All Night Laundry - In which you just have to press down hard - 2019 12 19

That thing could sure use some more legs!

Let's see what bullets do to it!

(Maybe with enough force, it will break a part off, which will certainly remain a single broken piece and not a replicating screaming abomination.)

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JACK! You magnificent person, it's great to see you (well, your adventure at least) again. I feel like we survived a disaster or something. This is awesome.

Oh man oh man oh man, screaming in the bathroom. That's almost never good.

Teg! You're here! Hey! I am really glad! I tracked you down on FA to make sure you were OK, and you seemed all right, so I didn't want to bother you but I'm glad you're here!

Did you manage to save your Adventures? I had mine as script files, but I know at least two people who lost the whole thing. It is a lot like being in a shipwreck.

UPDATE - 1083 - In which Kendra tries to give a warning

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SpoilerThere was a point where I thought it would be a good idea to archive the Ballad, and I did copy/paste screen captures of the first 30 forum pages before getting tired. Late in 2015 I started actually saving the scripts as I posted them.. which left a gap of something like 18 months. I was ready to rebuild it from the art (which of course I have) and my memory. BUT, a helpful fan/friend (with apparent OCD) had signed up for the email notifications .. which sends you all the new posts to the thread every day .. and had SAVED all of them, and was only too happy to send them to me. This consisted of a huge text file containing the complete run, all except for the first 14 pages which I had as screen grabs. The only thing missing is what was in spoilers on those first 14 pages. I'm rewriting/editing it for Tumblr now; see my signature for particulars.

Oh dear I can't decide which of the two cops I least want to die.

Let's keep both of them alive a little longer, til I make up my mind!

edit:

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STEAMPUP, on the other hand, is completely gone except for the images.

UPDATE - 1084 - In which someone is unfortunate

Argh! That sucks about STEAMPUP. I liked that one quite a bit. I'm glad the Ballad survives though! Subscribed.

I'm not saying this is a good time to experiment, but do we know what effect Unlight has on a Naught?

UPDATE - 1085 - In which Bina looks for garbage

I'm not saying this is a good time to experiment, but do we know what effect Unlight has on a Naught?

I think that the Naughts are attracted to the unlight, seeing how they swarmed on bina during the whole "save Elizabeth" arc.

Bina > This is bad. You want to go after that guy to save him but...You know he isn't the only one in trouble now. Everyone in the hospital is in trouble. You can't stop the naughts, you can't kill them...but you can call them.

You could, feasibly, beckon the naughts out of the hospital. With a large enough beacon, get them all in one place and trap them. You've done it before with just a couple...it's risky but you could potentially save everyone here...

...but that's just it, isn't it...in order to call the naughts, you would need un-light...a lot of un-light...It would risk being visible, others could see it...not sure you could trust Aime not to want to take a peak...

...and here we are. Ever since you've gotten into this, you've wanted something. Not just to get out or escape or rid yourself of this craziness...you've wanted to help people, to save others from this monstrosity. The botfly has given you the opportunity to protect everyone here...by giving the monster what it wants most.

Maybe this is what B3 figured out. The more you care about saving people...the more the botfly will orchestrate things so that you must use it to save them. The only solution...is to stop caring. To let yourself grow cold and indifferent until there's no reason for anyone else to be in danger.

But you can't do that...can you?

Fear not, my good teg! From a cursory google search, I have fortuitously recovered...
the first three or so panels of Steampup.

Which is a real shame. I really liked that adventure, it was part of the inspiration for Perception. (Which may be returning at some point, sans art)

I'm not saying this is a good time to experiment, but do we know what effect Unlight has on a Naught?

I think that the Naughts are attracted to the unlight, seeing how they swarmed on bina during the whole "save Elizabeth" arc.

Bina > This is bad. You want to go after that guy to save him but...You know he isn't the only one in trouble now. Everyone in the hospital is in trouble. You can't stop the naughts, you can't kill them...but you can call them.

You could, feasibly, beckon the naughts out of the hospital. With a large enough beacon, get them all in one place and trap them. You've done it before with just a couple...it's risky but you could potentially save everyone here...

...but that's just it, isn't it...in order to call the naughts, you would need un-light...a lot of un-light...It would risk being visible, others could see it...not sure you could trust Aime not to want to take a peak...

...and here we are. Ever since you've gotten into this, you've wanted something. Not just to get out or escape or rid yourself of this craziness...you've wanted to help people, to save others from this monstrosity. The botfly has given you the opportunity to protect everyone here...by giving the monster what it wants most.

Maybe this is what B3 figured out. The more you care about saving people...the more the botfly will orchestrate things so that you must use it to save them. The only solution...is to stop caring. To let yourself grow cold and indifferent until there's no reason for anyone else to be in danger.

But you can't do that...can you?

