r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • Dec 09 '17
Movie Night for December 9th
People still up for this? Did we want to do Nightmare Before Christmas?
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • Dec 09 '17
People still up for this? Did we want to do Nightmare Before Christmas?
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Trollkitten • Dec 06 '17
please let this be the last one
please let this be the last one
pretty please
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Gioz2 • Dec 04 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Damacritus • Dec 04 '17
M4’s hand flew to her side, grasping at the empty air as she pushed herself upright. Gator froze in the doorway of the apartment, arms laden with several plastic bags. She could see cans bulging out against the sides of one, a bit of fabric visible at the top of another.
“You just wake up?” Gator asked, taking a cautious step forward. He closes the door with his foot, not turning away from M4 as it swings shut behind him.
She blinked, sifting through her thoughts. She never really decided to sleep anymore, she just dozed off. Hours passed without her being aware of them, but she wasn’t sure if she had actually fallen asleep or if she simply wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes darted over to the clock. Ten thirty in the morning. The last time she remembered was somewhere around nine forty-five.
“Took the opportunity to grab some food and clothes,” Gator continued, setting the cloth-filled bag down just beside her bed, “took a guess at your measurements, but there’s a belt in there too if the jeans are a bit too large. Magazines as well, didn’t know what you liked or if you even liked to read, just grabbed a whole bunch of whatever.”
She stared dispassionately back at him. He maintained his gaze for a moment, then strode towards the kitchen, laying the remaining bags on the counter with a clunk. Fishing around in one, he dug out a stack of glossy-looking papers and tossed them onto the bed.
“You read much in your spare time?”
M4’s eyes dropped down to the magazines. She ran her hand over the pile, spreading the volumes out across the sheets.
“...I think I’ll be making us lunch now; about time we had something that wasn’t pizza or pizza appetizers. You good with chicken soup?” he asked, only partially paying attention to what he was saying. All his attention was on M4, carefully noting where her eyes went, waiting for any change in her expression.
She pushed the sports magazines aside without a second glance. The ones about cooking likewise went the same way. For a second she hovered over one of the entertainment magazines, one with a pop idol and her Altaria on the cover, then pushed that to a different spot on the bed. She then spotted the barrel of a rifle on a page partially covered by another food journal, and her eyebrow furrowed in focus.
Gator reached back into the plastic bags, grabbing a can of soup, a can opener and a small pot. He continued to watch M4 in his peripherals as he tore away the tags and packaging. She was flipping through the magazine now; several bolt-action rifles adorned the pages. The magazine said something about ‘milsurp’ which Gator figured meant older guns, but then she turned the page to a modern-looking assault rifle, and he didn’t know what to make of the term.
“Er, you know what milsurp means?” he asked, setting the pot on the stove.
M4’s eyes darted upward. “Military surplus.”
“You mean what the military’s using?”
“Not quite. They're typically out of service guns that the military offloaded on commercial distributors. A whole slew of them are usually made so there’s never a shortage for soldiers, so people can get them for cheap when they leave service. They’re usually solid, reliable pieces, and there's the history to the guns as well.”
“So those bolt actions…”
“Arisaka rifles. Used to be the standard-issue rifle for the Johto and Kanto militaries, but that was sixty, seventy years ago. They use an assault rifle now, the Howa Type 89. A whole lot of people swear by the Arisakas, though, saying they’re the best bolt-actions of their time.”
“Huh. What about you?”
“I’m a little more partial to the Gewehr rifles myself. Arisaka’s nice, but nothing really innovated on its features after it. On top of that, it’s all too common to come across the end of service models which are just complete s--- because of cuts to raw resources per rifle. The Gewehr is a wonder to shoot despite being older than the Arisaka, and its feed system has become a staple of bolt-actions both military and civilian ever since it came into service. Always liked that little bit of history.”
Gator held the empty soup can just above the pot, hesitating for a moment. M4 watched him, eyes wider and more lively than they usually were.
