I should think that murdering Stallvious and poisoning Aveline’s entire life before potentially snuffing it out entirely will be quite enough good cheer for a while, at least.
I’ll be sure to remember that.
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While I am sad to hear this, I understand life happens. While you certainly did not have to provide us with the plot structure layout, thank you!!
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I’m glad you’re doing alright. I really hope that whatever it is you’re still working through goes as smoothly as possible for you. Of course the most important thing you do is that you take care of yourself and work through whatever it is you’re going through- so no need to apologize for anything! (The silence or this.)
The plot structure is a gift and a great great read, so thank you as well for that!
I hope everything goes well for you in the coming days! And that you get the time and space needed to work through whatever it is that’s going on!
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That mostly comes from the fact that this document was originally written about midway through 2016, so the fact that Flash was initially selected in part for their physical beauty hadn’t really been thought of yet. Working in the pub isn’t predicated on you being beautiful, its predicated on you not having the strength or mental aptitude to do the other jobs.
The term ‘pretty-bot’ was an early placeholder in the text not because the other Myrmidons were likely to be ugly, but because by definition the Concubine would be more beautiful because it could change its appearance to be more in line with what others perceive as beautiful. If you know that your paramour appreciates a slim jawline or a button nose or pillowy lips, you can simply get them for yourself to make them happy. The Concubine is a mirror that reflects what you personally desire, it doesn’t need a specific and static shape.
Incidentally this is why most ancient Myrmidons made for this purpose tend to go insane in a very specific way, their personalities become either segmented into distinct personas or seem to swing rapidly between personality traits from second to second.
It is interesting how the characters evolved and grew over time though, certainly I’ve tried to keep some of the older notes in a safe place for comparative purposes.
You’re quite welcome. It felt rude to leave without at least letting you all know how it all worked out, given all of the conversation and thoughts you’ve all added here.
Thanks, Rena. I’m pleased you like it, and I’m doing very well at the moment. I’ll promise to keep working to get better and I’m sure I’ll be around to look in on your project and many others.
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While this is slightly off topic from its original intent I must say that as far as the mainstream of sci-fi and fantasy goes I’m more pleased with what Seth macFarlane’s new show “The Orville” is doing in terms of depicting non-straight relationships and situations then I ever was with Star Trek TNG itself to which the Orville seems to be an hommage in spirit. In addition the fact that it is nominally a comedy show ironically allows the characters to be more human, with all the flaws that entails, in many ways then the perfect people TNG’s Federation was seemingly populated with.
As for the original topic, in my mind the Myrmidon always was serious literature too, though my opinion on such matters counts for very little of course.
Also the “Hero Unmasked” game reminds me of all the possibilities that come with possibly gaining an identical “twin” sibling towards the end of the rebel path. So many delicious possibilities, among the rebels I kind of imagine only Engel and maybe Navi in addition to whomever is Flash’s lover being able to actually tell them apart.
Where it concerns the possible noble ending I also hope Grey keeps up the Chevalier’s habit of wearing those almost impossibly tight trousers (or would they more properly be tights?) of his on occasion. 
Take all the time you need to get well again, and I’m sure Rena is already getting nervous with the thought of “Sensei” poking around her project. 
Besides this is only the original plot structure, I’ve no doubt that if our dear author ever takes this one up again half of that stuff will be changed. Just hope the Chevalier and his tight trousers stay.
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I’m sad that I’ve yet to be able to watch The Orville, as it really does seem like they’re getting quite a few things right. While TNG and even later shows were surprisingly coy about non-hetero normative lifestyles, DS9 had some very interesting explorations on notions of gender and sexual identity in the character of Dax (the symbiote more than the individual actors).
Dax’s story lines often placed her character as above gender or sexuality in a sense, knowing that in another few decades she would likely find herself in a male body again. She once started a relationship with the wife of one of her former hosts, and would happily date sapient beings that her contemporaries found disturbing or even grotesque, so focused was she on their inner selves.
Interestingly enough, this liberated attitude seems to extend to the rest of her species, with even unjoined Trills expressing bisexual or pansexual tendencies (Mirror-Ezri in ‘The Emperor’s New Cloak’ for example… although everyone in the mirror universe seems to be a little bi at least…). There are other examples that spring up now and then, but Star Trek has always seemed to shy away from too open an analysis of sexual politics. You can assume that such things are universally accepted if you choose, but nobody ever comes out and says it.
