The Shortest Thread

[The Awakened Salad they/them]

14 hours ago, AonEne said:

It's really funny that I was the person who taught you what bigender was years before I even realized I was bigender  and that it was in this interaction! 

Our foreshadowing skills are just that good. 

Also it really has been almost four years, huh. That’s insane, I would’ve thought maybe two or something. 

14 hours ago, AonEne said:

Almost four years later, Ene stepped into the Physical Realm. Alive. 

He'd learned a lot while dead. (Not dead, they told him, but it felt close enough in his opinion.) How to control the powers he'd never known he had. Who it was that had sent Salad, one of his dearest friends, to kill him, and why. They didn't know why Salad had agreed. Had...any of it ever been real? 

Another thing he'd learned was how to absorb betrayal and keep moving. 

He sat, now, in Salad's apartment, waiting for them to get home from their latest hit. He kept most of his emotions off his face. He felt a lot about this, but now was a time to look serious. Not to let Salad get the jump on him again. And when the front door opened, he was ready. 

"Hello, Salad," Ene said. "We need to talk about the Paradox People." 

Almost four years later, Salad opened the door and there was Ene, sitting at their table. In their apartment, just like the old days, when they would watch terrible movies and throw popcorn at each other. Ene had even left Salad’s usual seat free - the chair closest to the window where it was warmest. It was almost a picture perfect recreation of the past. Almost.

Because then they had stabbed Ene and run, and nothing had been the same since.

”Hello, Salad,” Ene said before Salad had time to properly process everything. “We need to talk about the Paradox People.” 

Salad had to fight the urge to bolt, down the stairs and away from whatever madness this was. It was finally hitting them now. Ene was back, Ene was here, and… and-

He just wants to talk, they told themselves. Don’t lose your head.

There was always the possibility that things might get violent, but Salad had never known Ene to start fights without first getting a read of the situation. So they slid off their coat, kicked off their shoes and headed to the kitchen.

“Ok,” they said, fighting to keep their voice even. “Do you want some tea? I have hot chocolate as well if you’d prefer.”

This was not what they wanted to deal with today, but Enes at your dinner table were notoriously hard to get rid of. 

[NameIess]

Nameless and Nameless walked beside a river that flowed with gold.

“You’re sure you won’t go back?”

“Yeah. I’m dead for good this time. You’re sure you don’t want to go replace me?”

“Goodness no. I’d have to fight if I did that. I’d be expected to be some kind of hero.”

”Well, I guess I understand that. Guess I’ll just have to trust the people who’re still alive to handle things on their own.”

”On their own? Don’t think I haven’t seen what you’ve been doing.”

Namless coughed uncomfortably, staring off to the side. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

”I’m sure. Anyways, want to eat dinner at my place? I’ve just gotten a new crop of corn in, and it’s best fresh.”

”Sounds good. I’ll bring some of my chouta. Hey, don’t give me that look! I’m getting better at making it, I swear.”

[Ancient Elantrian Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan]

6 minutes ago, NameIess said:

Nameless and Nameless walked beside a river that flowed with gold.

“You’re sure you won’t go back?”

“Yeah. I’m dead for good this time. You’re sure you don’t want to go replace me?”

“Goodness no. I’d have to fight if I did that. I’d be expected to be some kind of hero.”

”Well, I guess I understand that. Guess I’ll just have to trust the people who’re still alive to handle things on their own.”

”On their own? Don’t think I haven’t seen what you’ve been doing.”

Namless coughed uncomfortably, staring off to the side. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

”I’m sure. Anyways, want to eat dinner at my place? I’ve just gotten a new crop of corn in, and it’s best fresh.”

”Sounds good. I’ll bring some of my chouta. Hey, don’t give me that look! I’m getting better at making it, I swear.”

Quote

Is this alive?

Can I join?

Anything I need to know?

 

[NameIess]

1 hour ago, Invisible said:

 

Quote

TST is somewhere between alive and dead, and I have very little idea what's going on in it right now. Feel free to jump right in.

