I’ve got to say, I skimmed through this ages ago but now actually looking at the game it’s pretty damn awesome.
Out of curiosity though, is there any way in which the rebels will get increasingly upset at your attitude? Not in any bad or violent way, but I always headcanon that Natasha was intelligent, sarcastic, practically fearless and took no shit; everybody not only respected her but liked her immensely. But since she went through the (for lack of a better word) procedure she’s probably going to be meek and timid owing to the fact she has no clue how to act or what to do.
It’s not a request to do anything; I just get the impression that if that was to be the case they may get increasingly impatient. Navi especially since she’s probably gonna be the RO. And if she’s been harbouring a crush for years, then Natasha in her current state is probably something she isn’t too happy with.
Again, I’m glad I actually went through this again. Short so far, but still feels in appropriate places.
Ok, so second teaser scene here… I… I couldn’t resist… He has my family…
The mighty Deucalion war-machine slumps, it’s metal guts spilling out in armfuls as it’s strange tattooed limbs begin to lose their unearthly glow. The burning yellow eyes fade noticeably as the Wolf abandons the ancient warrior to its fate.
Smoke and fire burns the flawless garden to ash, and the flowers that have grown untouched since the Fall of Man are atomised and caught on the winds.
You grip the ancient Silver Rapier close to you and let the mighty warrior fall to the ground. The thick clouds of smoke shimmer at the feet of the beast and two yellow eyes seem to float ethereally above the corpse.
“Child, you test me.”
You swing the rapier up cockily, pointing it at the ghost of the Wolf which does not waver or twitch.
“I find you wanting, spirit! Children are meant to test their elders!”
You charge straight through the wisp, which shatters and reforms in your passing. The other Deucalions are beginning to stir now, their limbs clicking and clacking as eons of slumber are shaken off.
One reaches out to grab your shoulder and is stopped no more than a fraction of an inch from snagging you. You turn back to look into Vitruvian’s glowing eyes.
Well… Eye.
He grins like a man possessed, and wrenches the Deucalion back with such force that it tumbles over itself, throwing several pounds of burning soil up in its wake. A thunderclap temporarily robs you of your hearing, and you look up to see Ariadne, fore and middle finger pointing at the now burning husk of the war-machine.
She drifts above the scene like a vengeful Goddess, her face a mask of imperious pride.
She looks to you and stretches a hand towards you, her features melting temporarily into a picture of purest love, you hold your own hand out towards her, despite the distance you can almost feel her fingers touching yours.
A roar snaps you back to reality as you look behind Vitruvian. Dozens of the ancient metal war-beasts stalk towards you, no longer groggily lashing out but awake and taking formation.
Vitruvian lowers his stance, raring to leap into the fray. He snarls with such ferocity that you feel your bones shake as the sound passes through you. The Deucalions turn their impassive faces to him, assessing the threat. Each individual unit outweighs him by the better part of a ton, yet his face tells a different story.
“Before we begin, know this: If you had not committed great sins, then God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you!”
With a bone-rattling cry of primal fury he leaps forward, Ariadne follows him, and a voice you recognise all-too-well erupts like a thunderstorm in your brain.
“GO, CHILD! ASCEND THE STEPS! OPEN THE IRIS!”
You have no time to debate the cause or source of the voice, you have only the will to run. You turn from your companions fighting like lions behind you and charge the steps, climbing towards heaven.
The Cathedral on the back of the Nomad, the Final Cloister standing between you and Humanity’s freedom. The ground quakes as ancient machines pull themselves back to life under it, and soil-encrusted hands begin bursting from the recesses of their tombs to seek you out.
You ignore them.
The only being that stands with you now is the Wolf, his eyes swirling like patterns in smoke.
“You will fail. Mankind will be eaten alive by the things beyond the Wall. You have played a fool’s hand and you must end this childishness now.”
You thunder onwards, the robotic hordes unable to catch you now.
“You will become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.”
You ignore the eyes, which shimmers in and out of place, keeping up with you. A moment crouching with a statue, a fraction of a second here, a blink there.
“You are selfish! You care not for Man!”
You are now within a few steps of the great sealed door, a great metal lock of incredible complexity set in the middle like a mandala. You grip the sword closer, pumping your legs as hard as they will go to try and add momentum.
The Wolf appears in front of the door, fully materialised. He holds his arms out as if to stop you, or maybe to embrace you? His eyes and cheeks are wet.
“Please…”
You pass right through him, the Rapier pointing straight for the centre of the lock. You feel the impact viscerally, as if you were forcing the point through stone. The sword buries itself deeply into the mandala, which cracks with a single note, like glacial ice breaking off.
Everything is still.
The Wolf is gone.
The sounds of the machines tearing towards you have ceased. You look back and see them frozen in place, some in mid leap towards you.
Even the air is still here.
The Rapier slips from its lodging and falls to the ground as the mandala cracks in two, each piece shattering on contact with the ground. The great door creep ajar, and you cannot help but step through them, all other things subsiding in the face of your curiosity.
