[Other FULL] Astra Story (IC)

an SBURB roleplay based on Homestuck. Rated M; things tend to die.

OOC

It begins

You are a teenager living somewhere on planet Earth. Soon you will get an e-mail containing some files and a polite and exciting invitation to play an "important game" called SBURB. It appears that more people got the invitation, because as soon as you install and start up the attached game file, there is also a chat program called Pesterchum with a list of "chums" that appears to be more and more other players connecting to the game. Very well, time to get playing?

If you only knew what you were getting yourself into. Before too long, you will realize that you have inadvertently caused the end of the world. And if you care at all about your own life and humanity as a whole, you'd better finish playing SBURB. Sorry, but it's destiny. Or is it something else?

Rules


While this is homestuck based and literally anything and everything you do is going to have some kind of effect, if you think something you're about to do or bring up will be completely game changing just allow the GM to look it over before you post it. This is more-so for the beginning than anything else since once we get to the lands and all that stuff it'll be your adventure to make and everything gets crazy.

Follow all PC and RPT rules.

Try to be as canon to SBURB's workings/rules/laws etc as you can


Getting started
In the beginning you should be trying to strike up conversations with your friends or going about your usual day to day business until I put up the post that will have you receive the e-mail with the game. If you need to see how you should be going about these conversations with each other you can take a look at one of Pikachu's old Homestuck RPs.

Players

Pikachu: PRINCE of TIME ♀
Ash / temporalTarget [TT]
PROSPIT dreamer - Land of Traps and Seasons LOTAS


Aiden: HEIR of HEART ♂
Gav / odiumLeviathan [OL]
PROSPIT dreamer - Land of Crystals and Trees LOCAT
has a SISTER


Omicron: THIEF of MIND ♂
Adrian / courageousCanine [CC]
DERSE dreamer - Land of Moss and Portals LOMAP


Fairy: MAID of HOPE ♀
Gwen / crimsonAllegory [CA]
DERSE dreamer - Land of Plains and Rays LOPAR
has SLIMY and SCALY stuff (and a MOTHER)


aeternum: KNIGHT of SPACE ♂
Timothy / nacreousChampion [NC]
PROSPIT dreamer - Land of Mazes and Frogs LOMAF
has an UNCLE and a GEOLOGIST


DLMuerte: MAGE of BREATH ♂
Ryan / rhetoricalSymphony [RS]
PROSPIT dreamer - Land of Towers and Oceans LOTAO
has a MOTHER and a SIS


Milotic: WITCH of VOID ♀
Belle / reclusiveReverie [RR]
DERSE dreamer - Land of Rain and Pumpkins LORAP
has a PAPA


Davepetasprite^2: ROGUE of LIGHT ♀
Nadia / impurrfectStraggler [IS]
DERSE dreamer - Land of Salt Domes and Milk LOSDAM
has a big BROTHER


Wizardman11: PAGE of LIFE ♂
Evelio / monstrousMoss [MM]
PROSPIT dreamer - Land of Rocks and Riddles LORAR
has a CAT


Hopeless Masquerade: SEER of DOOM ♀
Evelyn / virulentErudite [VE]
DERSE dreamer - Land of Turtles and Dances
has an Aunt

A young man stands in his bedroom, and it just so happens that today is the day he received an invitation to play a game with 9 other people. Though this boy has been around for a little over 16 years, it's only now that he shall be named!

Wow. Rude and uncalled for.

There now. That wasn't so hard was it?

Your name is Gav Krieger, and you are 16 living at home with your sister. Your bedroom is a long rectangle, with the door along on of the short sides, and your bed tucked behind it. Your desk and computer are against the opposite wall as the bed, but beyond it. At the end of the bed sits a comfy beanbag that your butt cannot disagree with. Some books are piled up next to it, which include manuals for electronics and other topics you like to nerd out on. This nerdy hobby won you a contest recently, bagging you a new graphics card that should allow you to play the SBurb game you got today in 4k resolution. Not like anyone really cares about that. You also seem to have a small sickle hanging on your wall.

You pick the sickle off the wall and examine it closely. Your nostrils touch the blade and you inhale deeply. Wait why are you smelling it? No matter, the blade smells like cut corn stalks, which is precisely what it was used for. You and your sister have a farm out back and mostly live off of just corn. It's a cheap life-style, which allowed you to be able to afford to get into electronics as much as you did. What should you do next?

What? No, that's a stupid idea. Why would you even consider...

God damn it. You went and did it. While you're here you may as well take a look at your partner in crime sitting on the bed.

Well would you look at this fellow? A handsome black and white hand-puppet in the shape of a cow. He has a little red bow tie with white spots, and two orange horns. Wait wouldn't that make him a bull. And the fact that he is a male seems to strengthen this new revelation you've had. Well how about that. You learn something new every day. What next?

Well there's a rather decent looking guy. A little nerdy, but not unsightly. You're a well build guy, with an overall unimpressive fashion sense. You wear t-shirts with designs of things you like on them, some blue jeans and orange trainers. Always got to be orange. Your hair is dark brown, and your eyes are the same colour. Your nose seems a little small, but it's barely noticeable. Unless you stare right in the mirror like that... Stop that! But you see that, not a bad looking guy is what you like to tell yourself.

Oh your computer is beeping. Whatever could it mean?

Your computer has popped up a notification from your email web-client. A friend of yours has decided to send you a witty email, so you had best check it and answer swiftly. Friends shouldn't be left waiting after all!

A young lady rests in her bedroom. The room is dark, so you can only assume that she is sleeping. The only source of light in the room is a laptop, which will soon invite her to participate in a fabulous game with nine other people. This young lady has been around for 14 years already, surely she has a name...

No. Absolutely not. What about your appearance implies anything of the sort?

Much better.

Your name is EVELYN. You are currently in your BEDROOM, which is a smallish rectangle on the second floor of your AUNT's apartment. The sole source of light in the room is your LAPTOP COMPUTER, which is situated on the desk opposite your bed.

