yuri

[outsidebones]

Comments

[ashenvaliant]

That… and that tattoo ink on the med bay door trick, if we ever come across something similar enough to try it again. It definitely ended up doing what it needed to, when we needed it.

[outsidebones]

Hah. Indeed. The five of us will cotton on quickly, but the rest won't be prepared for it.

Though, Yuri, I have learned we are something of an anomaly in that most of our murders were done rather of the killer's own volition.

[ashenvaliant]

There's nothing stopping them doing the same sort of thing based on their own experiences, so I'm not sure how much of an advantage any of us have. Although, preferably, we just avoid dying in general.

[ but preferable isn't guaranteed. ]

... [ ah. ] So, we were a murderous lot in comparison to... what, coercion?

[outsidebones]

Yes. As far as I can tell, others were coerced. I'm not certain that's true for everyone, but it is a bit concerning.

[ashenvaliant]

...

[ haha. ]

We did all volunteer to be there, and we had wishes we wanted granting. Maybe that had something to do with our, uh, bloodthirstiness.

[outsidebones]

Yes. That also would seem to be an outlier. Some of these people strike me as rather soft, in comparison to our group. I've been treading lightly in what I say, and yet I still manage to startle them.

[ashenvaliant]

Can't really blame them if they were dragged into their messes against their will. Still, you'd think after one run of the gauntlet they'd be a little harder to rattle a second time around.

[outsidebones]

You would think, but no. All they've done is become soft and complacent at the specific notion of justifiable murder.

Our friends were forced to murder, it was for a good reason, so we stopped bothering with it and in the end it worked out! Ugh. What dangerous thinking.

[ashenvaliant]

"Justifiable murder"? I wonder what counts as justifiable to them. The fact it was forced made it okay? Tell that to the friend of the person who died.

[ a few people are still on his List. ]

Maybe we were just an especially petty lot, overall. But I don't like the idea of justifying the things I've done wrong and pretending I was in the right when I did them. That's an easy way to lose sight of yourself.

[outsidebones]

Some of them were coerced, even controlled; others learned that it was necessary to ensure everyone came back to life.

[but she gets it, she gets it.]

I will be honest, I don't really care. I don't like cowardly things done in the shadows and I shall always feel a responsibility to stand for those too weak to stand for themselves. But sometimes people do die, and sometimes people need to die. It isn't my intention to pass judgment on the decisions others made, but I do suspect the ones who have gotten comfortable with that mindset are the most dangerous now. If they made peace with murder then, they can make peace with it here, or choose to cover up the crimes committed by their friends.

[ashenvaliant]

[ he tilts his head. ]

I get it. I'm not an advocate for anyone turning out the way I have -- I get my hands dirty for my own reasons, and I don't want to forget that. My reasons are reasons, not justifications. [ ... ] Ideally, we won't have to go that far, but we'll have to keep ourselves alert if we want to avoid become someone else's victim, or caught up in another's death along the way.

... if it's unavoidable, then... we can cross that bridge and figure it out when the time comes. If it gets to that point.

[outsidebones]

[a little crook of a smile.]

I hardly meant you, Yuri. If you wanted to be stupid and murder someone just to get ahead, you would have done it.

[ashenvaliant]

[ he snorts, but it sounds amused. ]

Maybe so.

I wonder what'll happen if there's manipulation at play here. We might end up getting our hands dirty regardless.

[outsidebones]

I don't intend to operate under the assumption we can avoid it, no. But I did become rather stubborn about finding a different way to win last time, so perhaps that will stick.

[ashenvaliant]

IIiiii don't think anything here could take your stubborness away from you. Except maybe innocent looking cakes from the dead.

[outsidebones]

Please don't mention that.

[ashenvaliant]

[ s m i l e s. ]

It's nothing to be ashamed of, lots of you ate the random cake that appeared out of nowhere.

[outsidebones]

That is unfair. Please recall that I was already cursed, and I only ate the cake in the first place because I was cursed. I don't even like cake.

[ashenvaliant]

I feel like you got cursed quite a lot and it's all starting to overlap. [ heh. ]

Well, as long as the kitchen doesn't start serving cake and only cake, you should be fine. We're almost too well taken care of, what with the mysterious kitchen staff that only seem to like Lup and Sheila.

[outsidebones]

I'm sick of curses.

But yes, if they want to eat, they cannot kill us. That's good news.

[ashenvaliant]

... Annnnd now I've just remembered all those weekly effects we had to deal with. Oh boy.

[ yaaaay. ]

Lup said something about a dancing chicken.

[outsidebones]

Mollymauk and Emet-Selch found a skull in the pool.

[ashenvaliant]

[ sigh. ]

‘Course they did. Real skull?

[outsidebones]

If it wasn't, the fake fooled me, which is not easy to do. Human, adult, probably male.

[ashenvaliant]

Lovely.

Well, I’d trust your opinion on bones over my own so… that just means accepting there’s the odd human bone hanging around in this hotel along with the rest of us.