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[pinballer]

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evening of the 11th

[stairwellshadow]

[ Late in the evening, a piece of black paper is slid under Vance's door. There's no words or signature on it, but there is a crude drawing of a gallows and several blanks in a row: ]



[ Perhaps it's time to play a game. ]

[pinballer]

The fuck?

[ He looks at the paper with some confusion. He does like games, but this is a word game. Ugh. Truly the worst kind. You're basically learning while you play.

But Vance won't turn a challenge down.

He writes on the paper and passes it back. ]

[ I ]

[stairwellshadow]

[ Challenge accepted! ...And failed, apparently. The paper returns with a circle under the gallows. ]

[pinballer]

Really?

[ He scoffs, and scribbles an A this time, returning the paper. ]

[stairwellshadow]

[ As Pat Sajak would say, one A. ]

[croquisbook]

( a painting is left on vance's door...



help omori please

it added please. it was polite just for you vance. )

[pinballer]

[ Well, fuck. This whole thing is pulling him in so many different directions that he doesn't know what to do anymore. The ghosts understand him, but he has real friends here for the first time in...ever. ]

I'll try.

[ That's all he mutters to himself, and he will try. He just hopes there's something he can do that won't screw everyone else over. ]

10/31 before the party

[croquisbook]

( a familiar stuffed animal left has been left out in front of the door... surprise, it's judith! ...looking worse for wear?

as in, she's now lacking a head, an arm, with cotton stuffing pouring out from the openings. loose blue threading sticks out from the side of its neck, where she was once repaired after vance's scuffle with fio almost two months ago. more cotton pokes out of the stomach, appearing as if someone had been cutting at it repeatedly with a knife. a mix of red, blue, and yellow fingerprints are visible all over its synthetic fur.

as for the missing head and arm, it can be found a little further down the hall. like someone just kicked both parts along after they left their "gift" here...

the ghost got that fucking bear for you. hope you like it!!! )

[pinballer]

[ He gathers up all the pieces and stuffs them under his blanket for later. This isn't good, but part of him can appreciate committing teddy bear vengeance and leaving it at his door like a cat with a dead mouse.

...It's still very not good though. ]

early november (during the weed party)

[bubblegumheart]

[At some point during the evening, Chrissy remembers her original plan. She also remembers helping herself to part of a brownie someone handed her and then parking herself in a chair for a while. She's still currently parked, but now she really wants ice cream.

So naturally, the best thing to do is bother someone who isn't even here.]

Heeeey Vancey. I ned your help with somethng important!

It's an emergency
emerge
emrgncy

[pinballer]

what's up chrissy?
are you ok?

[bubblegumheart]

No I'm not okay!

I was going to get ice cream but then I had a brownie and now I can't get ice cream!

[pinballer]

why not
is someone stopping you from getting ice cream
you want me to kick their ass and get you some?

[bubblegumheart]

Nonono.

It's nice that you want to beat someone up for me but I just need you to come get me so I can have ice cream. I'll share the ice cream and you can have some of this brownie too!

forward-dated to December 24th

[inhairently]

[ at some point on the evening of the 24th, if vance returns to his room he will find a small package sitting right outside the door. inside is a rock from the spa with google eyes drawn on in black marker.

attached is a note:

Vance -

I know this present sucks but here's your new pet rock.

Maybe you can throw it at the captain.

Merry Christmas

- Steve ]

[pinballer]

[ Thanks Steve.

He's named it Rocky Balboa and will absolutely throw it at the Captain someday. ]

delivery.

[thefreak]

[ at some point on the evening of december 24th, eddie will push a folded piece of paper underneath vance's door (delivered at the same time as chrissy's). unfolded, it depicts a watercolor drawing of vance, except instead of denim he seems to be head to toe in leather armor, a pair of daggers in his hands. the caption reads:

level 15 tiefling thief.

on the back is a note written in eddie's messy scrawl: ]

vance,
here's to hoping we never have to put those ghostly powers or yours in action
but if we do, i've got your back if you've got mine.
merry christmas,
-em

text, some time after mutiny meeting

[neverleave]

[Clarke was right to say the information can't be lost with them if they ever disappear.

She also said she trusts Vance, and Natsuno trusts her judgment.

Vance is sent a picture of a notebook page as well as a text.]

Those were my best guesses about the captain.
99% sure he's a genie.
If you don't know what it is, watch Aladdin in tauva or get Arabian Nights from the library.

[pinballer]

I've seen I Dream Of Jeannie.
But I doubt that helps us much.
I'll take a look at that other stuff.
Thanks for telling me.

[ Because it does actually mean a lot to him. He has people he loves here but being a part of this mutiny group gives him a purpose beyond wandering aimlessly around while other people do the dirty work.

Genie actually surprises him, though. It's not that he thinks that guess is wrong (he knows very little about genies outside of the aforementioned sitcom), but demon seems like it would be the obvious answer so he's curious about what made Natsuno decide against it. ]

What makes you think genie over demon?

[neverleave]

Demons usually come from hell or another dimension while genies live in the same world as humans. Fits with how the captain was taken from his village by humans.

Also demons don't usually fall in love. He doesn't give a crap about the rest of us but he does care about Skulduggery.

[pinballer]

Gross.

[ The captain falling in love, he means. Every time he thinks about that he shudders. It's like imagining your mean school principal making out with someone. ]

Makes sense I guess.
Has anyone tried wishing for something?

text, february after the carnival

[neverleave]

Ava found the corpse of a previous passenger and used it to summon a spirit in one of the bars.
The spirit ate the corpse, said "play" and disappeared.
I don't know what it means but it can't be good.
Be prepared for chaos.

[pinballer]

oh my god
she never gets to lecture me on anything ever again

[neverleave]

Yeah.
At least when we mess up we're not being hypocrites about it.

[pinballer]

she told me she had a secret she couldn't tell the captain but that's a lot fuckin worse than i expected