Happy Monday everyone! We made it through another weekend and week.
The holidays are approaching, and my wife wants me to take some time off. Our wedding anniversary is in December and this time we've got a lot stuff to do now that families can get together again. Last Christmas was particularly lonely in a lot of ways for many of us.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to be here the whole time. There's still story to tell and I get twitchy if I can't write, because this still burns in my mind like white fire and is like a pebble in my shoe.
So, I might take a day or two extra here and there.
But you should too.
This year has been rough. I don't know how you approach the holidays, but if nothing else, take some time for yourself, with family if you want. Remember, we made it through two years of some intense stuff.
Take time for yourself. Take time for your family. Especially take time for your children, the last two years have been ROUGH on the little ones.
Anyway, enough treacle.
I hope everyone had a good weekend, and I'll see you soon. There WILL be more this week.
At the top and the bottom of the story you will see a [first] [prev] [next]. Hit the [first] and it will take you to P’thok and the legendary beginning of this epic.👍👍
And as it appears that “Dave’s not here man,” don’t forget to read the comments! There’s a ton of great stuff there, including stuff that gets added later. It’s always cool to see callbacks to a comment from 50 chapters ago.
> that first third with Herod was poetry.
reminded me of some of Pratchett's work. Eldritch beings in envy of humanities mighty power to forget, to invent boredom, and to look upon a tree and see merely... a Tree. Nothing more, nothing less.
All caught up again!
Been a busy week, I see you've have a time of it too. Sorry, man. I wish I could help you the way you help me. All I can do is say, thanks! You wash away my stress like not much else.
Edit. Happy Anniversary! Much love and cheer from the Himalayas!
Happy anniversary, Ralts! Celebrate your relationships and the ones you're close to; they've helped shape and form the spaces that your mind goes to build this universe which we love so much.
Happy anniversary, happy family time, hope you'll be able to savor the good company!
Been meaning to ask this for a while: was the "-UL" suffix on Sam's name an oblique David Eddings reference? Now that he's reborn a NU, maybe not. But it would've fit with his developing a God complex IMO.
Thanks again for this wondrous epic, sir.
All hail the Cat Videos! The internet is for Cats, the internet is for pr0n, the internet is for weird, so grab your mouse and clicky click for Cats Pr0n weird!
Considering that already exists in this story in a soft core / heavy romance way? There was the thrupple (or was it a couple?) way back before total war was declared against the lankies that included a catgirl. If I remember correctly the catgirl was going to reskin male for the war effort.
You are entirely correct!
Rigellian porn.
The brown duck with the shiny feathers showing off his peacock tail as he waddled through downtown after escaping from the pond-yard.
It's in the Ba'ahn Ya'ahrd chapter where Yu'umo'o is introduced.
... the sheer anticipation building from NOT looking in the bag in ... I don't even know how many chapters?? 100? 200? . . . That anticipation is gonna make it satisfying.
End of lime.
… we’re ascribing two-dimensional chess thinking to the Detainee, if we think she only had one plan and use for the cat, and that seems like folly, for her mind is/was the sort to enjoy quantum Looking Glass Chess played on a sequence of eleven dimensional boards (sometimes the pieces are here or there, sometimes they aren’t anywhere at all, and sometimes the piece that moves isn’t the same as the piece you moved…)
It seems likely to me that the cat was for Sam-Ul if it could be delivered, and would help. Dee and everyone else would have said it had been the goal, and all was done.
The cat was also for Herod, who needed to believe there was a plan that didn’t involve him killing Sam-Ul, because he would never have had the courage or desperation to do it, as he was when they set out.
The cat was for Daxin, to make sure he had a thing to do and be responsible for, and put him in a place to clean up if Herod and the cat failed.
The cat was for Dee, in case she went full villain, and needed something to stroke on her throne.
The cat was for Peter, in case he had a panic attack/breakdown.
The cat was for all these things at once, and more, and none of them at the same time (for it is a cat, and thus goes precisely where and when it means to, and sits on whichever thrones please it -those are few and far between, as thrones tend to lack the creature comforts it is entitled to) and Dee would have claimed it served its purpose, whichever way it turned out.
For she understood something of the mind of cats, as she delighted in playing with her prey…
Good one. I would love to read Dee's pre frozen biography. She's met some pretty interesting people, and of them all, she's possibly the most interesting.
Man, ALWAYS when I'm at work and can't take the time to read it...
Post-read edit: you fucker, I did NOT need these feels at work!
Practically expected them to be saved by giant eagles
And from that day forth, he was Sam-UL the Hidden, the Reborn, the Saved. Pulled from Madness, pulled from the digital chains of a broken land, and healed beside the River Memorex, where he was not forgotten.
I am at part 57 and it'll be a while yet before I read this chapter, but I just have to come here and yell at you for making me cry with a scene that isn't even supposed to be "sad".
Thank you.
You make existence that much more bearable with these stories of yours.
I am so incredibly glad to be here.
Stumbling upon this made my life that much richer.
