allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

WE MADE IT!!!!! living is now legally my child actually

the thought that i wasnt human either passed my mind, but i was like nahhhh (jokes on me ig)

now im curious about how its all interconnected LORE DROP EVERYTHING PLS 🙏🙏🙏

On it boss!!!

And yes he is your child, he has a little nest made of blankets in a corner of a room in your house

Also he likes yogurt, he isn’t able to eat much stuff but he does like yogurt because it can like, pass through the muscle filter thing that blocks off his mouth

He also curls up like a cat when he sleeps

This is learned behavior, lore dump abt that coming to you specifically soon

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

living sweetie i would blow up 5 newborns for you ily

me blowing up the... thing? that attacked us will probably come to torment me later but wtvr BOOM EXPLOSION TIME

oh i also warn living to stay back i dont want him to get caught up in it

The reaper writhes, body contorting as it's flesh is blown apart, the skull that gazed through you, now empty, bodies put at rest, a thousand souls, all silent, all at once you gaze into the mound, the corpses, they're contorted, all human, melded into each other, no skin, once again, a signature, alongside those bodies, those tortured souls, absorbed and small bits of the larvae you were once trapped with, all of them slowly seeming to morph into more humanoid closer to the front, you remember what you saw, is this, evolution? The larvae, perfectly able to recreate human form, and this thing, consuming all it comes into contact with, adding them all into a conglomerate. You think again how did you get here? there's barely any logical way to get inside of some, flesh amorphous underground You remember your life, of course, but all of those memories are hard to come by, all you can recall, all you know, all you feel, it all started in the warehouse You You barrel back in realization Are you even human? All your mind can think of is what you saw on those monitor screens Arms, legs, skin, fabric All perfectly replicated Soft steps of the halls turning into a scab, wooden flooring soon underneath your feet The ground bleeds Not some vague replication, but perfect recreation Stone made of flesh, entirely indistinguishable by all levels It terrifies you What you could be It terrifies you That this could be all you've ever known Everything you say is yours, you've never felt All illusion, all implanted It mortifies you that every memory you've had, your entire self, is but a copy But you still have someone to live for You get up Living was looking at you, really concerned as you just started to seemingly break down for no real apparent reason but he's assured and very happy that you managed to pull yourself up You both walk down to the lower floor, the lights seem to be slowly turning back on, the floor tiles are all ripped out, and there's a fair amount of blood coming from the floor you gag a bit, with the revelation you just had, but you ignore it You have no other option, so standing a good distance away, you gash a hole open into the exit and it's open now both you and Living make it out you both run, it's daylight out Living stops, you do too he looks into the sun, eyes wide, and he winces, looking away, blinking, before looking back up at the sky you do as well You don't really know what you are you don't know if you're even yourself but still, the sun cascading on your face maybe it doesn't matter maybe you shouldn't have to worry about feeling human maybe you don't have to worry about being one maybe the best thing you can do is live [Congratulations! You managed to actually get, a good ending! I had other ones in mind for you, other ones planned, but with the changing course of the story and stuff, it all kinda drifted away from being plausible, now I'll admit, this project turned out to be WAY longer than I expected, and genuinely took way longer than I expected too! Even still I feel like I'd want to do better, but really I'd be overworking myself by then, yknow?] [[Who would've known, the answer is always to blow a fucking hole in the wall :P]] [[[Oh yeah and Living is in fact up for adoption, canonically he has the mind of like, just a really stressed teenager/kid because of how heavily traumatized he is]]] [[[[I just imagined Living being just, in an adoption center and it was really funny to me for some reason]]]] [[[[[But yeah! that wraps up your POV! and now I get to loredump to you, so FUCK yeah for that!]]]]]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

@ddlcbrainrot

[2/2]

