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2023.05.29 12:57 Finzombie The Thing in the Cracks - Part 1
By Fin
“Holy crap.” James Talbot stepped back from his handiwork. It was beautiful. It made him want to scream.
Talbot was a chemist, the modern form of an alchemist, and he’d discovered something as wondrous and terrible as the most extreme postulations of his forbearers.
This was it. The culmination of all his works. This is what he’d fought for decades for, why he’d abandoned connections with everyone he’d ever known. But now it was all worth it. He would reveal the Masterwork at the Grand Chemistry Convention. It would steal the show, and he would be revered beyond every other human being who had ever lived.
It had taken Talbot long enough to assemble the Masterwork that he’d shed the title of ‘young’, not to mention most of his non-gray hair. Although it was hard to tell whether that was from aging or from what he’d beheld in his long sojourn. He was only 45, after all, and the rest of his body still held firm from decades of outdoorsmanship.
Talbot stood before a wall, upon which was painted the most intricate design any human had ever seen. It was a diagram of… unknown things. A chart of runes, maps, and artfully painted lines. There was no text in any living language on the diagram, but the harmony within the full tapestry visually sang, imparting something unfathomable in a way that Talbot could somehow fathom. The man who’d made it, who’d studied it for 15 years, barely understood it himself. But he knew that it was the ultimate solution to the entirety of philosophy, containing the answers to every question humanity had ever seen fit to ask. It had existed in his notebook for a while, in bits and pieces, but today had been its first full assembly, and it was magnificent.
He had to keep it hidden, or someone would take it from him.
He retrieved a tarp and threw it over the wall, nailing it in at the top so it hung down to cover his designs. Just to be sure, he moved his desk to block the wall, then locked the door to his office when he left for the day. James Talbot was more excited than he had ever been, and he celebrated that night with a fireplace and a large bottle of whiskey.
Of all the people at his office to commit espionage, Talbot never would’ve suspected the night janitor. This may stem from the fact that he also never suspected the night janitor to be part of a massive secret organization dedicated to keeping humanity as ignorant as possible in matters of the Higher Order.
But no matter what Talbot suspected, Tim Willis was indeed part of this society, and after he’d entered Talbot’s office with his master key to do some routine cleaning, the obvious secrecy surrounding the wall at the back of the room worried him. So he moved the desk out of the way, lifted the tarp, and inhaled sharply.
This was bad. A tapestry of the Higher Order more complete than any he’d seen before, or any reported by the other Censors of the Agency for the Preservation of Humanity.
Willis quickly replaced the tarp and desk. As soon as he’d locked the room, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number for an Alexander Talc.
Talbot arrived the next morning with a song in his heart and a latte in his hand. The former died horribly as soon as he entered his office only to find someone sitting in his chair, and the latter died horribly as it fell from his fingers, limp in shock.
The person in question was a short, slight man who wore thick glasses and a dark gray suit. He was sitting on Talbot’s office chair, facing the now uncovered back wall with all of its eldritch calculations. Talbot’s desk had been moved to the side of the room, left askew with the tarp crumpled up on top.
As Talbot entered, the stranger spun the chair around so he was facing the chemist, a broad smile on his face. He was undeniably attractive, in a delicate sort of way.
“Ah! You must be the aspiring alchemist?” He spoke softly and cheerily, but with an unnerving edge. Talbot couldn’t identify any specific aspect of his voice that disturbed him, but upon further consideration he concluded that it was the incongruity of the situation, the warm friendliness of his tone grating against Talbot’s unease.
Talbot took a step back, shaken. “I don’t… what-”
“Quite an impressive display here. You’ve managed to glean a quite large amount of knowledge about the Higher Order, especially considering you’ve never consulted us at the APH.” He pronounced it phonetically, like Aff.
“What are you-”
Talbot heard a click from behind him, and turned to see Tim Willis, the night janitor, closing and locking his door. He could barely register the betrayal.
“Ah, yes. Tim is working for me. For us. The Agency for the Protection of Humankind really frowns upon anyone attempting to learn the Higher Order.”
Talbot, finally able to form a full sentence, asked, “What’s the Higher Order?”
“You know what it is, of course, although you may not have heard the term. It’s what we call the mechanics of the very fabric of the universe itself. The questions about ‘why are we here?’ and ‘is there a god?’ and all the stuff like that. All theoretical philosophy, basically. And you, apparently through sheer dumb luck,” He turned to admire the mural again, “have managed to find more of it than any human being ever, including us! Quite impressive. Big hand.” The man slow-clapped for Talbot. The small sweet-looking man being sarcastically condescending was jarringly incongruous.
Talbot felt a surge of anger, and it helped him produce a full sentence. “Dumb luck?!?” He advanced on the man. “My Masterwork is the product of 20 years of research and experience! This is the greatest thing anyone has ever done, and how dare you say I achieved it through dumb luck!”
The man raised his hands placatingly. “Okay, okay!” He chuckled. “Years of research, whatever. You found the Higher Order. That’s where we come in.”
“Why?”
“Ah. Well, you see, the reason that no one’s found the entire Higher Order is simple. It’s because we stop them.”
Talbot was incredulous. “What?! Why would you stand in the way of progress like that?!” As a scientist, the possibility that there could be anyone actively against gaining knowledge was incomprehensible to him.
The man grimaced, as though he was about to break some terrible news. “Well… there are some parts of this tapestry you’ve assembled, specifically here...” The man pointed at a small segment of the diagram, a thick horizontal line with four thin lines crossing perpendicularly that turned into five lines on the other side, “That grants access to some other planes of existence. Planes of existence that are home to some very dangerous things. And due to some logistical aspects of the Higher Order,” He gestured at another segment of the diagram entirely composed of square symbols, “if you muck about in their domain, they are able to muck about in ours. The Law of Equivalent Interference.”
“But… how would our finding answers count as ‘mucking about in their domain’? If we knew the danger, we just wouldn’t go there.”
The man was silent, then answered Talbot’s question with a question. “Tell me, Talbot. If humans discovered another dimension, do you really think they’d be able to stay out of it?”
“Fine. But then why do you have to censor the whole thing? Why not give them the benign parts that would still forward human progress by centuries?”
“Because the Higher Order is like Algebra. Or a logic puzzle from Highlights magazine. If you give someone smart enough just a few clues, they’ll eventually assemble the whole picture. Which we desperately want to avoid.”
There was a long and heavy silence.
“Ok.” Said Talbot, wrapping his head around the new information. “So the APH stops people from finding the answers to these questions so our world isn’t destroyed by Fourth Dimensional entities?”
“Exactly!” The man nodded, delighted at Talbot’s comprehension. “Well, they’re technically Fifth Dimensional. The existence of time in our reality means that this is the Fourth Dimension.”
There was another silence.
“Sorry, what was your name again?” Talbot asked.
The man looked utterly devastated. “Oh no! I can’t believe I was so rude!” He vaulted the desk and approached Talbot, stopping just short and shaking his hand. “Alexander Talc, Class 2 Censor Operative for the APH.”
“Censor as in… ?”
“Yes, I censor things. People too, if necessary.”
“So what,” Talbot asked, “You’re here to kill me?”
Talc gasped. “What?!?! No! As if we’d be so barbaric! We’re here to recruit you.”
Talbot’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”
“Of course! You know more about the Higher Order than any human outside of the APH, and probably more than a majority of those inside of the APH. Your expertise could be vital in preventing a breach in our reality!”
“What would this job entail?”
“Well, we’d need you to fake your death, change your name, burn your research-”
Talbot recoiled.
“Now I know that sounds like a lot,” Talc backpedaled, “But allow me to let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in conspiratorially, then glanced around as though to make sure nobody was listening. Satisfied, he whispered, “The dental is off-the-charts.”
Talbot shook his head. “What happens if I don’t take the job?”
Talc winced. “Things get considerably less pleasant. I have to call in a Class 3 Purge Operative, and that’s always a hassle.”
Talbot chose not to inquire into the purpose of a ‘Purge Operative’.
Talc gently laid a hand on Talbot’s shoulder. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. How about we move to some place more hospitable and you can think it over?”
Talbot nodded, his mind elsewhere. Talc gently guided him out of the room, Willis following and closing the door behind them.
Talbot stared down into his conical paper cup, filled with water that tasted plasticy. The three men were in the lobby of Talbot’s workplace, leaning against a table adorned with donuts and a water cooler.
Talc bit into a day-old bear claw as Talbot swirled his water and considered the situation.
If he accepted the offer, he would be shipped off to another state, away from his home in Bedford, where he would join whatever on earth APH was. Talbot hated the idea of working for an agency whose entire purpose was to destroy knowledge. On the other hand, if he didn’t accept the offer, they’d likely kill him.
Purge Officer…
Would working for the APH really be so bad? Talbot liked Talc enough. Maybe they could be friends. Or… more than friends. And if the APH truly wanted Talbot to be able to suppress the Higher Order, he’d have to know the Higher Order. Which meant research. He could essentially continue on exactly as he was.
Except he would never be recognized as the genius he was. Talbot involuntarily crushed his paper cup as he realized that, if he took the offer, he’d never win a Nobel prize. He’d never present at the Grand Chemistry Convention. He’d never write a revolutionary scientific paper. He would be forgotten.
He knew what he had to do. He couldn’t say no, or he would be killed. He couldn’t accept, or he would be forgotten, which was worse. He had to escape.
But how? This was some sort of world-ruling secret agency. They probably had eyes everywhere. What could he possibly do to get away?
His eyes wandered towards the stairs. The stairs that led to his office, which held the key to every single natural law.
Talbot tossed his cup in the trash, then approached Talc.
“I think I’m ready to make my decision. But first, can I go to the restroom?”
Talc nodded. “Of course! Take all the time you need!”
Talbot nodded and jogged toward the restroom. In the tiled floor under him, he saw Willis’s warped reflection following him discreetly.
He entered the single restroom and quietly opened the window. He could see Willis’s shadow under the door as the man hovered just outside.
Talbot waited a couple seconds, then flushed the toilet, turned on the sink, and silently crept through the window. He fell a few feet to the alley below, and had to suppress a grunt.
Now what? He needed to escape, but his notebook was still upstairs. All his research was in there, and he couldn’t leave it to the APH.
The only ground level entrance to the building was the main lobby door, which was directly in Talc’s sightline. However, who said he had to enter on ground level?
Talbot’s gaze rose to the old fire escape above him. The bottom of the structure was a platform that lined up with the second floor. A ladder was folded up on the platform, an old rusty latch keeping it from reaching ground level. Talbot couldn’t reach the latch from where he was on the ground, so he looked around for a solution.
He had a bum throwing arm, so he couldn’t toss anything up to break it. Unless…
Talbot considered Talc’s words. The very mechanics of the universe itself... He felt a flare of pride as he realized how little Talc truly understood.
The sigil that granted access to the Fifth Dimension was just one of several such Seals. Over all Talbot’s years of study, those portions of the Higher Order were the most applicable. They did not just show universal aspects of reality. They represented those aspects. They were symbolic, and like all symbols, they were powerful.
They were simulacra of natural laws, and could be manipulated in order to manipulate those laws themselves. It allowed anyone who knew the Seals to weave a sort of magic, ignoring the laws of time, space, or gravity by sketching and then destroying the corresponding runes, temporarily destroying that Law’s influence over oneself. Talbot’s hypothesis was that there was a single Greater Seal for each law that controlled that law anywhere and everywhere. If that one was found and destroyed, the laws of reality would change forever.
For greater, wide-scale application, Talbot had scrawled in his notebook, The Greater Aspects must be located and manipulated.
Talbot dropped to the ground and dragged his finger through the alley gravel. He assembled the rocks into a facsimile of a tiny part of the Higher Order, one that he’d experimented with a lot. He looked around for a suitable vessel, settling on a rock. He poured all his mental energy into the stone, and used his hands to scatter the pebbles that made up the Seal of Velocity.
The rock sprang from the ground and soared upwards, clanging against the ladder before anticlimactically falling into a dumpster. From inside, Willis banged on the bathroom door and said something indistinct. Talbot’s second telekinetic toss hit the ladder before falling onto the platform itself. He broke another Seal, and his third throw smacked into the latch, splitting the rusted thing and shooting the ladder downwards.
It made a lot of noise, and Talbot could hear Willis pounding on the bathroom door inside. He seemed to be breaking it down, as Talbot heard wood split with a crunch. Talbot quickly mounted the ladder and climbed up to the platform, trying not to think about the alarming creaking sounds the old construction was making. From there, he took the stairs two at a time, spiraling up and up until he reached the sixth floor.
Six flights of stairs only had him a bit winded by the time he reached his floor. He tried the door to the inside, and found it unlocked.
Talbot entered the hallway outside his office quietly. He considered how this would play out. Willis and Talc would be storming up here at any moment. He had to move quickly.
