And as 45 seems to have accidentally designated herself as the girl Sanji will immediately talk shop to instead of flirt with (FOR NOW), he just offers her a dull wave at her approach, on his cigarette break after Dick's announcement]
Shit just keeps getting better and better around here, eh?
I could have announced it in a way that wouldn't have caused quite so much commotion.
[ a bit of a shrug. lili, at least, made her disapproval quite clear; whether she thinks of it as deserved or not doesn't mean that others might not think similarly in private. ]
And admittedly I didn't actually expect people to panic. There are enough level-headed types among us that I figured we'd manage to all rein ourselves in fairly readily even if a few of us got spooked.
But yes, if nothing else- they would like for us to know that the stakes have risen.
[ whether or not that's the truth, on the other hand... ]
... I get Lili's point, of course, but given the shit we've been expected to deal with, we're past the point of holding people's hands through their shitty trauma. If this is enough to break some spirits, then they can go take a nap and let the rest of us handle this.
[It's almost cruel in its callousness, but Sanji's expression doesn't falter. He said what he said]
Lemme get this straight, though -- from what you were told, everyone's happy endings is on the line, and the team who wins will get to save theirs?
[ This is why they get along, probably. There's time for feeling sorry for themselves; it's not now, when they need to get down to business and punch a snake in the nose. ]
Pretty much, though if it were as easy as any one of us being able to save our entire game this news would be at least a little less terrible.
Dick's additional details match what I was told. I'm under the impression they'll tell the same to anyone who asks, but by all means, feel free to confirm it for yourself.
I'd take all of this with a grain of salt, of course- I think at least some of us have had those close to them threatened as coercion, before, whether truthful or not. Oftentimes it was a lie, especially with how this has been revealed to us so soon, but...
Regardless, we have to proceed carefully just in case it isn't. Apparently I wasn't clear enough with this in my original announcement, considering how others had to remind people for me.
[ here she thought her message of 'think before you act, bitches, and don't mess this up for us' was pretty clear. ]
The castle was the closest to the camp in setup, right? At least on the surface. How did your game go, if I may ask?
[he shifts on his feet, eyes drawn to the ground as he thinks. yes, he's noticed the similarities as well.]
About as smoothly as we could make it. Tiger-sama and Dragon-sama were our... counselors, you could say. But they were fighting for their own happy endings, and using us as chess pieces to decide the winner.
Dragon-sama wanted to balance out the numbers in the factions. Doing that would prolong the fighting and create a lot more dead bodies, but give us a way to bring everyone back in the end.
Tiger-sama wanted the fight over and done with. One faction with the highest number after a period of a few weeks. Then the people who were still alive could go home.
[... Shifting on his feet again, and he sighs]
That's the abridged version, at any rate. Add in a lot more complications, emotional politics, people having shitty breakdowns left and right... Things only started coming together in the last few weeks when we realized there was no penalty in consolidating info, and figuring out who was in what faction. And the living and the dead decided they'd suffer through the deaths if everyone could come back.
So you decided on Dragon's method in the end... Well. Hopefully we'll have a method to accomplish the same.
It seems the common trend is to try to ignore things that would attempt to split us into factions, and work on the overall big picture, wouldn't you say?
That's usually what ends up working... but that shit requires coordination. And sacrifices. People are gonna die no matter what.
[...]
In the castle, we ended up deciding who lived and died that last week, to get the ending we needed... won't be surprise if there's a repeat of that logic here.
Well, I can just see that going over well with some of us here. Necessary losses while working together...
[ sacrifices and coordination, hmm. ]
Especially when some of us probably aren't quite as altruistic as others, huh. But if you managed to muddle until the very end before getting a plan together, I suppose that bodes well for how much time we might have to collect more information on our situation.
So long as we can guarantee that everyone comes back, we'll get volunteers to die -- shit, I'll volunteer first.
[That's not the part that Sanji's worried about]
It's getting to the point where we all trust each other enough to make that call. Shit like that's gonna take time. And now that half the group's in their feelings about the people who have been left behind...
Hmm. I imagine they'll rally behind it, soon enough... The past can be a lifeline to many people.
