I would always welcome my little cat-eared friend.

[finalbows]

WHO: Rose + (interlopers)
WHERE: Rose Barn
WHEN: Day 18, post BLOOD RAIN


we have a blood rain ward now.

it's on the roof!
it looks like this.

Comments

after he's figured out what the weird sigil on the roof does.

[finalbows]

_{[ angel devil is sitting on the roof, legs crossed and dangling off the edge, and filing his nails while melodically.... reciting a... poem? ]}

You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-wyrms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.

Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence.

Philomele, with melody, sing in our sweet lullaby...

...Hence, away! now all is well:
One aloof stand sent~ti~nel.

Re: after he's figured out what the weird sigil on the roof does.

[catposting]

[ calling up from the lawn, pointedly not looking at the sigil ]

Enjoying yourself?

[ maybe his tail is a little more curled than usual. shoulders a little more stiff than usual. ]

[finalbows]

It's just nice, though, isn't it. Being able to feel a bit more secure in one's domicile. Shall we see if the coins extended their magnanimity to your lofty lair, as well?

Re: after he's figured out what the weird sigil on the roof does.

[pleasantmisery]

[waving up at him]

There you are, Angel Devil! What was that you were singing? A poem?

Re: after he's figured out what the weird sigil on the roof does.

[finalbows]

I was rrrreciting, in fact. ...I don't much care for all the full-bodied bellowing that goes into singing.

_{[ angel devil that's one of the most bullshit things you've said. ]}

It's poetry, yes! From a play. A work of the great Lord Avon, himself. Ahh, a pity I can't share with you the full text! But even if I found it, here, I suspect it'd be contaminated with an abominable amount of woolly witticisms....

_{[ he hasn't been to the new library at this point in timeline, ]}

ALSO, FOUNTAIN

[finalbows]

1/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ guess who slept well for once. who wouldn't, after non-lethally pissing off a baby demon with a prank yesterday?

pointedly ignoring any invisible energy signatures nearby, Blood Fiend tosses his coin into the fountain. ]

Re: 2/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ so hey. you know that 10ft long fur tail Blood Fiend sometimes uses? here's what it really looks like. you hear him call "Good try, Fucile!" at someone offscreen as the fur tail envelopes the redhead on screen, holding him in place.

"I respect him from for not backing down... even before the man who calls himself king of the canine people," says Fountain Fiend, from atop a giant cat.

"Now... let's see if it still works."

feathers gather round Fountain Fiend's hand. they're of a different quality to the tail; Angel Devil may recognize these from a certain dream. the feathers swirl around the redhead, the so-called king of the canine people... ]

Re: 3/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ splash.

the fountain water ripples and erupts into the air, scattering the image and mostly drowning out the next piece of dialog.

"À̛̝̯̖͉̘s̴͖̱̱̭͍͈̐́ ̺̲͉͉͇̽͛͂̋͠o̼͓̘̙̥̪͗ͬ̽͠ͅf̸̘̖͔̤͎͖͍͆̈́ͅ ̨̰̪ͩ̄ͨͯt͍͙̞̯̭̑͢h̸̘͉̹̖͕͔ͤ͗̽i̱͎̮̤͙̙̪̥͐̍͆͒͘s̼̜͎̠̺ͩ̀ ͮͬ́͆͏̺̖̘̘͚̼m͉̩̮̽̔̂͞o̍ͩ͛̎҉̜̫̺̺͓ṃ̱̾͗̚͡e̸͔̪͖͎̬͆̓n̻͕̬͚̗͙ͨ́ͬ́t̴̻͎͂̉͐̓,ͮ͏͙͍̪ͅ ̵͔̥̿͒̍y̴̭̞͎̠̟͙̗͙͛ō̫̰͕̳͆̾ͦ͜ȕ̮̱̣̯̗̳̤̞͋̎͘r̃͏̖̱ ̸̻̦̱͈̯̫̟̯ͨͨͮ͂b̵̠͍̻͙̏̉ͅo̸̮̳̣̹̖̜̝ͤ̏̿́d͎͎̤̮̄̎ͯ͞y̸͓̼̘͙̜̥͒ ̸͓̜̜̰̻͈̖̲͛ͬ̈́̃i̤̭̯͋̅́͜s̴̻̭͙̝̫̩̓̒ͅ ̵͖̘͚̌̿͛ͯǹ҉͚͙oͪ̅̽҉̟̥̟͈̥͓̰ͅw̄̂͋ͧ͏̘͉͍̩̜͕̯ ̫̻̎ͮ͝u̻͔̠͓͕͑͡n̦̻̰̳̝̮̫͆̒ͤ̀d̶̩̱͕̘̝͐è̠̤͍̙͖̖ͭ͢r͖̪̰̜̠̪̭̘̓͟ ͖̝ͧ̎͘m̵̬͓̫̝̩͓̗̟̈́yͧ̐ͣ͏͉ͅ ̴͙̘͎͇̍ͬ̔̇𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕." ]

