HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2026-05-27
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New Beyond Canon update, which isn't just a Beyond-Canon-inside-Beyond-Canon update! Back to the show! Liveblogging under the cut. (EDIT 1: Figured out a title/nickname I realized what was meant by, edited in right near the end.) (EDIT 2: Another clarification on re-read about that character.) (EDIT 3: Added info from @shoutyourporpoise in the replies!)
The tweet said "øpdate" so I wonder if we're getting any of TC this time. I suppose Del'fi was about to finish back-hexing him...
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This is... they invented an entire old internet pseudocode language that sounds like Del'fi. Having a whole team lets them really go all-out on each upd8 doesn't it.
Anyway, you don't have to think about that anymore because it seems like the leet hex finally managed to get a few hooks into cha.OS! Wait... what are all these hidden functionalities? Full remote viewing? Temporal tracking? This is... really advanced. And really, really invasive. Ugh!
Yeah, if it has a Trollian-like viewport, Del'fi has every incentive to find a way to block that function for themselves before they get into the game together. Not that Del'fi knows they'll be "in" the game together.
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What's even the use for these?
Is that-- no that couldn't be Rose, it's not a match even for her Candy haircut and she's still either a robot or something transcendant of it... is that Dirk Strider from behind? No dog ears or Satyr ears. It's not the strictest match of any Dirk's silhouette we've seen so far. Harry's hair seems like it'd be more curly from behind... does Roxy have a new haircut we haven't seen yet?
Honestly the closest match is Tavvy's hair swoop, maybe it's black hair that the viewing glow just makes LOOK like white from this stylized angle. But it's definitely brighter than Vrissy's hair was from a similar angle. Because it's reflecting a white human face in front of it? ...Yeah it's... probably Tavvy despite the discrepancy making it unclear.
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UGH, he's SO… speak of the devil.
TC's chat bubble appears, and a Hazelog! Looks like now that he's outed, the very-possibly-if-my-earlier-guesses-were-right Seer of Void might want a chat.
- tinnitusChakra [TC] began hazing cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] -- TC: whats pøppiiing! TC: cøuldn't help but nøtice that yøu just snuck thrøugh the first gate øf cha.OS' waterfall! TC: that's sø sick. TC: nøbødy's managed that in the whøle 2 day histøry øf the prøgram, pretty sweet møves. TC: i've been fucking arøund with leethex myself and i think i'm really starting tø get the hang øf em, but tø see them depløyed sø expertly... TC: that's wassup. TC: hønestly, keep up the gøød wørk. there are a few deeper layers of psychersecurity i think yøur current hex might have søme trøuble with but hey, if yøu can break it yøu can take it. TC: always gøød tø get anøther pair øf eyes frøm sømeøne whø actually appreciates the delicate interplay between the løwer mysteries and high løgics.
Waterfall gates and locks as like... a metaphor for layers of the afterlife or something. I'm shit at mythological references, but I've seen fictional series like Abhorsen that dealt with that, huh. (EDIT 3: As @shoutyourporpoise points out and I somehow didn't realize in TC's previous conversations, he talks a lot like a surfer as a personality characteristic-- so continuing to use Oceanic and water-rich metaphors like Waterfall gates, along with his association with ~PTH and surfer-ness, has FURTHER symbolic Void associations with water and the pull of the ocean depths, like the Fallingwater house Mom Lalonde owned and many other associations with Ocean-plunging and irrelevance or dislocation throughout original Homestuck.)
TC: aaactually, høw many eyes dø yøu have? TC: twø? TC: møre, right? TC: it's tøugh tø tell thrøugh the webcam! CC: oh hai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cc: how keeee~wl CC: can u even c mah lit sign TC: hell yeah i can! TC: and in turn alløw me tø raise yøu a particularly righteøus shaka. TC: if yøu wanna see it, gø ahead and hack my cam back. CC: hehehehehehehe CC: no thats ok CC: so didya get ur uppernet hooked into our orb tech? CC: i waz wonderin wat lylac waz helpin u cook up but she must of been rl helpful for that TC: øf cøurse! TC: she øpened up a whøle new wørld when she intrøduced me tø løwmys.