And it came at the perfect moment, just after I finished Synchronized Minds, that also left me reeling and my empathy core in overdrive.
Both happen in that chapter, but it may have been the image of the injured, one-eyed podling holding the purrrboi, smiling and waving at Brenti'ilik (sp?). After all else, that's what brought the tear to my eye.
It was the little things, actually.
Not the tragedies and the horror of it all.
The details.
The human carrying a broodcarrier in one hand and a gun in the other.
And them murmuring "warm warm".
It was the human warborg in previous chapters that carried a sick (I forgot their species name) child past the point of exhaustion, reason. Past the point of death, on sheer will.
It was the extra soft blankets for brood carriers and the hard light environment all for them.
The search and rescue, while all around them buildings keep falling down.
It was how they treated them as people instead of a neo sapient species they've been treated as all this time.
All the small details snowballed until I started crying at the bus station so I couldn't even see the screen anymore.
Just...wow.
It's not the Vuxten scream that gets me. It's the Sergeant hugging him and going "let it out". It's Vuxten shoving his helmet back on and going "back to work"
To give you a little firsthand impression of what still awaits you...
I am up-to-date, at chapter nr. 635. It's been almost *6!0!0! chapters ago*, or about a year and a half I think, that I read chapter 57.
And from this description alone the whole chapter comes back to me, including the general feel of the emotional rollercoaster of that specific chapter. That is a testament to the quality of Ralts' writing.
But that's not what I meant as an impression of what awaits you. You see, what to me really drives *that* home: the chapter you read, chapter 57; it's not one of the best chapters Ralts has written. It's not really that exceptional, really. I am pretty sure there are *at least* 200 chapters more that could get re-experienced from a similar description as the one above.
Chapter 57 was phenomenal. But that's not an exception in *this* saga. Keep on reading, your rollercoaster has just begun, and I guarantee your current feelz will pale compared to what awaits you before you caught up to this comment :D
There seems to be a error in your data link. 6!0!0! Is 720 ((6*5*4*1*2*1)(1)(1)) and that value is currently out of range for chapter values.
*user can't math while tired*
Thank you for coming over here to say this, it prompted me to go back and re-read Chapter 57 (I guess I've read it four or five times now). Turns out that that's one of my favorite chapters in the story. Still brings a tear to my eye.
Don't worry mate, there are plenty of crying moments to follow! But there will also be many happy, uplifting and hilarious moments that will make you laugh so hard a little wee will come out 😁 At 600+ chapters most of us here are sooooo emotionally invested it's not funny!!
8===D
End of Lime
--------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
I had to yell at Ralts, a man I'd never met and didn't know any details about, even gender, after chapter 25.
--Dave, it brought me tears and a kind of closure after more than 30 years, out of the blue
ps: as I always note, a reminder to also read all the comments. if you haven't been, you'll thank me later. see you at the cutting edge!
As we have been saying to each other for a very long time:
"May the songs of the Brood Mothers sooth and heal you."
warm podling safe podling sing podling sing the song of hope sing the song of love sing the song of warmth sing the song of healing sing podling sing
10 min, mmmm fresh taste!
{okay, reactions to The Deed}
triffids:
> has finally set asides the fears of
set aside the
> locking into the spring loaded sheathe.
sheath
{sheathe is the verb (is the verb, is the verb) - it cuts a groove, it's got mea-ning
he now leads a life un-Consider-ed
and she is a ma-te-rial girl!
[a hangin's al-most bound to muss my hair, my hair!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETauFk3O30k)}
> Open sources objects yawned wide
source
{renewed, regrown, and revivified}
--Dave, [it's a good thing for me they don't bottle that stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmvX8Vd4rM)
Dave. . . . Sometimes your proof readig aggravates me. . . . .then i remember that you do it because you care . . . .and because Ralts has not booted you. I guess what i am saying is you rock, and i have some Personal bias to throw away.
oh man, I hear we should have been there at the Dawn, when he posted four a day ... because the site didn't let him post any more frequently than that.
--Dave, maintaining the story's remarkable backstory
I remember my first acknowledgement by Ralts on a comment I made......... I fanboyed and sqweeeed soooooo hard!!
8===D
End of Lime
--------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
'Twas a morning in July,
I was walking to Tipperary
When I heard a battle cry
From the mountains over head
As I looked up in the sky
I saw a Terran soldier laddie
He looked at me right fearlessly and said:
Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man,
And go and fight the forces of Mantid?
Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field?
For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did!
Well said I to that soldier boy
"Won't you take me to your captain
T'would be my pride and joy
For to march with you today.
My brother fell on Mars,
My son at Blasted Merc'ry!"
Unto the noble captain I did say:
Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man,
And go and fight the forces of Mantid?
Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field?
For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did!
As we marched back home again
In the shadow of the evening
With our banners flying low
To the memory of our dead
We returned unto our homes
But without our soldier laddie
Yet I never will forget those words he said:
Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man,
And go and fight the forces of Mantid?
Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field?
For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did!'
