♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

[hugtopiamods]

October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

❥ Speaking of Wall Breaking...

The ghosts in town sure are weird, huh? But they're settling down, as the month draws to a close. They're becoming less anxious and random, their behaviour growing sort of… focused. As time passes some of them begin to develop features. They can interact with the world more consistently. You can… hear their voice.

And then suddenly they are people, real and physical and just as confused to be here as you are. They could be anyone, from your world, someone else's world, a place you've never heard of… some of them could even be you, from a different universe, a different timeline, an unknown reality. What does all this mean?

IT'S FOURTH WALL, Y'ALL. Tell your friends, people interested in apping or just playing around in the setting, anybody! Time to break the wall down and have some fun.

This post serves as a replacement for the usual Test Drive Meme, in order to consolidate the chaos a bit. Though it is being posted now, timeline-wise, this shift will occur ONLY during the weekend prior to applications opening: October 30th to November 2nd, after which point characters will either disappear or become permanent residents via the application process. This also means that the rest of the event effects will have worn off, and characters will be their normal selves through the duration of this prompt.

Some ground rules for the 4th Wall event:

For characters/accounts not in-game:

• a character does not have to meet application qualifications to post to the 4th Wall Event, except in cases where there is an intent to apply when applications open. Duplicates, CRAU, AU, etc. are permitted for the event.
  
• we do ask that crack shenanigans are reasonably limited, game rules are followed, and that the event involve characters only, not players or real people.
  
• anyone can toplevel! It'll be a free for all. Go wild, have fun.
  
• characters will be given a temporary, low-tech communicator for the duration of the event with limited network access, due to limited availability of the real deal.
  
• you will not arrive with any items/companions beyond the clothes that you wear
  
• check out the Setting or FAQ pages for location details! Also, have a look at the October event log, to see what else is going on these days.

For characters/accounts currently in-game:

• players can decide for themselves at the event's conclusion whether or not memories of certain visitors remain, and to what extent; memories could become fuzzy, faces or communication obscured, they could disappear entirely, or they can remain fully intact whether the person apps into the game or not.
  
• network communications with 4th Wall visitors that don't (or can't) app in will be wiped, with the locals citing a data error related to the older communicators being used. Technology can be unpredictable, huh!
  
• any communication exchanges that you WANT to keep can remain with some discretion; for example, if a spouse visits and you happen to take a selfie with them, and they do not (or cannot) app but having that photo of them would give you comfort, feel free to keep it.
  
• Similar to the TDM, 4th wall threads cannot be used for AC or AC Reward purposes unless it is between characters already in-game.
  

---

Click the above prompt to expand for details. Timeline-wise, this occurs October 30th to November 2nd. For players currently in-game, if you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread on the original plotting post.

On this post, we've created both another Questions Thread and a Toplevel thread (see below) for visiting players, the latter so that anyone can track and see who's posted! When you've made a toplevel, feel free to comment HERE to let everyone know.

Comments

[ancestor]

She falters, squeezing Ardbert closer as though the action will somehow shield her from how flustered Hades has made her. "I— Um— I was— " Hemera splutters, still clutching her 'son' close, drawing strength from his presence until she can respond with blushing indignance. "Well. Yes. But! Even if I hadn't been, he would still be the greatest of my works! He is compassionate, has such kind eyes, and I daresay he has my nose."

She huffs softly, then sees fit to add: "And you and I both know full well that any petitions I made would have been denied. I've been censured too many times for approval in this lifetime... I imagine I'll have another to add to the list once I'm home, won't I?"

[firstbump]

Ardbert's face is starting to turn red—out of embarrassment and, thankfully, not due to lack of air. Gods. She really does think he's a child.

"Full glad I am for the compliments, but—" Ardbert clears his throat. "Emet-Selch, if you would be so kind to tell her that I'm an adult...."

Seto gives a loud snort of amusement. "Oh, hush, Seto."

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"Surely they wouldn't add another for merely getting lost."

It's plain it's none of her doing, after all. Loosing Ifrita might well be more worthy of censure, but he's not yet willing to give her up for lost. Merely surprisingly difficult to locate.

Still, that is a lesser concern. Or is at least now that Ardbert has made a direct request of him.

"He speaks the truth. His kind live shorter lives than ours. Dramatically so."

A century, at best; a life fleeting and fragile compared to what she will have known.

"Although... were one to take that into account, I daresay he would be at least your equal in age. If not older."

[ancestor]

"There is no such thing as merely getting lost when you're me." The roll of her eyes is practically audible, though her complaints of the Convocation are suddenly the last thing on her mind as Hades affirms something incomprehensible.

"W—What?," she squeaks, horrified, and clutches Ardbert more firmly to her breast, arms tightening around him protectively as if that might spare him from his mortality. "He's not even three centuries, Hades! He's just a— He's a child! He wouldn't even have finished his primaries yet!"