You like to think you have simple interests. You are a dark girl, and have a strange fascination with DOOM AND GLOOM. Something of a bookworm, you enjoy reading works of HIGH FANTASY. You may or may not also write your own, but that's a SECRET. What isn't a secret is your disturbing, if helpful, knowledge of HUMAN AFFLICTIONS. Your friends, which you don't have many of, insist you should be a doctor. You are not so certain.

As previously stated, you are currently asleep.

What do you mean, "Wake up." You were never sleeping. You certainly wish you were though.

You examine the fine collection of kinves hanging on the wall to the left of your bed. What a glorious collection. You purchased this latest collection after finishing a rather engaging series about rangers. You have yet to be able to blend in to your surroundings, but at least you have the armaments to suit the role.

The thought alone is sickening! And you know alot about illness, so you are absolutely certain that it is the thought that is causing such discomfort.

You will, however, throw the knives at the target on the opposite wall.

Thunk! Thunk!

The satisfying thud of knife-in-wall is a comforting reassurance that you are alive.

You don't have a mirror. Why would you. You already know what you look like: somewhat short, pale with long black hair and green eyes, piercings in your ears and one in your nose, and wearing a casual top and jeans.

Ahh, the bookshelf. One of your favorite things in this depressing world. Carefully organized in order of relevance (although to what is known only to yourself), this shelf holds more books than you have the time to explain.

Nicolle's One Thousand and One Afflictions And How To Identify Them, a book any reasonable human being should own. You immedately equip the book, preparing it for easy use should the need come up.

It seems your computer has been beeping incessantly the entire time. How you didn't notice this before is truly astounding.

Maybe that's because it wasn't actually beeping.

Looks like you'll need to contact one of your freinds first.

A young man sits on the floor of a woody area. He's surrounded by various animals and sharp, shiny things. You wonder what this is all about and if this guy has a name. Surely he must, seeing as how he's already 16 years old.

Wow. Rude and way too close to home. Tim looks like he might cry now. Good job.

There we go. He's still kinda upset, but he'll get over it. Your name is Timothy but you prefer to go by Tim. You're 16 and have a rather large family. You live with your UNCLE RED and his WIFE Danyis. You don't like to spend much time around the house, but instead prefer to run around the woods of YELLOWSTONE and play with the animals that live there. The animals that you've befriended over the years are almost as much your family as RED and Danyis.

You like to think that your interests are pretty diverse and that you can find enjoyment in most things. You think you're pretty awesome, but a lot of the stuff you make you think is just mediocre. A lot of people have you make artwork for you favorite card game MAGIC THE GATHERING. You've got your name on a few official cards, but mostly your art is just used as proxies. But right now you're in the middle of the forest surrounded by shiny sharp things and various animals.

This is the HIGHER COUNCIL. It consists of the ALPHA from each grouping of animal and yourself. You are their leader. They love and respect you, and in turn you love and protect them. Today you're having a meeting to decide how you're going to get rid of the BLACK BEAR that's found it's way to a nearby stream. It's been camped out there for about a week and several of the children of the HIGHER COUNCIL have been killed by it. This calls for action.

BUCK the DEER stands up and stomps his hoof in your direction. You've been thinking about trying to reason with the BLACK BEAR, but since 3 of the 6 victims were BUCK's family he's pretty adamant about seeing blood. HOO the OWL hoots a couple of times and then floats down and lands on BUCK's ANTLERS. It seems he's ready to see blood too. You scratch your head as you try to decide what the best course of action is. In the midst of your thoughts, the rest of the council moves to side with BUCK, deciding without you that killing the BLACK BEAR is the best and only course of action. You sigh and then agree. You go to pick up your weapon, but can't decide what to use today. So many shiny and sharp things to pick from.

You examine your collection of shiny and sharp things that you've brought with you to today's council meeting. As always there's your trusty SPEAR, your BATTLEAXE, a SHIELD that one of your friends gifted you on your 16th birthday, and your TAROT DECK. You put your hands out in front of you and close your eyes. You let the spirits of the forest and blah blah whatever you open your eyes and pick up the spear. You don't have time for all that mumbo jumbo. There's a bear to be killed. You hop on BUCK's back and ride off to the river when you hear something in your pocket.

You pull out your TABLET that Danyis gave you on your birthday. It's filled with GEOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY and PSYCHOLOGY textbooks, but you've never even opened them. Instead you use it mostly for taking pictures and keeping in touch with your friends while you're away from the house. You turn the TABLET on and see a pop-up that's telling you you've got mail.

You go to open the e-mail from your friend who sent you the SHIELD when BUCK throws you off his back. You hear a deep growl from in front of you and then BUCK falls over in a puddle of RED LIQUID.

BUCK's dead man. The BLACK BEAR in front of you saw to that. A real shame that is. BUCK was one of your best friends. You had hoped you could still rely on diplomacy and not have to kill the BLACK BEAR, but that was no longer an option. It killed BUCK. Nobody kills BUCK.

You raise your SPEAR and level it at the bear's head. With all of your might you launch it at the beast, hoping to take it down in one shot. The BLACK BEAR stands up on it's hind legs right as you throw the SPEAR and it misses it's mark, stabbing into the beast's chest instead. The bear growls as it falls over backwards, the force knocking the SPEAR loose from where it had struck.

You run over to the bear and pick up the SPEAR and attempt to jam it back into the bear's chest before it can regain itself. The bear rolls over onto your legs as soon as you grab the SPEAR. With the force of the beast's weight you're knocked on to your back, and the BLACK BEAR crawls on top of you. Drool and blood drips down onto you, staining the pelts that you wore out today. The bear gets face to face with you and then opens it's mouth as wide as it can, reading to rip your face off.

HENRY the HEDGEHOG sacrifices himself to the bear, curling himself into a ball and then leaping into the creature's mouth. The many spikes on its body poke and prod the inside of the bear's mouth, causing it great discomfort. The BLACK BEAR backs off of you, giving you a second to stand. You pick up your SPEAR and run around behind the bear. You swiftly climb up a nearby tree and then jump down off of it. You land on the bear's back, slamming the spear all the way through its chest with the force of your fall.

