The Longest Thread (Misadventures)

[NameIess]

It had accidentally killed them.

[Immortal Platypus]

Then the Fiddling Infinity Machine gained sentience to attack the sock.

[ThroughTheLivingSequence she/her/they/them]

It was the bloodiest battle ever fought, despite the fact that neither of them had blood.

[NameIess]

But in the end, the Infinity Machine won, and TLT was saved.

[EmulatonStromenkiin he/him]

But an even worse fait awaited them.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

The Infinity Machine had overlooked something. Something important. Something... Plot relevant.

Plot's sword stabbed the machine, making the machine begin to dissolve into pure energy; the sword started eating the energy at the same time.

[NameIess]

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Platypus who held Plot’s sword. It was, in fact, someone else.

@Being of Cacophony

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Someone else stood there, holding the sword.

[NameIess]

He looked quite different than you’d expect. In fact, you could tell just by looking at him that he hated cooking.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

He was Someone Else's third cousin twice removed.

[NameIess]

Good guess, but no. He was actually someone else.

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

But not Someone Else.

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

It was confusing.

Meanwhile, Bookwyrm drifted, a war happening in his soul. Chaos had overtaken the fabric of the thread.

We all know that you're going to succumb, the voice told him. It's undeniable. You've accepted it. 

Now accept that this is your sole existence and purpose. To permeate the chaos. Nothing else.

You are more than this, something else said. Yes, it is a Narrator's nature to move forward the timeline of this existence, no matter the cost. It's inescapable.

But that doesn't mean you aren't more. You've made friends. Helped others on their path. Given homes to those who needed them. You've created. People, creatures, worlds...

And for what? Creation means nothing here, amongst countless others, ripe to be destroyed in an instant by the meandering of another.

No...Bookwyrm said.

No?

I am more than what you say I am, he resolved. Yes, I am a Narrator. But I am still me.

So you've made your choice, the dark voice said as it shifted. It's shell became brighter, but it still held darkness in it's heart. 

I cannot stop you from holding onto your resolve. But I still exist. You cannot banish me so easily, Narrator.

I Have POWER!

Bookwyrm was thrown back into reality on the dusty plain of a distant world.

A figure stood across from him. He looked vaguely like Rym, perhaps. Or maybe it was that Rym had looked vaguely like Bookwyrm all along. Indeed, this newcomer took it's shape from the Narrator it had freed itself from.

"Ah," he said. "So good it is to breath the air of a world."

Bookwyrm summoned his Narrationblade, gleaming with blue light.

"Let's have none of that, shall we?" the figure said as he summoned his own; a dark shadow of Bookwyrm's own blade.

"Yes, I have a Narrationblade," the avatar replied. "Though I am but a dark, twisted shadow of you, I have inherited much. Enough to be regarded among Narrators themselves. All I need is a name...one fitting of the nature of this thread..." 

He smiled after a moment. "My name is Avatar. Avatar Avatar, to be precise. Free, unchained to any Narrator."

"Unchained, perhaps," Bookwyrm said. "But not unconnected. I have control over you."

"To a degree," Avatar said. "But I'll find a way to solve that eventually." He laughed, and then, in a dark twisting of space, vanished.

Bookwyrm was left alone on the surface of an abandoned world. Unburdened by guilt, but with a new adversary. 

He had his third avatar. And this one was going to be the hardest of them all to manage.

[NameIess]

2 hours ago, The Bookwyrm said:

Bookwyrm was left alone on the surface of an abandoned world. Unburdened by guilt, but with a new adversary. 

He had his third avatar. And this one was going to be the hardest of them all to manage.

Subversion appeared next to Bookwyrm. "Ooh, an avatar? You know, I haven't made one yet. Unless you count someone else." She giggled. "That one's something different though." She leaned in close, whispering. "I could never have predicted you'd deal with your guilt like that. Honestly, I approve. Very Subversive."

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

2 hours ago, The Bookwyrm said:

It was confusing.

Meanwhile, Bookwyrm drifted, a war happening in his soul. Chaos had overtaken the fabric of the thread.

We all know that you're going to succumb, the voice told him. It's undeniable. You've accepted it. 

Now accept that this is your sole existence and purpose. To permeate the chaos. Nothing else.

You are more than this, something else said. Yes, it is a Narrator's nature to move forward the timeline of this existence, no matter the cost. It's inescapable.

But that doesn't mean you aren't more. You've made friends. Helped others on their path. Given homes to those who needed them. You've created. People, creatures, worlds...

And for what? Creation means nothing here, amongst countless others, ripe to be destroyed in an instant by the meandering of another.

No...Bookwyrm said.

No?

I am more than what you say I am, he resolved. Yes, I am a Narrator. But I am still me.

So you've made your choice, the dark voice said as it shifted. It's shell became brighter, but it still held darkness in it's heart. 

I cannot stop you from holding onto your resolve. But I still exist. You cannot banish me so easily, Narrator.

I Have POWER!

Bookwyrm was thrown back into reality on the dusty plain of a distant world.

