The Longest Thread (Misadventures)

[Through the Living Elan He/Him]

3 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

Hacob watched in shock. Then, coming to his senses, he lunged and tackled him, pinning him down. "Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you. I have just been sent on a mission by my former current Narrator."

The Once-Authors breathing slowed, and he stopped fighting. He looked directly into Hacob’s eyes, and there were tears staining his cheeks. He got up onto his knees and threw his arms around Hacob. “Don’t let him kill me.” He whispered. “Please.”

Edited September 10, 2023 by Ancient Elantrian

[Immortal Platypus]

1 minute ago, Ancient Elantrian said:

The Once-Authors breathing slowed, and he stopped fighting. He looked directly into Hacob’s eyes, and there were tears staining his cheeks. He got up onto his knees and threw his arms around Hacob. “Don’t let him kill me.” He whispered. “Please.”

Hacob turned, dagger out, looking for the threat. "I don't care who it is, I need you right now, so no one is going to be killing you. And Platypus can probably keep you safe for as long as he lives." With that, he grabbed both of the crying man's wrists and they warped through reality, reappearing at Platypus' lair, empty, save them. A hologram of Platypus popped up.

"Since you are here, I assume you have the Once-Author. My sources have informed me that he is in danger from his previous character, who is now in the position of his Author. It is fortunate that his former character is not experienced, or he would probably be dead. We cannot allow that to happen. My lair is possibly the one place he will be truly safe. His former character cannot touch him here, only my Author and I have reign here. And my Author has informed me that he will not let the Once-Author die while in his protection. He has insured that the former character, by the name of Russ, I believe, will not kill him. I should be back soon, but until then, try to come up with a plan. You have fought Desolation while he had a goal. I'll be thinking, but I want your input."

Hacob felt a voice enter his head. I cannot let anyone else know this, lest Desolation learn of it, but the reason we need him is that Desolation can absorb Narration. I highly doubt, however, that he can absorb an Author's powers, and contrary to what it may seem, he is still the Author. Russ could probably still be controlled by him in all honesty. The bond is still there, and though it is weakened, it is still potent. Keep him here, he will be safe. Once I return, we will come up with a plan. In the meantime, see what he can do. Take him to the courtyard, it is insulated against outside Narration and Author powers, but the powers can be used inside it. I'll expect a full report when I return. Then the voice cut out.

"Ok, lets move. We've got stuff to do. Follow me."

[Through the Living Elan He/Him]

5 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

Hacob turned, dagger out, looking for the threat. "I don't care who it is, I need you right now, so no one is going to be killing you. And Platypus can probably keep you safe for as long as he lives." With that, he grabbed both of the crying man's wrists and they warped through reality, reappearing at Platypus' lair, empty, save them. A hologram of Platypus popped up.

"Since you are here, I assume you have the Once-Author. My sources have informed me that he is in danger from his previous character, who is now in the position of his Author. It is fortunate that his former character is not experienced, or he would probably be dead. We cannot allow that to happen. My lair is possibly the one place he will be truly safe. His former character cannot touch him here, only my Author and I have reign here. And my Author has informed me that he will not let the Once-Author die while in his protection. He has insured that the former character, by the name of Russ, I believe, will not kill him. I should be back soon, but until then, try to come up with a plan. You have fought Desolation while he had a goal. I'll be thinking, but I want your input."

Hacob felt a voice enter his head. I cannot let anyone else know this, lest Desolation learn of it, but the reason we need him is that Desolation can absorb Narration. I highly doubt, however, that he can absorb an Author's powers, and contrary to what it may seem, he is still the Author. Russ could probably still be controlled by him in all honesty. The bond is still there, and though it is weakened, it is still potent. Keep him here, he will be safe. Once I return, we will come up with a plan. In the meantime, see what he can do. Take him to the courtyard, it is insulated against outside Narration and Author powers, but the powers can be used inside it. I'll expect a full report when I return. Then the voice cut out.

"Ok, lets move. We've got stuff to do. Follow me."

For the first time since they met the Once-Author looked up and his gaze was normal. “He’s gone.” He said. “I… can’t believe it. He’s gone!” He looked to Hacob, and then followed him to wherever he was going. “Thank you!”

[Immortal Platypus]

4 minutes ago, Ancient Elantrian said:

For the first time since they met the Once-Author looked up and his gaze was normal. “He’s gone.” He said. “I… can’t believe it. He’s gone!” He looked to Hacob, and then followed him to wherever he was going. “Thank you!”