The bear cries out as the life begins to leave it. It asks you why you didn't just nicely ask it to leave, and you ask it why it didn't nicely just not kill BUCK. It replies back with something akin to **** happens and then you twist the spear around inside of it and then pull it out of the bear's carcass. What remains of the HIGHER COUNCIL comes back around you. They're all torn up about the death of BUCK, but without missing a beat they've instated a new representative for the DEER.

You take a moment to catch your breath and then remember something important. You still have to reply to your friend's e-mail. You pull out your TABLET and turn it back on. You've actually been pretty upset with this friend's antics lately and have set your e-mail to send all of his messages to your spam folder. Guess it can't hurt to take a minute to clear that out and maybe put him back to a normal setting so that you don't forget to reply if something comes up.

A young girl stands in her bedroom. It just so happens that she is among the 10 lucky people who are invited to play a very special game, and today is the day when the magic shall begin. Surely a girl with 15 years of age has a name.

Wow. Is that supposed to be an insult?

First of all, that's rude of you. Second, if you're going to mock her, get a little more creative than that. Lastly, what gives you the impression that she's a weeaboo?

Well there we go.

Your name is BELLE DUVALL. And man, your bedroom is a mess. This rectangular room is filled with all sorts of junk, ranging from paper to plushies to books scattered all across the floor. Surely you should tidy up soon.

The door is located on the far left of the room when you first entered it. Your desk with your desktop computer right on top of it can be seen immediately to the right of the door, and you always make sure that no one could see what you're doing on it when they enter. To the right end side is your bed, with your chest of magical goodies right next to it.

Next to your computer are your bookshelves. One of them is filled with all sorts of academic books, with the other filled with all sorts of novels, comic books and puzzle books. You've always consider yourself to be self-studied, when you're actually not.

On the walls there are a few framed pictures, but upon closer inspection you found out that they're not pictures at all. They're actually those puzzles with a millennium of pieces that are frustrating and take ages to solve. Man, even 60 pieces will take some time. How does one survive doing those that reaches up to 1000 pieces, or even 5000?

Then again you're one of these people who survived these millennium puzzles. There is a reason why these are hung up on your walls after all.

You open up your closet located right across the computer desk. Surely, the image of a girl with light green eyes and a pair glasses, coupled with the short black hair that sticks up to the sides shows up on the reflection of the mirror on the closet's door. You fond over the cute teal little jacket that you've bought, of which you then added a little touch on its right pocket when you're still into sewing: an embroidered picture of a puzzle piece. You also have a long skirt going down towards your ankles.

You open the chest of magical goodies... at least, that's what you call it. It really is just a storage chest to store all the gifts that PAPA had given to you which aren't in the form of books, 'cause those go to the bookshelves. There's a sewing set, a complete set of crayons, watercolor, colored pencils, and chalk, as well as some balls. Most of your other stuff is strewn across the floor though.

Man, you really need to tidy the place up.

You rise up and started to clea- ...Wait? What are you doing? Oh man, are you zoning out again? While standing up?

...Oh, you're back to the real world. Well, you guess your daydream wasn't really a good one anyway.

You cleaned up the floor, putting the non-books into the chest and the books back into the bookshelves, before noticing the thick book on the floor.

The Great Book of Extremely Vexing Puzzles Volume #2

Ah yes, puzzles. This book is such a marvelous work. Many people struggle to comprehend the puzzles inside this book, but you live and breathe these puzzles. This is the second volume that you own, and it's actually half-way done. These monsters are at least 1800 pages thick, no two pages have the same puzzle, and no two consecutive pages have the same type of puzzle as well. People normally try to do the same type of puzzles before attempting another, but you're not that type of person. You'll go through it linearly, and no one will tell you otherwise.

You also found your badminton racket on the floor. Now how the heck did it get here? Surely, you picked it up and swing it all over the place. Good thing your room is pretty wide or you might destroy a few things.

Oh? Looks like your computer's having the time of its life right now...

Surely enough, you've received an e-mail, which is probably from one of your internet buddies. Oh man, they're the greatest people ever to be born on Earth. It's never a dull moment with these guys, even if you have to communicate through e-mail 'cause you guys can't be bothered to find an instant-messaging program. But hey, it gets the job done, so you can't really complain.

A young woman stands in her... wait OH NO I'M NOT GONNA USE THIS SHITTY CSS, I'M NOT SOME REHASH QUEEN LIKE THE REST

There, 120% better than that horrendous CSS, geez... Oh anyways...

A young girl stands in her bedroom, just like the 4 kids who posted before her, and the 6 kids who will post after her. Apparently, they are going to play a game, but obviously this young girl doesnt know it yet because a) it hasn't happened yet, and b) she's too busy playing EpicMafia. Obviously, a 15 year old girl with this kind of focus has a wonderful name.


Actually, that's pretty accurate...

But really, that's obviously not your name, even though most people call you that.


Now that's a name.


Your name is NADIA. As stated before, you are currently in your room, busy playing EpicMafia on a pretty old computer. You are pretty much excited when it comes to MAFIA, since it's one of your favorite things to do, other than HARVESTING CROPS, CHILL OUT WITH YOUR PET SNAIL AND CAT, and JAM WITH YOUR FAVORITE IDOL. Good thing your big BROTHER isn't here right now, or he'll go batshit crazy on how messy your room is. Seriously, your clothes are scattered everywhere, your DVDs of Wizards of Waverly Place are cluttered around your small TV, posters of the Midnight Crew and the Felt tacked on the wall, and daggers of a random assortment are just lying on a certain spot of the room.


Now why the **** would you do that? LISA is sleeping peacefully, purring softly as she naps on your bed. BERYL, on the other hand is chill in his little sanctuary, free from any kind of salt.


You look at your DAGGER collection. You don't know why, but you have a really weird affection towards these sharp objects. Probably because you are so adept to using them when shucking corn out the farm, where you live, or because you feel like a secret agent, working for a mafia gang.


