[LP CYOA] Epic

[Esquilax]

he should not be thinking with his Man part over his quest.

Yeah, but whose fault is that, his or ours? Voting A is the smart choice, sure, but don't rationalize it by saying "well, it's really his fault for thinking with his dick!" when we were the ones who manipulated him into acting recklessly in the first place.

 

[Bloodshifter]

he should not be thinking with his Man part over his quest.

Yeah, but whose fault is that, his or ours? Voting A is the smart choice, sure, but don't rationalize it by saying "well, it's really his fault for thinking with his dick!" when we were the ones who manipulated him into acting recklessly in the first place.

Lol I didn't say that. The dick part is part of the reason but the main thing is I want an underhanded and power hungry Ean so please don't pick a part of my post and make me look foolish taking it in entirely is the reason I post these mini sermons

 

[Storyfag]

"The Imperium endures through the honest toil of the many and the calculated callousnes of the few." Should we hope to become the protector of Mankind, we would do well to understand that simple truth. On that note, A.

 

[Baltika9]

B. No contest. BRO-dom and principles are more important to Ean anyways. We'll be missing out on intergalactic space-booty, but, you know. Bros b4 ho's and all that.
A.
Edit: I missed the part where B leads to other updates. B it is.

 

[ScubaV]

Damn you treave, you devious bastard. I think I have to vote B. I even just now typed out A, but had to go back and change it. Ean has been a self-sacrificing leader of men, but with his immortality it's still been something of a cheat. He could always put himself at the forefront of danger without ever being at risk of suffering the ultimate consequence. As I said before, I don't think this one choice is a 50/50 shot at permadeath, but it's a risk that hasn't been there in other choices.

I feel like this choice reflects Ean's true nature. Sure, he may take the more pragmatic path now and again (I don't see Ean as lawful good = lawful stupid, nor do I want him to be) but with all the chips on the line and a brother in battle that has treated us honorably so far how does Ean respond? Does he become self-preserving with his life on the line or does he respond in kind? And to answer that, I have to choose B. I'd hate to see the LP end, but even in the face of that possibility I choose to stay true to the character we've built so far. If it came to that, it would be a fitting end.

 

[Urist McLurker]

B, was thinking of A and convinced by ScubaV to vote otherwise.

Flipped to A

 

[Kipeci]

This was why I wanted to go with the other choice in the last option, but maybe we won't be killed as dead as I think we're going to be, or something. If we did this, we ought to be consistent.
B.

 

[treave]

I'd rather get the beast's attention and beat a tactical retreat to the treasure trove with the rope whilst pursued leaving Theseus alone to recover. But I don't think that's the point of the choice here.

Hey treave, why exactly this isn't an option here? It seams like an obvious smart thing to do and just because Theseus isn't fighting smartly doesn't mean we can't. We'll be picking up the thread in either case, so why not use it and then lure the Minotaur towards our goal where we can have a chance of taking it out (and at the same time buy some time for Theseus to recover).

Because your stubby mortal legs might not outrun the Minotaur. Well, the option is there, but catching Minotaur's attention then turning your back is even riskier than fighting it head on. You would need enough time for the thread to have laid out a path or you would outpace it by running. It'd also help if you had someone working with you to watch your back...

Basically, A has you safely heading to the vault undisturbed. B has you getting the Minotaur's attention, with all the risks that entails for whatever you do next.

Your idea would thus be an eventual extension of B, not A.

 

[Bloodshifter]

Damn you treave, you devious bastard. I think I have to vote B. I even just now typed out A, but had to go back and change it. Ean has been a self-sacrificing leader of men, but with his immortality it's still been something of a cheat. He could always put himself at the forefront of danger without ever being at risk of suffering the ultimate consequence. As I said before, I don't think this one choice is a 50/50 shot at permadeath, but it's a risk that hasn't been there in other choices.

I feel like this choice reflects Ean's true nature. Sure, he may take the more pragmatic path now and again (I don't see Ean as lawful good = lawful stupid, nor do I want him to be) but with all the chips on the line and a brother in battle that has treated us honorably so far how does Ean respond? Does he become self-preserving with his life on the line or does he respond in kind? And to answer that, I have to choose B. I'd hate to see the LP end, but even in the face of that possibility I choose to stay true to the character we've built so far. If it came to that, it would be a fitting end.

Bah morals when the chips were down WE chose to let Sekhenun live to what do your morals say to that? Honor? what Honor do we have using a "love" potion on 2 defenseless tentacle hybrids *sexy I'll admit but still*? Character our "character" is a general a LEADER OF MEN he will see past stupidity and choose the route that leads to VICTORY he has shown this time and time again *the Temple last update for example* Ean has AND WILL compromise his "Ideals" if he sees a clearly defined benefit which in this case there is.

 

[oscar]

Ah fuck.

This is hard. But A. We will use Thesus's sacrifice to become a true champion of mankind. And perhaps rename our sword in his honour..

