History Fanfic / TheFuryOfAShatteredMirror

--> [[spoiler: Guinevere is referring to the figure from Myth/ArthurianLegend, the British queen and wife of Myth/KingArthur who had an affair with Lancelot which played a part in the fall of {{Camelot}}. Rözovy is a bastardization of the Russian word for "pink", розовый (''rozovyy''). And Baudelaire is taken from Creator/CharlesBaudelaire, a French poet whose TheOtherWiki article speaks for itself: his most famous work, a book of lyric poetry titled ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of beauty in the rapidly industrialising Paris. He coined the term modernity (modernité) to designate the fleeting experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility of artistic expression to capture that experience.]]

--> [[spoiler: Guinevere is referring to the figure from arthurian legend, a medieval queen of britain and the wife of king arthur who had an affair with lancelot who's been reinterpreted into a lot of different roles over the centuries. Rözovy is a bastardization of the russian word for pink, розовый (rozovyy). and Baudelaire is taken from Charles Baudelaire, a french poet whose wikipedia article speaks for itself: his most famous work, a book of lyric poetry titled Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of beauty in the rapidly industrialising Paris. He coined the term modernity (modernité) to designate the fleeting experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility of artistic expression to capture that experience.]]

[[caption-width-right:581:''Un jour je serai de retour près de toi.''\\

--->'''YOU''' - "...[[SympathyForTheDevil Are you okay?]]"

--->'''VOICE OF THE COLD''' - Must you derive such joy from the thought of killing her? It's clouding your judgement.\\

--->'''YOU''' - Oh that? Icy over there was talking about the office party I just came from. It got *really* dull, felt like being trapped in a void forever, you know what I mean? ...Not that you *would* know [=--=] you weren't there. Definitely weren't. No sir.

--->'''VOICE OF THE OPPORTUNIST''' - We have to at ''least'' ask. If we didn't, I'd be kept up at night wondering what kind of sweet deal we could've made, wouldn't you?\\

--->'''[[purple:INLAND EMPIRE]]''' [[gray:[Easy: Success] ]] - Yes, you can imagine it. Princess Princess, princess of princesses. An exponential royalty, presiding over the heavens and the earth. An infinite fractal tangle of frilly dresses and shiny jewelry.

--->'''[[red:HALF LIGHT]]''' [[gray:[Heroic: Failure] ]] - [[ClusterFBomb FUCK-SHIT-ASS-COCK-FUCKING-SHIT-FUCKING-FUCK]] [=--=] YOU *DIED*. WE *DIED*! This is WRONG, you should be DEAD, you *are* DEAD.\\

--->'''[[red:HALF LIGHT]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - FUCK! GET YOUR MITTS OFF ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT DO-GOODER! Can't you feel there's something *wrong* with us?\\

--->'''THE NARRATOR''' - ...Writing. I enjoyed... writing. Storytelling overall, really - but I was always the best at writing. To pen a word and have a thousand meanings attached, [[{{Foreshadowing}} to capture a fragment of the world to preserve for all time]]...\\

--->'''[[blue:RHETORIC]]''' [[gray:[Challenging: Success] ]] - 'Happy' ending [=--=] is He *really* hiding His true intentions in a bit of wordplay? [[ThisIsReality No one actually does that in real life.]]\\

--->'''VOICE OF THE CHEATED''' - And another thing - have you guys been '''''rolling dice'''''? Is that what's happening? We're being put in harrowing life-or-death situations and you ''fucks'' feel like ''leaving it up to a dice roll''? [[WhatTheHellHero What is]] ''[[WhatTheHellHero wrong]]'' [[WhatTheHellHero with you people?]]\\

--->'''[[purple:INLAND EMPIRE]]''' [[gray:[Legendary: Failure] ]] - You are alone in a place that is empty.\\

--->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Failure] ]] - Guinevere Rözovy Baudelaire.\\

--->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[gray:[Medium: Success] ]] - Falling, falling, falling still...

--->'''[[blue:RHETORIC]]''' - You don't *know* that she's going to stab you [=--=]\\

--->'''[[purple:EMPATHY]]''' - But it's okay to love. She loves you. You should love her back.\\

--->'''THE NARRATOR''' - Are you quite done now? Finally sorted through all the memories of a world you apparently don't care about saving?\\

--->'''YOU''' - ...Do you know how I could get home? You didn't let me leave, before, even when I did what you asked.\\

--->'''[[purple:VOLITION]]''' [[gray:[Legendary: Success] ]] - You can. She *killed you*, she's enraged, and she probably *could* end the world. If there's no one else that can do this[=--=]\\

--->'''[[purple:AUTHORITY]]''' - You actually got him to spit out something sane? At this rate you'll be angling for a promotion in no time, recruit.