After fully taking the time to cool off and have the proper mindset to continue, Living nods when you mention going to the exit You both pack your stuff, really you're the main one packing, as you have to put back all the books and utensils you brought out, Living just, shoves a few shirts into the pockets of his jeans You walk out and into the open parking lot, it's all illuminated now, so whatever you saw prior doesn't need to really be worried about anymore, and looking around, it doesn't seem to be resting anywhere nearby, which in all fairness is a bit worse, considering that something that large and fast could always be stalking you, and there's a chance that you'll run out of light Walking through, it's alot more peaceful with two sets of footsteps, every so often Living looks back to make sure you're still there, he's the one leading, not by much, but he is still the one leading You make it to a set of automatic doors, leading into an open space, it's fully lighted, the floors are smoothened white, there's some noticeable cracks that seem to bleed, but those are in corners, areas you don't pay too much mind to The area you're in seems to be a double floored shopping mall, the proportions are normal, it's exactly as it should be, despite the uncomfortable amount of tendriling flesh that achen between the corners, this place seems pretty normal your legs once again start to hurt a bit, but as that crosses your mind, Living points over to the place he was taking you it's the interior of a clothing store, however the exit, is heavily closed by flesh and muscle this seems to be exactly what you've been looking for, dim sunlight peeks through the flesh, resembling what it looks like when you close your eyes when looking directly into the sun Living suddenly starts to panic before you can do anything, you're pulled away, you look to the area you came from, the large expanse of the mall getting rendered down and blacked out, quick pattering and sounds of tiles getting ripped out as something barrels towards your direction you're pulled up to the second level, lights still on in it, the bottom floor blacks out completely, you see the reaper's eyes looking at you, skull latched and peering into your soul, arms, propelling itself forward as it lunges itself closer to you You run, a good distance is given between you and the reaper before it makes its way up the stairs, it's body long twisted and disgusting, melted faces of mangled meat all litter it's body Living is shaking, you're backed up in a corner, the lights are going out

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

OKAYY i didnt have time these days but now we are back in the [All you've ever known] stuff!!!

can i like... give living a hug :( poor little creature :(

(btw it said that "he hurt me", immediately assuming its talking about the crazy cultist. maybe him trying to merge with the heart damaged living as well idk)

i dont think thera are many more questions i could ask considering living itself doesnt seem to have the clearest memories. so maybe its time to finally go and try to get to the exit

You choose to hug Living, He flinches a bit, only a few centimeters, barely noticeable, he stays there, not fully reacting, for a few seconds, before his blinking starts to hasten, his eyelids shaking and near closed, this happens for a few seconds before Living finally has his head cave down over your shoulders, arms finally wisping around you as he holds his face, crying over your shoulders as you hug him, noticeably on his end, it seems to be alot less of a hug and more of him crying into his hands, the only difference is the fact that you're hugging him. Living seems to struggle alot, trying to compose himself but failing at every point he ever could, tears covering his bandages, to a fairly noticeable degree, his breath is shaky and breaking, patterns cracking at every point as he begins to crumble, he seems to be choking on his tears, it's clear he's not able to produce any proper vocalizations, but you can still hear him gasping as he is very much struggling to help himself in any meaningful way. Eventually his crying starts to dull down a bit, his breathing is still shaking, but he isn't struggling like he was before it takes a while, but Living's breathing becomes normal once again, and after about 10-15 more seconds of you holding him, the hug disbands He grabs the paper he gave you, writes out something, and hands it back the words "thank you" are written at the bottom of the page, nothing else, the writing is noticeably a bit shakier than most of the rest of his handwriting

[1/2]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

alright, so Living or James it is then!

the lights are back on? that probably means there is a day-night cycle in this place for some reason.

well, since Living said it knows where the exit is im not really worried. I'll just let it lead the way

oh! actually, can i ask one last question to Living before we head for the exit? why does this place exist in the first place? like, did the heart create this space? and why?

Living responds to your question by writing some stuff down on the opposite side of the paper you were both using, as the other side was filled with a bunch of names and wouldn't be fit to write on anymore, he writes out the following: "I don't really know, I remember it being really dark before, dug down here, started hurting, woke up, I couldn't see, my memories are weird, so many of them aren't mine. I remember seeing so many places, making so many things happen all at once, I couldn't feel anything, I could only see. I think this place is me? what I was? I had a place in making it, partially? I don't know, I just saw places, memories and parts of me turned into it. Sense you're asking why I made it all, I don't know, I don't know how I did it, I don't know why. It might have been for the people that loved me? It hurt so much whenever they all went quiet, he hurt me so much, now I don't know what to do. I don't know what I am, I'm not human, not like you, I have so many memories that aren't mine, I don't know who I am, im so lost im not allowed to leave i cant talk to anyone, ive tried i cant say sorry i cant help anyone anymore why did i do this to them i wish i could say sorry" he hands the paper to you, choosing to not look at you, guilt clear in his demeaner, limbs held close to his core he taps his elbow as he holds his arms crossed, he doesn't really want to dwell on this, it's clear on that front he does want to leave this place, but it seems that he knows he can't do it alone, at all he doesn't know that you, by all means, have the demolitionary power to just blow up whatever blocks your way, but he does clearly see merit in checking the exit