You look at your Wizards of Waverly Place collection. Personally, the show was pretty good, but the main reason why you bought it is SELENA GOMEZ. Ever since you were a little girl, the first time she went on this show, you feel like she is your spirit animal or something. Then, she branched out to Pop music, and you have every song of hers in your playlist.


There's nothing much to say about you other than you having a voluminous hair style, with jet black hair. Your red lipstick is still intact with your eye-liner. Your rustic red plaid jacket just hangs off of your white T-Shirt that you got in an online store. Your blue jeans, and black sneakers is what completes your look, forming a stylish Kansas girl living in a farm.


Although your computer is pretty old, it still gets the job done for you. You closed your EM session for now, and decide to check your email, but there aren't any new messages. You also notice that a certain pen-pal from Germany hasn't replied to you yet in 2 days... Might be worthwhile to check with him again.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

omg hai gav, it's been awhile since we last talked… idk was it two days ago? sheesh…

anyways, have you seen the new midnight crew update? omfg it was awesome! sometimes i wish i was with them you know… like be a part of a mafia gang and kill some sons of *****es… haha now im just ranting again, you know me with mafia haha…

i hope i would hear from you soon gav. i swear, sometimes you are just like my pet snail, beryl. so slow tsk tsk tsk :/

anyways byeee :3​

Click to expand...

You finished your e-mail and hit the send button. Now, you wait for your friend's reply, that's coming from the other side of the world.​

The email appears to be from your penpal Nadia, in Kansas.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

Nadia: omg hai gav, it's been awhile since we last talked… idk was it two days ago? sheesh…

anyways, have you seen the new midnight crew update? omfg it was awesome! sometimes i wish i was with them you know… like be a part of a mafia gang and kill some sons of *****es… haha now im just ranting again, you know me with mafia haha…

i hope i would hear from you soon gav. i swear, sometimes you are just like my pet snail, beryl. so slow tsk tsk tsk :/

anyways byeee :3

Click to expand...

You are not slow. At least, not that slow. But Nadia does get attached to people easily, so you guess neglecting her for two days was an oversight on your part. You need to help your sister with the corn, but the email wont take two minutes, so you get to that first.

Hey Nadia! Two days ago isn't that long you know, though I get what you mean, it feels like a while.

I did indeed see the update. Pretty cool! But why would you want to be with them? There's so much fighting; you'd probably get hurt! That wouldn't be cool… Oh, did I tell you? I won that electronics competition I entered! I can't believe I won, I'm super stoked!

And I am not slow! You know I have to help my sister with the corn, so I can't always be around :(
Speaking of which, I'd better go do. Later! ~

Click to expand...

There, that should do. Aaaand send. Now time to go help out with the corn. Better collect your sickle.

You pick your trusty sickle off the wall. The blade is looking a little dull, but otherwise it's like new. No rust has ever touched this blade. You like to take care of your things after all. It's served you well over the years, and once you're done with today, you'll have to sharpen it up. You should also sand and re-varnish the handle some time, you don't want to get a splinter.

As you leave the door to your bedroom, you enter a STRIFE with two robots who charge at you. You're stuck with your back to the wall, the door to your bedroom to the left, and the junction leading to the stairs or your sisters bedroom behind the robots.

Man these things are annoying.

You choose to try and ABSCOND by running up the wall behind you and somersaulting over the robots and a small achievement appears saying "Nice Abscond!" but you have no idea what that means. It doesn't really work though, since the robots just turn around and continue the STRIFE. They charge you, and you dodge the first, and block the second with your sickle's handle. You push them both down the stairs, and they seem to break. Whatever, they're not moving so you carry on your way. Your flat is pretty bland. There's a sofa, TV and a kitchen. In the kitchen is the door to the garden.

Outside is a small decked area, before the field of corn begins, and stretches back a way. You can see the line your sister has started chopping, so you start at the other end of the garden, working your way along collecting the corn into a bag you drag along behind you. It doesn't take you long; you're strong after all, and something like this is something you've done a lot. But once you're done you're gonna have to face your sister, and that's always an awkward interaction.

Your name is Gwen, and you have no not-so-affectionate nickname designated for you, unless you count what the good doctor Vulgaris tends to say behind your back! Your eye the octopus stationed in his tank keenly. You pretend he glares daggers in return, but he doesn't. You're above using templates to illustrate your personality or actions, because you're a little bit of a trend setter? No matter how efficient or aesthetically pleasing they may be. You guess. You're whole thing is being "out there" and a little on the quirky side! That's why you have so many friends! It's why you dress like this and talk like this and have so many super interesting interests!

You pan around the room, suppressing a half smile.

Oh who are you kidding? Make yourself presentable girl, you wouldn't want anyone to think you're an outsider. Not being a part of the group is something you're actually worried about! You want to belong, dammit. You know you could be an awesome friend to a whole bunch of people if they'd just give you a chance!

You cast another look at Dr. Vulgaris whose sitting in his tank practically begging to have a stern talk about insecure you are.
​

You're not really sure if you even care to keep going right now.

Maybe some sleep will do you some good.​

A boy sits in a small black chair, facing a computer. He types furiously on the keys while his character dies for the fifth time today. He scowls as he see's the Game Over screen again. He walks over to his cat, Shadow, and pets her head while he flops down onto the bed. Things have been going so bad today he can't even remember his name. What was it again?

Evelio Moss

Wow, you got it right on the first try! Good job!

You spend the next ten minutes spilling your deepest secrets to Shadow. Not that it matters, she already knows all your secrets. You tell her everything because she's one of the few friends you have. She meows and rolls onto her back, beckoning you to play with her.

You spend a lengthy amount of time playing with her, petting her when she gets tired and lays back down. When she finally falls asleep, you begin to formulate ideas for your Halloween costume. You can't remember what day it is, but it has to be soon right?

You rifle through your magic chest of items. You find a pile of paper, a bunch of paint, a ball of yarn, a wizard's hat, and a pair of knitting needles. Looks like you already started on a costume. You plop the hat on your head and snatch the paint and knitting needles.

You spend over two hours skillfully crafting a pair of magic wands from your mother's knitting needles. You stare in wonder at your masterpiece. You are about to clean up when you notice your computer-screen displays your e-mail. Shadow is sitting on the key-board.

