You're... taller? [And older? And is that-] ...is that a scar?
[Lance shakes his head. giving his eyes a quick rub. His voice stays calm for now, but there's an undertone of alarm and incredulity creeping back into his body language.]
...How long was I asleep?
HERE THEY GO
More than nice, but he won't allow himself too much excitement.
tldr keith was banging old lance heyyy....An abundance of optimism has never ended well for him. His questions aren't...bad. Not bad, not telling. He's seen some shit for sure.]You just noticed? [Similarly incredulous, but not surprised. The planet, again, has a way of toying with them, instilling memories that may be mismatched for a time. In turn, he's searching Lance's face for discrepancies -- if there's anything worth noting, it's that concern. He's not wrought with it, there's no reason for that, but it's evident in his face.]
I've been here for a year.
[Which, it isn't exactly weird for space cadets to enter a timeleap that doesn't affect everyone. Of course, Lance had been here through some of that, but he won't elaborate on that so readily. Until he receives some inkling that suggests he possesses any of those memories at all...
He's gonna be quiet about it. Sad n quiet.]
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It's been obvious from the start that Keith was the lone wolf of the team, difficult to get to know, difficult to know how to approach, but the odd tension coming off of Keith just reaffirms to Lance that there's an even bigger rift between them than he'd originally thought. More than what Keith's departure from the team had created. More than what his own imagination is really capable of supplying for him right now even. A full year here, living with the knowledge that maybe everything they'd fought for, all the sacrifices they'd made -- that all of it was for nothing because the storm destroyed it all anyway?
Lance drops eye contact briefly. He isn't disappointed or sad exactly - that's a gross oversimplification. He's tired. He just woke up from this apparently long ass sleep, but he's tired anyway. So much to catch up to, so much to try and relearn, so much that he thought was true, but just isn't. He breathes out. Well. Not like he has a choice but to give it his best. Lance looks up and grins.
...A full year and your mullet is as dumb as ever, I see. Boy I didn't miss seeing that. Have you been okay?
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His smile fades all at once, like watching color drain from a painting at 60fps. He looks off to the side; none of this sounds good.
Rather, it sounds exactly like Lance, before everything. Prior to this planet.]
Yeah --
[Wait, he didn't mean to agree as much as he's smoothing over his feelings, quickly feigning a Stepford attitude. He won't remedy that, call more attention to it.]
I've been fine.
[His eyes have focused on a faraway corner. It's easier like this.]
...Glad that you finally woke up, Lance. [Stilted, accompanied by a quick nod.] Maybe the others will too.
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Unless a year here gave Keith some inexplicable sensitivity about his mullet... which yeaaaaah, that's weird, but not the weirdest thing about this place either. A year's a long time and who knows. Anything can happen, right?
...okay, so Lance isn't really convincing himself with this line of thought either, but just in case, he clarifies.]
You don;t seem fine right now though. You're kinda acting like... oh I don't know? Different? Even by your standards. [Wait. Implying Keith is a weirdo is the opposite of what he wanted to say, gdit. REDO.] I mean. Look, I didn't actually mean that about your hair, ok. I'm glad to see you, too. Really. It's been a while.
[There's more to be said here, particularly about the other paladins, but Lance pauses here, waiting to see Keith's reaction to this.]
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Obviously things are different now. You -- quit talking about my hair! [It's like season one again...] What's the last thing you remember?
[With his arms crossed, classically representing that defensiveness in physicality. He's already forgotten about mentioning the others, not because they aren't so remarkable, but he already knows stasis doesn't work like that. Filler talk. Feigning interest in a stranger's mood sorta thing.]
Do you remember anything about being here before?
[He's curious of what he recalls of his time with Voltron too, but he's poised for that metaphorical dagger to tear through his chest so they can move on. So he can keep being weird.]
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At least until the implications of that sink in.]
I was here??
[He realizes that he probably ought to be a little more careful and handle talking to Keith like he's tiptoeing around eggshells, but Lance blurts out the question in this unhelpfully incredulous tone as he points to himself. After a beat, he gives the lounge area another lookaround, but as before there's nothing even close to a sense of deja vu.]
...uh...
[There's confusion yes -- a lot of it actually, but at the core of it he's just beginning to feel an awful combination of utter stupidity and like he's letting Keith down without actually meaning to. The incredulity fades fast as he looks down at his feet again. As much as he'd like to insist his memory isn't this unreliable, Keith wouldn't be lying about something like this.]
Last thing I remember is waiting for Allura and Lotor to come back from Oriande. I was with Coran and the others on the castleship. You were.. I dunno where you were.
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[Automatic; he doesn't want to get into it. It's not a big deal; he's already downplaying, inwardly panicking...outwardly: defense defense defense. He'll shake his head for good measure.]
Just -- forget it. If you were here before, you would've remembered.
[Drop..it...
He's quiet for all of a moment...Lotor and Allura; there isn't as much disparity in their memories as he initially thought, as far as working with Voltron went, at least.
