#on top of the imps and the chessboard

[roughentumble]

idea for a witcher/homestuck AU. ciri goes to fight the white frost and seemingly defeats it, but something isnt right about it, and for some reason at the center of it all she finds some sort of game with complex instructions right there. she kind of tells herself that it was leftover from some other traveler, who came to the center of all that is to destroy entropy and found themselves lacking, leaving behind only scraps of who they were. but it seems so pristine... could it really be that...? whatever it is, she feels oddly compelled to play it. perhaps as homage to a soul that was lost clutching a game and thinking of joyful times with their family.

(there is no stopping the white frost. entropy cannot be fought back. but how is she to know? when avallac'h told her otherwise? is it so wrong to dare to hope?)

the game is called something silly, like hmlet(like sburb but instead its. hamlet.)

everyone is already gathered, so when they all slink off to nurse their bruises, when theyre all still together, she brings out the game. eskel thinks its a bit grim. lambert thinks its grim, so he's completely behind it. they shuffle through the confusing rules as the first icy, frozen meteor falls far, far away, on the other side of a world that's yet to be fully circumnavigated.

my preliminary cast list idea looks something like:

1. yen (witch of time) (derse)

2. ciri (mage of space) (derse)

3. jaskier (rogue of breath) (prospit)

4. geralt (knight of blood) (prospit)

5. eskel

6. lambert

7. regis (?)

8. avallac'h

9. cerys (?)

10. letho (?)

11. triss

12. zoltan (?)

with question marks denoting placements that are the most up in the air, though i'd REALLY like to keep letho and zoltan on board. im never going to write this but i am going to have fun turning it over in my head and imagining these 12 as fun gods of a new world.

#witcher tag #ogc tag #i dont exactly have a deep abiding love of avallac'h but i WOULD like there to be at least one elf #and he seems like the most likely opion #*option #and if he's right there then i feel like ciri WOULD pull him in #and maybe he even had a scheming hand in uncovering the game! maybe that was on purpose! #the wild hunt can still bust into their brand new gestating dimension as an extra level of villlainry to deal with #on top of the imps and the chessboard #i would also like zoltan to be there for at least one dwarf it feels really bullshit to just. leave them out. #this line up does leave out roche and ves sorry #and no roach either 3: #but roach cant classpect or be someone's server player GSGXJSBSKSB #i assume roche and ves thought the game was too silly and decided not to play? #and they only found enough rules for 12 people so oh well #and then. whoops. sorry. #HSAU tag #homestuck tag

[quowreadspact]

I’d almost protested out loud, but she’d asked me to play ball.  I’d asked her to play nice enough times… I supposed this was where we really were the same person, or were siblings.  It was only natural the tables would be turned, that she’d reflect my own personality traits.

I’d go with twin siblings, same genetics, different upbringings with similarities. But yeah this is a risky move. Not reckless per se, they gotta do something, but risky. 

“Yeah, I’m thinking about the other two,” Rose said.  “We have to deal with them one way or another, anyhow.  Let’s use them.”

“I’ll need time to consider,” Pauz said.

So do I.

“We can give you that,” Rose said.

“You can return tomorrow,” Pauz told us.  “The Dowght home.  My realm.”

“No,” Rose said.  “Tonight, not tomorrow.  We’re on a schedule.”

“Tonight,” Pauz conceded.

“Neutral ground,” I added.

“My realm,” Pauz said, his eyes narrowing.  “You’re ‘on a schedule’.  It is where you’ll find me, diabolists.”

“We’ll also need a promise of safety, for my companion, when he leaves this circle,” Rose said.

Pauz didn’t reply.

“The deal is off the table if you don’t,” Rose said.

“If I don’t,” Pauz said, “You die.  You’ll get colder, others will ask you to move.  Somethingwill force you from that meager defense.  Then the crows take your eyes, and the dogs eat the softer bits of you.”

“Not me,” Rose said.  “My companion?  Sure.  But you’d only really get one of us.”

If this plan doesn’t work, they won’t have time for another one. Good luck with that. They always seem to be entering enemy territory...

“Hey,” I said.

Cmon Blake, you know she is just saying that. She wouldn’t let you die- if she can prevent it, she will. 

“I suppose it’s up to you, imp of the fifth choir,” Rose said.  “One more death at your hands… or a chance to manipulate Conquest itself, possibly affecting this whole city.”

“Or,” he said, “I ask what you’re willing to give me.”

“You’re trying to extort from me?” Rose asked.

Pauz didn’t reply.  He left his question hanging in the air.

“My name is Rose Thorburn,” Rose said.  “Your kind knows of my blood.  Demons greater than you have dealt fairly with us, insofar as there is ever a fair deal.  What will they think, if a mere imp were to disrupt that arrangement?”

“Depends who you asked,” Pauz said.  His voice was a low growl, tense and wary.

“I’d ask the big names,” Rose said.  “Shall I say them?  Shall I speak the names of the higher members of the fifth choir?  I’d need only say them once, and we would have their attention.  Say them five times, and I could negotiate with one of the entities you answer to.”