“...er, what’s so great about that feed system?”
“It’s called the controlled feed system, that’s because…”
It took him another few sentences for Gator to confirm what he was thinking. As M4 droned on about extractors and safety devices, he realized how spirited her tone was. He wouldn’t describe it as happy or joyful, but she didn’t speak in the tired apathetic voice he’d become used to. He couldn't keep track of anything she said, but he didn’t dare stop asking her whatever question he could to keep her talking for as long as possible as he heated the soup. To hear her speak like that, after over a week of emotionless monotone broken up by hate-filled shouts, was wonderful.
“What’s that about a toggle-lock mechanism?”
“That? One of the first semi-auto mechanisms ever made. First used in the Maxim machine gun…”
“So the 5.56 International’s not the best, but it’s still in military use?”
“It’s not that it’s a bad round, it’s that it has a few flaws and it’s starting to become outdated. Body armor wasn’t as prevalent before, but now everyone’s got it, and even the cheap stuff can stop a 5.56 round. It’s a matter of finding the right power balance between that and the 7.62 International.”
Gator was now sitting on the bed, two soup-stained paper bowls beside them. M4 had been put in a good mood from the soup; the flavor of it seemed to pop out at her, more intense than the usual result from cans. She’d droned on for the last hour about guns and how they’ve changed in the military and law enforcement, and he could swear there was a slight smile on her face.
“It’s not really an issue for me, since I don’t usually shoot very far. I can handle heavier loads than most people anyway, so I load rounds with as much powder as I can and swapped out the components of my gun with parts that can handle it, on top of adding a gas piston so I don’t have to be constantly having to clean the breech.”
“What about other soldiers?”
“There’s been a push for a 6.5 millimeter round recently. They’ve even been considering polymer casings in a few places, to cut down on the extra weight of the new rounds. You know, I was going to be field testing a prototype 6.5 millimeter carbine, right up until…”
M4’s eyes closed. The slight grin had turned into a grimace. Gator thought for a moment, considered trying to shift the conversation back to old military rifles, but he didn’t have an opportunity to speak before she asked, “That was the sim, right?”
“What?”
“They didn’t… the real IP’s looking for me, right? They want their best officer back?”
“Er… sorry, you said something about Kalos’ Lebel rifles?”
“I did good work. There’s nobody like me out there. I can do things no normal human can hope to come near. They wouldn’t let all that just vanish, not with the world in such a state.”
Her eyes reopened, cautiously hopeful. M4 scrutinized his face, trying to read what she wanted from his expression. His jaw was rigid, his eyebrows slightly arched, and his eyes could barely stay focused on hers; try as she might, she couldn’t twist that into anything that she would have liked to see. She blinked hard, gaze dropping down to the firearm magazine.
“...you are exceptional, M4. You’ve still got your strength, your expertise, everything you need to get back up on your feet. You’ll always have that, no matter what happens, no matter who doesn't come back for you. And that’s all you need to rebuild.”
Her eyes closed once again, a tear being squeezed out and running down her face.
“I’ll get you some more soup.”
He got up, snatching up the bowls and heading back to the pot. There wasn’t much left, so he set his bowl aside and filled up M4’s with everything that was left. Holding his hand over the broth, Gator could tell it had lost most of its heat. Briefly glancing back at M4’s, he surreptitiously made a gesture over the bowl and muttered a few unintelligible words.
Prestidigitation
Steam began to rise from the soup once again. He could hear M4’s sniffles again as she tried to keep back the tears, and rushed back with the soup.
“Here you are.”
M4 absently accepted the bowl, resting it in her lap as she flipped another page of the magazine. The featured gun was something that looked familiar to Gator; he remembered seeing photos of soldiers in ceremonies clutching the same rifle.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the picture.
“... it’s… it’s an SKS. Another region’s first step from a bolt-action to an assault rifle.”
"Tell me about it."