I know I'm biased as fuck, but even as much of a challenge it sounded like for TC to tell Del'fi to hack him back, this definitely sounds to me like a Seer who can't wait to expound on all his understanding.
CC: does she knoes ur using it to put ur lil horsey snoot all up on her homegrls? CC: kinda wack of her to leave me outta the peep party CC: a real misdemeanor on her part CC: is she mad at me? do she hate me badly? CC: shud i kms? TC: yøu shøuld chill yøurself. TC: my ly'ly wøuld never leave a friend øut in the cøld. CC: MY LYLY? CC: hahahahahahaha CC: except she ttlly would TC: løl! TC: true, she wøuld. TC: but nøt because she was trying tø harsh anyøne's vibes, yøu knøw what i mean.
Del'fi seems to be feeling this out, cautiously trying to determine just how much of a threat TC is and to whom, waiting for the other shoe to drop on what could be a potent blackmail situation among many other things... TC clearly has a lot of power over Del'fi and their friends right about now.
TC: yøu're øne øf her cløsest dørmies. CC: rlly? TC: ch'yeah dude. CC: ur so fr rn? TC: the realest. CC: idk... *kicks rock* TC: øh fuck yes, øur very first røleplay. TC: [i catch the røck with a fetløck and start juggling it like a høøfball.] TC: [after a bit øf høity høøfwørk i pass it back!] CC: dang CC: so anyways she doesnt know at all? TC: øh, she knøws. TC: øn the real i just døn't think she cares, løl. CC: i mean dats wat she says until she starts lobbin nades at u CC: u gotta keep a close eye on dat btw
Del'fi seems easily distracted by talk of their friend and how much Ly'lac cares... even though it's hard to read because, from Del'fi's point of view, this is definitely a hostage situation.
If Del'fi is indeed a Bard of Blood, they might be naturally doubtful of the true strength of their own relationships.
CC: i dont have to tell you how the trope goes CC: upstandin satyr givin in2 the call of mysticism CC: repercussions must b served CC: not hard 2 c how when u saddle ur seahorse 2 a grl who blows herself up CC: or turns on any1 dat gets a bit 2 bossy CC: r u a bossy alpha boy TC? CC: keepin command CC: smacking away our greasy sneak fingers from ur spankin new hybrid toy TC: i døn't knøw abøut greasy. TC: thøugh yøu knøw lac-attack always keeps that slime øn her.
So far, at every turn, TC is CONSISTENTLY deflecting any negative statement about any of the Nymphs, Del'fi included, and declining to frame anything SO FAR as a threat. He's being extremely positive and not OVERTLY threatening.
Void, however, is the aspect of submission, and getting people to know when they have to yield, like he did in his conversation with Swiss...
TC: anyway, the general scryware is limited tø admins (me), ør ambitiøus hexxørz (cøuld be yøu!) før nøw, but i get the feeling what yøu're really asking abøut is thøse advanced features i saw yøu scrølling thrøugh. TC: thøse are møre experimental. TC: hønestly, kind øf dangerøus, thøugh that's the fun part, isn't it? TC: i've døne my fair share øf playing with singularities but remøte spatiøtempøral quantumødulation is particularly tøuchy stuff, sø i løcked it før everyøne but an especially select few. TC: still, pretty neat, right? CC: me no know CC: is it? TC: yeah. TC: it is! CC: oh... CC: but bringing in strangers... CC: from da ITERNET? TC: frøm sømewhere! CC: oh noes CC: dats the worst place u can b from CC: i hates em
Right, it's unclear whether Del'fi has any real inkling that Ly'lac's "enigmatic fictional maiden" is real.
