What were you going to do with the 'Angels' concept, that bit of lore intrigued me when I first heard about it.

( hey look I got some time for this even though I'm in the middle of college exams wheeee-)

Right so to put it in short, the Angels are these extra-dimensional abstract beings that Arkans worshipped in the ancient past as gods. They're so powerful they can basically reshape reality with a thought, but they're also completely empty and without wills, a bunch of idiot gods, if you will. One ancient Arkan bringing an Angel into our reality is what forced Arkans to flee their original Homeworld in the past, since its (the Angel's) mere presence tore reality apart in a local area that rendered the planet inhospitable. Arkans were also all devolved as a consequence of the incident, they've been trying to reclaim the glory of their original forms ever since. Hence why Veryn for example is so bent on improving the Arkan form through one way or another, he believes Arkans are evolutionarily incomplete and he's right.

Story wise, Grinwere's plan is to control an Angel's power for himself and reshape the universe to be the way he wants it to be. He's got a lot of resentment in him for his brother and is seriously petty enough to see this entire plan as an additional way to one Veryn up. How Grim would have gone about this plan is a lot of manipulation, mainly of a remnant Arkan cult of Angel worshippers who believe he's the reincarnation of the original Arkan who summoned the original Angel way back when that destroyed Homeworld, they want him to summon it again and elevate them all to a higher plane. Grim doesn't care for any of it, he just wants the power for himself, but he tells them what they want to hear so he can use their resources and their brain power, since summoning an Angel requires for a group to collectively call for one in Magicant.

How he would have actually CONTROLLED the Angel is a different matter: it's what he's grooming Yulesid for. The plan is for Yule to take material from the Angel once it's summoned so he can literally shapeshift into one himself, and with Grim controlling him (Yule), he could do whatever he wanted. It's why he's so abusive towards Yule, he wants the guy to be utterly dependent on him and doesn't want to risk a rebellion since Yule is very much the key to his plan.

It's deplorable and shows how terrible a person Grimwere is. The story would have had him get very close to victory too, were it not thanks to an emotional connection Yule had forged with another saving him from Grimwere and himself.

Will there be any way to see the rest of the story?

I'm afraid not, like I said, I never really kept any notes. You can ask me about specifics, like where Cercil was headed, etc., but as for an overview, you'll have to wait for a summary. It would take a while, but...I'd probably make one, eventually.

How was Deire going to tackle CL-9 anyway ?

She was gonna use a proxy! It's been seen before how she isn't above hiring mercenaries to get the job done and this is no exception. The mercs in question would be a crop above the usual, being a group of four unusual exiled Arkans who approach their problems with a bit more variety than just obliterating everything with their PSI.

Their names are Pin, Nash, Ronin and Aerith; Pin's a PSI-less Arkan who makes up for it with technical know-how and usage of gadgets, so he'd play a bit like Jeff.

His brother, Nash, is a close-combat specialist, using advanced blades that can cut through pretty much anything, alongside possessing sabotage-type PSI to augment his arsenal.

Ronin's the team sniper, having a preference for using support-type PSI and staying out of range with a custom rifle, though she's hardly defenceless up close; she uses a pair of blades of her own if things get hairy.

Aerith....is a bit unusual, mechanically, in that her PSI operates through proxies. What that means is, she can't do much on her own, but she's capable of animating inanimate objects and using them to fight for her. Her best and most-used proxy is this stuffed rabbit toy named Caerbannog (spot the reference and you get a cookie) that can do things like grow in size and is pretty terrifying to go up against. She's sort of the team's wild-card!

If you want more details about Ronin and Aerith, shoot @silverandgenosquad an ask or two- she owns those two characters, after all. These four characters would have played a pretty major part in the story to be honest, finding a kind of warp gate in CL-9 that comes into play later in the story when Grimwere goes missing and his location needs to be found. You'd think given how I've described them that they're this super slick team of experts, but really...

