Chapter 847: Different Enough
Added 2023-11-27 22:00:04 +0000 UTCJason floated up to the invisibility sphere and drifted inside where Miriam and Ramona were waiting.
“It’s done,” he said.
“Just like that?” Miriam asked.
“Just like that.”
“I couldn’t hear what you talked about. You used your aura like a privacy screen.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t want me deciding that I didn’t like how it was going and staging a sneak attack.”
“I didn’t think you would,” Jason said, “but people can make bad decisions under extreme pressure. I’ll admit that’s projecting my issues onto you, as you’ve been nothing but graceful under pressure, but it gave me some peace of mind.”
“How did you find us?” Ramona asked. “I moved us, yet you knew exactly where we were.”
“This realm belongs to me now,” Jason said. “I know where everything is.”
***
Jason sighed as he looked across the table at the brightheart leader. Behind him, the lava spilled down on the other side of a glass wall.
“Lorenn…”
“No chance,” she said firmly. “Not ever. That tree killed my people.”
“The messengers killed your people. If someone drops a barrel of poison into the water upstream from your village, you don’t blame the barrel for killing the villagers. You blame the person who put it there.”
“And do you put up a massive statue of the poison that killed everyone?” Lorenn asked. “Because that’s what you’re asking, Asano. It’s a giant tree. It will loom over us, every day.”
She shook her head.
“Asano, out of every twenty of my people, nineteen were killed. By that tree and its elemental messengers. If it stays in our home, even if you manage to shrink it down, we will burn it to the ground or die trying. That is my final word on that issue.”
True to her statement, Lorenn marched toward the large double doors. Jason looked away, not really seeing the lava waterfall through the glass wall. He heard the doors open, then the voice that came from that direction. He looked up to see Lorenn paused in the doorway. She surveyed the otherwise empty conference room.
“Thank you for doing this with just us, Asano,” she said, her tone having softened considerably. “You could have brought in everyone and tried to pressure me into accepting.”
“Would it have worked?” Jason asked.
“No.”
“Then you’re welcome,” Jason said, a smile teasing the edges of his lips. Lorenn left and the doors closed behind her.
The smile on Jason’s face vanished. He took a long, calming breath before moving to a bookshelf. He tugged on a medical textbook about Lupus and the bookcase slid aside, revealing a short secret tunnel to his office. He walked through, the bookcase sliding back into place behind him. He arrived in his office where another bookcase slid closed to hide the doorway he’d just used.
“How’d it go?” Neil asked from where he was sitting on a couch. There was a board game on the table in front of him that he was teaching Nik. A side table was next to the first, holding drinks and mini sandwiches where they wouldn’t dirty the game components.
“Well,” Jason said, “she didn’t attack me.”
Neil winced.
“That bad, huh?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Jason crashed next to Neil before sitting up to grab a sandwich and a glass of juice.
“It’s not like I don’t sympathise,” Jason said. “They lost their civilisation. Most of their species. I’ve been through some stuff but I hope I never understand that kind of loss. But this tree has to go somewhere and the only place I have to put it is the space I’m about to reintegrate into reality. I don’t think repotting it will be viable.”
“You should put it somewhere else if you can find a way,” Neil said. “It’s unique, which means that lots of people will want to study it. Experiment on it. Take samples. And blaming it for all the death makes an easy excuse for treating it poorly.”
“And there will be no appealing to local authorities to protect it,” Jason said. “The brighthearts won’t tolerate it. At all. Lorenn made that extremely clear.”
“Well, just because you failed doesn’t mean the objective has,” Neil said. “You can let other people have a crack at Lorenn.”
“No,” Jason said. “There’s no room to move there.”
“You know there’s another option, right?” Nik asked, not looking up from the game he was trying to comprehend.
“What do you mean?” Jason asked. “I have to change the tree through the transformation zone. That means I have to place it somewhere in the domain I create where the brightheart city was. It’s not like I have a whole other…”
Jason trailed off as he realised what Nik was suggesting.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t even know how many ways that could go wrong..”
“What are you talking about?” Neil asked.
“Planting the tree in his soul realm,” Nik said.
“Yeah,” Neil said. “That sounds like a bad idea, even if it does work. Planting a tree with a soul inside your soul? I can’t imagine that’s wise.”
“It’s not,” Jason said.
“That being said,” Neil continued, “that may be the only safe place for it. People will want to use it. The brighthearts will want to destroy it. Is there safety you can offer anywhere other than your soul realm?”
“The new home I build for the brighthearts will be my domain,” Jason said. “There’s no getting around that. But if I protect the tree, that will put me at odds with the brighthearts and they’ve been through enough. Once more, I did something without fully thinking through the ramifications. I thought I was getting better about that, yet here I am again.”