They stepped through a door that seemed to go to a room, but as they passed through it, they found themselves in a courtyard. "You're welcome. But you should really thank Platypus. This is his lair. Anyways, what happened to you? Why are you called the Once-Author? And what can you do that Platypus thought you were so important? Oh, FYI, you can use powers in this courtyard. Others can't get in, but you can use them while inside it."

[Aeoryi she/her]

1 hour ago, Being of Cacophony said:

Was it important? People didn't know.

@Aeoryi, anything else you want to add?

I might have to get off soon.

Are they mutually exclusive?

Hacob looked at the note. Did he trust it? He didn't really have a choice.

Desolation has a tiny bit of Narration from fighting Subversion.

Desolation... cannot absorb authors but can suppress their abilities. The sword probably can kill them.

Desolation needed to go find Mordite. Or he could go and kill narrators. No. 

He quickly split up into multiple Desolation's and started heading in different directions. One started heading towards Urithiru, and the other started heading towards the cave.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Aeoryi

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

47 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

Desolation has a tiny bit of Narration from fighting Subversion.

Desolation... cannot absorb authors but can suppress their abilities. The sword probably can kill them.

Desolation needed to go find Mordite. Or he could go and kill narrators. No. 

He quickly split up into multiple Desolation's and started heading in different directions. One started heading towards Urithiru, and the other started heading towards the cave.

The voice whispered, "Nowhere has it... the scientist named Nowhere has Mordite...

[Aeoryi she/her]

8 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

The voice whispered, "Nowhere has it... the scientist named Nowhere has Mordite...

"Where is Nowhere?"

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

2 hours ago, Being of Cacophony said:

Hacob is linked to the Nohr Maul blade because of the way he banished it. Also, Hacob is not in Urithiru, I know where he is.

Blinking, he sat up. "Blegh."

"Never been banished before?" Platypus asked him. "It ain't fun."

"Where am I, and what are you doing here?" Hacob stood up carefully, leaning on Platypus.

Platypus Narrated a staff for him to lean on into existence. "You're in my lair. As for what I'm doing here, I was bringing you here. You're important. And I need your help. Let's go gather a few more people. You go get the once-Author. I think it's time for me to have a talk with Feanor."

@Ancient Elantrian you were the once-author, right? @Thaidakar the Ghostblood

Ooooh, that'll work out nicely, as long as you're fine with it taking almost entire days to get responses because school.

Just now, Aeoryi said:

"Where is Nowhere?"

"Nowhere has labs all around TLT in locations little known." The voice said. "Nowhere and his assistant Impossible disappeared after a long while. I believe you can find them, however, where TLT began. They may be studying how to fabricate Narration without having a Narrator on hand."

[Through the Living Elan He/Him]

1 hour ago, Being of Cacophony said:

They stepped through a door that seemed to go to a room, but as they passed through it, they found themselves in a courtyard. "You're welcome. But you should really thank Platypus. This is his lair. Anyways, what happened to you? Why are you called the Once-Author? And what can you do that Platypus thought you were so important? Oh, FYI, you can use powers in this courtyard. Others can't get in, but you can use them while inside it."

“Thanks Platypus!” The Once-Author yelled into the room. “I was once an Author for my character Ryss. Then in a strange series of events him and I somehow swapped places I guess? Now he’s trying to kill me, and I’m using narration to avoid it, but he’s slowly getting to me I think. I can narrate decently well, though it’s difficult. I also have a narrationblade. I don’t know why Platypus thought I was important, I feel like I’m mostly just an average side character. I haven’t helped too much. I do have a whole lot of residual narration from my time as an author. So, what do you… need me to do in here?”

 

[Immortal Platypus]

4 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Ooooh, that'll work out nicely, as long as you're fine with it taking almost entire days to get responses because school.

"Nowhere has labs all around TLT in locations little known." The voice said. "Nowhere and his assistant Impossible disappeared after a long while. I believe you can find them, however, where TLT began. They may be studying how to fabricate Narration without having a Narrator on hand."

Ya, I was so excited when I thought of it. This is gonna be cool. And I'm ok with that.

2 minutes ago, Ancient Elantrian said:

“Thanks Platypus!” The Once-Author yelled into the room. “I was once an Author for my character Ryss. Then in a strange series of events him and I somehow swapped places I guess? Now he’s trying to kill me, and I’m using narration to avoid it, but he’s slowly getting to me I think. I can narrate decently well, though it’s difficult. I also have a narrationblade. I don’t know why Platypus thought I was important, I feel like I’m mostly just an average side character. I haven’t helped too much. I do have a whole lot of residual narration from my time as an author. So, what do you… need me to do in here?”