They're kind of more like a dysfunctional family who happen to be pretty good at their jobs, pf. Pin regularly feels useless and unhappy with himself due to being PSI-less, Nash and Ronin are an item but Nash kind of tends to overlook or neglect his brother, Ronin has some serious past issues that crop up to bite her and the group on occasion and Aerith, while not a child, is probably still a little younger than she should be for this line of work. I was quite excited to introduce them, but after coming to the conclusion that I couldn't carry on, well, you know the rest.

I had this opening shot of Pin planned for the mercenaries' introduction, he was gonna be introduced first. At least you get to see this much, pf.

I have to know, what was up with the Ix? You were obviously hinting toward them being a looming threat, I'm really curious about what you were going to do with the concept.

Well first and foremost I find it imperative to mention that the Ix as a concept was created by and belongs to my friend @axelthewonderer, who co-ran Comdis with me and is owner of @silverandgenosquad. You should direct specific questions about the ix and what they do, how they live, etc. at her- she's the expert on the subject! She'll also be reblogging my answer to this question with some answers of her own.

So, onto answering: It's kinda difficult to answer this one without going into a lot of extra exposition, so I'm just gonna stick to the main point the best I can. The Ix were definitely going to be a big big deal, and are a major source of motivation for Veryn. He despises them because they attacked the colony he used to live in (Feldro) at one point in his past, very long ago- this was gonna be revealed in a flashback or some other means of exposition, which would additionally reveal that he'd actually settled down there with a lover named Veiha. This was before he had any aspirations of becoming Leader on Homeworld.

The Ix attack claimed Veiha's life and forever altered Veryn's own, contributing to a multitude of factors that made him pursue an ambition to become Leader. One of the first things he did upon gaining the position was to declare an 'exterminate-on-sight' policy for the Ix, and personally set fire to their own homeworld, believing the act would render them extinct. Naturally this didn't stick, as they adapted (ask @silverandgenosquad for more info), survived and developed a powerful vendetta for Arkans and Veryn in particular. This is why they seem to target Arkans almost exclusively, it's not just because they're such a good source of food- Veryn made it personal for them.

At some point in the future of the blog, Grimwere- who, surprise surprise, is indeed the main antagonistic force in the story- would have contacted the Ix in secret and forged an alliance with them, giving away all the locations of vulnerable Arkan colonies in exchange for the Ix ignoring him and the activities of his group. It was all part of a plan of his to keep his enemies distracted while he worked on his own ultimate goal.

In this way the Ix would have been a pretty active threat in the midst of already dire circumstances. It would have taken Veryn or someone else to notify the Ix that Grimwere plans to stab them in the back (since his plan doesn't benefit anyone but himself) for them to stop antagonising the Arkans and even work with them to make sure Grimwere's plan doesn't come to fruition.

There's a lot more to say here, but we'd be here all day, and that's as far as my personal scope with the Ix extended, so don't hesitate to ask me about any plot details you found intriguing. Meantime I'll hand the metaphorical mic to @silverandgenosquad!

I have to know, what was up with the Ix? You were obviously hinting toward them being a looming threat, I'm really curious about what you were going to do with the concept.

Well first and foremost I find it imperative to mention that the Ix as a concept was created by and belongs to my friend @axelthewonderer, who co-ran Comdis with me and is owner of @silverandgenosquad. You should direct specific questions about the ix and what they do, how they live, etc. at her- she's the expert on the subject! She'll also be reblogging my answer to this question with some answers of her own.

So, onto answering: It's kinda difficult to answer this one without going into a lot of extra exposition, so I'm just gonna stick to the main point the best I can. The Ix were definitely going to be a big big deal, and are a major source of motivation for Veryn. He despises them because they attacked the colony he used to live in (Feldro) at one point in his past, very long ago- this was gonna be revealed in a flashback or some other means of exposition, which would additionally reveal that he'd actually settled down there with a lover named Veiha. This was before he had any aspirations of becoming Leader on Homeworld.