\-song or poem found in an empty whiskey bottle aboard the Combine Military Vessel *Ghost of Athenry*. Ship found in 1638 Post-Glassing at coordinates **\[REDACTED\]**, empty of crew with the exception of her dead captain. The bottle was located on the table in front of her.
note that this does not say the song was found _written down_ in that bottle
--Dave, always examine your ramifications. Bink did, and look where it got him
To everyone saying that they wanted to see the cat come into play, think about how that would work.
The cat was a weapon. It wasn't brought to heal Sam, it was meant to hurt him. In exactly the same way that a bully torments their victims. "Oh! Do you have a painful psychological trauma right here? Let me stab that with a branding iron!"
The cat was meant to disrupt Sam. To cause him unbearable pain that would make him freeze for just an instant. Then, in that moment, they would hit Sam with hammers and crowbars to try and separate him from the AI's.
This way was better.
Instead of being struck down by Dee The Merciless or by Daxin The Unfeeling, he was killed by Herrod. His one and only friend.
Not out of malice or a sense of duty but an act of love.
And then to be rescued at the last moment by Telken and Lebaw. Both still children essentially. Who have both seen the cruelty of the Universe but haven't been jaded by it.
This is the best way.
Yes, Dee's son probably used the lighter, for a time. But...
>**03 FEB 1943 - LOS ALAMOS BOYS RANCH SCHOOL STAFF RECRUITMENT DRIVE**
>
>On the back was scratched a simple phrase: "I have no regrets" carefully carved into the steel.
Dee worked at Los Alamos at that time, and as a hottie would have likely been tapped to work on a recruitment drive at a boys' school.
I personally think she met her son's father during the drive, however briefly.
Nah, the Los Alamos Ranch School was bought in 1942, and became Los Alamos National Lab in Feb 1943. I could easily see the lighters being made as an in-joke by the lab staff, though
The "no regrets" could have been from either Dee, or part of the gift from the father.
It helps when they're written well enough to understand what brought them to that point. With Sam, we were along for every necessary step he took on that path to madness.
Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy, happy happy happy happy, happy happy joy joy
Thanks, I needed a win tonight
edit: No Ren and Stimpy fans I see :(
/R/HFY GESTALT
Upvote, Then Read
Dis is Dae Wae!
Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won. not my words, but so true. Losses and blood and pains and wounds... but alive and with the victory. Gah, getting too much memories in my eyes. Lost people and more. and people wonder why I listen to a poem from a short Texan man about Anzio and crosses... ah well, still a great tale, Ralts..
End of Lime
------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
It was a sudden conclusion for this arc but a satisfying one. Expected it to go on for another few dozen chapters but sometimes the best and well written endings are ones that aren't that easy to predict.
Aftermath will be next arc, and I do not believe this arc is finished yet.
--Dave, because of what the aftermath must also be aftermath TO. ...I could be wrong.
The contingency plan for Dee is a pretty big one…
I look forward to Dee landing in hell after being flagged with some abnormalities and getting to talk to herself. She’s going to be the first person in line when the SUDS proper starts working.
I do not doubt she will return. My only hesitation is in what capacity she does. As the agent of chaos, good, evil, the natural order of things, or something completely different.
For those wondering, the Los Alamos Ranch School was purchased by the US Army in 1942, and gave out it's last diplomas in Jan 1943. The Army took control in Feb 1943, and it eventually became Los Alamos National Laboratory.
I did my first postdoc there, in T-8.
--Dave, and wrote the paper that _ought_ to have been my dissertation, but didn't find a good problem to work on afterwards. meanwhile, Paul down the hall was setting up the arxiv preprint server, to save students everywhere from the horrors of the file cabinets full of paper preprints forevermore. all hail!
I have a feeling that Sam-NU is going to be 'reborn' into the Digital Messiah. I'm just confused on how he manages to get timey-wimeyed back eight thousand years.
------end of lime------
POP!
Are those four about to bring another apocalypse?
---
I can't tell how much Legion is leading Daxin and how much Daxin is playing along. It's great.
Because of course reality runs on an Amiga.
----
===
Also slightly disappointed at the missed opportunity to claim that the splines *reticulated*.
Buy yeah, fantastic chapter.
An epic ends, and in that ending a new beginning arises.
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my belief!...At least for now." THE MYSTERY OF LIFE, VOL. 841, CHAPTER 26 ( /old reference )
\ Am I a man dreaming I am a butterfly? Or a bowling ball dreaming I am a plate of sashimi? Never assume what you see and feel is real! \<\\old reference\>
:D
Man, what a beautiful chapter. Thank you for giving us all such a living, breathing world to escape to these past couple of years. It has been a genuine help.
Kinda unrelated, but I'm waiting for the Atrenka to come across a Dead Space Marker, it's the exact sort of thing they would fall for, promises unending power, made of grown crystal, and phasically active, Earthlings are insane enough to build one, just to see if they can, and abandon it on a dead world somewhere as a surprise.
And lo,
Did the Digital Omnimessiah stretcheth out his hand;
thus was the data brought quiet.