[ as will their bonds with the people left behind. if it's cold, or some similar descriptor, it wouldn't be the first time people have accused her of being such. ]
Granted, it'll certainly take effort on all our parts to get there all the same. [ because yeah, not accepting at this time that there isn't a better option than the one the directors would have them believe. ] Especially when oftentimes it's just a waiting game until we can actually accomplish anything of use...
Shit would be a lot simpler if we just got all the tools and information we need at the beginning... but guess that wouldn't make for a good story, either.
[Salty? A little bit. His castle was all about the importance of a good story come to life, and he can feel the strain of that ideology even now.]
... But we ain't got a choice besides... keep searching out info and survive.
[A pause]
Did you make it to the end of your game? No death?
[Much as he's interested in hearing her speak about her experiences in the mansion, Sanji levels his focus on her question instead, and nods]
... Not saying anyone's crafting an actual story about this shit, but back in the castle... that was kind of the shitty theme: stories, and proving that yours was worth sharing with the world. If we didn't do as we were instructed, all of our homes would be ripped away, like pages from a book.
So... if you didn't prove that you mattered, or that yours was a story worth telling, they ended it for you? Permanently...
[ that's... a very interesting metaphor made entirely too real, but, all right. it isn't as if all of their respective murdergames haven't been equally outlandish and fanciful. ]
It's a rather interesting way of dressing things up, I suppose.
[ at the end of they day they were still murdering for some sort of vague cause, though. ]
[A thoughtful hum to follow up her first assessment since... yeah, it wasn't the greatest boost to the soul, thinking of yourself as a story that could get wiped out.
Hmm. We had a few similar things- I think most people just called them 'special privileges.' But they weren't under threat or blackmail of any real sort, to my knowledge, and any lack of transparency was more in order to try to avoid the house's notice than anything else, I believe.
Two people at a time were able to try to detect whether the monster infection was latent in someone during a given week, and ... I believe there was another, but I am unaware of what their duties entailed, precisely.
[ she shrugs a little, mildly. ]
I wasn't one of them, so I couldn't say. Take this with a grain of salt.
A squad shrouded in mystery. ▓▓▓▓▒ has met them once, and others can only guess at the members' identities from rumors. Members of the squad all have advanced AI and high capacity for independent operation. Rumor has it that Squad 404 usually deals with ░▓▒▓▓▓▒▓▓▒▒▒░░
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W1 || Tuesday
Date: 2020-06-17 02:48 am (UTC)And as 45 seems to have accidentally designated herself as the girl Sanji will immediately talk shop to instead of flirt with (FOR NOW), he just offers her a dull wave at her approach, on his cigarette break after Dick's announcement]
Shit just keeps getting better and better around here, eh?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 02:52 am (UTC)Not going to tell me I did it too bluntly or carelessly, are you?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 02:59 am (UTC)Why would I do that?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:08 am (UTC)[ a bit of a shrug. lili, at least, made her disapproval quite clear; whether she thinks of it as deserved or not doesn't mean that others might not think similarly in private. ]
And admittedly I didn't actually expect people to panic. There are enough level-headed types among us that I figured we'd manage to all rein ourselves in fairly readily even if a few of us got spooked.
But yes, if nothing else- they would like for us to know that the stakes have risen.
[ whether or not that's the truth, on the other hand... ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:13 am (UTC)[It's almost cruel in its callousness, but Sanji's expression doesn't falter. He said what he said]
Lemme get this straight, though -- from what you were told, everyone's happy endings is on the line, and the team who wins will get to save theirs?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:22 am (UTC)Pretty much, though if it were as easy as any one of us being able to save our entire game this news would be at least a little less terrible.
Dick's additional details match what I was told. I'm under the impression they'll tell the same to anyone who asks, but by all means, feel free to confirm it for yourself.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:29 am (UTC)No, I trust the information.
[...]
Won't be surprised if we get more info the longer this shit drags on, but... [A hum as he thinks, his stare hovering over the top of her head]
Coordinating is gonna be such a bitch given the limitations.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 04:54 am (UTC)Regardless, we have to proceed carefully just in case it isn't. Apparently I wasn't clear enough with this in my original announcement, considering how others had to remind people for me.