Talbot entered his workroom, dragging his desk over to block the door. He took a moment to gaze forlornly at his Masterwork, because he would never be able to take it with him. All the same pieces and diagrams were in his notebook, but the full Masterwork was a thing of beauty, one that he would never behold again.
He snapped a picture of it with his phone. It wasn’t the same, but it’d have to do.
Talbot grabbed his notebook, its leather-bound pages bulging with decades of research. Some of the sheaves of paper stuck out at odd angles, newspaper snippets and glossy photographs glued into the most faithful companion Talbot had ever had.
Was there anything else he needed?
The door began to rattle.
Talbot grabbed a sheet of blank paper from his desk and rapidly sketched as many Seals as he could. He had an idea of how he could escape, but he needed to harness his work to do it. Using the Masterwork as a reference, he scrawled the Seal of Time, the Seal of Space, the Seal of Gravity, and, after considering it, the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Just in case. He thought.
With a crack, his door burst open, shoving the desk out of the way. Talc and Willis stood there, the latter looking enraged, the former strangely calm.
“Talbot, this doesn’t have to happen this way.” Talc appealed, but Talbot was done listening. He would not be forgotten. He would be immortalized, through his work.
Talbot ripped a corner off of his Seal sheet, and glanced down at the Seal of Time. With a glare at Talc, he stuck it in his mouth and began to chew.
Talbot disappeared with a pop, as Willis lunged towards where he’d just been.
Willis stopped short, then turned to Talc. He was noticeably upset at losing their quarry.
“What do we do now?”
“Well, we follow him.”
“How?”
Talc approached the Masterwork. “It’s simple. I’m sure Talbot understood that time travel doesn’t work the way everyone thinks it does. Cause and Effect are inextricably linked, and cannot be put out of order. Traveling through time actually just creates another dimension, a splintered facsimile of your original where things play out differently.”
“So… to follow him do we just use the Time Sigil?”
“Seal, Willis. And no. That will just create another splinter plane. Now that the reality has already been established, we need to follow him. Using this.”
Talc’s thin fingers traced the outline of another Seal, one Talbot hadn’t thought to inscribe.
“There are many ways to traverse the Multiverse.” Talc said, “Using Seals to rip open the barriers between planes is one of the simplest.”
Talc sketched down two copies of the seal, then separated the two and handed one to Willis. The two locked eyes and nodded in unison. They both rent their sheets in half and disappeared.
Talbot didn’t ‘land’, per se, but he still felt off-balance when he blinked into existence in his office. He staggered, but caught himself before he could fall. The world felt… different here.
Out of everything Talbot had discovered, Multiversal travel was his least considered. He’d been too cowardly to experiment with anything but the Space, Gravity, and Velocity Seals, so this experience was new to him. Naturally, as any scientist does when faced with something unfamiliar, he started taking notes.
Effects of Time/Universe Traversal:
–Slight nausea. Somewhat noticeable. Temporary?
–World overall feels discordant. Silence sounds different than back home. My tinnitus is in another key. Feels like I don’t belong.
–Different frequency hard-coded into every reality?
Before he could assemble an entire thesis on the underlying resonance within the multiverse, he realized with a start that he had to get out of here. Talc and WIllis were likely following him, and even if they weren’t, there were copies of them in this dimension.
Talbot had willed himself about 10 minutes back in time, and it seemed like that’d worked. His Masterwork was complete and the desk and tarp were off to the side. The trio were likely downstairs in the lobby, where Past-Talbot was thinking over the pros and cons of their offer. At least, he thought so. Time travel seemed to create a splintering reality, one that maintained consistency with his original up until the point where he showed up. There were plenty of unfamiliar worlds out there, but the Seal of Time created one quite familiar. Right now Past-Talbot-
Past-Talbot doesn’t sound right. Pretty soon it’ll be my present, then my future. How about Talbot-2?
After settling upon a name to call his double, Talbot exited his office and left through the door that led to the fire escape, in too much of a hurry to close it. He scrambled down the stairs, knocked the latch off the ladder, climbed to the ground, popped open the bathroom window, and climbed inside. Right as he got his arms through, the door opened.
Talbot-2 walked in, then stopped short as he saw himself dangling halfway through the window. Talbot put a finger to his lips, and indicated Willis-2 with his eyes. Talbot-2 silently shut the door, locking Willis-2 outside.
Talbot-2 opened his mouth to speak, but barely got out one word. “What-”
“I’m you, from the future. Well, not from your future, but from a future.”
Talbot-2’s confused expression was replaced with excitement. “So the Time Seal Worked?! Fantastic! What’s it like?!”
“I’d tell you all about it, but I’m currently stuck in a bathroom window and being hunted down by two government agents. Although I don’t actually know if they work for the government…”
Talbot-2 pulled him through the window into the bathroom. “Sorry.”
Once he was in, Talbot glanced at the door behind Talbot-2.
“Okay. Here’s the thing. Some version of Talc and Willis will be here any minute. Whether mine followed me from the future or not, yours will catch on soon. We need to get out of here, and get the Masterwork to somebody else.”
“Wait, which Talc and Willis will show up?”
“One of them… or both of them. It doesn’t really matter! Do we know anybody we can send our notes to?”
Talbot-2 considered it. “Davis?”
Talbot frowned, and opened his notebook to an early page.
Dr. Wilson Davis
–Spineless fool. He calls himself a chemist, but refuses to venture outside the conventions of the industry. No true scientist works a cushy chemical production job! We journey! We endeavor!
Talbot shook his head. “He’d never publish something like this. If they tracked him down, he’d probably take their oppressive offer.”
“Johnson?”
Dr Monica Johnson
—Chemist and conspiracy nut. Super gullible, but generally a good person.
“She’ll believe anything.” Talbot said. “...Which is actually probably a good thing in this case. If she thinks it’s real, she’ll distribute it, and she’s earnest enough to leave my- our name on it.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Actually, it sounds like an idea, not a plan. What is our plan?”
Talbot thought for several seconds. “Here’s what we do. You pretend to accept their offer, and do whatever they tell you. If all else fails, you’ll get a cushy job working for the government. Meanwhile, I get this,” Talbot indicated his notebook. “To Johnson, and then…” He paused.
Someone knocked on the door.
“And then?” Talbot-2 prompted in a whisper, glancing behind him.
“Then… I’ll figure something out.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Alright. Are we ready to go?”
“I think so.” Talbot replied.
Talbot slipped out of the window, and Talbot-2 opened the door to greet Willis-2.
The man peered around him. “Who were you talking to in there?”
Talbot-2 shrugged. “Myself. You know, crazy scientist stuff.”
Talbot dropped to the ground, then produced his sheet of Seals. He picked out one specific design, a circle bisected by a thin line. On one side of the line, a stylized forest thrived, and on the other a pictographic city loomed. Talbot ripped the Seal of Space from his paper and stuck it in his mouth, once again disappearing with a pop.
Talc and Willis appeared in Talbot-2’s workroom, and quickly exited. Both spun in the hallway outside, and both spotted the wide-open door to the fire escape. They both moved down the rickety metal construction and found themselves in an alley behind the building.
“See that?” Talc pointed at the window.
“Yeah. Did he go in through it?” Willis asked.
“Of course. But if he used the Seal of Time to try to come back and alert himself, I’m guessing he came through here to talk to him…self, but he couldn’t have left. The only point at which he was in the bathroom, you were right outside. He popped in, popped out, popped another Seal.”
“Is there any guarantee that he came back to alert himself? He could’ve gone to any point in time.”
“I know his type. The out-there intellectual. He’s been burned by everyone but himself. He’ll only trust himself. And if he came to himself before we’d arrived, he wouldn’t believe him.”
“Sorry, who wouldn’t believe him?”
“Him! Aren’t you-” Talc took a moment to consider the context. “You know what, nevermind. The point is that this reality’s Talbot is now in league with our Talbot, and that’s not good.”
“What do we do?”
“Well firstly, we need to cut it down to one Talbot. Two is too many to deal with.” Talc pushed on his earpiece, then spoke. “Hello? Can you hear me, Talc?” There was silence, until something dawned on him. “Ah, dammit. I can’t call my own earpiece.” He adjusted something on his earpiece. “Willis! Do you copy?” Willis heard Talc both from right next to him and through his earpiece. He didn’t hear the reply, but his earpiece buzzed as its exact copy broadcast something. Willis took his earpiece out and squinted at it, curious about the exact Multiversal properties that bonded it to its clone.
“Yes, this is Talc. But not your Talc. Listen, Talbot ran off to this dimension, and we believe he’s working with your Talbot. We need to meet up, then dispose of the dupe.”
Talc listened for a response, and Willis’s earpiece vibrated as his double presumably replied.
Talc turned to Willis. “Alright. They’ll meet us back in Talbot’s office. There we can get rid of the redundant one and track our quarry.”
Their quarry was currently depositing a large package of brown paper in a big blue mailbox.
Talbot paused as he lowered the boxy parcel. This was his life’s work, his notebook and all his scattered papers, and was the second-most important thing he owned, next to the wall that contained the Masterwork itself, which was likely being dismantled by his enemies at that very moment. This was the last 20 years of his life, and he was about to gamble it away to a crazy woman on the off-chance that his legacy might live on. Talbot wished he’d spent more time with reasonable scientists, if only to expand the pool of people he could mail his book to.
With a deep breath, Talbot released the book, wincing at the gentle ‘paff’ sound it made when it fell onto the envelopes at the bottom of the box.
His job complete, Talbot slipped the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and disappeared into the afternoon.
Guns are inelegant, Talc told his subordinate often. They’re loud, messy. Tools of thugs and soldiers, not agents of a higher purpose.
But there’s a downside to not carrying a gun, Willis countered silently. The difference between shooting a person and being forced to kill them more intimately is palpable, and not often a positive.
Willis considered this as Talbot-2 stopped struggling and finally went limp in his arms. Willis released the garotte from around the man’s throat, then lowered him to the floor of the office.
An irritated sigh came from behind him. Willis turned to see Talc shaking his head and walking toward him.
“No, you need to finish the job.” The man said. He kneeled, took Talbot-2’s forehead in one hand, his chin in the other, then jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck.
“If you stop garrotting when he goes limp, he’s just unconscious.” The other Talc, Talc-2, stated.
Willis nodded, numbly. He didn’t really hear the man.
“I know this is hard,” Talc said, shifting into a gentler tone, “But this is all for the good of humanity. If we let these ideas run wild, we’d all be dead.”
“Worse than dead.” Talc-2 added helpfully. “Our very essences would be consumed by dark beings from beyond our world.”
Willis nodded again. He’d heard it all before. So why did he still find it so hard to hurt people?
“So where’s the other one?” Willis-2 asked, seemingly unaware of his double’s predicament.
“That’s the big question, isn’t it.” Talc-2 mused, “However, before we can ponder it, first things first. We need to get a CC team in here to handle that wall.”
All four men were familiar with the APH Cognito Containment Teams, mysterious individuals in surgical masks that took away artifacts of forbidden knowledge to be stored or disposed of.
Talc-2 clicked his earpiece, then said a series of numbers and codes that were unintelligible to either Willis. He finished by saying, “Please send a Class-4 CC team. Over.”
He turned to the others. “They’re on their way. We need to secure Talbot’s place of residence.”
“Do we know that’s where he’ll go next?” Willis-2 asked.
“Not necessarily,” Talc-1 responded, “But it’s quite likely he’ll at least stop there to retrieve personal effects before going somewhere else.”
Both Willises nodded, almost in sync. The logic made sense. They would lock down Talbot’s house first.
All was silent in the small house several miles outside of town that Talbot called his abode. Then frantic footsteps sounded from outside, as someone ran up the footpath leading to the front door. Then, a faint scratching as Talbot scrambled to fit his key into the lock. A quiet clacking came next, as Talbot’s cat descended his cat-tree and approached the door to see what was happening.
Talbot swung the door open and gently pushed the cat out of his way with his foot.
“Sorry Ozzy,” he muttered.
He produced his debit card and snapped it in half, having extracted all the money from his account before arriving here. He pulled several thousand dollars from his pockets and shoved them in his wallet, his backpack, the pocket on the inside of his jacket, and his shoes.
He grabbed a spare toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from the master bathroom, shoving them into the backpack as well. He was going on the run, for god knows how long.
He paused as his eyes fell on his set of keys. He wouldn’t be taking his car or his house, so they’d likely not be necessary.
But I might as well just in case. Talbot grabbed the jangling key ring and slipped it into the inside pocket of his pants.
His cat mewed at his feet. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed his carrier and bowl, both monogrammed with a matching ‘Ozymandius’.
He knew bringing Ozzy was objectively a bad choice. It was impractical and stupid. The cat was loud, and would slow him down. But Talbot couldn’t bear leaving his baby here to be subjected to whatever evil ideas Talc and Willis had in mind.
Talbot coaxed Ozzy into his crate, then picked up the cat and donned his backpack. He took one last look around his house before he opened the front door and was immediately grabbed by both Willises, one of which held a chloroform rag over his mouth until he went limp.
