#i think maybe brian has a little rose plant in his chest cavity. i know rose bushes are large. but i think if we can give-

[majorshatterandhare]

[ID: four screencaps of tags reading as follows (with typos fixed):

Image One: “#definitely didnt just learn about rosaries the other day for a brian post and then not use the learned info in the post (that did happen)

#there are lots of ways to make rosary beads, and like. people probably msde their own for a long time (thats a conjecture i’m making based-

#on 'people used to make their own everything') and the beads could be made out of lots of different stuff.

#however im not sure the fort would have stones. not sure how accessible flowering plants are to begin with let alone to be able to use-

#either the seeds as beads (need those to make more plants) or the flowers to make clay to make beads (that becomes the fruit so food. plus-

#you need the seeds from the fruit to get more) but they have sand and fire right. so maybe glass beads, and they have metal and bullets-”

Image Two: “#so they can probably make metal beads. i imagine no wood for the same reason as other plant materials. does that mean their buildings are-

#made of metal? or are they just incredibly old from before things got so bad? and if plant materials are indeed so few and far between do-

#they not have rope? was brian hung with wire or sinew or intestine?

#wire would really suck for a meat person but brian isnt (mostly) so i guess it doesnt really matter. hanging space robot jesus with catgut-

#is really something though. like plant fiber to hang a meat person and meat fiber to hang a metal person

#anyway back to the rosary. do they have plastic? presumably there is some somewhere. in hydroponics or whatever. but would galahad or other-

#religious people have had access? (and would melting it not have killed them?)”

Image Three: “#OH OH OH i think galahad should have used a piece of brians hair for the string. because why the fuck not

#do you even need the medallion part when the string material comes from the guy youre worshipping???

#also while i think offering his body for the beads is less far less likely. maybe 'spinning falsehoods into gold' was referencing using his-

#metal melted down to make new things. rather than stretching it into string as i previously thought (still prefer the string though i think)”

Image Four: “#local priest and preacher man down bad for the man of brass who was bore of heaven and strung up like a man wrought in sin

#patron saint of morality and poetry, his beauty everlasting through tarnish.

#<- [arrow] those are ops tags. i like the tarnish thing a lot

#the mechanisms #hnoc #galahad #drumbot brian #blogbot q

#sorry i went insane in your notes. its what i tend to do”

The background is black and the text is purple. End ID]

When I referenced Galahad using Brian’s hair I was imagining him to have copper wire hair. If he had real hair it couldn’t grow because then he would have living follicles which I think goes against his mechanism being everything but his heart. Maybe they could be from someone else but TS’s mechanism is everything but the voice box, which is from someone else, so it just really depends on how you want to set those rules. I think I see copper wire hair Brian most, so that’s what I was thinking (also, copper patinas green, so he would end up with green hair and it going from red-brown to green is fun and also I personally really like green and copper patina color). So how many hairs Galahad would need would depend on how long Brian’s hair is, and his hair is curly (or at least, I’m assuming it is, since Ben Below’s hair is curly), so it’s longer than it looks at first, and it’s wire so it’s durable! I was honestly just imagining Galahad… plucking a hair from Brian’s head while he was, like, powered down or something. In sleep mode. But I think if Galahad asked Brian would probably give him one, he’s seemingly in MjE mode during HNOC, so he can’t be thinking “this will help make sure he listens to me in the future” but I don’t think there is any moral issue with him giving Galahad a piece of his hair. And from Galahad’s end I think it would reaffirm that belief. Stealing it probably would be disrespectful, but he needs the rosary to pray for his mortal soul anyway! (/j) The only moral issue I could see is making Galahad believe in him when he’s nothing special, except that he is, he has prophecies if nothing else, and he’s not really making him believe, he’s just giving him a piece of hair for string for a cool necklace thing, right? Maybe three strands to braid or twist together for strength depending on the thickness of each strand.

I have also seen someone make rosary beads from roses! I would love to make rose beads sometime. In my research it seemed like that was a relatively recent development (like 19th century IIRC), but I’m not sure how much that matters to them, you know? It’s not near here in time or space. I… think I completely forgot about Brian’s rose Thing when I was writing this (and researching rosaries to begin with). But if he could have a few different bead types that works out anyway, since there needs to be a tactile difference between certain beads. I don’t know if Galahad Rosaries would follow the same pattern as ones here, but having at least two different materials wouldn’t hurt!