[ here she thought her message of 'think before you act, bitches, and don't mess this up for us' was pretty clear. ]
The castle was the closest to the camp in setup, right? At least on the surface. How did your game go, if I may ask?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-18 12:26 am (UTC)About as smoothly as we could make it. Tiger-sama and Dragon-sama were our... counselors, you could say. But they were fighting for their own happy endings, and using us as chess pieces to decide the winner.
Dragon-sama wanted to balance out the numbers in the factions. Doing that would prolong the fighting and create a lot more dead bodies, but give us a way to bring everyone back in the end.
Tiger-sama wanted the fight over and done with. One faction with the highest number after a period of a few weeks. Then the people who were still alive could go home.
[... Shifting on his feet again, and he sighs]
That's the abridged version, at any rate. Add in a lot more complications, emotional politics, people having shitty breakdowns left and right... Things only started coming together in the last few weeks when we realized there was no penalty in consolidating info, and figuring out who was in what faction. And the living and the dead decided they'd suffer through the deaths if everyone could come back.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-18 09:24 pm (UTC)[ haha, well, about that. ]
So you decided on Dragon's method in the end... Well. Hopefully we'll have a method to accomplish the same.
It seems the common trend is to try to ignore things that would attempt to split us into factions, and work on the overall big picture, wouldn't you say?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-19 12:01 am (UTC)That's usually what ends up working... but that shit requires coordination. And sacrifices. People are gonna die no matter what.
[...]
In the castle, we ended up deciding who lived and died that last week, to get the ending we needed... won't be surprise if there's a repeat of that logic here.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-19 12:22 am (UTC)[ sacrifices and coordination, hmm. ]
Especially when some of us probably aren't quite as altruistic as others, huh. But if you managed to muddle until the very end before getting a plan together, I suppose that bodes well for how much time we might have to collect more information on our situation.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 12:41 am (UTC)[That's not the part that Sanji's worried about]
It's getting to the point where we all trust each other enough to make that call. Shit like that's gonna take time. And now that half the group's in their feelings about the people who have been left behind...
[It's gonna be a long, long road ahead of them]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-21 07:18 pm (UTC)[ as will their bonds with the people left behind. if it's cold, or some similar descriptor, it wouldn't be the first time people have accused her of being such. ]
Granted, it'll certainly take effort on all our parts to get there all the same. [ because yeah, not accepting at this time that there isn't a better option than the one the directors would have them believe. ] Especially when oftentimes it's just a waiting game until we can actually accomplish anything of use...
no subject
Date: 2020-06-23 10:37 pm (UTC)[Salty? A little bit. His castle was all about the importance of a good story come to life, and he can feel the strain of that ideology even now.]
... But we ain't got a choice besides... keep searching out info and survive.
[A pause]
Did you make it to the end of your game? No death?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-23 10:53 pm (UTC)[ little things like you know, giving away the lifesaving 1up feather to a monster instead. ]
... Story?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-25 02:08 am (UTC)... Not saying anyone's crafting an actual story about this shit, but back in the castle... that was kind of the shitty theme: stories, and proving that yours was worth sharing with the world. If we didn't do as we were instructed, all of our homes would be ripped away, like pages from a book.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-25 05:51 am (UTC)[ that's... a very interesting metaphor made entirely too real, but, all right. it isn't as if all of their respective murdergames haven't been equally outlandish and fanciful. ]
It's a rather interesting way of dressing things up, I suppose.
[ at the end of they day they were still murdering for some sort of vague cause, though. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 03:26 am (UTC)[A pause. His eyes... dart to the side, thinking, before he decides it really doesn't matter]
I had a role back there. And the first thing they made clear is that if I refused, my entire world would be gone because of my refusal.
[A shrug]
Not like they were gonna blow up my planet, but... just that the story would be gone. It was weird shit.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 02:46 pm (UTC)[ it doesn't necessarily sound... derisive, per se. more just thoughtful, more just reflective. ]
But... A role? Extra duties assigned to you by whoever was in charge, I take it.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 06:58 pm (UTC)But anyway]
Yep. I had to do some hustlin' on the side.
Did the mansion not have shit like that?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 07:05 pm (UTC)Two people at a time were able to try to detect whether the monster infection was latent in someone during a given week, and ... I believe there was another, but I am unaware of what their duties entailed, precisely.
[ she shrugs a little, mildly. ]
I wasn't one of them, so I couldn't say. Take this with a grain of salt.