 

"I think he thought that you might have Author powers in addition to your Narration. I would just like to see what you can do. Try Narrating that box into a pinecone."

the box is resistant to Narration, but could be changed by an Author. If he still has some semblance of his Author powers, he would be able to change it, if not, he couldn't.

[Aeoryi she/her]

9 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Ooooh, that'll work out nicely, as long as you're fine with it taking almost entire days to get responses because school.

"Nowhere has labs all around TLT in locations little known." The voice said. "Nowhere and his assistant Impossible disappeared after a long while. I believe you can find them, however, where TLT began. They may be studying how to fabricate Narration without having a Narrator on hand."

"And who is Nowhere?"

whose character?

[NameIess]

8 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

"And who is Nowhere?"

whose character?

He's Thaidakar's character.

Subversion breathed in a lungful of crisp mountain air, smiling contentedly as she hiked through the beautiful forest. It really had been a good time to take a vacation.

[Immortal Platypus]

2 minutes ago, Nameless* said:

He's Thaidakar's character.

Subversion breathed in a lungful of crisp mountain air, smiling contentedly as she hiked through the beautiful forest. It really had been a good time to take a vacation.

A glowing version of Platypus appeared next to her, shimmering and fuzzing in places. "Hey, just wanted to let you know, I might be working with Feanor, so don't try to kill either of us if you see us together. Have a fun vacation!" 

[NameIess]

Just now, Being of Cacophony said:

A glowing version of Platypus appeared next to her, shimmering and fuzzing in places. "Hey, just wanted to let you know, I might be working with Feanor, so don't try to kill either of us if you see us together. Have a fun vacation!" 

Subversion was slightly miffed at the intrusion, but she did her best to ignore it. Maybe when she got back she could make some fun characters, like Nameless had used to do from time to time.

[Through the Living Elan He/Him]

24 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

 

"I think he thought that you might have Author powers in addition to your Narration. I would just like to see what you can do. Try Narrating that box into a pinecone."

the box is resistant to Narration, but could be changed by an Author. If he still has some semblance of his Author powers, he would be able to change it, if not, he couldn't.

The once author frowned. Then he raised his finger and wrote something in the air. There was a pop and then the box turned into a pine cone. Then it popped again, and there were two pinecones. Then four. Sixteen. They kept replicating until he wrote more in the air and they puffed away, each with a different color smoke. The once-author frowned. And narrowed his eyes. “Why was that harder than it should’ve been…”

I gotta go now, G’night!

[Immortal Platypus]

44 minutes ago, Ancient Elantrian said:

The once author frowned. Then he raised his finger and wrote something in the air. There was a pop and then the box turned into a pine cone. Then it popped again, and there were two pinecones. Then four. Sixteen. They kept replicating until he wrote more in the air and they puffed away, each with a different color smoke. The once-author frowned. And narrowed his eyes. “Why was that harder than it should’ve been…”

I gotta go now, G’night!

Hacob smiled. "It seems Platypus was right. That box was immune to Narration. Seems you do have Author powers still. I wonder... You should be able to reach out through the shield. Try to trace your Connection to Russ, and see if you still have the ability to control, or at least influence, his choices. Seems like you'll probably have a role to play."

I have to go soon anyway, so good night!

[Aeoryi she/her]

4 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

Hacob smiled. "It seems Platypus was right. That box was immune to Narration. Seems you do have Author powers still. I wonder... You should be able to reach out through the shield. Try to trace your Connection to Russ, and see if you still have the ability to control, or at least influence, his choices. Seems like you'll probably have a role to play."

I have to go soon anyway, so good night!

Are you... amassing people to annihilate Desolation? That's not gonna go well... for you

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

1 hour ago, Aeoryi said:

"And who is Nowhere?"

whose character?

mine!

"Nowhere is a character of the same Author as Thaidakar and Spook. Though I have long suspected he's part Narrator."

[Aeoryi she/her]

3 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

mine!

"Nowhere is a character of the same Author as Thaidakar and Spook. Though I have long suspected he's part Narrator."

"Shall I destroy him?"