I suppose when Dax tries to get back together with her ex-wife, nobody is worried about her being gay, just concerned about her symbiont being forced to die as a result… But the point still sort of stands.
Hmm… Got sidetracked there…
Flatterer. You may continue.
Ha, I love that. You, your ‘brother’ and Radjack coming down from the manor house in the cold light of day. Explaining the circumstances of your harrowing journey and the Lady’s death. The whole time, Engel and Momo are alternating between staring at each other and staring at your new sibling. Almost within the same breath, they both yell “Dibs!”
Momo is just a second too late, and Engel jumps for joy as she pouts petulantly. Without a moment’s hesitation, they take your confused sibling’s hand and lead them away.
Engel’s final words?
“And this one is mine, yes?”
Honestly, getting them off would be enough of an undertaking that it would discourage me from even making the attempt.
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That doesn’t mean that in time the sibling can’t romance them both now, eh? 
In the sovereignty ending the identical sibling does make it easier for the mc to sneak out with Jack on occasion, particularly if they can effectively share ducal duties with their identical sibling on occasion, much like how in some of the possible endings of the Hero Unmasked that mc’s sibling is perfectly capable of hosting his brother’s talk-show without (m)any people being the wiser.
In the abdication ending their lives would be more separate as I don’t think little bro will move permanently to the vineyard with Jack and my mc, instead likely becoming the new city-boy.
If you do get the opportunity I can highly recommend it, for me only the very first/pilot episode was a bit uncomfortable to watch, it gets smoother from there, wereas, again, TNG took two whole seasons to really hit its groove.
I’ve a more elaborate comment on the TV shows thread on it.
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No need to leave anyone out. Navi might have to take up Technomancy herself so as to not feel left out…
An interesting point. I think I had intended for something like that to happen, although my thoughts were torn between a traditional sibling relationship and something a tad more Alpharius/Omegon, where the two of you refuse to admit that the other exists to confound potential enemies…
Still on the fence about that one…
They might well strike out alone as an adventurer or traveller, possibly looking to get involved with some of the plotlines you chose not to follow?
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Now see that would only make sense on the noble path, where we never gain the sibling in the first place, but the “Iron King” being able to (seemingly) be in two places at once on occasion would rather neatly serve to confound and confuse our mc’s enemies.
For the Reb path I’d very much prefer to have a more traditional and hopefully warm sibling relationship with them.
An intriguing possibility to be sure, though of course the noble and rebel plotlines really are mutually exclusive, him seeking out Arinthas (and possibly being the one to open the Iris) I suppose that wouldn’t be out of the question.
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You’d probably work to make sure that their ‘upbringing’ mirrored your own as much as possible.
Possibly minus the part where he sleeps with Radjack. There’s being accommodating, and there’s taking the piss…
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Indeed, him sleeping with Engel and/or Momo on the other hand…
In the sovereignty ending he might even be helpful with acclimating my Flash to the world and behaviour of the nobility.
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“No, the third fork on the left… My left!”
“They’re both our left!”
“…you are inescapably, irredeemably obtuse, do you know that?”
“Yeah, but I’ve got a special shampoo for it…”
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Sounds about right, the standard brotherly banter I take it, of which I know only vicariously due to being an only child. 
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True brothers know that the only conversation they will ever have about forks is:
“Now, I know that you’re going through a tough time right now… But if I pull that fork out of your hand, you’re going to have to promise that Dad never finds out how it got there, ok?”
Treacherous whimpering sounds
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Might bit concerned here (and probably missing a great deal of the comversation) but is it… normal… for brothers to stab each other with forks?
(And I sincerely sincerely hope that this is solely in context of some kind of Myrmidon… right of passage… thing… and not our real world.)
(Otherwise it seems I missed out on quite a bit as a younger sister.)
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Sorry if I sound blunt saying this, but I always thought this was a bloated project. Three divergent story lines in one game seems almost ludicrously ambitious, and you’d need to be a divine miracle of productivity to make any real headway on it, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me. You gave it an honest shot and it got a lot of fans (including me), so if I were you, I’d chalk it up as a win and try to learn what I can from the experience. You have a lot of good material here and it’d be a shame to let it all go to waste.
I hope you continue to hang around here and showcase your writing talent. 
Good luck 
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We weren’t that bad for the most part… A couple of broken fingers (thank you socialized medicine) and a handful of chipped teeth (thank you socialized dentistry) and we were right as rain.
