Week Five

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, you had your very first minor body pileup! Granted, the Balladeer's death was entirely unrelated to anything, but at least he died as he lived - getting completely fucked up in some kind of carnival-themed hellscape. Only two days later, another terrible accident took Rina and Varian both from you. It's just been one of those weeks, huh? At least you got to add both of their corpses to your weird growing collection!

Again, you'll wake up this morning with another new snippet of memory. You'll also find that the stairs in the lobby are no longer blocked. You can only access one part of the second floor, but it seems like there's some neat stuff up there!

Outside, a few things seem to have changed. For one, the weather has turned - it'll be overcast this week, with periodic rain and even scattered thunderstorms. For another, the bushes around that rock out by the football field have bloomed. That's nice.

Get to it, friends! I'm sure everything will be fine this week!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regain and your AC for this week! As always, Hester's office hours and the merch booth remain available. ))

Comments

[barberic]

[Benjamin is lost in his work, in acting to keep himself out of his own thoughts, and doesn't notice Angus until he squats next to him.]

I'm...I'm useless with flowers. I want... I want to see if there's any asphodel, but I don't remember what it looks like.

[A soft, broken sound, as he shakes his head.]

When I was... Well, a young, foolish man, I bought a little book on the meanings of flowers. Asphodel always stuck out to me... It's one of the only ones I remember, even now.

[mcfife]

[Angus knows only the flowers of Fife, as a prince should know, but he doesn't memorize everything. He squeezes his eyes, trying to remember if he's ever heard of that name...]

I heard of bog asphodel, native to the swamps of my land, but I doubt that is what you seek. [It likely means something different from London asphodel. He stands up.] Why, what does it mean?

[barberic]

My regrets follow you to the grave.

[He bends over and takes the scissors in his hand, cutting the stem of a pretty spray of multiple pink flowers. Hyacinth, maybe? It's beautiful, and he thinks the color suits Rina.]

...At the time, the meaning stood out because it's so specific. I thought, 'how universal must that feeling be, that a whole flower can be understood to represent it.'

[He shakes his head, laying the flower carefully in his basket.]

I understand better now.

[mcfife]

[Angus stands quietly. He's known that feeling too well, but all of the flowers that grow in this garden won't be enough to measure the magnitude of his regrets. The people of his Earth, of alternate Fife, of Rina and Varian and Connor and Sissi. People who he could have had a chance to save. Of Mumble, who had not been aware of his human body's limitations. Of the SQUIP, who could have been taught to disobey its programming. Each flower representing a failure on his end. On everyone's end, he corrects himself.]

There may be a book in the library. Varian and Rina deserve to be remembered for this.

[He rests a hand on Benjamin's shoulder, the other in a fist over his heart.]

Their deaths must have to mean something.

[barberic]

[Benjamin sits there, beneath Angus' hand, steady and firm and holding him back from the yawning void that looms black and empty in front of him. Around him.

There's nothing he can do to get the Judge, now. But he has a new target for the blazing furnace of vengeance that stews in his gut.]

The Wizard will pay for this.

[His voice is rough and threatening.]

[mcfife]

[Good.

Good, he tells himself. If Mr. Barker will live to see the Wizard suffer, then he will not die because of this game. Ambassador will not lose anyone else.]

We will ensure that he suffers a painful death. One where he is cast into the fires of justice and destiny.

[barberic]

[Something rotten twists inside of him, dark and angry. For a second the void goes red, and he feels bone shattering beneath his fists, feels blood spilling over his hands, feels the familiar weight of a razor in his hand-

He clenches his hands into fists, against his thighs.]

Justice and destiny, yes. [He sounds half-listening. Prefers the sound of Righteousness and bloody Vengeance, himself.

He gets to his feet, then hefts the basket of flowers.]

I need to fetch candles for the service. I may as well check the library for a guide to flowers, while I'm there.

[mcfife]

[Angus makes a grab for the hand of the basket as Benjamin stands, keeping watch of how close his hands are to the petals.]

I'll go with you. I might find a few to add. [And keep him company. He can't let people be alone anymore.] Though it may represent bravery and determination, I doubt that thistles are the the only flower I should seek.

[barberic]

[Benjamin lets him take the basket, instead dusting dirt from his clothes, and then looking up at the sky.]

I hope the rain remains at bay until after the service. Rain always turns a funeral into an even more miserable experience than it already is.