TC: they wøn't be strangers før tøø much lønger. TC: i mean, løøk at us. TC: we've been talking før twø minutes and we're basically like best brødeøs. CC: rite! CC: tru besties CC: tbh ive been wanting to talk to u 4evaaaaaaaaaaa~a CC: everyday i go to the bathroom and jus read up about u on social media CC: wonderin if ur also going to the bathroom CC: or wut brand of shampoo u use CC: putting mah hand to the mirror CC: dreamin of the day ud let a lil ole wretch like me kiss ur krusty stinker (//3^)/ CC: and then CC: the ink flows til the tubs black TC: yøøø. TC: that's different!
Sounds like Nymph reproduction is potentially pretty messy!
It's still so delightfully unclear whether TC's assertions of friendship are optimism or a dominance display.
TC: let's nøt talk abøut me anymøre, yøu flatterer. TC: let's get back tø yøu. TC: and what i need yøu tø dø. CC: oh... *SHUDDER!* TC: døn't shudder. CC: dont ever tell me what to do CC: understood? TC: that's the fuckin spirit dude!
Whiplash! Did TC deliberately provoke them, then give them props for not submitting?
TC: yøu mentiøned feeling left øut earlier? TC: well, i'm here tø fix that. TC: hasty-style. TC: there's a game ly'ly and i have been cøøking up før søme time nøw, which yøu knøw, and i knøw yøu knøw. TC: and i'm gønna need yøu tø høp øn. TC: yøu've been døwn there førever, and believe me i knøw høw that is. TC: all cøøped up, nøbødy tø rave with. TC: thing is, when yøu finally take matters intø yøur øwn hands and step øut intø the light? TC: fuuuck, it feels gøød. TC: sø that's what i'm asking yøu tø dø. CC: zang wow r we like kindred souls? CC: u got my whole heckin number tattooed on ur sleeve? CC: bro ur lyke crawling around n my head and we havent even nuptulized yet CC: get out of there!!!!!!!!! CC: cant a nymph keep sum secret dang
Ah I see TC's game here, he's using the blackmail he has on Del'fi to strongarm them into playing Shurb, smoothing things along. Quite smart use of secrets without being too bullying, though it's still extremely invasive.
TC: can yøu løck in før a sec? CC: UWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. CC: but but but but but!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TC: hey, why døn't we level with each øther? TC: this game is gøing tø be fun, but it's alsø extremely necessary. TC: AA knøws that. TC: (super funny chica, btw, can't wait tø get intø søme mischief with her later.) TC: a few laps agø, i came acrøss søme pretty mindbløwing intel while i was scraping the øld man's servers før shits and giggies.
Which old man? TC is supposedly close to the Big Kahuna according to Swiss, but I'm not sure whether or not that would mean being in the presence of Dirk Strider directly or his servers.
TC: i wøn't børe yøu with the deets, because they're patchy and cryptic and required a løt øf extrapølatiøn and we frankly døn't have much røøm før størytime, but the løng and shørt øf it is that this game we're abøut tø play is all that stands between us and the cømplete annihilatiøn øf øur søcieties, øur species, and øur wørld. TC: if that wasn't trippy enøugh, check this shit øut: TC: we're MEANT tø play it. TC: me, ly'ly, AA, CT, AT. TC: and yøu. TC: he was TRACKING us. TC: well, tracking the satyrs, anyway. TC: yøu three were møre øbfuscated, but i was able tø intuit that yøu'd be cøming intø play eventually by kind øf like... triangulating via the blind spøts. TC: and there were a løøøt øf blind spøts. TC: i døn't knøw why he didn't just tell me, but i'm kind øf glad he didn't, because finding øut øn my øwn was way møre fun.
So TC found out that either Dirk Strider, or whoever his "old man" is in their parentless society, was tracking all six players. As would naturally be the case. But lemme roll back the conversation just a bit:
TC: yøu three were møre øbfuscated, but i was able tø intuit that yøu'd be cøming intø play eventually by kind øf like... triangulating via the blind spøts. TC: and there were a løøøt øf blind spøts. TC: i døn't knøw why he didn't just tell me, but i'm kind øf glad he didn't, because finding øut øn my øwn was way møre fun. TC: blind spøts are where i thrive. :)
ABSOLUTELY a Void player, a hundred percent. Whether my assertion of Seer or not, we'll have to see, but doesn't it fit better than much else so far?