I assume sisters are different, but I’m afraid I never had one so I can’t comment… Brothers do tend to spend a little more time rough-housing in youth.
If it helps, we’ve mostly stopped now. Pithy bon-mots tend to have a more lasting effect (and you can deliver them without dropping your cocktail, which helps immensely.)
Oh no, quite alright. It was.
The game began as a group project, and unfortunately the other people tended to slip away rather quickly once the actual business of building and writing began.
When I was left alone with my contributions (mostly consisting of that document I posted a little while ago) I couldn’t bear to part with any particular piece of it. If I’d had half the sense I credit myself with I would have picked one path and cauterized the others, but I never could let any of it go…
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Hmmm…If you ever decide to pick this up again, I suppose you could make the paths into separate games, or make one the “base” game and release the others as dlc later on? 
Lot’s of Visual novels, particularly in the dating genre already do this, and it is at least far less obnoxious a model then “freemium” or constant micro-transactions and every one of the routes as envisioned in the document seems like it would have enough stuff to make it feel like a full and complete game able to compete with other CoG’s on favourable terms.
Unfortunately your NHS seems to be a particularly endangered species as of late. Your Conservatives are even worse then ours when it comes the healthcare, or at least further along in their plot. 
Even so…British dentistry historically hasn’t exactly been looked upon favourably over here on the continent.
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I’ll certainly look at splitting up the paths and maybe seeing if I can work each one into a single experience, but I’m torn between which path I should really focus on first… It’s a toss-up between the Nobles and Rebels for who has the most compelling story-meat.
I think you’re right in saying that there’s probably a full game on each path. I do have a slight penchant for overthinking in this regard…
That’s really the biggest weakness of a state-run utility, not inefficiency or pricing or anything most conservatives like to blather on about. The biggest weakness is that it’s vulnerable to the ideological follies of politicians, a class which seems further and further from accountability or public opinion by the day.
I’d like to point out that British people statistically have the best teeth in the world:
The reason people thing we all have bad teeth is funnily enough, America.
Hollywood in particular.
See, American TV and Film producers have much higher (shallower) standards for who they will put in front of a camera, giving the false impression that Americans have much better teeth than British people, and since British TV and films are often packaged and re-sold all over the world in direct competition with American products, the two cultures are compared by these competing markets.
The long and short of it is that British productions will allow someone with wonky teeth to act as long as they are good at acting.
All children in the UK get completely free dental treatment until they are 18 years old, often extending to orthodontics and other high-end treatments that American children can only dream of. Walk into any Denny’s and tell me that Americans have better teeth than the British, and I shall name thee a liar, sir.
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We and the Swiss seem to only be in third place. 
Same here, as long as we don’t get another ten years of Conservative/Liberal coalitions after this one (hopefully) ends (early).
The teeth issue seems to be more prevalent among older Brits anyway, not cute young actors.
You don’t need to tell me, you know back in the day I used to be a political aide and aspiring politician myself. That I was called a “tree-hugging, pinko, commie” by some of my then peers on the Conservative and Liberal sides of the aisle should tell you what kind I used to be.
Those of good faith, at least in most of the Western World, have for the most part tried and often succeeded in indeed fulfilling (most of) their electoral promises. That doesn’t mean there often aren’t unforeseen (or willfully ignored) “unintended” consequences with doing so however.
In systems that almost always force coalitions such as ours compromises can and do often dilute them however and furthermore their internal hierarchy in the eyes of the politician, party or more recently movement becomes much more important. Unfortunately to not disadvantage oneself too severely the exact hierarchy and how far one is willing to go in the coalition “horse trade” needs to be kept close to ones chest if at all possible in order not to be placed at a (too) severe disadvantage during the inevitable coalition negotiations post-election.
In systems with firm majority rule traditions the lines of compromise are usually easier to detect, such as the US Democrats who have in the last 40 odd years or so always been willing to trade improvements in social justice over economic justice, which is obviously not a proposition that can be repeated ad infinitum.
Ahem, in any case, I digress. 
I remember the poll a while back, it’s really a toss-up for me personally too choosing between Mr. Gray/the Chevalier and the Prince and all the trappings of the nobility on one hand and Radjack and the adorable band of rebs (and possibly gaining a sibling) on the other.
And I realise this is probably of absolutely no help at all is it? 
Maybe if and when you’re ready to ever pick this up again, simply toss a coin?
Having read that document I practically know it.
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