 

[Ancient Elantrian Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan]

6 minutes ago, NameIess said:

 

Another Outrech faded into existence. His mind was empty, no memories present. He looked down at his hands, in awe at the sensation of existence. How strange... he clenched his fists, then unclenched them. This would take some getting used to.

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

On 1/21/2024 at 4:52 PM, The Awakened Salad said:

Our foreshadowing skills are just that good. 

Also it really has been almost four years, huh. That’s insane, I would’ve thought maybe two or something. 

Almost four years later, Salad opened the door and there was Ene, sitting at their table. In their apartment, just like the old days, when they would watch terrible movies and throw popcorn at each other. Ene had even left Salad’s usual seat free - the chair closest to the window where it was warmest. It was almost a picture perfect recreation of the past. Almost.

Because then they had stabbed Ene and run, and nothing had been the same since.

”Hello, Salad,” Ene said before Salad had time to properly process everything. “We need to talk about the Paradox People.” 

Salad had to fight the urge to bolt, down the stairs and away from whatever madness this was. It was finally hitting them now. Ene was back, Ene was here, and… and-

He just wants to talk, they told themselves. Don’t lose your head.

There was always the possibility that things might get violent, but Salad had never known Ene to start fights without first getting a read of the situation. So they slid off their coat, kicked off their shoes and headed to the kitchen.

“Ok,” they said, fighting to keep their voice even. “Do you want some tea? I have hot chocolate as well if you’d prefer.”

This was not what they wanted to deal with today, but Enes at your dinner table were notoriously hard to get rid of. 

TST deleted my storming post and I'm angy so I give up on this one 

"Hot chocolate, please," Ene said, glancing over to watch. He wasn't worried about poison. 

[Lunamor she/her]

Luna was very bored, so she decided to write something. She couldn’t remember where- or if- she was last in the story and didn’t care to read through 64 pages, so she simply decided to appear. She didn’t understand how that worked, but it did work.

She found herself standing in front of an apartment door. Luna felt like she should wait, so she did. Something important was happening beyond it, something she wasn’t sure was polite to interrupt.

Luna sat down across from the door and blinked. During the brief moment when her eyes were closed, her meta knowledge disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. This was, understandably, a bit confusing. Her train of thought was missing. Not derailed, just… gone.

A new one was formed. It didn’t start moving, yet. Luna simply leaned against the wall behind her, her head thudding softly as it hit it. Thinking was too much at the moment. For now, she needed to get used to being.

[The Awakened Salad they/them]

On 2/23/2024 at 11:35 AM, AonEne said:

"Hot chocolate, please," Ene said, glancing over to watch. He wasn't worried about poison. 

Salad began preparing the drinks, mugs and spoons clinking in the otherwise silent apartment. They  considered putting the hot chocolate powder into a bowl for Ene, but this wasn’t like the old days. As nice as it would be to slip into old habits, this wasn’t the time. 

Once everything was ready, Salad set two steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the table (complete with marshmallows and chocolate powder sprinkled on top, because even if they were a murderer, they weren’t without class). 

They sat down and took a sip. “Okay, then. Talk.”

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

On 3/18/2024 at 3:51 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

Salad began preparing the drinks, mugs and spoons clinking in the otherwise silent apartment. They  considered putting the hot chocolate powder into a bowl for Ene, but this wasn’t like the old days. As nice as it would be to slip into old habits, this wasn’t the time. 

Once everything was ready, Salad set two steaming mugs of hot chocolate on the table (complete with marshmallows and chocolate powder sprinkled on top, because even if they were a murderer, they weren’t without class). 

They sat down and took a sip. “Okay, then. Talk.”

gesp i can't believe you forgot italics /lh

Ene nodded in thanks and ate a marshmallow off the top of his hot chocolate. "How much do you know about how paradoxes actually function? Beyond just how they present, as contradictions in the world or things that would never happen. Or are extremely unlikely to, anyway." 

[LightRinger he/him]

Lightringer walks in. 
Looks around. 
Walks out. 

