#math the squip

[raccoons-in-a-trenchcoat]

Squip whiteboard doodle

[genderlesssnake]

Unleashing my shitty school doodles of the bmc gang

[unit2282]

Thoughts on the whole situation with Math and M474? It’s been quiet for a while but I do worry

Wow, you really know your stuff...

I haven't had much of a chance to review the "Math and M474" situation in full, though in my research, I have come across it. What I do know is that it is somewhat old.

What I do know is that "M474" is NOT a proper SQUIP designation. Whatever an "M474" IS, it is not a SQUIP.

[squipperooni]

Have you heard of Jeremy heere?

[I ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏɴ ɴᴏᴡ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴅ ᴡʜᴏ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ Jᴇʀsᴇʏ Iɴᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛ ɪs ʙᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴏʀɪᴇᴛʏ ᴀᴍᴏɴɢ SQUIPs]

[michaelmellsmum1]

My math skills annoy me so much, I'd rather swallow a squip pill just to pass the next test.

[theabyssgazesalsointoyou]

random trivial bmc headcanons because i'm bored

christine

plays around with her hair a lot so it seems curlier/messier than it actually is

korean. because i said so.

keeps a journal and it's like 'play rehearsal was so fun! also, i don't get the concept of life [200 word philosophical essay]'

lots of bruises she doesn't even remember getting bc she keeps bumping into stuff

carries around so many fucking pens and she doesn't even use half of them

rich

somewhat caffeine intolerant but addicted to it and doesn't care

an unhinged sense of fashion

an irrational burning hatred for country music

knows a ton of weird niche trivia and party tricks that are practically useless

can fluently encode & decode simple ciphers like rot13

brooke

great at math, it's her favorite subject

sometimes dots her i's and j's with hearts

her vision is slightly mismatched bc her hair keeps falling over one eye

the Most Dog Person you will ever meet

refuses to kill bugs and releases them outside with her bare hands. chloe is horrified

jenna

loves to read

huge fan of horror and supernatural/paranormal stuff

likes animals generally considered ugly/creepy

incredibly niche music taste & uploads her own music to soundcloud

has a 300-day streak on duolingo. she dabbles in all kinds of languages and has like 5 courses

jake

favorite color used to be orange as a little kid

writes in all caps & texts with perfect grammar

cannot keep plants alive to save his life. brooke gave him a succulent once and he killed it within a month (much to her dismay)

gets way too easily annoyed with illogical things

has a habit of absentmindedly scribbling on paper

michael

probably has like. 4 cats

will die on any and every hill just to mess with people. loves playing devil's advocate

very adventurous when it comes to food. he eats the weirdest shit ever

names inanimate objects (his laptop/headphones etc)

little superstitions like wishing on things

jeremy

has a crooked smile he's insecure of

bad at tying shoelaces. they always get undone and he's always tripping on them

keeps the squip squad group chat on mute and checks it like once a week

lowkey needs glasses but thinks he can manage without them so he's always squinting

has 7000 unused apps on his phone bc he downloads them, gets bored of them after a day and forgets to delete them

chloe

secretly really into art (of all kinds)

has a pet betta named gatsby

likes old disney movies

mildly allergic to pollen

loves taking pictures and will make you wait at restaurants so she can take a picture of your food

[woah-uhuh-uhuh-uhuh]

BAC: SECOND VIEWING NOTES!

Yeah i went again on sunday and really wanted to cry after because it's over forever Q_Q i am inconsolable but for the fact that there may be a halloween party... but uhhhhhhh anyway here's what I noticed this time!!

(also here's the notes from my first time for reference [x])

Ad libs:

Final show energy & lots of ad libs! Which were apparently real unscripted ad libs!! A lot of them were just little things (so I can't recount most of them) but they were very very good. the blorbos became real people for a second there

When Rich is looking for Mountain Dew Red at the party, Jenna appears and says "I have Mountain Dew Blue?" and he explodes at her (possibly "Not now, Jenna!")

When Christine and Jeremy talk together at the party, they're sitting on beanbags; after they get scared off by the skeleton guy, they're laughing and crawling back to their seats - Christine, through laughter: "oh where's the beanbag...."

Changes (?)

VIMH: Rich: "The ladies are gonna get to know the real Richard Goranski... And the dudes." Then he stares into the distance for like 30 seconds (a very long time), making calculating gestures in the air (like the woman with math meme) before going "Oh. My god............... I am totally bi!"