“The circumstances are both urgent and extreme,” Neil pointed out.
“The circumstances are always urgent and extreme,” Jason said. “That’s just my life and long past being an excuse.”
“It’s still a reason, though.”
“Thanks,” Jason said. “For being supportive.”
“Well,” Neil said. “As much as I love to kick you when you’re down, it seemed like that wasn’t what you needed right now.”
“That is never what I need.”
“But sometimes it’s what I need.”
Jason chuckled, got up and patted Neil on the shoulder.
“Thanks,” Jason said. “I guess I have to go and give someone an uncomfortable choice between two crappy options. Again.”
“Has Gary…?”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “He has.”
***
“No,” Gary said.
He, Farrah and Rufus were in Gary’s suite, an opulent but ominous series of chambers within the mountain lair. Gary had already told Farrah of his decision and recruited her for support when telling Rufus. She sat next to him on a couch while Rufus sat opposite, staring at Gary with unbelieving eyes.
“Gary, you—” Rufus started before Gary cut him off.
“I’m sorry, Rufus. Even if it wouldn’t make things harder for Jason, I don’t want to be a ghost, rattling around in a hole.”
“That’s not—”
“Don’t tell me what it is and isn’t,” Gary growled.
“I know this has been preying on your mind,” Farrah told Rufus. “But do you honestly think you’ve given these choices more thought than Gary? That he hasn’t gone over exactly what those choices mean, over and over?”
“One of those choices means death!” Rufus shouted.
“Yes,” Gary said, unhappy but calm and accepting. “The other means being stagnant forever, assuming I even come through the process still myself. It means being chained underground.”
“For now,” Rufus said. “Jason—”
“Will visit every few months. Like you. Then every few years. Every few decades. I’ll watch you all grow stronger and stronger. Listen to stories of other worlds every century or so when my diamond-rank friends come home. A little less recognisable each time while I’m forever the same. If I stay, you’ll lose me anyway. Just not enough that you get to mourn me. I’d rather be a fond memory you get to revisit from time to time than an obligation that you have to.”
While Rufus processed Gary’s words in silence, Farrah put her hand on a massive, fury forearm, rubbing it gently. Gary spoke again, his voice a softer rumble.
“While you’ve been thinking about my death, Rufus, I’ve been thinking about my life. And your lives. We didn’t realise it at the time, but we hitched our wagons to a comet when we met Jason in that basement. When we fought with him in that blood-soaked hole in the ground. Unless you end up like me, you two are going to be diamond-rankers sooner or later. There are too many powerful people and wild events around you for that to be anything but inevitable. I know it’s strange to accept when people spend lifetimes trying and failing to reach diamond, but that’s how it is.”
“You’re not done yet,” Rufus said. “We can keep you alive now and figure out how to fix things later. We can get you back on track. Maybe we find that purity artefact and use it to purge whatever’s killing you.”
“That’s not how it works, Roo. The thing that’s killing me is the same thing keeping me alive. The fact that Jason has a way to even keep me alive like this is a miracle. One that Hero slipped him on the quiet. But keeping me alive isn’t the same thing as saving me. It’s just… stopping me. Gold-rankers live for a long time, but not forever. I’ll have the lifespan of a diamond-ranker, but the life of a man that should, at some point, die. I’ll never get stronger; never see what the limits of my craft could have been. I’ll never see a real sky again.”
He bowed his head.
“Once you think about it Rufus — once you really think about it — I believe you’ll understand why I made this choice.”
Rufus shot to his feet.
“Why you chose to give up? To quit? No, Gary, I won’t.”
Rufus stormed out, the way he had a dozen times in the last week.
“It’s not giving up,” Gary said softly. “It’s letting go of something that isn’t going to work.”
“I know,” Farrah said, leaning into his furry wall of a body. “So does he. He just needs time to accept that.”
“I don’t have time.”
***
Jason flew through the air, standing in a black air skimmer that drove itself. His wooden replica was in one of the seats behind him.
“Why are we out here?” the doppelganger asked. Its wooden voice seemed like an uncaring monotone but Jason could feel the tree’s soul properly now. Like the messengers that had been unsealed, it was a young and confused child, despite how it looked. Like Gary, it was reliant on power that was slowly killing it.
In the tree’s case, that power was also muddling its mind. The wooden avatar was able to think clearly in a way the tree’s main body could not, but it was still troubled. It was so uncertain; so full of fear. The spark of hope inside it was a fragile thing, always on the verge of being snuffed out.