--->'''YOU''' - Why not?\\

--->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[pink:[[spoiler:- Is this how you keep track of your trains of thought? You're really trying to figure us all out, aren't you?]]]]

--->'''[[gold:SAVOIR FAIRE]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Failure] ]] - Money's always a great motivator, but He's obviously pulled a fast one on you [=--=] if you would've known this would be the outcome, you'd never have committed to this [=--=]\\

--->'''[[red:ENDURANCE]]''' - You do realize tackling someone involves coming into contact, right? You're gonna turn to mush if you try it.\\

--->'''VOICE OF THE HERO''' - Hey, you said you were packing up and leaving. You don't get to criticize my name choice after calling it quits.

--->'''VOICE OF THE SKEPTIC''' - There are things / we live among 'and to see them / is to know ourselves'. / Occurrence, a part / of an infinite series, / the sad marvels; / of this was told / a tale of our wickedness. / It is not our wickedness.\\

---->[[green:ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: The real 'THE FURY OF A SHATTERED MIRROR' starts here]]

--->'''[[red:SHIVERS]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - ''You can trust him.''

--->'''[[gold:PERCEPTION (SIGHT)]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - Also, all three of them are wrong [=--=] [[spoiler:[[AGlitchInTheMatrix the mirror is still here]]]].

--->CHAPTER III: [[spoiler:THE PALE]]

--->'''THE NARRATOR''' - You are standing in... [[spoiler:[[WhereItAllBegan a church]].]]

--->'''[[red:SHIVERS]]''' - [[spoiler:TELL THEM THEY ARE WELCOME TO MY SHORES.]]

--->'''THE NARRATOR''' - ...Despite all the effort you can muster being bent toward [[spoiler:pulling her free of her imprisonment in exchange for the damnation of all reality]], you are... unable to...?\\

** After Perception fails to, well, perceive the Nightmare, the other skills chime in and describe her appearance, essentially creating a "mental picture" of her that Harry can properly see. and
* ClusterFBomb: When the Detective dies the first time, and is then immediately reborn, Half Life is ''livid'' and lets out a long string of profanity, having experienced death, which is the scariest possible scenario it can think of.

-->'''[[red:ELECTROCHEMISTRY]]''' ...You need to kill this monster. *Now*.

*** [[spoiler:"Scrounge for a weapon [=--=] *your* weapon =[[=--=] but it won't make a difference. Of course it wouldn't. No piece of steel and sulfur could help you now."]] -- Likely Hand/Eye Coordination.

* WindsOfDestinyChange: [[spoiler:After the genuinely horrifying events of THE NIGHTMARE and THE ABYSS, the Flagrant Disregard Of Reality finally completes. Should Harry fail a Red Check with a difficulty of 15 or higher, he gets to ''reroll it.'' Only once, but that's still a monumental advantage to have.]]

'''[[blue:DRAMA]]''' - No, no -- this is a period piece, you'll want to limit it to *maybe* a {{double entendre}} at the most.

--> I offer you a warm welcome to our venerable house, Your Majesty -- you will be treated as a guest of honor, but see to it you cause no trouble.

*** [[spoiler:"Tendons stretch, bones grind, organs rupture -- but you live on."]] -- Likely Endurance.

*** [[spoiler:"You are not alone, and this place is not empty. There is a sound -- the harmony of the spheres. You must find its source. You have to keep going. You will make it. It is predestined."]] -- Likely Inland Empire.

*** [[spoiler:"Eyes everywhere. Every time you turn your head -- more eyes. You can 't keep them in your vision, only on the periphery. You are watched. You are watched."]]

*** [[spoiler:"There is no winning. You can't bargain with something like this. You can't talk your way out, you can't -- you *can't*."]] -- Likely Rhetoric.
*** [[spoiler:"Scrounge for a weapon -- *your* weapon -- but it won't make a difference. Of course it wouldn't. No piece of steel and sulfur could help you now."]] -- Likely Hand/Eye Coordination.
*** [[spoiler:"The singularity at the heart of a black hole. All vectors point inward. Time and space bend and twist until they become one -- to proceed forward is to fall even further. There is no escape."]] -- Likely Visual Calculus.
*** [[spoiler:"Endless pain. It isn't constant, but that just makes it worse -- knowing during the reprieve that it will flare up again. Physical pain, mental anguish. It will not end."]] -- Likely Pain Threshold.

*** [[spoiler:"Find something to distract yourself. Anything. This is -- it's unbearable. Get *something*. Anything at all."]] -- Likely Electrochemistry.

