Twilight Mirage 65: Futura Free Pt. 2
Friends at the Table17 Elo 2018

Twilight Mirage 65: Futura Free Pt. 2

A letter from Grey Gloaming, Exile of the Rapid Evening and Operations Chief of the Brink, delivered to Keen Forester Gloaming by secure courier.

Dad,

I don't know if you remember this, but when I was just a little girl, just after you first took me Off Cycle, we got into a big fight about Crystal Palace. I didn't understand how a thing like that could exist--it didn't make sense to me--mostly because I still didn't make sense to me, but I knew that I made sense to it. It knew what I would do, even if I didn't know what I would do. And you worked for it.

I yelled at you and I cried, and because you wanted to appease me you told me something very important much earlier than you wanted to: You told me that sometimes Crystal Palace gets things wrong. You said that its predictions were like an endless field of perfect poppies: From a distance, they were a billow of pure red in the breeze. Yet if you looked closely, you might find other colors too: the green of stems not yet ready to bud; the yellow and blue of wildflowers dropped by passing birds; the damaged burgandy of petals crumpled under an animal's foot. The glinting copper and silver of a gardener's tools.

The field was the field, you said, a glide of sweet scarlet over hill and meadow. There would never be so many other colors as to change that. But they were there, too. I was there, too.

This is me telling you that the Mirage is Me. The Mirage is the broken stem and the stomped flower and the foreign strain of blossoms. I am… we are the exception to the rule.

So, I don't care what string of words they found inside of Crystal Palace this time: the Twilight Mirage isn't annihilation waiting to happen. This place has problems. Lots of them. But look around, dad. People are working to fix them every day.

Every day, Ioota Pretense, the Qui Err Coalition, and her allies in Echo Reverie and Gig Kephart find new ways to bring people together, whether through stitches, broadcasts, or literally lifting a city and transporting across the mirage itself.

Every day, the Waking Cadent, her Beloved Nights, and the excerpt Signet help people who want to leave this place, just like you want them to. Except they do it because they want to, not because you're forcing them.

Every day, the members of Seneschal's Brace push back on the dominance of the Hegemony and the Free States. The Cadent. Declan's Corrective. Even. Fourteen. Tenderness. They're not perfect, but they aren't Volition either.

Every day Demani and I use our training to help people who pass through the Brink, and the many who can't even afford to do that.

And we aren't alone, because every day, even under the nose of groups like Advent, regular people are finally trying to do more than save their own hides. And more and more, under the shadow of Volition and in the face of your ridiculous announcement, people are realizing that they need to work together. So, throw out whatever Crystal Palace told you because that fact changes everything.

It might be the case that you don't notice all the other colors in the field of red, but that's only because they're spread apart, one-in-a-thousand. Bring them all together though? Put the violet next to the white next to the green and yellow and orange? Then look close, dad, because the field disappears. Suddenly, just in that one little place, just right here in the mirage, what you'll see?

It isn't a field at all. It's a Garden.

This week on Twilight Mirage: Futura Free Pt. 2
 It's quite alright to hate me now
When we both know that deep down
The feeling still deep down is good Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

A transcription is available for this episode here.

A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

Jaksot(524)

COUNTER/Weight 10: Drawing Clocks

COUNTER/Weight 10: Drawing Clocks

After 10 or so episodes of using Jeremy Keller's excellent MechNoir, we're switching our game of giant robots, neon hair, and gig economies over to Hamish Cameron's upcoming game The Sprawl. This week, we transfer Aria, AuDy, Cass, and Mako to the new system, but it's also a lot more than just shifting stats around! After the food crisis that struck Counterweight, tensions between OriCon, the Diaspora, and the remnants of Apostolos are high. The Chime has gone to ground, giving them a chance to reminisce about their pasts and reveal a little bit more about who they are and what they really want in life. But while they'd would love to wait for things to cool off, you need to run missions to eat, and each mission brings change. Cass reveals that the September Institute played a horrific role in the defeat of Apostolos during the Golden War, AuDy begins to doubt their free will, and Mako determines that he will be the funniest person in the room, even if it costs everyone else their lives. Meanwhile, on a beautiful blue and green planet in the sky, Aria Joie finds something to believe in... This week on COUNTER/Weight: "Drawing Clocks" What's past is prologue... Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