TC: that said, meeting ly'lac was an actual straight-up certified cøincidence. TC: and thrøugh her, yøu and AA came intø the picture. TC: again, BY CØINCIDENCE. TC: is that nøt FUCKING CRAZY? TC: i think it's FUCKING. TC: CRAZY. TC: :D CC: crazy? CC: ... CC: thats a regular ole nymph tuesday CC: nothin moar special than wut i alrdy got goin on
Yeah I suppose Rose Lalonde's doom-foretelling Nymph race wouldn't find cosmic coincidences like Shurb arranges especially out of the ordinary.
TC: the shit we're facing is gøing tø make the grey rain løøk like a dainty little dewdrøp. TC: and anyway, what is it yøu actually DØ have gøing øn? CC: i save the world everyday CC: yadda yadda grey rain blahblahblah listen dude CC: i hang w the Great Combiner CC: surrounded by beautiful ladies CC: in my own city of riches CC: p grt by nymph standards hm? TC: yøu're surrøunded by ruins and echøes and sleeping cørpses and yøu deserve sø much møre. TC: that has tø be sø børing, man. TC: it makes me sad.
Who or what exactly is the Great Combiner? ...does it have something to do with the Alchemy magic Ly'lac practices?
TC: are yøu scared? CC: lmao CC: r u? TC: maybe? TC: i'm anxiøus, but dø yøu have any idea høw løng it's been since i had anything tø be anxiøus abøut? TC: it feels amaaazing. TC: we're øn the precipice øf sømething cømpletely beyønd øur science, beyønd yøur magic. TC: sømething NEW, past the banal tøtality øf wørldly knøwledge i've had møre ør less figured øut since i was five. TC: i føund ~PTH at exactly the right time, but it ønly just barely scratched the surface øf what's pøssible here, i can feel it. TC: we're abøut tø be free. TC: døn't yøu wan't tø be free?
It's true. And this thrill-seeking, it's the sort of thing someone who wants to Understand the Unknown might find irresistible. Even if it means a potentially dangerous fascination with something he may very well KNOW could be the cause of civilization's downfall as much as it is a way out of it, it's difficult to tell just how aware he is of that but the way he talked about apathy consuming him to the point that ANXIETY was EXCITING makes it sound like he'd find a sick thrill from this all being responsible for the inevitable apocalypse too. A Seer of Void can potentially be extremely dangerous, even in optimism-- he looks to view the good AND the bad of this to be so exciting he can't wait to see it.
TC: i dø! CC: "i do~!" shut up CC: there aint a prophecy or tech thats gonna give me wut i want TC: nøt if yøu never dø anything. CC: mang CC: its so cute how satyrs all think they matter CC: strivin and fightin to make a little dent in the world or whatever CC: but its just… so cringe too CC: so much struggle to do nothing rlly new or special CC: and then turning around acting all proud of urselves CC: totally unaware that all ur doing is exctly wut u were meant to do and unlike us ur too stupid to realize ur walkin a fixed path CC: its a sorry sight CC: u cant even appreciate how lucky u r CC: if things were different and nymphs were even a fraction as gullible as u guys r CC: we wld have wiped u out at the get go TC: pøint blank man i refuse tø accept there are ønly twø øptiøns here. TC: hide frøm each øther førever ør die screaming? TC: cøme øn. TC: that's silly. TC: we can dø better than that.
TC is talking about Blood somewhat, uniting the races, in a way it seems as if Nymphkind might be avoiding because of (potentially) specific (and true) prophecies that their cooperation would end the entire world in a firey apocalypse. Del'fi, perhaps more than Ly'lac, has embraced the Nymphian sense of futility of their situation and life in general. I wonder how Del'fi's going to act once they indeed eventually realize they've been freed from the prison Deltritus represented for themselves specifically.