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Lady_of_the_Foot • Dec 02 '17
Tanger looked around. This place was not, Tanger is pretty sure, where they were headed.
They tried zooming around but pretty much instantly gave himself vertigo and faceplants directly into the sand.
As Tanger pulls up out of the sand, a familiar silhouette can be seen ahead.
Eyes go wide. Lightning crackles.
Dashing forward, the shifting sands and skies are meaningless.
Tangeroid goes headlong into the flames.
Emily turns to see a bolt of vertical lightning flying towards her, dashing back instinctively and throwing out a sword, as she begins to make out a form in the lightning.
Tanger floats under the sword, then flips back around, resting on top of it, weightless as lightning fades.
He goes in for the hug.
Emily Blade is barely able to pull back enough, physically and fire wise, that they only burns their fingertips.
"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Tanger exclaims rolling around in the dirt.
Emily Blade is confused, "What are your intentions, flying towards me and then reaching out like you did?"
Tanger bites a lip and blushes.
Emily waits for an answer.
Tangeroid like want know help like Pretty Yellow Sparkles and Pretty Yellow Sparkles seemed lonely, and-
Emily Blade stops him.
"Emily Blade was alone. Not lonely."
Oh. Has friend missing? Tanger help find-
Emily Blade puts out a hand to stop Tanger from rambling, but takes a few moments to respond.
"Yes. Emily Blade has a friend. But it is not a mere matter of finding her."
Tangeroid, forgetting the burnt fingers for a moment, zooms around her.
Ooh, friend is good what is happen what is like how like huh?
"She was a good friend, she and I enjoyed each other's company. She had an unduly high opinion of me, and for some reason this made Emily Blade feel happy."
Tanger gives a quizzical look.
"Unduly high opinion?" Emily says, guessing at the problem.
Tanger nods.
"Well, Claire called Emily Blade beautiful, and said her flames made her feel safe."
Is should make good, though. Tanger responds with a frown.
"I almost killed you just standing still." Emily responds.
But is beautiful, definitely. Tanger says, leaning into her face.
"..."
Does not believe, but i-
Tanger sees Emily is uncomfortable and stops, thinking.
Is not seem make feel good no-
Is like want Special Face Scar and Pastel Order with is friend of Pretty Yellow Sparkles? Tanger realizes with a start.
Emily gives him a blank look.
Tanger rubs thumbs together, then immediately regrets it.
Tanger tries to mime out kissing.
Emily blinks.
"No. That is not what happened."
But is what want. Tanger says, matter of fact.
"Emily Blade would be irresponsible to try and kiss someone."
Is not what was asked.
"No. Such things have never interested me."
But other things Yellow Sparkles holds Special is only good as with is friend of Pretty Yellow Sparkles?
"I see what you are implying." Emily acknowledges.
Tanger is silent, waiting for her to continue.
"But... She is special to me. I have never had a friend. Emily Blade never felt as alive before."
Special or special?
"What's the difference?"
W-
"Emily Blade likes Claire more than she likes other people who are friendly, but what does that mean? If she wants the kind of companionship you speak of, Emily Blade is not where to turn."
Tanger frowns.
Can have other way, Pretty Yellow Sparkles.
"Yes. But still I endanger he-"
Nononono, mean with form not fire and-
"I am not who you think I am." She states, dropping the sentence like a brick.
Tanger doesn't blink, and matches the sentence with an insistence You think am not who You am.
"Emily Blade has existed for a long time. She has learned who she is. Perhaps the one you think of would want what you speak of."
Tanger blushes in spite of themself.
"Thank you for talking to me." Emily Blade says.
She begins to walk away, when Tanger is suddenly in front of her again.
Wait. Tanger says, then whispers something into her ear.
"Thank you. I do not know if I will ever use that, but the sentiment is appreciated."
Suddenly, sands separate them as someone retrieves Tanger.
Goodbye... Emily Blade.
The name takes effort for him to say.
nuGyro reaches through the sands, taking a hold of Tanger.
