xinoehp512

"Yes," said Bacon simply. "Quagmire? Can you break her curse?" Which three people is he talking about?

Am I allowed to know what this means or is it secret too

[Once we have Tam and are out of here!] replied Bacon in Pigeon. [This is Ciara's stronghold. She'll be much more dangerous in here than she would be outside. So the longer we can keep her from noticing us, the better!]

Obligatory reminder that posts on TLT don't count to the total

Bacon made Cricket a pigeon double, then popped into his own. "Onwards!" he said, following after Shoe.

"Please don't," said the inspector, suddenly anxious. "I... don't think he wants to be bothered..." "We should go pigeon first," said Bacon, taking out the pigeons. "We'll want to be sneaky." @kpShadowFox "Quagmire, there's some sort of curse on Shoe's sister- Tam- that's keeping her trapped here. If we break that, we should be able to get her out."

That'd be fun to watch "Sure!" Cricket's abilites suddenly triggered, transporting them all to the valley where Shoe had taken them before. Yes. Who wins depends on who is more powerful and/or skilled. "I'm not leaving unless you let my friends go also," replied Nogard, tightening his grip on Subversion and glancing at the OA. I must stay true to the character But there's a good chance they get reunited depending on what happens. The inspector frowned. "I do not think he is taking visitors..."

"He resides here, in his realm. I do not believe he ever leaves." "Quagmire, you can take Ciara, right?" @kpShadowFox

"I suppose your idea is sound in theory. Tull would find sanctuary in that world, were you to restore time to it. But fixing Onyx..." He shook his head. "I would not even know where to begin. The Dark One is a mystery shrouded in an enigma." The guide didn't seem to hear Ista. "He is no enemy of ours, not yet. I hope he will not be. I fear we have enough problems of our own."

"In that case, we have no quarrel," said Selppaenip. "He is no ally of ours." [br] Don't mind me, just testing [/br]

"Yeah. I didn't exactly, er, 'follow the rules.'" "You could always make a backup and reload if things go south," suggested Bacon. "Ah. Is your quarrel with that one, then?" Selppaenip gestured to Falvan. "Alright, Shoe," said Bacon. "What's the plan?"

"I'd offer to be on your team, but I'm terrible at it. The last time I tried, our tower ended up technically negative in height!" "Have there been any interesting stories that happened?" asked Bacon curiously. Selppaenip responded swiftly, taking a defensive stance with his katanas.

Bacon suddenly remembered that one time Shoe had thought to himself that he could have fixed a problem if someone had asked him. When had that been, exactly?

Nogard would have responded to this (he was usually very good at welcoming new characters) but he was too distracted by whatever it was going on in front of him. "Allow me to explain," said the inspector. "Many years ago, I decided to make a world of my own. It would be a place of sanctuary from the chaos of the multiverse, free from the meddling of..." he glanced at Erif. "...certain powerful entities. I invited several individuals to help me create it, and it was wonderful! We created new places, new people, new systems of magic... it was wonderful!" His eye-crystals brightened with the recollection. Then they dimmed. "But it didn't stay that way forever. You see, the world was built upon Onyx's power- but shortly after its inception, Onyx began to grow... distant. More distant than usual, even. And then, one day, without warning, time simply... stopped working." "Excellent!" exclaimed Bacon. "So what's the plan?" The group stood on a stone platform in the middle of a desolate wasteland. For as far as the eye could see, everything was just... dead. Welcome to Onyx's realm A woman flickered into being. Her hair was long, and blew around her face as though in a wind. But there was no wind. Welcome, traveler, she spoke. What brings you to this land? "Should we leave?" mouthed Nogard.

Hey, the nice thing about adapting a plot that never got finished is that you can finish it if you want to.

"Does nobody care that my homeland is trapped in time?" yelled Erif. The inspector sighed, eye-crystals dimming. "I... am sorry, Erif. I have tried. I do not think there is a way to get them back. Not within my power." "Fancy," admired Bacon. Bacon followed after. "Does this mean you're going to help us now?" The thing about TLT adaptations that nobody talks about is just how much TLT stuff there is that *isn't* on TLT. For instance, to fully appreciate most of the Tom Joebob plots you sort of have to understand Fallen lore, which has undergone more evolution than the domestic chicken, most of which was discussed entirely in private. Bottom line is that you'd probably just have to skip that part Same goes for a lot of the early plot stuff, really.

