canon is fable 3

[roadtorule]

Okay, okay, I get it. You really like how my hammer's turned out. I admit, it does look pretty cool, but if you ask me, you're getting waaayyy too excited about the fact that it looks like a bird. Can we move on now?

And, um, hey. Just one more thing... You know that whole "canon point" thing? Weird name for it, if you ask me, but that's not what I'm wanting to discuss. Don't you think it's, well... To put it frankly... A bitchy thing to do? Picking the one you've been talking about? Can't I at least know Walter's okay? That's all I'm asking for, really. I just want to know he's okay. Because if you send me someplace, and it makes me think I died out in the middle of the desert, without letting someone know that Walter needs help...

It's not like you don't know what you're doing! That's why you want to go with that one! Seriously, come on. Hey! Don't you walk away from me! Hey!

Dammit.

Comments

[roadtorule]

No, I was just wondering if it works in reverse, too. I don't know how to put the Crawler into words, see?

[controledfreak]

Oh, I see. I had thought you wished for the removal of the memory.

Which is possible, incidentally. Though I suspect your mind would be destroyed in the process.

Not intentionally, mind you. As controlled as I am, your kind is just very easy for us to break. Like using the water of a broken dam to pour water into a pitcher.

But you wish to give me a memory of your own?

[roadtorule]

[Your kind is just very easy for us to break.

Who made you? Who crafted such slight flimsy forms? You rip like insect wings in our hands.]

Yeah. I want to show you the Crawler.

[controledfreak]

Who am I to dismiss an offer like that freely given?

[she giggles, which... probably sounds more like a cackle than she really intends]

2/3

[controledfreak]

[She places a hand on Emma's head again.]

Now, this will be different than the last time. My process was very specific. I planted a memory into your mind. My intrusion upon your psyche was limited to the extent we were connected.

[One of her eyes looked into Emma's.] This process will be different. I have to find your thought in the folds of your psyche, and the extent of my intrusion will be more thorough. To help me, I need you to put all of your mind into that thought, and be ready for me. My presence will be like the sound of metal or crystal being struck. I will try not to hurt you, but I can make mistakes. If the sound becomes unbearable, or I near a memory you do not wish for me to see, clasp my wrist. [She reaches for Emma's hand and places it on her wrist, clenching tightly.] That will be your signal to sever the hold.

3/3

[controledfreak]

I am not trying to deceive you, and I know the preservation of the self is important to your kind. I will try to be brief, but I can make no promises. For me, this is not dangerous in the least, but for you there is an inherent danger. I won't intentionally hurt you, but to do so, you need to trust that I won't.

[She stops, the lucidity of her red eyes focusing and focusing on Emma's expression.] It is not too late to back out now.

[roadtorule]

[The steps this person is making to be sure to tell her what she can, to be sure she has ways out... In the end, it only solidifies her decision. Her expression firms, and she shakes her head.]

Heroes are made of tougher stuff than normal people. I'll be fine. Let's do this.

[And she begins to focus. She starts with the first time she encountered the Crawler with Walter, beginning with the opening of the seal and going all the way until Walter awoke again in the Auroran temple. It would springboard into the final battle, what it did to Bowerstone, what it did to Walter. It would then segue into the effects it had on Logan, things she realized only in hindsight. But that's the point where she goes back to the first encounter again and starts to cycle through the things she wants this person to see, making strong efforts to cut off before her memories shift into her childhood.]

[controledfreak]

[Gl'bgolyb's half-closes her eyes but is deep in thought. In Emma's mind the memories would flash by as normal... only gradually there will be a tiny chime, like a bell. The more she focuses the more the bell chime becomes clearer and clearer until suddenly... the chiming stops. Yet, as each memory changes the landscape of her thoughts, the chiming returns, as though an invisible audience is repositioning themselves to get a better view of what is being shown...

...your audience is there, Emma. She's watching.]

[roadtorule]

[It's... weird. Weird. Weird weird weird. She almost loses her focus because she's thinking too much on just how weird this is, but she catches herself.

She's going to keep rewinding until she's told to stop. She realizes now that she doesn't know how much is enough. But the more she plays it, the less and less certain scenes are shown in their entirety. Logan's trial, she combs over every detail. The final battle with Walter, she begins to hurry through.]

[controledfreak]

[She's not used to this either, and she doesn't know what is and isn't acceptable. She tries to see, but as the visions become more cluttered, the chiming becomes softer... softer...

And then, as the memory of Logan's trial continues, a pale white hand makes it's appearance in Emma's field of vision. One which was definitely not there when the memory was made.]

[roadtorule]

[Emma can't help it; she jars. Her hand suddenly tightening on Gl'bgolyb's wrist is reflexive, thank Avo, even if, once they're back rooted in present day, she feels ashamed for it. It was a kneejerk reaction. There was an immediate thought in her head of Crawler and the deep fear that it had come to take her brother from her, too, and then that was just. It.]

[controledfreak]

[Gl'bgolyb gasps too... which may appear an alarmingly human trait. Her eyes blink a little and she seems unsettled.]

[Despite that, her words may not be expected.]

Sorry.

[roadtorule]

[Emma is shaking her head.]

No... No. I'm the one who should be sorry.

[controledfreak]

[She closes her eyes.]

Your mind was getting disjointed. I had thought...

[...]

It's unimportant.

[roadtorule]

Are you sure?

[controledfreak]

[She closes her eyes tightly and there is one, loud sound coming from the sky, crystalline like in Emma's mind with a high A-note.]

[It lasts a good 10 seconds. And then she opens her eyes.]

Yes.

Sit.

[roadtorule]

[... what in the world was that?

But she takes a seat anyway. How convenient, for there to be comfortable armchairs in this space suddenly.]

[controledfreak]

[It was the sound of her yelling. :)]

Of what little I have seen, it would appear you had a visit from a corrupter. I can tell quite clearly that his intent was the desecration of your world and your people.

And it was quite personal, to him.

[roadtorule]

Personal?

[sorry, she's still adjusting to the concept that the Crawler is more than just some godawful boogeyman monster with no rhyme or reason for what he did besides creating chaos for the sake of it]

[controledfreak]

Yes, personal.

Most of my kind don't take as keen of an interest in any one specific group or species. It is... unusual.

[She gives Emma a sideways glance.]

Consider the weight of that word to a people who's most universal principle is our aberrant nature. As you are a being of order, we are beings of chaos. An idiosyncrasy of any kind is... significant.

[roadtorule]

Maybe he doesn't like Heroes. For all we know, one of them kicked his ass back to the Darkness and he never got over it.

[this is so weird to talk about]

[controledfreak]

Oh, so you do understand.

[roadtorule]

Yeah, I think I do. I don't know if it makes it better or worse, the idea that he did all this for a reason more than "because he could."

[controledfreak]

[pause]

Let me ask you a question.

How do you determine whether your life is a success?

[roadtorule]

[... wha]

I don't think there's really one answer to that. I mean, I know people who would answer "accomplished what I set out to do," and others who'd say "I took care of my family," or "I stood up for what I believed in until the very end." But did you mean that, me personally? Or in general?