MOSTLY OPEN [action & network]

[hypertoxic]

WHO: Vriska Serket and YOU, plus some closed prompts.
WHERE: All over, really.
WHEN: May 2nd for the prompts in the body of the post, but I'll probably also put up closed headers for the rest of May and use this as a catch-all log as well.
WHAT: Vriska's been a statue for a month. She's going to wake up confused and deeply unhappy. Please hit me up at heartfuls for plotting if you'd like to plan a specific thread, i am 100% open to anything!!
WARNINGS: A foul mouth and an upset teenage disaster with god powers. Anything can happen if you just believe??


[ CLOSED to Minato ]

[ She wakes up.

... first of all. She wakes up, when she doesn't need to sleep and doesn't remember trying to go to sleep. With no real clear idea of why or how or what the fuck, she just kind of abruptly comes back to herself while standing on her feet.

She is so baffled by this state of affairs that it takes her a second to notice the ... rest. The rest, which is: 1) like two blankets wrapped around her, 2) a sign hanging off her neck??, and 3) her hair feels DISGUSTING, why IS that.

Never once in her life and death has Vriska been okay with losing control. And the dawning realization that some Really Weird Shit Must Have Happened without her even knowing does not exactly make her happy. Her expression undergoes an amazing transformation from blank confusion to apoplectic rage in record time. ]

.... Minato? MINATO? [ shrill. very shrill. and loud. she at least recognizes that she's outside their hive when she looks up and boy he better have some kinda answers. ]


[ OPEN to all ]

[ The answers are not satisfying, regardless of what they actually are.

Whenever her talk with Minato ends she'll end up going towards the center of town because it's the best place she can think of to yell at the largest possible number of people all at once. ]

WHAT the FUCK is WRONG with this FUCKING TOWN? I HATE THIS FUCKING TOWN! WHAT THE FUCK!

[ YOU. yes you. god, why did you walk past her range of vision, that was a mistake. ]

EXPLAIN.

[ ... explain what. she doesn't specify, instead just pointing furiously at your face, so, like, take that as you will? ]


[ NETWORK open to all, #005682 ]

I HATE THIS ST8PID AWFUL TRASH HEAP PI8CE OF SHIT 8ULLSHIT TOWN!!!!!!!!
There is 8IRD SHIT in my H8IR and I swear to god I am going to FUCKING KILL whoever 8rought us here!!!!
DXXXX UGH!!!!!!!!

[ did you think she was done yelling. because no. she's not done.

vriska serket is never done yelling. ]

Comments

[hypertoxic]

It's okay, John. Not like any of us have any fucking idea what's really going on around here. [ With a faint smile. ]

Anyway, yeah, Minato told me all about it. But I'd like to hear it from you anyway, if you're up to it.

[windeity]

[Hm. He doesn't know if he wants to answer that and even if there's no verbal answer his smile drops away. He gives her another small look, contemplative and strangely tired before he shrugs and turns to gesture with his head.]

Sure. I would like to hear what Minato already told you. Then I can fill in the blanks. [Not out in the open. Not just sitting here uselessly.]

[hypertoxic]

[ Oh.

Damn. Even when he was worried about his dad (... so long ago now), he'd tried to at least stay upbeat, even if he admitted to being worried. It's weird and unsettling to see his smile drop away like that.

She just watches him, small movements of her head tracking him as he shifts. Her expression is inscrutable. ]

Something about shadows and furniture that judged you.

[windeity]

[Turning away from her for a split second was enough to regain his composure, easygoing expression back and settled while he thinks of where to go from here.]

He's right. The furniture feels like a long time ago now but I know it was only a few weeks. We had the quest assigned to us to clear the town but if we didn't clean enough the walls and the furniture started calling out to us. Talking about things we failed to do, things we fucked up. Stuff like that. It got worse the longer you ignored it.

The shadows were even worse though. Those were more recent and they were actually a lot more vicious.

[hypertoxic]

[ ... things have changed, huh.

well.

of course they have. ]

So that's why things look a little nicer. You had to, or nightmare furniture would harass you constantly? Fun.

[ dryly. ]

... what about the shadows?

[windeity]

Some guy's furniture was singing to him to make sure he'd work. They didn't let up even at night. It's why a lot of us stopped sleeping after a while.

[The shadows though...he takes a breath and shrugs.] The shadows started out pretty okay if annoying. Playing jokes on us and following us around and stuff. But as they hung out longer they got a little more malicious. Mine threw my glasses in the well, Minato's dumped him in the well, some other stuff like that happened. Toward the end though they started draining some people of their color. And like. Dragging them into the shadows and sending them away. They were gone for days.

[hypertoxic]

[ Quirks a brow. ]

Did anyone try sleeping anywhere else? Did it help? Or was it not possible for one reason or another?

[ the shadow story she listens to without interruption, largely impassive until the end, when both her eyebrows lift. ]

... was it possible to fight them?

[windeity]

I slept outside away from a bunch of buildings and that seemed to be okay. I think a few people slept in trees? Not sure. It worked for the time being but it wasn't really a great idea.

[Fighting the shadows. Huh.] Certain things could fight them off. My hammer didn't work, but things like flames or light magic did. I met a lot of people who came up with good ideas. Minato was using a candle at one point, and people like Dextera and Guren had powers to fend the shadows off. They didn't stay gone for too long though.