“I’ve consolidated transformation zones before,” Jason said, “but this time is different. It was more instinct than anything else those other times. Now I have the tools to be more deliberate, and I have to be careful. I need to rebuild the home of an entire people. I have to help you achieve a sustainable state.”
“And there is your friend.”
“No. He’s decided to… accept the fate he’d already chosen.”
Jason didn’t speak again for a while as he stared off at nothing. Then he brought himself back with a little headshake before continuing.
“I can perceive everything in the zone, now, but I want to understand it more directly. More intimately. I want to know exactly what I’m working with and go in with an idea of what I’m going to do instead of just figuring it out as I go.”
“Why have you asked me to join you in this.”
“Because we need to have another talk. I made you a promise that I would do everything I can for you.”
“Are you going back on that?”
“Not at all. In fact, it’s looking like I need to go a little further, one way or another. Depending on what way you want to go. The issue isn’t transitioning you back to reality; that remains no more or less challenging than it was before. The issue is what comes after.”
“I know nothing of the outside world. When I came into being, I could not truly think. All I knew was the drive to consume and grow.”
“And that’s the issue,” Jason said. “Your growth and consumption came at the cost of the people in whose land you will once again find yourself. I don’t think they have it in them to forgive you. And there will be others, eventually. Greedy people who will see your uniqueness and strive to exploit it.”
“That does not sound good.”
“No, it does not. And I don’t know if I’ll be in a position to move you. You’re a tree, and whatever changes you go through, I suspect you’ll remain quite large.”
“Your concern is that your help will be sending me to destruction.”
“Yes.”
“You mentioned a decision?”
“I could send you to an alternative place. I have a realm of spirit, within my soul. We’ve discussed using a soul forge to stabilise it, but it is real and it exists right now. I have no idea what putting you in there would do to either of us, but I’m willing to try. If you are.”
“Yes.”
“That quick you should take some time to think it through.”
“Do we have time?”
“Not a lot, no.”
“Then I have made my choice. All I have known, when I’ve had the mind to comprehend, is this small universe. Another one, with a man who offered hope, is preferable to something different that offers only avarice and vengeance.”
“Different can be good.”
“I imagine that what I encounter in your realm will be different enough.”
Jason let out a chuckle.
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re probably right.”
Comments
Thx for the chapter
Kconraw
2024-02-27 01:09:13 +0000 UTCI assume this is a situation where tone is not properly conveyed when posting on the Internet via text...
Kevin Anderson
2023-11-29 21:51:58 +0000 UTCThis is why Gary going with his chained existence to start is a reasonable idea. But I'd also think that Jason and shade might have discussed it. Or was Jason too dumb to ask shade again.
Kevin Anderson
2023-11-29 20:41:49 +0000 UTCLove the term "Waterless Network" lol
Will
2023-11-29 18:43:55 +0000 UTCHey Shirlatoon. Show me don't tell me. How many conversations talk about how special Jadon is? Ever thought of skipping conversations describing Jason and just having Jason do special things?
Ken Driver
2023-11-29 00:07:04 +0000 UTCAaaanndd Jason is shoving more unique and powerful magic mcguffin into his soul
Pierce
2023-11-28 22:03:45 +0000 UTCI’d hoped that Gary would live in the soul realm. Becoming Jason’s resident blacksmith. Between Jason being able to modify souls and the tree creating a body I thought they could figure it out. But that tree is really starting to grow on me lol really excited for the future of this story.