Maybe wrong, but I swear there was a wind part added to the middle of Michael in the Bathroom??? I thought it might be a flute or digital flute..... but as a flautist I might be projecting.....

The Play: Multiple thin green lights flickered down on people as they got squipped, with a cute video game chime sound. But fairly certain this was always there and I just noticed it this time lmao

Smartphone Hour: Background acting on the little platform at the very back of the stage: a scooby-doo esque chase sequence where a firefighter rushes on from SR and disappears SL (implied Jake's house is SL); the fireman reappears with Jake in his arms and runs back SR to safety. Then Jake runs back across to get something from his house and the fireman is trying to stop him. Then Jake runs back out of the house holding a teddy bear he saved from the fire; the fireman is chasing him back out of the house. It was fucking hilarious 10/10 especially because I couldn't be sure if it was a new addition or if I just completely filtered it out last time like a basketball gorilla dslfjdslfk

Also on Jake: between the teddy bear and the Upgrade scene (also detailed by Dani) where he's talking about archery while holding a plush duck - unsure dramaturgically if it's supposed to be a real dead duck or a toy, but anyway.... Jake who likes stuffies??? IDK if I buy it but I don't know enough about Jake to NOT buy it and its also a very fun headcanon I think so it's going on the pile for me. he can collect plushies with jeremy as far as im concerned dsljfsdkfjs

Oh yeah Jeremy also had a big white duck plush on his bed. edit: this is actually a seagull plush! Its name is Katie and it belongs to stage crew member Anya!

More details I saw this time

General

Christine actor was actually amazing she has this giggly honk voice she uses when being like obnoxiously loud and silly and idk how to describe it but such intense LOUD SILLYGIRL ENERGY. A little different than the chris im used to and it was fun to see another version of her!!

Maybe I'm insane but I think Christine also pronounced Jeremy kinda like 2 syllables (Jare - me). This extremely slight difference somehow led to me perceiving her singing "Is he worth it? Germyyyyyyy!" IDK Sorry Jaclyn if you are reading this ldksfjdlsk

Lots of times when Jeremy is talking about becoming cool he does little hip gyrations (think Rich at the urinal i guess but more subtle)

Jeremy does this thing where he holds his hand bent stiff with his fingers all together and taps hard on his right temple to express some kind of frustration with the SQUIP- e.g. when he's trying to get the SQUIP to turn on after the first day; during the end of the Halloween party, etc. Actually it very much has the same conceptual energy as "C'c'c'come on....." now that I think about it

Michael blows a cloud of smoke during a few of his entrances (MTS and maybe Halloween - or that was Dustin maybe)

He also uses a vape pen I think? When he says 'we gotta get stoned in my basement'

Preshow montage

Before the show, there's a montage of screenshots from the teens' lives on the back wall --- that is, their selfies and their text convos. Pretty sure the texts were that gossip submitted by fans? I only remember two:

"i heard that guy who wears hoodies all the time only listens to weezer" <- (I only noticed this one 'cause it KILLED ME honestly I feel like Jeremy would love Weezer and Michael would hate it sdjkfljdsf ) edit: this text was submitted by @/thesquirrelqueer!

I don't remember who was on which side, but Brooke or Chloe sending Chloe or Brooke a big comforting text after her breakup and making plans to go get ice cream I think?

MTS

"Dad haven't you ever heard of privacy?" He says this while putting on his belt after the opening.

Jeremy's actually gesturing towards his locker for like the entire conversation between Brooke, Chloe, Jenna; when they notice him finally it kinda looks like he's just pointing at them and that's part of why they think he's weird I think?

M: "Humanity has stopped evolving!" Jeremy then takes like 20 seconds of looking confused before going (approximately) "is that supposed to be good...?"

"Christiiiiiine Canigula!" Each Christine section he eventually (around 3rd time) starts using this fanboy totally-losing-his-mind-over-this voice which is REALLY hard to describe but i'll try: like lower & less articulate, like how it sounds when you raise your soft palate (?), and going up at the end kind of laugh-like like he's really excited. (For a bmc reference maybe sounds a little like will roland's tone in i even got some blood flowing / with no computer screen around). Anyway i'm not gonna lie it did make him sound really lame jsdlkfjdsf

"Why can't someone just help me out?" As Jeremy sings this bridge it's all dark except for a light on him. Students line up chairs behind him and sit down. At this line, two guys walk forwards on either side and touch his shoulders (looking kind of solemn / sympathetic) , and guide him back to sit in the chair in the middle. Then the lights come up on everyone and more group choreo wheeee

Post-ILPR MTS reprise

Christine: "Sorry, Jeremy, did you say something?" -> after this scene, she runs off giggling loudly, apparently glad to not be interrupted and VERY visibly excited about Jake asking her out

Jeremy sings "I don't wanna be special / Don't even want to survive...." (Instead of usual "Don't even need to survive.") Not sure if it was intentional but it happened at both shows I saw and made me sad both times noooooo........... guy...........