TC: sømetimes sømething is sø cømpletely beyønd yøu that yøu'd never have a shøt at figuring it øut øn yøur øwn. TC: ly'lac shøwed me shit that changed my life førever. TC: SAVED my life!
There's some backstory here behind TC's seemingly-easygoing personality being hinted at here, something that what Ly'lac and ~PTH brought TC helped him out in a low point of his life.
TC: and yøu have sømething sø beautiful gøing with CT. TC: whatever the fuck it is. TC: dø yøu knøw høw rare that is før him? TC: før anyøne? TC: it MATTERS. CC: OML CAN U BACK OFF 4 1 SECOND U FRUIT LOOP CC: i dont get wut ur trying so hard to do rn!!! CC: i knew u were sum kind of sicko but this is jus somethin else
TC is trying to psychoanalyze and help Del'fi right now, and even if Del'fi weren't a Bard of Blood, at this stage of Del'fi's being and beliefs I'd know it can't help but backfire. At the moment, anyway. TC 'sees' a better future for Del'fi, but they aren't willing to accept that at the moment.
CC: i EXPECTED u were going to lord CT over my head sure CC: but this is GROSS!!!!!!!!! now he has 2 crappy backstabbers spittin on the bro code CC: playin in his face CC: n u dont even have an excuse! TC: what's wrøng with playing? TC: playing is fun as fuck, and cømpletely within acceptable brø cøde parameters if yøu ask me. CC: ur jus a bad friend TC CC: we both r TC: [i grab yøur face.] TC: listen. TC: yøu're nøt a bad guy, big d.
TC is actually calling Del'fi "big D" which could double for "Dagger".
TC: i knøw yøu CARE abøut him. TC: i've been actively følløwing the chrønicle øf the møuntain and dagger tartarus før søme time, and brø. TC: that kind øf hearts-wrenching cøllab døesn't just cøme aløng every day. TC: that's special. TC: it tøuched me. TC: deeply. TC: that private server yøu twø wørked intø the pløt? that's søme real multimedia artistry. TC: even if the security øn it was kind øf a jøke. TC: but let's put it this way. TC: yøu cøuld keep dancing arøund it and cøntinue yøur rp før anøther høwevermany laps, and it'd prøbably be super sick. TC: hell, i løve a gøød dance. TC: but aren't yøu ready tø MEET him? TC: that can HAPPEN. TC: that WILL HAPPEN. CC: wait CC: u read our rp doc? TC: yeah dude.
TC thinks that breaking into everyone's secrets, he can just expose how they really feel about each other and they'll be able to accept it, heal, and do what's best for themselves. But people don't work that way. When you crack them open for their secrets, no matter how badly you want them, you deal damage. When you lay out something inside someone bluntly when they're not ready to hear it, they can deny it and retreat further.
TC: yøu twø are gøing the fuck øff in there at all høurs øf the damn day ør night ør whatever sø sømetimes the backløg gets thick as all hell but the møst recent arc? the warden's gambit was sø viciøus, brø. TC: i løve høw yøu wørked in all these hints abøut it during the cøurt saga, that was fuckin CINEMA. TC: yøu guys are fantastic writers. TC: but just sitting at øppøsite ends øf the planet førever is such a stupid waste, før bøth øf yøu. TC: i'm nøt gønna bløw up yøur spøt and take that leap før yøu but i am gønna prømise yøu that it's a leap yøu need tø make if either øf yøu are gøing tø survive. TC: his life is in yøur hands. TC: … TC: yøur cam's glitching øut øver there and i've gøtta gø, but i'll leave ya with this. TC: if we døn't figure øut høw tø wørk tøgether øn this, we're all fucked. TC: but if we dø? TC: paradise. TC: the files are øn yøur ørbs. -- tinnitusChakra [TC] ceased hazing cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] --
He's not even threatening them! He's explicitly saying he isn't going to expose Del'fi to CT -- unconditionally -- and that they should all work together just because it's what's best for Del'fi if nothing else.
But he's giving a premature moral message of camaraderie to a, theoretically, Destroyer of Blood who clearly isn't ready to accept it this early in their character arc.