DirePants
2023-11-28 20:04:37 +0000 UTCMy comment was somewhat tongue in cheek as I’m of two minds about the situation. While I do want to #savegary I also understand why he would make the choice he did. To add to it, he’s mourned his friends to the point he basically broke. To come back from that and have to consider watching them move on while you were stuck… rough
Cryfdwr
2023-11-28 19:55:40 +0000 UTCThe problem with this theory is that Gordon won't be able to tap into that greater power until Jason is an astral king in truth. That won't happen until well after the transformation zone is reintegrated into reality
Jacob Sullivan
2023-11-28 19:47:26 +0000 UTCWell the bridge won't be usable for a decade at least so that's out. Gary is dying no matter where he is. In Jason realm he's just getting a reprieve but still prolonging the inevitable. Outside the power just floods out of him altogether. There are a few options that don't directly involve Jason that could actually save him but they're long odds. 1. While still within the planetary magisphere the Local God's get ultimate say. That means, it's likely possible Healer could help Gary or Even that Death could chose to resurrect him as its her perview. The problem with the latter is that she's not likely to do so, she doesn't seem.to have a very hospitable personality. For the Former, it would depend on healers restrictions. 2. Once Gary's soul departs Pali, it's fair Game to the Reaper. The Reaper could just coordinate with the Phoenix to send Gary to Earth. They'd also have the power to magic him up again so he wasn't starting over
Kalanaere
2023-11-28 17:45:24 +0000 UTCMy question is Gary had two choices Jason sull realm which would eventually lead to his death but at a slower pace or the spirit realm of his transformation zone after it's consolidated but then the issue with that is Gary would be stuck at a power level he wouldn't have any growth or anything like that. I feel like with the tree Jason is going to find a third option for Gary and do it without telling Gary it's going to be when everything pops off in the consolidation starts he's going to be able to feel that he can do something to Gary and remove the power has a hole and transfer it to the tree. The tree itself is already an entity of near demigod status so I feel like it's itself will be able to harness the demigod energy from Gary. That's my work in theory at least
Jarrett Mahon
2023-11-28 16:53:52 +0000 UTCWhy do you say this do you think it's going to be something in Jason's consolidation of all the power of the transformation zones getting a soul forge becoming an astral king and completing the bridge at the same time kind of thing it's going to throw Gary on to Earth? Cuz I did think of that cuz Gary's power will only kill him and be reclaimed by hero if he's on the planet that heroes on so if Gary was sent to Earth he'd still be able to grow in power wouldn't he or at least he'd still be alive as a demigod
Jarrett Mahon
2023-11-28 16:52:00 +0000 UTCBold theory: Gordon is going to be integral in shaping the new astral zone and a potential save of our loveable furry friend. Of course what I’m speaking of is Intrinsic Mandate Magic. As I’m listening to the freshly released book 10, Shade describes the magic as “lacking the versatility that you are familiar with and is meant for shaping physical reality, not being used within it. This is the magic the builder uses to forge worlds” “if you think of all Intrinsic Mandate Magic as different kinds of guns the power that Gordon has used thus far is …… a piece of paper with the word BANG written on it” “ if you can complete your transformation into an astral king you may have an easier time tapping into Gordon’s potential” Just saying, Gordon could be the difference maker. It’d probably be even more effective if he became a voice, but given how long it took Collin to transform I’m guessing that avenue is out
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 15:27:01 +0000 UTC*gestures to tree outside of window*
Sean
2023-11-28 14:25:02 +0000 UTCHe is literally taking a soul forge out if the tree. He can't use it yet, that's what the few years absence he's talked about to the others is for. That's him incorporating the soul forge and becoming an astral king properly. How is the power to create and alter souls not enough power to alter a soul back to a previous shape/configuration etc? In the cosmos, we have seen that nothing is irreversible with enough power. The only thing that stops anything happening is someone with an even bigger stick saying "No." (E.g. Reaper restricting ressurections) There isn't even anyone saying no to fixing Gary. Even Hero wants Gary to survive. The only one who could would be Gary. Or NuGary. And if that's the case, then Gary is effectively getting his way anyway, and NuGary gets to live and be content with his lot.
Dax
2023-11-28 11:03:41 +0000 UTCTrees are chill as fuck. I try to tell people this all the time, but they're always like "who are you, and how did you get in here?".
Liesmith
2023-11-28 10:52:18 +0000 UTCDax, I read your comment, but disagreed with it because it's very shortsighted. Your assumption that Jason will be able to simply edit Gary's soul back to a previous state is based on virtually nothing--Gary's current situation is unique. It could take centuries or eons to come up with a solution--assuming that one is possible, and that Jason survives long enough to enact it. But let's say that it is possible. In fact, let's say that it will take Jason only a single day to come up with a solution after leaving the transformation zone. A glaring problem remains: changing a soul requires *consent*. If Gary's soul is changed by the re-integration into someone who no longer consents to being "fixed", then Jason will never ever ever be able to fix it, no matter how powerful he gets, unless he's willing to literally torture Gary to force him to allow the changes. And that also ignores the possibility of a situation where Gary's soul is altered in such a way that he essentially becomes a new entity who would be killed by reverting him to Original Gary. Assuming Original Gary is 30 years old, and the re-integration changes him into a new being altogether--what right would Jason have to ask that entity to die if it takes him centuries to come up with a solution? The New Gary would've existed for longer than the Original Gary. There's a lot of ways this could go wrong, and very few ways it could go right.
Liesmith
2023-11-28 10:50:02 +0000 UTCI’m honestly starting to like the Tree now. It’s in such a shitty situation but is willing to completely put its faith in Jason with almost no hesitation. It has my respect for that
Connor
2023-11-28 09:57:36 +0000 UTCSo none of you read more than two sentences of my comment. Cool. It's an immediate and permanent "solution" to a problem that is only permanent until it isn't. Jason will in all likelihood be able to completely fix both of those issues in a few years, if it even takes that long. The contrivance to force Gary into this decision with justifications like "oh no, it'll change your soul" in a story that has a bloke who has had tools to remake reality and now has tools to make and remake souls, is just stupid. As if this won't be an insignificant hurdle in barely enough time to blink.