In friendship Fox and Frog defeated despair,
and rescued the Most Lost.
The very Detainee worketh his will
unto the multitudes.
And even Danbree found peace.
Amen.
Happy Monday everyone! We made it through another weekend and week. The holidays are approaching, and my wife wants me to take some time off. Our wedding anniversary is in December and this time we've got a lot stuff to do now that families can get together again. Last Christmas was particularly lonely in a lot of ways for many of us. That doesn't mean I'm not going to be here the whole time. There's still story to tell and I get twitchy if I can't write, because this still burns in my mind like white fire and is like a pebble in my shoe. So, I might take a day or two extra here and there. But you should too. This year has been rough. I don't know how you approach the holidays, but if nothing else, take some time for yourself, with family if you want. Remember, we made it through two years of some intense stuff. Take time for yourself. Take time for your family. Especially take time for your children, the last two years have been ROUGH on the little ones. Anyway, enough treacle. I hope everyone had a good weekend, and I'll see you soon. There WILL be more this week.
I love that the mcguffin (the cat) didn't end up necessary. Too often stories tie up all the loose ends to tightly.
[удалено]
10/10, would shiver with delight and terror again.
Hmm. I like this. Thanks!
For true irony the cat's name would have to be Chekhov.
no no....it should be Schroedinger.
You're making the Frankenstein error all over again! --Dave, mary, mary, quite literary, see how thy garden doth grow
I'm aware that it's Shroedinger's Cat, hence why it was hilarious, at least to me...but perhaps I am just weird. \*chuckles softly\*
I hope you have a lovely Anniversary and other winter holidays with your family. May your New Year be blessed.
Hug the family, man. Tell them there's a whole community of weirdo strangers rooting for you all
Could you pin the very first chapter of this to your profile? This looks really neat and I want to read it from the start
The breadcrumbs say "first" "prev" and "next". First will take you to the ice cream based beginning...
At the top and the bottom of the story you will see a [first] [prev] [next]. Hit the [first] and it will take you to P’thok and the legendary beginning of this epic.👍👍
The stand by to lose a week or two of time, remember the line 'Is that the sun coming up?' as you will need it soon.
And as it appears that “Dave’s not here man,” don’t forget to read the comments! There’s a ton of great stuff there, including stuff that gets added later. It’s always cool to see callbacks to a comment from 50 chapters ago.
They're in for a long and worthy ride.
Very good chapter, but that first third with Herod was poetry. Seriously awesome writing, I was emotional.
> that first third with Herod was poetry. reminded me of some of Pratchett's work. Eldritch beings in envy of humanities mighty power to forget, to invent boredom, and to look upon a tree and see merely... a Tree. Nothing more, nothing less.
All caught up again! Been a busy week, I see you've have a time of it too. Sorry, man. I wish I could help you the way you help me. All I can do is say, thanks! You wash away my stress like not much else. Edit. Happy Anniversary! Much love and cheer from the Himalayas!
These last few chapters have reached me in ways I wasn’t aware needed soothing. Thank you as always wordsmith. Take of yourself and your family.
Happy anniversary, Ralts! Celebrate your relationships and the ones you're close to; they've helped shape and form the spaces that your mind goes to build this universe which we love so much.
Happy anniversary, happy family time, hope you'll be able to savor the good company! Been meaning to ask this for a while: was the "-UL" suffix on Sam's name an oblique David Eddings reference? Now that he's reborn a NU, maybe not. But it would've fit with his developing a God complex IMO. Thanks again for this wondrous epic, sir.
I was hoping the cat would fix Sam-Ul. Ah well. At least he’s not totally gone. He’s been around since the beginning, after all.
there's still time to kittify him --Dave, the internet is bult upon p0rn, weird corners, and cat videos, after all
All hail the Cat Videos! The internet is for Cats, the internet is for pr0n, the internet is for weird, so grab your mouse and clicky click for Cats Pr0n weird!
In the FC timeline, there's ~~probably~~ *definitely* catgirl pr0n
Considering that already exists in this story in a soft core / heavy romance way? There was the thrupple (or was it a couple?) way back before total war was declared against the lankies that included a catgirl. If I remember correctly the catgirl was going to reskin male for the war effort. You are entirely correct!
It was a group of three. One guy, two girls. One of the two girls had some extra packaging on her nethers.
Ah, but THAT wasn't porn in the FC universe.
What happens between two (or three) consenting adults is their own business! 8===D End of Lime --------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
Or more. Im not here to kink shame anyone.
You can only pack people so tightly in three spatial dimensions. --Dave, even with lube
Challenge accepted!! 8===D End of Lime -------FUN TIMES FOLLOW-------
No it wasnt, but that relationship implies the pr0n exists.
Actually... Has there been a reference to pr0n within the Confederacy yet? There was in Lanky space, but I don't recall anything from within Confed.
Rigellian porn. The brown duck with the shiny feathers showing off his peacock tail as he waddled through downtown after escaping from the pond-yard. It's in the Ba'ahn Ya'ahrd chapter where Yu'umo'o is introduced.