Oh. Oh snap. I think you're right. And observing the unlight probably counts as observing the botfly and/or acknowledging it's existence.

And here my main thought in response is "Why is unlight the same color as the light bulb cover in Josephine's experiment (or vice versa)?" My only rational explanation is that the experiment was the actual birth of the botfly, followed by a mess of time shenanigans that seeded its own existence. Or, you know, that jack_fractal over-promised a connection and then later realized he is playing Calvinball.

Naughts are definitely attracted to unlight, much more than to regular light. They also established this by offscreen experiment.
"They seem to get really intense when she turns the light on. Even when she's using her un-spook hand. This was really useful when she was leading them away from Kendra."

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Fear not, my good teg! From a cursory google search, I have fortuitously recovered...
the first three or so panels of Steampup.

Which is a real shame. I really liked that adventure, it was part of the inspiration for Perception. (Which may be returning at some point, sans art)

Oh crikey, that's my own website. I completely forgot I had done that. Thanks for reminding me.

SANS ART?? But dude, the drawings were charming as heck!

Why does a Naught want to abduct a guy? I mean seriously, what does it want some random person for? Is it gonna EAT him? What?

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SpoilerThe art was very stressful and took a very long time to make. That was the main reason I updated so slowly. The new version, along with being rewritten, may feature a few illustrations (sketches, journal entries, etc), but not the full panel stuff

My guess is the naughts want to absorb them. The Hound had to destory other timelines in order to support its own. It would make sense if the naughts (since they don't seem to be able to time travel) have to support their unnatural bodies with others.

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Fear not, my good teg! From a cursory google search, I have fortuitously recovered...
the first three or so panels of Steampup.

Which is a real shame. I really liked that adventure, it was part of the inspiration for Perception. (Which may be returning at some point, sans art)

Oh crikey, that's my own website. I completely forgot I had done that. Thanks for reminding me.

SANS ART?? But dude, the drawings were charming as heck!

Why does a Naught want to abduct a guy? I mean seriously, what does it want some random person for? Is it gonna EAT him? What?

Make more naughts perhaps?

UPDATE - 1086 - In which Bina does nothing

Wow thanks for taking that suggestion! I feel spoiled. I, also, really like how you made Bina look much more angular in that panel - it really brought out the tone of the update.

Every hero has a flaw. Bina's is trust. She's seen how fragile relationships are, how manipulative and disappointing people can be. She was left lost and alone when her grandmother passed, leaving her behind again. Even her most precious relationship has been flaky at best. She's learned to trust Kendra, but even now she suspects that something will come along, something will break them apart and even Kendra will let her down.

There is a solution to this. A solution that may not occur to Bina. She has to trust, with this huge impossible thing, not just Kendra, but ALL these people. All of these flawed, unpredictable, unreliable, people. People who seem stronger and smarter than herself, but people that she is convinced deep down will fail her.

Bina >What do you do, when you're lost in thought, when you start to feel trapped with no way out? When you can feel you're being pushed to act, and are surrounded by people who have no idea how you are feeling or what is really going on? It seemed like fun at first. It was exciting, even revitalizing. You actually thought that everything would be fine.

It isn't.

People are going to die here and now because of you, and your only option is to make things worse.

What do you do when you come face to face with a reality you can't change, an experience you don't want?

> Panic.

The cops think you're crazy? Then give them crazy.

When all of your sane options are crap, then it's time to do something insane.

> Give everyone advance warning: You are uncovering the spooky hand. Don't look at the light, and be be prepared to run on your mark.

UPDATE - 1087 - In which it didn't splatter

OH! So these panels are showing the Hallway/Bathroom and not the current floor and one above it?

Probably the most disturbing image I recall from this adventure is two older, grumpy people with wires breaking into the the back of their brain.

What was it the botfly said?

"Nobody has eyes anymore."

"People are going to die here and now because of you"

No, they're not going to die. They're going to be plugged in.

And now you can't stop imaging Kendra, Aime, Emmie, even the officers stuck on a couch, with wires lodged though cracks in their skulls.

Bina > They're going to try to follow it, you know what will happen when they do.

Kendra > Consider what you've seen about the composition of the naught - bullets have little effect, the skin is waxy, it didn't shatter...these guys are acting like non-Newtonian fluids. Fluids that compress well when under pressure. They can take impacts like bullets or massive drops with ease.

Amie> Yay! You're being a hero and solving a monster mystery! This is great! Follow that slime guy!

Naught > Just keep on truckin buddy.

Would red filter goggles block out the Unlight?

UPDATE - 1088 - In which Kendra realizes the obvious

> and then Bina was alone.

This is so much Amie's scene, you might as well let her run things for a while.

UPDATE - 1089 - In which they finally give in

Let's all gather around while Elizabeth tells us what we do know.
It won't take long.