un: Eve 🔪; video

[wroughtandtempered]

[ the video opens to a large, serpentine beast with a wolf's pointed ears pulling back from the camera, having apparently started the recording via booping the phone's screen with her snoot. she flicks out a forked black tongue once, then lays her head down on her paws and says slowly: ]

What do you do when you feel like garbage, and you can't do anything to fix why? When you've just got to wait it out.

...I don't know how long I'm going to be waiting, so. The more ideas the better.

[ a beat, and then she adds: ]

Thanks.

[ —before reaching out to tap the phone again, this time with a paw. animal lovers, enjoy that brief full-screen shot of pink snakewolf toebeans before the feed cuts. ]

Comments

un: happyaround

[roundandaround]

Oh... [Rinku hesitates and fidgets with her headphones.] I dunno. I try not to think about sad stuff too much, or I just distract myself by eating or going to do something fun. But I guess it's important to deal with the sad thing too. You probably already have been, since you said you couldn't fix it right away...

[She sighs and screws up her face to think.]

Maybe if the stuff you like to do feels bad, try something you don't like? Some people watch bad movies when they're sad, after all!

Re: un: happyaround

[wroughtandtempered]

[ Eve's face is snakey enough to be pretty inexpressive, but there's a hint of something like a smile in the way her ears flick forward and her eyes crinkle at the corners. it's brief, though. ]

I've already got a shitty movie night planned. ...I don't know if there's a lot of other bad shit that wouldn't just be bad bad, though.

...you're right about stuff I like to do not working, though. Half the shit I usually do for fun just makes me want to go take a nap even thinking about it right now.

[roundandaround]

[Rinku's shoulders slump.]

Maybe it's because you're sad, so your brain doesn't wanna make fun things also feel sad... I dunno. I don't really know anything about how people think, Eve-chan. I wish I did.

[She sighs and pokes at a set of scabs on her lower arm.]

Why's everything getting worse all of a sudden? More people are getting hurt and weird stuff's happening in town and all the monsters are on the move because stronger ones came in... Ellipsa's always been happy. I wanna help however I can.

[wroughtandtempered]

—don't poke at that, it won't heal cleanly.

[ ...wow, she really just straight-up channeled her dad for a moment there. Eve flattens her ears out to the sides in embarrassment, before rotating them back. ]

...has it really been that bad? It's been... kind of shitty for my family lately. But I thought that it was just us.

[roundandaround]

[Chided, Rinku shrinks a little.]

I dunno, the monster migrations aren't you guys. But that sounds terrible! I don't know why anything bad's happening. I just know it's been more dangerous in the segments, and also MK-san got me to help him go to a bunch of game stores and find if anything had curses on them? And sometimes I actually found some.

[wroughtandtempered]

[

MENTAL ALARM BELLS GOING OFF ]

Oh, fuck— are you okay? The games— that's part of the shit that happened to us? A bunch of us got grabbed by one, so... MK was probably trying to make sure nobody else did.

un: phosphorus; voice-to-text and vice versa

[daturameloxia]

Would you like to help me blow things up? It has become deeply satisfying.

I promise it's only bottles.

[For now.]

un: Eve 🔪; switching to text as well

[wroughtandtempered]

oh fuck yeah sure
I bet we could get some cheap ceramics or something too

do you have extra eye protection or should I bug Donnie

Re: un: Eve 🔪; switching to text as well

[daturameloxia]

I've some new explosives I need to test. They're already in bottles. We only need to hit them from a distance with coins.

Don't tell Donnie.

Or Wash.

AND NOW LOCKED/PRIVATED

[wroughtandtempered]

oh
heads up the previous texts were public
I've locked it now but hopefully they won't look

[ ...this is maybe a bad idea, but. explosions. ]

I'd still like eye protection because I am paranoid as fuck
but I can pick up my own then
where are we doing it
?

Re: AND NOW LOCKED/PRIVATED

[daturameloxia]

[And where there would be an apology, some kind of self-deprecating statement, there is nothing, only Wylan continuing on.]

Apparently I've an apartment in Blossomcrown since I arrived here, but never knew of it. Makes for an incredible experimenting space. The loft has room for a lab and the main floor for experimenting.