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

okay so creature knows the exit maybe it can lead us to it then

also seems like it doesn't know much about itself... i write down the names bob and barb and let it choose which it wants bc calling it creature is kinda mean :(

(btw now that i think about it it could be the crazy cult leader since he tried to merge with the heart and the creature said it is the heart... so trusting it maybe is a bad move... then again it used the :D thingy so that immediately makes it worthy of my trust ofc)

The being looks at the paper you write the names on, it takes a few seconds to blink at it before it takes up the pen, crossing out most of the names you suggested, only leaving out "James" and the previously written "living", drawing an interconnecting arrow between them, seemingly indicating that he both prefers to be called living, and James, because fairly he just didn't prefer any of the others. Living takes a few seconds before deciding to circle "living" and write "you can still use james if you want though :D" under it Living seems to take note and sit up a bit, looking outside, most of the lights are on again, his eyes widen a very much non-human amount when he realizes, being that you can barely see any white in his eyes when they're fully dilated [whilst you are still, in fact thinking about the correlation between the fact that living said that he IS the heart graphic that he's wearing, he doesn't seem to be nearly as hostile as the fanatic seemed to be, after all, judging by the condition of what can be determined as the fanatic's living place, they chose to break their bookshelves, and manually burn out every page of the hundreds of books they had, and Living really doesn't seem to be like that, in fact it just looked like he was nesting here, the clothes on the ground aren't even arranged in a bed like shape, they just look like something a dog would curl up into. So, the fanatic DID say that they was going to "merge" with the heart, leaving no process or way to tell what they were truly doing, and the cathedral did have pretty much the exact same symbol, but those seemed to be much older and worn than the symbols that were on stuff like the texts you found, and the fact that Living has a shirt specifically from those older symbols does have some merit. Also judging by what you've seen, Living is heavily similar to the cultists you found, granted, he has more human proportions, and he has eyes instead of really widened empty sockets, and he's capable of complex thought instead of just sitting there mumbling old rhythmic chants, so obviously he's not the same, but he is absolutely heavily similar.] [[It's obvious to you that Living is somehow connected to the heart, and the cultists in some way, exactly how, doesn't really come clear to you, because, at least to your current theory, he would be the fanatic merged with the heart, and he should be absolutely insane, after all, unless the heart was sentient or capable of actually interacting with the cultists, they wouldn't have been so thoroughly invested in it.]]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

OHHHH

what i understood from that is that the cover of the book is like a map of the place

so the warehouse was in the middle, the flesh corridors were the heart, the cathedral was the first dot and we have travelled al the way to the second one. so this place is the winged heart

if thats the case this place isn't infinite, if we move to the very end of the book cover maybe there would be an exit there. if there isn't i still have two grenades to throw

okay two questions left for my friend. first, does it know where the exit is? second, what is its name?

The bandaged figure nods as you throw out your first question, and as you throw out the second one, it’s demeanor seems to begin to shrivel and close again, arms clutched to its body, it writes out the following

“I am living? I don’t know what I am”

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

ooo??? the plot thickens hehehe

so the creature is the winged hart thing?? or does it mean it’s part of it? very interesting indeed…. btw it was drinking water from the lake thing that probably tasked awful can i try to give it some of the clean water we have here?

can i also try to ask it where we are? or show it the book i found back in the cathedral? trying to get as much info as possible

also it used the :D emoji omg i have to take it with me now i made a friend everyone

