Cordless

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"the one where people have cords coming out of them like big bad robotic hentai beasts" —Wheeeeeeatthins

Cordless is an interactive comic based on Homestuck published on the MS Paint Adventures forums by a forumgoer called Sega (no, not that Sega). The plot is very similar to Homestuck; bunch of people play SBURB, the meteors come, the kids enter the medium and begin an epic quest. The main difference is that the players are aliens from the planet Terron and have robotic arms called 'Cords' attached to them at birth to determine their caste. They use Virtual Reality instead of contemporary computers, meaning that they're present as a Hologram to manipulate their client's environment, and the meteors are pretty much a non-issue due to Terron Meteor Defence System.

So they get to deal with the DOOMSDAY INSTIGATOR.

Cordless stands out because of its original characters, worldbuilding and Flash animations.

• Original forum thread
• Mirror

On October 26, 2011, the author announced the death of the series, citing a lack of satisfaction in it.

...But then later revived it with a reboot of the original, Rebuild of Cordless on April 12, 2012.

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Tropes used in Cordless include:

• A God Am I: Lance has a few pulse-pounding moments of this here as he comes to term with just how much power he wields as a server player. Well, he does have the power to will entire structures into or out of existence.
• Alien Blood: Terronians can have blood any shade (including black) of their eye color. Their hair takes the same color.
• Amusing Injuries: PA got his Wingding Eyes by getting hit on the head by debris from the wrecked Prospitian prison. Given his later (earlier) appearances, he hasn't suffered from it too much.
• Apathetic Citizens: Venia and Alfonso don't really care about the moon being on a direct collision course for their planet. Even assuming they believe the planetary defenses will take care of it, they still aren't concerned with its therefore inevitable destruction.
  • Or it could be due to the prophecies, and whatever they already know about the beta.
  • Ironically, Venia later expresses frustration with the general populace being just as apathetic about the one-cord's endemic corruption.
• Artificial Limbs: At birth all Terronians have a number of cords fused into their spines ranging from one to four (see Fantastic Caste System below). These Cords are mechanical in nature and of such powerful construction that few Terronians bother fighting with their fleshy, natural limbs.
  • Also, one character has an artificial leg.
• Attack Hello: Venia's reaction to Alfonso's interrupting her.
• Bad Dreams: Lance the Derse dreamer.
  • The Insomniac: See above.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Nephita absolutely hates it when she gets annoyed.
• Big Bad: The Doomsday Instigator, for now at least.
• Chained by Fashion: Dream Venia is bound in several chains, and has a lock over her eyes.
• Colony Drop: When meteors prove not to be enough, the Big Bad sends the Moon. Note that the planet still has a gun big enough to destroy it, except that the Big Bad blocks it.
• Crossover: A variant; the species itself appears in Nepeta Quest 2011, but not the actual characters. Rather, the author of that adventure created a new person from this species. Considering that Trolls themselves are mentioned a few times (as invading Terron in the past), it implies that Alternia and Terron have a relationship.
  • With a reference to Nepetaquest's resident Terron, Decima, they are probably in full-on Shared Universe territory.
• Crashing Dreams: The cranes in Nephita's dream.
• Crazy Cultural Comparison: Subverted.

To humans, the act of biting someone's ear and running isn't ideal for trying to show your affections. For Terronians however, it... um... it's actually almost the same. Nephita is just really fuckin' weird.

• Distracted by the Sexy: How Venia wins her race against Colnar, in the first indicator of what she has beneath her cloak.
• Eat the Dog: -sites replace the role plant life plays on other planets. They are also pets.
  • Gerardsprite weighs in on the subject.
• Euphemism Buster: Venia when Sera mentions bathroom issues.
• Facial Markings
• Fantastic Caste System: Not as racist as the Trolls, but the Terronians don't get a choice what they want to be when they grow up. Exposition here.
  • Four cords: heavy industrial work
  • Three cords: science and research
  • Two cords: management and the Terronian equivalent of "office jobs"
  • One cord: one of the various board members who practically run the planet
  • Zero Cords: No place in society, does not exist. All Sburb player's dreamselves lack these artificial implants. Fanon suggests this is symbolic of the player's nature as Princes and Princesses of their moons, a caste higher even than bureaucrats.
    • Later revealed to be the ancestors of the Terronian race, or the Cordless
• Fastball Special: In Venia's flashback. Against their will, but at the audience's urging.
• Fiery Redhead: Scarlet. Mackenzie. Faust.
• Fridge Horror: As various -sites are the alpha and omega of the Terronian diet, barring costly interstellar trade delicacies, then all Terronians have never tasted ice-cream. This is the greatest travesty in their history.

WH4T K1ND OF PL4N3T DO3SNT H4V3 OR4NG3 CR34MS1CL3S? >:?

• Glowing Eyes of Doom
• Interactive Comic
• Heroic Sociopath: As if though being Yandere wasn't good enough for Nephita, she had to go kill some cranes!
• Holographic Terminal: The main interface for Terronians while connected.
• Jive Turkey: Alfonso talks like this nigh constantly.
• Lost Technology: Sylladexing.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: Nephita, once she gets the Choirphone.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Looks like the moon is about to destroy the planet. Meh.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: EVERYONE. Well, except the -sites. And dream selves (Lance's confirmed), and the Terronian ancestors
  • Combat Tentacles: See above.
• My Eyes Are Up Here: "And we've been over this, my face. Up here."
• Mythology Gag: It is a Homestuck fanfic.
  • Running Gag
• Prophecies Are Always Right
• Shell Game: Dream Nephita wonders which of these towers houses Dream Lance. The reader already knows none of them does, since Lance is on Derse.
• Shout-Out: To Crystal Rave and the Drill-Whip here.
• Single Biome Planet: Desert world.
  • And of course, Sburb-generated planets. Lance's is full of construction sites and cranes.
• Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate
• Smug Snake: Alfonso, and loved for it. Douchecool.
  • There are "hints" that the Douchecool is a facade, and he has expressed frustration that no one can see beyond it.
• Stalker with a Crush: Nephita, who breaks into Lance's room to watch him sleep (and take photos).
• Strange Girl: Nephita. Aside from her Yandere tendencies and Verbal Tic (Coro!), she also shows her affection by biting someone's ear.
• Stripperiffic: Venia's outfit.

Venia: And we've been over this, my face. Up here. Alfonso: Soz. Even with your *extremely* modest duds Al somehow can't help himself, you know? Venia: Point taken.

• Tempting Fate: At least once.

Sera: It isn't a matter of life and death. Lance: I guess you're right. Sera: Of course! :P

• Title Drop: Not exactly, but it's obvious where it comes from.
  • What cords?
  • Later brought in fully with the Cordless
• Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: What Venia finds hidden inside the once broken Sylladex.
• Unusual Ears: DI has some very elf-like ears.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: The boards ruling the planet are quite happy to simply bomb a battlefield, killing enemies, friendlies and civilians alike, to stop an invasion from spreading.
  • Besides, it's not an utopia either, as people are apparently not expected to have any free time.
• Verbal Tic: Nephita. COROCOROCOROCOROCOROCOROCORO
• Wave Motion Gun: The Omega TMDS cannon, DI's Arm Cannon.
  • BFG
• Yandere: Nephita for sure.
  • Yandere mode.
  • "Don't you just love watching him sleep, corocoro?"
• You Can't Fight Fate