[And allows him to skirt the robo-arms time limit. What a great idea for everyone.]

un: kantera, video

[happydreamed]

Typically? I find someone who feels as bad as I do and spend my energy trying to help them feel better so I don't have to dwell on my own emotions. -That or stress bake. Something that feels productive.

Re: un: kantera, video

[wroughtandtempered]

[ sometime after Eve's initial video she was apparently joined by a small Snivy, which is currently flopped into the crook of her foreleg and getting licked on the head. she pauses in the middle of Applying Kisses to reply. ]

That's about the most you thing you could've said... I've got stress baking covered, I think.

[happydreamed]

I can't promise 'tis the healthiest of coping mechanisms, but it has gotten me this far.

And who's this?

[small, cute,]

[wroughtandtempered]

Well, it's maybe more than I've got.

[ chrrrUP, says the Snivy, as it leans forward to squint at the phone's screen. ]

This is Mint. He's babysitting me, because apparently I am too sad and that's just not fucking allowed.

[ there is a squeak of agreement. ]

[happydreamed]

Is that so? 'Tis important work, but he seems to be doing a fine job already.

UN: MonkieMan | Video | Locked to Eve

[noodleboi]

Usually I try not to think about it and distract myself. Not sure it's the best thing but it's what used to work for me. Sometimes. Guess it still does. Sometimes.

[wroughtandtempered]

[ in her next reply she's been joined by a small Snivy flopped over her foreleg; she's slowly licking the top of its head. ]

I'm trying, but... there's only so much distraction I can manage. And some of the shit I'd normally do just reminds me—

[ a beat, then she says: ]

Reminds me Choco's gone. Sorry. Let me know if you don't want me to talk about her.

[noodleboi]

[His face falls into a sad look.]

It's okay. You can talk about her. She's important to you and I'm good with it. Yeah. That is really hard to distract from.

What do you want to do? Like, with everything going on, if I ask what you want or need to do right now, what comes to mind?

[wroughtandtempered]

[ her ears flick foward a little, tentative. it's good that it's not a sore subject for MK, at least. ]

That's... a really fucking good question, actually.

[ she means it; that's way more insightful than she's been, lately. ]

...first thought is... denning up somewhere. I... really kind of want quiet after all the shit that's happened. [ a sigh ] But of course too much quiet's bad.

[noodleboi]

[He smiles a little. Glad he had a good idea.]

Okay. So peace and quiet but not too much quiet. Do you like music? You could den up with a nice soundtrack or a radio and just turn it down low. And you take your phone so you can tell people and talk to them while you got a nice space for yourself.

video un: mithra

[libriomancy]

[ Mithra's video shows him sitting by the window in his library his fluffy tail wrapped around him, his horns out in full display, as he holds a book in his hands. ]

I-I, um, usually read a-a really good book. It helps...keep my mind busy and-and it also helps to have something to talk about with other people too. But also t-talking about what's bothering you is always important too.

Re: video un: mithra

[wroughtandtempered]

...I've been trying books, but... fuck.

[ and then a wince at her language. she usually doesn't bother watching it, but Mithra's seemed like the sort of person not to swear around. ]

—sorry. Uh— part of what's going on right now is my concentration's pretty shot. I keep spacing out in the middle of things.

[libriomancy]

Oh! I-I understand. I'm sorry that you're-you're hurting so much E-Eve. M-Maybe you should, um, try going for a walk or d-doing something that doesn't require a lot of concentration. Like p-playing those video game things in the arcade! They're pretty mindless and-and they look fun. [ His tail sways as he hums to himself. ]

Oh! Or you could practice your magic or-or just talk to people about it! I-I'm a good listener if you want someone to just talk to. Maybe there's a potion or something you could take that helps you concentrate? But if it's because of-of an underlying issue, I think talking about it might help.

[wroughtandtempered]

I'm unfortunately pretty sh— bad at videogames. One of my housemates hooked me up with one I'm okay at, but...

[ she huffs a laugh and shakes her head ]

...Magic... might be a good idea, though. It... I haven't touched it much— it kind of weirds me out? But I need to stop making excuses about that when it's why we're even here.

The concentration thing is... it's definitely an "underlying issue," so a potion might make things worse. [ she hesitates a little, but... he did offer to listen, so... ] ...I got cursed, basically? The short version is it messed up my head pretty badly, and the damage can't be healed right away. And I don't know how it'd react to more magic.