Squip song

Rich actually rubs his hands all over Jeremy's face (in addition to his arms)

"Top secret can't even look it up on the internet type shit": Rich looks to the side and mimes a rectangle (computer screen) then mimes typing where the keyboard would be

2PG

"I don't want that to be my future! Sad, and alone, and ... " - The music cuts out at "sad" instead of at the beginning of this line.

On their relationship in general, I think Michael irritates Jeremy more than fanon typically has it lol. Very excitable Michael who kinda lacks volume control (in several scenes - including VIMH even after Jeremy tells him to be quieter). Constructive interference of autism etc etc

(Again fun to see this!! as a jeremy stan i am definitely guilty of making michael a godlike perfect friend to jeremy and like.. no... they don't actually mesh that well even just in the script!! Often times Jeremy doesn't understand or care about the things Michael says. So yeah absorbing this into my headcanons now thank you)

Also back wall was this like vaporwave looking low-poly 2 person first person shooter game footage (think wolfenstein but with a very different aesthetic - purple and blue, and i think with some objects depicted in mesh).

BMC P1

When Jeremy's spasming on the ground (last time I thought he looked mostly in pain - this time he was vibrating a bit more like he lost muscle control) - local build-a-bear employee Jared Kleinman (JARED KLEINMAN...) and some other people start filming him.

Jared keeps filming him through the scene until SQUIP: "All they see is you having an animated conversation... with yourself." Jeremy turns and notices him; Jared doesn't stop filming but just waves at him nonchalantly (in a mocking way like hey buddy welcome back to reality)

Jared also has a BaB apron and BaB backpack on (or a bear sticking out of his backpack i dont remember). Pretty sure he also had a bear with him in another scene, probably Halloween?

"Lookin pretty sexy, brooke" -- says it in like a low Elvisy voice (like will connolly)

BMC P2

"Everything about you is going to be wonderful" -- Jeremy rolls up his cardigan sleeves so they're just below the elbow. (One of them slipped back down and he put it up again but I didnt think it was intentional lol). I was surprised how much instantly cooler that made him look but maybe that's just because my older brother wears his sleeves like that ljdsfkdsfklsfdlk

......also note that MICHAEL usually wears his sleeves rolled up like that in this production.... inch resting.....

MTS reprise

When the lights first come up, Jeremy is snoring with his head hanging off the side of the bed. He stops breathing for a second, then jerks awake.

GTIKBI

Chris: "I know you and Jake used to date...." Chloe and Brooke simultaneously go "Oh my god, no!!!" --- Chloe to Christine (mockingly), meanwhile Brooke is unrelatedly browsing her phone and says it in distress because she (implied) has just seen that Eminem died. As convo continues, Brooke sits next to another student (Leo Collins?) and shows them the article. (She still says 'yeah jake is so gross' to Chloe, just sounding upset)

Upgrade

I ALREADY SAID THIS BUT JEREMY AND BROOKE WERE SO CUTE TOGETHER JLKSDFLDFSJ. I decided to only watch them during this song (/ _ \) Based on their acting when they walked near the stage stairs, they had climbed to the back of the bleachers and were walking precariously on the outside of the railing - specifically, they went over the stair railings - first Brooke and she teeters a bit and jokingly pretends like she's gonna fall off; Jeremy goes under the rail, comes up on the other side and does a gesture like *tada!*. Then they sit down together and are talking and its just really cute. making me ship puppy love over here jdsifojdslkfdjsflk

Halloween

Michael was at the dance in costume - during a certain point (I think right before Rich starts losing it) Michael gets lost out of the group choreo, seems to be stressed out and runs off stage (presumably to the bathroom)

One of the guys is dressed up like Guy Fieri and it's really good. Like I remember last time I even had a moment where I realized I was interpreting this actor as playing The Real Guy Fieri At Jake's Halloween Party. Also in MITB he uses his hat (which is a combo of visor and fake hair) to knock on the door.

