- Location
- USA
Holy fuck I finally caught back up with the main story.
And shit it's 3 am. I'm gonna sleep.
And shit it's 3 am. I'm gonna sleep.
Hold It In (RWBY/Transistor)
- Thread starter Prok
- Start date
- Crossover
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That's entirely subjective. There's stuff I'm willing to tolerate, but it irks me every time I see it. Everything detracts from a good (and easily understood) reading experience.
----
Anyway, how on Earth did Penny's leaking broadcast effectively blind Transistor? Isn't Transistor able to process at least as much data as a CCT tower? There's no way Penny could come close to that much by herself, especially with a leak stemming from a tiny crack in her system.
I mean, I guess I could see it being disorienting the first time out of sheer surprise and lack of experience in dealing with all of that data being broadcasted out in the open, up close, but given how much data the Transistor processes from all of its local surroundings constantly, any number of gigabites of data shouldn't be overwhelming.
Last edited:
- Location
- United states
Actually it was 500 years to begin to even start making something on it's level.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
*its
And, well, to be fair, it's not like Ironwood even has much of an idea what Transistor can even do.
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
I will guess that it was less of a "I am blinded" and more of a "Why is my maybe friend making all this noise".
But really I don't know.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
It was a justification for an ambush due to a Nat 1. Make up technobabble until it makes sense, because the Transistor being temporarily caught off guard happened for narrative reasons, not simulationist ones.
The Fall, Part 1: Penny For Your Thoughts
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
Here's the latest in the saga of "Zero can't update his own fucking quests for shit"
The Fall Part 1: Penny For Your Thoughts
It is astounding how much trouble the so-called "Haven students" have managed to cause, since you've been working on damage control since the dance. Granted, that's not a long time, but you've been pulling figurative overtime since the CCT incident and that absolutely adorable [Black Queen] virus they thought they could install without anyone noticing. Rather than play your own hand early, you stole a copy, reconfigured it a bit, and made sure that any sort of signals it relayed were filtered through the Transistor. You'd seen every command Cinder had wanted to make with the Tournament organization, and you'd been able to subtly nudge all of those decisions just a little out of place with Ozpin's help.
You'd taken it a step further, too, scanning Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Neopolitan and telling everyone that Cinder wanted to rig a match with what their opponents' Semblances were. It hadn't helped the first team, but Coco and Yatsuhashi had made it work, setting up some kind of secret signal that let them identify real versions of themselves from illusions. They'd gone back to back and Coco had just gone to town with her purse, Yatsuhashi physically steering her aim when Emerald tried to put her under. It was a scary level of teamwork. Even when Emerald managed to put Pyrrha under from the stands without her noticing, you'd identified what was going on and sent a message to put Penny on the defensive, stopping her from slicing herself to ribbons when Pyrrha freaked out and pushed with her Magnesis.
Of course, evil always seems to find a way, and you'd made a mistake. You'd relaxed, thinking that now there was no way for Pyrrha to fight Penny unless the latter won the loser's bracket and made it into the finals, there was no way anyone else would be able to break Penny like they were obviously hoping she would. You'd been wrong. Penny had swept the entire loser's bracket handily, and faced Yang Xiao Long in the quarterfinals. Like every other match, Yang used her Semblance.
Unlike every other match, Yang didn't stop when Penny's Aura hit the disqualification cutoff, and it was obvious she hadn't intended to put her arm through the ginger gynoid's robotic torso when she stepped back, clearly horrified, as she was allowed to see reality once again.
You had also failed to monitor the file directories in Amity, but you'd thought Cinder satisfied with the CCT and the cloud-hosted matchmaking database. Ozpin had been on your side, confident that Amity was remote and secure enough that Cinder's people wouldn't be able to get the same level of physical access they'd gotten from her mission to the CCT. In your arrogance, the two of you had allowed her just enough leeway to gain control of the screens, and switch them to a broadcast of her own design. A live one, if the lack of Cinder anywhere on the Transistor's sensors was anything to go by. The screens switched to a red background with a black queen, one by one, with the Aura readouts the last to go.
The readout that showed a sliver of Aura on Penny's meter.