You hand it some water you had cupped in your hands, in a fairly convoluted motion, it takes it from you, spilling some on the floor but it makes sense why, it pours the water on its face, really just wetting the bandages, kinda blinking at you for a bit before moving over to the sinks and unraveling some bandages away from the mouth area, it cups its gloved hands, letting the water accumulate, before bringing it up to its face and drinking it, it seems to take a few seconds though, a bubbling noise can be heard for that interval before it covers itself back up with it's bandages. You did get a good slight glance at it though, it was fairly difficult due to the fact that the figure seemed to try and do everything it could to ensure it's face wouldn't be seen, the skin underneath the bandages was red, a signature of this place, alongside that, it didn't have a mouth, there was a thin layer of semi-transparent muscle covering the mouth and jaw, from the side angle you were viewing from, you could tell that that layer of muscle stopped midway through the cheeks. When it drank, it seemed to work like a filtering, the muscle guarding and covering it's mouth halting the flow of the water quite a bit, producing a slight bubbling noise as it flowed. After finishing up, the figure looks at itself, makes sure it's bandages are set properly and walks back over to you, sitting down, head tilted and eyes evidently squinted as if smiling you ask it where the both of you are, talking out the book found at the cathedral, its eyes widen, body recoiling a few inches as it sees the cover, but it recovers quickly it responds by tapping on the center of the book, near the heart, than tapping again twice to one of the outer regions that are still inside of the circle to ensure it's point is fully taken, it draws out this

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot asked:

okayyyyyyy lets see what we can ask the creature

it obviously isn't a threat, honestly it seems more scared of me than anything, so im pretty relaxed about the whole thing.

there are a lot of questions i could ask, but im not sure how possible it would be for the creature to answer. i try speaking to it in a gentle voice to make sure it calms down a bit first. if it seems like it can understand my speech i dont really have to write my questions down. i could try asking it about the heart symbol on its shirt. but again, how can it even answer me? could it write down an answer or do i have to determine the answer from it's reactions?

either way, i try to be as friendly as possible. it could really help if i had a companion down here considering all the danger.

(btw the shirt described is a lot like the shirt in that daves and busters sayori is in rn... coincidence???? I THINK NOT!)

[new thread because the last one clogged up peoples blogs SO much, and I felt bad] [[find the original thread here https://www.tumblr.com/ddlcbrainrot/752781476034117632/welcome-to-being-my-mutual-heres-the-living?source=share]]

The bandaged figure, seems to calm down as you talk to it, going from it's previously defensive pose to eventually sitting down a reasonable distance in front of you to listen. As you ask about what the shirt it's wearing seems to be, it does some gestures pointing from it's chest and then pointing to it's covered face, after a second of doing this, it grabs a paper and pen that you laid out it hands back this

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

[2/2] it takes not too long before you manage to run into the lights, sprinting into the nearest room, judging by the tiling, it is in fact a restroom you breath heavily, leaning over the counter before turning on the sink its water real running water you splash your face the very moment you can, it's cold you cup your hands and drink some of it, it tastes like sink water and you never in your life thought you'd be thankful for that splashing your face again, you look at yourself your face is scarred..? you don't remember getting any scars you don't remember even getting hurt once in the entirety of the time you've been here, come to recall Why do you have scars? you aren't exactly given time to dwell on this thought because in your panic to escape, and relief of finally having water that isn't contaminated by flesh to drink, made you entirely fail to notice the fact that there's someone else in here it's the bandaged figure from before it isn't reacting hostilely, pretty much the exact opposite actually, it's looking at you with wide eyes and it's standing as far as it can from you in a defensive pose, its arms near its chest. getting a good look at now, whilst the bandages you already knew, it seems to have a shirt with a more simplistic version of the heart and wing design you saw back in the cathedral it looks alot like something you'd see in a hot topic, to be honest the shirt is black, worn over a thin purple hoodie with black detailing, a pair of loosely fitting black pants held in place by a red and black belt There’s a pile of clothes underneath the sinks, they’re arranged in the form that resembles a nest. This thing doesn’t really seem to be talkative, at all, it seems terrified of you, however, getting some sort of communication with it would be preferred, seeming as this is the only safe area you can easily access still, and sharing it with something absolutely mortified by your presence wouldn’t be wanted, for everyone involved. You do still have those pens, and the journal from the tarnished backroom of the cathedral All that really matters now, is, what to ask it, or what to say