My god, she is pulling out the big guns. Nerves of steel. She knows what shes about. 

You got this Rose. You go. This is badass.  Question, is it saying their names five times in a row, or within like. A set period of time? I don’t remember. 

Pauz was tense.

“You’re not even a pawn to them, Pauz,” Rose said.  “You’re not even a pawn on their pawn’s chessboards, so to speak.  You’ve been largely forgotten, and I don’t think you want to be remembered.  Not when you’re in the act of spoiling a longstanding working arrangement.  Not when I could ask them to remove them from the picture as a bargaining point they wouldn’t even think twice about.”

“Brave words, from the woman in a mirror inside a very fragile circle,” Pauz said.

I had only a split second to think about it.  I stepped out of the confines of the rabbit-gore circle, passing the threshold, moving closer to Pauz.

UM. Okay this is reckless. 

Radio static.  Outside of the circle, I could feel his presence.  It was like radio static in my head.  White noise that wasn’t pleasant to listen to, fuzzing around the edges.  Prickling at my skin, making me irritable, hypersensitive to everything that might bother me otherwise.  The nip of the cold, the discomfort where the hatchet’s holster bunched up my boxers beside my balls, and the feeling of sweat-soaked clothes pressing against my shoulders and back.

Ew I hate it when I feel like this. Though I do not have to worry about balls at least. 

Senses in overdrive, distracting white noise.

I could smell him, now.  Feces, hot garbage, and blood.  More of the same, a physical representation of a presence that was radiating into the area.

That is. Horribly disgusting. Honestly the hot garbage probably is the worst part of the smell. 

I wondered how different this would have played out, without the circle.  Would the meeting have opened with a hit of static and stench that would have rocked my senses, kept me from maintaining my senses?

Despite the distractions, I still advanced closer, kept my shoulders square, chin up, my gaze level.  I couldn’t react to anything I was experiencing; I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get my bearings and remain stoic in the face of it all.

I had to move around the snowbank that separated the two driveways to draw closer.  My hand involuntarily clenched as the sense of distortion built up.  The noise of it steadily increased, dissolving my thoughts now.  No longer did I have that one concrete line of thoughts, all the other thoughts at the edges, cross-checking, comparing, searching for ways to expand or elaborate the thought.

Just one, one idea plodding along, and everything outside of that one line of thinking was noise and chaos, working against instead of with.

Dimly, I was aware that what I was doing was stupid, walking headlong into the radiation.  I heard flapping nearby, the crows drawing nearer.

The idea became an action, singular, an impulse.

Rose spoke, and I wasn’t entirely able to make it out.  The flapping continued, but they weren’t drawing nearer, now.

I guess I see what he is doing. I wonder how Rose feels? Is she getting the full brunt too, or none of it? Hm. 

Somewhere along the way, I crossed another ten feet, reaching the car at the end of the driveway.  I had the hatchet in my hand as I looked up at Pauz.

I thrust it out, into the side window of the car.  The top of the hatchet’s blade punched through the glass, and frost spread out from the impact site.

Pauz moved back a half-foot as the frost spread along the car’s exterior.

I stayed there, arm extended, hatchet sticking through the shattered window of the car.

I wasn’t able to do much else, besides fight the pressure.

Rose said something else.  “Do I need to say a name?  Baph-”

“No,” Pauz interrupted.  “There is no need.  Go, diabolist.”

So... is the deal struck? 

The word was enough.  The order, almost.  Still stiff-necked, back straight, I turned to leave.  I fought the urge to stop when I saw the animals waiting, clustered on the snowbanks, at the edges of driveways, lurking in the shadows beneath and beside cars.  Dogs, crows, rabbits and cats, all in ill-health.

“Blake,” Rose said, when we’d left the imp behind.

“No,” I replied.

“No?”

I could still feel the effects of being so close to the Imp.  It was hard to piece two and two together, much less string multiple words along.  “No… not now.”

Not with the animals still here, watching.

We were almost at the subway station when I started to feel like I was getting back to normal.

They honestly both have some nerves of steel. Maybe the most nerves of any Wildbow character.

Hm, not really actually. I’ll say Taylor had more steel. She stays calmer in danger, I guess? But Blake/Rose has more nerve. 

And the more I think about it... Sy was a plucky kid, wasn’t he? Damn it is so hard to figure out who has more bravery I guess. I’ll give it to Sy since he was so young. 

#text #collateral 4.5 #4.5

[readingclubstuck]

section 5 image descriptions

Page descriptions for all pages with flashing images in section 5 under the cut! Trigger guide for the section is [link: here].

2313: Rose: Hurry and activate the generator!

The generator whirs behind the mausoleum in the rain. A cord is dragged inside. [panel 2] Rose stands inside the mausoleum with the cord at her feet. The small room is made of brick, has a window through which lightning flashes, and on the back is a cat statue with angel wings. In the center of the room is a coffin on a pedestal with a cross on top.