Talbot awoke with a start. He glanced around, disoriented, and immediately registered that he was in some sort of interrogation room. His chair was metal, and bolted to the floor. Before him was a table, and above that table a blinding light mounted on the ceiling shone directly into his eyes. On the wall across from him, very much breaking the theme, was a ‘Hang in there!’ poster and a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser.
Talbot tried to stand, only to find that his wrists and ankles were strapped into the chair. He strained against the bonds, cursing as the straps held strong.
He thought he heard faint snickering.
He turned to glare at the mirror to his right. “What are you planning to do to me?!”
Silence.
“What are you planning to do to my cat?!?”
More silence.
The Talcs and the Willi were standing behind the one-way mirror on Talbot’s left, looking at the back of his head as he shouted at no one. Talc looked mildly amused at Talbot’s complete misunderstanding of the room’s orientation.
Willis-2 glanced at Talc-2, who shrugged and motioned for Talc-1 to enter the larger room. Talc-1 did as asked.
The door at the front of the room opened, and Talc stepped out. He took a seat across from Talbot, and cleared his throat.
“First off, the most important thing. Your cat will be well-cared for, no matter the outcome of this conversation. Great name, by the way.”
Talbot refused to thank him for the compliment.
Talc cleared his throat, and there was a long silence.
“What about my first question?” Talbot asked, his voice trembling.
Talc sighed, then reached below the table.
Several seconds later, he came back up, notably with some difficulty. He slammed Talbot’s notebook down on the table. Next to it, he laid the sheet of seals Talbot had used to traverse space and time.
Talbot was stricken. “How did you-!?”
“Find this? Simple deduction. I’m frankly insulted that you didn’t consider that we’ve been tailing everyone you know for months. Johnson was the only person you could send this to.”
“What did you do to her?!”
“Nothing! We’re not the bad guys here, Talbot. We pulled the package from her porch before she ever got involved. We’d never hurt anyone.”
“Then where am I?” Talbot spat, then rephrased. “I mean… where is the version of me from here? Wait, are you from here or there?”
“I’m from there, assuming you mean your original reality. And Talbot-2 is fine. He’s in the next room.”
Willis winced behind the mirror.
“You never actually answered my question.” Talbot said quietly.
Talc pursed his lips regrettably.
“Well… here’s the thing, Talbot. What I’d like to do is offer you a chance to redeem yourself. I’d like to let you join the APH and help us protect humanity. But you’ve made it clear that that’s not what you want, and if we let you into our fold now, we’d forever be looking over our shoulders, wondering whose side you were truly on. And we can’t just let you go, no no. Your theories would largely be regarded as crackpot, but there are ways to prove these things, and you would certainly find them.”
Talbot swallowed. “Couldn’t you just… you know… erase my memory?”
Talc stifled a laugh. “Unfortunately, this is not Men In Black. Actions have consequences. There are no take-backs. And I’m sorry, Talbot, but this is it for you.” Talc stood, turned on his heel, and left.
“Why the hell’d you wake him up just to tell him that?” Willis muttered behind the glass.
“Hey, wait!” Talbot screamed at him as he departed, but there was no response.
Talbot tried to stand again, but slammed back into his chair as the bonds held.
Willis entered a few minutes later, holding a syringe. He winced at the sight before him. Talbot was hunched over, resting his head on the table. His shoulders were bobbing as though he was sobbing quietly.
Willis approached Talbot and tightened the strap on his right wrist. He moved around him and reached for his left hand, only to see that the strap had been sawed apart, and Talbot’s hand was free.
Willis grabbed his elbow, but Talbot struggled against the man’s grasp. The scientist was trying to keep it firmly on the table under his face.
Frustrated, Willis grabbed Talbot’s head and lifted it back, so he was sitting up straight.
As he beheld Talbot’s face, Willis felt a bolt of fear lance through him. The man was smiling, but it was not a happy smile.
It was the smile of a trapped animal that knew it would take a limb before it went down. With his eyes, Talbot indicated downwards. Willis slowly lowered his vision to the stainless steel tabletop. In Talbot’s hand was a housekey, the teeth worn down from sawing through the leather strap and scratching a symbol into the table. Right under his hand, the surface was pockmarked with the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Willis lunged for Talbot’s wrist, but it was too late. The alchemist brought the key across the symbol, carving another scratch to break the Seal and the boundaries between their reality and one far darker. Neither man had time to scream.
Talbot felt himself slip free of the chair, and out of the leather strap around his wrist.
Willis’s grip loosened, and it felt like he was flung across whatever intermediary pathway connected the fourth and fifth dimensions.
Part Two posted promptly!
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“Holy crap.” James Talbot stepped back from his handiwork. It was beautiful. It made him want to scream.
Talbot was a chemist, the modern form of an alchemist, and he’d discovered something as wondrous and terrible as the most extreme postulations of his forbearers.
This was it. The culmination of all his works. This is what he’d fought for decades for, why he’d abandoned connections with everyone he’d ever known. But now it was all worth it. He would reveal the Masterwork at the Grand Chemistry Convention. It would steal the show, and he would be revered beyond every other human being who had ever lived.
It had taken Talbot long enough to assemble the Masterwork that he’d shed the title of ‘young’, not to mention most of his non-gray hair. Although it was hard to tell whether that was from aging or from what he’d beheld in his long sojourn. He was only 45, after all, and the rest of his body still held firm from decades of outdoorsmanship.
Talbot stood before a wall, upon which was painted the most intricate design any human had ever seen. It was a diagram of… unknown things. A chart of runes, maps, and artfully painted lines. There was no text in any living language on the diagram, but the harmony within the full tapestry visually sang, imparting something unfathomable in a way that Talbot could somehow fathom. The man who’d made it, who’d studied it for 15 years, barely understood it himself. But he knew that it was the ultimate solution to the entirety of philosophy, containing the answers to every question humanity had ever seen fit to ask. It had existed in his notebook for a while, in bits and pieces, but today had been its first full assembly, and it was magnificent.
He had to keep it hidden, or someone would take it from him.
He retrieved a tarp and threw it over the wall, nailing it in at the top so it hung down to cover his designs. Just to be sure, he moved his desk to block the wall, then locked the door to his office when he left for the day. James Talbot was more excited than he had ever been, and he celebrated that night with a fireplace and a large bottle of whiskey.
Of all the people at his office to commit espionage, Talbot never would’ve suspected the night janitor. This may stem from the fact that he also never suspected the night janitor to be part of a massive secret organization dedicated to keeping humanity as ignorant as possible in matters of the Higher Order.
But no matter what Talbot suspected, Tim Willis was indeed part of this society, and after he’d entered Talbot’s office with his master key to do some routine cleaning, the obvious secrecy surrounding the wall at the back of the room worried him. So he moved the desk out of the way, lifted the tarp, and inhaled sharply.
This was bad. A tapestry of the Higher Order more complete than any he’d seen before, or any reported by the other Censors of the Agency for the Preservation of Humanity.
Willis quickly replaced the tarp and desk. As soon as he’d locked the room, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number for an Alexander Talc.
Talbot arrived the next morning with a song in his heart and a latte in his hand. The former died horribly as soon as he entered his office only to find someone sitting in his chair, and the latter died horribly as it fell from his fingers, limp in shock.
The person in question was a short, slight man who wore thick glasses and a dark gray suit. He was sitting on Talbot’s office chair, facing the now uncovered back wall with all of its eldritch calculations. Talbot’s desk had been moved to the side of the room, left askew with the tarp crumpled up on top.
As Talbot entered, the stranger spun the chair around so he was facing the chemist, a broad smile on his face. He was undeniably attractive, in a delicate sort of way.
“Ah! You must be the aspiring alchemist?” He spoke softly and cheerily, but with an unnerving edge. Talbot couldn’t identify any specific aspect of his voice that disturbed him, but upon further consideration he concluded that it was the incongruity of the situation, the warm friendliness of his tone grating against Talbot’s unease.
Talbot took a step back, shaken. “I don’t… what-”
“Quite an impressive display here. You’ve managed to glean a quite large amount of knowledge about the Higher Order, especially considering you’ve never consulted us at the APH.” He pronounced it phonetically, like Aff.
“What are you-”
Talbot heard a click from behind him, and turned to see Tim Willis, the night janitor, closing and locking his door. He could barely register the betrayal.
“Ah, yes. Tim is working for me. For us. The Agency for the Protection of Humankind really frowns upon anyone attempting to learn the Higher Order.”
Talbot, finally able to form a full sentence, asked, “What’s the Higher Order?”
“You know what it is, of course, although you may not have heard the term. It’s what we call the mechanics of the very fabric of the universe itself. The questions about ‘why are we here?’ and ‘is there a god?’ and all the stuff like that. All theoretical philosophy, basically. And you, apparently through sheer dumb luck,” He turned to admire the mural again, “have managed to find more of it than any human being ever, including us! Quite impressive. Big hand.” The man slow-clapped for Talbot. The small sweet-looking man being sarcastically condescending was jarringly incongruous.
Talbot felt a surge of anger, and it helped him produce a full sentence. “Dumb luck?!?” He advanced on the man. “My Masterwork is the product of 20 years of research and experience! This is the greatest thing anyone has ever done, and how dare you say I achieved it through dumb luck!”
The man raised his hands placatingly. “Okay, okay!” He chuckled. “Years of research, whatever. You found the Higher Order. That’s where we come in.”
“Why?”
“Ah. Well, you see, the reason that no one’s found the entire Higher Order is simple. It’s because we stop them.”
Talbot was incredulous. “What?! Why would you stand in the way of progress like that?!” As a scientist, the possibility that there could be anyone actively against gaining knowledge was incomprehensible to him.
The man grimaced, as though he was about to break some terrible news. “Well… there are some parts of this tapestry you’ve assembled, specifically here...” The man pointed at a small segment of the diagram, a thick horizontal line with four thin lines crossing perpendicularly that turned into five lines on the other side, “That grants access to some other planes of existence. Planes of existence that are home to some very dangerous things. And due to some logistical aspects of the Higher Order,” He gestured at another segment of the diagram entirely composed of square symbols, “if you muck about in their domain, they are able to muck about in ours. The Law of Equivalent Interference.”
“But… how would our finding answers count as ‘mucking about in their domain’? If we knew the danger, we just wouldn’t go there.”
The man was silent, then answered Talbot’s question with a question. “Tell me, Talbot. If humans discovered another dimension, do you really think they’d be able to stay out of it?”
“Fine. But then why do you have to censor the whole thing? Why not give them the benign parts that would still forward human progress by centuries?”
“Because the Higher Order is like Algebra. Or a logic puzzle from Highlights magazine. If you give someone smart enough just a few clues, they’ll eventually assemble the whole picture. Which we desperately want to avoid.”
There was a long and heavy silence.
“Ok.” Said Talbot, wrapping his head around the new information. “So the APH stops people from finding the answers to these questions so our world isn’t destroyed by Fourth Dimensional entities?”
“Exactly!” The man nodded, delighted at Talbot’s comprehension. “Well, they’re technically Fifth Dimensional. The existence of time in our reality means that this is the Fourth Dimension.”
There was another silence.
“Sorry, what was your name again?” Talbot asked.
The man looked utterly devastated. “Oh no! I can’t believe I was so rude!” He vaulted the desk and approached Talbot, stopping just short and shaking his hand. “Alexander Talc, Class 2 Censor Operative for the APH.”
“Censor as in… ?”
“Yes, I censor things. People too, if necessary.”
“So what,” Talbot asked, “You’re here to kill me?”
Talc gasped. “What?!?! No! As if we’d be so barbaric! We’re here to recruit you.”
Talbot’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”
“Of course! You know more about the Higher Order than any human outside of the APH, and probably more than a majority of those inside of the APH. Your expertise could be vital in preventing a breach in our reality!”
“What would this job entail?”
“Well, we’d need you to fake your death, change your name, burn your research-”
Talbot recoiled.
“Now I know that sounds like a lot,” Talc backpedaled, “But allow me to let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in conspiratorially, then glanced around as though to make sure nobody was listening. Satisfied, he whispered, “The dental is off-the-charts.”
Talbot shook his head. “What happens if I don’t take the job?”
Talc winced. “Things get considerably less pleasant. I have to call in a Class 3 Purge Operative, and that’s always a hassle.”
Talbot chose not to inquire into the purpose of a ‘Purge Operative’.
Talc gently laid a hand on Talbot’s shoulder. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. How about we move to some place more hospitable and you can think it over?”
Talbot nodded, his mind elsewhere. Talc gently guided him out of the room, Willis following and closing the door behind them.
Talbot stared down into his conical paper cup, filled with water that tasted plasticy. The three men were in the lobby of Talbot’s workplace, leaning against a table adorned with donuts and a water cooler.
Talc bit into a day-old bear claw as Talbot swirled his water and considered the situation.
