week 8

[vicedirector]

seven vices week 8 21 players remaining ♫ monday - thursday Monday morning begins just like the rest, slow and uneasy. At 12pm, every television will go off with its usual bout of static, followed by Katerina's calm, albeit disinterested, voice. "Please gather in the hotel lobby within the next hour." That's all that it says before the televisions turn off. Anyone not in their rooms will hear the voice echoing around them as if through a speaker system, although there are (still) no speakers present. After hearing the motive, characters who choose to explore will find that the void around the town has retracted a bit, and there is now boathouse and lake up North Anyone looking for them will also find that Alisha's spear and Sadie's earmuffs are now gone. >Mingle? This is Week 8's mingle log, covering Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. Investigations will go up on Friday. When posting toplevels, specify the time and location. If you plan on having any private conversations between characters, remember to let us know in the post linked below. More plot elements will be introduced this week. Mod comments will be occasionally distributed to open toplevels, accordingly. cast setting rulebook profiles private conversations

Comments

999 spoilers but nothing worse than what i've been plurking about tbh

[fourleafcleaver]

[The thing is, Clover and her brother look next to nothing alike. There's nothing that really connects the one guy with his eyes closed, looking mildly annoyed more than anything, like instead of being kidnapped he's having trouble with an especially difficult math problem, to her. But Clover knows just who to look for when Katerina speaks, and part of her thinks there's no way, that someone else or no one at all will be there, but when the static fades she finds him in an instant.]

Oh. [And that's all she has in her for a moment, a broken little sound like something in her shattering. At least her brother is okay, she's told herself from day one. At least her brother's safe at home. The thought keeps her together, from tearing herself or anyone else apart out of fear dressed up like fury, but now—

(she remembers that the blood was still wet on the weapon and seeping out of the corpse, remembers running through equations in her head and thinking it would be so easy, thinking she could fix things, and the memory of the gut-wrenching realization of the mistake she would have made comes secondary, always secondary)

—without any mind for who's in her way, she sprints out of the room.]

[lastgirl]

[Buddy notices Clover running out, but doesn't follow. However, after a couple hours, she will try to look around for Clover throughout the town.]

[fourleafcleaver]

[She's dealing with her latest problem in the usual ever-so-healthy Clover way of locking herself up in her room, thanks. She'll quit being such a goddamn hermit if Buddy comes by, though.

Otherwise, Clover won't be out and about again until dinnertime because, unfortunately, eating is a necessary thing.]

[lastgirl]

[In that case she'll be knocking on Clover's door - she figures that would be one of the first places Clover retreated to anyway.]

Clover, are you inside?

[fourleafcleaver]

[She totally tries to go "yeah" from inside of her room before she remembers that soundproofing is a thing? When she opens the door, she's a little wide-eyed and jittery.]

...Yeah? [Nailed it.]

[lastgirl]

...Are you alright?

[How does being nice work? Buddy doesn't know so she is making her best attempt.]

[fourleafcleaver]

[All of the points for effort, Buddy. Clover goes from mildly panicky to terribly sad-looking all at once.]

...Yeah. [She isn't especially convincing. But she remembers Buddy offering to help her find Light months (has it really been months now?) ago, and adds, quietly:] They got my brother.

[lastgirl]

So that's...Light, right? [She vaguely remembers the name, with how long it's been, but she doesn't forget first meetings.] I'm sorry they took him. They're really looking to influence people more than ever before.

[fourleafcleaver]

Yeah. [She leans against the doorway a little and tries, mostly unsuccessfully, for a weary little smile.] You remembered.

[She isn't really sure how much "sorry" is helping but she's mildly more sure that she doesn't want any useless half-attempts at help that won't actually do anything, either.] Thanks.

...He shouldn't be here. None of—nobody should, but... [Hasn't her poor brother been kidnapped enough??? Her voice is soft, anxious.] I don't know what to do.

[lastgirl]

[She's quiet while Clover contemplates and nods.]

I think a lot of people are in your position this time around. It's just a matter of making a choice...and who will be the first to make it.

[Because one of them will absolutely kill this time. Buddy saw how everyone reacted - even the kindest soul would do whatever they must to protect their loved ones.]

[fourleafcleaver]

[so that's a vote for the axe end, then]

...I guess. [well that was reassuring]

Um. Thanks for checking up on me, Buddy.

[detanimetion]

Clover!

[Undyne's almost too caught up in her own freakout over the hostages to realize what's happening, but the second she does she's chasing Clover down. She can't do anything to protect the hostages for now, but she can at least try to take care of Clover.]