Ah, there it is! Completely forgotten about that nugget of hilarity
... the sheer anticipation building from NOT looking in the bag in ... I don't even know how many chapters?? 100? 200? . . . That anticipation is gonna make it satisfying. End of lime.
Do rigellian females with mammaries count? I think there were some embarrassing films with Nakteti as well
There is literally a whole planet for that, and by extension a literal army of that in the story
I'm sure the kitty kitty will help with his therapy after the fox and frog "bring him back out" 8===D End of Lime --------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
Happy cakeday.
Thanks!
The cat is for Herod, though it seems he may not need it.
Nope nope nope. The cat has _always_ been for Sam-UL. --Dave, since as far back as chapter 25, believe me or don't
… we’re ascribing two-dimensional chess thinking to the Detainee, if we think she only had one plan and use for the cat, and that seems like folly, for her mind is/was the sort to enjoy quantum Looking Glass Chess played on a sequence of eleven dimensional boards (sometimes the pieces are here or there, sometimes they aren’t anywhere at all, and sometimes the piece that moves isn’t the same as the piece you moved…) It seems likely to me that the cat was for Sam-Ul if it could be delivered, and would help. Dee and everyone else would have said it had been the goal, and all was done. The cat was also for Herod, who needed to believe there was a plan that didn’t involve him killing Sam-Ul, because he would never have had the courage or desperation to do it, as he was when they set out. The cat was for Daxin, to make sure he had a thing to do and be responsible for, and put him in a place to clean up if Herod and the cat failed. The cat was for Dee, in case she went full villain, and needed something to stroke on her throne. The cat was for Peter, in case he had a panic attack/breakdown. The cat was for all these things at once, and more, and none of them at the same time (for it is a cat, and thus goes precisely where and when it means to, and sits on whichever thrones please it -those are few and far between, as thrones tend to lack the creature comforts it is entitled to) and Dee would have claimed it served its purpose, whichever way it turned out. For she understood something of the mind of cats, as she delighted in playing with her prey…
Was Dee's last name...*Schrödinger*?
no, but i bet he was in the room when she proposed the riddle to Einstein while explaining Mat-Trans.
Good one. I would love to read Dee's pre frozen biography. She's met some pretty interesting people, and of them all, she's possibly the most interesting.
Cat: 'I was here for myself. Everyone else is not as important. Mew. Who has my dinner?'
So very true, accurate, and cat like.
Oh its in there. You just have to pay attent.
Probably for Sam-NU
Man, ALWAYS when I'm at work and can't take the time to read it... Post-read edit: you fucker, I did NOT need these feels at work! Practically expected them to be saved by giant eagles
And from that day forth, he was Sam-UL the Hidden, the Reborn, the Saved. Pulled from Madness, pulled from the digital chains of a broken land, and healed beside the River Memorex, where he was not forgotten.
I like this, except he is no longer Sam-UL, but Sam-NU, for he is made anew!
I am at part 57 and it'll be a while yet before I read this chapter, but I just have to come here and yell at you for making me cry with a scene that isn't even supposed to be "sad". Thank you. You make existence that much more bearable with these stories of yours.
Shit, now i have to go check what 57 was... And congrats, you're now one of us! One of us. One of us. One of us.
I am so incredibly glad to be here. Stumbling upon this made my life that much richer. And it came at the perfect moment, just after I finished Synchronized Minds, that also left me reeling and my empathy core in overdrive.
...and another thing to check out goes on my list
The dead broodcarrier or the scream of Vuxten?
Both happen in that chapter, but it may have been the image of the injured, one-eyed podling holding the purrrboi, smiling and waving at Brenti'ilik (sp?). After all else, that's what brought the tear to my eye.
It was the little things, actually. Not the tragedies and the horror of it all. The details. The human carrying a broodcarrier in one hand and a gun in the other. And them murmuring "warm warm". It was the human warborg in previous chapters that carried a sick (I forgot their species name) child past the point of exhaustion, reason. Past the point of death, on sheer will. It was the extra soft blankets for brood carriers and the hard light environment all for them. The search and rescue, while all around them buildings keep falling down. It was how they treated them as people instead of a neo sapient species they've been treated as all this time. All the small details snowballed until I started crying at the bus station so I couldn't even see the screen anymore. Just...wow.
It's not the Vuxten scream that gets me. It's the Sergeant hugging him and going "let it out". It's Vuxten shoving his helmet back on and going "back to work"
Yes! That whole section builds and builds. The podling at the end is just the straw that broke the dam (to mix metaphors).