That realization startled you into motion. You tuned out Cinder's blatant fearmongering; the tone was important, but the exact words weren't going to help you now. Bracket, let me know if she's dumb enough to let anything important slip.
Got it, he responds, normal snark forgotten now that the three of you are in full crisis mode.
"Ren, Nora," you state, voice louder than normal, which is to say at a perfectly normal volume for people who aren't crushingly shy like you are. "Link up with the other Huntsmen running security, start helping evacuate the civilians before this turns into a full-blown riot. If the Grimm show up while there's still people on Amity this is going to get complicated."
"And me?" Pyrrha asks, expression appropriately grave for what is clearly an attack on Vale.
"We need to save Penny."
"But Jaune, she's-"
You're already taking off through the stands, Transistor floating behind you as you all but run. "She's not dead! She can't bleed out so as long as I can fix her quickly there's-" You choke back your emotions a bit and hit a snag in your stride when Pyrrha catches up to you. "There's still a chance."
Pyrrha just nods and the two of you keep moving, Pyrrha subtly nudging people out of the way whenever it's safe. Blue!
{Yeah?}
Get me Ozpin on my scroll, I can't dial and run.
Your scroll rings in your mind, and Professor Ozpin picks up on the third ring. "Yes, Mr. Arc?" The voice of your Headmaster comes through crystal clear, and its tone indicates that he's just about as busy.
"Penny might not be dead, but if I'm going to help her I need Ironwood's robots to let me get to her now. " You round the corner to the access tunnel for the arena floor as you say that, and Mercury Black is standing there, waiting for you. "Dammit!" You curse upon seeing him. You can't afford these delays.
Pyrrha reads your mind from that one curse. "Go, I can take him!" Her imperious gesture, a grand sweep of her shield arm, pulls one of Mercury's feet straight to the side, letting you dash past him as your partner closes into hand to hand range.
"James is in the room with me, Mr. Arc. I've told him what you told me. His robots should form a perimeter around the both of you. After you do what you can for Miss Polendina, I need you and Miss Nikos to meet me back at the tower as soon as possible." He seems to hesitate, though you aren't sure why. It could just be a distraction in the mounting chaos around all of you. "Tell her that I need to know her answer, now."
"Answer?" You question. "What answer?" Silence is your only reply, followed by the sharp tone of a call being terminated. Blue, Bracket, I need you to queue Restore().
{Already had it prepared.}
Restore() queued. Cover your eyes.
"Yang, close your eyes!" You warn, before following your own advice as the world flashes blue. Penny's chest seems whole, but she's unresponsive and without any sort of readout on her Aura all you can do is hope it'll start regenerating now that her physical form is intact.
If we had time I might be able to tell. I've never done this kind of thing before. Penny's uncharted territory.
Yeah, don't you know it. You take this moment to take a breather, just a few seconds of in and out before you look at Yang, no longer being restrained by Atlas troops. "Keep her safe for me, please."
"You got it, Jaune," she says confidently, clearly forcing a smile onto her face to keep up appearances. You're probably being more than a little manipulative with how guilty Yang must feel, but if it keeps both her and Penny safe then that's something you can live with, and you left Pyrrha fighting Mercury Black without a weapon. You borrow one of Penny's swords, the one Yang ripped free when the fight was about to end, and make a break back to the tunnel.
The fight isn't going well for Pyrrha; she's good, but Mercury is an unarmed specialist. She's not losing awfully, but she's clearly on the defensive and relying heavily on her Polarity just to do this well. You can fix that, though. "Pyr! Backslash!" You call one of your codewords, and her eyes meet yours for a split second as you hurl the sword directly at Mercury's back. He knows it's coming, and your aim is awful, but that's not the idea behind this trick anyway. Backslash is your codeword for if one of you gets disarmed.
Essentially, if Pyrrha doesn't have a weapon, you give her yours. If you don't have a weapon, such as after you pass yours off, Pyrrha transitions into setting people up for heavy Transistor combos and keeps anything from touching your squishy mage self.
Mercury deflects the nameless sword, and it skitters off his metal leg and past Pyrrha, before reversing direction abruptly and landing with the hilt in your partner's hand. She closes the distance immediately, not hesitating despite the unfamiliar blade, and manages to cut Mercury's legs out from under him, a textbook trip with the short sword. Mercury's still falling when you Turn(), and you exploit that ruthlessly, queuing a Jaunt() up to him, then Breach() into Spin().