If he accepted the offer, he would be shipped off to another state, away from his home in Bedford, where he would join whatever on earth APH was. Talbot hated the idea of working for an agency whose entire purpose was to destroy knowledge. On the other hand, if he didn’t accept the offer, they’d likely kill him.
Purge Officer…
Would working for the APH really be so bad? Talbot liked Talc enough. Maybe they could be friends. Or… more than friends. And if the APH truly wanted Talbot to be able to suppress the Higher Order, he’d have to know the Higher Order. Which meant research. He could essentially continue on exactly as he was.
Except he would never be recognized as the genius he was. Talbot involuntarily crushed his paper cup as he realized that, if he took the offer, he’d never win a Nobel prize. He’d never present at the Grand Chemistry Convention. He’d never write a revolutionary scientific paper. He would be forgotten.
He knew what he had to do. He couldn’t say no, or he would be killed. He couldn’t accept, or he would be forgotten, which was worse. He had to escape.
But how? This was some sort of world-ruling secret agency. They probably had eyes everywhere. What could he possibly do to get away?
His eyes wandered towards the stairs. The stairs that led to his office, which held the key to every single natural law.
Talbot tossed his cup in the trash, then approached Talc.
“I think I’m ready to make my decision. But first, can I go to the restroom?”
Talc nodded. “Of course! Take all the time you need!”
Talbot nodded and jogged toward the restroom. In the tiled floor under him, he saw Willis’s warped reflection following him discreetly.
He entered the single restroom and quietly opened the window. He could see Willis’s shadow under the door as the man hovered just outside.
Talbot waited a couple seconds, then flushed the toilet, turned on the sink, and silently crept through the window. He fell a few feet to the alley below, and had to suppress a grunt.
Now what? He needed to escape, but his notebook was still upstairs. All his research was in there, and he couldn’t leave it to the APH.
The only ground level entrance to the building was the main lobby door, which was directly in Talc’s sightline. However, who said he had to enter on ground level?
Talbot’s gaze rose to the old fire escape above him. The bottom of the structure was a platform that lined up with the second floor. A ladder was folded up on the platform, an old rusty latch keeping it from reaching ground level. Talbot couldn’t reach the latch from where he was on the ground, so he looked around for a solution.
He had a bum throwing arm, so he couldn’t toss anything up to break it. Unless…
Talbot considered Talc’s words. The very mechanics of the universe itself... He felt a flare of pride as he realized how little Talc truly understood.
The sigil that granted access to the Fifth Dimension was just one of several such Seals. Over all Talbot’s years of study, those portions of the Higher Order were the most applicable. They did not just show universal aspects of reality. They represented those aspects. They were symbolic, and like all symbols, they were powerful.
They were simulacra of natural laws, and could be manipulated in order to manipulate those laws themselves. It allowed anyone who knew the Seals to weave a sort of magic, ignoring the laws of time, space, or gravity by sketching and then destroying the corresponding runes, temporarily destroying that Law’s influence over oneself. Talbot’s hypothesis was that there was a single Greater Seal for each law that controlled that law anywhere and everywhere. If that one was found and destroyed, the laws of reality would change forever.
For greater, wide-scale application, Talbot had scrawled in his notebook, The Greater Aspects must be located and manipulated.
Talbot dropped to the ground and dragged his finger through the alley gravel. He assembled the rocks into a facsimile of a tiny part of the Higher Order, one that he’d experimented with a lot. He looked around for a suitable vessel, settling on a rock. He poured all his mental energy into the stone, and used his hands to scatter the pebbles that made up the Seal of Velocity.
The rock sprang from the ground and soared upwards, clanging against the ladder before anticlimactically falling into a dumpster. From inside, Willis banged on the bathroom door and said something indistinct. Talbot’s second telekinetic toss hit the ladder before falling onto the platform itself. He broke another Seal, and his third throw smacked into the latch, splitting the rusted thing and shooting the ladder downwards.
It made a lot of noise, and Talbot could hear Willis pounding on the bathroom door inside. He seemed to be breaking it down, as Talbot heard wood split with a crunch. Talbot quickly mounted the ladder and climbed up to the platform, trying not to think about the alarming creaking sounds the old construction was making. From there, he took the stairs two at a time, spiraling up and up until he reached the sixth floor.
Six flights of stairs only had him a bit winded by the time he reached his floor. He tried the door to the inside, and found it unlocked.
Talbot entered the hallway outside his office quietly. He considered how this would play out. Willis and Talc would be storming up here at any moment. He had to move quickly.
Talbot entered his workroom, dragging his desk over to block the door. He took a moment to gaze forlornly at his Masterwork, because he would never be able to take it with him. All the same pieces and diagrams were in his notebook, but the full Masterwork was a thing of beauty, one that he would never behold again.
He snapped a picture of it with his phone. It wasn’t the same, but it’d have to do.
Talbot grabbed his notebook, its leather-bound pages bulging with decades of research. Some of the sheaves of paper stuck out at odd angles, newspaper snippets and glossy photographs glued into the most faithful companion Talbot had ever had.
Was there anything else he needed?
The door began to rattle.
Talbot grabbed a sheet of blank paper from his desk and rapidly sketched as many Seals as he could. He had an idea of how he could escape, but he needed to harness his work to do it. Using the Masterwork as a reference, he scrawled the Seal of Time, the Seal of Space, the Seal of Gravity, and, after considering it, the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Just in case. He thought.
With a crack, his door burst open, shoving the desk out of the way. Talc and Willis stood there, the latter looking enraged, the former strangely calm.
“Talbot, this doesn’t have to happen this way.” Talc appealed, but Talbot was done listening. He would not be forgotten. He would be immortalized, through his work.
Talbot ripped a corner off of his Seal sheet, and glanced down at the Seal of Time. With a glare at Talc, he stuck it in his mouth and began to chew.
Talbot disappeared with a pop, as Willis lunged towards where he’d just been.
Willis stopped short, then turned to Talc. He was noticeably upset at losing their quarry.
“What do we do now?”
“Well, we follow him.”
“How?”
Talc approached the Masterwork. “It’s simple. I’m sure Talbot understood that time travel doesn’t work the way everyone thinks it does. Cause and Effect are inextricably linked, and cannot be put out of order. Traveling through time actually just creates another dimension, a splintered facsimile of your original where things play out differently.”
“So… to follow him do we just use the Time Sigil?”
“Seal, Willis. And no. That will just create another splinter plane. Now that the reality has already been established, we need to follow him. Using this.”
Talc’s thin fingers traced the outline of another Seal, one Talbot hadn’t thought to inscribe.
“There are many ways to traverse the Multiverse.” Talc said, “Using Seals to rip open the barriers between planes is one of the simplest.”
Talc sketched down two copies of the seal, then separated the two and handed one to Willis. The two locked eyes and nodded in unison. They both rent their sheets in half and disappeared.
Talbot didn’t ‘land’, per se, but he still felt off-balance when he blinked into existence in his office. He staggered, but caught himself before he could fall. The world felt… different here.
Out of everything Talbot had discovered, Multiversal travel was his least considered. He’d been too cowardly to experiment with anything but the Space, Gravity, and Velocity Seals, so this experience was new to him. Naturally, as any scientist does when faced with something unfamiliar, he started taking notes.
Effects of Time/Universe Traversal:
–Slight nausea. Somewhat noticeable. Temporary?
–World overall feels discordant. Silence sounds different than back home. My tinnitus is in another key. Feels like I don’t belong.
–Different frequency hard-coded into every reality?
Before he could assemble an entire thesis on the underlying resonance within the multiverse, he realized with a start that he had to get out of here. Talc and WIllis were likely following him, and even if they weren’t, there were copies of them in this dimension.
Talbot had willed himself about 10 minutes back in time, and it seemed like that’d worked. His Masterwork was complete and the desk and tarp were off to the side. The trio were likely downstairs in the lobby, where Past-Talbot was thinking over the pros and cons of their offer. At least, he thought so. Time travel seemed to create a splintering reality, one that maintained consistency with his original up until the point where he showed up. There were plenty of unfamiliar worlds out there, but the Seal of Time created one quite familiar. Right now Past-Talbot-
Past-Talbot doesn’t sound right. Pretty soon it’ll be my present, then my future. How about Talbot-2?
After settling upon a name to call his double, Talbot exited his office and left through the door that led to the fire escape, in too much of a hurry to close it. He scrambled down the stairs, knocked the latch off the ladder, climbed to the ground, popped open the bathroom window, and climbed inside. Right as he got his arms through, the door opened.
Talbot-2 walked in, then stopped short as he saw himself dangling halfway through the window. Talbot put a finger to his lips, and indicated Willis-2 with his eyes. Talbot-2 silently shut the door, locking Willis-2 outside.
Talbot-2 opened his mouth to speak, but barely got out one word. “What-”
“I’m you, from the future. Well, not from your future, but from a future.”
Talbot-2’s confused expression was replaced with excitement. “So the Time Seal Worked?! Fantastic! What’s it like?!”
“I’d tell you all about it, but I’m currently stuck in a bathroom window and being hunted down by two government agents. Although I don’t actually know if they work for the government…”
Talbot-2 pulled him through the window into the bathroom. “Sorry.”
Once he was in, Talbot glanced at the door behind Talbot-2.
“Okay. Here’s the thing. Some version of Talc and Willis will be here any minute. Whether mine followed me from the future or not, yours will catch on soon. We need to get out of here, and get the Masterwork to somebody else.”
“Wait, which Talc and Willis will show up?”
“One of them… or both of them. It doesn’t really matter! Do we know anybody we can send our notes to?”
Talbot-2 considered it. “Davis?”
Talbot frowned, and opened his notebook to an early page.
Dr. Wilson Davis
–Spineless fool. He calls himself a chemist, but refuses to venture outside the conventions of the industry. No true scientist works a cushy chemical production job! We journey! We endeavor!
Talbot shook his head. “He’d never publish something like this. If they tracked him down, he’d probably take their oppressive offer.”
“Johnson?”
Dr Monica Johnson
—Chemist and conspiracy nut. Super gullible, but generally a good person.
“She’ll believe anything.” Talbot said. “...Which is actually probably a good thing in this case. If she thinks it’s real, she’ll distribute it, and she’s earnest enough to leave my- our name on it.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Actually, it sounds like an idea, not a plan. What is our plan?”
Talbot thought for several seconds. “Here’s what we do. You pretend to accept their offer, and do whatever they tell you. If all else fails, you’ll get a cushy job working for the government. Meanwhile, I get this,” Talbot indicated his notebook. “To Johnson, and then…” He paused.
Someone knocked on the door.
“And then?” Talbot-2 prompted in a whisper, glancing behind him.
“Then… I’ll figure something out.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Alright. Are we ready to go?”
“I think so.” Talbot replied.
Talbot slipped out of the window, and Talbot-2 opened the door to greet Willis-2.
The man peered around him. “Who were you talking to in there?”
Talbot-2 shrugged. “Myself. You know, crazy scientist stuff.”
Talbot dropped to the ground, then produced his sheet of Seals. He picked out one specific design, a circle bisected by a thin line. On one side of the line, a stylized forest thrived, and on the other a pictographic city loomed. Talbot ripped the Seal of Space from his paper and stuck it in his mouth, once again disappearing with a pop.
Talc and Willis appeared in Talbot-2’s workroom, and quickly exited. Both spun in the hallway outside, and both spotted the wide-open door to the fire escape. They both moved down the rickety metal construction and found themselves in an alley behind the building.
“See that?” Talc pointed at the window.
“Yeah. Did he go in through it?” Willis asked.
“Of course. But if he used the Seal of Time to try to come back and alert himself, I’m guessing he came through here to talk to him…self, but he couldn’t have left. The only point at which he was in the bathroom, you were right outside. He popped in, popped out, popped another Seal.”
“Is there any guarantee that he came back to alert himself? He could’ve gone to any point in time.”
“I know his type. The out-there intellectual. He’s been burned by everyone but himself. He’ll only trust himself. And if he came to himself before we’d arrived, he wouldn’t believe him.”
“Sorry, who wouldn’t believe him?”
“Him! Aren’t you-” Talc took a moment to consider the context. “You know what, nevermind. The point is that this reality’s Talbot is now in league with our Talbot, and that’s not good.”
“What do we do?”
“Well firstly, we need to cut it down to one Talbot. Two is too many to deal with.” Talc pushed on his earpiece, then spoke. “Hello? Can you hear me, Talc?” There was silence, until something dawned on him. “Ah, dammit. I can’t call my own earpiece.” He adjusted something on his earpiece. “Willis! Do you copy?” Willis heard Talc both from right next to him and through his earpiece. He didn’t hear the reply, but his earpiece buzzed as its exact copy broadcast something. Willis took his earpiece out and squinted at it, curious about the exact Multiversal properties that bonded it to its clone.
“Yes, this is Talc. But not your Talc. Listen, Talbot ran off to this dimension, and we believe he’s working with your Talbot. We need to meet up, then dispose of the dupe.”