 

[Anabanana]

Looks like B is going to win. Look forward to seeing you all in a couple millennia, if ever, brothers.

Honestly, I think that if you're voting B just to stay true to Ean's character, A is more in character for him than B. We've made a fair amount of pragmatic, less-than-honorable choices throughout this CYOA when it really comes down to it. And also, I just don't understand what Theseus has done to elevate himself to bro status. He's not like Sekhenum, who's actually helped us and held up her end of the deal (so far). Or like Akil and co., who did a good job helping Ean out. If it was Sekhenum about to get killed, I'd totally vote B. But Theseus is like chief handmaiden level in terms of bro-ness, and we didn't have any qualms about leaving her and her friends to get mindraped by a sex-crazed immortal. If we wanted to stay true to an honorable character, we would have stayed and helped instead of fleeing like a coward from a little girl who can't even fight.

Let's face it, the boat of honour has sailed. All we have left now is to face the fact that Ean is less a dumb shonen anime action hero and more of a pragmatic, smart character who wants to be honorable, but understands that other things are more important due to all the traumatic experiences he's been through and the hard decisions that he's had to make. But hey, if you want to throw out all that character development, be my guest. The voices are capricious, after all.

Speaking of the voices, I'm amused that we're still controlling Ean even though he supposedly can't hear the voices anymore. Maybe we're influencing him via his subconscious now?

 

[Tigranes]

Oh, did I not actually vote last time? A.

 

[Kattze]

B, No Risk, No Glory.

 

[Bloodshifter]

B 10
Zero Credibility
Quetzacoatl
Smashing Axe
m4davis
Collage
Baltika9
ScubaV
Urist McLurker
Kipeci
Kattze

A 8
Anabanana
Tome
Esquilax
Newcomer
Bloodshifter
Storyfag
Oscar
Tigranes

Current tally for Treave to not die sorting through our spat
*may be incorrect if anyone flopped or I may have missed 1 or 2 would like a second count*

Also I am with Anabanana wtf is up with making every guy your bro? Theseus LITERALLY came out of no where and was like "WTF MAN DON'T TOUCH MAH BITCH' more or less does every dude who yells at our Immortal instantly become a bro also As Treave said

Theseus is mortal, and your little "love triangle" has distracted him from fighting smartly. He wouldn't have charged in with something to prove otherwise.

Theseus IS NOT AN IMMORTAL BRO killing alot of the reasons you B'ers wanted to support this man thus we can't take him under our wing and do a three some with him, us, and Sekhenun

 

[Esquilax]

Anabanana: Comparing Theseus to the handmaiden at Aphrodite's doesn't work. First, she actively tried to sell us into slavery. Second, she was also someone that we had no allegiance or obligation to. The situation at Cyprus was sort of thrust upon us, we were reacting to events as they presented themselves.

Theseus is different. We manipulated him into this situation through the love potion, then we allied ourselves with him to help us get our artifact. He became a 'bro' character the moment we made an agreement to join with him. We made no such agreement with the chief handmaiden - in fact, she acted pretty horribly toward Ean because she was willing to sell him into slavery at the drop of a hat.

Now we'll be leaving him to die even though we actively put him in this situation by throwing off his mental focus. The difference between the handmaiden and Theseus is night and day because we engineered things to the point where they are now, whereas we were kind of swept up in events and things were (mostly) out of our control with the handmaiden and her entourage.

Trying to present it any other way is just rationalization if you ask me.

That being said, I've flopped to A after mulling it over a bit. As much as I hate the idea of leaving behind a strong and noble individual like Theseus to die (truly, a man like Theseus is the best humanity has to offer), I don't see any other choice. The bottom line is that I don't fancy being out of commission for a millennium and there are times when honor has to compromised because the real world is a cruel place. Ean is an idealist, and he's just experienced the crushing reality of your ideals dying. You can't always be honorable and succeed.

 

[Anabanana]

Esquilax: What I meant with the Theseus is on the handmaiden level of bro-ness was mostly that he isn't our bro like the handmaiden isn't our bro. It's different degrees of non-bro-ness, but they're both non-bros nonetheless. Should've made that clearer. From our actions, it feels more like Theseus is our pawn that we're using to get the artifact, not a comrade, what with manipulating him via love potion and so on.

 

[Baltika9]

The moment he chose to stand and fight the Minotaur, instead of running away, is the moment he's proven himself worthy to live. The moment he jumped on the minotaur's back as it was about to smash us is the moment he became a BRO.

Treave: If we get mortally wounded, and he survives, how about we just ask him to get the damned statue for us and bring us to Sekhenun. See what she can do. And say a silent prayer, or something. Concentrate, maybe.

Besides, running might not be the survival option: as Treave said, this enraged bull thing can defiantly outrun us. And I doubt we'll manage to shake it in it's home territory. Might be, cooperation is our only shot here. And if we run, we'll get something like this: "As you run through the winding halls of the labyrinth, you spare a look behind you. The Minotaur is closer then it was the last time you checked. It let's out a bellowing roar. The last thing you feel is it's horn going up your ass."