The Ix attack claimed Veiha's life and forever altered Veryn's own, contributing to a multitude of factors that made him pursue an ambition to become Leader. One of the first things he did upon gaining the position was to declare an 'exterminate-on-sight' policy for the Ix, and personally set fire to their own homeworld, believing the act would render them extinct. Naturally this didn't stick, as they adapted (ask @silverandgenosquad for more info), survived and developed a powerful vendetta for Arkans and Veryn in particular. This is why they seem to target Arkans almost exclusively, it's not just because they're such a good source of food- Veryn made it personal for them.

At some point in the future of the blog, Grimwere- who, surprise surprise, is indeed the main antagonistic force in the story- would have contacted the Ix in secret and forged an alliance with them, giving away all the locations of vulnerable Arkan colonies in exchange for the Ix ignoring him and the activities of his group. It was all part of a plan of his to keep his enemies distracted while he worked on his own ultimate goal.

In this way the Ix would have been a pretty active threat in the midst of already dire circumstances. It would have taken Veryn or someone else to notify the Ix that Grimwere plans to stab them in the back (since his plan doesn't benefit anyone but himself) for them to stop antagonising the Arkans and even work with them to make sure Grimwere's plan doesn't come to fruition.

There's a lot more to say here, but we'd be here all day, and that's as far as my personal scope with the Ix extended, so don't hesitate to ask me about any plot details you found intriguing. Meantime I'll hand the metaphorical mic to @silverandgenosquad!

Final Post

In conjunction with the end of @ruler-of-scientists ‘s final post, this Mother blog too shall come to its end. 

It’s been a nice run on here, and I loved the adventures that took place both on his and this blog as well. I know I haven’t been the most active presence on here either (and college has been kicking my butt and back) and not a lot of people saw this blog prosper… But I’m happy to see the few hanging around give such overwhelming support, anons and users alike. 

I won’t be totally gone from Tumblr, as you can visit my sideblog and talk to me there ( @axelthewonderer ), but this blog will be down forever. I won’t be deleting it, but there will be no future updates to it. 

Thank you, everyone! And thank you, @ruler-of-scientists for shaping this awesome world. 

Final Update

So I’ve decided to come clean. I wish there were an easier way to break the news, but I’m not the type to lead people on so I’m just going to be brutally honest.

I’m ceasing further work on Comdis. It must come as a shock, or it might not, updates have been excrutiatingly slow after all. Whatever the case, that’s what’s happening and it’s happening for a few reasons.

Namely, I’m not really all that motivated for it anymore. When you’ve come to the point where you hesitate a lot and would rather do something else whenever the thought of updating your story visits your mind, you kinda have to acknowledge that there’s something wrong there. It’s kind of a red flag for me. This might be happening because I’m more into other things lately, or I’m more busy. I personally reckon it’s more likely the latter, I never really stopped being into MOTHER and being in college definitely puts a strain on my freedom, but I’m willing to admit that I’ve been invested in other things beyond work that make it hard for me to want to work on this.

There’s also the lack of activity in the community to consider. For the longest time I told myself that I didn’t care how large or small my base of readers were, I was in it for the story and that was that. And for a while, maybe, that sentiment was genuine. But I would be lying if I said that the MOTHER community basically being dead on tumblr isn’t pretty discouraging, and while I’m grateful for those very dedicated few who’ve hung on and enjoyed my work- really, I’m super thankful- putting a lot of thought into storylines and posts and passages only to get kind of a small amount of feedback, no matter how dedicated, is something of a hard swallow. 

Speaking of storylines, I’ve been pretty unhappy with my pacing as well. I do indeed have a whole plan and storyline set out to follow but again, I would be lying if I said I was satisfied with my own pace. The last story arc has lasted months and I’ve barely moved from one story point to the next, with huge gaps inbetween. There’s also holes and contradictions in the plot that stem from a lack of remembering earlier story points due to them being so far apart- years apart, in some cases-, and I admit, I’m not terribly good at putting stuff down on paper- I just know the general direction I’m going and what I’ve done before. 