I seem to have also forgotten about the existence of chains when writing the original tags. It was late and dark, hence the typos. Chains would work to and probably would make sense with the aesthetic we get from the Pendragons (or at least, what I can glean from “motorcycle”). Although I am really into Brian being hung with sinew or catgut for the reason stated above.

Galahad could take a tire or something right? Cut that up, don’t melt it because dangerous and difficult, and just, string it on. That’s the fast and dirty way to make a rosary I guess 😂 [laugh-cry emoji].

please consider: Galahad always carrying around rosary beads/prayer beads that carry the image of Merlin, The Hanged Man in the style of a saint or of a crucifix. Also he handmade the entire thing of beads btw.

[brain-jarred]

Chapter 5. Cactus

Light. Not filtered through darkened glass or produced artificially. Real actual light. It was morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise. Hal began to run away from the facility, trying to cover as much distance away from it as possible. Param followed. They ran until the facility was a good distance away, and then they stopped. Hal looked at the sun, and then immediately regretted it. “Ow.” He said, rubbing his eyes. “What?” Param asked, concerned.

“The sun hurts my eyes, don't look at it.” Param just stared at Hal before also looking at the sun. They not only looked at it, they stared at it, confused. “It’s not hurting my eyes.” They said, “It must be because you still have human eyes, and I have the clearly superior robot eyes. “I dont care.” Hal said, continuing to walk. “We just escaped certain death, and we almost killed a child. I was afraid you were going to just be okay with going through with it.” “Uh.” Param looked surprised. “What!? No. I wouldn't be okay with that. I was afraid that you would be okay with it, and then I would have to go along with it.” They said, trying to hide the fact that they really didn't see any issue in it. Like it was just their job? But seeing Hal’s face back there… It made them not want to be like this.

They wondered how Hal did it, how he could be so callous yet caring. It was easy to see him as the cold one out of the two of them, it was easy to see him as the brains, and Param as the heart, but that really wasnt true. Hal still clung stubbornly onto his humanity, where Param only had small scraps of it left. Most of these scraps only remaining for Hal’s sake. 

But enough about that, they were out there. Outside. Param took a moment to look at their surroundings. The sunrise casted oranges and pinks across the sky and ground. And...sand. The ground was very sandy, and there was a strange- wait. “Oh my gosh, that's a real life cactus!” Param said, rushing over to the plant.

“Why are you like this- wait that's actually kind of cool-” Hal looked away and sighed. They had to admit, it was cool to see something new, even if it was a bit stupid to dilly dally when they were more than likely being chased right now.

“We need to focus.” He said, putting a hand on Param’s shoulder. “We can't mess around with a cactus, not when we are on the run like this.” Param made direct eye contact with Hal as they ripped off a chunk of the cactus. “Why.” Hal said exasperated. “You never know.” And then param walked away. “Wh- Where are you even going to put it?” Hal asked, following param. “Where do you think?” Param opened up their chest cavity and put the cactus in with the extra Nutrient Solution they always kept there.  “Okay then.” Hal said, accepting this. “Listen. We can't get distracted by random stuff, trust me, I am also tempted to lick the sand right now, but I won't, because I have a thing called self restraint.” “Why do you want to lick the sand?!” Param questioned. 

“WE CAN'T GET DISTRACTED!!” He dodged the question. He took a deep breath. “We are in a serious situation and I feel like you're not being serious.” Param was quiet for a moment.

 “Hal.” They began. “This is the worst day of my life. Everything I have ever known has crumbled around me. I don't know what we are going to do, I don't know if I will even make it out of this alive, I probably won't. I don't have much faith in that. I just...I want to spend what little time I have left having fun with you. I just want to savor this.” They said sincerely. 

And finally they broke down. “I’m so fucking scared, Hal.” They said, wrapping their arms around themself. “I'm scared and I don't want to die.” 

Hal hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. They continued to walk as he leaned against Param. “Me too. I'm scared too.” he admitted. “I'm terrified of either of us dying. I don't want to lose you! That's why I am so focused on us getting away from that place because I don't want you to get captured.” He explained. 