I'm gonna not link to the actual last post this time so it won't break. Hopefully. The radio broke the silence once again. "Hello all, and welcome back to The Longest Thread- Misadventures™! As always, my name is Bacon the Bard, here to fill you in on all the plots, tangents, and absolute nonsense that you missed out on! There's been a conspicuous absence among the Authors since my last episode (circa pg. 2788): @NameIess, the one behind the mysterious twin Plotblades and the misguided guild of Brave Adventurers, has vanished! Dear viewers, we at TLT-M™ productions have been praying for his safe return and dying of suspense regarding the fate of the Bravest Expeditioners- and we're sure you have been too! But fear not; new plotlines have bloomed in the interim, full of cathartic character moments and jam-packed with juicy lore! In this episode, we will follow Shoe and Beosta (accompanied by yours truly!) as they face a demon from Shoe's past. Dear listeners, today we will finally learn who it is responsible for the inexplicable silence of the Muffin Man. I hope that you are all prepared. But before we get to the main event, we must touch on another simultaneous plotline. When we last left them, Tull had just finished reading the Book of Unwinding Thread, and had realized it contained Erif's backstory. Tull reveals this to Erif, who is stunned and agitated. The oracle remains unamused by Erif's frustration and refuses to elaborate further. Upon closer examination of his backstory, Erif notices a detail that is new to him; a mention of a mysterious 'inspector' who was responsible for the creation of his world. Tull, having learned from the book that the inspector serves Onyx, warns Erif against seeking him out. Erif, of course, ignores this, and Tull reluctantly decides to assist him. They meet with the guide, who informs them that they will have to find someone who has been to Onyx's realm before in order to journey there and find the inspector. She directs them to Sequence, who is happy to show them they way. The group arrives at a circular platform with a strange symbol etched into it. It is noticeably absent of the soporific sand that was previously present to ease the transition into unreal space. The guide appears and welcomes them, warning them that Onyx's realm is dangerous (as if we needed any more reminders of that!) Ista attempts to interrogate the guide for information. The guide is initially happy to oblige, but quickly becomes agitated when she realizes she is missing memories. Ista continues to press the guide, and causes her to crash when she realizes she can't remember her name. Because of this, the guide is unable to warn Tull about the perils inherent to using Narration in Onyx's realm, and so he Narrates a dream eater in order to help them cross into unreal space. Tull's Narration is therefore taken from him in accordance with Onyx's law, and the group falls asleep thanks to the dream eater. The group comes to consciousness in what appears to be a doctor's waiting room overgrown with age. The group forces their way through a door overgrown with vines into a rusted examination room, beyond which they find the inspector. Erif confronts the inspector sharply, demanding answers regarding his past and help fixing the curse that is affecting his home- a time loop. The inspector is apologetic, but explains that he has tried to help in the past and been unsuccessful. Before he can elaborate further, however, the dream eater assaults Ista, taking the form of Berin-as-Wrath and attempting to subdue her with emotional damage. After Ista's own emotional attacks unsuccessful, she pushes positive emotion towards the creature. In response, it switches tactics, trapping Ista in a false happy dream. The inspector is able to break Ista out of her reverie and the two decide to experiment with different emotions. They try confusion and get back overwhelming sensory stimulation, then try hunger. With hunger, the dream eater eventually decides Ista isn't food any more and latches onto the inspector. A brief scene from the inspector's past plays, but he cuts off the signal (and destroys the dream eater) before too much is revealed. The group reawakens in the real world. And now, the story you've all been waiting for. When we last left Shoe and Beosta, they were being escorted by a strange man through a series of winding corridors to face interrogation. When they arrive at their destination, they are faced with a room of white-skinned people and ordered not to speak aloud. Upon being informed of the captives' desire to find a heroic task to complete, the council promises to prepare such a task, and then returns them to their cell. Back in their cell, however, Beosta suddenly vanishes. She is summoned for a meeting with her mentor Roth, who just so happens to be an Ennuller! (Why precisely the Ennullers have chosen to involve themselves in Beosta's place of education remains a mystery.) Roth informs her that having her bonded animal be a Narrator is strictly against the rules, and removes Livetha's Narrative abilities. (In my defense, nobody TOLD me that it was against the rules. Sorry, Beosta.) He reminds her of the consequences of her failure and returns her to her cell. Beosta is rather distraught because of the meeting, and Shoe does his best to comfort her. Beosta reveals that if she fails her final assignment, she will forget everything that happened after joining- including her entire adventure so far. Shoe is distressed by this idea and offers to help Beosta complete her quest. They have a short conversation, during which Livetha is returned to them. Eventually, the council gets back to them on the heroic deed that needs doing. As it happens, their land is threatened by a mysterious being known as Famine, and food has been scarce. Due to a strange quirk of local metaphysics, however, the entire land is particularly suggestible, even for non-Narrators- though only to outsiders. Thus, Beosta is pressed into service growing plants. The townsfolk are pleased by Beosta's success, and ask if she could defeat Famine. Beosta agrees, and she and Shoe set off to the cavern where the fearsome being resides. While on the way, the talk turns to Shoe's homeland. He reveals he's from a small town in a valley, where he lived with his younger sister after his parents passed away. He reminisces about the good times, but seems saddened by the memories. (The listener can imply that something happened to his sister; but what? Perhaps we shall see...) Beosta also talks briefly about her home, though it seems there may be some unpleasant memories associated with it. Eventually, the pair reach Famine's cave and encounter a suspicious-looking (and hungry) young boy. After being fed muffins, the boy becomes demanding and violent. He transforms into a large reptilian creature, and Shoe and Beosta Narrate the walls of the cavern to crush and defeat the monster. It is at that point, with both of them spattered with gore, that I reintroduce myself into the story. My