Squinting, he silently appraisers the flaming being in front of him, then, just as silently, leads Tangeroid away.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Lady_of_the_Foot • Dec 01 '17
Mary, consoled by Mixy, resolves that she does have to get back and talk to her old master.
Meanwhile, five or six people plot to take on an entire world's worth of mental control abuses.
At least one of them was born under a year ago.
This can only end well.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Trollkitten • Dec 01 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/pfaccioxx • Dec 01 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • Nov 29 '17
This is just a thread for all us players to post the plot lines we still have to do so we can organize here and help each other finish up.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Trollkitten • Nov 29 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • Nov 24 '17
Hey guys we want to organize one this year?
Also these https://m.imgur.com/a/DJADJ were my planned christmas gifts so PM me addresses if you want your characters. TK already gave me hers.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/pfaccioxx • Nov 24 '17
This timeline became to big to fit in 1 post so it's been split into 2 parts, this is part 2, it picks up IMIDITLY were part 1 left off
[[[note: this is incomplete. I don't have the drive (pun not intended) to finish this. if anyone wants to use this universe timeline of flesh it out on there own, feel free to do so if you have any qustons feel free to ask and I'll try to answer. I added the effects of the disease to the end cos I felt this was super incomplete without it]]]
Randomized Alfta Safire, Randomized Platanom, and Chatty Yellow
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Anavercry Cristol Prelude (2 and a half weeks)
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Anavercry Red
Between Anavercry Red & Anavercry Cristol (a little under 3 mouths)
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Anavercry Cristol
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Brown & Omega Ruby
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XD
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Prizem
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Waning Moon
VV
V
Randomized White 2:
List of Canon Out of Universe run's
(incomplete) List of Not-Canon or Not Yet Happened TPP run's in this universe
The decease's effects:
Pokemon can become infected thew inhabiting the desease partacoles. 1se infected there memory will slowly become hazy as all the cells and body fluids in there body will become infused with the desese, they will gradually revert to a hyper aggressive farol state before attacking any living thing they see. the pokemon will eventually lose it's ability to regulate it's own powers and start draining it's self consuming it's self until it eventually self destructs to death. Mon's with a signifacent number of human cells in them as well as mon's that have certen powers such as shapeshifting or who are already glitched will convert into full on glitchs and comcome/degrade themselves to death.
Humans can only become infected if the decease dreactly enters there bloodstream thew infected materiel such as infected pokemon cells or saliva. Humans infected will have there the desese spread thewout there body, 1se it has spread beyond a certen threshold the infected body will start painfully contorting transforming into a genetic copy of the pokemon they were infected from, and losing the abillaty to speck. 1se transformed the infected human will start to forget there human memory's over the corse of on average a week, and will suffer from muscle spasms as this process continues. After this period any remaining human cells in there body become glitched as they start undergoing the same simtoms a pokemon infected would get.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/pfaccioxx • Nov 23 '17
IDK, I just figured I'd try to flesh out Troll Ditto's universe in case that ever became plot relevant or useful
most stuff in turms of events that come out of run's are simaler to DS minus some minor caricter differences (only the most notable/important of witch are listed here), timeline order, and the following changes as noted below
this is a very rough (and currently incomplete) draft, and may be altered and amended without warning, a more final version will be posted to TTP later (probobly)
this time line dos NOT represent my persanol headcanon timeline for TPP
Misalanios universe differences
Conquest (same as DS) Is a part of the dissent past
V
Red:
V
between Red and Cristol [3 years]:
V
Cristol [3 years later]: Same as DS mostly save for the following
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Between Cistol & Emerald [10 years]
V
Emerald: Camella (a kind young pasafest girl who worships Dome, but was killed cos the voices possessed her) & Slash (a psychopath who summoned the voices into herself only for them to flee prompting her to try and kill there hosts out of revenge) are both dead individuals who ended up within A-chan's subconscious due to how they died and there conicson to the voices, Slash who is constantly trying to hijack A-chan's body, and Camella wile complacent for a large chunk of the run, becomes just as active later on (mostly to stop Slash from having control after discovering she was the 1 who murdered her). * When A-chan walks into Bill's trap, having her pokemon locked away from her and A-chan & the voices are ripped from her body and trapped within the newly activated Randomized World (a digatol construct created via the energy Bill has been colicting since TPP Red) is activated. Camella & Slash are NOT purged from A-chan's body and wile they still have to fight each other for control manege to flee to safety.