...While I was browsing the log for some earlier silhouette reference links I may have accidentally glanced at an upcoming link that looked like "React to this in a completely reasonable manner" or something, which is kind of tilting my analysis but like. Yeah, Del'fi-splosion would be a reasonable reaction... setting off some form of sick sabotage.
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He read it.
OH. Or... that. That part would be the part one latches onto, yes. Have I mentioned lately that cracked and broken glass is a Void symbol?
This is what I meant, in part, about the damage that breaking into people's secrets can do. Especially secrets one considers core to one's identity, whether one realizes it or not. Del'fi often OFFERED to share SELECTED logs with Ly'lac, or writings, mostly knowing she wouldn't accept or read them, but... having someone you DON'T KNOW having broken into EVERYTHING, read all your smutty roleplaying, even the stuff you never would have voluntarily shared outside your currently-only-CT-and-you comfort zone????
That's devastating. Brutal. Terrifying. TC is going to have to learn to do better by people than this.
And, there's that link title I peeked:
> Del'fi: Have a reasonable reaction.
Literally growing more mouths to scream with-- hey wait, Del'fi can actually lift their upper organon off their lower pair of eyes??? (Oh hey, does Del'fi usually go for eye-tongue instead of mouth-tongue like Ly'lac or the crystal-person?)
You've left him alone all this time for your friends' sakes, but this is too far. You have to make him pay.
Oh yeah, it's industrial strength sabotage time. Destroyer time.
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...AND THERE SHE GOES DEMANDING YOUR ATTENTION AGAIN! "WAH WAH WAH, intruder alert, come protect my lightstone, you don't have time to cast a death spell on that popular pompous prick!!!"
Oh god, Del'fi's out-screamed. Are those screaming mouths metaphorical or are the grasping looping hands that make up this sanctum partially alive??? Excessively demanding of a possibly-Caretaker.
YOU GET IT! FINE! FREAKING, FINE!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL CHECK THE PERIMETER.
Is this revenge interrupted, or will this be sufficiently out-of-the-ordinary to mean revenge indefinitely deferred? ...Even if they get in the game and they suddenly find themselves "free", I'm not sure it'd quench Del'fi's need for revenge over plundering and browsing their private RPs here, regardless of his praise.
> Del'fi: Scope out the situation.
Oh, wow. Ok, you see what her problem is now. That's actually a LOT of intruders.
Driven down to the far depths by the beginnings of a meteor apocalypse maybe? Or prophecies concerning such coming to fruition?
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You'll have to act fast if you hope to cast your DEATH CURSE in a timely fashion. Whatever you choose to surrender will have to be a SIGNIFICANT BARGAIN if you hope to pull off this level of vengeance. Unlike before, you see instantly what your only true option for this spell is.
Del'fi has to surrender things of personal value just to cast a Death Curse??? This sounds more and more like it happens to be a unique specialty to either Del'fi's nature or interests as a potential Bard of Blood, giving up that which they hold dear to catalyze Destruction.
They're looking at the Lightseed, though, aren't they? Aren't they protecting that for a reason? Or is their Caretaker also there to sacrifice, or something?
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After all, what could be stronger than LOVE?
Seriously, is anyone still going to tell me that Bard of Blood isn't incredibly likely here? "SEVER"ing bonds and proof of love?
I hope it's just those three dearly important artworks, and not like, something out of their own heart.
> Del'fi: Sever.
No, that'd be too far. You're still going to hit him with a little NIGHTMARE IMPRECATION, but you'd hate going to sleep beneath the space they'd leave behind. There are some things even you can't live without.
Oh phew, the beloved statuary instead. Del'fi's still bound by Blood, like Jack (the theoretical Prince of Blood) often was. But those cherished artworks are potentially a SERIOUS time bomb for Del'fi to detonate to power a curse sometime later in the plot. That or they'll be able to sacrifice something even more precious, like whatever/whoever their Sprite turns out to be or something.