You find no new messages. You sigh, even online you don't have many friends. You begin to wonder if you should send an e-mail to someone. Nah, you close the web browser and begin to play your game again. You secretly hope that someone sends you a message. You may not look it, but you are terribly lonely.

A young man stands in the middle of his room. Today, he is most certainly about to embark on what will be a huge milestone in his life. Most certainly, you think to yourself, noting this male's dazed expression and his looking at his watch, the journey that he will soon embark upon will bring him great fame, and perhaps fortune.

Oh, who are kidding; based on first impressions, we 'd better hope the world doesn't depend on him, otherwise we're all screwed.

Regardless, it's been 16 years since he's entered the world, and it'd be great if we didn't have to continue using pronouns! So let's, uh... Let's get to that.

Not cool, bro.

We're all disappointed in you. Go to your room and think about what you've done.

...That was incredibly boring. Try again, I suppose.

Better! Much better!

Your name is RYAN GROVE. You like all sorts of things, but mostly you like things of the WANDERING sort. Also, you highly dislike the abuse of the caps button, so you stop that junk. It's likely that those who care already know who you are, and if they don't, well, they can figure it out.

You are in your very cozy and comfortable bedroom, more specifically on the hammock. Maybe this should technically be a hammockroom? You were never really sure about the specifics. Regardless, you reside in what could be called your domain and your domain only, and not too far to your left is your desk and your computer. You examine a rug on the floor, and near it is man's best friend. There's also your bookshelf, your closet, your bag of shells...

Wait, did you say MAN'S BEST FRIEND?

You hastily move your rug to the side and can already taste it in your mouth. You lick your lips, too; it's how most people tend to know that you're hungry and you crave it and you need it now, no matter what Rufus barks at you. Rufus is conveniently pushed to the side as you grasp the floorboard and lift it up. Underneath is man's best friend, the glorious thing known as peanut butter. You grab a small plastic spoon not too far from it and savor your secret stash's beauty. It is like a mini-victory for your tongue. Rufus whimpers.

Rufus continues to be an adorable puppy, no surprises there. In fact, it seems that he wants to go for a walk. You decide that a walk might be a good idea in a few moments, since your legs are aching for a bit of use, too. You don't pretend that you're going to walk out immediately, though; it seems that your mother is having a coughing fit, and you decide this is a good time to get her some water. Your watch also beeps, indicating what could possibly be a new email, but you ignore it in lieu of more important things to do.

The tap in the kitchen gushes with a hearty stream of nice water which is not too cold nor too warm; you know that this isn't exactly to mother's taste as she likes the cold stuff, but it's likely that it's better for her illness for her to not be drinking cold things anyway. She's been sick for a week and a half now, and the doctors gave her some medication and told her to stay home for about a week and a half, and take it easy. This hasn't really meant much for her since that's basically all she does anyway-- you're pretty sure-- but she certainly doesn't seem like she's in good shape anyhow. This is why your Sis came over to stay, which prompts you to wonder about her. Where did Sis wander off to, anyway? You can see a bubbling pot of what seems to be soup on the stove not too far, so you're pretty sure she's not too far away. Thoughts aside, you take up the glass of water and the medication which you find next to the tap, deciding that these are both better off with your mother, who isn't coughing as much but still certainly needs both of them.

Upon entering your mother's room, you find empty canvases and paint splatters on the walls and some paint cans which are empty to your left, as well as brushes and rollers and utensils of all sorts. They haven't seen much use from your mother, which is depressing; while you and your mother may not be together as often as you were when you were children, you're still so used to her coming up to you and showing off her latest creation and you watching your artistic mother in awe. Now, you simply set the water and the medications on her nightstand as she rolls over and smiles weakly at you; that's enough thanks, you suppose. She begins to drink some water and you nod and grin in your cheeky way and go off to the exit of the room; hopefully in a few days she'll be strong enough to resume painting.

It seems that your mother is about to ask you something, and judging from what she's pointing at, it's something she shouldn't do or be worried about yet. You look at her, shake your head, and abscond before you get in trouble. You close the door to motherly whines about... motherly wines.

Well, you suppose it's about time. You open the door to your room and Rufus is already ready and waiting. He scampers out ahead of you and you follow closely as he goes off, and you open the door to the beach and the waves lapping it. The sun shines in between clouds moving away from a recent storm. Your sister is not in your immediate "range of viewing," but you can hear movement from under the stilts which prop up the house and you imagine that it must be her getting something from the totally definitely nonexistent treasure trove of sick loot under it. You look at the waves out to sea, and the blue sky, and the sun which will possibly soon be setting, and up at the sky again.

You get the feeling that it's gonna be a decently sized, regular, good ol' 24 hour day, and for some reason, a good day. Almost adventurous day.

...Oh, just walk the darn dog already.

[a id][/a id]
==>

You send a message to one of your internet friends. You've been meaning to get in contact with her.

A young man rests in his bedroom. He is putting away a fencing SABRE. A large Alaskan Malamute named Arcadia sleeps next to the boy's bed. The Earth has given more than 16 turns around the sun since the boy's birth. What is his name?

> [alink id="identername"]Enter name.[/alink id]

Go tell that in person to the boy with the sabre. I dare you.

> [alink id="idtryagain"]Try again.[/alink id]

He does sound like a pretentious asshole, though.

> [alink id="idabout"]=====>[/alink id]

Your name is ADRIAN. You are in your ROOM with your dog ARCADIA. It is a sunny day but you are very tired. You are excited about a game you're going to be playing with some acquaintances soon.

You have an array of interests. You like FENCING and consider yourself very good at it. You practice it since you were 6 years old and still living in France. You are living with a family in the US while you study English. You still have a year in the US before you return to France. You also enjoy playing SUDOKU and solving CROSSWORD PUZZLES.

You have an interest in the HIGH CUISINE and pride yourself in your ability of identifying the country of origin of most fruits by their taste,

> [alink id="idgooutside"]Go outside.[/alink id]

You go to the garden with Arcadia. She seems interested in playing fetch.