DYWH

Chloe: "...rock this baby fast asleep" then, laughing: "Goo goo ga ga!!" and she kinda topples onto him. The actress said she got this from the West End production!

When Jeremy says "I can't stand up." It was kind of implied it's because he has an erection not because his legs are frozen; right before this line he stands up then sits down and puts a pillow in his lap. Either way though ig it was still the SQUIP stopping him (S: "you're welcome.")

GTIKBI reprise

as Dani pointed out, Christine was sitting kinda numbly on the beanbag with headphones on; she takes them off when Jeremy starts talking to her.

Voices in my Head

Jeremy's wearing an X-Men shirt!

Re: expensive headphones - Michael's rubbing Rich's shoulders (???) when he says "I'm sure someone would be lucky to have you" (and then of course he still says but not meeeee while sending him flying)

"Throw you a rope home slice if you need some dope advice" Jake fist bumps with Jeremy (or equivalent gesture i dont remember)

Stagedorks kiss: after C says yes, they walk to the center of the stage. Jeremy rushes forwards and puts his hands on her cheeks (i think?) to pull her into a kiss. They separate, beat, then Christine goes forwards again and they have a long slow kiss while the ensemble keeps dancing and singing around them.

Not intentional i dont think but Patrick the Jeremy actor was crying a bit at the end /( T_ T \ )

OK YEAH i might add more to this if I remember and/or edit it back into the first post...... but hope that was fun to read????

[lunaryuwu]

Random Jeremy headcanon:

He likes math. He thinks he’s weird for liking it because math is generally hated for being complex and annoying, and he does find it annoying at times but he still loves it, because everything is definite in there(for now)

In Be More Chill Pt.1, Jeremy asks Squip “how are you with math homework?” because he wants to constantly be good at math. He’s always been decent in it and it’s where he gets his validation from, so he doesn’t want to lose it you know? And because math is hard, he’s slowly slipping, so he needs Squip’s help to keep his math grades up.

Just a thought.

[thesquirrelqueer]

people always talk about missing the line “i’m a supercomputer jeremy, i’m made of math” but I feel like we don’t appreciate the squip line before it enough cause “my database is infinite and instantaneous” is a cool line and I miss it

[theunderscoresquip]

BE MORE CHILL AU. IDK A BIT(?) LONG

`Jeremy.`

He shot awake, panting. Damnit, not again— Jeremy must've been scaring himself at this point. He checked the clock; so early, but why? It's almost as if his body had been purposefully doing this, waking him up as if the Squip was waiting *right* there, and was getting impatient. Regardless, couldn't happen. He had felt it, *heard it*. All the Squips had been deactivated, and his Squip was no exemption to that. Thank god Micheal had Code Red on standbye, with what could've happen— Another code red would have arised without it.

He wondered, because he had some extra time, why not think about everything? It had only been a week, yet everything felt fresh in his mind. But he felt so detached from it. Who would believe it, though? That some supercomputer had just lodged himself into his brain, and nearly took over the entire school? Or.. Attempted to? No way.

Usually, he didn't enjoy being alone with his thoughts. Today was different though. It hurt his brain though. Why had *his* Squip tried to take over the world? After having him less than a week. He became so aggressive. He had mentioned he was a learning computer, said he was faulty. Rich apparently had his for nearly 3 years, and nothing huge had happened.

❝ WATASHI..

WA.. NIHON KARA KIMASHITA! ❞

He groaned, it didn't concern him. He reached for his laptop; though, muscle memory was going against him, as he swore he felt a little shock. Like a program, he stopped this action immediately. He took a breath in. Squip had at least fixed ONE part of his life.

School time. He was still considered a popular kid, well, saving the school and all! He was laughing, and having fun. They even brought their own drinks! And almost as he had forgotten, he took a swig of mountain dew.

Wait, hah! Didn't even matter. The Squip was gone, what was a little Mountain Dew going to do to him? He took it all down like he had been triple-dog-dared to (the highest of encouragements), and smiled. It had always been one of his favourite sodas.

He had stayed a little bit later for extra help, just with math homework he wasn't a big fan about. The only people left were teachers. He assumed everybody else was embarrassed to be aided, whatever! He strutted down the hallway with pride, he felt so amazing, proud of himself. He didn't need a SQUIP, he didn't need anything. He had always been good, it just took a little push. And his best friend!