TC is going to be cursed with nightmares, but given the way Dream Bubbles work, that could essentially be to the team's collective advantage.
You're a bit more like her than you'd want to admit.
Like "her"? Their Caretaker/Warden maybe? What? What does this mean? Being unable to sacrifice something that ought to be...? Couldn't sacrifice Del'fi maybe?
> Del'fi: Resist urge to think about what she did to you.
Wait, is that the Lightseed? With the stem propping it up, from this angle... it looks like a Sburb-generated near-Frog-Temple tower house.
You fail terrifically. To the point you can't help but recount the legacy of loneliness that tethered you here in the first place. A very long time ago, the wisdom of the tides brought about a cultural wave of nymph apathy, fueled by the knowledge that the entire planet would be wiped clean within a few generations, leaving naught but a select DESTINED FEW.
They know it's coming, to some extent, AND when. TC wasn't saying much about the incoming apocalypse that surprised Del'fi, even if they didn't know the shape of it.
This caustic lethargy led to large scale egg abandonment; hundreds of little frys dropped into trenches left to fend for themselves in the depths.
So Nymph eggs aren't always abandoned the way Ly'lac described or?... no, wait, rereading it... ah, they're usually laid on the BEACHES to give them hope, and SOME were cast into the depths due to this racewide spike of apathy Del'fi is referring to.
The lurid tangle of striping stars that surrounds you was sewn together by one of those sad little orphanites once upon a time. She was armed with nothing but a doctrine of unabashed purehearted nymph love and a terribly horrific weapon of mass destruction, callously cast away into the trenches like so much radioactive waste, corrupting all it touched; in this way, she and the weapon were very much alike.
OH. This "weapon of mass destruction" may very well have been carried down with Del'fi's caretaker on a meteor. Not necessarily, not quite. But this very well could have been their ectobiological ancestor, who could also have been a Blood player given all the holding-hands environmental design they engineered, a non-Destroyer potentially.
Not confirmable yet though, it's hard to say, what with the Gray Rain and ~PTH being presumably the work of ancestors too from the vibes we've been getting.
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WHOA HOLY SHIT
Hand hair! Hand throne! She grew all that! And a seed from her heart?!?
Unmistakeable Light symbol too, hair like a gripping claw around her face...
In her early fryhood she was alone, but as she bloomed with maturity she found herself surrounded by suitors and supplicants. She had decided that neither she nor anyone else would ever know the touch of isolation ever again. Thousands upon thousands came to her of their own volition, desperate for the safety of her bosom, her cruel tolerance, the lack of pretense in her all encompassing embrace. Some simply desired to be a part of something greater, while others saw it as a way to possibly circumvent prophecy; if only a few were destined to endure THE GREAT LOSS, the subsummation of their species all but guaranteed their participation.
I know there's a Light symbol on her forehead, but the whole race are Rose Lalonde's progeny. From the story of her history, this does read like a Blood-bound Ancestor, one who wasn't necessarily Destroyer-class oriented. (EDIT 2: Wait, they were SUBSUMED? Like the Subsumation Curse Del'fi cast in Cha.OS general chat earlier and has on their desktop? So amalgamated or eaten up? I missed that on first read, so this maybe-ancestor was eating everyone in some ways or incorporating them literally rather than just forming a community.)
Many, however, did not lust for assimilation.
I could be speaking too soon about the non-destructive part, but it sounds like the destruction probably was done UNTO her rather than FROM her.
Del'fi also just compared themselves to her and said they were "more like her than you'd want to admit", full of love and desperate to not be alone.
===>
Countless nymphs and satyrs alike were consumed in their intimate and tender grazing, and with them, their homes and history. All were made piecemeal and dragged into herself as she became a writhing museum of extinction. With each addition to her alluvial labyrinthine form so grew the power of her inkstone. It grew so incredibly dense and impossibly dark that it began to shine bright as the morning star.
Consumed? Grazing? What??? (EDIT 2: I'd missed "subsumed" and that the assimilation was literal on first read, as covered.)
