[ it's monday and todomatsu's hanging out back at the damn bonfire again because he still hates all these locations!!!

waves... hello again sharptooth ]

This sucks, huh?

Gahahaha! We're in a tough situation, for sure.

[ he settles down too, with the naginata angled to lean against his shoulder. ]

But it isn't all bad, is it? We've met new friends, and the overseers seem to be on our side.

Uh... sure...

[ he would not call anyone a friend and he does not really trust the overseers. ]

Hahaha! It's good to be cautious, too. We still know so little.

Is your assignment good, at least?

It'd be a lot better if I was into clowns, but it could be worse. Where'd you end up?

Hm. Admittedly, I still don't understand clowns.

[ so they're not well liked... good to know. ]

The cabin, with seven others. It's small, but not so bad, and we're getting along quite well so far. [ he's very pleased. ] There are even plans to get curtains!

Seriously?! Ugh, I'm jealous...

[ he's pretty sure the mortuary is objectively the worst place, which is the only reason he said his could be worse. ]

A place that was actually MEANT for people to stay overnight in, imagine that...

It is strange to summon so many of us without the right accommodations, isn't it? [ well, it is what it is. ] I'd let you borrow my bed now and then, if I hadn't already offered it to someone else. But there must be a way to fix up the theater to make it more comfortable for you all.

[ just out wandering somewhere after execution. ]

...Well, she pulled it off.

[ though if boothill hadn't come back to his senses when he did... he really doesn't think the chainsaw would have lost that one. ]

She did.

[ though he looks unhappy still. the way it worked out was... not great. zombies??? ]

If not for those creatures, she would have had an easier time of it.

God. What was that?

[ our simpsombies... ]

It had to be some kind of hallucination [ because. gale and astarion. ] but they definitely weren't intangible.

I wondered if it was some kind of trick. Hill-dono's ability, perhaps. Whatever it was, it was exactly what was needed to catch Karlach-dono off guard.

[ hill-dono................ ]

That on top of the metal snakes?? Doesn't that seem too overpowered? Though I guess if the monster's out of control it would make sense for its powers to be a lot stronger...

It looked like he didn't have the same restriction as the rest of us, when it comes to hiding his monster affinity. We know so little about them all and the powers they have, it's hard to say for sure.

Todomatsu-dono.

[ yes of course he's coming to check on each of them. how is he looking! ]

Are you alright? What happened? Geto-dono mentioned a city beyond the woods?

[ he's looking better by now; he's taken a bath and is now in blood-free clothes, with a bandage around one of his hands. he's still pale and borderline grey, though, with dark circles under his eyes. ]

Relatively speaking, yeah.

[ the others were clearly in much worse shape than he was. ]

Something like that...? It wasn't that simple, though, I don't think it was the same world.

Not the same world?

[ oh this magic stuff is. beyond him. what the hell. ]

They said this place would be in flux, but I thought it would be more like the island.

I mean, it was... maybe kind of like that...? We got lost in the fog and ended up someplace else. We traveled through woods, but I don't think it was these woods. And when we came back, we stepped through a portal in a tree — a different tree — and kind of... fell down through the fog...?

[ tilts his head with a frown. ]

I'm not sure I understand... I'll have to take your word for it.

Yeahhh, I don't really understand it either.

This place is full of strange magic. I don’t really like it.

[ annoying!! just let him stab something!! ]

It’s just one more thing to be prepared for... I know some of you have asked about “first aid kits” and the like. Perhaps we should ask for more, just in case it keeps happening.

[ find him at the gas station, looking up at one of the cameras. ]

The puppy says don’t forget to wave at the people watching through the black box, Lucas-dono!

[ iwa points at it, then offers a smile and a wave himself! hello! ]

Edited 2024-06-25 09:40 pm (UTC)

[ taking the decorations down from his booth after the party (???) has died down ]

Wow, you guys are still here, huh... I'm surprised whatever you're doing is lasting this long.

[ automatically trying to help, but his hand goes straight through the paper hearts and he kind of deflates a little. ]

If I'm honest, I have no idea what we're doing to make this happen - just that it won't be for very long. But that means we should enjoy it while we can, doesn't it? We've missed all of you very much.

[ okay well he appreciates the attempt ]

Did you not plan this? It just happened?

If it was planned, then it was by someone else who didn't see fit to ask for my help. Which is fine - I wouldn't have known how to do something like this, anyway. All the magics of this place are pretty beyond what little I know.

Yeah, this place really seems like a metaphysicist's nightmare.

[ maybe his kiss booth really did summon them somehow............ ]

But yeah, it's nice to see everyone. I mean, most of you seem to be in okay spirits in your letters, but it's good to see that they're not totally faking it.

[ not like he is in his letters!!!!!!!!!! ]

There's very little of it that makes sense, right? Even the items come with magic of their own...

[ curse items?? ]

...Did you think we were pretending?

I don't know, I mean... I think we're mostly pretty miserable over here.

Well, yes. But you all have much more to worry about, I think. We are already dead.

Well, I guess that's true. And you're not, like, dead dead.

[ so you're not being humiliated and physically tortured by a bunch of demons nonstop for a million years

or whatever happens in heaven, which he will never know because he'll never go there ]

[ tilts head. ]

Do you mean because we're still here, in some form? Would you not consider ghosts to be "dead dead" as well?

I mean, it's kind of more like you're in a holding area or waiting room, right? You're not in some final afterlife, and you can still interact with people who are alive in more tangible ways than just haunting.

Hmmmm. Maybe so. Though--

[ whoops there he goes

he blips back a minute later. ]

...We're still very limited.

Yeah, you all really need to do something about your filter settings.

What is a filter setting? How would we change it?

Ahaha, sorry, that was a technology joke. Probably not anything any of you actually have any control over.

[ though how fucking funny would that be if it was ]

Ah, yes. I'm not sure that we could. I wasn't even expected to find ourselves here at all.