> [alink id="idball"]Throw a tennis ball.[/alink id]

You throw a tennis ball far away. Arcadia runs behind it. And here she comes, ready for you to throw it again.

> [alink id="idexamine"]Examine ball.[/alink id]

This is not the ball you threw for Arcadia. In fact, it isn't even a ball!

> [alink id="idwtfisthis"]=====>[/alink id]

The ball uncurls and tries to bite you! You let the armadillo down.

> [alink id="idwhereisball"]Look for the ball.[/alink id]

You look for the ball, but you can't find it anywhere! It must have rolled down the street. It is as good as gone, you think. Let's head back into the house.

> [alink id="idbacktotheroomture"]Return to your room.[/alink id]

You return to your room. You need to clean this mess.

You glance at the mannequin in the corner of the room.

> [alink id="idcreepy"]Examine Mannequin.[/alink id]

You examine the creepy mannequin in the corner of the room. It is wearing a fencing suit and holds your first sabre in its hand. You EQUIP the sabre into your STRIFE SPECIBUS. Ahh, the memories. That sabre served you well for many years. You won your first fencing tournament with it. You can't remember if your parents were there to cheer for you. You barely remember any interactions with your parents, actually. They were always very busy and didn't have time for you. You think that's ok. You like it more when you are alone, anyway. Even if you really don't. You think it makes you stronger. Even if it really doesn't.

> [alink id="idmadeoftime"]Check your watch.[/alink id]

You check your watch. It is 6:24 PM.

It is getting late, you should hurry up and pick up your fencing equipment. You should receive an email from an acquaintance very soon. An email about that game. Your acquaintance insists on calling you their "friend". You hate that. You don't have friends. You don't need any. Of course, you have never told them that.

[a id]ajentername[/a id]

[a id]ajtryagain[/a id]

[a id]ajabout[/a id]

You seem to be doing better at that game you were playing. You've only died 8 times in the past 5 minutes! You are just about to start playing again when your computer beeps. You decide to check your e-mail messages instead.

> Check E-mail

You open your e-mails and find one that's unread. Neat! You carefully look it over. You can always appreciate people caring whether or not you're dead.

> Reply

> Send E-mail

You wipe your tears. You usually are a really optimistic person, but lately you've been having trouble staying positive. You walk over to your magic chest of fun objects and pull out your magician bunny plushie. You always hug him when you're feeling sad.

> Hug Bunny

In no time at all you're feeling much better. You decide to go to the kitchen to retrieve some food.
> Go get food

> Receive e-mail from Gav.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

Hey Nadia! Two days ago isn't that long you know, though I get what you mean, it feels like a while.

I did indeed see the update. Pretty cool! But why would you want to be with them? There's so much fighting; you'd probably get hurt! That wouldn't be cool… Oh, did I tell you? I won that electronics competition I entered! I can't believe I won, I'm super stoked!

And I am not slow! You know I have to help my sister with the corn, so I can't always be around :(
Speaking of which, I'd better go do. Later! ~​

Click to expand...

Ah, Gav replied to your e-mail, It would be wise if you replied to it immediately.

> Reply to e-mail.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

tbh 2 days is pretty long, at least for me anyways :P

Aww, you care for me ;) but srsly idk why but i have this feeling that in a parallel universe or something, i will be destined to be some kind of godfather, killing scums who disagree with me, just like that spades slick guy from midnight crew! AND OMG THATS GREAT NEWS GAV, CONGRATS! Finally an area where you don't suck ;)

And yeah, i know 'bout shucking some corn, brother also pesters me about it like every time haha…

haha thanks a lot gav! see you later :]​

Click to expand...

There all finished. What now?

> Equip dagger.

You picked up your dagger and equipped it. Then what?

> Proceed downstairs and help BROTHER with the corn.

As much as you disdain to help your BROTHER with anything, you guess it's no harm in helping. You go downstairs and on the way outside, you see your CHURCH ORGAN in your living room. Ever since you were a little kid, you were taught the ways of playing a CHURCH ORGAN. It was haunting yet soothing at the same time. You really need to help your BROTHER but...

> Play a haunting refrain.

You guess your BROTHER can wait. You start playing a haunting yet soothing melody that echoed through the room. You were pretty sure everyone who would listened to this would have eargasms everywhere, but maybe that's just your ego getting stroked.

> Go outside and help your BROTHER with the ****ing corn.

Sheesh, don't be so rude. You stop playing the wonderful melody and went outside to help your BROTHER with quote "THE ****ING CORN" end quote.​

[a id]tim-replytofriend[/a id]

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

Today I didn't even have to wrestle the robots to get them to explode. My sheer presence now makes them commit seppuku. MOAHAHAHAH!

How about your animals of flesh and blood? Do they turn themselves inside out when you get close, or do they rather just ignore you since you're not frightening enough? I'm just joking of course, we all know it's the second.

Sincere stomping,
from your master of strife.

Click to expand...

Well, you guess this isn't as bad as normal? If you thought that anything he ever said was true then you might think he was a real cool dude. But ever since you first told him about your furry friends he's been one-upping you at every chance. Even when you least expect it. It's almost like he just knows.

[a id]tim-reply[/a id]

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

Hi tt. Great to hear you're doing good! At least you're not in any real danger then. Must be nice living around things that just can't stand you so much that they have to self destruct any time you get near. Meanwhile here in the real world, seven foot tall foreign bears don't just explode. They get very territorial. Even when that territory doesn't belong to them. And now I'm just sitting here thinking how glad I am that I decided to take my SPEAR instead of that SHIELD you got me. I mean, sure I guess I could have hit the bear once or twice with it before it decided to rip my arm off. But the spear was still decidedly the better choice seeing as I'm not dead or missing an arm.

Click to expand...