Re: 4/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

H-huh?! Is this thing broken?

[ Blood Fiend — the real Blood Fiend, standing next to the fountain — leaps back as water splashes his shirt. look at how STARTLED he is. there's NO WAY he has ANYTHING TO DO with the water erupting. ]

Re: 5/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ as the water crashes down, the memory continues. Fountain Fiend is still talking.

"H-" ]

Re: 6/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ SPLASH.

"-i̖̲ͥ̐̚̕t̘̦͕̿͂͜ ̣͚̇͛̈̔͞y̲̣͍̲̯ͨ̈͡ǒ̶̩͓ͅű͕̣̪̼̯̮̪̌̓̃͜r̡̮͙̬͖̗̩̀͒̐ ͉̖͙̜̼̥͕̫ͫ́𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎!!"

the water erupts again, dissolving the image of... the redhead??? swinging his fist at his own face??? ]

Re: 7/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

— Seriously, what's up with the fountain today? Is this because we blasphemed??

[ again, look how BAFFLED Blood Fiend is. he's standing a fair distance away from the fountain now, fuck getting splashed with corpse water. ]

Re: 8/?, replying to myself, open to Rose and mysterious invisible stalkers (iykyk)

[catposting]

[ his declaration of blasphemy almost drowns out the next part.

"L̨̻͓͇̳ͯ̊̉̍o̰̻͓ͮ͊ͦ͢o̙̠ͧ͆ͦ̔͟k͕͈̜͙̆̂̕ ̥̙̄͒ͬ̽͜a͖̮ͭ͂̈͟ͅt̷͇̻͓̾̈́ͅ ̩̪͎̟̫ͪ̄͑̉͘t͈̫̬̭͋͆̌͢h̛͎̟̃ͩ̃͒ͅá̙̪̙̗̘̞͢t̰͕̪̟̑ͮ͐ͣ͜.̝̫̺̎̍͡.̡͎̮̠̳͉̻̣ͤ.̷͖̭̣̲͖̺̹̝ͧ̆̓ ̵̻̣̤̦̝̎͌ȉ̩͙̯͈̲ͭ͐́ͅͅṭ̥̠͚̝ͣͯ̕ ͣ͂ͨ̚҉͖͓̞̪𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜. 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝...! ̶͕̖͔ͦK̭̙͖͍͒͑̏̅͞e̪͔͂̀ẹ̸̰̻͙̖̘̹̳ͪ͆p͕͈̦ͦ͝ ̱͉̖̹͖̠̝͐ͥͧ͡ǎ̱̬̖̥̘͇̌̎̆̕t̸͚̻̫̖̬̝̖̒ͧt͓͈̬͚̦̳ͥ̾͂̄̀a̛͓͎̘ͮͭc̒͂̋҉̘̲̟̫͖͓͖̲k͉͕̥͇̼͊ͬ̕i̷̼̜͈̠̹̗̪̬ͤn̙͚͍̯̐̏͆̎͠g̜̝̘͎̬̉ͥ̑͠ͅ!̴͖̖̰̦̣̟̤̫̀͂" ]

also lemme do this while i'm thinking about fountains / open to whomstever if you wanna

[finalbows]

You better not be a lemon, this time. _{[ if he was more uncouth, he'd bite his coin to check it. ]}

Alright. Here goes. ...Heads.