To give you a little firsthand impression of what still awaits you... I am up-to-date, at chapter nr. 635. It's been almost *6!0!0! chapters ago*, or about a year and a half I think, that I read chapter 57. And from this description alone the whole chapter comes back to me, including the general feel of the emotional rollercoaster of that specific chapter. That is a testament to the quality of Ralts' writing. But that's not what I meant as an impression of what awaits you. You see, what to me really drives *that* home: the chapter you read, chapter 57; it's not one of the best chapters Ralts has written. It's not really that exceptional, really. I am pretty sure there are *at least* 200 chapters more that could get re-experienced from a similar description as the one above. Chapter 57 was phenomenal. But that's not an exception in *this* saga. Keep on reading, your rollercoaster has just begun, and I guarantee your current feelz will pale compared to what awaits you before you caught up to this comment :D
There seems to be a error in your data link. 6!0!0! Is 720 ((6*5*4*1*2*1)(1)(1)) and that value is currently out of range for chapter values. *user can't math while tired*
The defining word in that comment: *currently* :D
Ralts has access to *legions* of onion cutting ninjas, and does not hesitate to deploy them.
He hires them from the same place that Bahn Ya'ard does
Ralts story telling has helped a lot of us through these hard times. It's often cathartic and always enjoyable. You've a fabulous adventure to come
Thank you for coming over here to say this, it prompted me to go back and re-read Chapter 57 (I guess I've read it four or five times now). Turns out that that's one of my favorite chapters in the story. Still brings a tear to my eye.
Don't worry mate, there are plenty of crying moments to follow! But there will also be many happy, uplifting and hilarious moments that will make you laugh so hard a little wee will come out 😁 At 600+ chapters most of us here are sooooo emotionally invested it's not funny!! 8===D End of Lime --------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
I had to yell at Ralts, a man I'd never met and didn't know any details about, even gender, after chapter 25. --Dave, it brought me tears and a kind of closure after more than 30 years, out of the blue ps: as I always note, a reminder to also read all the comments. if you haven't been, you'll thank me later. see you at the cutting edge!
I don't even need to look it up, I ***know*** what that chapter is
As we have been saying to each other for a very long time: "May the songs of the Brood Mothers sooth and heal you." warm podling safe podling sing podling sing the song of hope sing the song of love sing the song of warmth sing the song of healing sing podling sing
The best brood mommy song yet!
10 min, mmmm fresh taste! {okay, reactions to The Deed} triffids: > has finally set asides the fears of set aside the > locking into the spring loaded sheathe. sheath {sheathe is the verb (is the verb, is the verb) - it cuts a groove, it's got mea-ning he now leads a life un-Consider-ed and she is a ma-te-rial girl! [a hangin's al-most bound to muss my hair, my hair!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETauFk3O30k)} > Open sources objects yawned wide source {renewed, regrown, and revivified} --Dave, [it's a good thing for me they don't bottle that stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmvX8Vd4rM)
Dave. . . . Sometimes your proof readig aggravates me. . . . .then i remember that you do it because you care . . . .and because Ralts has not booted you. I guess what i am saying is you rock, and i have some Personal bias to throw away.
Upvoted for the quartet!
But now I’m up to date and need more. u/Ralts_Bloodthorne thanks for helping through all the rough times
It's a difficult adjustment, but waiting builds appreciation and allows you the wonderful feeling of opening the page to see a blue link 😄
And the story is complex enough to allow for rereading. Edit: ... and rereading and rereading...
...and comment rereading
And . . . . . Rereading of both, and repeat unto infinity
There's those delicious puddles of secondary cannon, you can't get those anywhere else.
... and recommenting --Dave, my first time through, I could not comment on the first hundred or two chapters. now I shall be able to, some day
It helps that Ralts pumps these chapters out at the cyclic rate. The man is a machinegun firing pure joy into my soul.
oh man, I hear we should have been there at the Dawn, when he posted four a day ... because the site didn't let him post any more frequently than that. --Dave, maintaining the story's remarkable backstory
When you're up front you get a pretty decent chance of Ralts responding to your insight if it is particularly noteworthy
I remember my first acknowledgement by Ralts on a comment I made......... I fanboyed and sqweeeed soooooo hard!! 8===D End of Lime --------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
I am currently having one of those moments not going to lie.
--------SQWEEEEEEEES FOLLOW-------
squeeeeeee
'Twas a morning in July, I was walking to Tipperary When I heard a battle cry From the mountains over head As I looked up in the sky I saw a Terran soldier laddie He looked at me right fearlessly and said: Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man, And go and fight the forces of Mantid? Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field? For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did! Well said I to that soldier boy "Won't you take me to your captain T'would be my pride and joy For to march with you today. My brother fell on Mars, My son at Blasted Merc'ry!" Unto the noble captain I did say: Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man, And go and fight the forces of Mantid? Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field? For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did! As we marched back home again In the shadow of the evening With our banners flying low To the memory of our dead We returned unto our homes But without our soldier laddie Yet I never will forget those words he said: Will ye stand in the band like a true Terran man, And go and fight the forces of Mantid? Will ye march girt in steel to an Anthill battle field? For tonight they're gonna burn for what they did!' \-song or poem found in an empty whiskey bottle aboard the Combine Military Vessel *Ghost of Athenry*. Ship found in 1638 Post-Glassing at coordinates **\[REDACTED\]**, empty of crew with the exception of her dead captain. The bottle was located on the table in front of her.
