LNH: The Liminals #4: The Quest for Motivation, Part 1

[Drew Nilium]

On 10/18/20 12:05 PM, Jeanne Morningstar wrote:
> THE LIMINALS
> #4: "The Quest for Motivation, Part 1: Zoom In"
> A Hungry, Hungry Sabertooths gaiden game by Jeanne Morningstar

Fuck yeah!!

> Continuity note: This takes place a little before the end of Hungry, Hungry 
> Sabertooths! #8 *Masterplan Lad sweats as the continuity jenga tower stays in 
> place*

:3 Yessssss

> So, there was another crossover going on. That was fine.

Life in the LNH

> With the recent discovery and of the Deep 
> Omnilooniverse, she should have been at the forefront of exploring it. It seemed 
> to be pretty integral to the structure of this storyline. (There was even some 
> evil version of Carolyn Forge from an alternate universe on one of the 
> Brotherhoods, calling herself Dr. Killfile II; she could easily come from the 
> Deep Omnilooniverse.) And, following the structure of the last couple issues, 
> Alice was due for a character spotlight.
> 
> So why hadn't any of that happened?

Awwwwwww. Legit!

> One thing Alice usually didn't have any problem with was a sense of purpose. She 
> knew what she had to do and she did it--whether it was battling cosmic evils or 
> making out with her girlfriend.

Heck yeah!

> But why was she in quarantine? Why hadn't she been on the Omnilooniveral 
> expedition--especially with her power set meaning she had a much better chance 
> of navigating the Deep Omnilooniverse ?

I mean, to be fair, the implication was that getting stranded there had been an 
aborted Evil Plan of Guy Who Looks Like Cliche Dude. ...buuuuuut it would have 
made sense for her to be involved in looking for them, so...

> To be fair, the storyline which established that had wrapped up only just before 
> the new one started, meaning even though the first couple issues of Liminals 
> were after that on the timeline, they didn't really interact with a whole bunch 
> of plot and character developments which should have had a huge impact. That was 
> the way of crossovers and, again, she was used to it. But...

Mmmmmm, yeah. @-@

> "So how are you doing?" she said, talking to Masterplan Lad on her laptop. Right 
> now, Victoria was taking a depression nap, and Manga Girl was busy drawing.

All legit responses

> "Well, the quarantine itself isn't difficult for me. I've been in isolation 
> before. I once had to wait for six years in an interdimensional void while 
> waiting for my Writer to finish their storyline, and I was aware of every moment 
> of it. [Ultimate Mercenary #6] Frankly, being alone for long periods can be 
> refreshing.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. X3

> "Well I certainly hope they can keep this new streak going before it gets as bad 
> as last time," said Masterplan Lad.

I mean, I think we can get it to a sustainable level. :>

> For someone who was 
> metafictionally aware as Masterplan Lad was, the idea of being stuck in Limbo 
> without a meaningful narrative conclusion would be absolute hell. Alice shuddered.

Ooof. ^^;

> Having been dropped back in the canon after dropping out in 1997, she'd missed a 
> lot culturally, including many more instances of sapphic media she was now 
> desperately trying to catch up on. If she'd had more when she was from, she 
> might have realized what her deal was a bit earlier. That said, Xena certainly 
> helped, and it explained why she turned out the way she did on many, many levels.

X3 Awwwwww yeah <3 <3 <3

> Masterplan Lad shook his head. "She's... not handling this well. As you can 
> imagine, isolation is not good for her."
> 
> Alice nodded. She said nothing. "Yeah. She's been... Hard to talk to sometimes, 
> lately. I'm trying."

Oof. :/ Super relatable. Remind me to summon some kind of hug monster into the 
LNHQ... hey, that's not a bad idea...

> "God I just wish her depression were some kind of monster so I could punch it 
> away."
> 
> "Her depression does appear to be this sort of eldritch entity which I suppose 
> we'll fight at some point," said Masterplan Lad.
> 
> "It is. But it's also just regular depression. That's how superhero stories 
> work.

This is so well-put. :D And to be fair, fighting the eldritch entity inside you 
also helps make the regular depression more manageable. Which might be a 
metaphor for... medication, maybe?

> Anyway, I don't know what to do--she's wonderful and I love her and I keep 
> telling her that, of course, but it just... never gets through."

Mmmmmmm yeah @-@ Reeeeeeeeelatable.

> Masterplan Lad nodded yet again. "You have to be patient. You being there for 
> her does make a difference even if it doesn't seem like it does."

EXTREMELY TRUE.

> They saw Victoria sitting alone in her room. She was sitting on her bed with her 
> arms drawn up around her knees.
> 
> "Are you OK?" said Alice.
> 
> Victoria shook her head. "I've been sleeping for, like, a week, and I'm tired. I 
> just... don't know how I'm going to make it through this."

Oof yeah.

> "You totally will," said Manga Girl, who was still scribbling away at one of her 
> drawings. She never seemed to stop.