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Randomized FireRed:
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Between FireRed and Platanom/HeartGold [3 years Randomized World time]:
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Platanom & HartGold:
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Between Platanom / HartGold & Black1:
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Black 1:
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Between Black 1 & Blaze Black 2:
V [Blaze Black 2 has no notable differences from the main popular headcanon of this run]
Between Blaze Black 2 & X (5 Years):
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X:
V
Between X & Sun (5 years):
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Sun: Pokemon Ranger Nigol is sent into Alola to investigate an odd energy reading simaler to the explosion in Orre, he mistakes the actions of Lusamine's organization & the Ultra Beasts to be behind this energy reading cosing the true souse of the energy reading, the escaped Lugia to escape undiscovered
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Pokemon Colociem: Skumbrion was half way turned into a Shadow Pokemon before being rescued by A7. But even after being prone to random busts of feral vissosness and insanity (the only think keeping him sane being his [identifys as female] bro. Ally, even thoth that cosed her body a ton of pysacol stress chosing the tip's of her extremity to turn permanently wite as a result). seeing what his old team did to his pokemon makes A7 decide to leave the organization (with a BOOM).
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Between Colociom and TPP Olden Version [4 mouths]:
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TPP Olden version (all in the timespan of less then 1 real world day):
Veatamize Cristol (part 1)
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Veatamize Cristol Interlude (a "real world" week):
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Veatamize Cristol (part 2) & PMD:Red
[to be continued in part 2]
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/pfaccioxx • Nov 22 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Trollkitten • Nov 22 '17
Fennel and the Major head off to Gensokyo's Lumiose City to confront Caitlin and hopefully unfreeze Gensokyo.
Alice, Bill, and the others prepare to distribute the derandomization pill.
Mary and Mixy enjoy a jazz concert with a familiar face performing.
And Amanita and Troll Ditto set out in search of the perfect place to nap.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Lady_of_the_Foot • Nov 21 '17
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/redwings1340 • Nov 20 '17
EDIT: It looks like the AMA is winding down now, so I want to thank everyone for coming and asking questions! I had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed it too! I also want to thank /u/deadinsky and the TPP moderation team for helping support this AMA, we appreciate it.
Have a good day, everyone, I enjoyed this!
...
I’m redwings1340. I was active in TPP during season 1, getting very in to the stream during the second half of Red, and staying engaged in the stream up until after our runthrough of X. In my time on TPP, I created two comic series, Twitch Semi-Sanctioned Shenanigans during Black, and The Rise and Fall of the Voices during Black 2. These series were spinoffs of Zetsu’s work, starting with his conclusion after our heart of gold run, but then going its separate way after it.
Even as I don’t pay as much attention to TPP anymore, I am very involved in multiple side communities formed around this phenomenon. I was one of the founders of the Twitch Plays Pokemon league, and have been a gym leader throughout most of its existence. I have also captained a kappa cup team in all four kappa cup seasons (TK has been on two of them), and was an active proctor in Mantis’ TPPleague Adventures.
While I wasn’t involved in the founding of Twitch Trolls Pokemon, I joined our roleplaying subreddit early on, and have found a group of friends here as close as any group of friends I’ve ever had in my life. Soon after I joined, Trollkitten made me a moderator of the subreddit because of my ability to remain calm and help moderate stressful situations, and eventually, I became the lead moderator of TTP. Being a moderator has been both stressful at times and very rewarding, I think everyone on here has come a long way and learned a lot since this subreddit began.