Talc listened for a response, and Willis’s earpiece vibrated as his double presumably replied.
Talc turned to Willis. “Alright. They’ll meet us back in Talbot’s office. There we can get rid of the redundant one and track our quarry.”
Their quarry was currently depositing a large package of brown paper in a big blue mailbox.
Talbot paused as he lowered the boxy parcel. This was his life’s work, his notebook and all his scattered papers, and was the second-most important thing he owned, next to the wall that contained the Masterwork itself, which was likely being dismantled by his enemies at that very moment. This was the last 20 years of his life, and he was about to gamble it away to a crazy woman on the off-chance that his legacy might live on. Talbot wished he’d spent more time with reasonable scientists, if only to expand the pool of people he could mail his book to.
With a deep breath, Talbot released the book, wincing at the gentle ‘paff’ sound it made when it fell onto the envelopes at the bottom of the box.
His job complete, Talbot slipped the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and disappeared into the afternoon.
Guns are inelegant, Talc told his subordinate often. They’re loud, messy. Tools of thugs and soldiers, not agents of a higher purpose.
But there’s a downside to not carrying a gun, Willis countered silently. The difference between shooting a person and being forced to kill them more intimately is palpable, and not often a positive.
Willis considered this as Talbot-2 stopped struggling and finally went limp in his arms. Willis released the garotte from around the man’s throat, then lowered him to the floor of the office.
An irritated sigh came from behind him. Willis turned to see Talc shaking his head and walking toward him.
“No, you need to finish the job.” The man said. He kneeled, took Talbot-2’s forehead in one hand, his chin in the other, then jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck.
“If you stop garrotting when he goes limp, he’s just unconscious.” The other Talc, Talc-2, stated.
Willis nodded, numbly. He didn’t really hear the man.
“I know this is hard,” Talc said, shifting into a gentler tone, “But this is all for the good of humanity. If we let these ideas run wild, we’d all be dead.”
“Worse than dead.” Talc-2 added helpfully. “Our very essences would be consumed by dark beings from beyond our world.”
Willis nodded again. He’d heard it all before. So why did he still find it so hard to hurt people?
“So where’s the other one?” Willis-2 asked, seemingly unaware of his double’s predicament.
“That’s the big question, isn’t it.” Talc-2 mused, “However, before we can ponder it, first things first. We need to get a CC team in here to handle that wall.”
All four men were familiar with the APH Cognito Containment Teams, mysterious individuals in surgical masks that took away artifacts of forbidden knowledge to be stored or disposed of.
Talc-2 clicked his earpiece, then said a series of numbers and codes that were unintelligible to either Willis. He finished by saying, “Please send a Class-4 CC team. Over.”
He turned to the others. “They’re on their way. We need to secure Talbot’s place of residence.”
“Do we know that’s where he’ll go next?” Willis-2 asked.
“Not necessarily,” Talc-1 responded, “But it’s quite likely he’ll at least stop there to retrieve personal effects before going somewhere else.”
Both Willises nodded, almost in sync. The logic made sense. They would lock down Talbot’s house first.
All was silent in the small house several miles outside of town that Talbot called his abode. Then frantic footsteps sounded from outside, as someone ran up the footpath leading to the front door. Then, a faint scratching as Talbot scrambled to fit his key into the lock. A quiet clacking came next, as Talbot’s cat descended his cat-tree and approached the door to see what was happening.
Talbot swung the door open and gently pushed the cat out of his way with his foot.
“Sorry Ozzy,” he muttered.
He produced his debit card and snapped it in half, having extracted all the money from his account before arriving here. He pulled several thousand dollars from his pockets and shoved them in his wallet, his backpack, the pocket on the inside of his jacket, and his shoes.
He grabbed a spare toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from the master bathroom, shoving them into the backpack as well. He was going on the run, for god knows how long.
He paused as his eyes fell on his set of keys. He wouldn’t be taking his car or his house, so they’d likely not be necessary.
But I might as well just in case. Talbot grabbed the jangling key ring and slipped it into the inside pocket of his pants.
His cat mewed at his feet. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed his carrier and bowl, both monogrammed with a matching ‘Ozymandius’.
He knew bringing Ozzy was objectively a bad choice. It was impractical and stupid. The cat was loud, and would slow him down. But Talbot couldn’t bear leaving his baby here to be subjected to whatever evil ideas Talc and Willis had in mind.
Talbot coaxed Ozzy into his crate, then picked up the cat and donned his backpack. He took one last look around his house before he opened the front door and was immediately grabbed by both Willises, one of which held a chloroform rag over his mouth until he went limp.
Talbot awoke with a start. He glanced around, disoriented, and immediately registered that he was in some sort of interrogation room. His chair was metal, and bolted to the floor. Before him was a table, and above that table a blinding light mounted on the ceiling shone directly into his eyes. On the wall across from him, very much breaking the theme, was a ‘Hang in there!’ poster and a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser.
Talbot tried to stand, only to find that his wrists and ankles were strapped into the chair. He strained against the bonds, cursing as the straps held strong.
He thought he heard faint snickering.
He turned to glare at the mirror to his right. “What are you planning to do to me?!”
Silence.
“What are you planning to do to my cat?!?”
More silence.
The Talcs and the Willi were standing behind the one-way mirror on Talbot’s left, looking at the back of his head as he shouted at no one. Talc looked mildly amused at Talbot’s complete misunderstanding of the room’s orientation.
Willis-2 glanced at Talc-2, who shrugged and motioned for Talc-1 to enter the larger room. Talc-1 did as asked.
The door at the front of the room opened, and Talc stepped out. He took a seat across from Talbot, and cleared his throat.
“First off, the most important thing. Your cat will be well-cared for, no matter the outcome of this conversation. Great name, by the way.”
Talbot refused to thank him for the compliment.
Talc cleared his throat, and there was a long silence.
“What about my first question?” Talbot asked, his voice trembling.
Talc sighed, then reached below the table.
Several seconds later, he came back up, notably with some difficulty. He slammed Talbot’s notebook down on the table. Next to it, he laid the sheet of seals Talbot had used to traverse space and time.
Talbot was stricken. “How did you-!?”
“Find this? Simple deduction. I’m frankly insulted that you didn’t consider that we’ve been tailing everyone you know for months. Johnson was the only person you could send this to.”
“What did you do to her?!”
“Nothing! We’re not the bad guys here, Talbot. We pulled the package from her porch before she ever got involved. We’d never hurt anyone.”
“Then where am I?” Talbot spat, then rephrased. “I mean… where is the version of me from here? Wait, are you from here or there?”
“I’m from there, assuming you mean your original reality. And Talbot-2 is fine. He’s in the next room.”
Willis winced behind the mirror.
“You never actually answered my question.” Talbot said quietly.
Talc pursed his lips regrettably.
“Well… here’s the thing, Talbot. What I’d like to do is offer you a chance to redeem yourself. I’d like to let you join the APH and help us protect humanity. But you’ve made it clear that that’s not what you want, and if we let you into our fold now, we’d forever be looking over our shoulders, wondering whose side you were truly on. And we can’t just let you go, no no. Your theories would largely be regarded as crackpot, but there are ways to prove these things, and you would certainly find them.”
Talbot swallowed. “Couldn’t you just… you know… erase my memory?”
Talc stifled a laugh. “Unfortunately, this is not Men In Black. Actions have consequences. There are no take-backs. And I’m sorry, Talbot, but this is it for you.” Talc stood, turned on his heel, and left.
“Why the hell’d you wake him up just to tell him that?” Willis muttered behind the glass.
“Hey, wait!” Talbot screamed at him as he departed, but there was no response.
Talbot tried to stand again, but slammed back into his chair as the bonds held.
Willis entered a few minutes later, holding a syringe. He winced at the sight before him. Talbot was hunched over, resting his head on the table. His shoulders were bobbing as though he was sobbing quietly.
Willis approached Talbot and tightened the strap on his right wrist. He moved around him and reached for his left hand, only to see that the strap had been sawed apart, and Talbot’s hand was free.
Willis grabbed his elbow, but Talbot struggled against the man’s grasp. The scientist was trying to keep it firmly on the table under his face.
Frustrated, Willis grabbed Talbot’s head and lifted it back, so he was sitting up straight.
As he beheld Talbot’s face, Willis felt a bolt of fear lance through him. The man was smiling, but it was not a happy smile.
It was the smile of a trapped animal that knew it would take a limb before it went down. With his eyes, Talbot indicated downwards. Willis slowly lowered his vision to the stainless steel tabletop. In Talbot’s hand was a housekey, the teeth worn down from sawing through the leather strap and scratching a symbol into the table. Right under his hand, the surface was pockmarked with the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Willis lunged for Talbot’s wrist, but it was too late. The alchemist brought the key across the symbol, carving another scratch to break the Seal and the boundaries between their reality and one far darker. Neither man had time to scream.
Talbot felt himself slip free of the chair, and out of the leather strap around his wrist.
Willis’s grip loosened, and it felt like he was flung across whatever intermediary pathway connected the fourth and fifth dimensions.
Part Two posted promptly!
2023.05.29 12:50 Marzipanny The significance of Tay Kolma - what we know, what it means for season 2
Inspired by the speculation about the Luthen-Kleya relationship, and also a huge bout of insomnia, I decided to derive what I could about Tay Kolma’s background. Based on what we know about Chandrila and Mon Mothma’s family, we can actually tell or reasonably guess a fair amount, yet another tribute to the brilliant worldbuilding and writing on this show.
Tay, Mon, and Perrin are all part of the same social circle and have been for decades
Fairly evident from their manner of dress and familiarity, Perrin’s title, Mon’s position, and Tay’s wealth. Tay is a banker, and it’s likely that he also manages the same sort of family wealth that Mon possesses. They are all upper-class Chandrilans.
We know that Mon and Tay went to grade school together (Mon says this in episode 9) and in episode 8, Tay if he remembers Perrin as the "academy firebrand," implying that Tay would have been at the same school at the same time as Perrin as well.)
Tay is likely a year or two older than Mon. (Perrin sourly refers to Tay as "old,' and while Perrin and Tay are likely roughly the same age,, as they were in school at the same time, Perrin likely wouldn't do that if they were of the exact same age or if Tay was younger) Note that this is exactly the same sort of age gap as Leida and Davo Sculden’s son have.
Other Mothma family members know Tay and his family as well. Vel is familiar with Tay, per episode 9. “Do you remember Tay Kolma?” “I do.” Vel is at least 10-15 years younger than Mon, and she’s a cousin, so she doesn’t recall Tay from Mon’s grade school days. She must know him from other social contacts. In episode 7, Tay asks Leida if she remembers his sisters, also suggesting that Leida would have met them at some point.
Mon and Tay haven’t seen each other much over the past 5-7 years
Leida has no recollection of Tay’s sisters, or Tay himself, so while the Kolmas and Mothmas must have seen each other at some point when Leida was a child, it can’t have been recently. Tay also remarks that Leida’s “certainly grown up,” also implying that he hasn’t seen her since she was much younger. At the same time, Tay has to reasonably expect that Leida might remember him and his family. That to me sets the time range of last contact as about 5-7 years, as Leida is 13 years old.
Tay Kolma and Mon Mothma have some kind of romantic history
There is significant evidence for a previous romantic past between Tay and Mon and a lingering romantic connection.
The interaction between Mon and Tay is flirtatious. Mon tells Tay that she missed him. Tay is clearly happy to see Mon when she arrives, and tells her that she carries her job responsibilities “gracefully,” a subtle way to compliment her bearing and appearance. Mon takes his arm and is physically close to him throughout the party. We do not see her do this with any of her other guests. (Even with her husband, he is the one who reaches out for her.)
Tay expresses a distaste for Coruscant to Mon Mothma when they meet in episode 7. He is clearly at the party just to see Mon (though he may have had business on Coruscant, or at least set up meetings after deciding to visit) and willing to attend a gathering full of people he dislikes just to see her. She must have invited him specifically; he didn't just happen to show up.
Perrin thinks of Tay as Mon’s “old boyfriend,” and repeats this to Leida. When asked about this previous relationship, Mon simply says “We were in grade school together!” which, since she was married at 15, is not much of a refutation - whatever courtship occurs likely occurs at grade/middle school ages (as we see in episode 12 when Leida and Davo’s son are introduced).
Perrin’s jealousy of Tay is evident. He snarks at Tay being “prompt” to meet with Mon, ie, eager to see her in episode 8, and watches the two of them interact like a hawk during the episode 7 party, finally interrupting when they are seated together in an isolated area away from other guests.
Vel seems to be aware of this dynamic as well. When Vel becomes aware that Mon is associating with Tay for financial reasons, she asks Mon, “Is that all?” clearly asking if Mon still has feelings for Tay. Mon does not protest as she did earlier to Leida (ie, saying that any non-platonic relationship was far in the past) or deny that such a connection would be unlikely or undesirable, simply saying, “I don’t have enough to worry about?"
