uranianUmbra [UU] began cheering timaeusTestified [TT]
UU: i see yoU're aboUt ready to begin. how splendid for yoU. ^u^ UU: i'm at dangeroUs risk of jealoUsy. TT: Why? UU: oh, it's jUst i'm rUnning a bit behind schedUle. i wanted to coordinate with yoUr groUp in something approximating real time, and that is starting to look less likely. UU: my client player continUes to be a soUrce of frUstration. u_u UU: i'd thoUght we had everything settled, bUt it's always something with him. UU: i even told him in my last message it woUld sUit me fine if he wanted to be the server player instead. i jUst want to begin! UU: bUt i have not heard back from him... >:u TT: That's probably the way it always is. I've run into plenty of problems here already, and I've had to improvise heavily. TT: Ain't nothing about our situation to envy yet. UU: bUt at least i know how certain things go when it comes to yoUr story. UU: i don't qUite have that lUxUry with mine! it is nerve wracking sometimes, especially when i mUst coUnt on him to be responsible. TT: Well, your bro definitely has got some problems. Not gonna lie. UU: this is trUe. UU: thoUgh i'm sUre i've said, he isn't qUite my brother. we are related, yes, bUt not in the way hUman brothers and sisters are. UU: we are genetically similar, bUt in many ways qUite different. in fact, oUr blood coloUr is not even the same! UU: bUt i have referred to him as a brother at times becaUse it is close enoUgh to being trUe, mUch as yoU refer to the one yoU regard as yoUr ancestor in the same way. TT: Yeah. TT: Just give him some time. He'll probably come around. TT: You would never even have woken up on Prospit if you weren't going to launch the session, right? TT: I mean, there wouldn't even be a session for a Prospit to exist inside if you weren't about to instantiate it in the first place. Unless I'm just totally not getting how this works. UU: no, i think yoU're probably right. UU: while i await his response, perhaps i will take a nap, and see if the cloUds may offer any gUidance. UU: thoUgh lately i have been seeing many more black cloUds cropping Up in skaia than UsUal. it is a most Unwelcome trend. u_u; TT: You're lucky to have any clouds. TT: Only thing I have to look up at is infinite monsters. UU: good point! :U UU: i am so pleased to be a prospit dreamer. i'm sUre my brother finds his netherworldly affiliation similarly pleasing. TT: Speaking of which, TT: I have a problem, and I could use your advice. UU: is that so? TT: I killed an agent who snuck into my room to assassinate me. TT: I'm not sure what to do about it now. I guess I could just ditch the corpse. TT: But it's still only a matter of time before my cover is blown. UU: yes, that is a pickle. TT: I honestly can't think of a way around this. Getting found out, I mean. TT: Roxy has it easy. All floating off into space, completely oblivious to any danger. TT: I don't know why it had to be this way for me. Juggling these two waking selves at once. TT: I guess I'm used to it, but it still makes for a pretty intense existence. TT: Do you even know what the deal with that is? Like is there any precedent in your readings? UU: i don't know aboUt precedent, bUt it makes plenty of sense to me as the type of path one might expect for a hero of heart. UU: a path rUled by the heart aspect can be a joUrney of splintered self. UU: that is, the player's being may exhibit the same kind of fragmentation which certain classes coUld caUse in others. UU: i think this is what has triggered yoUr dUal-awareness between waking and dream selves, thoUgh it woUld not sUrprise me if the symptoms manifested in even more ways than this. TT: So, that's what a Prince of Heart does? TT: Just has like, multiple waking consciousness disorder, or something? TT: Sounds kind of stupid. UU: no! UU: like i said, these can be traits of sUch a hero, bUt is not necessarily always the case, nor is it the defining property of the aspect. UU: to Understand the heart aspect better, yoU might Use it interchangeably with the word soUl. UU: the hero Uses the methods endowed by class to inflUence in some way the soUl, or essence of being, of oneself or of others. TT: Then I'm basically the Prince of Soul. UU: yes. TT: That sounds kind of maybe a little cooler. Sort of. TT: Then what am I supposed to be able to do as a Prince? Like, rule over souls in a pompous, regal manner? UU: no! UU: again, sUrface meaning of classes and aspects can be deceptive. UU: a prince is a destroyer class. UU: it is very far on the active side of the scale. its more passive coUnterpart woUld be the bard class. both