So this city of their was like a roving, consuming city-state? These bonds she extruded into a city captured places they roamed over and conquered and fed upon? Was this potential-ancestor perhaps some sort of Thief of Blood, gaining power from all that she bound to herself? Is that's what's collected in her inkstone seed?
Drawn toward some unknowable peak, she and her supplicated constituents stretched west. They took to land, and took the satyr's capital with them. In a rare display of interspecies collaboration, THE COUNCIL OF HIGH PROPHETS, THE PLAYTORIATE, and THE EXEMPLAR himself combined forces in an attempt to protect what little world had remained after her passionate rampage.
"Playtoriate" like "horseplay" and "Praetorian Guard", or something.
For several tides they fought in vain, struggling helplessly against her love. But when all seemed lost, the neptunian golem of a certain long excommunicated enchantress appeared.
Rose wouldn't have been excommunicated... would she? Is this a different ancestor? Rose might get a perverse kick out of being in exile from her own species, but... the "golem" of an enchantress? A robot?
Then apparently she just wagged her finger, shooshed her to sleep, and tossed her back into the freaking ocean.
We actually know for a fact that Rose has exhibited this power, able to infuse dark/Void power into a ball of yarn to knock Dream Dave to sleep. As an Ultimate Self in command of presumably a wide spectrum of the Light/Void axis, putting someone to sleep is very possible.
Alternatively... if not for the 'neptunian golem' line, for all we know, it could have been Vriska, lending the pair a hand under some pact. Knocking someone asleep psychically with a boost from her powers and casting them down into literal dark oceanic depths is very Thief of Light -> Plunge someone Down into Void.
Where she's remained in this seemingly insurmountable slumber to this day, with the only notable action being when she grabbed a meteor out of the sky carrying a baby on it some several thousand tides ago, before promptly falling back to sleep. And that baby was you.
They couldn't resist the "the baby is you" phrasing, could they. XD
Chances of this being an Ancestor definitely ramped up with this deliberate act of hers. It's pretty wild that Del'fi actually KNOWS they're meteor-born, unlike (presumably) Ly'lac. I wonder who else knows? This is one of the biggest instances so far of Nymphkind proving their doomsaying/foretelling chops by having foreknowledge of this apocalypse within generations.
I can't say this is an Ancestor for sure, or that the Enchantress was Rose for sure (controlling any number of remote bodies of any given potential size as part of whatever plan she hinted at having to transcend her human-body-and-robot-body arrangement)... It could have been some other Golem-piloting Ancestor... and I definitely can't say what the Lightseed is capable of, what the weapon of mass destruction was or if it allowed her to extrude this city, or what any of this is capable of. This slumbering Nymph and her heart seem eminently Prototypable, and if they contain some sort of immense power they've gathered, what effect would that have on the enemies and structure of the Session? Is this the equivalent of prototyping Becquerel for them? Do Dirk and Rose have long-laid plans to use the Prototyping process to construct something out of key pieces they've seeded around the world like this? Wild things are bouncing around my head like the Lightseed becoming Skaia of all things, given AA doesn't seem to have noticed the Satyrs joining them in their session in Skaia's clouds for some reason, and my old theory that the purpose of this session was to create the workings of the Game in the first place. Hmm.
And I wonder if this slumbering ancestor IS Del'fi's caretaker, and part of how the rest of that otherwise "one munch lunch" disappeared is that the very STRUCTURE OF THE PLACE ate it! In fact I'm actually pretty certain of this, given the middle fingers she was throwing the Lightseed afterwards! She's giving orders to Del'fi and controlling the very bones of this place in her sleep! (EDIT 1: Oh... oh duh, SHE'S the "Great Combiner" mentioned earlier, that's the perfect name for her creating and such a place and is even more Blood-bound a name than I expected.)
I'm not sure I can say any more about this that wouldn't be even MORE wild speculation than I just threw around. We'll just have to take more as it comes.
See you for more Artist/Writer commentary start of the month (probably vastly abridged compared to my usual coverage of it), and then whenever our next upd8 is!
