Amelia-Martin Coda

From RPGS surrounding the Labcats

Amelia-Martin Coda

Martin's Player, summarizing: Basically: New Orleans started turning into 
Carcosa. It was all Martin's fault. The PCs stopped it. Martin's boyfriend, 
Jeremiah, found out that as a condition of his resurrection, he would serve 
Hastur forever (or until he was killed again) as some kind of gross face-eating 
zombie thing.
People were upset about this.
I imagine what Amelia knows is that New Orleans started turning into Carcosa
but Hastur didn't reach out to her
because...Hastur's a jerk.
So you got to have feelings about the architecture changing around you
and then changing back.

Amelia's Player: Ok then. Got it. Architecture feelings.

Martin's Player: Right.
So I suspect the way this conversation may start
unless you dislike this idea/have a different idea
is Amelia finding one of Martin's notebooks
Martin also draws. He's not an artist, but he's a good sketcher.
And he carries notebooks with him everywhere and sketches and takes notes 
(he's more or less a secretary)
But, hm, some few of his notebooks would just be full of sketches

Amelia's Player: So Amelia is sort of leafing slowly through one?

Martin's Player: Yup!
Not Hastur-beautiful, but sort of sharp-lined, rougher than Martin's usual hand.

[GM NOTE: NSFW! Basically, used by one EL GM for Samson Trammel's orgies.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85114404&x-yt-ts=1422579428&v=z4eDdjIiIaI
this kind of thing (except not the end where it turns into an advert)

Amelia's Player: Heavens.

Martin's Player: Yes.
It is not PG-13.
And I guess...well, depending on what you'd rather, either Martin could walk in 
on her or she could ask Martin about them.

Amelia's Player: ...she's not very active.
I think Martin walking in makes more sense.

Martin's Player: Nod.
So he walks in.
And startles. He tends to startle silently, just his shoulders tense.

Amelia: Amelia looks very slightly over her shoulder at him. "You have a 
good hand."

Martin: Blink blink.
"Thanks."
"I'm sorry I...I'm sorry I left those out."

Amelia: Shrug. "Art should be seen."

Martin: He shrugs. It mirrors hers.
"...mostly I try to keep those away from people." He gathers up the ones that 
she's not looking at, a little uneasy. Turns back, and after a moment, smiles 
at her. "I imagine you know what it's like to get too close to a god."

Amelia: Her eyes widen.

Martin: Wince. "Sorry. That came out wrong."

Amelia: She bites her lip. "There...are a lot of gods."

Martin: Shrug. "Or none. All depends on definition. Alien, maybe. Powerful 
world-lurching alien from beyond the stars. Who was good at sex."
"Or at least his priests were. I admit I never tried it with the entity itself."

Amelia: "That was probably...wise."

Martin: He laughs a little.
Then gathers the books more tightly in his hands and turns, so he doesn't entirely 
have to look at Amelia. "...Honestly, I still wonder if I should have gone over to 
the other side. I mean...I never meant to be a god-fighter or an alien-fighter or 
whatever. And I was a cultist for a while, until people dragged me out and hosed me 
down. But -- hell, you did something like this. You ever feel like you betrayed 
part of yourself..."
Shrug. "...eck. Well. At any rate. In another time, in another place, with 
different people, hell, maybe if it had been a different phase of the moon, I would 
have gone with him."

Amelia: She turns away a little. "I don't paint anymore."

Martin: "Why not?"

Amelia: "You ever feel like you betrayed part of yourself?"

Martin: He smiles a little. (All his smiles are uneasy.)
"What'd you betray?"
(he's holding the books a little looser now)

Amelia: "You saw the buildings." She waves a hand to the window.
"The whole earth like that...lovely."
"I could have brought him here."

Martin: Nod.
Sits.
He puts down the books now (he's squared the pile) and rubs his temple. 
"...yeah, you probably find it disgusting, but I could have brought that 
here." Points to the book Amelia's holding.

Amelia: She blinks. "Different."

Martin: "We would have been happy. That's what I wanted. We could have been 
happy, all the time. Every human on earth, happy, forever -- or until we fucked 
ourselves to death."
He laughs a little. Harshly.
"Yeah."
"Yeah. I'm...uglier than you."
"Sorry. That came out wrong."