[The Awakened Salad they/them]

On 5/18/2024 at 2:27 PM, AonEne said:

gesp i can't believe you forgot italics /lh

alsjdkadkdjsksjdjkd how could I

On 5/18/2024 at 2:27 PM, AonEne said:

Ene nodded in thanks and ate a marshmallow off the top of his hot chocolate. "How much do you know about how paradoxes actually function? Beyond just how they present, as contradictions in the world or things that would never happen. Or are extremely unlikely to, anyway." 

This was… not what Salad had expected. Sure, it was nice that Ene wasn’t just jumping straight into “Hey, so remember that time you stabbed me after we had that dramatic and emotional moment?”, but this felt unnerving in a different way. It was all business. Though, ironically, that’s what Salad had told themselves after that fateful day, so maybe this was what they deserved. 

For all they knew, Ene could’ve moved on by now. Maybe now they were just two strangers who also just happened to know each others’ deepest secrets. 

“I’m… not familiar with them in that regard,” Salad said, looking away. They braced their hands around their mug. 

I’m assuming this isn’t actually following the continuity of what I wrote for The Paradox People or else I’d currently be lying dead on the floor right now 

Edited June 7 by The Awakened Salad

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

11 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

“I’m… not familiar with them in that regard,” Salad said, looking away. They braced their hands around their mug. 

I’m assuming this isn’t actually following the continuity of what I wrote for The Paradox People or else I’d currently be lying dead on the floor right now 

... 

Ene stared at Salad's hands, tight but careful on their mug. So he wasn't the only one who had a hard time being casual now. Yet here they sat, drinking what they always used to drink, back in the day...back when they'd been... 

He let out a breath. "Yeah, most people aren't. Some people think alternate universes or timelines, but that's not really it. Or - it sort of is? But not, like..." He rubbed his eyes. His thing was words, not science. "It's other ways that things could have gone, yeah, like the theoretical timeline furthest away from ours, but there aren't actually other timelines, there's not a multiverse, none of that stuff. You can't go to another dimension, unless you count the Spiritual Realm as another dimension, I guess, but it's like all things in one, and sometimes it like, snaps? And the stuff that doesn't really want to be one because it's so far apart un-becomes one and snaps - I said that already - it unravels, and the world as we know it just...glitches." He waved a hand vaguely before reaching down to pluck up another marshmallow. 

(At his wave, unnoticed by Ene, the white-painted wall flickered to a light pink, then flickered back.) 

"But it's never permanent. Almost never. Should be never, you know. Everything goes back to normal, the world re-ravels...reweaves...and it's okay again. If someone got elected, they lose their position. If something started a fire, it gets put out." His breathing was shaky. "If someone died, they come back." 

He took a sip. "Me dying wasn't a paradox, originally. But you dying was. They say you don't remember it." Ene held the next sip he took in his mouth for a second, letting it sear his tongue before swallowing. He remembered it. Remembered dying, too. "Probably better that you don't. It's not fun." 

[The Awakened Salad they/them]

Dying, huh. 

It was true. Salad didn’t remember dying. Not in the way that Ene seemed to.

But they remembered enough. Flashes of memories in the middle of the night. The vertigo of realities crashing together, their senses overlapping, splitting, reforming, spinning around. And their body, destroyed but not.

They didn’t remember dying, but they sure as hell remembered what happened before it. 

They also remembered what happened before Ene’s death. The realisation, the betrayal, the knife. 

They looked down. In a quiet voice, they began to speak. 

“What was it like for you, dying?”

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

On 6/20/2024 at 7:56 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

They looked down. In a quiet voice, they began to speak. 

“What was it like for you, dying?”

Ene exhaled. "Well, it hurt. The stab hurt, and being betrayed by one of my best friends also hurt." His voice was sharp, but not cold. "And then it felt like a whole lot of things at once and then I was talking to a Paradox Person, and they were telling me I was one too, and that was probably why I'd been assassinated, even though I didn't even know and just wanted to go search out N." He consciously relaxed his hands on the table and took a sip of cocoa. 

"So. Not great. Thanks for that."