(no subject)

[vengeance_driven]

☄ Audio
Look, I still want to go for peace on this. I don't want to attack these people, they have lost a whole fucking world of shit already. So I am going to ask for something.

I want a story from your past. Something I can share, something that makes you you. Stories were important to them. Past experiences were important to them. It shouldn't give away anything on the ship, just something that is important to the past. Your past. If there is art you can do, a particular talent, something that is creative, give me this. A picture. A recording.

If you're not interested in avoiding a fight, just go do whatever. Lick on a gun barrel for twenty minutes. Warning, they taste bad. But for the ones that want to try? Do me this favor. Avoiding a repeat of Cadacus Primary is why I asked for this job in the first place.

[He'll... try to avoid arranged marriages this time.]

Comments

text;

[a_shadow]

You really think that's going to be what turns the tide in our favor? We're not people to them, we're monsters.

audio

[vengeance_driven]

Acting like monsters is not going to help either.

text;

[skelepun]

[Oof, that word choice.]

maybe it's black and white thinking like that that gets us in these messes in the first place.

audio

[saveyourserpent]

[Let it be known (like it isn't already) that the last thing Liquid wants to do is avoid a fight. But there's no fun in a fight he'll barely get to participate in.

And hey, maybe he wants to tell a story, even if his throat hurts and his stomach hurts and he keeps coughing and his voice is weaker than it'd normally be and occasionally he sounds like he's dying.]

A long long time ago, in a time called 'the nineteen eighties', I met my best friend. I was twelve, and I'd never had a best friend before, so it was certainly a bit of a surprise. Actually, I'd never really had a friend before, now that I think about it, but when you're so busy being in charge of things, that sort of thing goes to the wayside. Had a whole army, but none of them were exactly friend material. Never felt like I could trust them, anyway.

Anyway. We both ended up having a bit of a similar goal, although he really got the idea from me. Well, mostly. There's a lot of complicated stuff about all that I learned later, but at the time, things were easy enough. We went on a nice joyride.

Didn't go so well in the end, but you know what? We tried. Turns out a couple of kids and a giant tank still aren't exactly the solution to patricide, but oh well. Meet someone suddenly. Try to kill your father. Forge a friendship to last a lifetime. Named my dog after him, actually. My friend, not my father.

[That was more of a short ramble than a story but Liquid doesn't care. He's sick.]

[vengeance_driven]

[Liquid sounds like he's going to die. Someone needs to bring this man some chicken soup and ginger ale or something, damn.]

Did you and your friend stay friends?

...Man, do you need something to feel better? You sound like you have the plague, friend.

audio

[quixotically]

[Did someone say SHARING MEMORIES? Sign Elle the fuck up.]

You know... I really... I really hope this helps. There have been times, back home, where... Learning someone's story has made... It's -- changed everything. Even if it doesn't really change their minds? I hope all of these stories will at least makes them stop long enough to... think. I guess that sounds like... some kind of, overly optimistic, idealistic thing to say. But, sometimes, people really do just need... to -- take a moment and stop... and think. Sometimes, it doesn't help. But, sometimes...

Like... [Elle is fidgeting with her Pip-Boy dial, and it can be heard quietly clicking in the background.] Well. My best example of this, it's... really personal. But I think it's important to share.

There was... this town. Before the Great War, it was called Hopeville. [She may or may not have named her puppy after it.] And there used to be a military base there. But after the War -- where all the countries nuked their enemies, you can imagine how that turned out -- The military base didn't matter any more. People were building a town there. It was a good place for it, because it was on a route where lots of people would come through to trade. And there was a man who... started to feel like it could be his home. His tribe had been absorbed by a militaristic, slaving group called the Legion. He'd wandered almost all of his life, and wanted something to believe in. And he started to believe in this little town.

But... A courier came through, carrying a package intended for the town. It had markings on it that matched the flags found in the military base. But it turned out that device... It called out to nukes that were underground. And they went off. The little town was wiped off the map. The earth was broken open, and even the sky was torn. There've been endless storms there ever since, winds so harsh and irradiated that it can... mark people. The man who loved Hopeville was the only survivor, because he wore the Old World flag on his back, and medical robots thought he was a soldier, so they saved him.