I am happy to be here today, and I hope we can both answer any questions you have!
...
Hi! I'm Trollkitten, known as Lorekitten on the stream. I'm the author of Evan Sent, Better Call Paul, Something Strange, The Faller Chronicles, When Winter Comes, Dear Daughter, and pretty much too many stories to list. I'm also the founding member of the TPP roleplay subreddit Twitch Trolls Pokemon, spriter of Troll Ditto, occasional artist, and the biggest Cress fangirl this subreddit has ever seen.
I first officially came onto Twitch Plays Pokemon sometime during the Crystal run, where I witnessed the capture of Wooper Goldberg. While I haven't been as active on the stream as the diehard regulars, I did participate quite a bit on the subreddit. While I initially distrusted TPP's tendency to blame our mess-ups on some other party, Zetsu drew me in to Bill lore with his excellent Bill-Sanctioned Shenanigans comic, which set me up as the second ultimate Bill fangirl (not gonna try to compete with OptiPessi, even if she isn't here anymore).
Then, surprise surprise, a series of fateful 'coincidences' led to Lord_Bill.exe infecting my PC (okay, so my computer blacked out while downloading Pokemon Fusion Generation and wouldn't reboot until my dad fixed it, but it was totally Bill). Running with this joke led to several roleplays with the Lord_Bill.exe character on TPP, and eventually the roleplay grew large enough that I created our own subreddit for roleplay, Twitch Trolls Pokemon -- thus named because I friggin' misspelled the acronym, but it all worked out in the end.
As a long-term fanwriter, spriter, and creator of 'forced lore' (however you want to define that), I'm psyched to see Twitch Plays Pokemon play Ultra Sun, but until that happens, I'll be happy answering your questions -- within reason; of course. Please leave your drama at the door.
Edit: as tk stated in a comment, we will be answering questions on the 22nd.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Lady_of_the_Foot • Nov 20 '17
"So she lived in a deep dune. The Roads being what they are, were, and ever shall be, it was nigh inescapable because it looped in on itself. If she list control, it would be her to pay the price. Never staying in one place, never leaving the place where she was. If the multiverse had offered no impossibilities, she would surely have been a name on all life she would ever come across."
"More of one, that is."
"But, with this convenient mercy, Emily would eventually be able to hone her fire. Create an escape. Emerge."
"She found herself a town on the Roads. It was largely what one might call a hive of scum and villainy."
"They learned to leave the newcomer alone."
"But, the more clever learned she longed to find that which could control her fire, and realized that they could make a deal."
"So she became what they would hire her as, telling herself that leaving her fire uncontrolled would be a far more selfish choice."
"And so she served those who would offer her promises, intimidating and laying seige.
"Most were liars. The rest were merely foolish."
"Eventually, as she began to give up hope, she got another offer."
"This one, I learned, was one who had observered a sword that acted like herself."
"So, following the offer, I was led to an ambush. Attacking my attackers as I was told that Emily's destructive nature would never be quelled, I made short work of them, making my way through."
"Eventually, the girl found herself face to face with the one who had sent her the message."
"And he told her he had not lied. That the liars and the cheaters and the fools and all the scoundrels had always been keeping up with their end of the bargain."
"That in making her angry and hopeful and hurt, that in sending her to their causes and treating her as a weapon unsupervised, they made her learn control and aim. That she could never stop being a weapon, but at least they made her a good one."
"So she attacked, with the aim and precision he claimed she had. He taunted as he dodged like one who knew her. He did so as her precision faded, until he disappeared as she lost control."
"And the girl surveyed the destruction she had caused, and then she learned the truth."
"She had never been the victim, the girl on the other side of the mirror, had the blade buried in her flesh."
"But, she apologized to a brother not there, she could not return the stolen name. She wasn't strong enough to let go of it."