A figure stood across from him. He looked vaguely like Rym, perhaps. Or maybe it was that Rym had looked vaguely like Bookwyrm all along. Indeed, this newcomer took it's shape from the Narrator it had freed itself from.

"Ah," he said. "So good it is to breath the air of a world."

Bookwyrm summoned his Narrationblade, gleaming with blue light.

"Let's have none of that, shall we?" the figure said as he summoned his own; a dark shadow of Bookwyrm's own blade.

"Yes, I have a Narrationblade," the avatar replied. "Though I am but a dark, twisted shadow of you, I have inherited much. Enough to be regarded among Narrators themselves. All I need is a name...one fitting of the nature of this thread..." 

He smiled after a moment. "My name is Avatar. Avatar Avatar, to be precise. Free, unchained to any Narrator."

"Unchained, perhaps," Bookwyrm said. "But not unconnected. I have control over you."

"To a degree," Avatar said. "But I'll find a way to solve that eventually." He laughed, and then, in a dark twisting of space, vanished.

Bookwyrm was left alone on the surface of an abandoned world. Unburdened by guilt, but with a new adversary. 

He had his third avatar. And this one was going to be the hardest of them all to manage.

Thaidakar walked over, "ah, bookwyrm, another avatar? I wish you luck with yours. Better luck than I had with my millions of avatars... long story there."

[Immortal Platypus]

Platypus appears. "I don't know you and I don't have avatars, but good luck I think."

Platypus dissolves and tries to summon Vengeance. It works, but the other version is still in the Machine somehow. No One knows how.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Being of Cacophony

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

7 hours ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

Subversion appeared next to Bookwyrm. "Ooh, an avatar? You know, I haven't made one yet. Unless you count someone else." She giggled. "That one's something different though." She leaned in close, whispering. "I could never have predicted you'd deal with your guilt like that. Honestly, I approve. Very Subversive."

 

7 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Thaidakar walked over, "ah, bookwyrm, another avatar? I wish you luck with yours. Better luck than I had with my millions of avatars... long story there."

Bookwyrm gave Subversion a flat look.

"I don't even know if he's completely an avatar," Bookwyrm said. "Yeah, that's the type of being he is, but he's not going to play by the normal rules."

Bookwyrm sighed. "I should probably go find him."

[InfiniteInsanity she/her]

Insanity appeared. "What's an avatar?"

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

2 minutes ago, InfiniteInsanity said:

Insanity appeared. "What's an avatar?"

"A manifestation of a Narrator, personified. Or a being imbued with their power. It's kind of complicated."

[NameIess]

3 hours ago, The Bookwyrm said:

Bookwyrm gave Subversion a flat look.

"I don't even know if he's completely an avatar," Bookwyrm said. "Yeah, that's the type of being he is, but he's not going to play by the normal rules."

Bookwyrm sighed. "I should probably go find him."

"Why not just sit back and see what he does? I'm sure it'll be interesting."

[ThroughTheLivingSequence she/her/they/them]

Sequence shivered. "This is exactly why I never have, and never will make an avatar."

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

1 hour ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

"Why not just sit back and see what he does? I'm sure it'll be interesting."

"Of course you'd say that."

17 minutes ago, Sequence said:

Sequence shivered. "This is exactly why I never have, and never will make an avatar."

Bookwyrm blinked. "I thought Everyone and Fuzzy and that one other person that I don't remember were your avatars. Was I wrong?"

[NameIess]

2 minutes ago, The Bookwyrm said:

"Of course you'd say that."

"Am I wrong? Surely his story will be better if you let some other character step up to stop him."

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

3 minutes ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

"Am I wrong? Surely his story will be better if you let some other character step up to stop him."

"...Perhaps. But that doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on him."

[ThroughTheLivingSequence she/her/they/them]

1 minute ago, The Bookwyrm said:

Bookwyrm blinked. "I thought Everyone and Fuzzy and that one other person that I don't remember were your avatars. Was I wrong?"

Sequence sighed. "That's not a story I want to tell again." Everyone appeared. "Allow me,"

"Once upon a time, there was a Sequence. A sentient being created from a random mixture of emotions and human-ish qualities. Now, this particular Sequence was quite unstable. They killed a lot of people, destroyed a lot of things, and basically caused a lot of suffering all around. Now you may be thinking of Narratorgeist Sequence, but this was long before that. Anyways, there didn't seem to be a way to stop this rampaging Sequence, so the inhabitants of that pocket of TLT came up with a plan. Using a mixture of technology and magic, they were able to basically cut the Sequence in half (I don't know the details). Anyways, so now there's two half-Sequence thingies. Still full Sequences, but not nearly as destructive. But there was still a problem. Two exact copies of something sentient usually cause problems in TLT, so they split one of the copies again. This time into thirds. Now the Sequence that we know was one of the half-Sequence thingies, who was something like a newborn baby at this point. She didn't retain any of her memories or anything. So when the other half-Sequence thingy was split to thirds, she named them Fuzzy, Everyone, and Cardinal. And those names stuck, sadly. Anyways, so we all went our separate ways because of reasons blah blah blah and then we met up again for some more unrelated reasons more recently and blah blah blah blah."