I find this relatable too, as I am currently dealing with the quarantine via 
pouring nonstop energy into creativity

> "I sometimes feel like... you deserve better than me," she said to Alice.
> 
> "No," said Alice, as definitely as she could. "You are the best. You are."
> 
> "You are!" said Manga Girl.
> 
> "You're a remarkable person and I'm proud to consider you a friend," said 
> Masterplan Lad.
> 
> Victoria smiled weakly. "Thanks, folks. I know you all mean that. It's just, 
> sometimes I don't feel like I really live up to the way you see me."

A familiar conversation from both ends, yeah. @-@

> "That's... quite a lot," said Masterplan Lad.
> 
> "Yeah, I've basically been drawing nonstop since all this started. It's great!"
> 
> "Are you sure all that is healthy?" said Victoria.
> 
> "Yes." She looked at them, glaring with bloodshot eyes. "*I'm sure.*"

Ahahahaha `-`;;;; I mean I feel like I'm in a healthy place with it...

> "OK," resumed Alice. There's gotta be something we can do for fun, Vic. Let's 
> see. I just got a request from Obscure Trivia Lad asking if he wanted to play 
> Trivial Pursuit. I mean, we're probably going to lose, even if there's questions 
> about Xena, but we will kick his ass someday."

awwwwwwww. X3

> Even when she was trying to distract her girlfriend 
> from depressing and anxiety-inducing stuff, it was hard not to think about 
> depressing and anxiety-inducing stuff herself.

Awwwwww.

> "OK," said Alice. "Just remember in spirit I'm always with you."
> 
> Victoria laughed. "God, that sounds cheesy. But that's so you. OK, I'll remember 
> that." She blew a kiss. Evidently they'd helped, a little. She and Manga GIrl 
> logged off.

awwwwwwww <3

> Before MPL could too, Alice asked him: "So, have you noticed something weird?"
> 
> "You're going to have to narrow that down," he said.

x3

> "I know, I know, the usual crossover chronology getting tangled, a side effect 
> of how like, Writers all have their lives outside of this and don't get paid for 
> it so we get stories that go unresolved for years.

Yeah. x-x Gotta get that Patreon going...

> But--there's something else. 
> Something that I kind of almost remember but not quite. Just sort of... digging 
> into the back of the mind like a... toothpick. In my brain. That sounds awful."

It really does @-@

> "It does," said Masterplan Lad, "But I think I know what you mean." He focused 
> his eyes, seeming to read some text on his screen..
> 
> "What are you looking at?" said Alice.
> 
> "Oh, just the LNH Timeline on the wiki. I'm trying to make sure everything at 
> least seems like it fits together."

Fucking legit. X3

> "That's it. Bite-Size Tales of the LNH v20 #19, came out in 2018. In that issue, 
> right, Library Lad figured out what and actually got ahold of a book that had 
> some of Vic's history in it. And--"
> 
> "We've never looked at it," said Masterplan Lad. "We haven't done anything about 
> any of that. Yes. Something is wrong."

Oooooooh nice. :>

> "Hey all," she said Alice. "This is an emergency team meeting. 
> There's--problems. Beyond the big crossover-related ones."
> 
> Strangely, Victoria seemed energized by this. Giving them a smaller, more 
> specific problem to focus on rather than the overwhelming omni-bullshit probably 
> helped.

SUPER legit

> "I believe," he said, "that something is actively stalling us. Sapping our 
> motivation and cutting us off from our narrative agency."

GASP!

> Masterplan Lad shook his head. "No. I believe the fundamental problem here is 
> our Writer. They're dealing with something more than a mere lack of motivation, 
> something that feels artificial in nature. Like a great sucking void of 
> motivation..."
> 
> Manga Girl started laughing out loud.
> 
> "What is it?" said Masterplan Lad.
> 
> "You said 'sucking,'" said Manga Girl. Victoria and Alice started giggling too.

XD XD XD <3 <3 <3

> "Oh. Yes. I suppose I did. But I was going to say--In the last week, this seems 
> to have been startlingly reversed. There's been an enormous increase of activity 
> following a long period of inactivity. Our Writer has written something on the 
> order of thousands of words."
> 
> "That's good!" said Manga Girl. "Right?"
> 
> "I'm not sure," said Masterplan Lad.

Dun dun dunnnnn...

> "Because," he said, "our Writer is currently supercharged with creative energy 
> due to the enormous pressures of the current moment. When they lose that, they 
> could burn out worse than they did before.

Awwwww. Well I'm glad you're thinking about this now X3

> If we can't find a way to them to 
> build a ongoing motivation in a sustainable way, our Writer is going to explode."
> 
> "...That's a metaphor, right?" said Alice.
> 
> "No."

XD XD XD

> "Oh. So what do we do now?" said Manga Girl."
> 
> "We call a trenchcoater."

Oooooooh, interesting.

> Next: A jump back to the past. A new (but familiar) character is introduced, who 
> will cause many complications to come.

DUN DUN DUNNNNN...

Drew "loving this" Nilium