You step into the cloister and behold a great curtain, separating the entrance alcove from the main building. You steel yourself and push through the fabric.
You find yourself in a clean grey room, lined with primitive looking computer consoles, reel-to-reel computer banks turning quietly as switches click and machines beep. The buttons on the consoles are big and brightly coloured, and at the centre of it all you see it.
The Nomad.
The Guardian at the Gates.
A small brown dog is perched on a stool, a pair of headphones placed gingerly over its ears. With each of its forepaws it operates levers, looking at old TV screens showing the world outside.
You step towards this fluffy spectre with a sense of existential dread.
No… It couldn’t be…
“So… It was all your work…”
You drop to your knees, curling into the foetal position, crushed by the weight of your terrible discovery.
The dog bounces off of the stool it was balancing on and trots towards you, tail wagging happily.
It licks your hair sympathetically.
It is, isn’t it?
I’m listening…
Definitely. They’ll be more than a little torn up about everything once they realise that you’re just not going to play the part of their lost friend.
This game is mostly powered by fan-tears, so…
It is a little short, I grant you, but I’d rather maintain a certain level of quality with my updates that I don’t think I could manage if they came out too often. I have a great respect that almost runs to envy for those authors who can just pull out a fresh chapter on the weekly.
I’m going for slow and steady winning the race… Or at least finishing. I’ll settle for finishing.
All the same. None of you can ever resist the fan-tears, can you? It’s like heroin to you people.
Although I can’t really begin to be sincere, because when I read
I fangirled slightly and looked forward to the tears that will come. So take that how you will.
Hey, I’m not complaining. Not by a long shot; you take a year if it means something amazing. Or preferably something that won’t lead to rampage. Y’know, you do you.
Late to the party. As always. Now, I’m gonna go to my corner and excitedly read the teasers <3
UPDATE: I just finished and it was beautiful, glorious, exactly how I imagined it. They did ‘rescue’ the android from a life of luxury, such fury is undeniably understandable. And not to mention, there was cake! Oh good sir, you spoiled us all too much. I half-expected Android to spit out “How dare you take me from riches to rags?!” to sum up their frustration.
Onward to the second one, it’s confusing for me so far but it lets me reshape an idea of how things will turn out with Android’s ability. It seems bizarre to think about what they are capable of, seems like a lot of people have plans for them.
What that phrase mean… I am totally sure my dirty mind is not right …I find you wanting in Spanish would mean something in certain context i see you are sexually aroused
I can’t word properly right now, but I think this sums up my feels excellently:
That said, everything before the ~big reveal~ makes me feel like the mage branch is the actual party branch. Vitruvian coming out with his one-liner like an action star… and I still wanna give Ariadne a big ol’ hug.
Also, this makes me wonder - is Radjack actually that formidable, or was Vitruvian holding back against him at the MC’s birth?
So many thoughts and emotions ;^; You know the character you started off as is dead, dismembered by a machine dredged up from the dark depths of the past, and now here you are among people who knew them, in their body, convincing you you’ll remember a life you never lived. Poor people vnv Poor android vnv Love this
Though I was disappointed when the Burned Man turned out not so burnt after all. I have a thing for charismatic, scarred characters and you, sir, played with my heart ;c Unforgivable.
…nah, love his character all the same <3
The first rule of an action-adventure: regardless of the power difference between the two opponents the opening fight scene must serve for the sake of theatrics (and make the action hero look hawt action-y :3). Everyone knows this
But that goes for most of us, more or less and even if we do “play the part” we would do so (very)differently compared to the original Flash. I’ve already elaborated before on how my Thinker droid Flash will be different from the original on the Rebel path. I’d say my Flash on the Rebel path is at least 50% different in behaviour compared to the original, although given that he does have some things in common with the original, such as his wit and sarcasm (though again expressed different from the original Flash, more adorkable as opposed to smooth and peppered with horribly outdated pop-culture references).
On the other hand the “shared” traits will have the others continually second-guessing themselves, which means they may react more strongly once the truth finally, really comes out, compared to “angry” mc.
However given how nice they all are and the fact that the mc was born literally hours ago, this may sound odd, but I don’t think I have it in me to play an angry mc in this game.
Not really, not when that luxury is only theoretical knowledge as the mc has never actually lived that life.
Also with Thinker droid Flash we may find that even the “luxury” of the nobles pales compared to what was available pre-fall, should we think or get the opportunity to query the Upper Brain about it.
Now if the mc was actually living that life before the “rescue”, gorgeous clothes, jewelry and all then maybe I’d have gotten angry too, but even then considering just how nice everybody on the Rebel path seems to be my mc might not have stayed angry for all that long.
Then again we’ve already established that I prefer variants of purple Flash on all paths.
True, I’m still going with a little of column A and a little of column B here, as I think it more than likely that Vitruvian was holding back here, maybe he didn’t want to hurt the mc too.