I wanted to be so much further ahead than where I am now.

I’m aware that I only have myself to blame for all this, and I blame that on my own inability to stop things growing out of my capacity to handle. This blog in its inception was never meant to grow into what it did, but I suppose I couldn’t help inevitably chasing past dreams of making something big while ignoring that I’d tried and failed so many times before. Maybe it’s the tumblr/askblog format, maybe it’s some inability to commit, maybe it’s that I’m just not all that great a storyteller after all...whatever the case, I just can’t keep this up. I’m unhappy and distracted and unfocused and kind of ashamed of the shambles this thing has become too on top of it all. I want to not have to worry about it, it weighs on my mind, I got enough on my mind as it is...so yeah.

TL;DR: I’m ceasing activity on this blog because of a general lack of motivation, lack of activity from the community and interaction with the story, slow and sloppy storytelling and pacing and general feelings of unhappiness with what I’ve made and a desire to move on. I’m still truly grateful for the support this blog has gotten while it lasted, so more than anything, I apologize for letting you all who stuck with me down.

I’m keeping asks open in case anybody wants to ask any questions, I’m willing to talk about potential story and where the characters might have gone, more in-depth explanations on why I’m quitting, anything. At some point though I expect things to go quiet and when that’s done, I’ll close the askbox and move on. 

Won’t delete it, though. 

Status update

(( Apologies for the delay! I decided to take a bit of an impromptu break, mainly because I had an assignment to complete and was in a bit of a funk where drawing was concerned (I want to illustrate the next couple posts). I’ll also be going on holiday next week (as of the 25th) with no access to my tablet, so I’ll be basically unavailable (probably) that week. All the same, my art block’s cleared up a bit and I’m gonna try drawing for this shindig while I’m still here! Have a nice week! 

- angle ))

“...Auri, get Veryn on the line for me. Tell him it’s urgent.”

“Yes ma’am.” 

The Starman Deluxe, having previously been summoned to the bridge, bowed in acknowledgement and moved a bit away from his mistress, standing still as he began to contact the Arkan Leader. Deire let out a short puff of air through her nose, and looked forward through the viewing port of the bridge to the star-studded abyss outside while she waited, tapping her fingers against the chair in slow but insistent rhythms.

She didn’t want to have to contact Veryn, he’d trusted this task to her in full confidence, and he was probably too busy with things on his end to have an active hand in assisting her- not that she wanted that, she simply wanted his advice on how to proceed. 

This situation was delicate. If the presumed kidnappers had in fact disappeared into CL-9 of all places, thought had to be put into what they were going to do next. She could just go in there of her own initiative...but doing so without Veryn’s knowledge would be beyond foolish.

Eventually, Auri beeped, “-click- Veryn is on the line, ma’am. Transmitting.” Deire nodded, and soon enough, Veryn’s visage appeared before Deire, projected in hologram form from her console. He looked intent. “Deire. Is there anything you need?”

Straight to the point, just the way he liked it. This suited Deire too though, so she couldn’t complain. “Yes. Veryn...I have diverted research onto the missing ship, as you’ve asked, and Harod found something.”

“What is it?” Veryn perked, ears straightening a bit as he leaned forward somewhat. “Deire, if we can find that ship, we could uncover Elphas’ present location. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. It may finally shed some light on...well, everything, from that Starman attack to those masked kidnappers.”

“I am aware,” Deire assured steadily, raising a hand a little, “but you must understand that what Harod found is...concerning.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts, before concluding with a sigh, “There is no easy way to explain...but Harod’s calculations suggest the most likely location of the missing vessel’s heading is through the CL-9 star cluster.”