Dax
2023-11-28 09:27:43 +0000 UTCIt does. This is really more like a terminal disease though. Nobody has to do anything for him to die, it’s a matter of refusing extreme measures to keep him alive. That’s a choice only he gets to make
Joanna
2023-11-28 07:21:14 +0000 UTCYour comment needs many more likes!
Joanna
2023-11-28 07:16:15 +0000 UTCIt's never Lupus.
Liesmith
2023-11-28 06:30:16 +0000 UTCGary's reasoning is totally valid. He knows that if he dies, his soul goes on to whatever is next--still himself. But if he takes Jason's offer, his very soul will be changed in ways that no one can predict. There is a very real chance that he literally will cease to be himself. For *eternity*.
Liesmith
2023-11-28 06:29:48 +0000 UTCI hope so
Brighella
2023-11-28 06:20:30 +0000 UTCGary is gonna end up on Earth and Emi is going to lay claim to him.
Kalanaere
2023-11-28 04:56:49 +0000 UTCYep. It's mentioned later how the sands has lots of names, etc.
Kevin Anderson
2023-11-28 04:22:09 +0000 UTCI was listening to book 6 today at work,; the first transformation zone. Jason has multiple Dimension essences and he has a conversation with Shade about traveling through time. ..the Keeper of Moments allows forward time travel, but never past. (I think) Is Keeper of the Sands the same entity?
Kraede Epoch
2023-11-28 04:15:02 +0000 UTCBecause supposedly Jason has all the control inside there, he can just literally pause Gary's deterioration or even just repeatedly replenish his body to a saved template right. And at some point, Jason will figure out how to make changes that remains after they leave his soul realm
John Grizzly
2023-11-28 04:05:49 +0000 UTCNo I mean not having him combine with the array andl instead chill inside his soul realm/Astral space. It will keep Gary's divinity from leaving while also enabling jason to just pause on Gary dying. Gary had also previously spent a ton of time inside Jason's soul realm anyways, playing around with jason-made materials for smiting. I'm sure jason would be able to find a way to help Gary at something, specially with the soul forge right there.
John Grizzly
2023-11-28 04:04:11 +0000 UTCHe could hang out and forge some badass gear for the gang with his demigod powers before they destroy his body.
Justin Wilson
2023-11-28 04:01:54 +0000 UTCWell, except for the one time it wasn't life they came back to, and even that was for only a day (or maybe it was hour(s)? Can't remember exactly). There's a reason we were just recently reminded Jason inherited a large collection of board games. Even Farah took so long to be returned that I didn't feel that it cheapened her death all that much.
Aerlevsedi
2023-11-28 03:55:29 +0000 UTCActing like Shirt is dragging this out for money is disrespectful with no basis in reality and kind of a dickish comment to make. He still has a lot of the story after this arc, and considering the fan base he has built, is very likely to carry many of those people over into his next work. It's ok to not like things, but don't be a dick about the things you don't like.
Brian Block
2023-11-28 03:40:37 +0000 UTCThis is less suicide and more slowly dying from cancer. If cancer made you 10 feet tall and literally burning with divine fire
Marshall Kelloway
2023-11-28 03:13:33 +0000 UTCNot really? Like, these of all issues aren't small. Gary likely made his choice from the beginning. Heck, he made it when he took the cup in the first place. This has just been him not giving a final answer to his friends because they needed to be in top shape. As for the tree issue? Nobody expected what we got. Jason and the rest maybe expected a corrupted version of himself. But that's about it. Not a person.
Owen Kaz
2023-11-28 03:10:24 +0000 UTCHe'd last maybe a year in there. Hero's power was only meant to last for a day or so. It's literally burning Gary inside the longer he exists.
Marshall Kelloway
2023-11-28 03:10:22 +0000 UTCTyftc
NethanielShade
2023-11-28 02:52:11 +0000 UTCI'm not sure how I feel about this arc. I'm not sure how to improve it or what helpful feedback I could provide. Yet, this arc seems to have a pacing and tone issue. I kinda feel like we could have had this resolved before now.
Joshua K Eaves
2023-11-28 02:38:01 +0000 UTCIt’s a cool idea, and a good way to keep Gary alive, but it would involve Shirt making up new rules to astral magic for the sake of saving a character. That’s like changing the rules to a game after you’ve spent 10.5 books and 300+ hours of listening to heath dictating how this already complex subject works
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 02:11:51 +0000 UTCThat’s where my mind went as well
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 02:08:10 +0000 UTCOf course it won’t. Shirt needs to make that money, got to keep this going for as long as he can.