Narration: You fire up the GENERATOR and drag a cord into the MAUSOLEUM.

It of course would be foolish to run the GENERATOR inside a confined space. GENERATOR SAFETY is everyone's business.

2314: Rose: Defile tomb.

Rose kicks the coffin off the pedestal with a KONK. The coffin falls open on the other side, revealing a dead cat in a suit.

Narration: Sorry, Jaspers. Have to make space for the LAPTOP.

Besides, your final resting place is already a mockery. You should have decomposed years ago under a bed of petunias like a normal cat. Not given to a taxidermist and fitted with a tiny, custom-tailored suit, and then stuffed in a coffin built for infants.

2324: ME?? ==>

The Joker KERNELSPRITE flashes and divides as we previously saw, the dark half of the kernel descending and taking its place atop one of four purple towers below. The lighter half ascends and takes its place atop one of the four golden towers above, pointing downward. Some nondescript imps hanging around John’s Slimer spring toy suddenly burst into motion and jester’s outfits appear on them. The small 3x3 chessboard becomes an ordinary chessboard and the pieces also become jester-themed, while an entire jester-themed chess set appears and begins to play against each other.

Spritelog:

JOHN: ME??

NANNASPRITE: Yes, you, John!

NANNASPRITE: Before your mishap with my ashes, you may recall the Sprite's previous incarnation, which resulted from itsKernel's "hatching".

NANNASPRITE: You see, this hatching occurs automatically in response to your arrival! The result is a pair of Kernels, one dark, one light, each carrying the information they were prototyped with before the hatch!

NANNASPRITE: One goes down, to a kingdom entrenched in darkness. The other, up, to a kingdom basking in light! Each comes to rest in an Orb atop a Spire, of which there are three others in kind. The Four Spires are situated above a throne, and these two thrones preside over the two respective Sovereign Powers!

NANNASPRITE: And once the Kernels are situated, that is when the game is afoot. The true war begins, light versus dark, good versus evil.

NANNASPRITE: This is a war that the forces of light are always destined to lose, without exception!

2377: Rose: Drop something heavy on one of those imps.

Rose takes the piano with the cursor, making two of the imps scatter. She lowers the piano over the head of the imp on the pogo ride, then drops it, breaking the piano in half and breaking the imp in a burst of shale and grist.

2401: John determinedly runs up the wall, spins in the air for a few seconds, and then shoots through the door to the study, taking an imp’s hat off in the process. The text “NICE ABSCOND, DUDE!” appears.

2403: Refrigerator: Level up for slaying the imp.

A refrigerator bounces in the center of the screen, while six smaller refrigerator images flash back and forth around it. The background flashes purple and green.

Narration: The REFRIGERATOR skyrockets up the ECHELADDER to a new rung: FIVESTAR GENERAL ELECTRIC and earns 285 BOONDOLLARS.

Things are really looking up for this feisty appliance.

2415: the opener dilemma remains unsettled, most unfortunately

John stands in front of a former imp now crushed into grist by a bookshelf. He holds his index finger up to his mouth in thought, while a speech bubble above his head rapidly alternates between a red question mark and a can opener.

Narration: It is unfortunate.

I guess.

What are we talking about again?

2416: but it has been a pleasure nonetheless.

The bookshelf retreats to the wall. John waves his arms in confusion as his speech bubble alternates between a red question mark, the can opener, the words PLEASE, THANK YOU, and YOU ARE WELCOME. A speech bubble with Dave’s head in it points to John.

Narration: Thanks for the courtesy.

It's not really necessary, but thanks anyway.

2417: oh, but thank you

a speech bubble above john’s head alternates between PLEASE, THANK YOU, and the wanderer’s face. Dave’s speech bubble is still there, as well as one containing an agitated Rose in front of it. John has his eyes closed in an expression of consternation and is still waving his hands, as Rose bats at his head with a crumpled hat she holds in her cursor.

Narration: Ok.

2435: Rose throws a bathtub through the wall and window, destroying the imp and making John jump and shout.

2456: Colonel Sassacre, wearing aparently a magician’s hat, vibrates in the center of the page, surrounded by small pictures of the old Sassacre text. The background flashes orange and pink.

Narration: The Colonel soars to new heights on his ECHELADDER, reaching the rung: ONE MAN JULEP VACUUM, and pockets 9550 BOONDOLLARS.

Chump change for the genteel, aristocratic southern colonel.

2457: Bathtub: Level up for slaying the imp.

The bathtub pulses in the middle of the screen, surrounded by four smaller bathtub pictures flashing back and forth diagonally. The background appears to be waves in light and dark blue.

Narration: The BATHTUB surges heroically and surpasses the rung: ARCHIMEDES' AQUACRADLE, proceeding directly to vaunted rung: TAFT-JAMMER. The tub makes off with a cool 490 BOONDOLLARS.

The tub's BASIN CAPACITY remains unaffected.

#readingclubstuck #rcs posts #section 5