“...CL-9,” Veryn stated flatly. It wasn’t entirely certain if it was in disbelief or incredulity, but Deire could practically feel the wariness emanating from him, and he wasn’t even in the same room, technically. 

“Yes...CL-9,” Deire repeated, assertive but cautious. “I am aware of the dangers, of course...this is why I contacted you. I have several options available, and I wanted your advice on what I should do next.”

“..go on,” Veryn murmured now, leaning further forward but resting his chin in a closed fist, watching her carefully. Deire took a moment to clear her throat a little in some uncertainty, before elaborating:

“Well...I could send in any old taskforce, but that has proven ineffective before...I was thinking of employing a more creative strategy.”

Veryn’s eyes seemed to light up. “Explain.”

[ Deire ] Have you talked to Eden lately? Her father has gone missing, after all...

"..." Deire went quiet, looking down and not answering for a few moments. Then.... "...I got into contact with her to see if she knew anything. She seemed to be faring well, but...I could tell she was upset." A sigh as she shook her head; "If I know Eden...she's worried about her father terribly. I feel like me being a part of this investigation makes me responsible for finding him...so if I fail..." A pause. "...well, it's an irrational feeling...but I feel I would fail Eden as well. This I will not allow."

[ Deire ] How did you hear about CL-9? Is it really that dangerous...?

"It's a well-known and well-documented phenomena," Deire explained, bringing up her holographic display once more and tapping the chart for where CL-9 was located. "Well...as well-documented as an unexplorable phenomena can be," she corrected herself, before elaborating, "it's just the sort of thing you naturally learn about when you train to pilot or captain a starship. You're expected to know a lot about your species' very own space in the cosmos at least, and, well..." A small shrug. "CL-9 is known by all ship captains and pilots in the Collective by now to be a place that is best avoided, so it was only natural that knowledge was passed to me. As for how dangerous it really is..." A hesitant pause.

"None of the scouting probes returning...no matter how small or innocuous, or how well-armored and designed to fight back...that's one thing. But sending in a fully armed battleship and getting nothing back but an empty hulk?" She shook her head. "Quite another. You can hopefully therefore understand my hesitation about Harod's information..."

[ Deire ] What info did you manage to dig up about Grimwere, if any?

"I already told you, not much," Deire snapped irritably, folding her arms now with a huff. "Nothing more than what he's already made public about himself. I trust Veryn's judgement, but if Grimwere is involved in anything..." She sighed, her annoyance fading away as she directed her gaze to the stars outside now. "He's very good at hiding it. Still." Her gaze hardened. "I did find out one thing, though it's only in thanks to recent events....all news on him has gone utterly silent. Not even his own employees will tell me what's going on despite my position, and Security services aren't telling me anything either..." Her eyes narrowed into displeased slits. "Something is going on...and I think Larzen knows more than he's let onto everyone else."

[ Deire ] Has Veryn told you about the masked kidnapper he had Cercil capture?

"...yes, he has," Deire admitted. "Apparently however, it isn't amounting to much- that one won't talk. A shame. I was hoping to receive some info that would help with my search..." A sour twist visited her frown, looking at a little holographic display before her emanating from her command pod; the same star cluster Harod had told her about was displayed on it. "Certainly better info than 'go into CL-9.'.."

Deire! Where in the stars have you been? What have you been /doing/ this whole time?

"I've was looking into Grimwere like Veryn asked," Deire responded, looking rather annoyed; "You speak as if I've been doing nothing productive. I wasn't having much success, however, and then...well, Elphas went missing and Grimwere disappeared from the public eye." She crossed one leg moodily over the other as she looked to one side, glancing at the Homeworld outside the ship's viewing port. "He hasn't left Homeworld, as far as I'm aware, but...well, getting any odd info was difficult enough with him more present. I was going to talk to him personally, but...well, that never fell through." She sniffed. "As of now, I'm instead following something a bit more tangible."