<sub>[ flips coin high into the air so that it gets some sick air as it spins, and of course, comes down to splash in the water.

The scene is a bizarre, sleepy village lit by sickly blue light. The populace consist of eerily similar blond humanoids in weird skimpy sci-fi-y uniforms, who all have monkey tails. These must be... other 'Genomes.' They mill around aimlessly with blank faces, save for two.

Angel Devil, with his natural red hair and blue eyes, tail out... and absent his feathers, is with a young Genome boy (4, 5?) who looks like all the rest, save for being animate.

The duo are walking the barren, stony bank of a large pool of water, the younger ahead of the older. They're having a discussion about what a 'family' is. Angel Devil lectures in his typical way as if they're an alien concept, when the boy interrupts to ask--

If the two of them are brothers.
A look of shock crosses Angel Devil's face, before he gets (typically, again) argumentative. ]</sub>

If you're going to call the two of US brothers, you might as well say every Genome in Bran Bal is your sibling! And at that point, the word doesn't even matter anymore.

_{[ The kid's confused.
They live together, and ■■■■ looks after him, and they were made by the same man, that sounds JUST like how he'd described an older and younger sibling? ]}

It's hardly the same! You just don't get it. You haven't met any Gaians yet. They're so different from this it'll blow your tiny little mind.

_{[ The kid...
grins. ]}

Okay, big brother. Can we go meet some? I really want to.

<sub>[ his missing-tooth smile is the note upon which the memory wavers away to nothing.



The coin landed on 'tails.'
it dissolves away in the rippling water. ]</sub>

open to anyone who wishes to know about dreamwalking robot eye

[themanofyourdreams]

[Face-Making Devil made it out of that secrets game without any of his secrets getting out. Great! He can keep government secrets easy. Now let's just flip this coin into the fountain that will show a random memory of his that he cannot control in any way...]

You are viewing the memory of Face-Making Devil from his own perspective, in a high-tech office with dozens of monitors, overlooking a sprawling machine, currently with no one sitting on the chairs. Spinel is sitting in a chair sullenly, and there's another woman standing somewhere behind him, but his focus is on a man in a very futuristic-looking lab coat, with acid green accents.

"In a normal dream, the person experiencing the dream cannot remove themselves from it," says the man, explaining patiently, as if he were doing a lecture in a classroom. "Dreams are first-person experiences. However, the circumstances are slightly different during a Psync."

A display appears over the vision of Face-Making Devil's left eye—wait, he has a left eye? It's a pop-up window, showing the image of a person's head with an image of an amphitheater overlaid where the brain would be. An illustrative infographic. Text bubbles appear in additional pop-ups, labeling the image: "AI Sight", "Info", "A Play for the Psyncer".

The man continues speaking, oblivious to these pop-ups partially obscuring his face. "The Psyncer dives into the subject's mind and experiences their subconscious thoughts. But this dream is experienced as an observer, as though you were watching a play. The subject is the author, director, and actor. The Psyncer is merely the audience."

"How does Aiba appear in Somnium?" asks Face-Making Devil as the pop-up images blink out of his vision, the windows closing themselves. A new image appears, of video footage. A translucent, feminine figure with a bizarre outfit and long white hair is running through a surreal amusement park. It's a brief clip played on loop. This too is labeled with additional pop-ups: "AI Sight", "Normal", "Aiba Running".

"Aiba is linked to your brain with an artificial nerve," says the man in the lab coat. "To put it more simply, Aiba is a part of your brain. During Psyncing, your consciousness is sent into the subject's Somnium. Part of Aiba's 'self' is also Psynced. But only a part. Not all of Aiba's functions are transferred into Somnium."