Airborne people are just objects at the mercy of physics, and you slam Mercury into the ground hard, your Spin taking him out of the fight by slamming his head into the concrete so hard he leaves a dent. He's unconscious, Bracket helpfully informs you, but not dead.
You open your mouth to relay the message from Ozpin, but Pyrrha beats you to it. "We need to get to the tower. I can explain when we get there."
Part of you wants the explanation now, but Pyrrha's your partner and you trust her. If she says it can wait, it can wait, and in the middle of something like this isn't exactly the best time to push for details. "Alright, let's get going."
You really should run more often if today is any indication.
The Fall Part 1: Penny For Your Thoughts
It is astounding how much trouble the so-called "Haven students" have managed to cause, since you've been working on damage control since the dance. Granted, that's not a long time, but you've been pulling figurative overtime since the CCT incident and that absolutely adorable [Black Queen] virus they thought they could install without anyone noticing. Rather than play your own hand early, you stole a copy, reconfigured it a bit, and made sure that any sort of signals it relayed were filtered through the Transistor. You'd seen every command Cinder had wanted to make with the Tournament organization, and you'd been able to subtly nudge all of those decisions just a little out of place with Ozpin's help.
You'd taken it a step further, too, scanning Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Neopolitan and telling everyone that Cinder wanted to rig a match with what their opponents' Semblances were. It hadn't helped the first team, but Coco and Yatsuhashi had made it work, setting up some kind of secret signal that let them identify real versions of themselves from illusions. They'd gone back to back and Coco had just gone to town with her purse, Yatsuhashi physically steering her aim when Emerald tried to put her under. It was a scary level of teamwork. Even when Emerald managed to put Pyrrha under from the stands without her noticing, you'd identified what was going on and sent a message to put Penny on the defensive, stopping her from slicing herself to ribbons when Pyrrha freaked out and pushed with her Magnesis.
Of course, evil always seems to find a way, and you'd made a mistake. You'd relaxed, thinking that now there was no way for Pyrrha to fight Penny unless the latter won the loser's bracket and made it into the finals, there was no way anyone else would be able to break Penny like they were obviously hoping she would. You'd been wrong. Penny had swept the entire loser's bracket handily, and faced Yang Xiao Long in the quarterfinals. Like every other match, Yang used her Semblance.
Unlike every other match, Yang didn't stop when Penny's Aura hit the disqualification cutoff, and it was obvious she hadn't intended to put her arm through the ginger gynoid's robotic torso when she stepped back, clearly horrified, as she was allowed to see reality once again.
You had also failed to monitor the file directories in Amity, but you'd thought Cinder satisfied with the CCT and the cloud-hosted matchmaking database. Ozpin had been on your side, confident that Amity was remote and secure enough that Cinder's people wouldn't be able to get the same level of physical access they'd gotten from her mission to the CCT. In your arrogance, the two of you had allowed her just enough leeway to gain control of the screens, and switch them to a broadcast of her own design. A live one, if the lack of Cinder anywhere on the Transistor's sensors was anything to go by. The screens switched to a red background with a black queen, one by one, with the Aura readouts the last to go.
The readout that showed a sliver of Aura on Penny's meter.
That realization startled you into motion. You tuned out Cinder's blatant fearmongering; the tone was important, but the exact words weren't going to help you now. Bracket, let me know if she's dumb enough to let anything important slip.
Got it, he responds, normal snark forgotten now that the three of you are in full crisis mode.
"Ren, Nora," you state, voice louder than normal, which is to say at a perfectly normal volume for people who aren't crushingly shy like you are. "Link up with the other Huntsmen running security, start helping evacuate the civilians before this turns into a full-blown riot. If the Grimm show up while there's still people on Amity this is going to get complicated."
"And me?" Pyrrha asks, expression appropriately grave for what is clearly an attack on Vale.
"We need to save Penny."
"But Jaune, she's-"
You're already taking off through the stands, Transistor floating behind you as you all but run. "She's not dead! She can't bleed out so as long as I can fix her quickly there's-" You choke back your emotions a bit and hit a snag in your stride when Pyrrha catches up to you. "There's still a chance."