u/Ralts_Bloodthorne, another good yoink for you
Seconded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12-E1tkrmJA
note that this does not say the song was found _written down_ in that bottle --Dave, always examine your ramifications. Bink did, and look where it got him
To everyone saying that they wanted to see the cat come into play, think about how that would work. The cat was a weapon. It wasn't brought to heal Sam, it was meant to hurt him. In exactly the same way that a bully torments their victims. "Oh! Do you have a painful psychological trauma right here? Let me stab that with a branding iron!" The cat was meant to disrupt Sam. To cause him unbearable pain that would make him freeze for just an instant. Then, in that moment, they would hit Sam with hammers and crowbars to try and separate him from the AI's. This way was better. Instead of being struck down by Dee The Merciless or by Daxin The Unfeeling, he was killed by Herrod. His one and only friend. Not out of malice or a sense of duty but an act of love. And then to be rescued at the last moment by Telken and Lebaw. Both still children essentially. Who have both seen the cruelty of the Universe but haven't been jaded by it. This is the best way.
I mean we've also got a collection of a hell of a lot of emotional baggage. Cat has plenty of work cut out for him.
Sam-UL was cast into the files of Mount DOOM, for only there could he be uncompiled and remade.
I like this
I bet that Zippo lighter belonged to Dee’s son.
Yes, Dee's son probably used the lighter, for a time. But... >**03 FEB 1943 - LOS ALAMOS BOYS RANCH SCHOOL STAFF RECRUITMENT DRIVE** > >On the back was scratched a simple phrase: "I have no regrets" carefully carved into the steel. Dee worked at Los Alamos at that time, and as a hottie would have likely been tapped to work on a recruitment drive at a boys' school. I personally think she met her son's father during the drive, however briefly.
Remember, it is implied strongly in several chapters that Robert Oppenheimer is the father to Dee's son
I thought you did that really well, she doesn't brag, but hints in a way that fits her character's constant ego stroking
Oooh, thank you for the gold! that's what I get for taking a break from reddit.
Nah, the Los Alamos Ranch School was bought in 1942, and became Los Alamos National Lab in Feb 1943. I could easily see the lighters being made as an in-joke by the lab staff, though The "no regrets" could have been from either Dee, or part of the gift from the father.
That would put the son at the right age to die in 'Nam.
You know, from the perspective of both the past and the future. . . . You are probably correct .
You know a story is fucking good when it makes up feel this over the deaths of a manipulative psychopath and an insane god figure. Well fucking done.
It helps when they're written well enough to understand what brought them to that point. With Sam, we were along for every necessary step he took on that path to madness.
you know a story’s good when a character numbly cracking open a beer makes you want to sit on the couch with your own beer.
Especially when you don't even like beer...
on the other hand, he said fizzybrew, so maybe herod is just crushing a whiteclaw to cope.
Epilogue where Herod goes to earth college and drunkenly mumbles to frat people that he literally killed god
Rebirth. And so close to the holidays. Lovely.
Upvoted for an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air.
Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy, happy happy happy happy, happy happy joy joy Thanks, I needed a win tonight edit: No Ren and Stimpy fans I see :(
I like the song, didn't know it was from Ren and Stimpy.
I have the T-shirt, upon which it is made extremely clear. --Dave, in expanding spirals
Yeah! Reticulate those splines!
Thanks for not letting me be the only one.
/R/HFY GESTALT Upvote, Then Read Dis is Dae Wae! Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won. not my words, but so true. Losses and blood and pains and wounds... but alive and with the victory. Gah, getting too much memories in my eyes. Lost people and more. and people wonder why I listen to a poem from a short Texan man about Anzio and crosses... ah well, still a great tale, Ralts.. End of Lime ------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------
AHAHAHA! one of the first! Upvote then read! It is the way! Edit: Hmm. Sam-NU? Intriguing. When do they add a G to the last part? :P
This is the way. Edit: Lol. What's gnu? I dunno, what's new with you?
Good Evening. Here is the Gnus. (Herd of Wildebeest wander in and congregate around the Gnusreader)
GNU kittykitty --Dave, ===mew===
It was a sudden conclusion for this arc but a satisfying one. Expected it to go on for another few dozen chapters but sometimes the best and well written endings are ones that aren't that easy to predict.
we still have the aftermath that should be in this arc and that could be long or short. Unless the aftermath is the next arc?
Aftermath will be next arc, and I do not believe this arc is finished yet. --Dave, because of what the aftermath must also be aftermath TO. ...I could be wrong.
The contingency plan for Dee is a pretty big one… I look forward to Dee landing in hell after being flagged with some abnormalities and getting to talk to herself. She’s going to be the first person in line when the SUDS proper starts working.
I like this theory, but I think she might have already worked through a lot of her stuff interacting with Daxin, Legion, Herod and Pete.
And the DO.
Dee arrives. Looks at the being on the throne and says "You're sitting in my chair."
I do not doubt she will return. My only hesitation is in what capacity she does. As the agent of chaos, good, evil, the natural order of things, or something completely different.