There was a point of increased tension about five years ago
Tay and Mon’s families used to be close but haven’t spent much time together over the past 5-7 years. (As Mon has been a senator for what appears to be at least 20 years, and visits Chandrila, this isn’t just because she is living on Coruscant.)
Mon tells Tay that he’s away whenever she’s visiting Chandrila, implying that he is avoiding her. To this, Tay says that he’s not difficult to find for a senator, implying that if she wanted to, she would be able to see him. They have been avoiding each other.
When Mon sees Tay at the party, she apologizes for having missed him on Chandrila and not having dinner with him during his trip to Coruscant. She also is not familiar with the length of his stay on Coruscant. Perhaps she wasn't sure that he would come to the dinner party.
They are both uncertain of each other’s feelings. When Mon says she’s been a poor friend to Tay, Tay immediately tells her “That’s not what I meant.” Later in the party, he worries about offending her. “I’ve made you angry.” Mon asks if he still feels the same way about her as he used to. “Can I call back our old kinship?”
Mon is leaning on Tay’s romantic affection to secure his help
Mon is excellent at reading and manipulating people. (She is a politician, after all.) Tay’s acceptance of her invitation indicates to Mon that he may still have feelings for her, which she confirms with their initial flirtation. Mon proposes a series of regular meetings to him when she describes the sham foundation to Tay. Tay is aware the foundation is a front, and hence potentially dangerous. He does not like Coruscant at all, and a strong motivation to agree to regular trips to Coruscant for a dodgy foundation would be to see Mon in person on a regular basis. . Of course, one might say that getting a favor from a senator might be enough of a reason, but it is likely the prospect of seeing Mon that tips the proposal in her favor, a fact she is well aware of.
Speculation on past events
We know that many Chandrilans and particularly Chandrilans of Mon’s social class marry very early, though some Chandrilans do not follow this custom.
Tay and Mon have a romantic past. This means they were likely courting in some sense as very young teens (ie, as young as Leida). This connection is strong enough to be acknowledged by Perrin and Vel, at least, and it is likely that other members of the Mon/Perrin/Tay social circle were aware as well. Mon implies that she was compelled to marry at an early age, and marrying early may have also been politically desirable/necessary for a senator. Therefore
Speculations on the reasons for the recent distance
It’s possible Tay Kolma never married, though based on his social class and Chandrilan norms, this seems unlikely. He is almost certainly not married at the time we meet him. Mon would have asked about his spouse and/or Tay or Perrin would have mentioned them.
One theory is that Tay was married and widowed. (I say widowed because Chandrila doesn’t strike me as the kind of society that makes divorce easy; in addition, when Perrin is talking to Vel about her marriage prospects, he says she needs a widower, not a divorced man, implying that the latter is more uncommon or perhaps nonexistent, at least in their social circle.) In fact, if the Kolmas and Mothmas did socialize frequently, it is quite possible that Tay married soon after Mon did, making it “safe” for them to spend time together.
The death of his spouse (about 5-7 years ago) might have in fact spurred the distancing between Tay and Mon. It could have been as simple as awkwardness around socializing with a former paramour who was suddenly single (and potential political and/or social fallout). Perhaps Mon started spending more time with her old mourning friend and received some kind of ultimatum about distance from Perrin.
Tay and Mon’s interactions prefigure a confrontation or crises in season 2
We know that Perrin is jealous of Tay, and even shares that he is jealous with Leida, who also takes a dislike to Tay. (When she sees him again in episode 8, she says sharply “You’re here again?”)
Perris knows that Mon has a very serious problem. Perrin is aware that the family has some kind of financial difficulty, based on Mon’s confrontation of him in episode 12. He believes that she is not aware of the reason for the financial problems, and knows that he is not the cause of it. He suspects political machinations against Mon. And even though he is a self-centered nitwit, he must understand that Mon’s willingness to entertain the courtship of her beloved daughter by the son of a known “thug” must be driven by some kind of crisis - Mon clearly does not believe in early betrothal, and certainly not to someone who would be a major political liability.
What did Mon tell him to make him agree to Leida’s betrothal? If she’s let on that there is some kind of financial difficulty, the obvious culprit is her banker friend, Tay Kolma, who brought Davo Sculden into his home. Perrin also believes that Mon may be framed or attacked by political foes - might he suspect that Tay is one of them? Combined with his jealousy of Tay and a possible escalation of Mon and Tay’s friendship, it is likely that Perrin (or Leida) will turn Tay in to the Empire. Tay is a weak link who will cause difficulty for Mon in Season 2.
submitted by Marzipanny to andor [link] [comments]
Tay, Mon, and Perrin are all part of the same social circle and have been for decades
Fairly evident from their manner of dress and familiarity, Perrin’s title, Mon’s position, and Tay’s wealth. Tay is a banker, and it’s likely that he also manages the same sort of family wealth that Mon possesses. They are all upper-class Chandrilans.
We know that Mon and Tay went to grade school together (Mon says this in episode 9) and in episode 8, Tay if he remembers Perrin as the "academy firebrand," implying that Tay would have been at the same school at the same time as Perrin as well.)
Tay is likely a year or two older than Mon. (Perrin sourly refers to Tay as "old,' and while Perrin and Tay are likely roughly the same age,, as they were in school at the same time, Perrin likely wouldn't do that if they were of the exact same age or if Tay was younger) Note that this is exactly the same sort of age gap as Leida and Davo Sculden’s son have.
Other Mothma family members know Tay and his family as well. Vel is familiar with Tay, per episode 9. “Do you remember Tay Kolma?” “I do.” Vel is at least 10-15 years younger than Mon, and she’s a cousin, so she doesn’t recall Tay from Mon’s grade school days. She must know him from other social contacts. In episode 7, Tay asks Leida if she remembers his sisters, also suggesting that Leida would have met them at some point.
Mon and Tay haven’t seen each other much over the past 5-7 years
Leida has no recollection of Tay’s sisters, or Tay himself, so while the Kolmas and Mothmas must have seen each other at some point when Leida was a child, it can’t have been recently. Tay also remarks that Leida’s “certainly grown up,” also implying that he hasn’t seen her since she was much younger. At the same time, Tay has to reasonably expect that Leida might remember him and his family. That to me sets the time range of last contact as about 5-7 years, as Leida is 13 years old.
Tay Kolma and Mon Mothma have some kind of romantic history
There is significant evidence for a previous romantic past between Tay and Mon and a lingering romantic connection.
The interaction between Mon and Tay is flirtatious. Mon tells Tay that she missed him. Tay is clearly happy to see Mon when she arrives, and tells her that she carries her job responsibilities “gracefully,” a subtle way to compliment her bearing and appearance. Mon takes his arm and is physically close to him throughout the party. We do not see her do this with any of her other guests. (Even with her husband, he is the one who reaches out for her.)
Tay expresses a distaste for Coruscant to Mon Mothma when they meet in episode 7. He is clearly at the party just to see Mon (though he may have had business on Coruscant, or at least set up meetings after deciding to visit) and willing to attend a gathering full of people he dislikes just to see her. She must have invited him specifically; he didn't just happen to show up.
Perrin thinks of Tay as Mon’s “old boyfriend,” and repeats this to Leida. When asked about this previous relationship, Mon simply says “We were in grade school together!” which, since she was married at 15, is not much of a refutation - whatever courtship occurs likely occurs at grade/middle school ages (as we see in episode 12 when Leida and Davo’s son are introduced).
Perrin’s jealousy of Tay is evident. He snarks at Tay being “prompt” to meet with Mon, ie, eager to see her in episode 8, and watches the two of them interact like a hawk during the episode 7 party, finally interrupting when they are seated together in an isolated area away from other guests.
Vel seems to be aware of this dynamic as well. When Vel becomes aware that Mon is associating with Tay for financial reasons, she asks Mon, “Is that all?” clearly asking if Mon still has feelings for Tay. Mon does not protest as she did earlier to Leida (ie, saying that any non-platonic relationship was far in the past) or deny that such a connection would be unlikely or undesirable, simply saying, “I don’t have enough to worry about?"
There was a point of increased tension about five years ago
Tay and Mon’s families used to be close but haven’t spent much time together over the past 5-7 years. (As Mon has been a senator for what appears to be at least 20 years, and visits Chandrila, this isn’t just because she is living on Coruscant.)
Mon tells Tay that he’s away whenever she’s visiting Chandrila, implying that he is avoiding her. To this, Tay says that he’s not difficult to find for a senator, implying that if she wanted to, she would be able to see him. They have been avoiding each other.
When Mon sees Tay at the party, she apologizes for having missed him on Chandrila and not having dinner with him during his trip to Coruscant. She also is not familiar with the length of his stay on Coruscant. Perhaps she wasn't sure that he would come to the dinner party.
They are both uncertain of each other’s feelings. When Mon says she’s been a poor friend to Tay, Tay immediately tells her “That’s not what I meant.” Later in the party, he worries about offending her. “I’ve made you angry.” Mon asks if he still feels the same way about her as he used to. “Can I call back our old kinship?”
Mon is leaning on Tay’s romantic affection to secure his help
Mon is excellent at reading and manipulating people. (She is a politician, after all.) Tay’s acceptance of her invitation indicates to Mon that he may still have feelings for her, which she confirms with their initial flirtation. Mon proposes a series of regular meetings to him when she describes the sham foundation to Tay. Tay is aware the foundation is a front, and hence potentially dangerous. He does not like Coruscant at all, and a strong motivation to agree to regular trips to Coruscant for a dodgy foundation would be to see Mon in person on a regular basis. . Of course, one might say that getting a favor from a senator might be enough of a reason, but it is likely the prospect of seeing Mon that tips the proposal in her favor, a fact she is well aware of.
Speculation on past events
We know that many Chandrilans and particularly Chandrilans of Mon’s social class marry very early, though some Chandrilans do not follow this custom.
Tay and Mon have a romantic past. This means they were likely courting in some sense as very young teens (ie, as young as Leida). This connection is strong enough to be acknowledged by Perrin and Vel, at least, and it is likely that other members of the Mon/Perrin/Tay social circle were aware as well. Mon implies that she was compelled to marry at an early age, and marrying early may have also been politically desirable/necessary for a senator. Therefore
- Tay was a possible marriage partner (by dint of his age and social status)
- Tay and Mon were openly romantically connected in some way
- Mon married Perrin instead
Speculations on the reasons for the recent distance
It’s possible Tay Kolma never married, though based on his social class and Chandrilan norms, this seems unlikely. He is almost certainly not married at the time we meet him. Mon would have asked about his spouse and/or Tay or Perrin would have mentioned them.
One theory is that Tay was married and widowed. (I say widowed because Chandrila doesn’t strike me as the kind of society that makes divorce easy; in addition, when Perrin is talking to Vel about her marriage prospects, he says she needs a widower, not a divorced man, implying that the latter is more uncommon or perhaps nonexistent, at least in their social circle.) In fact, if the Kolmas and Mothmas did socialize frequently, it is quite possible that Tay married soon after Mon did, making it “safe” for them to spend time together.
The death of his spouse (about 5-7 years ago) might have in fact spurred the distancing between Tay and Mon. It could have been as simple as awkwardness around socializing with a former paramour who was suddenly single (and potential political and/or social fallout). Perhaps Mon started spending more time with her old mourning friend and received some kind of ultimatum about distance from Perrin.
Tay and Mon’s interactions prefigure a confrontation or crises in season 2
We know that Perrin is jealous of Tay, and even shares that he is jealous with Leida, who also takes a dislike to Tay. (When she sees him again in episode 8, she says sharply “You’re here again?”)
Perris knows that Mon has a very serious problem. Perrin is aware that the family has some kind of financial difficulty, based on Mon’s confrontation of him in episode 12. He believes that she is not aware of the reason for the financial problems, and knows that he is not the cause of it. He suspects political machinations against Mon. And even though he is a self-centered nitwit, he must understand that Mon’s willingness to entertain the courtship of her beloved daughter by the son of a known “thug” must be driven by some kind of crisis - Mon clearly does not believe in early betrothal, and certainly not to someone who would be a major political liability.
What did Mon tell him to make him agree to Leida’s betrothal? If she’s let on that there is some kind of financial difficulty, the obvious culprit is her banker friend, Tay Kolma, who brought Davo Sculden into his home. Perrin also believes that Mon may be framed or attacked by political foes - might he suspect that Tay is one of them? Combined with his jealousy of Tay and a possible escalation of Mon and Tay’s friendship, it is likely that Perrin (or Leida) will turn Tay in to the Empire. Tay is a weak link who will cause difficulty for Mon in Season 2.