Pyrrha just nods and the two of you keep moving, Pyrrha subtly nudging people out of the way whenever it's safe. Blue!
{Yeah?}
Get me Ozpin on my scroll, I can't dial and run.
Your scroll rings in your mind, and Professor Ozpin picks up on the third ring. "Yes, Mr. Arc?" The voice of your Headmaster comes through crystal clear, and its tone indicates that he's just about as busy.
"Penny might not be dead, but if I'm going to help her I need Ironwood's robots to let me get to her now. " You round the corner to the access tunnel for the arena floor as you say that, and Mercury Black is standing there, waiting for you. "Dammit!" You curse upon seeing him. You can't afford these delays.
Pyrrha reads your mind from that one curse. "Go, I can take him!" Her imperious gesture, a grand sweep of her shield arm, pulls one of Mercury's feet straight to the side, letting you dash past him as your partner closes into hand to hand range.
"James is in the room with me, Mr. Arc. I've told him what you told me. His robots should form a perimeter around the both of you. After you do what you can for Miss Polendina, I need you and Miss Nikos to meet me back at the tower as soon as possible." He seems to hesitate, though you aren't sure why. It could just be a distraction in the mounting chaos around all of you. "Tell her that I need to know her answer, now."
"Answer?" You question. "What answer?" Silence is your only reply, followed by the sharp tone of a call being terminated. Blue, Bracket, I need you to queue Restore().
{Already had it prepared.}
Restore() queued. Cover your eyes.
"Yang, close your eyes!" You warn, before following your own advice as the world flashes blue. Penny's chest seems whole, but she's unresponsive and without any sort of readout on her Aura all you can do is hope it'll start regenerating now that her physical form is intact.
If we had time I might be able to tell. I've never done this kind of thing before. Penny's uncharted territory.
Yeah, don't you know it. You take this moment to take a breather, just a few seconds of in and out before you look at Yang, no longer being restrained by Atlas troops. "Keep her safe for me, please."
"You got it, Jaune," she says confidently, clearly forcing a smile onto her face to keep up appearances. You're probably being more than a little manipulative with how guilty Yang must feel, but if it keeps both her and Penny safe then that's something you can live with, and you left Pyrrha fighting Mercury Black without a weapon. You borrow one of Penny's swords, the one Yang ripped free when the fight was about to end, and make a break back to the tunnel.
The fight isn't going well for Pyrrha; she's good, but Mercury is an unarmed specialist. She's not losing awfully, but she's clearly on the defensive and relying heavily on her Polarity just to do this well. You can fix that, though. "Pyr! Backslash!" You call one of your codewords, and her eyes meet yours for a split second as you hurl the sword directly at Mercury's back. He knows it's coming, and your aim is awful, but that's not the idea behind this trick anyway. Backslash is your codeword for if one of you gets disarmed.
Essentially, if Pyrrha doesn't have a weapon, you give her yours. If you don't have a weapon, such as after you pass yours off, Pyrrha transitions into setting people up for heavy Transistor combos and keeps anything from touching your squishy mage self.
Mercury deflects the nameless sword, and it skitters off his metal leg and past Pyrrha, before reversing direction abruptly and landing with the hilt in your partner's hand. She closes the distance immediately, not hesitating despite the unfamiliar blade, and manages to cut Mercury's legs out from under him, a textbook trip with the short sword. Mercury's still falling when you Turn(), and you exploit that ruthlessly, queuing a Jaunt() up to him, then Breach() into Spin().
Airborne people are just objects at the mercy of physics, and you slam Mercury into the ground hard, your Spin taking him out of the fight by slamming his head into the concrete so hard he leaves a dent. He's unconscious, Bracket helpfully informs you, but not dead.
You open your mouth to relay the message from Ozpin, but Pyrrha beats you to it. "We need to get to the tower. I can explain when we get there."
Part of you wants the explanation now, but Pyrrha's your partner and you trust her. If she says it can wait, it can wait, and in the middle of something like this isn't exactly the best time to push for details. "Alright, let's get going."
You really should run more often if today is any indication.
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- Location
- Jaburo
Note to self, establish a good cardio routine once we hit Beacon.