That courier? That was me. I brought that thing there. I don't think I knew what it did, from what I heard, no one did. But I'm still the one who did it. Accidental or not, all of those deaths, all of that destruction, I had a part in it. Even if I don't remember it, because... I -- Because afterwards, I was... shot in the head, and I lost all my memories. But that doesn't make any of it go away.

The man who loved Hopeville, he knew I was that courier. He actually almost took the job that got me shot, but when he saw my name next on the list, he backed out. He hoped that maybe, it would kill me. Because he's like the Cada... Cadacans? The people from Cadacus Primary. He wanted revenge. I took his home away from him. And when I survived, he decided that he needed to do the same.

He called out to me, from Hopeville. He called me to come and meet him at the end of the road. In reality, what he wanted was for me to bring a robot to him. Just like before. Only this time, he'd use that robot to send nukes out to destroy my home. And... He knew who I was. He was the first person who did. There wasn't anyone I had met in my travels who knew my history. But he... he did. And I needed to know. But that need is exactly... what almost ruined everything. It gave him exactly what he needed... to destroy the people I'd been getting to know.

But, along the way? I found tapes he recorded. Tapes he made for himself, then threw away. He talked about his history. He talked about the symbols that had been taken from him. The symbols that mattered to him. He tried to act like the tapes didn't matter, since he threw them away... But. He made them, didn't he? That means it mattered. And because I knew his history, I was able... to talk to him. I was able to understand him. I was able to show him that symbols can change. They don't always die. They don't always just fade away. Even if the original meaning gets lost... They can evolve. They can live through us. And as we grow and change... so do they.

We... We're actually friends now, if you can believe it. [She laughs a little, sheepish and awkward.] He... He really... taught me... a lot. Things like... How, even if you don't remember doing something, even if you didn't mean doing it, that doesn't mean that -- you aren't still responsible. How you can mean well, but still do such great harm to someone. But also... about symbols. I taught him how we define them, but... He taught me how they define us. How, everything we fight for, believe in, everything that hurts us, challenges us... They all come down to symbols.

And... There's something he said, something about home. [Her voice softens as she begins to quote.] "Home isn't where you're born into this world. Can be a place of mind, a moment where you know who you are, the history of it. And they can be places you breathe life into."

He'd said... That it was part of my message, the one I carried with me, whether... it was intended, or not. Because... People are like couriers. We carry our symbols with us. We all carry messages for other people -- that mean different things for different people... Messages we don't even realize we're carrying.

... um. ... sorry. I guess... that was kind of long. But... yeah. That's... That's why I -- really hope this helps. [It's a lame finish, but she's never very good at endings.]

[audio]

[chipouttaluck]

[This is gonna be kind of short.]

Wait, that's what fucking happened?! I fucking quit on that asshole!

audio;

[backsassin]

Speaking from experience, this kind of thing doesn’t usually work when someone’s made their mind up. [Plenty of Zam’s targets had done the same kind of story-telling trying to talk their way out of execution or capture. It never got them far.]

audio;

[vengeance_driven]

I've made my mind up, too. Sort of sucks for people trying to convince me otherwise. So, you got a story or are you going to count bullets?

audio;

[skelepun]

[Sans isn't very into the whole sharing concept. It never felt like much of an option back home and it felt downright unsafe here. Or it did, for the first few months. Hard to say how he felt now.

Regardless, the stakes were heightened now, what with an invading force at their doorstep. Sans wasn't there on C-Primary, and for all he know Niko was short on gossip and needed an excuse, but avoiding more bloodshed for him and his took precedent.

At least Sans had it on good authority that he was decent at telling stories. Did the voices, paused at the right time, a very professional affair. This, told between sips of something that sounded viscous and intoxicating, was decidedly less so.]

Alright, so my hometown is this little stretch of cavern not too far from the ruins of Home, the first monster city after the humans banished us underground. It's covered in permafrost and snow just about all the time... so they called it Snowdin. Guess you can see why I'm kind of a fan.

Anyway... when monsters outgrew Home and started exploring deeper into the Underground, they found this place and it was settled by monsters with thick enough fur to withstand the cold temperatures. Lots of dogs and rabbits. They're great neighbors, even if that place is crawling with kids. Speaking of...