[a id]tim-=====>[/a id]You really want to just send this message as it is. You think it would just be so nice to be blunt with him and tell him that his antics are just plain stupid. But you know better. He's not sent you pictures before of the robots that he has to deal with, but you've seen them and you know he's serious. You've never actually seen him though, just his mansion, the robots and some elderly lady. Some of the bots seem pretty scary, though you'd have no problem taking care of them. Your own abilities aside, you can't imagine what he goes through on a day to day basis. He didn't have the same upbringing as you, so you're not sure what his actual abilities are. Just what he's said and what you've glimpsed in the higher plane that you go to when you sleep.

But yeah, another problem with it is if you just left the message as it was then Danyis would really get on you about it later when she decided to go through your e-mails. Which she does every now and then to make sure you actually have friends and aren't just outside playing pretend or whatever it is she thinks it is that you do. But anyways, better put something nice in there somewhere. Or at least not end it so rudely you guess.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

[a id]tim-addtomessage[/a id]Hi tt. Great to hear you're doing good! At least you're not in any real danger then. Must be nice living around things that just can't stand you so much that they have to self destruct any time you get near. Meanwhile here in the real world, seven foot tall foreign bears don't just explode. They get very territorial. Even when that territory doesn't belong to them. And now I'm just sitting here thinking how glad I am that I decided to take my SPEAR instead of that SHIELD you got me. I mean, sure I guess I could have hit the bear once or twice with it before it decided to rip my arm off. But the spear was still decidedly the better choice seeing as I'm not dead or missing an arm.

But anyways, how have you been? It's been about two or three days since I last heard from you. You talk to CA, CC or MM lately? I'm thinking about sending a message to CA here in a few once I get cleaned up. Talk to you later.

The true king of strife,
nacreousChampion

Click to expand...

[a id]tim-regardemailwithfondness[/a id]You don't really think too fondly of the message or it's recipient, but you guess it's alright? It's not the worst at least. You hit the button to send it and then put your tablet away. You stand up and pat yourself off. The HIGHER COUNCIL is still around you, waiting for you to judge the new ALPHA for the DEER. This one doesn't seem to have a name yet, so you just decide to call him BUCK. Nice and simple. Definitely doesn't stir up any emotions deep inside of you. And that's definitely not a tear on your cheek from being reminded that the real BUCK is dead. You don't wipe the non-existent tear from your eye because there is no tear. Things die. But what you do decide is that it's about time you let the meeting come to an end.

Today's business has been taken care of, and you have some other things you want to go and see about. Danyis was really adamant this morning that you should come and look at the volcano with her, even going so far as to steal and hide some of your weapons leaving you with only those that were hidden outside by you on a previous occasion. You're feeling pretty ok today, even with the death of BUCK so you decide you might finally humour her and go look at the stupid ****ing volcano. But then you should also probably send an e-mail to CA and then get to work on some of the commissions that you have piled up. It's been about a week since you've done anything artsy, so that would probably be good to do. Maybe after you do this message. You hate to blow off Danyis like this since you know that today's going to full of other stuff. But what harm can it do to wait five more minutes to go look at the volcano?


[a id]tim-emailca[/a id]

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

Hey Gwen! How's it going? Got any plans for today? Buck just died and I killed a bear so today's been pretty eventful so far I guess. You should try and get out more! Go adventure around your neighborhood or something. Maybe take in a stray cat or something. That could be fun. Hope to hear back from you soon!

Sincerely,
Timothy

Click to expand...

Yeah that looks good. You're usually the one to start conversations with your friends... with tt being the sole exception. You message most of your friends at least once a day, not allowing them any time to forget that you exist. Every now and then they don't answer you right away and that gets you kinda frustrated so you end up sending them another message or two. Which is probably the reason that your group has opted to not use an IM app or even text. But it's fine. You've been sitting still for too long and start to get fidgety. You need to do something.


[a id]tim-playwickedguitarsolo[/a id]You would love to play a wicked guitar solo. But unfortunately you're still in the middle of the woods and you also don't know how to play guitar. You love listening to metal while you draw, but you've never been able to sit and learn to play an instrument. Even though you do agree it'd be pretty badass to be able to just sit and just shred, you don't think music is as immortal as art is. Music doesn't always age well, so you've stuck to your guns so to speak.


[a id]tim-dosomethingelsethen[/a id]You decide it's probably about time you went to see Danyis. Besides the underground observatory that she built when she moved in, there's also another observatory some distance up the mountain. You don't know which she would be in, but if there's any truth to her description of the underground observatory then you don't really want to deal with that maze right now. Too much wasted time. You decide instead to check out the smaller one up the mountain. If she's not there then oh well. You guess if that happens then you can always run back down to the house and do some doodles or attack that stack of commissions that you've put off.

Surely enough, it really is an e-mail from one of your internet buddies. You take a quick read of it.

You typed in a meaningful reply to this friend of yours.



Man you are so awkward in talking. Honestly, you don't have much going for aside from your many interests which fade every few weeks before resurfacing whenever your dad gave you a new set. Plus your constant moments of zoning out into your imagination don't help as well. You're so glad your online friends don't know about this. Perhaps it's for the best.

Speaking of online friends, you have someone that you've been meaning to pester for a while.

Damn, you can't think of anything else to type. You continue to fiddle your fingers around your keyboard in hopes that you might be able to churn something out.


Er... you guess this is good enough. Man, thinking on what to type is hard. You wish that you guys have some sort of instant messaging application. Hopefully...

Dear sweet precious Leena McFluffybuns. This girl has seen better days. Its stomach part got trapped between the door and without noticing you accidentally ripped her stomach part in half. Attempts to sew the poor thing back together was in vain; you only had enough thread to sew the backside back together, leaving the front side exposing all the cotton she has...

She is currently sitting on your bed. Perhaps it is best that you leave her alone. You don't want to injure the old, tattered bunny any more.

It had seemed that the notification on your watch was some kind of spam mail which you could not care in the least about upon quick inspection, but upon further inspection it seems to be some kind of email from an university. You shudder. You didn't want this. You didn't ask for this kind of email. Just the thought of having to decide the rest of your life-- the life of a person who outright can't speak-- is an thought you don't want to deal with.