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

Picking up where we last left off you walk through the concrete doorframe that originated from the humanoid figure dressed in bandages, footsteps echoing across the vast expanse of concrete, pillars evenly spaced and painted lines on the floor, this place doesn't look in all too good of shape, the lights are flickering and falling out of place, it isn't like what you've had to deal with before though, whilst the area is large, everything can mostly be seen, excluding some areas that are pitch black. Something catches your eye, a metal door bent and forced open, warped and hanging loosely on it's hinges, the deformation seems like it was made a while ago. you pace yourself over to the room, the door seems to have been forced and bent open from the outside. taking note of that, you still choose to look inside the room it's filled with monitors, most of them cracked and its hard to tell what they're displaying, however, one of them is clear, you gaze into the screen, recognizing the metal shelves, there's a larvae in the middle of the screen, its very, very hard to properly tell, the quality of the monitor is heavily skewered, no audio comes from it, but you watch in horror as the red blotch on the screen contorts and writhes on the floor, lines and appendages shooting from it's form, legs, arms, skin, hair, fabric. and never in your life did you think seeing a person standing idly on a screen could bring you such terror. you can't help but barrel backwards in pure disgust, you've been holding out well due to the likely factors of adrenaline, but it's getting to you heavily, you recover quickly, thankfully, but as if reminding you of the peril you're in the lights begin to dim, before all flickering off you still have your lantern you walk out of the area you were in, your echoes louder than the actual sound, walking to the one area lit up by lights, all concentrated as if there was a spotlight directly on it, a growing sense of unease begins to quell over you, your body tenses, there's quick pattering behind you, it grows louder, in a mere half-second, turning hastily, you moved just in time, your eyes widen at what you see. This thing was only 9 feet away from you, it's body a collage of tendrils and randomly placed limbs, at the front of it a head with near nothing left to say it isn't just a skull already, it wasn't even humanoid, it resembled more of a ball of limbs or a centipede than anything else, eyes littered it's body, reasonable to say the amount would near a hundred at least. the mound of limbs screeches, quickly pattering away as all of it's eyes close you run like hell to the light [1/2]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

hmm okay lets work through the info we have

crazy cultist thinks the weird heart is god, probably convinces other people to worship it as well. the other people slowly morph into either the first drawing of that black book with the golden heart (aka the people from the cathedral) or the second one (aka the thing that was watching me now). they dont seem to be dangerous though. said crazy cultist slowly lost their sanity and tried to merge with the heart? we dont know if this succeeded or not.

so theres a few questions that arise from this.

first, what exactly is the heart? what purpose does it have and how is it connected to this seemingly infinite place? perhaps it really is some kind of supernatural entity which has the power to make this place. why? perhaps it waits for the people who end up here to slowly lose their sanity and exchange their soul to it, just like the crazy cultist leader. this is mostly speculation though

which brings us to our next question. who is the cultist leader? maybe this isn't even relevant, and maybe we will never know

another question i still haven't figured out the answer to is why was i in the warehouse in the first place? i just suddenly woke up in it. what was i possibly doing before, and how does it connect with everything else?

lastly, apparently all the storylines are connected. how does a place with flesh corridors, crazy cultists and seemingly god also have a fucking dave and busters. what the hell is going on. except if we aren't in the same place? just because we aren't in the same location doesn't mean it couldn't be connected... lots to think about...

(please sleep btw)

rustedbread

I cannot directly answer some of these questions, because that would directly spoil things, of course

But what I can say, is the supernatural nature of the heart has heavy merit, if you can recall, the heart was connected to the ceiling with what is in fact, a draconic skeleton hanging on it by the ribcage, and by some tendons, so the origin of the heart is in no way anything that you'd consider natural, which none of this WOULD be natural, but the nature of the heart definitely doesnt base itself in rules from any grounded and logical universe

And once I'm finished with everyone's perspectives, I will definitely work on explaining the story of the cultists and the such, because I do have a story for them, it is very vague though from what is given

This place wasn't always like this

It doesn't operate on morality anymore

It's clear that whatever the fanatic did, it was recent

And it turned this place worse than it ever was or could've been

And think of the symbol that was everywhere, heart encircled and trapped, veins reaching out to the edges of it

It wouldn't be wrong to assume you're underground

And think of that other symbol

It was only in select, older pieces of art

Knowing what you know now, the wings and the draconic skeleton are absolutely connected

And dont rely on what's been watching and running from you being the second thing you saw in the texts

After all, it doesnt exactly have any skin you can visibly see, covered by bandages all over it's body, so the prediction that it's what appears to be the more humanoid option, I'll tell you now, isn't correct

The only things that differed the human figure displayed in the text next to the depiction of the blind followers from you was the bruises and scars.