My brother in me, we did a lot of walking around when we were kids. New Home (yeah, that's what the next big monster city was called, our King's a little dodgy with names) is crazy overcrowded and the small villages between it and the Ruins don't have much by way of y'know. Resources. Food. Shelter. That kinda thing. You don't have a lotta money, you get by however you can. And you know how kids are. I've yet to meet one without sticky fingers, metaphorical or otherwise.

My bro was about, I dunno... a baby, I guess. But he was born with these giant chompers and that kid could eat, so, y'know. Had to make do with what I had. And what I had is aforementioned sticky fingers. Now there's this place in Snowdin, a real rinky dink little shop, but the rabbit that works it makes these killer cinnamon buns. Shapes 'em like bunnies, too, get it? Like I was saying, Snowdin's my kinda town.

So there I was, helping myself, when this big shadow forms behind me. And I know I don't have skin... or blood... but I swear my bones went a few shades whiter. Thought my goose was cooked. But this lady, she doesn't get pissed, she just... asks me about my day. What I was up to, what my bro's name was, what my name was, y'know. The usual stuff. And I was so freaked I just played along -- didn't even notice her bagging up an entire tray of those bunnies until she was holding it out to me. Next thing I know, she's on the phone with her sister, setting up a room for us at her inn.

After that we just... I dunno. Never left.

[Sans goes quiet for a bit, remembering that last day home. The evacuation, the whispers, the tracks in the snow leading towards Waterfall and escape from the human who had already killed so many. The rabbit who helped him all those years ago was among them, along with her many, many kin. All that was left of her in her shopfront was a note to the human. A final plea to spare her family.

Sans leaves that part out.]

... Guess that's it. Hope it helps, man. For what it's worth, her niece got drunk with me once and told me the "super secret" family recipe for cinnamon bunnies. I'll attach that too, in case anyone wants to try 'em out. Never managed to get 'em to rise.

text; this looks truly heinous in comic sans so just pretend w/me

[skelepun]

so here's what you need. she had to make due what whatever humans were throwing away a lot of, so sometimes the butter got replaced with sour cream or crisco or whatever. use your imagination, c-primers.

1 cup + 3 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup butter
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

scald the milk and some butter together, then add in your yeast. while that's getting all puffy and shit, mix up your salt, some of the sugar, and some flour. combine the two and get yourself a nice hulking ball o' dough.

let it rise overnight. i always skipped this step. probably a bad idea.

in the morning or whenever you actually remember you've got dough waiting on you, preheat your oven to 350 and roll out your dough into a rectangle, then spread some butter on. combine the cinnamon and sugar together and sift it all over that bad boy. make it rain. then you roll it all up, cut the top, form the little nubs into ears, and bam.

throw those bad boys in the oven until they're done and you've got yourself a bangin' treat. i liked to top mine with relish. good stuff.

[audio]

[chipouttaluck]

Don't know if it's gonna help any, but what the hell, I've got time to kill.

[Let's see, what stories does she know? More importantly, whose can she tell?]

Got shot in the head once. Twice, technically. Said it was just a game, nothing personal, needed to swipe a delivery I was supposed to make. Thing is, I didn't die like I was supposed to. Woke up two weeks later. Didn't have anything better to do, and I mean, the fucker shot me, so I went after him. Took awhile to track him down, on account of some of the roads being blocked so he had to circle around, and nobody was any good at giving directions. That and... I dunno, wherever I went, something needed fixing, and I was too much of a sucker to just leave it be.

[Right, where was she.]

Found him eventually. Wasn't gonna rest until I did, don't think. Had himself a casino, a plan to take over the city, and a robot that was gonna help him with that last bit. None of that helped him when I showed up to settle the score, though. Couldn't talk his way out of trouble, and... well. I'm sure the shotgun I was carrying made things difficult for him, for however long that mattered. Got back out the casino alive, too, even after security got called in. Must've been my lucky day.

Don't know where I'm going with this anymore. Fuck. Maybe... if that guy didn't tango with me, I'd have just delivered the fuckin' thing in the first place and been home by now. Or hell, maybe the real lesson is if you're gonna shoot someone, do it with something better than a 9mm.

[vengeance_driven]

I have to admit, I admire anyone that has managed to survive getting shot in the head twice.