Then again, why are they emailing you anyway? You decide you don't care enough to actually be worried about this for now and close it up, before grabbing a backpack you tend to leave near the steps of the house whenever you leave, stocked with water and a parka and maybe some other stuff that you decline to mention-- oh, that's barking, isn't it--

Right! You need to walk Rufus. It seems like he'd appreciate that, except he's run off and he kinda blends in with the sand. You run after him before you become unable to tell the difference.

Your faithful doge has left you to play a game of catch up, which isn't much of a problem for you considering you jog this beach almost every morning. Evidently, you're going in the direction of the RADIO TOWER, capitalized for your convenience, emphasis, and also just so you know that this isn't just some radio tower, it's the RADIO TOWER. Regardless, it looms not too far in the distance! You suppose it'll be okay to walk your doge there and back. Or apparently run your doge there and back. Your doge is just too fast, too quick. He's a prodigy in running, he's a speck in the distance... he's gonna be gone if you don't get him back here right now.

It seems to have worked! Rufus is running towards you. He's bounding towards you. He's... He's....
Wow. He's excited about something. Something in his mouth.

Crab.

You have a feeling someone you have yet to meet would be pretty salty about him doing this, and more importantly, you allowing this to happen. The crab is unable to pinch Rufus and is petrified with fear, so you're not worried. Rufus drops the crab onto the sand, but it's still fearful. You kinda feel bad for the little guy.

Right! The tower.

You find yourself jogging in that direction, with Rufus on his way. Seems like he's no longer super excited to join you on this magnificent afternoon to do... not much, but to jog, you suppose. That's alright though, you kinda dig the simple stuff sometimes. You take in the fresh, sea air-- you've heard it described as "salty" but you don't find it salty anymore. In fact, you're pretty sure that there are others that are saltier than the light scent on the sea's breeze, maybe even someone you know? Speaking of the people you know, you start to think about them; they don't seem like bad people even if you tend to be the one who communicates the least? You suppose it makes sense, and your mind wanders off to the possible effects of your muteness on the way you communicate with others and how it could affect the way you think. You do this, of course, until you find yourself face to face with the RADIO TOWER.

The urge to begin the ascent up the tower is just too strong; it's almost instinctual. Rufus hops into your bag as you set it down and open; he's heavy, but this isn't the first time you've done this and you'd rather not leave him all the way down there. You slip the bag back on with man's best living friend now in it, and grab the highest rung you can-- wet and slippery, but you've done this before-- before hoisting yourself up, up, up...

As you rise, the breeze gets slightly stronger but it's no big deal really, especially because it's not a huge ascent; the sea looks nice at this time of day, but retrospectively it looks nice at every time of day.. You have to take a break to look around as Rufus curls up in your bag; you do this every time you climb, looking first towards the sea and then towards the vast woods and towards a radio tower in the distance. You haven't climbed that one yet, since the "ocean" of green on the other side of you seems to deter you every time you try; you can hardly ever tell where you're going. The sun doesn't help in there- the canopy of the woods isn't incredibly thick but it doesn't help for locating jack. You're lucky you can find your way home sometimes, and the last time was so incredibly close that you haven't really tried to make it through the woods again anyway. You have to admit, though, that from this height the greens and browns mix nicely and are pleasant, and the radio tower is just an accessory.

Anyway, you continue your possibly illegal act which no one cares about at your usual pace until you get to a midway point between the bottom and the top. There's an actually decently-sized platform here, big enough for you to lay down and roll around four or five times. There's fences at the ends so that you don't fall off, except of course the side with the ladder on it. It's nice and quiet, and all you can hear is the breeze and Rufus moving around in your bag-- you lift him out and onto the platform and he sits quietly-- and the forest making it's usual rustling and bird noises.

Being productive is for NERDS.

...Well, you could get away with the title, you suppose.

...You begin to wonder about people and what they're up to today. You'd call them friends, but do you really share that close of a connection? You're not really sure what constitutes a "friend." Mutual affection, according to your convenient WRIST DICTIONARY. Hm. This caps system might just come in handy after all. Regardless, you suppose it's time to compose a short email. You thank some ingenious devs somewhere for making it actually viable to type on your smartwatch in a way you don't feel like explaining.



Perfect. You hit the send button and begin to wonder where you left that book last night.

> Look around.

Apparently, your BROTHER is nowhere to be seen. You think he went to the market to buy some grub for dinner. You assume that he would probably not be home in a while soooooooo...

> FORGET DOING THE ****ING CORN, GO BACK UPSTAIRS.

You won't fight that logic. You go back upstairs and notice an e-mail from one of your other chums...

> Open e-mail.

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

poke poke poke

hi nad! how's it going for you over there? I hope you're doing great. :D

how's beryl and lisa doing? man, I really envy you for having pets. all I have is my bunny plush Leena from when I was still very young, and she's poor thing has her stomach ripped out yesterday by accident. :'c

anyway, I've made sure to read the latest midnight crew update. I know you're gonna poke me a million times if I don't hahaha. :3​

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, this girl! The one who really knows you unlike that Gav guy... Well? What are you waiting for? Send her a ****ing reply god damn it.

> Send her "a ****ing reply".

[email protected] sent a message to [email protected]

omg belle hai!

beryl and lisa are doing fine, beryl specifically is just chillin in his own cool sanctuary, it's pretty rad, not much new goin on, while lisa is just great! We got her to the vet yesterday to get her vaccines up to date, you know how it is with cats haha.

poor leena tho! have you considered actually stitching her up or what?

AND OMG MIDNIGHT CREW YEEEEEEEE which reminds me, there should be an update right now soooo bai <3​

Click to expand...

You sent the message and closed the tab. You then open a new tab and typed in a very familiar website, called mspaintadventures.com! To be honest, only trash like you and your friends ever go on that site and read their "great" material... OH WHO ARE YOU KIDDING, IT'S THE MONA LISA OF THE INTERNET FFS.

> Read the new Midnight Crew update!

You passionately read the new Midnight Crew update, as Spades Slick and his crew get ready to fight The Felt once more! Oh how you wish Spades Slick was a real person, then you can pair up with him and do some **** together!​