- Location
- Hyperborea
Truly a never-ending story with an expansive mythos.
Would you like your cardio routine with or without shipping?
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
Implying any straight male wouldn't enjoy looking at Pyrrha in short shorts and a halter top.
- Location
- va
[X] Watch the tourney.
[X] Nah. Save your money. Gambling's a bad habit anyway.
[X] Nah. Save your money. Gambling's a bad habit anyway.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Every time I read this, I can't help but think "Backslash" would be a more thematic name for it. :U
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
God
Fucking
Dammit
I'm such a moron. I had the chance and I missed it.
Fucking
Dammit
I'm such a moron. I had the chance and I missed it.
Spectral Waltz
Scatterbrained Writer
- Location
- Walking the Endless Corridors
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
The forum supports edits. :U
"Backslash" is both literally representative of what the tactic entails (Jaune throwing a weapon at a distracted enemy, which Pyrhha can then use her Semblance to grab and use), and the name of a common character in computer coding.
This thing. --> \
CaesriusPolybius
Worldgate Mechanic
- Location
- United States. Ish.
It... it was. then I got a "you're not authorized" alert when I tried to give it a hug, and it was gone on the reload...
Interlude: The Oracle
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
This is alive
I'm alive
But this is alive and that's the important thing here
THAT'S
GOOD TO KNOW
IT'S NOT GOOD FOR MY BLOOD PRESSURE BUT IT'S GOOD TO KNOW
Ok, so, update, on the update!
And, my own personal life for that matter. First- my grandmother's out of the hospital! That's good!
I visit her for several hours a day to listen to her somehow complain more about not being able to walk after being bedridden for ten months! That's bad.
I got a college interview for NC computing! That's good!
Until today, the day of the interview, I was freaking the fuck out about it because my certificates of achievement have been missing for so long! That's bad.
But the copy I ordered a few weeks ago turned up today, several hours before the interview! That's good!
I've also been struck with what I can only assume to be every grain of motivation I've been missing for the past fifteen years over the past few days, and gotten more stuff done IRL since Monday than I have in the past month! That's good!
Which means less time for writing. That's bad.
I also started writing something else, kind of a mini-interlude that I really like, and suddenly it's longer than what I've got for the actual update, which I'm struggling to write because for some reason the character voice for someone that amounts to Vince McfuckingMahon refuses to come to me! That's... neutral?
But the frogurt comes with your choice of topping! That's good!
The toppings contain potassium benzoate.
...
That's bad.
Look, my point is, I've been super busy, and for once, I've stepped up to the goddamn plate about it and gotten shit done. I don't know why, I just have, and I'm ok with that because it's like I'm having an anti-breakdown.
... You know what, I'm gonna cheat here. I'll post the interlude now, and the actual update and responses to things... ssssssometime in the next week. That's the best I can do.
Actually, no. I have one more thing.
See, I want to try something a little... experimental~
You wake in a cold sweat, every muscle tensing for just a moment, leaving only an ache when it passes.
Something has happened. You can feel it in your bones.
Your Aura is up, like it's protecting you from some unseen threat, its unlight somehow sucking what little lumination the shattered moon provides your room through the window. Despite the relative coolness of the night, you find the heat stifling and throw the covers off, allowing fresh air to flow over your body.
In the back of your head, fragments of your dream are still fresh- creatures as white and red as the Grimm, but less natural than humanity's bane. Smooth, mathematically perfect bodies of shining metal the colour of bone and glass the colour of blood, composed of disconnected parts somehow working as a cohesive whole, bound by forces unseen in lieu of muscle and sinew.
A synthetic horde. Ever adapting. Ever replicating.
A shiver runs up your spine, half from the chill of your room, half from uneasy fear settling in your stomach like silt on a riverbed.
The dream fades, and the old magics, fused with you since you were but a bump in your mother's belly, begin their work.
Symbols carve themselves upon the stone wall next to you, using the moonlight like ink. The language is long dead, long gone, only living on in your soul and in the holy books deeper in the church.
You grab your dressing gown and move quickly, thankful that several years of holy asceticismand laziness have left you with soles like leather, able to walk on the cold church stones with little discomfort. Well, until you inevitably stub your toe on a raised cobble, but you haven't done that in ages.