[firstbump]

Ardbert doesn't like the idea of Hemera being unable to get approval to have a child, but he can't really address that properly right now. He's distracted by his face basically being shoved into her bosom. Then she grabs him tighter.

"It's all right; that's just how it is," Ardbert tries to reassure her, muffled, the heat of his blush slowly rising up to his ears.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

There's a shrug at Hemera's initial objection, as if to say that matters of the Convocation are something that can be dealt with later. By her standards at least, and given that he hasn't made any objection to the general concept of her needed approval to have a child that might well be telling of the society they'd both called theirs, once upon a time.

Still it's her other comment that he answers, when he does.

"He doesn't have three centuries. His kind have but one, at best."

It is how it is, and while he can't - and won't - say it's been easy to be one of a small handful of immortals in a sea of such short-lived beings it's something he's long since grown to accept at least.

[ancestor]

"No," she vehemently rejects what she knows must be truth (Hades would never lie to her), trembling against her most precious creation. "I refuse. I'll give him more years! I—I'll just— I've more of my soul to spare. He can have it!"

[firstbump]

Ardbert returns her hug a little more fiercely, feeling her trembling against him. "It's all right. We're all right. Instead of one life, we have many lives and many adventures. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I lived as long as you."

He's telling the truth. There's both something wonderful and terrible about living a shorter life. You have to grow and continue moving because there's no time to stagnate for long. The future is never far from the present.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"And you mean to give it to him... how?"

He has been born of her soul, yes. And in theory her idea isn't necessarily a bad one. If it would work in any case it would work here. But working in theory and working in practice are two very different things. Even leaving out the part where Ardbert has already lived out his allotted span of years - and then some, should one happen to count the time he seems to have spent as as a wandering shade besides.

[ancestor]

Hemera continues clinging to him, pressing her cheek solidly to the top of his head. He is solid and alive in her arms, and she treasures the feeling.

"You would have the time to figure it out," she tells Ardbert, gentle and soothing as though she weren't the one in need of comfort. To Hades she adds:

"And I have seen enough sacrifice themselves to their creations, dearest friend. Knowing what you do now, do you honestly believe I wouldn't have already engineered a similar concept?"

[firstbump]

Ardbert just sighs and slumps forward a bit in her arms. This might as well just happen at this point. She's not going to listen, and the conversation between the other two is more interesting.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"Of course not." If it's something she'd planned, it stands to reason that she'd have thought of that aspect as well. It's not something that he can say is comfortable to think of, in the wake of the Sundering - and some measure of that unease may be present in his soul - but that she had considered it is certainly not too surprising.

"However, engineered or otherwise, have you given thought to whether or not he wants it?"

He may be but a fragment of her soul, yes. But Ardbert is none the less his own person, with his own desires. Even if his life is - has been - one that is one that Hemera will see as all too brief.

[ancestor]

She is not deaf to the uneasy shift of his soul, though she hasn't the presence of mind to ponder it now. Not as Ardbert sighs and resigns himself to her firm embrace, leaving her to stroke his hair distractedly.

"I've known for a thousand years that I wished to be a mother one day," she responds with no small amount of embittered defensiveness. "And now that I've been blessed with a son you tell me he'll die within a century of his birth? Seven hells, Hades, I've spent longer appealing my rejection!"

[firstbump]

Who thought that Emet-Selch would be arguing for him, let alone giving him another chance at arguing for this. "It's my life, and I'll live it as I see fit! Why would I want immortality? Why would I want to watch all of my friends grow old and die? I can't do that again! This is how it is, and this is how it has to be. And I wouldn't change it for anything."

Firm, but not harsh, at least.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"I was there," he points out, something almost like frustration creeping into his words. And it's not that he blames her, either. Not really. But there's a tangled knot of anger-grief-despair-loss under that frustration, and one that's far more recent than anything that simply meeting her again had prompted. More recent, indeed, than the mere century that Ardbert would have had, though he doubts that her ability to sense such things will be that precise.

Still, the argument is Ardbert's now. He might certainly step in again if he needs to, but the fact that he has watched those he has loved grow old and die is not immediately relevant either.

[ancestor]

Hemera inhales a sharp breath between clenched teeth; a quiet hiss of discomfort and frustration. She was aware her friend's soul was different than she remembers (from both that odd tainted note, and from age), but right now it sounds even more foreign than familiar.

It bothers her enough that her own soul recoils reflexively, drawing closer to her as opposed to radiating outward, lessening the intensity of his soul to her senses and allowing her to focus more astutely on the matter at hand. Her fingers twitch in Ardbert's hair as she debates withdrawing from him as well.