“Maybe you think it's inevitable that they're gonna get us - and maybe it is- but look at us right now! Look at how far we’ve gotten. This is the farthest we've ever been from that place. I say that we keep pushing our luck. We can savor everything when we are safe.” Hal said, offering a reassuring smile with his eyes. Param thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. You're right. Let’s get to walking then.” “We are already walking.” Hal said, trying to lighten the mood. “You know what I mean.” Param smiled.

And so they walked. And walked. And walked. The sun rose and it bore down upon them, Param was unaffected by the heat, but Hal was another story. “Slow...slow down.” Hal said, stumbling after Param. His movements were sluggish, the two had been walking for an hour and a half at this point. “What's wrong? Did you look at the sun again?” Param asked, concernedly looking back at Hal. Hal stopped for a moment to just catch his breath. “It's too hot out here, the sun is cooking my brain.” He was exaggerating somewhat, but it really did feel like way. The psychic ectoplasm that made up his body wasn't able to sweat or cool him down. He dropped to his knees. “Oh jeez. Uh. Hm.” Param tapped their chin. They took a moment to consider their options. “Ok! I got it.” They said, snapping their fingers. They then leaned down, and picked up Hal, who immediately stood up. “Oh, uh. No thanks.” He said, wrenching himself away. He felt weird about letting Param carry him and he would rather not deal with those emotions at that second. He stood up, willing himself not to fall over again. “Alright then, get cooked then.” Param shrugged, and then started walking away. 

Hal followed.

And so the sun continued its path in the sky, eventually after a whole day of walking and mindless conversation, the sun dipped below the horizon. “We should probably stop.” Hal said, resting a hand on a rock. He looked really haggard, and his body was goopy. It left a blue residue on the rock where he sat his hand. “Yeah...I’m getting a bit tired.” Param admitted. They sat down. They were slightly nervous when the sun began to set, they didn't like the dark very much, but it was okay since the moonlight illuminated the desert well enough. Still, it put them on edge despite this. They didnt know why they were afraid of the dark. Hal also sat down, his lab coat was stained blue with all the sweaty psychic residue. He leaned back and sighed, glad to finally be out of the heat. A few stars poked out of the sky, tiny white dots in a sea of indigo The two just sat there for a few moments. The desert was quiet, and the research facility was far beyond the horizon, that place the two had lived in for the entirety of their living memories was out of sight now. Param was starting to regret leaving. Sure, killing an innocent child wasn't something that they liked, but she had only been one person! The rest of the people that they did vivisections on were guilty or already dying, it was fine! Everything had been fine. Param turned away from Hal, and sighed. Why? Why had such a simple look made Param throw away their entire work life? Now they were stranded in the desert, with no real sign of civilization. Maybe Param should have just ignored it. Maybe they should have shot Hal a glare, mentally told him to suck it up, and went through with the procedure-

“Hey Param? Can I have some of those uh- solution packets?” Hal asked, interrupting Param’s ugly thoughts. “Oh- Sure.” Param took out one of the packets and handed it to him, they then looked away into the distance, back the way they came. They looked and saw no sign of civilization, no sign of home. They just wanted to go home, and wanted this nightmare to be over. They just wanted a world where they weren't so impulsive, so reckless and foolhardy that they threw a fucking bonesaw at Dr. Brian. Dr. Brian was pretty nice, despite his cold exterior, Param knew that. They knew that this was the wrong way, this was the wrong path to take. But there was no going back. And so they laid down their head and sighed, trying to ignore Hal’s presence, trying to ignore the part of them that didn't regret it at all.

[majorshatterandhare]

(I too dye my hair green, and it is currently faded to lichen-y light green patina color like the statue of liberty and I like it a lot).

I think maybe (and maybe I’m wrong here because I struggle with the morality in more complex situations) it falls into a “morally okay if you frame it the right way, morally wrong if you frame it the wrong way” type deal. So that means it could be determined by how exactly Galahad askes for the hair, what information Brian is given, and if Brian can sort of work around that himself or not. (I think strictly speaking he couldn’t, at least not in MjE, since he can’t justify trying to, I don’t think. But it’d be nice for him to have the teensiest smidgen of wiggle room).