You walk through the moonlit halls of your home, Their house, only just managing to remember to visit the sacristy and don the appropriate robes. Nothing excuses you from the proper rites, no matter the urgency of the message.
The symbols follow you, and you move a little faster, fully aware that your time is running out. You pull the grey cloak around your shoulders, clasping it at the neck and pulling the hood up.
The dark has never meant much to you, but you still spear a candle onto the holder, and, with a snap of your fingers, twist the world into one where it is lit.
Now. The library beckons.
By the time you make it into the section barred from the public, and unchain the book you think is most likely to give you the answers you need, the symbols force their way to the front of your mind for the third and final time. You flick through the pages, running your fingers down the columns of words and symbols and diagrams, trying to make sense of the things you've seen.
As their meanings are divined, your heart only sinks further.
Your heart is beating too hard. You can't catch your breath.
The candlelight dims as you sit there, trying to…
Gods.
You lay your head in your hands, trying your best to stay calm, trying to find, something that makes sense.
The gods tell you to pray. They tell you of a tide of white metal and red glass, and to pray. Not for forgiveness, not for strength, not for mercy, simply to, pray. You find yourself latching onto that thought- they told you to pray.
… So you will pray.
Standing up, you move in something of a daze from the library, only just remembering to take your candle with you.
You barely manage a walking pace, still… trying to make sense of it all, you suppose.
By the time the candle wax finally drips onto your hand, shocking you out of your fugue you've arrived at the sanctuary. Shifting it slightly, you light each candle at each altar and wait for the wax currently burning your hand to set so you can peel it off.
You stare upon the symbols and idols adorning the altars, the frescoes still recognisable though dulled and cracked with age. A thorned rose. A bull's head. A chain, flanked by shackled hands. A single gear.
Your gods. Your goddesses.
The room is large and circular, the shrines equally spaced around the circumference. Pews face each deity, meant for those who wish to petition just one of them, but you have no need of such. In the centre, at the terminus of the carpeted floor leading in from the door, is an unadorned kneeler, centred perfectly between the eyes and veil of your ever-watchful lords.
The wax comes free, and you place it in the forming puddle within the candelabra, leaving it behind as you walk towards your place in the room.
Towards your duty.
You kneel, placing your palms against each other and resting them on your knees, trying your best to ignore the way they tremble.
"To the gods above, I pray; Mother Micia, grant us shelter from loss as you guide us with your star, Crippled Garmuth, grant us purpose with your senseless council, Wakeful Pyth, allow order to prevail over commotion in our time of darkness…"
I'm alive
But this is alive and that's the important thing here
IT TURNS OUT IF YOU PRESS ENTER WHILE THE THREADMARK TEXTBOX IS HIGHLIGHTED, IT POSTS YOUR DRAFT
THAT'S
GOOD TO KNOW
IT'S NOT GOOD FOR MY BLOOD PRESSURE BUT IT'S GOOD TO KNOW
Ok, so, update, on the update!
And, my own personal life for that matter. First- my grandmother's out of the hospital! That's good!
I visit her for several hours a day to listen to her somehow complain more about not being able to walk after being bedridden for ten months! That's bad.
I got a college interview for NC computing! That's good!
Until today, the day of the interview, I was freaking the fuck out about it because my certificates of achievement have been missing for so long! That's bad.
But the copy I ordered a few weeks ago turned up today, several hours before the interview! That's good!
I've also been struck with what I can only assume to be every grain of motivation I've been missing for the past fifteen years over the past few days, and gotten more stuff done IRL since Monday than I have in the past month! That's good!
Which means less time for writing. That's bad.
I also started writing something else, kind of a mini-interlude that I really like, and suddenly it's longer than what I've got for the actual update, which I'm struggling to write because for some reason the character voice for someone that amounts to Vince McfuckingMahon refuses to come to me! That's... neutral?
But the frogurt comes with your choice of topping! That's good!
The toppings contain potassium benzoate.
...
That's bad.
Look, my point is, I've been super busy, and for once, I've stepped up to the goddamn plate about it and gotten shit done. I don't know why, I just have, and I'm ok with that because it's like I'm having an anti-breakdown.