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot well fuck :)

ooookay what to do... the eyes i saw probably belong to something that wants to kill me, and now that the lights are on it can probably see me clearly. so thats great. uhhhh i really have no idea how to get out of this... i could either wait near the water to see if anything happens or i could try to find my way back to the cathedral to gather myself a bit. but even if i go back to the cathedral id have to xome back out here eventually... so uhhh i guess I'll wait near the water for like 10 minutes and if nothing happens I'll start cautiously exploring the place

rustedbread

Biding your time by the water, you see the same eyes you saw last night, across the riverbed drinking from the river, they don't notice you watching so they seem bizarrely at peace, though their form seems human, their mannerisms in no way really make sense for one. it sees you watching it, looking at you frozen momentarily before scurrying away. You couldn't tell what it really was from first glances, most of it's skin was covered by bandages and clothes, it looked human, proportions off, legs too long, but it looked human. as it scurried away, it ran directly into a wall of meat and muscle, but when you look at where any sort of trace of it should be, there's a concrete door, not the door itself, but more of an archway, an opening. if you look into it you can see slight hints of artificial lights, though it's not pleasant, following whatever you saw could lead to your freedom, or at least, you won't have to walk on meat and flesh forever seeing as you don't have many options, you choose to find a way over to the area as you walk, you bring out the journal you found on the desk, there isn't much to do, so might as well read whatever you can from reading into it, the journal belongs to a former cultist of some kind, and due to the readable text, it does appear that what you saw back in the cathedral wasn't always what people were a thought crosses your mind, that those people could have been once like you, that they aren't born of blind worship broken men reciting the only things they remember as you read further into the passages and entries of the journal, the writing style changes, slowly, the articulated strokes of pen that it began with devolved into frantic scribbles in vague resemblance of words, nonsense and harsh lines, broken paper as the pressure from whoever once wielded the pen was writing harder than ever needed the final entry you read, words large and bold, near scraped into the pages, a final sendoff before whoever wrote this went to "merge" with the heart, you don't exactly know the logistics of that, but seemingly what it means is that the fanatic that wrote this devoted their selves to the heart so much that they offered themselves to it, which, if they're alive or not, remains to be seen. judging by the mental stability of whoever wrote this, it's clear to see that the writing of "GOD" all over the documentation of the Heart of Everything was their doing, and seeing as this was found in the same room that was covered in pageless books and broken bookshelves, they probably did that too. once you finish through the entirety of the journal, you store it away again, you don't want to bring out the fairly hefty texts you found on the altar, you don't have the time to multitask that hard, the journal you could hold in your hand, the texts you found were the size of a laptop and the thickness of a brick, it wouldn't make sense to walk with it so you choose to look around, mostly just the same muscle and tendon but looking to the sky, not fully illuminated, in the distance you see the heart as far as you can imagine but still all too close, close to the ceiling of this place, a ribcage attached to it, not as it was meant to, the ribs are dwarfed by the size of the heart, the rest of the skeleton looks, lizard like, quadrupedal from what you can tell it looks, draconic, in nature, and the posture of it doesn't make sense to you it seems as if the heart busted out of the skeleton and just brought it up with it you choose to ignore it, try to let it fester in your head, that's where it should belong you cross a shallow portion of the river, walking to the concrete doorframe left by the being that was watching you you hesitate though, resting your hand on the cold outlining of stone you don't have any options left though you persevere [instead of the usual input, I'd say to take this time to theory craft a bit, I want to see what you've got down so far :D] [[also it might just be the fact that I've been getting a small amount of sleep, but HOLY hell I'm tired]]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

ddlcbrainrot

idk how i could gather more information at this point, considering the …people? don’t have mouths. i could try memorising their chant in case it comes into play later, perhaps i could show them the book to see if they have some kind of reaction to it. either way though, the only thing i can do is keep moving forward. staying in the cathedral forever isn’t really what i want. so i go through the door behind the altar