Dylan Alexander
2023-11-28 02:05:30 +0000 UTCAgreed, it’s a logical decision.
Dylan Alexander
2023-11-28 02:04:56 +0000 UTCYeah except I really wanted voice of will Gary. He’s one of my favorite characters, I’m still kinda mad shirt wrote the rules like that.
gray matter
2023-11-28 02:04:38 +0000 UTCAgreed.
Dylan Alexander
2023-11-28 02:04:11 +0000 UTCI’m fine with Gary’s decision, it makes logical sense. Emotions just cloud your judgement. I like actual stakes in stories and if someone has to die then so be it. However knowing Shirt, he’ll just save Gary, hardly any of the main cast die and when they do they’re bought back to life. Kinda cheap tbh.
Dylan Alexander
2023-11-28 02:03:51 +0000 UTCI feel like this whole arc with Gary is emotionally very similar to watching a friend with a terminal disease. Thanks for all the extra time we had with him, Shirt. Also, maybe crazy, but is the volume on lupus a House reference?? It’s just that lupus not being the right diagnosis was just a huge thing on that show.
Holly Harris
2023-11-28 02:02:53 +0000 UTCYeah, I suspect death is just going to result in a job offer for Gary from some Great Astral Being or another
Sam Williams
2023-11-28 01:26:32 +0000 UTCHe's going to die no matter where he goes, even if he stays in the transformation zone he'll still die because the energy is too powerful for his body. If he leaves he dies because the energy returns to its source and he falls apart, if he stays he dies because he is being torn apart by the energy anyway.
Dino
2023-11-28 01:25:38 +0000 UTCI think the problem is that unlike the tree, Gary's situation isn't sustainable. He can only live if he's attached to the natural array and he'll die if he stays inside Jason's soul space.
Sam Williams
2023-11-28 01:23:57 +0000 UTC#savegary
Cryfdwr
2023-11-28 01:10:50 +0000 UTCWe are all Rufus, hoping that Gary will be around to have more adventures with and that Shirt… I mean Jason… will find a way to save him…
Cryfdwr
2023-11-28 01:08:08 +0000 UTCYeah, me too. He’s choosing quality of life rather than just quantity.
Cryfdwr
2023-11-28 01:03:50 +0000 UTCI hope Gary goes with the tree into Jason's soul realm
brian phillips
2023-11-28 01:02:45 +0000 UTCI think it’s a good conclusion for Gary. Rufus is going to leave the storyline when they make it back to green stone so that he can run his school. Farrah is going to go back to making her waterless network. If it wasn’t this, then it would have just been Gary going back to his smithing with an occasional reference. Maybe being used as an example if the team gets ahold of the purity artifact to cleanse his cores, but ultimately his story was done. Better to die a hero than to be cursed with a life of obscurity
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 00:54:56 +0000 UTCWould that not go against Gary’s wishes? Sure, if it could be done perfectly, no side effects, not stuck underground with the bright hearts, still able to progress in his trade…. But come on man, Gary made his choice and it will do nothing but garner hate and resentment to go against it
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 00:49:23 +0000 UTCPretty sure he’d only last a couple months there. Just as Gary’s body is breaking down in the transformation zone, he’d break down at the same rate anywhere outside of Hero’s influence
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 00:46:38 +0000 UTCI think there is one more on the 29th/30th
Louie Lewis
2023-11-28 00:44:47 +0000 UTCAww Gary. :-(
Louie Lewis
2023-11-28 00:44:33 +0000 UTCSimilarly to the tree, all that Jason can offer is hope, but it’s not as simple as that. What Gary will have to go through will change him fundamentally to the point where he may be unrecognizable to himself and to others immediately upon leaving the transformation zone. If he’s lucky enough to come out of it on the other side with some semblance of himself, he’s then doomed to an eternal prison underground. Curse with the inability to die while he watches all of those around him grow old and perish. Every friend he will make from here on out will die in front of him. He will forever be unable to master his only hobby. Would you rather die a hero or hope to live forever alone with the off chance that your strange friend might be able to find a solution someday? That’s assuming again, that you came out of the transformation zone with your faculties intact. How selfish can you be that you would rather have your friend go through millennia of torment so that you don’t have to endure the pain of mourning him?
Dirty Dibbler
2023-11-28 00:39:24 +0000 UTCThrough early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see...
Rowdy Robby
2023-11-28 00:39:01 +0000 UTCIt's funny that people keep mentioning time...