*** [[spoiler:"You are unravelling at the seams -- but so is she. She is destroying you both."]] -- Likely Empathy.

-->'''[[blue:LOGIC]]''' [[gray:[Medium: Failure] ]] - Oh for *fuck's* sake, like things weren't already hard enough for me as it is.\\

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: [[MrImagination Inland Empire]], usually not good for much more than adding flair and creating [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane remarkably prescient imaginary scenarios]], becomes essentially Harry's new Shivers (since the current one isn't much good away from Revachol [[spoiler:and in fact has been replaced with the voice of the Long Quiet, who so far only makes minor comments]] in the Construct, a WorldOfChaos ruled by story conventions and perception).

* ThisIsUnforgivable: Electrochemistry, for the most part, remains somewhat neutral on the question of slaying the Princess, his occasional moments of sexual attraction to her aside. But when confronting [[spoiler:the Nightmare]], Harry attempts to shoothe her by offering a gift, in the form of his hip flask. This time the flask takes the form of "the Flask of Fear and Oblivion", which turns out to contain absinthe. Electrochemistry is downright elated that the flask finally offers a decent drink and starts begging Harry at length to at least break his soberity just a little bit and take a sip the flask before giving it to her, seeing how he is probably going to die any way. Violition, however, manages to hold strong, and Harry keeps up his vow of soberity and hands over the flask without drinking from it first. [[spoiler:The Nightmare]] proceeds to study the gift for a little bit before casually throwing the flask away over her shoulder without even tasting it. Electrochemistry reacts with a rare moment of TraquilFury.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: [[MrImagination Inland Empire]], usually not good for much more than adding flair and creating [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane remarkably prescient imaginary scenarios]], becomes essentially Harry's new Shivers (since the current one isn't much good away from Revachol [[spoiler:and in fact has been replaced with the voice of the Long Quiet, who so far only makes minor comments]] in the Construct, a WorldOfChaos ruled by story and perception.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: [[MrImagination Inland Empire]], usually not good for much more than adding flair and creating [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane remarkably prescient imaginary scenarios]], becomes essentially Harry's new Shivers (since the current one isn't much good away from Revachol [[spoiler: and in fact has been replaced with the voice of the Long Quiet, who so far only makes minor comments)) in the Construct, a WorldOfChaos ruled by story and perception.

-->'''[[gold:SAVOIR FAIRE]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Failure] ]] - Money's always a great motivator, but He's obviously pulled a fast one on you [=--=] if you would've known this would be the outcome, you'd never have committed to this [=--=]\\

** How exactly the Voices are connected to Harry is unclear; they seem to think of themselves as part of him, but occasionally refer to [[spoiler:"feathers"]], and have no memory of Elysium. Reaction Speed picks up on how its weird, because last he checked [[spoiler:Harry wasn't a bird]]. It's implied they were [[spoiler:attracted by the traces of the Long Quiet inside Harry]], but nothing has yet been confirmed.

'''VOICE OF THE SKEPTIC''' - There are things / we live among 'and to see them / is to know ourselves'. / Occurrence, a part / of an infinite series, / the sad marvels; / of this was told / a tale of our wickedness. / It is not our wickedness.\\

** How exactly the Voices are connected to Harry is unclear; they seem to think of themselves as part of him, but occasionally refer to [[spoiler:"feathers"]], and have no memory of Elysium. It's implied they were [[spoiler:attracted by the traces of the Long Quiet inside Harry]], but nothing has yet been confirmed.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: As in ''Slay the Princess'', being killed causes Harry to reappear, intact, back on the path in the woods in time for a new chapter. However, unlike the Long Quiet Harry is a mortal being to whom death isn't an abstract - he feels some phantom of each pain, even the ones he doesn't remember receiving.

-->'''[[purple:INLAND EMPIRE]]''' [[gray:[Easy: Success] ]] - Yes, you can imagine it. Princess Princess, princess of princesses. An exponential royalty, presiding over the heavens and the earth. An infinite fractal tangle of frilly dresses and shiny jewelry.

* BluntYes: When meeting the Damsel, Electrochemistry points out that it looks like her "tits" are bigger than last time. Immediately, Volition responds by groaning in exhaustion, the Voice of the Smitten calls him out on his vulgar language, but Perception admits, begrudgingly, that it does indeed look like its true.

* UncannyValley: The Skills, Half Light especially, find the base form of the Princess ''deeply'' off-putting, with Half Light utterly losing it and raving that Harry *needs* to KILL HER *NOW* as soon as he gets close to her, and in certain later chapters taking on a lot of similarities to the Voice of the Broken. It's implied to be just as much {{Foreshadowing}} to her true nature as it is a case of LeaningOnTheFourthWall (see above).

** [[spoiler:Harry's flashback to his last moments in Martinaise]] reveals the thoughts he had internalized by the end of the game: [[HyperAwareness Col Do Ma Ma Daqua]], [[ProtagonistWithoutAPast Cleaning Out The Rooms]], [[EldritchLocation Motorway South]], [[QuestForIdentity Jamais Vu (Derealization)]], [[SurvivalMantra The Insulindian Miracle]], [[{{Determinator}} Searchlight Division]], [[RecoveredAddict Waste Land Of Reality]], and [[DeathSeeker Finger On The Eject Button]].