[Immortal Platypus]

1 hour ago, Aeoryi said:

Are you... amassing people to annihilate Desolation? That's not gonna go well... for you

perhaps. and you don't understand. Platypus doesn't know what will work out, but he knows what is most likely to. And even someone designed to be nearly unkillable can still be beaten by a group of powerful beings. Plus, personally, I'm not a fan of invincible characters that don't get punished. I mostly don't like it because it's something that I struggle with while writing, but it can be annoying to read as well. So those are my motivations for trying to kill Desolation, plus the fact he's trying to kill my character

[Aeoryi she/her]

Just now, Being of Cacophony said:

perhaps. and you don't understand. Platypus doesn't know what will work out, but he knows what is most likely to. And even someone designed to be nearly unkillable can still be beaten by a group of powerful beings. Plus, personally, I'm not a fan of invincible characters that don't get punished. I mostly don't like it because it's something that I struggle with while writing, but it can be annoying to read as well. So those are my motivations for trying to kill Desolation, plus the fact he's trying to kill my character

The thing is, even if you have the Lavengers Walmart edition (okay they're not that bad) they will still not instantly win. And if you notice, Desolation has not had any real wins in the last while. He got rejected by Unintelligible and outsmarted by Subversion. Hacob removed him. He hasn't exactly won, and he certainly has been punished. But a bunch of powerful people aren't able to necessarily kill an immortal thing. It's like nuking steelheart.

[Immortal Platypus]

2 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

The thing is, even if you have the Lavengers Walmart edition (okay they're not that bad) they will still not instantly win. And if you notice, Desolation has not had any real wins in the last while. He got rejected by Unintelligible and outsmarted by Subversion. Hacob removed him. He hasn't exactly won, and he certainly has been punished. But a bunch of powerful people aren't able to necessarily kill an immortal thing. It's like nuking steelheart.

It's like nuking steelheart? Platypus doesn't fear him (or steelheart for that matter, but that's just cause he thinks he's stronger than he is).

But while yes, he got outsmarted, you seem to have decided that- no, I'm going to stop that. it's not right to criticize you for what I see as the same type of character i try and fail not to create. The thing is, Suddenly, Pineapples is supposed to be near permanent, if not completely permanent, which is why i was hesitant about actually using it on him. So seeing him come back easily just doesn't sit right with me, especially after you gave permission, I thought you understood that he would be gone for a very long time. but I digress.

You're right, they won't automatically defeat him easily. that's not the plan. What's the point if the villain gets defeated easily? That's why I did what I did in the Platypus-Feanor fight. The goal is to make it cooler. The planning, and the pre-fights are just to build the hype. That's what I'm doing now. Assembling the people Platypus thinks have the best chance of beating Desolation, then having them fight.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

10 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

"Shall I destroy him?"

There was a brief silence. Finally, the voice said, "No. Offer him the chance to experiment on the unbridled power of a Narrator in exchange for his assistance in our efforts. He is not one to refuse an offer like that."

11 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

perhaps. and you don't understand. Platypus doesn't know what will work out, but he knows what is most likely to. And even someone designed to be nearly unkillable can still be beaten by a group of powerful beings. Plus, personally, I'm not a fan of invincible characters that don't get punished. I mostly don't like it because it's something that I struggle with while writing, but it can be annoying to read as well. So those are my motivations for trying to kill Desolation, plus the fact he's trying to kill my character

Invincible characters can be fantastic if written correctly. If they're just there to be like "I can't be killed, go ahead and try it." If heroes are coming in who're supposed to be really good, it won't be great writing. BUT, then again, if they're given character and have problems in themselves about several different things or have a certain unpredictability that maybe, if they slip, they can be killed... there can be some amazing things done with invincible characters. Like, I might, in the future, have a character who has to almost constantly think about being invincible to be invincible, so they get injured when they're distracted. Then I could put in things where they feel like they're slipping and feel like if they're invincible, they're something different, something freakish. 

Characters need reasons to be invincible in their makeup. The doesn't undermine how good an invincible villain can be without these reasons for why on the surface. With Thaidakar, I'm on the edge of this and am in dire need of showing what's going on in his head, otherwise he'll turn into just that one OP guy who's doing what he's doing for nigh inconceivable reasons. Speaking of which... ima write a Thaidakar scene that shows this because, as I said, I need to do this to not make myself look like a hypocrite after saying this.

[Immortal Platypus]

2 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

There was a brief silence. Finally, the voice said, "No. Offer him the chance to experiment on the unbridled power of a Narrator in exchange for his assistance in our efforts. He is not one to refuse an offer like that."