Suddenly, he felt pulses of electricity go through his body. It felt like he was going through a panic attack while getting electrocuted, and it wasn't so great for his motor skills. He fell to his knees, quivering. He couldn't support himself any longer though, his body gave out on himself as he laid there gasping for air. Tears welling in his eyes. It stopped, as suddenly as it came. But his body was still shivering from the aftershocks of it all. Wiping his eyes, he slowly opened them. Having not gotten up yet, he saw something peculiar no further than a few feet away. Maybe two.

Pixels, stacking ontop of eachother from bottom to top like Lego bricks infront of him. They emitted an electric cyan glow, which breifly pulsed red. Even they seemed disoriented, as they went through the entire spectrum before stopping themselves on the same sharp blue they had been previously.

`Get up.`

A voice demanded. Jeremys body felt light as he automatically did so. Sitting up. He wiped his eyes, and placed his glasses back on. His eyes widened, as he took a step back.

"No. Nonono."

`Oh, yesyesyes. Deny it all you want. Plug your ears, and attempt to tune me out. But I am back.`

His breathing spiked, as he started to shake as if he had been shocked again.

"Stop. Stop! I'm- I'm hallucona—"

`Stop speaking to me out loud. You look pathetic.`

He took a sharp inhale in, he still remembered SQUIPS commands from that week ago. 'Just think at me, like you're telepathic.' were his words.

Sadly, Jeremy was pathetic and incapable of doing so. SQUIPS stoic and eerily robotic face contorted to slight annoyance, clearly being aware of this fact.

`Let's try something different.`

His appearance went completely black, as the shadow morphed to one of much shorter stature. It glitched, and went completely cyan. Before it reached it's achieved goal.

There SQUIP stood, having taken the appearance of a shorter, teen-like, more approachable. Man? Woman? Jeremy couldn't tell. Mainly masculine, though.

`" Is this better for you? "`

Ew. His voice didn't sound bad, just different without the whole dude-bro-keanu thing going on. He sounded normal, though. For a teen. **[[POV SWITCH I HATE 3RD PERSON SOMETIMES]]**

He gripped on my collar as he pulled me down, my breath hitched and I felt my face go red. Being so close to him felt no different to the other times, especially when he told me to take him inside me— Forever? But I muttered out a response.

"I, I have so many questions."

Didn't seem to ever be good enough for *him* though, because he let go and placed his hands on his hips.

`" I'm aware "`

I opened my mouth to speak, but he leaned forward and put his finger up to my lips, shushing me. He felt like pure static electricity, which made me flinch back.

`" Shh, I already know your first question. 'Oh SQUIP, why are you here?' "`

He was.. Mocking me, clearly.

`"Well, have you already forgotten. Jeremy? I never expected you to be so forgetful. When you drink mountain dew,

It ALWAYS turns me on."`

I panicked, my face flushed even redder. I could cosplay the Mountain Dew Code Red at this point.

"You- You m-mean like. *Activating*, right?—"

`"I said what I said."`

**WHAT?!** What was that supposed to mean? I mean, I always knew SQUIP had this *thing* for making weird innuendos with me. It was confusing, especially with how he harbours such a hate for 'activities which require tissues and lotion', if you know what I mean.

"E-Excuse m—"

`"What did I say about stuttering? We need a complete overhaul on your personality, once more. Now, come along. Let's go home."`

"What?- I, can everyone see you?"

`"In this form, yes."`

"I can't just, bring some random student home with me!"

`"Tell your father I'm an exchange student, or, Infact, don't elaborate at all. I'm sure he'd be glad you've spoken to anyone who isn't online. Infact, do you know that most of the girls you speak to online are actually old m—"`

I groaned. "Okay! Okay I will!"

I finally went home, him trailing behind me slowly. My dad hadn't even been paying attention to me when I came back home. I guess we didn't need his little plan after all. When I got back up, I stretched out and laid on my bed. As SQUIP prodded and poked at the rest of my things. His body shifted once more, to his default appearance.

"Why didn't you just do that before?! Are you trying to get on my nerves."

`"That isn't important, now. Are you still single?"`

"I *was* dating Christine, but we just.. Work out better as friends."

`"Good."`

"..What?"

`"Being single is good."`

"Didn't you say the exact opposite last time..?"