appearance is brief; I attempt a bit of Narration to heal Shoe and Beosta, but due to the suggestible nature of local reality I accidentally resurrect the monster. I make a prompt exit before I can do any more damage. The monster roughs Beosta up, but she and Shoe are able to encase it in solid iron and solid rock respectively. The pair then Narrate horses to help Beosta get back to town (and the hospital.) They discuss whether or not their actions are suitably heroic to qualify for Beosta's final project, and she reveals that her instructor will check in on her regarding the topic. After wrestling with myself for a while, I decide to take the risk and disguise myself as a fly to listen in on the conversation. Ennullers are freaky, but they also have a tendency to show up in interesting places and times. While waiting, however, I reveal to Shoe that Beosta's instructor is an Ennuller. He is shocked by this information, evidently familiar with the term, and immediately seeks out Beosta. Beosta, meanwhile, is not having much success convincing her instructor to accept their quest. Roth explains to her that she needs to work together with Livetha in order to succeed, using their combined Gift as a tool in whatever quest she chooses. As they talk, Shoe bursts in and begs Roth for his help. He reveals that his sister has been taken by an Ennuller and that he needs the help of another Ennuller to get her back. Unfortunately, Roth does not take Shoe's plight seriously, and refuses to offer assistance. He departs (rather rudely, I might add), leaving Shoe and Beosta alone together (with me!) Once Beosta learns what Shoe needs help with, she offers to assist him but Shoe rejects the idea. He claims that it is too dangerous, and likely impossible without the assistance of an Ennuller. He reveals that his sister was a Narrator, and that the Ennuller who captured her - named Ciara- was working alone. I suggest going to the other Ennullers for help, so we call up the guide. Unfortunately, she isn't terribly helpful, going insane halfway through our conversation. She does let us into Ennuller HQ, but all that we find there is a desk-person that has us file a report. He reveals that Ciara is considered dead, and doesn't seem to fully believe Shoe's report, which will undoubtedly be forever lost in the harrowing realm of bureaucracy. (We do learn Shoe's last name, however: It's Lennox!) While there, however, Shoe and Beosta share an emotional moment. We also re-encounter Yrank and meet up with a new person: Cricket, the portaler! I introduce myself to him in disguise, as to not reveal my presence within Ennuller HQ. Cricket proves to be terrible at keeping secrets and reveals quite a bit about his backstory (including a planet explosion!) Yrank also reveals that he has bad blood with the Ennullers (which will perhaps be explored in a later episode.) The Ennuller concludes that we have no further business and ejects us unceremoniously. We land in a peaceful city park and begin to discuss plans moving forwards. In the absence of an easily recruitable Ennuller, I suggest creating RC body doubles and infiltrating Ciara's hideout to gather intel. (While doing this, Livetha opens a mental connection between Shoe and Beosta so we don't have to use quite so much paper. Hooray for saving the environment! Also hooray for cute interactions. (Don't tell Beosta I said that, or she'll turn redder than Tomato the Tarantula.)) After some discussion on the form the doubles should take, we settle on pigeons. I create pigeon forms for everyone, but it turns out the others are not natural flyers. Fortunately, a Narrator named Natsu in the form of a pigeon shows up and imparts the relevant information onto us. (Cricket also randomly appears and I turn him into a pigeon, so he doesn't feel left out.) Thus we take to the skies, prepared to investigate Ciara's base. Will what we find be of any use? Find out after the break! *an ad for bacon donuts plays* Welcome back, listeners! Where we last left off, our valiant heroes (including me!) were making our way towards Ciara the Ennullers stronghold with the intention of infiltration. Shoe leads the way through a multiversal travel hub, and we emerge in his home universe. Shoe is momentarily overcome with memories, but leads us to Ciara's entrance portal. We enter without incident and explore some very creepy hallways. We run into a eerie armor-sentry being, and even encounter Ciara at one point, but our tiny disguise forms enable us to hide without being spotted. While we are there, we hear Shoe's sister's voice and decide to attempt to make contact. After a few minutes of wandering through creepy hallways, we find her! Her name is revealed to be Tam, and she is overjoyed to make contact with Shoe once again (even if he is in the form of a pigeon.) Tam confirms that an Ennuller is required in order to counteract Ciara if they wish to effect her escape. Natsu reveals that he knows an Ennuller that might be able to help, for a price. Thus the group says their goodbyes to Tam for now (including a very tearful Shoe) and we depart. (I do leave a copy of myself with Tam, however. Just in case.) Once we have recovered our bodies, Natsu takes the lead. In order to get to Quagmire, who is located on Braize, he takes us through light-conversion transportation crystals. (There are no mishaps on the journey.) Before we leave, however, Beosta buys an odd glass globe from a strange woman who claims to be selling souls. (I'm sure that's not ominous at all.) We arrive at the location, but Quagmire takes a bit to show up, so we just chill for a bit. We learn a little bit more about Cricket (apparently you can tell the kind of portaler Cricket is by their eye color) and he reveals that he is being hunted by a dark entity. I make some plants grow and show up Shoe at castle building. Beosta talks about the pretty stars of her homeworld and vehemently objects to us traveling there, and Shoe makes some absolutely TERRIBLE puns. Beosta thinks that they are hilarious; incontrovertible evidence that she is hopelessly in love with him. (There's no other explanation.) At last, Quagmire shows up and offers Shoe a deal. He must complete a Trial of Truth and he must help Quagmire with a favor at some point in the future. Shoe agrees, and the Trial of Truth begins. And thus our episode ends with Shoe on the cusp of winning a valuable ally. We have discovered so much, and yet are still so blind to the things directly in front of us. Will Shoe be able to complete the Trial of Truth, win Quagmires assistance, and rescue his sister? Will he regain his voice? Will he realize Beosta's true feelings towards him? Find answers to all these questions- and more! Will @NameIess return from his hiatus? What is Falvan planning, and will his machinations come to light? Find answers to all these questions and more in the next episode of The Longest Thread- Misadventures™! Thank you all for listening, and have a good night. Please direct any and all concerns to @xinoehp512.