(let’s hope i don’t die hihi)

rustedbread

you attempt showing them the book, it results in no response, their heads are turned to you, they're chanting as they were before, uninterrupted seeing as that was completely fruitless, you venture behind the altar, it seems to be some sort of study, a table with writing utensils a journal left opened, lantern and backpack sitting beside it sits at the right side of the room, pressed to the right wall, a bed that seems to have been unused for months and a door in the middle of the backside of the room other than that, the room has been demolished, broken bookshelves make it hard to walk, the smell of dust and ash potent as you notice the pile of hardcovers that it all seems to be originating from, the edges and insides are burnt, every last one of them has zero pages, to manage this and still have the hardcovers intact would take, hours, and considering the volume of dust and splayed out pageless books, days. dwelling on this just mucks up your already clouded mind, so you choose to ignore it for now, taking the backpack and everything on the desk, with some effort you're able to cram a pillow and some bedsheets into it too, not bedding, not any blankets, but fairly thin bedsheets you carry the lantern though, even if it's covered by glass, it wouldn't be wise to put a flame next to fabrics, and also, it wouldn't illuminate anything from just sitting in your backpack knowing you've exhausted your options here, it wouldn't be wise to stay, so you choose to at least attempt to see what exactly is beyond that door you step out, it's an open area, not a closed tunnel, which you're heavily grateful for after blindly trudging through a blood vessel it's dark, however you are able to hear the slightest sound of water rushing and flowing, a river? you continue walking, shoes greeted with that all too familiar for your personal comfort squelch, you in no way missed walking on this, but you have to find a way out of here someway as you walk, you feel yourself being watched you hear pattering in the background, only one set of footsteps, they're rapid, not growing in volume though, they actually lose it as you continue, you look around, you see, for a split second, a pair of eyes radiating through the darkness, as soon as it notices you looking at it though, instantly it turns and runs from what you can tell, which is very little, it didn't have a plan for this, running into some random direction, until it's out of your vision you tell yourself not to sleep, though your body desperately needs it the lack of light, the constant walking on difficult terrain, at least it isn't humid in the area you're in, because fairly exhaustion would have gotten to you the second you stepped out if that was the case you manage to find the source of the sound of the rushing fluid it's water, it's shocking to think this, but it's water it likely doesn't taste too good, due to the proximity to contaminants like the flesh and meat that are near ever-present in this place you sit down just to rest for a little bit, your paranoia no longer able to be felt as you pass out due to exhaustion you're stirred awake, not by sound, or anything that you would hope not for you're awoken by light. not the sun of course, but many different lights immerge from the floor and mounds of flesh around you everything is visible now, still dim, but visible you look into the lights you remember the warehouse they looked just like this

[You have full freedom of what to do from here on, I've been a bit railroady these past few entries, granted the nature of this with me narrating your actions does deprive you of bits of choice now and again, which I will of course do everything I can to avoid! and I feel as if I need to break away from making you choose between a set amount of choices, I think this might be a bit more fun if it's like that] [[I write, like, in a trance, like it just, flows out of my head]] [[[I felt a bit insecure when writing this part because of how much of a high standard I set myself to, but then I remember what this all originated from and I remembered, oh yeah, I can just, have fun with this]]]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

The Cathedral [2/2]

[2/2]

You look through the book, most of it is vague religious talk, a signature wording style that makes anything hard to read like a normal person, skimming through it all, it seems to be more about biology than any religious text, the wording isn't scientific, it's very skewed, and judging by this place, trusting the word of a cultist book isn't exactly the smartest thing to do, or it could be your only lifeline left in this place. Skimming through pages you see several topics, in order, the things you see are what seems to be a larvae, a small slab of meat from the near only thing you could make out from this entire text, the picture on the lefthand side, the next page contains a picture of two variations of humanoid beings, one of them, you've met seemingly, the other, you have not, but the fact you haven't met it seems to be a good thing. The second humanoid figure in the text is depicted with battered skin, scars and scabs all over itself, it still resembles a human, but it is highly unnerving the fact that something that only resembles a battered person would be in tandem with everything you're seeing the next page is torn out you skim through more, trying to find more info that doesn't require you to read through difficult and vague texts, because fairly you are far too afraid to be doing an english analysis right now you make it to the final pages you make it to a page with the heart and circle imagery "The Heart of Everything" on the other page, you quickly try to read everything you can, flipping to the other page to see, nothing is decipherable, the calligraphic ink covered and replaced by dry crimson and sharpened handwriting, holes in partial parts where the word has sharp turns or points the only word etched onto the rest of the pages "GOD"

You get up, closing the book and holding it to your side, the religious ones seem to be content mumbling to themselves, they still stare at you, which unnerves you, but they cannot move, they don't look the part at least. There's still one last place to look into, which is the back of the Cathedral, behind the altar there is a door

now I must ask do you choose to see how far this will go?