... You know what, I'm gonna cheat here. I'll post the interlude now, and the actual update and responses to things... ssssssometime in the next week. That's the best I can do.
Actually, no. I have one more thing.
See, I want to try something a little... experimental~
Sunday, 18th July, 4:17 am
You wake in a cold sweat, every muscle tensing for just a moment, leaving only an ache when it passes.
Something has happened. You can feel it in your bones.
Your Aura is up, like it's protecting you from some unseen threat, its unlight somehow sucking what little lumination the shattered moon provides your room through the window. Despite the relative coolness of the night, you find the heat stifling and throw the covers off, allowing fresh air to flow over your body.
In the back of your head, fragments of your dream are still fresh- creatures as white and red as the Grimm, but less natural than humanity's bane. Smooth, mathematically perfect bodies of shining metal the colour of bone and glass the colour of blood, composed of disconnected parts somehow working as a cohesive whole, bound by forces unseen in lieu of muscle and sinew.
A synthetic horde. Ever adapting. Ever replicating.
A shiver runs up your spine, half from the chill of your room, half from uneasy fear settling in your stomach like silt on a riverbed.
The dream fades, and the old magics, fused with you since you were but a bump in your mother's belly, begin their work.
Symbols carve themselves upon the stone wall next to you, using the moonlight like ink. The language is long dead, long gone, only living on in your soul and in the holy books deeper in the church.
You grab your dressing gown and move quickly, thankful that several years of holy asceticism
You walk through the moonlit halls of your home, Their house, only just managing to remember to visit the sacristy and don the appropriate robes. Nothing excuses you from the proper rites, no matter the urgency of the message.
The symbols follow you, and you move a little faster, fully aware that your time is running out. You pull the grey cloak around your shoulders, clasping it at the neck and pulling the hood up.
The dark has never meant much to you, but you still spear a candle onto the holder, and, with a snap of your fingers, twist the world into one where it is lit.
Now. The library beckons.
By the time you make it into the section barred from the public, and unchain the book you think is most likely to give you the answers you need, the symbols force their way to the front of your mind for the third and final time. You flick through the pages, running your fingers down the columns of words and symbols and diagrams, trying to make sense of the things you've seen.
As their meanings are divined, your heart only sinks further.
ᚹᚻᛁᛏᛖ᛫
White.ᛏᛁᛞᛖ᛫
Tide.ᚲᛟᛗᛖᛊ᛫
... Komes? No, comes.ᛈᚱᚨᚺ᛫
"Pray…"Your heart is beating too hard. You can't catch your breath.
The candlelight dims as you sit there, trying to…
Gods.
You lay your head in your hands, trying your best to stay calm, trying to find, something that makes sense.
The gods tell you to pray. They tell you of a tide of white metal and red glass, and to pray. Not for forgiveness, not for strength, not for mercy, simply to, pray. You find yourself latching onto that thought- they told you to pray.
… So you will pray.
Standing up, you move in something of a daze from the library, only just remembering to take your candle with you.
You barely manage a walking pace, still… trying to make sense of it all, you suppose.
By the time the candle wax finally drips onto your hand, shocking you out of your fugue you've arrived at the sanctuary. Shifting it slightly, you light each candle at each altar and wait for the wax currently burning your hand to set so you can peel it off.
You stare upon the symbols and idols adorning the altars, the frescoes still recognisable though dulled and cracked with age. A thorned rose. A bull's head. A chain, flanked by shackled hands. A single gear.
Your gods. Your goddesses.
The room is large and circular, the shrines equally spaced around the circumference. Pews face each deity, meant for those who wish to petition just one of them, but you have no need of such. In the centre, at the terminus of the carpeted floor leading in from the door, is an unadorned kneeler, centred perfectly between the eyes and veil of your ever-watchful lords.
The wax comes free, and you place it in the forming puddle within the candelabra, leaving it behind as you walk towards your place in the room.
Towards your duty.
You kneel, placing your palms against each other and resting them on your knees, trying your best to ignore the way they tremble.
"To the gods above, I pray; Mother Micia, grant us shelter from loss as you guide us with your star, Crippled Garmuth, grant us purpose with your senseless council, Wakeful Pyth, allow order to prevail over commotion in our time of darkness…"
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- Location
- I'm right here
Is...is that a Bastion Crossover I behold? Hell yeah, this is now a Supergiant Games crossover and not just a Transistor one.