23 Loka 20152h 54min

COUNTER/Weight 09: This Month Of Ours

COUNTER/Weight 09: This Month Of Ours

Throughout the Golden Branch sector, a dozen little pieces begin to move all at once, each one causing two dozen to move, and each of those, four, and suddenly the whole sector is... What will happen to those loyal souls on the abandoned world of Sage? What tricks does the manipulative headmaster of the September Institute have up his sleeves? What do the disenfranchised do when they find themselves in power? And what force sleeps, buried in the ice of Ionias? All of that and more... This time on the Friends at the Table: COUNTER/Weight Faction Turn: "This Month of Ours" There's no turning back, you know. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash) and Andrew Lee Swan (@andrewleeswan) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here. A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

15 Loka 20152h 24min

COUNTER/Weight 08: Our Hostage Below

COUNTER/Weight 08: Our Hostage Below

The battle continues as The Chime tries to rescue Orth Godlove but they aren't the only ones with their sights set on him... between the Iron Choir and the Netted Wave, this Orth guy is pretty popular! Who knows what they want with him, but who's asking questions when his life--and more importantly, kredits are on the line? This time on COUNTER/Weight: "Our Hostage Below" Ready for action? Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

1 Loka 20151h 48min

COUNTER/Weight 07: I Am Not Allowed

COUNTER/Weight 07: I Am Not Allowed

The Chime's sometimes-employer Orth Godlove has gone missing and the group is on the hunt... but the mysterious Netted Wave is just a few steps behind them. A key witness, who is both familiar and strange, leads them to a brand new line on the Starlight Straights MagLev System. Will they find Orth out in the the desert wastes of Counterweight... or will they run into something else altogether? This time on COUNTER/Weight: "I Am Not Allowed" Keep your head down, Orth! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

19 Syys 20151h 26min

COUNTER/Weight 06: Here's Your Bribe Tip

COUNTER/Weight 06: Here's Your Bribe Tip

After a few weeks of recovery and dry times, The Chime finally gets a new job from Orth Godlove: to investigate his own disappearance. Stakes are high but tensions are even higher as protesters fill the streets around the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy. Just what, if anything, do the protests have to do with Orth? Where is Orth and what else can The Chime learn about him while they have the chance? This episode of COUNTER/Weight: "Here's Your Bribe Tip" Things are heating up! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

19 Syys 20151h 24min

COUNTER/Weight 05: A Ship of Seeds

COUNTER/Weight 05: A Ship of Seeds

In this episode of Friends at the Table, we introduce the "second layer" to our MechNoir campaign, combining elements from Microscope and Stars Without Number to get a fuller picture of the powers that be in the Golden Branch star sector. Find out what Snowtrak Industries is digging up from the icefields of the planet Ionias. Listen in on EarthHome Entertainment as they put wicked machinations into action. And get ready to meet the slickest pirate fleet you've ever heard of. This time on Friends at the Table: COUNTER/Weight "A Ship of Seeds" Remember not to lose the forest for the trees! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Sylvi Clare (@captaintrash) and Andrew Lee Swan (@andrewleeswan) Produced by Ali Acampora Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

11 Syys 20152h 6min

COUNTER/Weight 04: The Bells Are Ringing

COUNTER/Weight 04: The Bells Are Ringing

The Chime continues their rescue of Cene Sixheart, the brilliant roboticist kidnapped by Snowtrak Industries and forced to work on a mysterious project in a research and development facility. Surely things couldn't get any worse—or ridiculous—for our heroes, right? AuDy (Jack de Quidt) makes a scene, Aria Joie (Ali Acampora) makes a statement, Mako Trig (Keith Carberry) pushes the limits of his charm and Cassander (Art Tebbel) tests his skills as a doctor. This episode of COUNTER/Weight: "The Bells Are Ringing" Gotta lose some to win some! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Keith J Carberry Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt (Heads up, this episode is still using an OBS back up and is a little lower quality than our usual standard! We apologize and thank you for understanding~!) A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

3 Syys 20152h 18min

COUNTER/Weight 03: It's Fine, We're Criminals

COUNTER/Weight 03: It's Fine, We're Criminals

The Chime, our intrepid group of freelance investigators and problem solvers, managed to survive their encounter with the mercenary band known as The Weightless. But many questions remain unanswered: Who are The Weightless. What have they done with Cene Sixheart? What does Orth Godlove of the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy know about all of this? And who, or what, are the angels of Counterweight? Mako Trig (Keith Carberry) and Aria Joie (Ali Acampora) devise a cunning (and absurd) plan to answer these questions. AuDy (Jack de Quidt) and Cassander (Art Tebbel), meanwhile, have a much more direct approach in mind. This episode of COUNTER/Weight: " It's Fine, We're Criminals" There's nothing like a little breaking and entering! Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Keith J Carberry (@KeithJCarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), and Art Tebbel (@atebbel) Produced by Keith J Carberry Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Intro Music by Jack de Quidt A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!

1 Elo 20151h 52min