I invoke the 17 who were 21; may the fallen 17th rise once more (Audio, one thread locked to Thorne)

[eldritchwheelies]

So.

I've volunteered to DJ for the Fallenheart Vale Benefit Concert.

I'm not going to explain why or justify myself. We all have good reasons to hate the Arcana. Suffice to say my reasons for helping them now are more compelling to me than my reasons to see the OG Miner, OG Crypto, and Dear God Let This End Personified suffer further consequences. Doubtless some of you are asking if I've gone insane, to which I say: that's my secret, Captain, I was always insane. Remember, Harrogate was old news to me from training on my world.

So.

Still listening?

Then I'd like requests for my playlist* for the ball. It's a work of phonomancy, my contribution to the ritual battery we're charging. I hope it helps. Put in requests for music you want to hear, or if you're of a more mystical bent, music you think will assist the ritual.

Thanks for listening.

*(When this post goes up, only the first 22 tracks - the Invocations to the Major Arcana - are up. After talking to Thorne and/or Allura, there are suddenly a lot more songs with hopeful outlooks. Weird.)

Comments

[eldritchwheelies]

I'm surprised too. I mean, I can think of a few Arcana we can do without.

[But this attack of conscience on the part of Magician, Justice, Judgement and... well, she expected it of Chariot. But still. Unprecedented.]

[desperate_times_right]

We can do without any of them.

[eldritchwheelies]

[Dammit, don't engage. Don't engage. Don't...]


...there are 6,000 plus people right now who are kind of depending on three of them.

[Goddamn it Madoka.]

[desperate_times_right]

Because of their interference! We shouldn’t be here.

[brokers]

I have no love for any of the Arcana, and more reason for that than many. But Scatter-Spore fell before we arrived in the Vale. Our presence may have accelerated the attack on Fallenheart, but even if we hadn't been there, it would only have been a matter of time. Someone would have made a mistake, and the city would have fallen.

[desperate_times_right]

As far as we know, we precipitated the fall of the Umbrian Protectorate the last time we were there. This world is only even this vulnerable because of a jaunt. And then they stack a bunch of super powered do-gooders in Fallenheart and don’t even warn you what draws the Nation-Eaters?

A festive hostage party doesn’t make this less their responsibility.

[brokers]

We could have refused to interfere, as we did the last time we visited this world. We didn't.

Are you so outraged that you will sacrifice six thousand lives merely to damage three of the Arcana? If you believe that blood would not be on your hands, you are lying to yourself.

[eldritchwheelies]

If I thought that they - okay, if all of them, not just Fucking Satan - engineered this to take hostages, I’d be checking out of the Jaunt too. But unfortunately I’m in a wheelchair, not blind, so I have to follow ROSE and SAGE’s fucking example and take responsibility too.

Again: they’re willing to risk their lives to unfuck the air.

So forgive me if I’m more concerned with putting together a mixtape cause it might save thousands of lives than I am with letting the three Arcana that are trying to fix shit die.

[brokers]

Goddess give me strength, I'm arguing on your side.

[eldritchwheelies]

Huh?

[Liara can feel the backing-off energy from Madoka.]

...Yeah. I know. I knew that. I thought I was agreeing with you?

[desperate_times_right]

Sounds like the gods have enough worshippers here that they can stand to spare me.

[brokers]

Then take your self-absorption off to some created space and leave those of us who care to save lives to our work.

[desperate_times_right]

Sure. I don’t know why I bothered saying anything.

[eldritchwheelies]

No, we shouldn’t have come here. But since we did eff... since we did fuck up the air, leaving before we fix things is the last thing we want to do. Which is a point I wasn’t expecting fucking Hermit of the entire goddamn deck to understand.

The Arcana could, arguably, have just abandoned this place after screwing it over instead of trying to fix things. Sure, it would have been forfeiting to Chariot, but that also wouldn’t be suicide for Magician plus two Arcana that aren’t even competing anymore.

I can’t believe we’re in a world where there are Arcana taking more responsibility than some Travellers, and yet here we are.

[desperate_times_right]

Are they taking responsibility? Do they care about those people’s lives or are they just making us pick up the game board they knocked on the floor so it doesn’t get broken?

Look, I’m too fucking tired to - just have fun at your little party.

[eldritchwheelies]

I’d call risking death to save lives instead of just ollying out taking responsibility, yes.

...were you around for the Grid?

[desperate_times_right]

No. I got dragged into this in that maelstrom after they brought back Fortune.

[eldritchwheelies]

Even older than that. I was a Vet. Not Spark vet, but vet.

I checked out for a long time and came back to Santa Carlita after, uh, going through Harrogate, Doki Doki, and the Grid. Infiltrated into Harrogate and the Grid.

On any other day I would probably be agreeing with you.

[desperate_times_right]

I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me. I only know the broad strokes of what happened in Harrogate.

[For some reason no one’s really into talking about their experiences with cosmic horror]

If you mean you’ve got more reason to hate them than me, I’m sure that’s true.

[thornsofmalkav]

Doesn't matter. We're here, shit went to hell, and if we have to dance to save Fallenheart, we have to dance. No matter how we feel about saving the Arcana in the process.

It's not fair. But it's how shit is. And we have to work with how shit is, not what we want it to be.

[desperate_times_right]

You can’t even be ambivalent about it without fifty people crawling out of the woodwork to reprimand you for it.

[thornsofmalkav]

... yeah, okay.

It probably doesn't help, but it's not really about you? It's just... the Arcana being an even more sensitive topic than they already are when it comes to Travelers who were here four or five years ago. Which leads to people getting hella defensive about their own choices regarding them.

[desperate_times_right]

Yeah, I’m sure. Doesn’t make me more confident that following your plan won’t end with us swapping one jailer for another.

[If they can’t even understand why she might not want to do this how confident can she be that they won’t decide to run the game again if they win?]

Private x2 protected

[thornsofmalkav]

Hush, they can eavesdrop on public conversations.

Look, I get you hate the Arcana and don't want to go along with this bullshit. That's a legit opinion to have. Given that I'm literally the dance committee chairman it's obviously not one I share but. It's a legit opinion. I mean, fuck, I know exactly who killed Tower and how and I've kept their secrets from our Hosts for a year now. I'm not going to hate you because you don't want to dance on their behalf.

But the thing is... a lot of us are so used to how contentious the subject of the Arcana were back in the day that when you talk about how much you think the dance is bullshit, we hear it as that you think we're all morally reprehensible for going along with their bullshit right now and so we get hella defensive about that choice. Like probably that isn't what you wanted it to sound like, but that's what we've been hearing. Which is our problem, not yours.

If you don't want to dance, don't dance. I'm not going to make you, dude. We should have enough people willing to hold their nose and boogie that it'll work out.

Re: Private x2 protected

[desperate_times_right]

And that makes it fair? That shit they said to me? I didn’t call anyone anything at all.

I’m just... I know you’ve all been here forever and gotten used to torture and died a million times but it’s all new for me, okay? I’ve got to save all my keeping it together for getting back in Hana’s dying body when we’re done here.