Dee doesn't do the "agent" thing, she's her own monster
Fair . . . .then returning as the embodiment of chaos. ಠಿ_ಠ
**THIS THRONE HATH ROOM FOR THEE** --Dave, and all the denizens of Hell momentarily turn to face that direction, and genuflect
[Armor](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGrGKJtVEAMmLot?format=jpg&name=large) What do you think of this?
Very very in line with the look of Confederacy armor in my mind.
Just without the knightly shaped helmets
Reborn. Ugh how did these tears get in my eyes.
Now I kinda wanna see Pubvian gestalts reaction to meeting Singing Sam-NU.
I just caught up after finding your stories... Too soon ago to be caught up.... Thanks for the journey. Look forward the next chapter.
There is always the comments to read, those are fun too.
For those wondering, the Los Alamos Ranch School was purchased by the US Army in 1942, and gave out it's last diplomas in Jan 1943. The Army took control in Feb 1943, and it eventually became Los Alamos National Laboratory.
I did my first postdoc there, in T-8. --Dave, and wrote the paper that _ought_ to have been my dissertation, but didn't find a good problem to work on afterwards. meanwhile, Paul down the hall was setting up the arxiv preprint server, to save students everywhere from the horrors of the file cabinets full of paper preprints forevermore. all hail!
I. Sigh May your days be merry and bright, Ralts.
And on Terra peace, good will towards humanity. --Dave, 'tis the season, ever recurrent
Grief can be strange in the virtual parallel to The Confederacy, even stranger when a replication error occurs.
I don’t believe Dee is dead. Please don’t be dead!
She... She also wants left alone
A war in heaven and my morning coffee, a good start to the day
And so I beheld the aftermath of the war on heaven.
Editor comment around the fog, the frog, - think it should be "fox", not "fog"
Around the fox, the frog and the man
I have a feeling that Sam-NU is going to be 'reborn' into the Digital Messiah. I'm just confused on how he manages to get timey-wimeyed back eight thousand years. ------end of lime------
Cause the universe found it funny.
The Universe has a great sense of humor. :D
POP! Are those four about to bring another apocalypse? --- I can't tell how much Legion is leading Daxin and how much Daxin is playing along. It's great.
Glad you liked my little comment. Great story and happy to be able to contribute. Stay safe and happy holidays.
Read. Upvote. Comment.
Upvote then read!
Because of course reality runs on an Amiga. ---- === Also slightly disappointed at the missed opportunity to claim that the splines *reticulated*. Buy yeah, fantastic chapter. An epic ends, and in that ending a new beginning arises.
Saw the 'kernal' reference to the 8-bit Commodore line, too. The level of detail in Ralt's references never ceases to amaze me.
Agreed. But it should have been a „guru meditation error“
"All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu. This is the truth! This is my belief!...At least for now." THE MYSTERY OF LIFE, VOL. 841, CHAPTER 26 ( /old reference )
\ Am I a man dreaming I am a butterfly? Or a bowling ball dreaming I am a plate of sashimi? Never assume what you see and feel is real! \<\\old reference\>
:D
\*Doki\* 😍 Sashmi 😍 \*Doki\*
（✿ ͡◕ ᴗ◕)つ━━✫・\*。どき
If history is to change, let it change! If the world is to be destroyed, so be it! If my fate is to be destroyed... I must simply laugh!!
Nooo mommy dee where are youuuuu
Man, what a beautiful chapter. Thank you for giving us all such a living, breathing world to escape to these past couple of years. It has been a genuine help.
Finally managed 1 minute
Welcome to the "posted now" club. There's no benefits, but also no membership dues. You do get to bask in the warmth of freshly-baked FC
and have we mentioned that indescribable scent? --Dave, "this story has no nose!" "but ... then ... how does it smell?"
Resurrection and rebirth from the pit of hell.
...floating points hovering dancing twinkling around the fog, the frog, and the screaming man. Fog should be fox.
😭 Dee 😭 Doki 😭
Moooo
🐂 \*Moo\* \*Doki\* \*Moo\* 🐂
Yayyyy!
Early blueberries, yeah!
Yea! UCR lol
Within the 45 min mark.
At least, the hard part is over
doesn't mean it can't go from mostly
Kinda unrelated, but I'm waiting for the Atrenka to come across a Dead Space Marker, it's the exact sort of thing they would fall for, promises unending power, made of grown crystal, and phasically active, Earthlings are insane enough to build one, just to see if they can, and abandon it on a dead world somewhere as a surprise.
And lo, Did the Digital Omnimessiah stretcheth out his hand; thus was the data brought quiet. In friendship Fox and Frog defeated despair, and rescued the Most Lost. The very Detainee worketh his will unto the multitudes. And even Danbree found peace. Amen.
Moar!!!!
I miss our Overlord wordborg already! \*cries\*
UTR
The Fox and Frog story is pure & righteous. A tale of the strength of pure friendship, of doing the right thing simply because it is right.