I mean, it’s possible for Galahad to figure out how to make beads himself, someone had to. It’s possible, if he’s *hanging* out with Brian, that Brian tells him, but again, not sure the morality about that, think it’s similar to the last one.

Terrarium system is a great idea. IDK what the justification for putting that in there was but I love it, essentially gets rid of the “water for people” problem. (If he’s still collecting water he could theoretically fuck with it to get the water out. But there is also the question of if Brian believes the lives of People to be more important than those of other organisms. I think that question stalling him out, on MjE, wouldn’t be a stretch, and the result would be not to change anything and very carefully tiptoe around those thoughts, but IDK.)

Re: if any roses could withstand such a situation, I would be interested to research the growing conditions of various species, but depending on how much sci you like in your sci-fi (for me the answer is a lot) you can always just go with “this is a rose-like species picked up somewhere other than earth.” Although, the difference between this situation and the plant-gore Tim situation is that Brian’s roses could well come from earth. It’s also always possible that all the life across existence is related and therefore that roses from another planet are ancestors or descendants of our roses.

The rose bush eventually growing out of him, escaping its little space and using all the room it needs. But also getting entangled in his insides. Probably making some things function worse but he doesn’t need much when he’s just hanging and it’s worth it for the rose bush because it will die someday and he will continue to live. Fuck! I’m making myself emotional about a fictional-fictional plant. Emotional support plant dies when he needs it most.”It’s my friend.”

Galahad sitting on the ground next to The Hanged Man, who used to be a golden man, hung up for false crimes but unresistant to his punishment; strung up with catgut that had rotted and been replaced several times, his body turning green and white with how long he’s been there, and a rose bush, something unfamiliar to the denizens of the station, which miraculously dwelled in his chest and survived from him, escaping the cavity and weaving through his body, taking over its source of life. And Galahad is just there, sitting, carving up a tired or crushing and cooking roses in what minimal water he can offer to the project or trying his best to melt sand into glass, giving up and using metal instead, stringing the beads on as he twists the strands of divine copper hair together in such a way that it created a continuous loop with no knots. And chatting, often about morals and philosophy and religion, but also about little things, about people they’ve known and their lives. Brian gets to have a friend who’s a person for the first time in a while, but then, unlike the others, Brian has to send him away, send Galahad to his death, because he deserves to know his prophecy no matter the consequences. And then Brian is lonelier than ever before on the station, with the people gone and his rose bush gone, and its just him, alone, with his heart, in anguish and despair, for a century.

Hey, uh, no need to apologize for length. I enjoy this sort of back and forth very much and, uh, can go long myself.

Whoops there’s notes too, I am an over-explainer:

•The “Tim situation” is plant-gore Persephone Tim which I have thought a lot about. That takes place on The City with plants and fungi from that planet, so although my ideas about the plants are based on what we have here, there is no way that they could logically be what we have here. Brian’s roses can be since obviously the Mechs visited earth more than once.

•Wikipedia says that some rose species are climbing and that’s 100% what I’m imagining here, although it probably wasn’t a smart idea to put that in his robot body.

•While it will die one day, had it been taken care of well, he could’ve continued its line for a very very long time. Of course he too perma-dies, but I assume he doesn’t know that yet at this point. Still, the Mechs live an unfathomably long time, so something would happen in there. Maybe this was a line he had already cared for for thousands of years.

•I know the proper past tense of hang a person is hanged, but hanged up sounds weird and also he’s maybe upside down, so not actually hanged in that way.

•[Insert Brian delivery crimes idea]

•Catgut isn’t made of cats’ guts, despite the name, but the intestines of cattle and horses and the like. I also don’t know how long it takes for it to breakdown, but I do imagine Brian just waiting there for whoever to come string him back up.

•How many Mechs bodies can we develop stories for in which they are taken over by plants and fungi while they are alive? (/rh)

•Sand melts into glass at around 1700 °C or 3090 °F, which Galahad would not be about to reach in a little fire, I don’t think, unless he used gasoline, which they seem to have, but is really incredibly dangerous!

•I don’t *know* that this twisting wire thing is possible but it makes sense in my head

please consider: Galahad always carrying around rosary beads/prayer beads that carry the image of Merlin, The Hanged Man in the style of a saint or of a crucifix. Also he handmade the entire thing of beads btw.