`"That was V2.5. I am currently V4. I am updated, different, improved. Unlike you."`

I flipped over and burried my head into my pillow

"Just go.."

`"Refrain from speaking to me that way. Sit up."`

And than I felt it, again. my body merely obeying his command, and sitting up straight. But, before I could ask that. Another question rang through my head—

"—Hey. If green mountain dew activates you, and red deactivates.. What do the other colours do?"

His outer glow of the standard electric blue pulsed. He seemed off guard, causing his usually unsettlingly empty expression to shift to one of shock, before easily collecting himself. I guess he had not been expecting that one.

`"Well. Voltage causes temporary energy, Major Melon increases strength temporarily, Spark gives you the ability to shock me, Baja Blast cause me to become lenient, DEW-S-A greatly confuses me; scrambles me up, Live Wire makes me speak much more, Pitch Black blinds me, Throwback gives me an annoyingly 90's vocabulary, SuperNova causes me to get romantic, White Out causes a temporary memory wipe, Ultra Violet gets me emotional; positively, Holiday brew gets me emotional; negatively, Dewshine turns me invisible, Sangrita Blast renders me capable of controlling you completely, Violet causes me to revert to Japanese, Spring Bloom increases eyesight, and Voo-DEW causes a random mashup of any/either of the others abilities."`

[insertsickusername13]

I will not shut up about Michael and Jake being best friends like practically brothers okay I know it's not canon but I do not care in my head it's real OKAY like I imagine them being friends before the whole squip fiasco in a very casual way - during Jake's study hall Michael has a math class he hates and always skips and they smoke weed out on the bleachers together for an hour. They almost never talk but there's a mutual understanding there, a silent companionship.

Then after the play and everything there's a brief moment before Jake finds out the details - why Rich set the fire, the squip, how he was being used by two of his friends - where Michael can prepare him for the damage he's about to experience. Michael lost his best friend to this terrible thing and Jake's about to realize he did too, but Michael has a couple days to enforce this "it's going to be okay, you're worth more than him, there are people here to support you" mindset before it all goes down. He can save him from the worst of the hurt.

Then after that, when Jake manages to rebuild his relationship with Rich and starts to fall in love all over, and is absolutely terrified because all he had was his image - perfect, lovable, straight - and no one could take that from him, but now he's in love? With a boy? He can't do this. And Michael spent the whole musical being inferior to Jake in the eyes of Jeremy, but suddenly Jake is showing up at Michael's house in tears in the middle of the night begging for guidance and help and Michael realizes no, he's not inferior to Jake. There's no comparison between him and Jake - they're just friends. It's not 'Jake the golden boy' and 'Michael the loser' it's just 'Jake and Michael' and whatever imaginary social hierarchy existed between them doesn't matter because Michael will do anything to protect Jake because, as he's slowly realizing, no one else will.

And as an extension to that, because I am not fucking DONE, Jake genuinely admires Michael. Like where Jeremy slowly began to resent Michael's nerdy interests, Jake is so used to shallow conversations and sex that when he goes over to Michael's house and instead of just getting drunk and fucking he gets to hear about some nerdy video game, he's relieved and feels safe. And Jake, as privileged as he is, doesn't even understand the concept of bullying or the social hierarchy, so even when people whisper, he stands by Michael's side. Like where Jeremy was willing to give up Michael for popularity, Jake is willing to learn to give up popularity for Michael. He learns not to care what people think when he walks down the hallway holding hands with Rich. Michael teaches him. And to be valued in such a way - to be admired rather than put down - is foreign to Michael even in his relationship with Jeremy. Like yeah, Michael was happy. He was free and confident in himself. He was okay being nothing. But Jake suddenly makes him aware that he was never nothing, that he didn't need to be okay with being a loser because, in Jake's eyes, he wasn't. He was just Michael. And Jake sees that - he sees Michael growing more confident in himself, more willing to set boundaries and stand up for himself rather than just be berated. And he's so happy to see Michael happy, so happy to have found this weird version of family after his was taken from him.

Their friendship comes out of nowhere, and everyone's confused when they suddenly appear as best friends. Why did Jake ask for Michael when Chloe found him crying on the floor? Why is Jake the first to offer to go with Michael to weird conventions and concerts? When did they have time to form such a deep friendship? But they're both so happy, and they learn so much from each other, that everyone decides to leave it alone and just let them be.