"Personal" sort of doesn't matter to the person getting shot I think. "Is not personal." But then why is it me you were pointing the gun at?

[audio]

[coolskeletonnyehntyfive]

I couldn't lick a gun barrel if I wanted to! I have no tongue. However, I'm a great storyteller and I've seen a lot of very cool things, so I'll tell you about one of them!

You see, back home in Snowdin, our main sentry force is... was made up of canines.

[There's a momentary pause as he realizes. Those poor dogs. That poor timeline. He hopes they're happier in another one someplace.]

S-so, like I was saying! Most of them are very good dogs, they're not too annoying and they almost never steal my bones! Even the married ones who nose nuzzle all the time could be a lot of fun when they weren't on duty. Anyway, I was going about my usual very important business of building a heroic snow Papyrus for all to enjoy when the one we call Lesser Dog spotted me.

I said hello, but he doesn't really talk ever, so I went back to what I was doing. I was so absorbed in my work I didn't notice him, but he was still there, watching me! I must have been a great inspiration to him, because he started gathering up all the snow he could and making a Lesser Dog out of snow. Except he was having trouble making it look like him, because you know how dogs of that type get when they're really excited about something.

[OBVIOUSLY Niko knows how that is.]

And we had a very nice afternoon, trying to make likenesses that were as great as ourselves!

[audio]

[vengeance_driven]

I'm sorry you guys don't got a tongue. Ice cream must be a bad time... But I don't think I've met a dog who can make a snowman.

I guess most dogs make a mess when they get excited though, even the ones that can make snowmen.

[Though he is getting the idea that Papyrus really is a lot younger than Sans.]

audio + attachment

[songoftime]

I'm not very good at talking, but I want to help. So I drew pictures, too.

[And, attached, is a series of pictures and Link talking as he shows them.]

This is the story of the first time I left the village where I grew up. [... it's hard to call it "home," now.]

Re: audio + attachment

[vengeance_driven]

Thank you, kid. That is a very good story.

And I hope proves a pretty good point.

[That there's people over here with futures that need to play out.]

[bosswald]

Would you like a story about the discovery of the most important leaf in the universe, or its destruction?

[There's a pause, followed by a dry chuckle. ]

Suppose I could talk your ear off and tell you everything in between, too.

[vengeance_driven]

Ah....

Both I guess?

You mean destruction of the leaf or of the universe?

audio;

[redshitlord]

... Dude, why'd you lick a gun barrel?

Re: audio;

[vengeance_driven]

I don't remember. I probably thought it was a good idea at the time.

It's never a good idea, no one should do it. Is bad safety anyway.

VIDEO

[squadgoals]

Not sure I could pick just one.

When are you planning to do this? Might be good to try sooner, rather than later.

[vengeance_driven]

I need lockdown to be lifted, and permission to go. If that happens, I will do it as soon as I can.

You got some pretty scary things back home, right?

text;

[taselikeabee]

Most of my stories are war born. I'm not sure that would help.

Re: text;

[vengeance_driven]

My story is a war story too. A real bad one, too. I figure that having someone go forward remembering the tragedies of the past is just as important as remembering the great things. It is a tragedy that drives them now.

video;

[inruins]

A story... well. [Toriel pauses for a moment, the feed quieting as she thinks.] I am not sure if mine will help, but I have more than a few stories.

This was a very long time ago, when I was a young woman. I with several boss monsters of a similar age were invited to the King and Queen's castle, a social invitation to meet their son formally. It was a beautiful spring morning you see, flowers had blossomed, the air was sweet and warm.

When we arrived, we were all ushered inside. They had set up a tea table and left the lot of us to ourselves. The other young woman, all wonderful people were content to wait. We waited quite a bit, enough we ran low on snacks. I was a bit... headstrong and decided I was bored enough to leave. [Toriel laughs softly shaking her head, lost in the memory.]

I wound my way into the gardens, investigating each flower and bush I could, I've never had a green thumb, but I've always been interested. I was distracted enough I didn't realize someone was headed in the same direction I was. We collided and both fell over onto the stone pathway lining the gardens. I didn't have much time to react beyond spluttering that the other person should watch where they were going.

It was very silly.