Invincible characters can be fantastic if written correctly. If they're just there to be like "I can't be killed, go ahead and try it." If heroes are coming in who're supposed to be really good, it won't be great writing. BUT, then again, if they're given character and have problems in themselves about several different things or have a certain unpredictability that maybe, if they slip, they can be killed... there can be some amazing things done with invincible characters. Like, I might, in the future, have a character who has to almost constantly think about being invincible to be invincible, so they get injured when they're distracted. Then I could put in things where they feel like they're slipping and feel like if they're invincible, they're something different, something freakish. 

Characters need reasons to be invincible in their makeup. The doesn't undermine how good an invincible villain can be without these reasons for why on the surface. With Thaidakar, I'm on the edge of this and am in dire need of showing what's going on in his head, otherwise he'll turn into just that one OP guy who's doing what he's doing for nigh inconceivable reasons. Speaking of which... ima write a Thaidakar scene that shows this because, as I said, I need to do this to not make myself look like a hypocrite after saying this.

yah, I'm just bad at writing them, and so I instantly assume other people will write them incorrectly. it's something I'm working on.

[Aeoryi she/her]

18 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

It's like nuking steelheart? Platypus doesn't fear him (or steelheart for that matter, but that's just cause he thinks he's stronger than he is).

But while yes, he got outsmarted, you seem to have decided that- no, I'm going to stop that. it's not right to criticize you for what I see as the same type of character i try and fail not to create. The thing is, Suddenly, Pineapples is supposed to be near permanent, if not completely permanent, which is why i was hesitant about actually using it on him. So seeing him come back easily just doesn't sit right with me, especially after you gave permission, I thought you understood that he would be gone for a very long time. but I digress.

You're right, they won't automatically defeat him easily. that's not the plan. What's the point if the villain gets defeated easily? That's why I did what I did in the Platypus-Feanor fight. The goal is to make it cooler. The planning, and the pre-fights are just to build the hype. That's what I'm doing now. Assembling the people Platypus thinks have the best chance of beating Desolation, then having them fight.

The reason I brought him back was because I enjoyed writing his scenes. That's the purpose of TLT. TLT is not supposed to be a complete book or story or whatnot. It exists so people can enjoy writing things in here. 

Suddenly pineapples, I had never heard of before (I thought it was a person if you remember) It certainly didn't outline it's full capabilities, and if you expected me to know what it was doing by reading back a couple hundred pages, then no, I did not know what it did, and you should have specified what "anti-light beams" do. I wouldn't have given kill permission if I knew they weren't returning for a while.

14 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

There was a brief silence. Finally, the voice said, "No. Offer him the chance to experiment on the unbridled power of a Narrator in exchange for his assistance in our efforts. He is not one to refuse an offer like that."

Invincible characters can be fantastic if written correctly. If they're just there to be like "I can't be killed, go ahead and try it." If heroes are coming in who're supposed to be really good, it won't be great writing. BUT, then again, if they're given character and have problems in themselves about several different things or have a certain unpredictability that maybe, if they slip, they can be killed... there can be some amazing things done with invincible characters. Like, I might, in the future, have a character who has to almost constantly think about being invincible to be invincible, so they get injured when they're distracted. Then I could put in things where they feel like they're slipping and feel like if they're invincible, they're something different, something freakish. 

Characters need reasons to be invincible in their makeup. The doesn't undermine how good an invincible villain can be without these reasons for why on the surface. With Thaidakar, I'm on the edge of this and am in dire need of showing what's going on in his head, otherwise he'll turn into just that one OP guy who's doing what he's doing for nigh inconceivable reasons. Speaking of which... ima write a Thaidakar scene that shows this because, as I said, I need to do this to not make myself look like a hypocrite after saying this.

Why is desolation an evil person? Good question. I think you've already realized, he sort of doesn't have other emotions that cause him to be evil besides his desire for chaos. And where does that stem from? Great question. Either way, desolation has weaknesses (I was considering making one of them fire, but decided that was too generic). If I would say his emotional weaknesses basically consist of being proven wrong.

Desolation started to split, sending copies to go try and find a secret lab of Nowhere.

11 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

yah, I'm just bad at writing them, and so I instantly assume other people will write them incorrectly. it's something I'm working on.

I mean I'm a big fan of not invincible, not powerful, completely normal characters (in a sense) but Desolation is the first time in a while that I've tried a character who is actually strong.

EDIT: Steelheart analogy was meant not for platypus (anyone on TLT could probably kill steelheart) but for a random person in the Fractured states.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Aeoryi