"So that's why Somnium Aiba is so dumb..." quips Face-Making Devil.

"Don't call me dumb!" says a tinny, feminine voice from within his head. She closes the pop-up windows again.

Face-Making Devil ignores the protest. "Hey, Pewter, when we were in Somnium earlier, Aiba was in human form. She's never looked like that before."

"That was Aiba's idea," the man—Pewter, apparently—answers smugly. He seems to take some pride in Aiba's accomplishments.

"What?"

"I thought you would be more pleased," says Aiba from within his head. "I designed it to your taste." A clip of Aiba bending over to observe a torn photograph plays, showing Aiba's humanoid face. It is labeled "Adorable Aiba".

"What part of that was 'my taste'?" Face-Making Devil says this within his own head, not speaking out loud.

"I know everything inside your mind. You don't have to hide it."

Now he talks out loud again: "Pewter, Aiba's broken. She's talking crazy."

[And then, the memory cuts off. Face-Making Devil looks a little lonely as the memory fades away.

And then, abruptly self-conscious of any observers.]

Uh... Whoa, weird...

[strateelgic]

[No memory plays in the fountain this time around, which Pond Fiend had expected to happen at some point. It won't stop his fists from clenching at his sides, or for his good mood to leave him with the same haste that a mood swing usually affects his brother.

He's going to sleep in the salt pool tonight.]

ALSO ALSO, COME TO OUR HAMSTERCOURSE

[finalbows]

it's. a sight to behold.

as soon as you go in you WILL be dunked in water and feel your non-Flock-based powers temporarily disappear.







have fun!

[strateelgic]

1. [In the morning Pond Fiend is going to be in mer form curled up in his saltwater pool for a while just because he can be - and because he slept there all night. His fellow flock members are free to make sure he's alive, convince him to make breakfast, what have you.]

2. [Look who's finally made bread! And he's been getting some flour together for a while so he has enough to make several loaves. (Though one is a gift for Daisy and two are for trade with Daffodil.) There's no butter today, unfortunately, but there's his attempt at apple jam.

Or feel free to make a fish sandwich.]

nearly goddamn noon still counts as morning

[finalbows]

<sub>[ thinks about the fact that normally Pond Fiend is (half) bright eyed and bristly-teethed by this time of day
thinks about the lack of Little Comments^TM when everything went to great googly moogly bullshit yesterday
thinks about truth-serumed admissions of ?fondness?

thinks about genuinely appreciating shadow fiend disturbing his own bird-induced haze for ice cream


sigh fine. he can at least do a signs of life check.

he knocks. sharp raps of his knuckles on the door, one-two-three. he projects his voice hopefully enough to be heard through their thin, 'this is just a damn barn after all' doors. ]</sub>

Pond Fiend? You've not took ill in there, have you...? It's near to noon.

HATE-FUELED LOCK-GRANTING BLOOD RITUAL

[finalbows]

<sub>[ angel devil has already explained to the flock what blossom's quest ritual recipe entails. he suggested waiting til the evening at least to conduct it, though, since the fountain might still be hoppin' with activity earlier than that.

he's the first Rose there, at least so far as he knows. he's sitting waiting on the fountain's rim. ]</sub>

Re: HATE-FUELED LOCK-GRANTING BLOOD RITUAL

[pleasantmisery]

[Shadow Fiend's not sure how much she'll be able to contribute, hate-wise, but she's here.]

I'm beginning to think that Blossom's the one who gives out weird quests...

Re: HATE-FUELED LOCK-GRANTING BLOOD RITUAL

[catposting]

[ he's loungin'. once everyone else has arrived: ]

Anything else we need to know?

Re: HATE-FUELED LOCK-GRANTING BLOOD RITUAL

[themanofyourdreams]

Should we be concerned about buying something using our hate?

[He asks, already taking off his gloves to slice his palms,]

[catnyap]

[Naturally Akuki is present as well, looking more awake than usual thanks to the evening hour of it all.]

…what a waste of perfectly good blood…

[But of course he’ll do it.]