2023.05.29 08:06 GgssSmukin Young Thug with that (chopped n screwed)😈😈🟣
 | submitted by GgssSmukin to southernbeats [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 08:01 jambujuice_ 2021 feature run his best
 | this was all like mid to late 2021 when utopia/dystopia was dropping in decembeearly 2022 submitted by jambujuice_ to travisscott [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 07:12 GgssSmukin Young thug with that (screwd n chopped)
 | submitted by GgssSmukin to screw [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 07:11 YkMichael Which ft Thugger song better?
 | submitted by YkMichael to yeat_ [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 05:34 ayktu_pyaktu69 Top 10
Top 10 young thug songs in your opinion.
submitted by ayktu_pyaktu69 to YoungThug [link] [comments]
2023.05.29 04:49 WhileDelicious7027 This song and album is so hard im streaming it on my PS5. WE NEED A SUPER SLIMEY 2 NO CAP. FREE SEX🐍🐍
 | submitted by WhileDelicious7027 to YoungThug [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 03:13 Moltenmelt1 Started reading The Dark Tower series several months ago. Only just finished book 4 but can we share our fancasts? Spoilers for entire series.
I haven’t seen that recent fan cast video that got posted so apologies if there’s any overlap. Tried to add in some Mike Flanagan and Stephen King regulars:
Roland- Rahul Kohli (I can’t really figure out Roland’s casting. Kohli is sort of too young looking. He might make a good Eddie Dean or even The Man in Black. Elba is just perfect casting and I would rather they bring him back.)
Eddie Dean- Mike Faist
Sussanah Dean- Nikki Amuka Bird. Sharon Duncan Brewster
Man In Black- Oliver Jackson Cohen. Benedict Cumberbatch. Just bring Mcconaghey back.
Thorin- Robert Longstreet
Aunt Cord- Kathy Bates
Jonas- John Hawkes
Jack Mort- Julian Richings
Stephen King (I’m only on book 5 but I know they eventually bring him in)- Henry Thomas
Rhea- I’m not that rude. Just put someone in makeup.
submitted by Moltenmelt1 to darktower [link] [comments]
Roland- Rahul Kohli (I can’t really figure out Roland’s casting. Kohli is sort of too young looking. He might make a good Eddie Dean or even The Man in Black. Elba is just perfect casting and I would rather they bring him back.)
Eddie Dean- Mike Faist
Sussanah Dean- Nikki Amuka Bird. Sharon Duncan Brewster
Man In Black- Oliver Jackson Cohen. Benedict Cumberbatch. Just bring Mcconaghey back.
Thorin- Robert Longstreet
Aunt Cord- Kathy Bates
Jonas- John Hawkes
Jack Mort- Julian Richings
Stephen King (I’m only on book 5 but I know they eventually bring him in)- Henry Thomas
Rhea- I’m not that rude. Just put someone in makeup.
2023.05.29 03:06 Comfortable_Run8857 What’s the best producer tag? personally, it’s gotta be Metro.
 | submitted by Comfortable_Run8857 to u/Comfortable_Run8857 [link] [comments] |
2023.05.29 02:48 Moltenmelt1 Started reading The Dark Tower series several months ago. Only just finished book 4 but can we share our fancasts? Spoilers for entire series.
Tried to add in some Mike Flanagan and Stephen King regulars:
Roland- Rahul Kohli (I can’t really figure out Roland’s casting. Kohli is sort of too young looking. He might make a good Eddie Dean or even The Man in Black. Elba is just perfect casting and I would rather they bring him back.)
Eddie Dean- Mike Faist
Sussanah Dean- Nikki Amuka Bird. Sharon Duncan Brewster
Man In Black- Oliver Jackson Cohen. Ben Foster. Benedict Cumberbatch. Just bring Mcconaghey back.
Thorin- Robert Longstreet
Aunt Cord- Kathy Bates
Jonas- John Hawkes
Jack Mort- Julian Richings
Stephen King (I’m only on book 5 but I know they eventually bring him in)- Henry Thomas
Rhea- I’m not that rude. Just put someone in makeup.
submitted by Moltenmelt1 to blankies [link] [comments]
Roland- Rahul Kohli (I can’t really figure out Roland’s casting. Kohli is sort of too young looking. He might make a good Eddie Dean or even The Man in Black. Elba is just perfect casting and I would rather they bring him back.)
Eddie Dean- Mike Faist
Sussanah Dean- Nikki Amuka Bird. Sharon Duncan Brewster
Man In Black- Oliver Jackson Cohen. Ben Foster. Benedict Cumberbatch. Just bring Mcconaghey back.
Thorin- Robert Longstreet
Aunt Cord- Kathy Bates
Jonas- John Hawkes
Jack Mort- Julian Richings
Stephen King (I’m only on book 5 but I know they eventually bring him in)- Henry Thomas
Rhea- I’m not that rude. Just put someone in makeup.
2023.05.29 01:05 weirdmountain [US-NJ] [H] Rare books. Weird books. Disorganized list. [W] PayPal.
I’m a little flexible with prices, so if you disagree with a price, don’t feel bad about making an offer. I’d prefer to stick within US only, because international shipping is expensive and kind of a pain in the butt with customs and all that. Flat rate shipping of $5. Unless you want more than $50 worth of books, then shipping is free. Please forgive the list being such a mess. I combined a few old posts into one.
Anything that doesn’t have a picture, please ask, and I’ll happily provide!
I’m not really looking for anything in trade, unless somebody’s got the Silver Surfer Parable anniversary treasury sized hardcover they wanna trade.
Please comment to dib, and I’ll DM you to get your email so I can send an invoice.
Tomb Of Dracula Complete Collection TPB set of Volume 1, 2, 3. - True first editions from 2010/2011(All the ones I've seen on ebay are the 2017 editions, with a different cover design). The paper is not fully glossy like in the omnibus editions, and they look amazing. These three books cover the same material as Omnibus 1. These are read, but reasonably well cared for. Volume 3 has damage near the bottom of the spine, as shown in pics. Asking $130 shipped
Immortal Hulk OHC lot, books 1, 2, and 3. Book one is in excellent condition. It’s opened, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually read this copy. Books 2 and 3 are sealed and beautiful. Asking $105 shipped.
Pictures of Immortal Hulk and the now-sold Centifolia. I haven’t updated this pic
Essential Web Of Spider-Man Vol 1. $25
Essential Web Of Spider-Man Vol 2. (Cool for Kraven’s Last Hunt complete in black and white). $25
Take both EWOS for $45 shipped
Marvel’s Mightiest Superheroes VHS, flip comic reprint, silver coin of Namor. I bought this thing new, watched the tapes once, and it has slept in a closet for over 20 years. It’s pretty cool. $60
BPRD Hollow Earth & Other Stories TPB (first print). $6
Nick Fury Agent Of Shield TPB. Printed on nice, not-glossy paper. $20
Thor Masterworks 1 (Comiccraft cover). $25
Thor Masterworks 3 (Comiccraft cover). $25
Take both Thor Masterworks for $45 shipped
Doctor Strange Masterworks Vol 1 first printing. Included is an extra dust jacket for the later printing. I bought a copy of the later printing from someone on eBay, and when the book arrived, the actual book was Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks 3. I always put the newer Dr Strange dust jacket over the OG one. $60
Aliens Salvation/Sacrifice TPB. Great book. Pretty rare Mignola story/cover. $55
(Marvel) Taskmaster The Right Price. $5
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 - $2
Fingerless. Spugna. Signed $10
Lowriders Blast From The Past. $2
Spera Volume 1. $2
King Of Nowhere Vol 1. $2
Power Rangers Vol 1 TPB. $3
Hunters. $2
Blackout Vol 1 (Dark Horse) $2
Odds Off. Matt Madden. $2
Lowriders Blast From The Past. $2
Doorknocker. $2
Croc N Roll with signed bookplate and ashcan. $2
Marvelous Land Of Oz. Skottie Young. $2
Suicide Squad Rogues TP. $3
Strip Search. Dark Horse. $2
Black Candy. $2
Granny Candy. $2
The Family. Pat Higgins. $2
Becoming Horses. $3
Horror Vacation. Edition of 150. $2
Good Boy Magazine 1. $2
Ghost Hog $2
Big Book Of Thugs. $2
Scumbag For Hire. Keenan Marshall Keller. $2
A Bleeding Cut. $1
Montana Diary. $2
The Freak. $2
Gun Land 3. $2
Destroyer. Kirkman. $2
East Of West Hardcovers 1, 2, and 3. 1 and 3 are sealed. 2 is the DCBS variant and not sealed. 1 is in perfect shape. 2 looks great. 3 has a small ding on the bottom of the back cover. Asking $240 for the set. Pics
Comment if you’re interested. I’ll DM you for your email address for PayPal. IST is my standard for packing and shipping, so the books will get to you in the same shape they left me.
I usually ship within two days of payment.
Thanks for checking this out.
submitted by weirdmountain to comicswap [link] [comments]
Anything that doesn’t have a picture, please ask, and I’ll happily provide!
I’m not really looking for anything in trade, unless somebody’s got the Silver Surfer Parable anniversary treasury sized hardcover they wanna trade.
Please comment to dib, and I’ll DM you to get your email so I can send an invoice.
Tomb Of Dracula Complete Collection TPB set of Volume 1, 2, 3. - True first editions from 2010/2011(All the ones I've seen on ebay are the 2017 editions, with a different cover design). The paper is not fully glossy like in the omnibus editions, and they look amazing. These three books cover the same material as Omnibus 1. These are read, but reasonably well cared for. Volume 3 has damage near the bottom of the spine, as shown in pics. Asking $130 shipped
Immortal Hulk OHC lot, books 1, 2, and 3. Book one is in excellent condition. It’s opened, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually read this copy. Books 2 and 3 are sealed and beautiful. Asking $105 shipped.
Pictures of Immortal Hulk and the now-sold Centifolia. I haven’t updated this pic
Essential Web Of Spider-Man Vol 1. $25
Essential Web Of Spider-Man Vol 2. (Cool for Kraven’s Last Hunt complete in black and white). $25
Take both EWOS for $45 shipped
Marvel’s Mightiest Superheroes VHS, flip comic reprint, silver coin of Namor. I bought this thing new, watched the tapes once, and it has slept in a closet for over 20 years. It’s pretty cool. $60
BPRD Hollow Earth & Other Stories TPB (first print). $6
Nick Fury Agent Of Shield TPB. Printed on nice, not-glossy paper. $20
Thor Masterworks 1 (Comiccraft cover). $25
Thor Masterworks 3 (Comiccraft cover). $25
Take both Thor Masterworks for $45 shipped
Doctor Strange Masterworks Vol 1 first printing. Included is an extra dust jacket for the later printing. I bought a copy of the later printing from someone on eBay, and when the book arrived, the actual book was Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks 3. I always put the newer Dr Strange dust jacket over the OG one. $60
Aliens Salvation/Sacrifice TPB. Great book. Pretty rare Mignola story/cover. $55
(Marvel) Taskmaster The Right Price. $5
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 - $2
Fingerless. Spugna. Signed $10
Lowriders Blast From The Past. $2
Spera Volume 1. $2
King Of Nowhere Vol 1. $2
Power Rangers Vol 1 TPB. $3
Hunters. $2
Blackout Vol 1 (Dark Horse) $2
Odds Off. Matt Madden. $2
Lowriders Blast From The Past. $2
Doorknocker. $2
Croc N Roll with signed bookplate and ashcan. $2
Marvelous Land Of Oz. Skottie Young. $2
Suicide Squad Rogues TP. $3
Strip Search. Dark Horse. $2
Black Candy. $2
Granny Candy. $2
The Family. Pat Higgins. $2
Becoming Horses. $3
Horror Vacation. Edition of 150. $2
Good Boy Magazine 1. $2
Ghost Hog $2
Big Book Of Thugs. $2
Scumbag For Hire. Keenan Marshall Keller. $2
A Bleeding Cut. $1
Montana Diary. $2
The Freak. $2
Gun Land 3. $2
Destroyer. Kirkman. $2
East Of West Hardcovers 1, 2, and 3. 1 and 3 are sealed. 2 is the DCBS variant and not sealed. 1 is in perfect shape. 2 looks great. 3 has a small ding on the bottom of the back cover. Asking $240 for the set. Pics
Comment if you’re interested. I’ll DM you for your email address for PayPal. IST is my standard for packing and shipping, so the books will get to you in the same shape they left me.
I usually ship within two days of payment.
Thanks for checking this out.
