8FOLD: Mighty Medley # 34, November 2016, by Messrs. Brenton, McClure, and Russell

Drew Perron pwerdna at gmail.com
Thu Nov 24 23:57:18 PST 2016


On 11/23/2016 8:03 PM, Tom Russell wrote:
<snip>
> -----------SAXON BRENTON--ADRIAN McCLURE------------
> --------------------TOM RUSSELL---------------------

Still working on my next chapter, which I realized needed to be split into 
multiple parts, *again*. XD Wasn't that how I started a serial in the first place?

> "Emily's Room"
>    by Tom Russell
>
> It's easy to turn a blind eye to injustice when you don't see the
> victims as people. Someone stands up, but too late.

oof. Relevant.

> At about two in the morning, Cal's stomach starts knotting up, acid
> reflux climbing up her throat. She can't stop clenching and
> unclenching her fists. She has to get out of her tiny bedroom.

Awwwwwww, hon. :< Relatable.

>    "Are you alright?" whispers a low monotone.
>    "Hey Medusa," says Cal. "Don't really want to talk right now."

I'm glad we still got a story with Medusa in it. <3

>    "So, what happened?" says Medusa. "You were having a pretty good
> day yesterday. I mean, you saved the Sub-Atomic Multiverse."
>    "And by extension the Regular-Atomic Multiverse. And I got to
> cleave Devil flipping Prince Satanor in two with my electric
> battle-axe.

Oh, rad. :o

> And everyone gave me high-fives. For once, it was like I knew
> what I was doing, like I belonged. Well, not real high-fives,
> obviously, they just said or texted me 'high-five', or sent me a
> picture of cats high-fiving each other. But still. That was great. I
> was great." She smiles at her hands. "I don't usually get to do
> 'great'. So, you know: what do?"

Awwwwwwww. <3 A wonderful and important moment for this character. :>

>    "I've been perusing your medical records..."
>    "Whoa, invade my privacy much? Perusing?"
>    There's a sound on the other end that's suspiciously like a
> muffled, frustrated sigh.

Have I mentioned I love Medusa

>    "I was," says Cal. "And for once it's not my fault I'm off my meds.
> Once I got shrunk down, all my meds stopped. Any dose that's big
> enough to work its chemical magic is big enough to overdose. It's a
> whole thing.

Oh yeesh. ^^; I wonder if it's possible to shrink the actual pills...

>    Medusa is silent for a moment to give the appearance of collecting
> her thoughts (little pauses like this work wonders when trying to
> comfort humans).

I know, right? :>

> Then: "You're getting accolades, but maybe you're
> worried people are going to see through you and realize that you
> really had no idea what you were doing. But you did know what you were
> doing, because Cal: you did it."

awwwwwwww. :< Yeah. Also relatable.

> Cal stops. "Wait, what's going on? Something's squeezing me!"
>    "That's me. I'm stimulating your nerve endings via your brain
> through experimental sub-sonic frequencies to produce calming, steady
> pressure."
>    "You're giving me a hug." Cal's never been a hugger, and there's
> something extra pathetic when the only one that can hug you is a
> computer. It feels empty and meaningless. And yet, at the same time...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! ;;;-;;; oh my god that's wonderful

> It was the scent that awakened her, a bright sharp scent like lilacs.
> She opened her eyes to a room that held a towering empty space, a sort
> of streamlined cathedral. That space was filled up by a massive
> intricate machine, all humming tubes and crackling arcs of energy.

Oooooh, yes. ~.~ Detail and color~

>    "She's alive!" said an exultant voice from beside her.

Always a good thing to hear. :D

>    "Uhhhh," said Elaine, who still felt like her thoughts were
> surrounded by thick cotton wool.

I've had some days like that during the winter.

>    Shaking, Elaine pulled herself off the slab and stood up. She saw
> just what she was wearing-- a red skintight outfit which sparkled
> under the crystalline lamps that hung from the distant ceiling. "Uh,"
> she said. "Does everyone here dress like this?"
>    Taramon nodded. "Except for the Council. I'll admit I miss those
> sorts of outfits sometimes. The robes get devilish hot in the summer
> months."

*snerk* I see, we're switching between classic pulp and Barbarella pulp :>

>  While he was
> wearing a mask of composure, a few little twitches and jerks showed
> the situation was as strange to him as it was to her.