Kevin Anderson
2023-11-28 00:19:30 +0000 UTCFor fucks sake. Gary has been absolutely determined to die for literally months now. It's a stupid decision. It might be permanent, but only until it's not. with the tools and powers the team are on course to acquire, it may only be a year or two before Gary's predicament is completely resolved. Don't be a fuckwit Gary.
Dax
2023-11-28 00:04:18 +0000 UTCI absolutely prefer this
Nick
2023-11-28 00:04:17 +0000 UTCI don’t see this wrapping up this week and that is truly unfortunate
BloodStorm
2023-11-28 00:01:22 +0000 UTCWhile Jason might be able to send his Prime Avatar there once his ascension is complete he currently has no way to get to earth, let alone take a giant magic tree with him.
Sean C Jackson
2023-11-27 23:58:49 +0000 UTCThe whole time he was talking with the tree I had the lyrics to Birdhouse in your Soul blurring through my head. "… I'm your only friend I'm not your only friend But I'm a little glowing friend But really I'm not actually your friend But I am … Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch Who watches over you Make a little birdhouse in your soul Not to put too fine a point on it Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet Make a little birdhouse in your soul"
Monadologist
2023-11-27 23:56:18 +0000 UTCClearly, the Natural Array is going back where it's was before though it will be inside Jason's new spirit domain, and the tree is going into Jason's Astral Kingdom. Gary can't be tethered to Jason's power because it's too potent, just like the Divine power in him now, the reason the array would have worked is because it's a lower order of power and would be just enough to keep him alive without overwhelming his body.
Sean C Jackson
2023-11-27 23:56:05 +0000 UTCShouldn't it be "gnomes rule"? I love The Land series.
Jacob Kraus
2023-11-27 23:54:22 +0000 UTCThat would take the array from the bright hearts.... Ultimately killing them off.
Kevin Anderson
2023-11-27 23:53:57 +0000 UTCDon't think of it as a goodbye Rufus, It's not a goodbye, it's just a see you later... - Gary 😓
Steven Myer
2023-11-27 23:48:15 +0000 UTCFirst off, why can't Gary chill in Jason's space for a little while again? Until they can either find a different power source or jason is able to reforge and scrub Gary's body all nice and clean and not self destructive? Also, still think jason will assimilate the soul of the tree into a new summoning power/contract like his other summons with their own souls. Maybe even be one of those Astral king vassal things. Like a voice or something. Maybe a whisper lol. Also, if jason plant man, can he then make his own salads?
John Grizzly
2023-11-27 23:48:03 +0000 UTCNo no no, it's the 29th or 30th.
Sean C Jackson
2023-11-27 23:46:52 +0000 UTCI gotta say that I enjoy seeing Jason healing and hoping again. Taking ownership of his strength and influence and using it to create hope of a better future for others. We could all hope to have a man like that leading the effort.
Andrew Woodard
2023-11-27 23:45:36 +0000 UTCHonestly with the Tree going in his soul realm I can't understand why he can't put Gary tied to the array There too? His Astral gate could power the array which would in turn keep Gary alive and have a whole realm to live in not just come cave. Is there an explanation for this I've missed?
2023-11-27 23:44:15 +0000 UTCGomes? Did you mean Gnomes?
Doswyn
2023-11-27 23:42:10 +0000 UTCI’m glad I’m not the only one who saw it that way
Scoutmaster2002
2023-11-27 23:32:37 +0000 UTCi think he will get rabbits instead of messengers. 😉
René Blaser
2023-11-27 23:32:08 +0000 UTCThats what's called a cliffhanger bruh
SmokeJam
2023-11-27 23:25:47 +0000 UTCDon't worry, he's going to bunk off for a month then kill Gary.
laughingatstupidity
2023-11-27 23:25:27 +0000 UTCWhile it would be nice, I don't think so. Gary's end is a heroic one, for his character just perfect after his slump with Farrahs death and the short but sweet blossoming in his craft to give Jason a sword for basically the rest of his life as a legacy. I honestly think his character has fulfilled its potential and it is better to see him go instead of fading has an occasional side character. That's basically the explanation I read out of this chapter
SmokeJam
2023-11-27 23:23:21 +0000 UTCAs long as the bridge isn't connected, there is no convenient way to travel between the two worlds.
SmokeJam
2023-11-27 23:18:39 +0000 UTCLol, taking a break for an entire month again before even finishing the arc...
Andrei
2023-11-27 23:18:21 +0000 UTCI bet with you planting that tree is gonna have some insane repercussions, but equally tremendous benefits :D
SmokeJam
2023-11-27 23:17:14 +0000 UTCCue amazing power up.