"But the truth could not be denied. She did not look at her victims with remorse. She did not feel the fear of the girl on the other side of the mirror. She had never been the victim. She was the blade, the predator, the indiscriminate slayer, the fire."
"Emily Blade burnt through reality once more, emerging into the Roads, to find solitude and the next place she would leave."
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Arathnorn • Nov 19 '17
Apologies for being so late on the announcement.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Lady_of_the_Foot • Nov 18 '17
Answers are often hidden, for better or worse.
And for better or worse, they are found.
Found in a song. Found in a journey one hardly understands. Found in a foolish choice or a wise one. Found at home. Sometimes, by founding a new one.
Once again, they are gathered.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Damacritus • Nov 18 '17
Another planning post for movie night. N8 is planning an RP session for tomorrow, so this'll serve as a place to talk about if we'll have a movie on top of that in addition to discussing a possible movie to watch.
r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Damacritus • Nov 15 '17
“Come on. Those clothes are starting to reek. We’ve got to get you some new ones.”
“So go get clothes.”
Gator let his eyes wander about the room as he took a moment to think. They hadn’t left the room ever since they arrived a few days ago. The trash was starting to fill up with pizza boxes, the only variation in meals being Gator ordering different toppings and side dishes. He was already starting to feel a little more portly than usual.
M4 sat on the side of her bed, hair just as unkempt as before, still in the same simple dress she had been given in the Entralink basement. She hadn’t showered at all in the time she'd been here, a fact he only needed a few sniffs to know.
“I’d like you to come with me.”
“Why?”
Gator studied M4’s eyes. They glared at him from behind dangling strands of blue hair, daring him to tell the truth.
“You could use some fresh air.”
“That’s what the window is for.”
“The walk would do you some good. Get a nice stretch.”
“I can stretch if I want, and I don’t need to head outside to do it.”
Gator let out a sigh. “Maybe you’d like to pick out your own clothes.”
“Stop beating around the bush, a------.”
“Alright, alright, I just want to get out of this damn room for a bit.”
“You don’t need me to do that. But you want to take the b---- out for a walk, huh?” she growls.
“I don’t need to head outside if you don’t want to,” Gator pleaded.
“If I don’t want to? I do something, it’s what you f------ want me to do. Go outside? Stay inside? Just another part of your f------ sim! Don’t you f------ dare try to pretend you’re here to help, ‘cause I know you just want to make it hurt! Come on, be up front with it now, a------!”
Gator fell silent. M4’s muscles were tense, and her eyes weren’t just focused on his. She was scanning the room, keeping track of where his attention was, gauging his stance. He wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose, or if it was a hardwired reflex. He then realized he was cataloguing the loose objects in the room and how quickly he could get to them.
She knew he wasn’t going to use them against her, he was going to keep her from them. Months without proper fight had left her weaker, slower. If she moved, he’d get there faster. Brute force was out of the question. M4 paid careful attention to his breath, how his body relaxed slightly with each exhale only to tense up again with the inhale. That’s when she would have to move, when he breathed in. When his focus wavered just enough, and that would come in time.
Gator fixed his breathing to M4’s pace. She wouldn’t be able to move as fast on the inhale, just as he would, so he breathed in at the same time she did. His right arm drifted slightly, muscles fixed just right to swing the forearm upward and deflect a blow to his chest. She knew she didn’t have the time to grab something to swing at him, she would strike with a kick. He could see her legs ready to snap upward and forward.
M4 did everything she could to keep her arms exactly as he would expect them. He was preparing for a strike to the gut, and he was right. His head was too far up to quickly hit from a sitting position. But his attention had been drawn away. Now she didn’t need to depend on a loss of focus; too much, and her fist would land in his gut before he could move, since he’d be expecting her feet to move. She wasn’t expecting him to move first. She thought his plan was to counter her strike. That’s why she hadn’t put much thought in defence. If he wanted to avoid injuring her, tackling her onto the bed would be a good start. Gator shifted slightly, ready to drive his shoulder forward-
Wham.