 

[Anabanana]

The moment he chose to stand and fight the Minotaur, instead of running away, is the moment he's proven himself worthy to live. The moment he jumped on the minotaur's back as it was about to smash us is the moment he became a BRO.

His courage is commendable. It was also not the smartest thing to do (in fact, mod confirmed that it was just him thinking with his dick). But, the part about him jumping on the minotaur's back is a good point. We should mourn him and praise his courage after we've gotten the statue and our powers back safely. Who will live to tell of his brave exploits if both of us get buttraped into rectum mush?

Treave: If we get mortally wounded, and he survives, how about we just ask him to get the damned statue for us and bring us to Sekhenun. See what she can do. And say a silent prayer, or something. Concentrate, maybe.

Second this.

Besides, running might not be the survival option: as Treave said, this enraged bull thing can defiantly outrun us. And I doubt we'll manage to shake it in it's home territory. Might be, cooperation is our only shot here. And if we run, we'll get something like this: "As you run through the winding halls of the labyrinth, you spare a look behind you. The Minotaur is closer then it was the last time you checked. It let's out a bellowing roar. The last thing you feel is it's horn going up your ass."

Wrong.

Basically, A has you safely heading to the vault undisturbed. B has you getting the Minotaur's attention, with all the risks that entails for whatever you do next.

 

[oscar]

Yeah Theseus is a good guy who has helped us out when he had little grounds to. But we've got a much wider duty to humanity here.

 

[Baltika9]

I'll feel horrible about it, but I flopped.

Curse you, treavebro...

 

[newcomer]

Unofficial tally so far:

A 8
B 9

Baltika9 so what is your vote? In your original post both A and B are striked like this

 

[Urist McLurker]

I've gone 'n done the flipping-flop to A, though I'm still kind of on the fence on this.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I'd rather get the beast's attention and beat a tactical retreat to the treasure trove with the rope whilst pursued leaving Theseus alone to recover. But I don't think that's the point of the choice here.

Hey treave, why exactly this isn't an option here? It seams like an obvious smart thing to do and just because Theseus isn't fighting smartly doesn't mean we can't. We'll be picking up the thread in either case, so why not use it and then lure the Minotaur towards our goal where we can have a chance of taking it out (and at the same time buy some time for Theseus to recover).

Because your stubby mortal legs might not outrun the Minotaur. Well, the option is there, but catching Minotaur's attention then turning your back is even riskier than fighting it head on. You would need enough time for the thread to have laid out a path or you would outpace it by running. It'd also help if you had someone working with you to watch your back...

Basically, A has you safely heading to the vault undisturbed. B has you getting the Minotaur's attention, with all the risks that entails for whatever you do next.

Your idea would thus be an eventual extension of B, not A.

I see. Well then I'm definitely staying with B - hopefully this means we get Theseus to follow this (or some other) plan rather then just charge the thing. If Theseus was supposed to kill it before we intervened then it must have some weakness we can also exploit.

Plus, we agreed to fight this thing with Theseus. And now that we are in combat we just abandon him? This goes directly against Ean's personality. Over and over we have established through our choices that he does not abandon his men to die. So let's help this guy like he helped us just a few seconds ago.

 

[Baltika9]

B it is, newcomer. Flopped again. I just missed the art where B leads us to more choices, instead of abandoning us to Treave's tender mercies.

 

[Esquilax]

I see. Well then I'm definitely staying with B - hopefully this means we get Theseus to follow this (or some other) plan rather then just charge the thing. If Theseus was supposed to kill it before we intervened then it must have some weakness we can also exploit.

Plus, we agreed to fight this thing with Theseus. And now that we are in combat we just abandon him? This goes directly against Ean's personality. Over and over we have established through our choices that he does not abandon his men to die. So let's help this guy like he helped us just a few seconds ago.

You know, the real problem here isn't the Minotaur itself. It's us. Theseus and Ean are both great warriors, the barrier here isn't that the beast is too strong for us, it's psychological. We're both acting without any conviction, at cross-purposes. Ean is fighting too timidly because he wants Theseus to land the killing blow and he wants his powers back, so he's unwilling to engage. Theseus is fighting too recklessly because he is threatened by the prospect of Ean taking Ariadne away from him. Neither of us are acting in the moment and fighting the way we should be because neither of us are psychologically present in the battle. We aren't taking this shit seriously.

Remember, this is a creature that Theseus could have defeated on his own if his head was in the game. If he is actually doing worse with someone of equal ability helping him, that tells us the problem here isn't physical, it's psychological. We're voting B, and that means that we both need to get our heads right and fight as one.

I'm flopping back to B, sorry for the indecisiveness bros. I think we can take this thing on as long as we act in the moment and fight as a team. What finally convinced me was leafing through all the previous updates: what occurred to me was that Ean has never taken the easy way out, and he's become stronger for it. Without his principles, I doubt he would have thrown himself from one dangerous situation to another and gained more powers from it.