-->'''[[red:HALF LIGHT]]''' [[gray:[Heroic: Failure] ]] - [[ClusterFBomb FUCK-SHIT-ASS-COCK-FUCKING-SHIT-FUCKING-FUCK]] [=--=] YOU *DIED*. WE *DIED*! This is WRONG, you should be DEAD, you *are* DEAD.\\

-->'''[[red:HALF LIGHT]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - FUCK! GET YOUR MITTS OFF ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT DO-GOODER! Can't you feel there's something *wrong* with us?\\

-->'''THE NARRATOR''' - ...Writing. I enjoyed... writing. Storytelling overall, really - but I was always the best at writing. To pen a word and have a thousand meanings attached, [[{{Foreshadowing}} to capture a fragment of the world to preserve for all time]]...\\

-->'''[[blue:RHETORIC]]''' [[gray:[Challenging: Success] ]] - 'Happy' ending [=--=] is He *really* hiding His true intentions in a bit of wordplay? [[ThisIsReality No one actually does that in real life.]]\\

-->'''VOICE OF THE CHEATED''' - And another thing - have you guys been '''''rolling dice'''''? Is that what's happening? We're being put in harrowing life-or-death situations and you ''fucks'' feel like ''leaving it up to a dice roll''? [[WhatTheHellHero What is]] ''[[WhatTheHellHero wrong]]'' [[WhatTheHellHero with you people?]]\\

-->'''[[purple:INLAND EMPIRE]]''' [[gray:[Legendary: Failure] ]] - You are alone in a place that is empty.\\

-->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Failure] ]] - Guinevere Rözovy Baudelaire.\\

-->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[gray:[Medium: Success] ]] - Falling, falling, falling still...

-->'''[[blue:RHETORIC]]''' - You don't *know* that she's going to stab you [=--=]\\

-->'''[[purple:EMPATHY]]''' - But it's okay to love. She loves you. You should love her back.\\

-->'''THE NARRATOR''' - Are you quite done now? Finally sorted through all the memories of a world you apparently don't care about saving?\\

-->'''YOU''' - ...Do you know how I could get home? You didn't let me leave, before, even when I did what you asked.\\

-->'''[[purple:VOLITION]]''' [[gray:[Legendary: Success] ]] - You can. She *killed you*, she's enraged, and she probably *could* end the world. If there's no one else that can do this[=--=]\\

-->'''[[purple:AUTHORITY]]''' - You actually got him to spit out something sane? At this rate you'll be angling for a promotion in no time, recruit.

-->'''YOU''' - Why not?\\

-->'''[[blue:CONCEPTUALIZATION]]''' [[pink:[[spoiler:- Is this how you keep track of your trains of thought? You're really trying to figure us all out, aren't you?]]]]

-->'''[[red:ENDURANCE]]''' - You do realize tackling someone involves coming into contact, right? You're gonna turn to mush if you try it.\\

-->'''VOICE OF THE HERO''' - Hey, you said you were packing up and leaving. You don't get to criticize my name choice after calling it quits.

--> '''VOICE OF THE SKEPTIC''' - There are things / we live among 'and to see them / is to know ourselves'. / Occurrence, a part / of an infinite series, / the sad marvels; / of this was told / a tale of our wickedness. / It is not our wickedness.
--> '''VOICE OF THE SKEPTIC''' - We are pressed, pressed on each other, / we will be told at once / of anything that happens / and the discovery of fact bursts / in a paroxysm of emotion / now as always.
--> '''VOICE OF THE SKEPTIC''' - Obsessed, bewildered / by the shipwreck / of the singular / we have chosen the meaning / of being numerous.

-->[[green:ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: The real 'THE FURY OF A SHATTERED MIRROR' starts here]]

-->'''[[red:SHIVERS]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - ''You can trust him.''

-->'''[[gold:PERCEPTION (SIGHT)]]''' [[gray:[Formidable: Success] ]] - Also, all three of them are wrong [=--=] [[spoiler:[[AGlitchInTheMatrix the mirror is still here]]]].

-->CHAPTER III: [[spoiler:THE PALE]]

-->'''THE NARRATOR''' - You are standing in... [[spoiler:[[WhereItAllBegan a church]].]]

-->'''[[red:SHIVERS]]''' - [[spoiler:TELL THEM THEY ARE WELCOME TO MY SHORES.]]

-->'''THE NARRATOR''' - ...Despite all the effort you can muster being bent toward [[spoiler:pulling her free of her imprisonment in exchange for the damnation of all reality]], you are... unable to...?\\