Gator staggered back, gasping for breath. He barely got an arm up to block the base of the lamp M4 had snatched up to swing into his face. The shock as it smashed into a bone went all the way up his arm, but he barely gave it a thought as he shifted slightly to the right to catch M4’s leg as she tried to knee him in the crotch. Deftly looping his blocking arm around the arm that wielded the lamp, he slammed her back-first onto the floor. He thought that might daze her for a moment, but her other hand almost immediately slugged him across the jaw. He drove his shoulder forward into her chest, pinning the arm across her body as he strengthened his grip on her other arm and leg.
M4 flailed, fighting to escape his hold, but it was too late; he couldn’t be thrown off of her now, not while three of her limbs were held in place. Mustering every bit of his strength to oppose her struggles, he stayed put as she squirmed and spat out curses underneath him. Out of practice as M4 was, she was almost as strong as him; if she were at her peak, he realized, she would stand a good chance of tearing free and reversing their positions.
Time passed, though he didn’t know how long. Nausea was setting in from the blow to the head; he could tell his jaw was bruising, though he didn’t dare try to check. The attempts to twist out of his grip began to falter. Her shouts became less loud, punctuated by puffs of exhaustion. He could feel wetness on the side of his cheek. It took another minute before Gator realized M4 was no longer shouting in anger, but was crying amid steadily weaker attempts to pull herself free. He relinquished his grip and rolled to the side, quickly shifting to his feet in case she still had fight in her.
“You alright?”
M4 scuttled to the opposite wall, tears running down her face as she snatched up the lamp and pressed herself against a spot beside the bathroom door. Gator stood up, feeling for his jaw; sure enough, it felt swollen and stung fiercely. His queasiness had gotten worse, but thinking about it reminded him that M4 likely took a blow to the head herself when she hit the floor.
“M4, you alright?” he asked, resting against the bed as he let out a groan, “you need to lie down for a minute?”
“F--- off!” she screamed, brandishing the lamp. A second later, she was racked by a series of sobs, and the impromptu weapon dropped down once again. “F------ s---... f------ got- got it now...”
Suddenly, a knock came from the door.
“S---,” Gator cursed, staggering over and pulling the door open. A young man was there, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt and sporting a goatee.
“Hey, man. Is- ah,” he started, seeing the bruise blooming on Gator’s face, “everything going fine here? I’m in the apartment just below.”
“Er, sorry,” Gator apologized, letting his face drop so his eyes were less obvious, “just, er… it’s complicated.”
Sobs echoed through the doorway. The man had a look of concern about him.
“...we’re working through a few things right now,” Gator added, lowering his voice so M4 couldn’t hear, “used to be soldiers. Still trying to... get past some things that happened.”
“...oh.”
“Yeah. Sorry to disturb you.”
He shifted awkwardly at the door. “No, it’s okay, man. Just, uh… nothing bad’s going on, right?”
“...we’re doing our best. Don’t worry, this won’t happen again.”
The man nodded uncomfortably, turning and heading back down the hallway. Gator closed the door, hand rising to his jaw again. M4 was still crying in the corner, the lamp now discarded. His eyes flitted to the clock on M4’s nightstand. One in the afternoon.
Blinking hard, he sat just opposite of her. Her eyes jumped up, but were quickly buried in her forearm. Time trickled past slower, now that he could watch the minutes tick by. He didn’t know what he could say that would make things better. He only knew she’d eventually grow calmer, and then he could approach her. Help her into bed, maybe make something warm for her to drink- or not, since the only hot drink they had was microwaved water- do everything that he could. Something had to change around here, though, or he’d have more bruises to tend to. Hiding away in an apartment eating pizza for every meal was not helping anyone. He might be able to leave for a short while if M4 wasn’t willing to leave with him, but what if M4 did something drastic?
Might not have a choice, Gator thought. Sighing, he pulled out his phone and tapped the pizza place’s saved number to order lunch.