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Post by venndiegram on Jul 19, 2012 19:24:38 GMT -6
==> Heir: Rise
You have RISEN.
Through the gates, you mean. You climbed Cali's structure into her world and then--finding her absent--you immediately RUSHED ALONG to Ross'. Your friend needs you. You had to come here. Cory showed you the way. She seemed SOMEWHAT RELUCTANT, as though she were breaking some sort of rule.
You're learning that people have a hard time saying no to you.
You arrive in the
Land of Cobblestone and Echoes
You immediately set out to finding your friend. The butt of your scythe taps on the floor, the echo reverberating around the walls as you walk. You ignore it.
There are arrows on the walls. You follow them. [/center] VENN: ross?
VENN: where are you?
Your voice echoes on the walls, redoubling as the voices of all those you have ever known telling you you're wrong. Many parents, telling you you're a freak. Many friends, baffled at your ECLECTIC INTERESTS. Many animals, all dead.
Many people terrified by a young boy who moved through the world like a force of god.
You ignore them all. Your friend is hurting. That is the only thing in all the many worlds that matters. |
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Post by ross on Jul 19, 2012 20:14:04 GMT -6
==> Knight: Rise
You're pretty sure that movie isn't even out yet, and most likely never will be.
After mapping out a substantial - at least, you think it was substantial - part of the underground layer your first gate transported you to, you found something that you thought was a second gate, but actually just transported you back to your home.
Not feeling up to braving the oppressive darkness of the underground maze again, you decide to start searching for more villages. Othello, just as shaken by the journey as you are, is happy to lead the way.
You are not far from one, judging by the scribbled conversations on the walls in the elaborate shorthand the dragons use and you're trying to pick up, when you hear a voice.
That in and of itself is a thing so rare in the labyrinth you'd be inclined to mark it on a calendar if you had one on you, but it's the echoes following this particular voice that identify it.
You signal Othello first to stop and look at you, and then to follow quickly, using the jury-rigged morse code you've worked out between you, and break into a run, trying to follow the echoes back to their source.
A week ago, if someone had told you you'd be able to find a moving object in a complex 3D labyrinth purely by the echoes it made you'd have called them crazy, though not to their face, since crazy people tend to react negatively to that sort of thing.
Well, you probably wouldn't even have called them crazy to other people either. That's just cruel.
You talked to Othello about it once. He simply said The quieter you are, the more you can hear.
Eventually, you find him, and you run into his arms.
Ankliosaur mambo. [/center] |
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 19, 2012 20:19:12 GMT -6
==> Heir: Shine
You see your FRIEND.
You IMMEDIATELY SMILE AND RUN INTO HIS ARMS, LAUGHING LIKE AN IDIOT.
Your scythe vanishes because you do not want to IMPALE YOUR FRIEND.
YOU HUG IT OUT, BITCH [/center] VENN: OH MY GOD ROSS
VENN: HOLY SH!T THAT !S YOU
VENN: AAAAAAAAAAAA TH!S !S GREAT
VENN: OH, R!GHT
VENN: VELOC!RAPTOR TANGO
VENN: now you know !t's me
VENN: =)
VENN: man oh man cannot bel!eve !'m hugg!ng my BEST FR!END !N THE MANY WORLDS
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Post by ross on Jul 19, 2012 20:28:52 GMT -6
==> Knight: Whine
What's there to whine about? You briefly wonder at how the arrow could be so unimaginative as to submit a command purely for the purpose of rhyming, but quickly turn your attention back to the hugging.
Your attention is quickly shattered by the echo.
You place your hand over Venn's mouth, and pull him over to the labyrinth wall, searching through your pockets for an extra piece of chalk and handing it to him. [/center] This is how you talk here
If you want to avoid the echo
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 19, 2012 20:37:51 GMT -6
==> VC: Flagrantly disobey rules
Enough of this one-word command stuff.
You FOLLOW Ross to the wall. You frown.
You take Ross' hand off your mouth, not ungently, but with the firmness of a glacier moving forward. [/center] VENN: oh ! don't care about that
VENN: the vo!ces are noth!ng ! haven't confronted before
VENN: !'m not go!ng to let them control me
VENN: how are you do!ng, ross?
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Post by ross on Jul 19, 2012 20:46:20 GMT -6
==> Knight: Be controlled
You wince as the subject and consequently the echo turns to you. [/center] I'm doing okay, I think
Trying to keep busy, you know?
There's always something that needs doing here if you know where to look
And you?
How are things with you and Cory?
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 19, 2012 20:52:10 GMT -6
==> VC: hang out
this is how you hang out, right?
yeah this is definitely how people hang out. [/center] VENN: ! def!n!tely know what you mean
VENN: you've got to keep busy
VENN: !'m great!
VENN: and me and cory are pretty great
VENN: she's really sad because she lost all her other g!rlfr!ends and boyfr!ends
VENN: and now she only has me
VENN: ! w!sh ! could make her feel better
VENN: but ! guess that's not fa!r to the memory of the people she's lost
VENN: and ! th!nk that be!ng together does make her happ!er
VENN: ! just want her to be happy
VENN: ANYWAY
VENN: maybe we should f!nd somewhere to talk
VENN: !'ve been k!nda worr!ed about you ross =(
VENN: not that ! don't th!nk you can handle yourself!