of these are exclUsively designated for male players. UU: to Understand a hero's capabilities, it always helps to search for the right way to parse the class/aspect pair into a more explicit statement. UU: for instance, being active, a prince coUld be viewed as "one who destroys x, or caUses destrUction throUgh x," if x is the aspect. UU: while the more passive bard coUld be seen as "one who allows x to be destroyed, or invites destrUction throUgh x," as if by the will of the aspect. TT: I'm obviously no expert, but that sounds like a pretty odd thing for a Bard to do. UU: maybe! it's a qUirky class. UU: somewhat like a wildcard role for a hero. very Unpredictable. UU: they are typically known for their spontaneoUs and dramatic story-altering inflUence on the fate of a party. UU: some of the more remarkable tales involve sUch parties, where the bard is single handedly responsible for their spectacUlar downfall or improbable victory. or both! UU: in trUth, yoU are probably fortUnate yoUr groUp doesn't have one. :u TT: I think we have enough unpredictability as it is. TT: So if I'm following, my title nearly parses as, TT: Destroyer of Souls. UU: indeed. TT: Well, that's a little more badass sounding I guess. TT: But I'm not sure I'll ever feel a major need to destroy a soul, unless I become a cartoonishly villainous sorcerer some day. UU: i woUldn't be hasty in rUling it oUt. UU: that is, finding the need to Use the ability, not sUccUmbing to any sort of villainy. u~u UU: we tend to have these roles for a reason, and that reason UsUally finds Us. especially if we are to achieve god tier ascension. TT: Ok. Do I do that? UU: no dirk! UU: i mean, no, i will not tell yoU!!! TT: Give me a fuckin' break. TT: Why don't you just tell me? Who cares about spoilers. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. UU: that very well may be, bUt it will dreadfUlly complicate both of oUr lives if what is to come resUlts from self-fUlfillment alone! UU: a great deal of instrUctional material is very clear on this. UU: besides, yoU make it soUnd as thoUgh i know everything, which i most certainly do NOT. upu UU: (pardon the sideways tongUe.) TT: Wait. Don't you? TT: I thought you did. UU: i have read mUch aboUt yoUr story in texts and have pieced together the overarching, exceedingly complicated saga as best as i coUld. i have as mUch aUthority over these events as a historian, and am at the mercy of my soUrces. UU: i also am able to access mUch of yoUr adventUre throUgh this terminal, bUt there is a limitation to this too, which i may as well admit now to get yoU off of my back! TT: What? UU: i can view all events involving yoU and yoUr coplayers on earth, for yoUr entire lives, Until yoU enter the game. UU: i can also view some events after yoUr session begins, bUt not for very long, thanks to yoUr tipsy friend. TT: Oh man. What the hell does she do? UU: she blacks oUt yoUr entire session! UU: i'm sUre this is not deliberate on her part, bUt thereafter i can see nothing at all. TT: Huh. UU: bUt i have never considered this to the detriment of either party. i still wish for Us to collaborate, and to help each other oUt. UU: beyond a certain point, we simply mUst commUnicate in the dark. TT: Ok. UU: so there are many things aboUt yoUr fUtUre i do not know, at least not first hand. UU: bUt as yoU have probably ventUred, i am qUite an enthUsiastic admirer of yoUr groUp of heroes and yoUr incredible story. ^u^ UU: thoUgh i can't see what happens mUch later, i can certainly specUlate. and i very often do. i gUess it woUld not hUrt to share some of my specUlation with yoU. UU: in fact, now that i consider it, that coUld be the most fUn thing of all! TT: Speculation? UU: yes. theories! examining all the clUes and hazarding oUr gUesses. UU: what does it all mean? everything aboUt yoUr vast epic points to a central mystery which i have not been able to solve yet. UU: yoU might even call it the Ultimate riddle, if that were not already codified as "a thing" in scriptUre. UU: i have so very many theories, i woUldn't even know where to begin. TT: So... TT: You're kind of obsessed with us then. UU: i woUldn't go that far! oh my, i'm probably coming off as an absolUte nUtter now. TT: No, not really. I just want to understand. TT: So can I ask, TT: Just to get a better sense of the nature of your "admiration," TT: When you engage in the aforementioned speculation, is it strictly on a factual basis? UU: hm? :u TT: Or do you start to... TT: Fictionalize. UU: UUUUUUm... TT: What I'm asking is, have you ever written stories about us? UU: ..... UU: yes. u_u