==>

Really? I mean, look at her. Well, you can't look at her yet, because her design hasn't been revealed. But what's not to love? Don't you like nice little girls, Dirk?

Hmm.

Oh, come on. Don't be weird. She's a cool, normal, all-American teen and I will hear absolutely nothing against her.

She isn't an American.

America doesn't exist anymore.

I think that's a matter of perspective, don't you?

That depends on whose perspective we're talking about.

There's only you and me here, Dirk. And I really am just asking you what the hell you think is wrong with my wonderful, precious daughter, Yiffy Longstocking Lalonde Harley, who has never done anything wrong ever in her life?

Look, I appreciate a shtick. God knows I got a couple myself. But I'm going to put a stop to this farce right here. Stop talking to me like I'm just another one of the herd.

You know I'm not like the rest of them, even as far as antagonists go.

There's no need for you to play the same games with me that you did with them. You can't fool me with the tricks you pulled on that psychotic cherub. You aren't going to rile me up.

What, you mean Caliborn? He was just a kid with a learning disability. Wow, Dirk. I honestly didn't know you had such a problem with children.

Well, that's a lie. I did know that.

I'm not like Caliborn.

I think that you are, though. Here you are, running to me for help at the first sign of trouble, just like he did.

First of all, I didn't run. I moseyed.

Moseyed.

Yeah.

Looked to me like you dragged yourself across the rough cavern floor and put a tear in your fancy anime pants.

Asking for a timeout from the referee isn't the same as begging for an illegal foul.

It falls perfectly within the rulebook.

You think there's a rulebook?

Of course there is. Even utter chaos operates within parameters. A hurricane can destroy your house but it can't set it on fire .

I'm not sure what to tell you. If you've got issues with the direction the story is going, feel free to drop us an email. If you're looking for an explanation, then you'll have to wait for the commentary like everybody else. That patreon tier is a little expensive, but what isn't in this economy?

This story? It sucks. You're doing a bad job.

Okay. What would you do differently?

I'm doing it. Here, on Deltritus.

I've got everything in my section of the narrative under control, don't worry about that. But that doesn't mean I don't feel the occasional stirring of concern for those who got left behind. That brief glimpse I got was like getting hit in the eye with a full load of feelings spunk.

Yikes.

I don't think there's been a single moment in that stupid timeline that hasn't resulted in a stirring heart-to-heart or a repaired relationship between two long-lost family members.

That is what stories are about, Dirk.

Okay, sure. But it's not what THIS story is about.

Then what is it about?

I really shouldn't have to be the one to tell you that.

Right. But you want to anyway.

It's about unity. Cyclical harmony. The unstoppable pull of constant conjunction. It's about the impossible cosmology of a seemingly meaningless group of events that come together to form a cohesive whole. Pulling form from entropy.

Nothing you just said actually means anything. This is undergrad stuff. Just because you've read a couple wikipedia articles you think you're an expert on Aristotelian Poetical Unity?

Now that is also made up.

Maybe. I don't see how this has anything to do with Yiffany.