#returntale ashsys

[ask-returntale]

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[ask-returntale]

'FRIEND' HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

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[ask-returntale]

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

< Good. Focus on what matters. >

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transcription:

(There is a message from an anonymous user that says: "You're here to give Him a happy ending, too. Get Up.")

NARRATOR:

[ You tear your eyes away from the floor once you process the errant voice's message. ]

[ For what little memory you have, you know your fate, somehow, is tied to the prince. ]

[ ...But now, you strain to remember why. ]

[ ...It doesn't matter. You just need to get up. ]

[ Your legs wobble like that of a just-born foal, but you manage to stand... ]

[ The fog around your mind falters for long enough for you to remember your name. ]

[ Or... Your body's name, rather. ]

ASH:

[ (Its name is Ashleigh Starr, like a knockoff boyband member.) ]

NARRATOR:

[ Yes. Would you have named yourself differently, had you the choice? ]

ASH:

[ (I have never known choice.) ]

[ (What is 'me'?) ]

NARRATOR:

[ I wonder the same. I have long forgotten myself. All that remains is my role... ]

[ No more about me. We ought to search for your missing companions. ]

[ I sense remnants of a map. Would you call it forth for us to look at together? ]

|| The Map is summoned. There are so many shapes and suggestions of rooms, so many possibilities, that it makes your head spin. Something tells you even this map remains incomplete. ||

[ask-returntale]

Visit Original Link

[ What will you do? ]

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Transcription below the cut;

|| Audio: 'oblivion' by wiltedsys. ||

NARRATOR:

[ You open the door... ]

[ ...and, expecting a floor, you nearly tumble into the abyss. ]

[ Thank goodness for the magic glass, right? ]

[ask-returntale]

Have you uh. taken out the trash yet?

Visit Original Link

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(Ominous ambience)

"Oh fuck.

THE PORTRAITS AREN'T DONE

THE BACKGROUNDS AREN'T DONE"

(An alarm begins to blare.)

"THE STORY ISN'T DONE

WE AREN'T DONE

(repeating until cutoff) NO NO NO NO-"

(There is a noisy electronic tone that rises in pitch until the same cutoff.)

[ask-returntale]

Visit Original Link

Visit Original Link

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transcription:

|| The map is on screen for one slide, showcasing the various rooms. ||

(There is a message from an anonymous user that says: "We should check everywhere we can. Try that isolated room at the bottom left of the big room.")

PONCHO:

[ (You mean bottom right? Yeah, good idea.) ]

[ (Oh. When did I get here? I'm leaving again.) ]

ASH:

[ (...) ]

MAY:

[ (Why do I feel lower resolution than usual?) ]

NARRATOR:

[ ...Hm. Can you still move? ]

|| Ash's body wiggles around the screen a little. ||

NARRATOR:

[ It appears so. Would you pull up the --- yes, thank you. ]

|| The map is called forth once again. Nothing has changed except for the position of the SPIRIT, which has moved to the bottom of the large, second-lowest room. ||

NARRATOR:

[ The little room first. ]

MAY:

[ (I want to go home.) ]

NARRATOR:

[ ...A sentiment we share, but it is sadly neither here, nor now. ]

[ The quicker we find the others, the quicker our desires may be made manifest. ]

|| Ash's body wiggles to the viewer's left, off-screen. ||

[ask-returntale]

WHO AM I?

The Artist

The Musician

The Animator

The Creator

The Body...?

[ You only get one shot. You will not be able to retry from this point onwards.

[ The nature of reality is unfurled before your very eyes... ]

Enter my Mindvoid.

Enter my MindVoid

ENTER MY MINDVOID

Voting ended onJun 7, 2025

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