2023.05.28 22:28 Historical_Cut7588 What’s the best producer tag? personally, it’s gotta be Metro.
| | submitted by Historical_Cut7588 to u/Historical_Cut7588 [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 22:26 PainWillNeverWin Hi Wendy! (Feat. Lil Yachty & Young Thug) (v1)
 | submitted by PainWillNeverWin to XXXTENTACION [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 22:22 OgMaro_7 Which is the most versatile tape?
 | submitted by OgMaro_7 to NBAYoungboy [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 22:12 AviMorkooo yb and young thug
do they have any unreleased music cus i think that would be an amazing duo
submitted by AviMorkooo to NBAYoungboy [link] [comments]
2023.05.28 22:02 Veemiraja Lana & Young Thug lol
 | submitted by Veemiraja to lanadelrey [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 21:56 BigBossD4wg Mortal Kombat references in rap (a comprehensive list)
Character References
Cassie Cage:
Bahamas - A$AP Mob
Erron Black:
Underworld - ShittyBoyz
Goro:
Kush Ups - Snoop Dogg
Jax:
Activate - Rae Sremmurd
Contraband - Migos
fafo - Zack Fox
Johnny Cage:
Betrayal - Trippie Redd
Chain Music - Wale
China Town - Migos
Do U Love Me - Young Thug
How Ya Kno - YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Knuck If You Buck - Crime Mob
Living My Life - Famous Dex
Meh - Playboi Carti
Racks Today - Key Glock
RMP - Trippie Redd
Signs of Jealousy - Lil Skies
Super Fake - Moneybagg Yo
Zombie Walk - Desiigner
Kano:
Life vs. Livin' - XV
Silicone - Esham
Kitana:
Bakers Man - Migos
Kitana - Princess Nokia
Kotal Kahn:
Hit the Ground Running - Tech N9ne
Kung Lao:
Thor's Hammer Worthy - DJ Scheme
Lui Kang:
Fuck It Off - Tee Grizzly
Gift Shop - Usher
GOSHA - $not
King Tut - B.o.B.
Matt Hardy 999 - Trippie Redd
Secure The Bag - Lil Uzi Vert
Shabba - A$AP Ferg
Noob Saibot:
Count For Nothing - Royce Da 5'9"
Draymond - Sada Baby
Phantoms - CZARFACE
Sarcophagus - $uicideboy$
Quan Chi:
Aunt Pat - SahBabii
Raiden:
1, 2, 1, 2 - Method Man
BIGGEST BIRD - Trippie Redd
CAROLMART - Denzel Curry
KILLIONAIRE - Trippie Redd
That Ain't Me - Lil Wayne
The Crow - Montana of 300
Whoopty Fucking Do - BabyTron
Scorpion:
Bad - Remix - Wale
Bruuuh - JID
Melly the Menace - YNW Melly
Singing to the Cheese - Chief Keef
Shang Tsung:
Lakers vs Rockets - Westside Gunn
PERCS PERCZ - Denzel Curry
Shang Tsung - Montana of 300
Shao Kahn:
Finished - ShittyBoys
Sonya Blade:
Rolling 110 Deep - DJ Kay Slay
Sub-Zero:
7 Sign - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Check - Young Thug
Fight To Win - Your Favorite Martian
Mural - Lupe Fiasco
Soul Food - Logic
Stay High - Juice WRLD
vent - Baby Keem
Terminology
Fatality:
Ask Courtney - Flatbush Zombies
Bars - Migos
Can You Rap Like Me? - Trippie Redd
Kush Coma - Danny Brown
That's All I Have - Lil Wayne
U Deserve It - Trippie Redd
Finish Him/Her:
A Death in the Ocean Would Be Beautiful - $uicideboy$
Childs Play - SZA
Krazy - Kash Doll
She Gon Wink - Takeoff
Round One:
Nuketown - Ski Mask The Slump God
Mortal Kombat:
13th FlooGrowing Old - Outkast
101 FM - Little Simz
Beat A N*gga Block - YNW Melly
Cheap Ass Weave - Cardi B
Dat Side - CyHi
Diablo - Mac Miller
Don't Start - Bizzy Banks
Miami - Nicki Minaj
Mortal Combat - Soul Kid Klik
Mortal Kombat - Pivot Gang
Off the Wall! - XXXTENTACION
Oomps Revenge Pt. 2 - Trippie Redd
PICASSO - Sheff G
The Race - Wiz Khalifa
Triumph - Wu-Tang Clan
Misc.
Album Filled with Samples:
BLVCKLVND Rvdix 66.6 - SpaceGhostPurrp
Theme Song Sample:
Cases - Yo Gotti
Songs with simply far too many references:
Fatality - C-Mob
Immortal - 21 Savage
Stats
Most Referenced Character:
Johnny Cage - 13
Most References Made:
Trippie Redd - 8
Playlist W/ All Songs
Songs with multiple references were categorized either by the most unique reference made (i.e., Bahamas - A$AP Mob mentioning both Kitana & Cassandra, being Cassie's only reference) or by first reference made (a lot of rappers figured out Lui Kang rhymes with Johnny Cage). This is to make it easier to find a song with your favorite character in it and prevent overly specific categories. Many Mortal Kombat terminology and characters are common words (fatality, scorpion, subzero etc.), and had to be meticulously checked personally by me to see if they are true references or coincidences. Drake talks about a plethora of Scorpio(n(s)), plenty street rappers have seen fatalities, and even Big Daddy Kane has a song titled 'Mortal Combat' three years prior to the first game even existing. If I missed anything, please let me know in the comments.
submitted by BigBossD4wg to MortalKombat [link] [comments]
Cassie Cage:
Bahamas - A$AP Mob
Erron Black:
Underworld - ShittyBoyz
Goro:
Kush Ups - Snoop Dogg
Jax:
Activate - Rae Sremmurd
Contraband - Migos
fafo - Zack Fox
Johnny Cage:
Betrayal - Trippie Redd
Chain Music - Wale
China Town - Migos
Do U Love Me - Young Thug
How Ya Kno - YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Knuck If You Buck - Crime Mob
Living My Life - Famous Dex
Meh - Playboi Carti
Racks Today - Key Glock
RMP - Trippie Redd
Signs of Jealousy - Lil Skies
Super Fake - Moneybagg Yo
Zombie Walk - Desiigner
Kano:
Life vs. Livin' - XV
Silicone - Esham
Kitana:
Bakers Man - Migos
Kitana - Princess Nokia
Kotal Kahn:
Hit the Ground Running - Tech N9ne
Kung Lao:
Thor's Hammer Worthy - DJ Scheme
Lui Kang:
Fuck It Off - Tee Grizzly
Gift Shop - Usher
GOSHA - $not
King Tut - B.o.B.
Matt Hardy 999 - Trippie Redd
Secure The Bag - Lil Uzi Vert
Shabba - A$AP Ferg
Noob Saibot:
Count For Nothing - Royce Da 5'9"
Draymond - Sada Baby
Phantoms - CZARFACE
Sarcophagus - $uicideboy$
Quan Chi:
Aunt Pat - SahBabii
Raiden:
1, 2, 1, 2 - Method Man
BIGGEST BIRD - Trippie Redd
CAROLMART - Denzel Curry
KILLIONAIRE - Trippie Redd
That Ain't Me - Lil Wayne
The Crow - Montana of 300
Whoopty Fucking Do - BabyTron
Scorpion:
Bad - Remix - Wale
Bruuuh - JID
Melly the Menace - YNW Melly
Singing to the Cheese - Chief Keef
Shang Tsung:
Lakers vs Rockets - Westside Gunn
PERCS PERCZ - Denzel Curry
Shang Tsung - Montana of 300
Shao Kahn:
Finished - ShittyBoys
Sonya Blade:
Rolling 110 Deep - DJ Kay Slay
Sub-Zero:
7 Sign - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Check - Young Thug
Fight To Win - Your Favorite Martian
Mural - Lupe Fiasco
Soul Food - Logic
Stay High - Juice WRLD
vent - Baby Keem
Terminology
Fatality:
Ask Courtney - Flatbush Zombies
Bars - Migos
Can You Rap Like Me? - Trippie Redd
Kush Coma - Danny Brown
That's All I Have - Lil Wayne
U Deserve It - Trippie Redd
Finish Him/Her:
A Death in the Ocean Would Be Beautiful - $uicideboy$
Childs Play - SZA
Krazy - Kash Doll
She Gon Wink - Takeoff
Round One:
Nuketown - Ski Mask The Slump God
Mortal Kombat:
13th FlooGrowing Old - Outkast
101 FM - Little Simz
Beat A N*gga Block - YNW Melly
Cheap Ass Weave - Cardi B
Dat Side - CyHi
Diablo - Mac Miller
Don't Start - Bizzy Banks
Miami - Nicki Minaj
Mortal Combat - Soul Kid Klik
Mortal Kombat - Pivot Gang
Off the Wall! - XXXTENTACION
Oomps Revenge Pt. 2 - Trippie Redd
PICASSO - Sheff G
The Race - Wiz Khalifa
Triumph - Wu-Tang Clan
Misc.
Album Filled with Samples:
BLVCKLVND Rvdix 66.6 - SpaceGhostPurrp
Theme Song Sample:
Cases - Yo Gotti
Songs with simply far too many references:
Fatality - C-Mob
Immortal - 21 Savage
Stats
Most Referenced Character:
Johnny Cage - 13
Most References Made:
Trippie Redd - 8
Playlist W/ All Songs
Songs with multiple references were categorized either by the most unique reference made (i.e., Bahamas - A$AP Mob mentioning both Kitana & Cassandra, being Cassie's only reference) or by first reference made (a lot of rappers figured out Lui Kang rhymes with Johnny Cage). This is to make it easier to find a song with your favorite character in it and prevent overly specific categories. Many Mortal Kombat terminology and characters are common words (fatality, scorpion, subzero etc.), and had to be meticulously checked personally by me to see if they are true references or coincidences. Drake talks about a plethora of Scorpio(n(s)), plenty street rappers have seen fatalities, and even Big Daddy Kane has a song titled 'Mortal Combat' three years prior to the first game even existing. If I missed anything, please let me know in the comments.
2023.05.28 21:16 Significant-Shower38 I had to run it back because I was like . What 😳
 | submitted by Significant-Shower38 to YoungThug [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 19:58 Resilient_Star0402 Let's talk about PostMalones song - Goodbyes
Haven't heard this song since 2019, but yesterday I was in Hollister shopping and heard it playing on their speaker and oh man it really hit me on how good the song was. Couldn't stop listening to it on the way home from the mall and put it on repeat in the car. Such a soothing vibey song for anyone and I could see it definitely hitting home for those going through a recent breakup.
However, I felt Young Thugs part sort of ruined it. I remember thinking the same back when the song first came out too. I wouldn't necessarily say he ruined it, but his voice just did not compliment the style and vibe of the song. I think his part in the song was very unique of him to sing though compared to his own songs.
Overall, still a great song for sure. Especially Post Malone's part and even Young Thugs as well. Still listening to this song and added it to my playlist, glad I found the song again.
What do you guys think?
submitted by Resilient_Star0402 to PostMalone [link] [comments]
However, I felt Young Thugs part sort of ruined it. I remember thinking the same back when the song first came out too. I wouldn't necessarily say he ruined it, but his voice just did not compliment the style and vibe of the song. I think his part in the song was very unique of him to sing though compared to his own songs.
Overall, still a great song for sure. Especially Post Malone's part and even Young Thugs as well. Still listening to this song and added it to my playlist, glad I found the song again.
What do you guys think?
2023.05.28 19:49 SignificantScar3124 What’s the best producer tag? personally, it’s gotta be Metro.
| | submitted by SignificantScar3124 to u/SignificantScar3124 [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 18:24 jeffysteelflex [For Sale] Grateful Dead, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Daniel Caesar, Harry Styles, City and Colour, Mac Miller, Action Bronson, Kendrick Lamar, Joji, David Bowie, etc
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y6-AA93samjivKkFYIs4y2kJCH3ep08_wjD7ef8R5-w/edit#gid=112793608
Looking to get rid of various extra records I've never played, every record has been stored upright safely since purchase, still sealed in the original plastic. Available for local NYC meet ups. PayPal G&S preferred. All prices INCLUDE shipping already! Also negotiable, don't be afraid to shoot me an offer! More than willing to negotiate/put together some bundles!
(Ignore artist names, listed for search purposes) Action Bronson Beyonce City And Colour Daft Punk Daniel Caesar David Bowie Doja Cat Harry Styles Jack Harlow Joji Juice WRLD Kanye West Kendrick Lamar Labrinth Mac Miller Morgan Wallen Notorious B.I.G. Red Hot Chili Peppers Snoh Aalegra Still Woozy The Grateful Dead The Weeknd Young Thug
submitted by jeffysteelflex to VinylCollectors [link] [comments]
Looking to get rid of various extra records I've never played, every record has been stored upright safely since purchase, still sealed in the original plastic. Available for local NYC meet ups. PayPal G&S preferred. All prices INCLUDE shipping already! Also negotiable, don't be afraid to shoot me an offer! More than willing to negotiate/put together some bundles!
(Ignore artist names, listed for search purposes) Action Bronson Beyonce City And Colour Daft Punk Daniel Caesar David Bowie Doja Cat Harry Styles Jack Harlow Joji Juice WRLD Kanye West Kendrick Lamar Labrinth Mac Miller Morgan Wallen Notorious B.I.G. Red Hot Chili Peppers Snoh Aalegra Still Woozy The Grateful Dead The Weeknd Young Thug