Even sillier I managed to find the Prince, Asgore. We were supposed to meet him and it turns out he was hiding in the gardens the entire time! He was apologetic, embarrassed. It was sweet then. I accepted his apology and apologized myself. We introduced ourselves and he asked me. 'Would you like to walk with me, Toriel? So we may properly know one another?'

He offered me his hand and I took it. I found it hard to let go then. He didn't mind either. We walked hand in hand just talking after that. I found out he and I were alike, he was this warm ray of sunshine with kind eyes and this soft laugh. He spoke excitedly of peace between monsters and man, of his dreams to bring everyone together...

[She laughs, weakly, looking away. She blinks rapidly feeling uncertain.] I fell for him quite quickly I suppose, foolishness of young love. By the end of the evening before the guards finally found us, I kissed him.

He was so startled he headbutted me with his horns and nearly sent both of us on the ground again. He was embarrassed and all I could do was laugh. I made him promise to me, we would see each other again. He kept that promise. He would come to see me every day after that, with potted flowers, books and snails. He'd stutter and stammer every time I held his hand.

['I was the one who broke it' goes unsaid, but Toriel's smile is weak.]

I hope that helped, even if it's from a long winded old woman.

action

[pleasereset]

[The story of how his mother and father met is a sweet one, and even as Asriel quietly listens to her tell it, he can close his eyes and just for a second still picture the four of them all gathering in the living room. Eating pie, sharing stories and the occasional snail fact.

It's not a story that ends happily, that house is empty now, and he can tell it hurts her too just by listening to the changing tone of her voice.

It hurts too. Why wouldn't it? He's the reason the story didn't end happily, after all.

He gets up once she's finished, and Toriel will find something small nuzzling against her side.]

It's a nice story, mom.

private: text: (she's summarizing her life. it's not so wonderful)

[that_cost]

Years ago, there were two college students. A guy and a girl and they both needed money, so they signed up to be part of a drug trial. They thought they were testing a new painkiller, but they were lied to. What this drug did was unlocked abilities. The girl could move stuff with her mind, and the guy could make people see or think or do whatever he wanted. They were the only two to survive the trial. The other people either died or went crazy.

The two fell in love, married, had a kid who also had abilities. She could start fires with a thought and this made her very interesting to the wrong people.

The small family tried to live a normal life, tried to forget they were being watched. That the people who ran the drug trial were very interested in what this girl could do and one day, they found her too interesting.

So they kidnapped her and killed her mother, but the dad got her back. He made one guy think he was blind, and the other forget he even saw them. So the girl and her dad ran. And ran. And ran for a year. They thought they'd gotten away at one point, only to be captured and kept separate in this government run compound. People made the girl show what she can do, bribed her with time on a horse and kept saying she'd see her dad soon.

But when 'soon' came, they shot her father in front of her and the little girl wanted revenge.

She set fire to everyone that had ever caused her harm in that place, burnt all three hundred acres of it to the ground out of a need for vengeance.

After? It left her sad and empty and alone. Hurting because she wished she'd found another way that didn't involve killing people who probably didn't even deserve it.

Now the girl still runs, because people want revenge on her, and she's certain this is her life from now on. Running and being angry and afraid.


...how's that?

[vengeance_driven]

Yes, that's a good one.

Sort of helps to know there are some of us that have to carry that sort of thing with us. We probably will never be able to put it down.

They need to know that.

Text

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

you think theyll feel sorry for us?

[vengeance_driven]

No. It isn't about feeling sorry for us.

It is about balance. Their idea of balance. And their idea of balance is if you touch what is not yours to touch, then it goes to shit. They want us to pay for fucking up their planet in our own blood, it's the only way to restore balance to them.

But if they fuck with us, they fuck with the history of 100 worlds that are not their own. They will be going after people who were never involved. They see past and they see future. If they touch us? All they do is create more shit. These stories are meant to show that we touch the past the same as it touches us. We're a part of all of those worlds.

audio;

[otiosity]

Sometimes people who lost the entire world are the most dangerous. But what do I know, I wasn't here when we apparently destroyed most of their... spaceships? [All this terminology is so new to her.]

You're hoping we can use this to talk them down? Make us seem... well a bit less like monsters?