Amelia: "I doubt it."

Martin: "Which part?"

Amelia: She turns back and tilts her head. "Mrmm?"

Martin: "Which part do you doubt?"

Amelia: "Oh. Ugliness."

Martin: "Isn't the King's world all pretty though?"
"If the criteria is to judge ourselves or each other by the forbidden alien gods 
we find ourselves with a penchant for, it seems clear that your god's the one 
with pretty."

Amelia: "Oh yes. Carcosa is lovely."
"You have perhaps observed that I am not there."

Martin: He laughs a little at that.
"...I admit, I didn't take that to mean you were ugly."

Amelia: She looks out the window. "...we think life is so valuable."

Martin: "Having very much not made my peace with death, I'll ask -- what's 
more valuable?"

Amelia: "But you regret, almost, not choosing...that? Instead? And I wonder..."
"What happened to you, after?"

Martin: "After I betrayed one part of myself for another? Well, here I am."

Amelia: "So your god didn't...mind?"

Martin: "...well..."
He's already sitting, but he seems to curl himself a bit more into the chair.

Amelia: She holds up a hand. "I overstep. Please forgive me."
"I should know better."

Martin: Shakes his head.
"Nah. To be honest, it's kind of a relief to talk about it."
He looks up. "So, you already know I'm a fag. And several other kinds of 
pervert as well, judging from those drawings."
"So...I fell in love with a man. When I thought Jeremiah was dead. Of course, 
when it turned out Jeremiah wasn't dead, I was still in love with this guy, so 
whoop-dee-do."
"Heck, I don't know if Y'Golonac even meant it as revenge on me, but -- this guy 
was a priest. Of him. His name was Trammel, Samson Trammel. And when I did the 
thing, Trammel asked me to visit him, and then shot himself in the head."
"So I don't know --" He takes his temples in his hands for a moment. "I don't know."

Amelia: "Oh."
"I'm sorry."
She looks down at her hands. "At least I paid my prices myself."

Martin: "What happened to you?"
"I know you...were in Carcosa and then you weren't but the details were never 
really explained to me."
"...although you're not actually obliged to explain them. I mean. If you don't 
want to."

Amelia: "I stayed with my lord for some time after my failure."
"He was elegant."
"And furious."

Martin: Martin nods.
He'll reach for her hand.

Amelia: She stiffens a little but lets him take it.

Martin: He'll squeeze her hand.
He's not super good at gestures of sympathy or comfort, but it's what he's got.

Amelia: She nods a little.
Shrugs. "It was fitting."

Martin: "'S never fun when that's the best that can be said about a situation."
Smile (never a good smile). "Anyway. I need to go meet Jeremiah now. But if you 
ever want to..." Shrug. "It's a relief being able to talk to somebody about this. 
So if you care to hear more at some point, let me know."

Amelia: "All right." She goes back to staring out the window.
"Let me know...if you ever decide if it was worth it."

Martin: His smile stretches a little, but doesn't get happier. "I'll let you know 
if I decide."
And he takes the book from her arm.

Amelia's Player: As you say.
Sorry Amelia is tough to talk to.

Martin's Player: No worries.
Martin is also strange to talk as when he's trying hard not to be sarcastic and 
abrasive.
He just becomes _shy_.
Which totally makes sense.

Amelia's Player: Awwwwww.

GM: I hadn't realized [Amelia] wasn't painting. I think we'd assumed she was, but no big deal. Nothing in the plot depended on it.

Trammel shooting himself was not god-driven, I think, just a nasty man doing the nastiest thing he could think of to hurt Martin.

Martin's Player: Yeah, well, Martin doesn't know that last part. He was in love (unfortunate) and so is inclined to blame himself and/or the big Y instead of Samson Trammel.

GM: And, while Hastur is punishing Amelia by denying her Carcosa, Y'golonac isn't punishing Martin. Martin knows what he needs to do if he wants Y back. Heck, Martin doesn't even need to do it himself, just find someone else who'd do the hard work...

Martin's Player: Yeah, well, Martin's aware of that.

And thinks about it.

A lot.

GM: That just made my night. Also, Vito's reaction at the end was another "Right, that's why I run this game" moment.... He was on his knees, sobbing that he couldn't rescue Geoffrey.