[hypertoxic]

[ a short, sharp sigh through her nose. ]

Light, [ she murmurs, a little wry. she'd have had as much trouble as the rest of them, since "light" turns out to be a pretty metaphorical aspect.

well, if she needed to sleep, anyway. ]

... what do you think, John? About why all of this is happening.

[windeity]

[He doesn't reply immediately because he has thoughts. Of course he does. He finds himself staring into the distance as he organizes his thoughts carefully.

"What the hell is going on? Did you do this?"

Still no answers on that front either.]

We fucked up somewhere. [It's quiet and thoughtful and maybe she's the only person he'll actively say that to.] But at the same time this isn't our universe. This is...whoever this place belongs to wants us for something specific. We're changing the town and maybe it's alive, maybe it is not. But things are appearing and color is showing up. Do you remember what it was like when we first got here? This cannot be a coincidence.

[hypertoxic]

[ It's not sympathy in her expression exactly when he says the words "we fucked up somewhere." Just a kind of coolness that says yeah, i know. ]

Yeah, I know. Somneone's using us for something. We just haven't figured out who, or better, why.

[windeity]

[It's something he thinks about a lot, but he doesn't elaborate on that. The focus is on this place right now, not the future. Or home.]

We have a guess to the "why" at least and the "why" is because something about us and our existence generates enough energy or something to bring color to the world. Momo said it was something reacting to our mental state maybe and Izuku and I talked about this, too. I'm kind of wanting to believe both of them.

I still don't think it's just Mr. F though. It was never just one of you when you guys were trolling us, so why would it be just one person in this case?

[hypertoxic]

[ Vriska's expression clouds with confusion. ]

Mr. F? [ a beat, and: ] I mean, whoever that is, you're not wrong about us! I think we kind of egged each other on? I mean, we definitely did. Who knows if these chucklefucks have the same kind of thing going on, but I'd agree it's probably more than just one person.

[ Vriska chews a nail, idly. ] Even Lord English had that cueball fuckstick.

[windeity]

Mr. F, the guy who posts to the forum? #FFFFFF. [It's definitely a "ffffff" sound.] He hasn't replied when I tried messaging him and that is still the case, but it'd be nice to know just how many people, maybe, we're dealing with.

[A headtilt.] Cueball? [He might just be misremembering but also a lot has happened and John doesn't always pay attention.]

[hypertoxic]

[ there is a significant Pause.

and then vriska lets her head fall back on her shoulders and she groans the word "GROAN" really loudly. ]

What is it with white text guys? Why John? Why do white text guys keep happening to me? How many white text creeps can there be in the multiple universes we seem to keep traveling across?

[ SHE'S SO TIRED. ]

[windeity]

Uh. [WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT???] I am hoping not very many but maybe his text wasn't always white? Ours started out as black, remember? Maybe it just means his is something he hasn't regained yet.

On the other hand I doubt it is only happening to you, so that is a bright side.

[hypertoxic]

You don't know, John. White text guys will ruin your life! You should be careful around them, because they are sneaky and duplicitous, and they love watching kids get killed!

[ HARRUMPH. ]

[windeity]

I mean, I happen to know someone who is also sneaky and duplicitous that I am talking to right now. [Vriska.] I somehow doubt it is the same white text guy, especially since he isn't answering me back.

[hypertoxic]

[ Vriska goes still, staring somewhere off to John's side rather blankly for a moment. ]

Haha. I almost managed to forget for a minute there that I was wasting my time talking to someone I hate. Well, John, don't let me keep you! I'm sure you have plenty of other, better friends you could be having a friendly chat with.

[windeity]

[...sigh.]

That's not what I meant and you know it. Come on. [...] I'm sorry about that.

[hypertoxic]

[ ...

Vriska hugs herself, looking down, away from him. The expression on her face is sad. ]

But we're not, though. Friends. Why do we keep acting like we are? What's the point of this?

[windeity]

The point is...I don't know. That we're stuck here together and it's better to work together? [He tilts his head.] Plus...you're different than the last time I remember seeing you.

[hypertoxic]

[ Her arms tighten a little, a painfully defensive gesture like she's somehow expecting he's going to hurt her. Her frown grows more pronounced. ]

Different? What's that supposed to mean?

[windeity]

It means you're different. Like the last time I really saw you for any huge length of time, we were finding the treasure and stuff. And then I got these dumb timeline powers and then we showed up here. But you're like. [How do you explain this...]

...emotional? Not in a bad way! [It's pretty bad, given his usual take on Vriska Serket.] But you're actually kind of thinking about other stuff and other people.

[hypertoxic]

[ just. continues to frown at him, though now it's a little more uncertain. ]

Yeah, well. That's kind of what happens when every single person you ever cared about abandons you.

[ ... ]

I have always cared. Actually, after Aranea took the stupid ring, I kind of decided to stop ... coming up with plans and whatever? And just enjoyed the afterlife with Meenah. For a while I was actually happy, for like, the first time ever in my life? And I think everything that happened helped me become a more thoughtful person.

... but then Meenah dumped me and abandoned me, so. Sometimes that's just how life goes!

[ with forced, fake cheer. ]