Awwwww, yeah. <3

>    What she saw on the outside took her breath away. The towers were
> even more astonishing up close than they were from a distance. Smooth
> and elegant craft sailed through the air like swans--red, white, gold.
> Swift monorails sped across the swooping tracks that wove through the
> city.

ohhhhh. Lovely. ~.~

>    Taramon gestured to one of the mini-craft that was docked by the
> platform they stood on. Elaine hesitantly stepped into it, making a
> point of not looking down. She felt seatbelts clasp into place around
> her.
>    Strangely enough, she found that she was missing her cat.

awwwwwww. <3

> So, here's the sitch: death traps, those insanely expensive and
> inefficient puzzle rooms designed by black capes to murder their
> costumed adversaries, went out of style decades ago, mostly because of
> how insanely expensive and inefficient they were, cf. earlier this
> sentence,

X3 I love that sort of side-note

>    So, let's set aside the weirdness of this whole thing, and how
> creepy it all is, because let's face it, every sub-culture feels weird
> and creepy on the outside.

Hrm. ^^; So, to preface, I don't mean to make you feel bad, this isn't a 
personal thing, but I want to be honest with my feedback, so...

I find this sort of comment... uncomfortable. Because, well, being into what 
makes you happy *isn't* weird and *isn't* creepy, and framing it as "oh well of 
*course* you'll think badly of people being into their own little non-mainstream 
hobbies, that's just how it *is*", especially when the story is about them being 
basically sociopathic and uncaring in their pursuit of it... bwah, I'm sorry 
@-@; It's got a good point, it's just, yeah.

>    "And the other ones? The aggravating one?"
>    "Oh. Magic," he said. "Magic for siphoning off life force."

I mean, understandable.

> The old
> wizard shifted in his seat. "Sometimes the people who crafted such
> things discovered interesting ways to heal rather than harm. Ways to
> put life force back, power efficiency ratios, things like that. Not
> often, however." His mouth quirked in a lopsided manner; a rueful half
> grin. "More often than not I'd be reading what looked like a useful
> piece of research, but end up yelling that, no, I didn't need another
> blasted way of sucking out my enemy's life force so hard that they
> instantly collapsed to dust."

Awwwwww. XD I find this wizard furry deeply relatable.

> "Even back then I was too much of a stubborn
> old man to give up on the problem, but it was never what I'd call
> recreational reading." He rocked his head slightly in a gesture of
> dubiousness, then in an attempt at self-depreciating humour added,
> "And I think it may have left me a cranky old grumblebum."

Adorable. <3

You know, I'd assumed from the last story that the Gardener's world was largely 
that blasted destruction; but I realize now that:
a.) you specified a continent; and
b.) just because it's *mostly* destroyed doesn't mean it's a stereotypical 
apocalypse where there's no fuctioning institutions at all.

Indeed, the idea of archives of knowledge surviving after an apocalypse reminds 
me a lot of A Canticle For Liebowitz - which, for being one of the trope makers 
of the postapocalypse genre, was a lot less typical of it than I expected. <3 
Isn't that always the way?

> For a while now, Medusa has detected irregularities in the weekly
> software updates they get from Cradle Tech. Since Cradle is a major
> partner in the Daylighters' fight against the body-terrorist
> organization FEVER, it would be pretty terrible if FEVER had found
> some way to infiltrate and subvert the Daylighters through Cradle Tech
> and Medusa.

Ohhhhh. GOOD THINKING, Medusa.

> Better to keep FEVER in the dark, and use
> the infiltration of the Daylighters via Cradle Tech as a unique
> opportunity to infiltrate FEVER.

Yesssss. FIGHT THEM AND BITE THEM

>    But Medusa can trust Cal, even if she's as stealthy as a screaming,
> flailing toddler, and as graceful as one, too.

X3 I love their relationship.

> Now it's like, you get in my face, comparatively giant spider, I will
> punch you in said face."
>    "That'd be your own face."
>    "Oh, whatever."

*cackles* Yes, excellent banter

>    "Maybe we should get you a cardboard box?" suggests Medusa. "That
> always works for the fellow in the video game. Ba-dum-tis."
>    "You really have to stop providing rimshots for your own jokes."

No, do it always

>    "All my friends are nerds. Bethany's a geneticist. Kate's a
> pianist. Melody's a, well, she's just good at everything and knows
> everything and is perfect, which isn't annoying at all. Dot knows all
> this technical stuff about film and if you tell her I called her a
> friend then Medusa we're not friends anymore, the point is, they're
> all flipping geniuses and I'm just an angry little boy-girl who lives
> in a dollhouse and isn't smart enough to keep up.

awwwwww, sweetie. She needs so many hugs.

Drew "really hopes that comment was okay TBH" Perron


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