Re: audio;

[vengeance_driven]

It's to do with their ideas of balance. The payback they want is related to the laws for their people.

It would be nice if they thought of us less like monsters, but what I want them to see is that we are all connected to a lot of different worlds, some of us very significantly. Attacking us will not make square what has occurred. It will fuck up how things work more.

[realitywarped]

Stories, is it? I can give you a few of them, but some of them aren't very nice. If your plan is to make us seem less the monster, mine aren't likely to help overly much.

[He folds his hands under his chin, head tilted slightly to the side, a very small but sharp smile on his face.]

[vengeance_driven]

The plan is a little different from that. The story I planned to give is not a pretty one, either. As long as it is important, that is what counts.

audio;

[ersatzeverything]

Can totally confirm: gun barrels taste bad.

So, I'm not much of a story teller. I always want to change things up. But if anything can help avoid violence, I'm in. Here goes.

It was a dark and stormy night--good beginning, yeah? It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, the night was clear with a big full moon. I remember it because it was enough light to see real clearly while I was running the fuck away.

It happened back when I was young, a hell of a long time ago. I was living in the Capitol Wasteland, alone, still trying to figure out what the hell I was doing in the world, how to survive. I was captured by some slavers and sold off to this raider gang called the Deathclaws. I won't go into the gory details. They named me Red, because of my hair color. I know it's not so obvious now, but my hair was annoyingly ginger back then.

Anyway, I played meek and obedient for, like, six months. To be honest, it wasn't hard; I was so fucking scared of dying that cringing came easy. They got complacent, started to ease off on their guard. One night I saw an opportunity to escape. They'd scored a big hit earlier and were celebrating, all drunk and drugged up. So I picked the lock on my cage, stole all their caps, and ran like hell. I knew they'd be totally pissed and they'd come after me and if they caught me it would not be pretty. So first chance I got, I stole some clothes and shaved my head because when you want to blend in and have no one notice or remember you, having hair color like a Red Rocket truck stop is kind of a problem. Then when I got to Rivet City, I found a surgeon and got my face changed. I ran north, all the way to the Commonwealth, where I finally settled down. I never did get my face changed back. I don't even remember what I used to look like anymore.

And then he lived happily ever after, the end.

[90% bullshit.]

[vengeance_driven]

[Deacon, no. Deacon, don't make him give a big fat lie as a present.]

I don't think you lived happily ever after, friend. But you're a pretty strange guy so I'll believe that story.

video

[desperate_times]

Hey there! This has nothing to do with what you're going on about, but you said you ran the cargo area, right?

[Because her personal problems are way more important that that stuff Niko was just talking about.]

Re: video

[vengeance_driven]

[Sigh. Thank you Chloe.]

Yeah, I work in the cargo bay. Warning about all the turbulence, it made some stuff shift.

[And nearly squish them.]

video;

[vaccinations]

Stories huh?

I guess I could rattle off a few. Though some of them are kinda dark. But hey, maybe they'll feel depressed enough to just leave us alone.

...No, that's wishful thinking, right?

[vengeance_driven]

Probably not for being depressing, no. But my story wasn't a happy one, either.

Some people just don't come with a lot of happy stories or good endings.

text;

[dislocked]

Went to war. Never came home.

Do you have any back-up in case this goes sideways?

Re: text;

[vengeance_driven]

I also asked to become a diplomat because I used to be a hitman. Figured if someone tried to take me hostage I could give them a run for their money.

[Yes he knows he is blatantly saying what he was. Why? Because he knows a lot of people here were things like that, too.]

Audio

[freiheiten]

I saw the ocean for the first time a few days ago. Does that count as a story?

[Because his past...well it's not exactly a feel good story.]

Re: Audio

[vengeance_driven]

I am mostly hoping from things from home. But why would you have not seen the ocean at home?

[Feel good stories he's not so worried about.]

audio;

[heelys]

[the voice the other end has a small amount of static to it--which might be able to help him figure out that it's an Autobot talking.]

Will telling stories really stop them from wanting to kill everyone?

Re: audio;

[vengeance_driven]

They valued stories. I think it was because it showed them pasts they did not know.

But the biggest reason is I hope to prove their reasons for wanting to attack do not match the laws that say they follow.