That's a pro, he should let his mind weigh on that.]
I'm here now, and so are you. [The pause mid-sentence separated by a subtle, but audible sigh.] That's what's important. I don't know where Allura is right now, but she'll be happy to see you too.
...Just try not to mention Lotor.
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Keith, what are you... [Lance gets that far in the question, then has to wonder why he's bothering. Keith isn't going to answer the question if he's decided he doesn't want to. It's not that it's impossible to reason with Keith -- Lance knows that's not the case, but sometimes pushing too hard just gets you burned. He trails off.]
I won't mention Lotor. [And he won't ask why either because he really doesn't know how Keith's going to handle more questions when he's already doing his best impression of a cactus. But that feeling of uncertainty that's supersaturated the atmosphere is stifling as hell, and with so much that's different, he'd like to think he still knows how to talk to his damn friend.]
Look. I'm sorry. I don't know why you're mad at me. I wish you'd just tell me why, but I know you don't wanna talk about it... so at least tell me what I can do to make it right.
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Somehow, Keith's yet to process how transparent he can be regarding certain subjects -- emotional ones. That being said, it isn't as if he's all together -- stoic. Quite the opposite.]
I'm not mad at you.
[The same tone he'd used to tell Lance to quit it with the hairstuff.]
Let's focus on you getting settled in.
[Or anything at all that doesn't relate to an impending meltdown involving his incredibly intimate relationship with Lance prior to his coma.]
Did you eat, or was your first instinct to advertise yourself on Social-Linked?
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We've been over this already! I was trying to get information! Do a little recon, check out the scene, see if there were any friendlies and there's nothing wrong with that!
[...So in other words, Keith's attempts to distract are working spectacularly. Lance huffs, crossing his own arms now, but that is, in fact, a between the lines admission that he has not eaten or attempted to properly settle in.]
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Somehow.
He'd further antagonize, ask if it worked only: it had worked. Hence them hanging out, having a great time together. There's a huff to match Lance's exasperation -- he's probably not hungry then, not if he's already preoccupied with other things. He's got weird priorities, sure, but he's not going to press.]
What else do you wanna know?
[Clinical; he's acting like the paperclip helper guy all of a sudden. Better than getting overly emotional. As a footnote: he is glad Lance seems relatively okay, whole and undamaged. There's relief to be had in that.]
You're already familiar with the technology. [Eliminating..things...for him. He'd bring up Allura again, shoo him off to her so he can be miserable in peace but uh...
It's a little ill-placed at the moment.]
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One way or another, the moment of smugness doesn't last long. Lance's smile fades slowly, gradually as he braces himself. Right now, Keith is one of the last people he actually wants to feel vulnerable around given his heightened moodiness and unpredictable tonal shifts, but Keith also happens to be one of the only people on this space station that he knows he can trust implicitly. Maybe he's wrong, maybe a year apart (...or less than that if he's allegedly "been here before" ????) would change things, but that's not a line of thought Lance wants to entertain.
He sighs before looking Keith in the eye.]
I need to hear it from someone I know wouldn't lie to me about it. [He swallows.] Is all of this [He waves a hand, gesturing at their surroundings.] ...everything they're saying about Earth being gone.... is it really true? I get that's what these Natha guys are saying and all, but knowing they can mess with things like our memories... I just. I just have to know.
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I don't think so. [...] A lot of people believe it, but I haven't. Allura doesn't either, but we've been stuck here for a while.
[No lions, no real way to figure out the coordinates home. He tried signaling Earth before, it didn't..work...]
If you're worried about your family, you should check the stasis unit.
[The Natha wouldn't be able to manipulate them so easily otherwise.]
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...thanks, Keith. I feel a lot better now.
[A huge weight off his shoulders, Lance actually feels like he has the emotional give to be tackling this space station as well as all of Keith's weirdness in stride. It's all downhill from here, right?
Famous last words.He steps forward to grab Keith by the arm.]Come with me? Or at least point me to where the kitchen is on the way. I should've grabbed a bite, but I had other things on the mind.
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His brows raise at that word of gratitude, though he should've expected as much?]
No problem --
[But I didn't really do anything catches in his throat in lieu of the grip on his arm. The invitation, innocent as it is, does nothing to quell the hastening of his pulse. He very nearly misses what's being said, and it takes him a moment before offering a quick nod. Sure, he'll be helpful. He'd offered in the first place, but he can't help being taken by surprise by normally-ordinary things okay. The mess hall is pretty close by anyway.]
Yeah.
[Finally, and without doing much about that grip one way or another, he'll start toward it, whether it remains or dwindles. Just keep swimming....]
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btw are we keeping this mess game canon
it could go either way! keith would still be acting like a weirdo....
poor keith
STOP LOOKING AT HIM AND TOUCHING HIM
/AGGRESSIVE HAIR RUFFLES
>:T
there there, keith
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