VENN: but there's been a lot of pretty heavy stuff go!ng on lately
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Post by ross on Jul 20, 2012 19:31:38 GMT -6
==> AA: Sympathise
Despite the echoes, it feels unbelievably good to hear a friendly voice again. [/center] We all lost a lot coming here
Though not as much as she, I think
We're all really fairly isolated, when you think about it
And sometimes I wonder if it's by design
Or just luck, maybe
Maybe we just got in because we didn't really have anyone to worry about to distract us from entering the game
My house is this way
Follow me
You lead Venn back to your place.
You've fallen into a homecoming routine now. Your backpack is dumped unceremoniously on the living room floor. Othello curls up under the coffee table, and you throw yourself into the sofa, covering your face with your arms, focusing on your breathing, trying to wind down from the state of hypervigilance the labyrinth seems to put you in.
You're home.
You're safe.
You're home.
You're safe.
Just breathe. [/center] |
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 21, 2012 10:54:38 GMT -6
==> VC: contemplate
You think about what Ross said for a while. You ARE all kind of isolated, now that you think about it. Maybe he's got a point.
You can't really remember whatever it was that possessed you to go to that island in the first place, anyway.
You follow Ross into his living space. Absolutely IRRESPECTIVE AND SLIGHTLY UNAWARE OF THE NOTION OF PERSONAL SPACE, you plop down on the sofa, budging Ross' feet up a bit so you can sit down. [/center] VENN: all these lands are really we!rd
VENN: they each seem to have some k!nd of b!zarre property
VENN: l!ke !n m!ne, the consorts are always dy!ng and com!ng back to l!fe
VENN: anyway
VENN: enough about that
VENN: so, now that you're not busy
VENN: let's talk
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Post by ross on Jul 21, 2012 17:52:55 GMT -6
==> AA: Talk
Hahahahahahaha you wish.
You tap out a rhythm on the coffee table and Othello unfurls and digs through your bag until he comes out with your new STENOPHONE in his claws. The default language setting is Dragon. You haven't bothered changing it. Dragon shorthand lets you type almost faster than you would normally talk. [/center] AA: Well, this is a video game.
AA: And we're the protagonists.
AA: Naturally we'd have obstacles to overcome.
AA: Our own personal quests to complete before facing the final boss.
[/color][/spoiler][/center][/size][/justify][/blockquote] |
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 21, 2012 18:11:34 GMT -6
==> VC: talk
You DO.
But not about the game. To be honest the game isn't of great interest to you other than as a means of contacting your FRIENDS and being with your FRIENDS and doing things with FRIENDS.
FRIENDS. [/center] VENN: !ndeed
VENN: so let's talk about your own personal quest
VENN: well not so much l!ke a dragon you have to slay or whatever
VENN: but ! mean
VENN: what's go!ng on w!th you
VENN: ! know you're not usually b!g on open!ng up to people about th!s sorta stuff
VENN: and ! won't force the !ssue
VENN: but you know you can talk to me, r!ght?
VENN: about whatever !t !s that you're feel!ng?
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Post by ross on Jul 21, 2012 18:52:11 GMT -6
==> AA: Talk
You take a long moment to stare at nothing.
You usually talk to Cael about these things.
But Cael's not here. [/center] AA: What would you like to know?
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 21, 2012 19:04:21 GMT -6
==> VC: be the friend
You are the friend.
You are the turbofriend. [/center] VENN: ! want to know about you, ross
VENN: about what you're go!ng through
VENN: how you're feel!ng
VENN: ! want to help
VENN: ! don't want for you to have to keep everyth!ng !ns!de of you
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Post by ross on Jul 21, 2012 19:12:37 GMT -6
==> AA: Spill guts
You have no idea how. [/center] AA: No, I mean, where do you want me to start?
AA: You want me to talk about how I feel like I've just personally killed Cali?
AA: How about how I regularly try screaming at nothing in particular just to try and make any sort of sound?
AA: Oooh, or we could talk about how I haven't seen sunlight in weeks, or that the dragons here actually consider doom to be a positive, holy thing, or about how I'm dreading the inevitable day when I start my motherfucking period again?
AA: What would you like to talk about, Venn?
AA: Because I have NO FUCKING IDEA where to start.
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Post by venndiegram on Jul 21, 2012 19:27:38 GMT -6
==> VC: chill
You look at Ross for a long time. You would hug him--HUGS ARE FANTASTIC--but his current position makes that kind of hard, so you just lay a hand on his shoulder and try and give it a reassuring squeeze.
You won't let your friend be alone. Not in this. [/center] VENN: !'m sorry, ross
VENN: ! d!dn't mean to upset you
VENN: but all th!s has to hurt
VENN: keep!ng !t !ns!de
VENN: start w!th whatever matters most
VENN: !'m here
VENN: !f you need a start!ng po!nt
VENN: !'d rather talk about you
VENN: not you !n relat!on to anyone else
VENN: but you
VENN: let's talk about the testosterone th!ng
VENN: ! know you were supposed to get another !nject!on soon
VENN: but ! mean you shouldn't just w!nd up, um, regress!ng !mmed!ately, r!ght?
VENN: ! mean !t's only been l!ke a day
VENN: we should have some t!me
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