I hate this rule because the badass action hero is never quite as badass once they join the main character’s party. There are exceptions, but that’s usually if the action hero is a frog or something non-human looking.
That being said, I’m slowly becoming more and more convinced that Radjack is the product of a multi-generational experiment focused on making a ridiculously attractive human tank.
The first step is admitting that I have a problem. The next step is removing one of Vitruvian’s eyes apparently…
(Scratches one more notch into wooden desk)
I’m never getting that security deposit back…
We strive for excellence in all things. You are quite welcome.
Yes, despite the focal point being a tiny dog balancing on a stool, there are actually a ton of potential spoilers packed into that one…
Ha, I’m afraid it is in fact simply a way of saying that the Wolf is not good enough in the MC’s eyes.
Not so literal now, are we?
That scene was surprisingly me the whole time I was writing it. There were full-on Japanese anime guitar solos going on in the back of my mind as I pictured the scene.
Vitruvian quoting Genghis Khan came right out of left-field, but I think it fits.
Bit of both?
Vitruvian was definitely holding back against Radjack and Ser Farah, and one-on-one could probably beat both of them in a fair fight. Radjack’s greatest weapon is his pathological inability to take part in a fair fight.
Right?
Playing an Angry MC isn’t necessarily the way I’d go, either. I understand the value of putting it in, but for me the more compelling narrative breaks down in one of two ways: Either you try to walk back into Flash’s life, or you think very hard about what kind of person you want to be and decide to enlist the help of your new friends to self-actualise.
Well… Perhaps the more compelling narrative is the one where the government implodes and there are great-big-singing riots in the streets…
Maybe that’s the compelling narrative…
Looks like Vitruvian is willing to be the inverse of that rule. It looks like a lot has happened to him between pulling you out of the mansion and this point, which looks to be somewhere around the end of Chapter Five.
Yes, but what is the tactical value of having such a well-sculpted bellybutton?
…I’m not sure what it says about me that I heard this the entire time.
Do I have to choose?
Even if an opponent manages to retain the will to fight after being shown something so beautiful, I can’t imagine it’d be an easy task partaking in combat whilst blinded by tears of pure awe.
Even though I love cakes to death and the dramatic storm out is undeniably hilarious, I’m now hoping for a chance to get to know the Rebels better. I have a little amount of affections towards the Underdog you see…surprisingly.
Though this part of the rambles, The only thing he has to offer is love. For people who choose this path, that is enough, really hits me at the feelings. You are making me grow on Radjack and I must say, sips tea before trying to demonstrate my point, how dare.
If I end up liking the Rebel more by the end of this, I’m blaming you. Though I hope the thing about Engel’s cooking is canon at the least, something to make zher even more special with little odds and quirks to complain about.
What is people’s fascination with transforming evrything Into these old weapons of war why not railguns or maybe bread yes make everything bread not cannon. Rebels are kinda cool btw
The rebels always find a way, don’t they? I think their inherent loveliness is inversely proportional to their professional competence.
…I like them too…
Zhe’s better with a paintbrush than a ladle, it has to be said…
I don’t think there are actually any examples of military technology in the Three Rings besides the ancient Deucalions on top of the Nomad, and there’s no hard evidence that they are designed for martial purposes. Ariadne is the closest thing I can think of, she is a police unit with a sort of biologically powered coilgun built into her right hand (in later passages you will note that she has two metallic fingers on one hand to facilitate this).
(I’m using shallow aesthetic appreciation as an umbrella to protect myself from the rain of feels, don’t judge me.)
Wait… Radjack’s pretty much a professional loafer, is he not? Is… is he actually a multi-generational experiment focused on making an asskicking loaf of bread in the form of an incredibly attractive human?
If this is the case, how in the hell are these people still alive? This is a serious question.
I’ve a request, if I may, and if it wouldn’t be too much of a thang: when Engel offers the naked MC the towel to use to cover up, I would like the option to ask zher if zhe truly thinks it to be big enough. Why? Let me see if I can come up with a reason beyond it’d be funny and get back to you.
Though I still prefer Noble’s path because the beginning scene of that path has Radjack looks completely heartbroken and that’s what I live for. Oh, and angst. Love the angst, feed on it. Creature of the pain, I am.
Also, is it bad that I imagine my character leans a bit on shorter and smaller side or would that be inconvenient for where they are now. They are a smart and thoughtful one of course, so I would like to think they look a bit smaller or is that inconvenient to the position they were in, being a rebel with scars and all.
Let’s not forget this part in the teaser, even if it’s pretty much non-canon. This part should be canon.
Radjack wordlessly hikes up his shirt as if by reflex and you are nearly blinded by the sight of his unsealed abdomen.
Curse that clever bitch.
You throw one hand between you and the abs, which seem to be glowing with their own internal light. Maybe that’s just the sheen of sweat…
Yes, I would like to touch that as well…I’m joking, I’m just a poor, innocent child…back to my corner now.