DeviantSalivations
2023-11-27 23:12:45 +0000 UTCGARY YOUR CHOICE IS YOUR CHOICE!! We will miss you though. I can understand not wanting to sit still while friends are growing but damn the feels!!
Ken Sevier
2023-11-27 23:09:21 +0000 UTCWhat a reference!
Michael McMahon
2023-11-27 22:56:35 +0000 UTCNo way to get it there
David Harkness
2023-11-27 22:49:22 +0000 UTCWould have thought another option for the tree would be to put it in Jason's realms on earth as I believe he has two spirit domains connected to him as another option then his soul realm.
Hollowlce
2023-11-27 22:48:33 +0000 UTCThank you for the chapter Shirt!
Jonathan Crandall
2023-11-27 22:41:56 +0000 UTCUr not the only one lol
Joshua Ross
2023-11-27 22:37:26 +0000 UTCAre we gonna have a scene where they're saying goodbye to Gary and Boris starts singing "Suicide is Painless" like in M*A*S*H?
Shane
2023-11-27 22:35:53 +0000 UTCBook 10 drops tomorrow on Audible! Something to help get through December break anyway!
Chuck Haeberle
2023-11-27 22:33:02 +0000 UTCI feel like there will be shenanigans still regarding Gary
Russell Widger
2023-11-27 22:31:13 +0000 UTCReally hope Jason finds some way to help Gary live when he does the transformation zone transition, that he didn't think of before but then realizes in the moment.
#savegarytheleonid
2023-11-27 22:30:38 +0000 UTCWe'll get another chapter the day after tomorrow, don't we? DON'T WE?!? Well, have a nice vacation with your family, see you next year, all safe and sound. Everyone but Gary, that is. He has some solid good reasons to choose as he did, but he will be missed... and mourned! I hope, Rufus will get over it eventually, with Farrahs and Team Bisquits help.
Thomas Froehling
2023-11-27 22:24:59 +0000 UTCSo the whole thread with Gary choosing to sacrifice himself. Into potentially not being sacrificed due to Jason shenanigans. Was for nothing then? My original thought when it was first mentioned, was to just stick him permanently in Jason's spirit realm. He literally couldn't be left behind
Chris
2023-11-27 22:24:39 +0000 UTCI feel like a crackhead whenever these chapters come out and I read through them too fast….. I need more!!!! Shirt give me more!!! Lol 😂 December is gonna be rough…
Jean L. Philippe Jr.
2023-11-27 22:21:17 +0000 UTCShirt, you can't kill Gary and then bunk off for a month, don't do it to us! Seriously though, some serious character development going on here
Nick
2023-11-27 22:20:19 +0000 UTC"I’d rather be a fond memory you get to revisit from time to time than an obligation that you have to.” This is gold.
runnin_amok
2023-11-27 22:19:25 +0000 UTCassisted suicide always comes with its own can of worms
Alberto Sanchez
2023-11-27 22:17:21 +0000 UTCThink we get one more but I could be wrong
Ira White
2023-11-27 22:16:16 +0000 UTCHopefully Jason has one more miracle he can pull out
mhaj58
2023-11-27 22:16:07 +0000 UTCShould be one more on the 27th or 28th depending on where you are in the world.
Unashamed Nerd
2023-11-27 22:13:41 +0000 UTCWe get one more Wednesday, but yes, it will be a sad December. Lol
Roast
2023-11-27 22:13:18 +0000 UTCSo this pretty much confirms that Jason is going to get messengers of his own. Presumably, he’s going to free them as soon as they’re born, but they will be born with his hegemony literally composing their being on some level.
Aaron Schwartz
2023-11-27 22:13:16 +0000 UTCYou know what? I respect Gary's choice.
Stephanie Washburn
2023-11-27 22:11:09 +0000 UTCOne final chapter, complete with cliff coming Wednesday.
Michael Fannon
2023-11-27 22:10:55 +0000 UTCOh my gods the cliff on Wednesday is going to be brutal
CipherFTW
2023-11-27 22:10:44 +0000 UTCOh thank god. Convinced myself today was the last without actually checking dates.
Michael Alpert-Appell
2023-11-27 22:09:42 +0000 UTCYeah on the 29th ET
Seth 42000000
2023-11-27 22:05:43 +0000 UTClast? isn't there 1 more?
Jason Me
2023-11-27 22:04:49 +0000 UTCGomes rule
Kares Selyrian
2023-11-27 22:01:55 +0000 UTCLast before the break 😿 Next month is going to be cold, cold, cold. Edit: Ahh, Gary. I really, truly hope there's another solution available for you.
Michael Alpert-Appell
2023-11-27 22:00:10 +0000 UTC