Once upon a time, there was a character that spoke for a Narrator. He did not have a name. The Narrator was named X, and so that was what he was called. When the Narrator needed him, he acted on their behalf. When it did not... he waited. Today he waited on a rock with a knife and a fallen branch. Stroke by stroke, he used the knife to scape fragments off of the piece of wood, turning it into... well, he wasn't sure what exactly it was turning into, but it was turning into something. Perhaps the Narrator would be able to tell him what it was. As he was pondering the pattern, a voice interrupted his thoughts. He blinked, and looked up into the face of a young woman. Her hand was extended towards him "Hi, I'm Melody, what's your name?" she asked. She looked down at the piece of wood in his hands. "That's a cool walking staff, what are you carving? Are you going to use that on the quest?" She paused. "Are you even coming on the quest?" The character who spoke for X stared at the hand for several moments before remembering what he was supposed to do with it. He shook it, dutifully. "I... don't have a name," he answered. He looked down, at the piece of wood in his hands. "A walking stick," he said, slowly. Yes, that made sense. How could he not have seen in before? He looked up again, into Melody's expectant brown eyes. The Narrator was not here, but perhaps...? "I think," he said, deliberately, "that I would like to come on this quest."

"Hmm," said the inspector. "Well, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you with that, not unless Tull wants to stay here for the rest of his life." Erif, meanwhile, was venting his frustrations by screaming into the empty wasteland.

Yes. They walked through one of the light-crystal things and ended up in a place described here: Shoe is facing a mirror-double of himself that's reflecting his insecurities back at him.

The inspector paused, frowning. "An entity of Chaotic Darkness? She is not trying to summon the Witherlord, is she?" "It is meant to represent me. I... cannot remember what it means."

The inspector frowned. "Let's not have any of that!" He made a slicing motion with his hand, and the communication from Madness abruptly ceased. "My!" he declared. "She does not seem pleasant. Tell me, for what reason is she assaulting you?" Erif grabbed the inspector and began to shake him. "ANSWER MY QUESTION," he snarled. The inspector ignored him. They are in the place where they first arrived; the circle with the strange symbol in the middle, surrounded by a desolate landscape. The real world, so to speak.

They woke up in the same place that they arrived at. The dream eater was on Ista's head, but it dissolved. The inspector is here. This happened: Shoe made a deal with Natsu's Ennuller friend, Quagmire. He needs to complete a Trial of Truth and fulfil a yet-unnamed favor. In return, Quagmire will help him against Ciara. Bacon and Beosta accompanied Shoe on the Trial.

"Uh," said Nogard, somewhat alarmed. He glanced at the OA, a panicked expression on his face. "What did we just walk into?" he mouthed.

"Have you done any tower-building since then? I hear there's a fierce competitive scene."