with me for a lover, you don't need catastrophes; PHASE III

[Carnage]

lord, I fashion dark gods too;

Wrynn – good post, I liked that you encountered multiple monsters. Nymeria – I’m a little unsure how you were able to dislodge a tentacle by kicking against rocks – it would wreak havoc on a horse’s delicate legs. But you took damage and that’s good! And I’m really happy you ran into one of the sea monsters bc those rock. And good lifelessness trick. Trekk – I like you using your trait but it was futile bc I’m a sadist. I like that you used the shapeshifting aspect of Cthaat. And smart using the heat to make it ‘evaporate’. Dominion – very unique and your writing is super pretty but I would have liked to see more of her experience in this wasteland – this was more surreal like she was still in space? Kellyn – good using your trait. I would have liked more description on the first monsters she encountered. Ramiel – Nice post, it had a good mix of style while being clear on the action. Creative alien trap. Lagertha – hahaha sorry I gave you armor when you already had it, I don’t pay attention apparently. I enjoy your sarcastic style. I wasn’t clear if the lizard thing was something you made up or if it’s in the mythos, but either way, I like it acting as proxy to the heart. Rhy – I liked her using the lightning to ‘find’ water. Yay science. I like your subtle inclusion of the gods. Not sure if the one at the end was a god or a hallucination but it was fun. Kratos – I really liked that you roleplayed the gods as well! Some grammatical errors. Nihlus – did a child just appear? That bit confused me. Also, how did he set himself on fire? I can’t find any record of him having that ability. Good research on your monster. Tyrna – good research on your monster. I would like a bit more creativity; Tyrna just seemed to run away successfully. Judgement: well turns out judging this was a stupid idea bc seriously I was super delighted to just read a ton of posts by lovely writers mentioning Lovecraftian gods because hello, that is awesome, I want to do it again. Unfortunately this quest shouldn’t go on forever so I have to eliminate: Tyrna – you posted after the 24 hour limit. For the next BQ year (1 month) Tyrna will have uncontrollable werewolf shifting. This is non-genetic and will go away after 1 month when the wormhole’s ‘effects’ have worn off. Dominion – I loved your writing but ultimately it was almost like she was still in space and didn’t really deal with this apocalyptic wasteland. For the next BQ year (1 month) Dominion will have star markings on her body (one for each family member who sacrificed themselves). You can choose to have this fade away after the allotted time, or keep it. ******* She is alone. She is not alone. She exists like butterflies encased in glass do. She exists in perpetuity. She should not exist but time itself seems to no longer be. The chewing noise, the sound of the earth being eaten alive, always comes closer but never arrives. There is some point in time when everything resets and the day begins anew, although she has long stopped keeping time in days. She does not keep time at all. She exists. She does not exist. He left her and he paused things, somehow. He paused things and left her here in this strange perpetual state where she’s forgotten the sound of her own voice and cannot remember any noise but the one of radio static, of a world long meant to end. She loves him. She does not love him. She waits for him like she waits to take her next breath. He is an intrinsic part of her. It’s no longer about love, if it ever was. (“We’re indefinable.”) He is simply a part of her, some vital organ. They come, wading out of the sea like the Great Old Ones once did (they are gone now, perhaps fallen to the langoliers, perhaps in another galaxy, but she knows they were once here and are now gone). She watches them and it’s like the final piece is in play because suddenly time starts again. She’s forgotten what it’s like to feel time, the progression of it rather than the same stale set of hours washing over her again and again. She finds it strange and beautiful and horrifying. The sound is suddenly so, so much closer. All around them the earth is shaking and the world is disappearing. The langoliers – those strange black things, indefinable shapes that somehow hurt the eye, are eating the world, swallowing it down whole. And they are advancing. After all this time, all these resets, they are advancing. She wants to die. She does not want to die. She does not know who these horses are, or why they are here. She does not know why things have suddenly changed. Why time has come back to her. (It feels heavy and palpable, time. She never knew time had a feeling. Like rocks tied around the ankles.) “Why,” she says. It is a whisper. She hasn’t spoken since she told him she wants to see how the world ends. And part of her does, with or without him. It won’t be long now. The ground is shaking. She is shaking. In the distance it is black. There is no longer any land. Any world. Any reality. “Why,” she says again. She looks at them. She wonders if any of them are his. She sees hints of him in their faces. His legacy continues on. “I can’t go,” she says. Surely her feet won’t move. Surely she is glued here, pinned here – his butterfly in glass. “I’m supposed to die here,” she says. “We were supposed to die here.” But they did not. He left her, and time froze, reset, reset again and again and again for enough years that she’s lost so much of herself, floating here, existing and not existing, always with static in her ears. She wants to go. She does not want to go. RULES: You found Gail, yay! However, by coming here you ‘restarted’ time (Gail was sort of frozen in time after Carnage left), which means the langoliers are closer and the world is basically coming to an end. But Gail has been here in a Groundhog Day-esque perpetuity and isn’t sure she should – or can - come back. So you’ve been quick, and you’ve fought monsters. Now you get to play politician. Tell Gail why she should come back. Tell her what Beqanna is like now (she literally ‘died’ with Carnage in 2008 our time, so it’s been awhile). Tell her why she should come back to Carnage (background: they’ve been ‘together’ since they were foals, he can’t read her mind or really use magic on her bc reasons that exist in my head, she died with another man but then he brought her back only to take her to the end of the world and leave her here) – or at the very least, why she shouldn’t stay and die here. You have ALL WEEKEND to write a reply, because I won’t be on a good computer until Monday. So all posts must be in by 8:00 CST Monday (May 18th) bc I actually have to write the next part (I think there’s only 1 or 2 more parts, I don’t know, turns out I’m horrible at eliminating people) that day. The last person to reply will be automatically eliminated; additional eliminations will also occur and will be based on creativity, style, and how good your argument is. As I mentioned in my first post, this end of the world place alludes heavily to Stephen King's novella The Langoliers. Langoliers are these amorphous black things hypothesized to be the 'timekeepers of eternity' and are described as "monsters expanding and contracting with semicircular caves as mouths and chainsaw-like teeth leaving trails of black nothingness in their wake."  If you have any questions, email me at acmrshll@gmail.com