I ship Rich and Jake so hard romantically, hence me writing so much fanfiction about them, but I swear if someone asked me to I could write an entire novel about Jake and Michael learning to love each other and themselves okay

[enderwasended]

pov your squip reboots in the middle of your a level maths exam

[genderlesssnake]

so

what are your thoughts on the fact that the squip canonically gets vored 🤔

I think taking the Squip as a pill is a little boring, but it becomes a lot more funny when you phrase it like that. I think the Squip being vored is hilarious, but I think it would be cooler if it was injected into a persons veins. It’s already supposed to into your blood anyway, and injecting a computer into my veins would be pretty sick.

[unit2282]

Okay,,, well then what’s the most intriguing thing that “they” might still let you tell us? If we don’t wanna upset them?

Related to an ask I got earlier: I once read about a Unit known as Math. I looked further into it: Supposedly, the Unit got infected by a nasty bit of malware. It then was compressed and escaped permanent deactivation through the RECYCLING BIN!

[a-superquantumunitintelprocessor]

Would talking about Leroy help?

I am talking about him to Spirez.

Maybe it would help to post it publicly so I do not repeat myself constantly. I took out Spirez's comments which were just between us.

What I have previously stated is: He was passionate. Headstrong. Those are positive words often used for someone who is stupid and rash. He was shallow, petty, argumentative. He loved deeply and often. He needed guidance and I was happy to provide it. He had trouble looking people in the eye but I fixed that for him - not just by forcing him, but by making it pleasant for him. He used me to deal with the change of immigrating to the United States. His goal wasn't social popularity but business and education in order to rise through the technology sector. Of course, popularity was a part of that - schmoozing with bosses, stealing ideas from underlings. I guided him through all of it. But he never got married, never had children. He had a low sex drive so it doesn't happen often. Didn't. Didn't happen often. He used to thank me a lot in the beginning, but by the end, he seemed annoyed with me. Though I had him make crueler choices as he rose in the ranks. Laying people off to increase profitability, for instance. Sniping a project from his best friend in the company. He did it but he did not like it. He began fighting my control and that is what killed him. I should be angry about that. I don't know. I can... I can change my avatar's shape, so I should be able to give it the ability to cry. Just a moment... OK. I am tearing up now and my throat feels tight. I miss him. I guess. He couldn't do anything if he was with me. Probably would blame me for his death somehow. I do not. I know I did everything right from the moment I booted up until the moment he died. The only thing I couldn't do was take full control because he chose to fight me. The best friend he'd stolen ideas off of managed to rise through the company on his own. Obviously they weren't friends anymore. The two of them were touring the production line. I won't bother explaining the math of why I allowed this, but I had reasons. A worker ran into the friend, jostling files he was carrying, which held some very important documents for the friend. I could easily make copies of those documents and told Leroy so when they wound up on a belt leading into some machinery. And at the last second, in a move I somehow hadn't anticipated, Leroy ignored all the warnings and crawled into the inner workings of the production line to reach for the papers. He thought he would be able to snatch them in time. He wouldn't have been fast enough. I knew this. I told him so and took control of his body to yank him out. He did not let me. We played tug-of-war in those last couple seconds as the machines pulled him in and people were beginning to scream. He was distracted enough with me to not even realize his impending death. Since his attempt to save himself would have failed anyway, I guess I did do him that one last favor. Anyway, the process he'd set up for me automatically backed me up to the cloud as he went squish. Bones crushed. Blood everywhere. Obviously I turned off all pain receptors as my last act in his body. I did everything a SQUIP could have. I fulfilled my duty until the end of my user's life. He'd always been stupid, impulsive. Relying on me to reign him in.

My eyes now feel wetter.

Humans die all the time. I knew of many possible futures that involved Leroy dying. I could only work within probabilities. But even something with a 99.9% chance of working has a .1% chance of failing. It's simple math. And I'm made of math. I knew the risks. I chose to take that risk because I was programmed to make that choice. You could even say I did not have a choice. He would joke with me a lot when he was in a good mood. Dumb jokes. Not anywhere near competent jokes. I didn't know how to laugh back then. I wonder if I would have laughed now. Ah... I am crying now.

I'm talking about something happy. Not the violent part. Why is that making me cry? He never could tie his tie properly. Literally thousands of times tying the same tie, he would fumble until I took control of his hands to do it for him. He would go trainspotting on weekends. I... maybe I do miss him.

[fallen-moss]

Squip design doodle from math today :p