“CL-9?” Deire asked, incredulous; “Are you sure?” “No, not sure,” Harod corrected, raising an arm for emphasis; “But it’s the only viable lead I have. Believe me, I wouldn’t have brought it up unless I thought it was worth looking into.” The ‘Final Starman’ hesitated; “I am aware it is very dangerous...you may want to consider the next course of action very carefully, m’am.” “I certainly will,” Deire murmured, mostly to herself, and quite distractedly at that. She’d done her fair share of research on important locations in the Andromeda Galaxy, and that particular star-cluster almost certainly counted as such. A veritable no-man’s-land in space, whatever went there just flat-out disappeared off the face of the cosmos....

She bit her lip, then concluded, “I’ll have to think about it. Thank you, Harod...keep looking, just in case, we might have missed something.” “Understood,” Harod nodded, and promptly left the bridge. Said bridge was a brightly-lit environment, all in bright, clinical white and rather sterile too; it was all quite literally cutting edge, with angular slopes, edges and corners hosting various terminals with holographic displays upon which a competent crew composed of Mooks, Arkans and Starmen worked. Deire’s seat was on a raised angular dais which looked like it could armor up and become protective in the event of an emergency, and indeed it could- the ship was used to battle scenarios and sometimes things got rocky. The extra protection was appreciated. A unique feature of the bridge was the fact that every surface was in fact clear, and lit up white from underneath- in instances of stealth or battle, said surfaces would often turn black or other, similarly darker colors to indicate the change in circumstance, a sort of visual indicator of the severity of the situation. As things were right now, there was no need for such extreme color changes- though Deire admitted internally grey would have been more fitting at present. 

How in the stars was she going to investigate a cluster that had evaded Arkan inspection for eons...?

[ Auri and Deire are available for asks! ]

Harod finally perked when one of the searches turned up something interesting; it was something he had initially passed over without thinking too deeply about it, but when it popped up again, desperate after days of literal nothing, this time he paid attention and took a proper look. A star cluster, found along the potential trajectory the wormhole ship had disappeared to; anomalous and unknown, it was a cluster which had once made the rounds through the Collective as a fanciful mystery, given ships sent there often disappeared and teams sent to explore never came back either. Unwilling to lose anymore resources, the Collective had cordoned off the route leading through the star cluster in question, and overtime interest in it had died; it wasn’t uncommon for this to happen, sometimes hazards existed in space that made travel unfeasible, and sometimes those hazards were difficult or impossible to explain, even for the Collective, either due to their being unable to interpret the data collected or because even attempting to collect said data ended only in death. CL-9, it was called. No fancy names despite its reputation. Harod wasn’t sure- it could be nothing, and he certainly didn’t want to risk sending anyone into a death zone, but if there was one place to flee to where the Collective were unlikely to look....well.... Then again, maybe it was too convenient. Maybe whoever had flown that ship was banking on the people investigating to come to the same conclusion...and then promptly throw their lives away. Eithe r way... He had nothing else. Every other possible route lead to empty space- Harod’s knowledge of wormhole-travelling spaceships was theoretical at best, but he was certain that a ship’s size affected their fuel capacity and the ship that had disappeared had been rather small. It had to exit wormhole space eventually to refuel, and the various detective satellites littered around the galaxy by the Collective, even in the empty parts, would have detected the ship dropping out of wormhole space in no time. There were, however, no such satellites in CL-9. A perfect place to escape to, and then escape from, undetected. That settled it. He turned from the holographic display and exited the room, acknowledging the other Starmen in the room as he did so.  Time to bring this info to Deire.

[Harod] How long have you been at it, trying to find the ship?

"A very long time," the 'Final Starman' replied truthfully and with a bit of weariness in his tone. "The ship was pointed in a specific direction...as far as I know, even wormhole-powered vessels can only reappear in the direction they were facing. It's just a matter of figuring out where..."