[fourleafcleaver]

[Clover books it down the staff hallway and, about halfway down, collapses against the wall. With Undyne behind her, the goal stops being outrunning and turns into putting distance between her and everyone else.]

They— [She's starting to tear up and her voice catches.] —they got my brother.

[detanimetion]

[She curses under her breath. Undyne's not the greatest at comfort - a 'sorry' right now would just feel useless and redundant, and her hugs tend to be of the one-armed hair ruffle kind. But she does kneel down in front of Clover and put a hand firmly on her shoulder, looking her straight in the eyes.]

We won't let them get away with this. We're gonna find the fuckers who kidnapped them and kill them. Painfully.

[Look, promises of murder is way better than sympathy right...]

[fourleafcleaver]

[THIS ISN'T...HOW YOU PREVENT THE AXE END, UNDYNE...... It sure has Clover's attention, though. She's...just tearing up worse now, really, but she's trying to look resolute in spite of it as she nods. The murder promise might be helping? Maybe??????

But she's whisper soft when, after a moment, she tries speaking again:] What if something happens?

[There's no good answer to that and she knows it, but maybe she just...needs to hear another murder promise or something??? She's not sure.]

[detanimetion]

[look Axe End is clearly Best End as long as it's aimed at the right people, okay!!]

It won't! Asgore's there too, and he's even tougher than I am! He won't let anything happen to anyone innocent! [Or...maybe he would just so he could steal their soul afterwards but she won't mention that part. Anyway, as much faith as she has in her king, she's also aware this sounds an awfully lot like an empty promise to someone who doesn't know him.]

And if it does, then we'll take it out a hundred times worse on the people responsible. That's the most important part. There might be a few jerks here, but we need to remember that our real enemies are the assholes running this stupid game.

[fourleafcleaver]

[That almost, almost gets a smile out of her.] I'm gonna have a hard time believing anyone's tougher than you. [And she means that; her brother is still the favorite but she's pretty sure Undyne is the only person in any universe that is or was who'd beat him in a fight. Also, this seems like a better thing to say than pointing out that that totally didn't stop anyone being spoken about here from being kidnapped.

She wipes away tears with her sleeve, though, and sniffs.] I'm just...more worried about the assholes than the jerks. My brother... [The assholes in charge are the ones who've got him, after all, and unlike other Field siblings, he isn't being watched over by the world's toughest glittery fish monster.] ...I can't just... ["not murder someone and maybe let him get killed" seems like a bad thing to follow up with actually........]

[detanimetion]

It is hard to believe, but he's actually the guy who trained me! I bet they only managed to catch him by using some kind of cowardly trick like pretending they wanted to invite him over for tea. [Look, she said he was strong, she didn't say...he was smart...

But oh no, this does not sound like a path she wants Clover to be heading down. Not that she can't sympathize, since...yeah. She definitely understands the temptation here.]

I promised Lucy I'd protect you, and I'm gonna keep that promise. [Whatever that entails.] But look, Clover...if you kill someone and get caught, you'll be executed and your brother might still be in danger. You can't throw your life and two other people's lives away on a slim chance.

[fourleafcleaver]

[Clover doesn't expect the conversation to go "don't risk getting caught" instead of "Clover what the fuck" and she looks a little baffled, but even if her heart drops just talking about Lucy again, fresh tears don't come to replace the ones she wipes away.]

...Yeah. Yeah, you're right. [One more sniffing noise and okay, Undyne might not be sure how comfort that isn't murder promises works but Clover, for one, knows what she's about and she launches all her tiny tearful might at Undyne for a hug.] Thank you, Undyne.

[detanimetion]

[LOOK GLITTERSIS SHE UNDERSTANDS...she doesn't like it, but she definitely understands wanting to protect someone so much that you're willing to do whatever it takes. But she also really doesn't want Clover to kill anyone either because...yeah their track record has been pretty stellar so far, she can't see it changing soon.

And oh no, dealing with emotions and comfort!! This is a terrible situation for anyone on Team Pride to be in, let's be real. But she'll do her best to pull Clover in tightly and hug her until she's all cried out without accidentally squashing her with her ginormous strength.]

Hey, there's nothing to thank me over! Looking out for you's what any friend we do.

[fourleafcleaver]

[HERE SHE IS GETTING HER EMOTIONS ALL OVER THE PLACE, on the bright side she's mostly done crying; slightly suffocating hugs are good for that.]

Still. [It means a lot to her, so of course it's worth thanking Undyne for.] You're the best. I really mean it.

[And she's probably getting tired of Clover getting all these goddamn feelings everywhere so Clover does pull away, but she's actually smiling now.] These assholes are gonna have hell to pay once you get to 'em.