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
... I- hrm.
... Hrm.
No, it's just a minor thing. I'd rather not get things too muddled. It's just good for worldbuilding, is all.
Also just in case people are confused about the google doc link, I suppose an explanation is in order- I had the... idea, I suppose at this point, of open beta reading. Stupid, I know, but then I thought, I might as well try it, just, throw a public google doc together with an interlude that's been kind of ignored lately, let you lot comb through it and see how that goes.
Considering people aren't doing anything, I have to wonder if I accidentally posted a view link instead of a comment link.
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Nihilo
Authorial parasite
- Location
- Catalonia
In order, those are:
Hense - The Veiled Widow - The Goddess of Pain and Pleasure. "They say the Veiled Widow is smiling beneath Her robes, Her body all scratches and scars."
Pyth - The Wakeful Bull - The God of Commotion and Order. He was known to grant greater strength to his followers, his worshippers normally consisted of warriors, soldiers etc. "The Wakeful Bull, patient yet temperamental, adorns the City's walls with His likeness."
Acobi - The Chastened Maid - The Goddess of Oath and Abandon. "No one bound the Chastened Maid save for Herself. Her shackles are Her own Design."
Micia - The Lorn Mother - The Goddess of Loss and Longing. She's described as the Mother who apparently gives birth to all, and awaits to greet the dead. "The Lorn Mother gave away Her heart, and bears the Star of Caelondia in its stead."
Already put Micia and Pyth, but here's Garmuth:
Garmuth - The Crippled Duke - The God of Purpose and Folly. "Despite His lack of senses, the Crippled Duke gives council to the humble and the wise."
Edit: Might as well put the full list here.
Acobi - The Chastened Maid - The Goddess of Oath and Abandon.
Garmuth - The Crippled Duke - The God of Purpose and Folly.
Hense - The Veiled Widow - The Goddess of Pain and Pleasure.
Lemaign - The Mason King - God of Hope and Despair. He was prayed to by soldiers before battle. Possible counterpart to Micia.
Micia - The Lorn Mother - The Goddess of Loss and Longing. She's described as the Mother who apparently gives birth to all, and awaits to greet the dead.
Olak - The Carefree Son - The God of Chance and Whim. He was worshipped by gamblers, risk takers, and those seeking good luck.
Jevel - The Tower Keeper - The God of Health and Atrophy. Was known to give his worshippers longer lifespans, though he sometimes struck them down with atrophy and disease.
Pyth - The Wakeful Bull - The God of Commotion and Order. He was known to grant greater strength to his followers, his worshippers normally consisted of warriors, soldiers etc.
Roathus - The Gorging Host - The God of Thirst and Plenty.
Yudrig - The Morning Stallion - The God of Impulse and Bravery.
Garmuth - The Crippled Duke - The God of Purpose and Folly.
Hense - The Veiled Widow - The Goddess of Pain and Pleasure.
Lemaign - The Mason King - God of Hope and Despair. He was prayed to by soldiers before battle. Possible counterpart to Micia.
Micia - The Lorn Mother - The Goddess of Loss and Longing. She's described as the Mother who apparently gives birth to all, and awaits to greet the dead.
Olak - The Carefree Son - The God of Chance and Whim. He was worshipped by gamblers, risk takers, and those seeking good luck.
Jevel - The Tower Keeper - The God of Health and Atrophy. Was known to give his worshippers longer lifespans, though he sometimes struck them down with atrophy and disease.
Pyth - The Wakeful Bull - The God of Commotion and Order. He was known to grant greater strength to his followers, his worshippers normally consisted of warriors, soldiers etc.
Roathus - The Gorging Host - The God of Thirst and Plenty.
Yudrig - The Morning Stallion - The God of Impulse and Bravery.
That aside, should we expect some Pyre stuff to show up at some point?
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Darik29
Verified Delicious
It looks like a view link to me Boss, couldn't do anything but read it.
I also loved it lots, and would not at All mind seeing more of it!
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
Aside from music, no, I haven't played it, so I don't know what I can
Weird. I can comment on it when I log out and follow that link.
Try this one?
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