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

The Cathedral [1/2]

You wait for a while, nothing comes, looking into the darkness from where you came, nothing has followed you, and even if something did, you wouldn't be able to know due to how dark it is. Following your plan, you hide, going into a confessional to gather your thoughts before proceeding to hide between any surface you can. You sneak up close to the alter whenever you finally get a good glimpse of the silhouettes. They cannot see you, you can see them, but they have no eyes to gaze at you, they have no mouths, however, bellowing through the entire cathedral are their mumbled chants, muffled by muscles in front of where any facial features should be. the lights illuminate one of them, it's head is turned directly to you as you notice, all of their heads are turned towards you their faces are melded, never in your life did you wish you could see the soft pigment of skin more than in this moment, their flesh, their body, is all red, lines of white and darker crimsons texture their skin, like uncooked meat. All of them stare at you, their gaze never faltering, their sockets gaze is more piercing than any you've ever felt and they remain, staring, mumbling, chanting, unbothered, they've remained chanting the entirety of your arrival, and they will remain chanting long after it. It takes a bit for you to regain composure, you shutter as you limp yourself back upwards, breaths as your heart races. Finally pulling yourself up, you gain the confidence to walk up to the alter, there's a book on the podium facing the crowd, it's eccentric, black hardcover with gold outlining, imagery of a heart in a circle, veins reaching out to the edges of what captures it, not touching any edges, never making contact with what holds it, but still remaining close. Looking around the cathedral gives you a sense of clarity, your panic is subsided, and looking into the pews, looking up the walls and on the floor, there's a numerous amount of heart based imagery, alongside what seem to be the webbed wings of a bat, you can make out some bits of art that depict an anatomically correct heart with wings, which, you do find to be a bit on the nose for some reason, however what seems to be the main thing depicted is a heart with veins reaching out to the edges of a circle, that's what sticks out the most to you. [1/2]

[allyouveeverknownbyrustedbread]

[response, sadly uh, these are really long and I have to divide them alot, yknow, casual]

ddlcbrainrot

hmmmm well the people (if they even are people) at the pews could be more dangerous than the steaks tbh... but I'm guessing some time has passed while i was going through the hallway, so the warehouse room is probably filled with steaks now.

the only four options i see are

1. shoot the silhouettes. but then id have even less ammo and i dont know when i might actually need it. so im not doing that

2. try to get closer while hiding behind the columns cathedrals usually have, in hopes of overhearing or peaking a look at them and determining if they are dangerous.

3. stay hidden, far away from the silhouettes and wait to see if the steaks followed me through the hallway. If they did perhaps i could try to grab one and throw it at the direction of the silhouettes and hiding somewhere to see how they react. but who knows gow long it will take for the steaks to show up, if its even possible for them to do so.

4. ignore the silhouettes completely and try to sneak past them, using the columns again, to the room in the back where the priests usually are? idk what its called tbh, like behind the front part of the cathedral. that is assuming that perhaps the exit to this room is somewhere there

so, having explained my thoughts, this is what I'd do. first id wait for the steaks for about 5 minutes max. if they come, i throw one at the silhouettes and hide somewhere near to see their reaction. if they dont then its safe to assume the steaks wont be a problem for now. after that i slowly try to move closer, still hiding. if i make it close enough, i try to overhear anything to see if i can conclude their dangerousness. if i dont hear anything, i try to sneak past them to the front of the room like i mentioned before. if i somehow think they get suspicious of my presence, i hide inside the confessional booth as discreetly as i can.

i just realised since its a cathedral perhaps i could call sanctuary. then again, calling sanctuary isn't a legal term anymore, but some churches do keep it as tradition. I'll keep that in mind as a last resort sort of thing, if the silhouettes catch me and they are dangerous.