"With such a small portion of soul to your name, why would you outlive them?" She then looks from Ardbert to Hades, brows furrowed, eyes steely, and lips pressed into a thin line. "What aren't I being told? Why am I dead?"

[firstbump]

He didn't want this. But he wants her to make him immortal even less. She likely can't immediately, but he can't lead her along, either.

No matter what, she's getting hurt.

"Every one of my people is like this. Some places, people have more portions of a complete soul, but we're all like this. Instead of one long life, we lead many lives. We're born again, and again, and again in a never-ending cycle. Perhaps horrifying to you, but to us it's a comfort, knowing we'll meet our loved ones again and again. Death can't keep its hold on us for long."

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"You did offer to give him more years."

That, at least, is offered gently enough. He won't blame Ardbert for assuming that meant immortality, for all that he doubts that had been her intention. Besides, it's easier than answering the question about why she's dead and his soul very nearly aches at the question. That she would ask is no surprise. He can hardly hide his soul from her, no matter how he might try.

There's no way to make it easy, either. Regardless of what he says, it's going to hurt. Both him and her, he suspects. Not least of all because he can't lie to her, of all people. There is however, a sigh before he answers - he will answer, because she asked. But he knows full well the answer is not like to be comfortable.

"You died trying to save people. Trying to find answers that no one else would have."

And while she hadn't succeeded, it's fitting that at the very end she'd still been herself. Still been Azem.

[ancestor]

"A few millennia, to last more than a blink to his kin—not an eternity!"

What Ardbert explains is confusing in the worst of ways. It sounds as though he speaks of a different world entirely, but that's not possible.

And then Hades sighs and she waits with bated breath, knowing he will explain things for her as he always has.

He does, vague as ever, with the answer she seeks hidden somewhere beneath what words he offers. Hemera goes very still as she tries to piece together what little she truly knows, using Hades' explanation as a foundation.

"...How many?"

Her voice is deceptively calm and steady, in contrast to the turmoil she feels in her soul.

"How many did you save, Hades?"

[firstbump]

Ardbert knows the answer. There are three Unsundered. Now none. He never thought he'd feel bad for the Ascians, but here he was.

It's not his place to say anything, but the fact he wraps his arms properly around her says everything.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

It is indeed not Ardbert's place to say anything. Not that Emet-Selch is any happier about it, if the almost haunted look on his face is anything to go by. But even if Ardbert could bring himself to answer, she won't expect it of him. Not when there's no reason to expect that he would know.

"Nowhere near enough."

It's the most he can bring himself to offer. And truth be told, it may never have been enough, in the absence of his truest friends. Friends he has missed each and every day of the long millennia that stand between what she remembers and what he does.

[ancestor]

"To the hells with your vagueness! It would never have been enough for either of us, and you know it full well!"

They are the shepherds of their star and their people, and she knows now that they will fail them both. (That her friend already has.) The way Ardbert's arms wrap around her is the only thing keeping her from lashing out beyond what she does. Her arms tighten around his shoulders reflexively; protective.

"I'll ask a question you will not avoid, Emet-Selch," she warns, every inch of her threatening unbridled fury if he doesn't answer. "What became of Chiron? Did he survive?"

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"Do you wish to know the whole of the truth?" he snaps back, almost unconsciously drawing himself up to his full height as his voice drops lower in anger and frustration. "I would spare you what I have seen."

There is, admittedly, a part of him that doesn't blame her for her own frustration, all but buried though it is under the force of his own emotions. And perhaps she is right to claim that it would have never have been enough for either of them. But that makes it no easier to hear, especially when he can absolutely read the fury lurking in her.

He doesn't immediate recognize the name she offers as Elidibus' either, given that it's been so long since he'd last had call to think of it - much less possibly use it himself. But he knows that there's only one person that would prompt such potential anger from her, aside from Hythlodaeus and he never had another title to use.

His words are still clipped and almost-terse when he speaks again, but he's pulled back a little from the anger that had colored his voice earlier. Enough that it's closer to his usual voice, at least.

"But yes. He was among those who survived."

[ancestor]

"No, I don't," she hisses in return, unphased by the change in his posture. "But it is a matter of need, not want."

While she doubts what knowledge she gains here will remain when she returns home, there is still a chance she may remember, and be able to spare more lives in her future. Whether it would be wise to alter her timeline, however, she cannot say.

Knowing that their dear little Emissary survived does much to soothe her. Her posture is still stiff, though her muscles are no longer taut and ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

"Then at least the two of you had each other."

Which seems like the best she can hope for in these circumstance.

This probably means "skip me" for a bit lol

[firstbump]

Ardbert can say nothing to make this better or even anything at all that's useful. He's shoved up against her chest and held by arms he'd dare not harm by fighting against. The only thing he can do is wait.

Seto is practically vibrating. He can tell this is an important conversation that he shouldn't interrupt. But Ardbert's also upset!