[002] video

[oldestfriend]

A - Morning

[The screen opens up to a calm peaceful scene focused on the window of a hotel room and the.... giant Golurk plush that is seated contemplatively by it. Seriously, this thing is- huge. Enormous. Not as big as the real deal, but larger than most children. And maybe some people in general. It's even wearing a t-shirt depicting a Jigglypuff and a Wigglytuff flexing, with the words WORKIN' MY PUFF INTO TUFF written in bright pink letters.]

[A shiny Absol is napping under one of its arms, with a plush hand resting on its head.]

[Of note: a sketchpad with words in sharpie written on it that has been propped against the Golurk plush.]

I AM BILLY-BOB THE GOLURK.
YASH AND I HAVE COME TO SIGHT-SEE KANTO.
ALSO
HOW WELL WOULD A LONE ABSOL FAIR AGAINST ALL THE GYMS?
WE ARE VERY COMPETITIVE.

[The camera stays focused on the pair for a few moments, just so people can take in the scene and the words written on the sketchpad, before clicking off.]

[Please let Billy-Bob know your answers.]


B - Afternoon

[Later, after she's had a bit of fun, Dee turns on the 'Gear to make her own post to the network. That strangely familiar face pops up again, all smiles as usual, and the background hints she's in some sort of cafe. Has she gotten a pumpkaboo spice latte? Absolutely. They seem all the rage, and she's curious, so sue her.]

[But pumpkaboo spice lattes aren't what she wants to talk about.]

Halloween! Samhain. Dia de los muertos. Zhong Yuan Jie, sometimes. Totensonntag. All Souls Day. Chuseok. I could keep going but then that would just be me showing off.

The point is, this is around the year when a lot of holidays surrounding the dead start to pop up. Probably something about the atmosphere- all that bright green foliage fading away bit by bit, the air getting cold, the night coming sooner... I guess it makes people think about the inevitable.

While Halloween seems like it's just as popular here like in a few other places, do you guys have any plans to celebrate something different? Pay respects to the dead you knew? Although, considering how this place is, that could get a little awkward...

And if you're not in the mood for that- how have you all been doing? I've been prepping for the cold weather the past month. I mean, t-shirts and jeans aren't exactly winter wear, ha ha!

Comments

B [Video]

[cyan_maid]

[Normally, Jane likes to talk to people on the Network. It's interesting to see all the different faces, hear their questions, provide answers, and even see the folks she's gotten familiar with in her short time here. Today, however, when she sees this woman, she can't...put her finger on something, and it troubles her.]

I, ah...hello...I didn't plan on doing anything but celebrate Halloween, but...

[She pauses. It was only right that she answer the question first, before posing any of her own.]

Gosh, uh, I don't want to sound rude or strange, but...have we met somewhere before?

[Video]

[oldestfriend]

[Probably adding a little to Jane’s confusion is the grin that spreads across her face, like seeing an old friend after ages.]

Oh, yeah! But never for long- I’m not surprised you can’t remember me. It’s fine. Personally, I’m just glad we have a chance to really talk now, Jane! You can call me Dee.

[Video]

[cyan_maid]

[Yeah, that definitely adds to it - as well as the use of her name. If they hadn't met for long, and Jane can't remember her, how does she know her name?]

Ah...alright, then. It's nice to properly meet you, Dee. Where exactly have we improperly met before, if you don't mind me asking?

A [Video] SORRY TO SPAM YOU WITH MY MUSES ;A;

[better2do]

[The video catches Asriel laughing, nose crinkled, a Floette with a yellow flower perched behind his ear. It's not a mean laugh in the slightest - it's more happy than anything.]

Howdy, B-Billy Bob...[He breaks into a couple chuckles. Oh boy, it is probably everything about that Golurk that's making him laugh.] My name's Asriel. I dunno, um, about gyms? And what's a Kanto?

NO SHAME

[oldestfriend]

[A good reaction! In response, the next shot has Billy Bob seated better against the window with one leg crossed over the other and the sketchpad in his lap. New words have been written.]

HELLO ASRIEL!
KANTO IS A PLACE! I AM FROM JOHTO AND HAVE NEVER VISITED IT BEFORE.
ARE YOU TRAVELING IN JOHTO?

[better2do]

[This is so cool!]

Yeah, 'm in Johto with Frisk. Frisk's my friend.

[Is he also with his Dad? That has yet to be determined, but let's just say a video of him on the network means he's a lot more comfortable with being visible than before.]

There's lots of stuff here I've never seen before...is Kanto a lot different from Johto?

B

[thatwasours]

Bon's already come and gone--

[and it was a goddamn nightmare, honestly]

--so I'm not planning to do much. But it sounds like things have a tendency to happen on holidays around here.

[oldestfriend]

Yeah, it seems like the powers that be are the festive types, right? At least it makes things predictable! You can’t say that a lot about many other things in life.

[thatwasours]

Isn't there a saying about death and taxes?

B [Video]

[crouching_sin]

[Oh come on, he has no need to celebrate dead souls considering he remembers them, but...]

I enjoy this time of the year. In many places around the world, people go back to their more superstitious roots a bit. And besides... the thinning of the veil between worlds makes it easier to summon things.

[Video]

[oldestfriend]

I think the summoning part will… probably be a little tough to do here. But hey, with this place, how knows, right?

[Video]

[crouching_sin]

Well, yes. Here it is, but at home it was a different story. I'd done a lot of it in recent years...

B [Video]

[thedifferencebetween]

[Oh, well there's a face Jack's pleased to see pop up on his feed. He was just thinking about her, the other day. Considering giving her a call. And look at this, he doesn't even have to!]

Hey there, beautiful! Oh yeah, Halloween used to have all kinds of symbolic meaning and crap. Back home it's pretty much just an excuse to slap orange and black on everything and charge extra for 'seasonal'. And dress up and get drunk and have anonymous sex. But HHB plays all the Truxican Buzzsaw Massacre movies in a row, that's always fun.

I hear they do it up pretty big, on this planet.

[video]

[oldestfriend]

Oh boy, do I have someone in my family who could tell you all about the anonymous Halloween sex.

[Thanks, Desire. Dee doesn’t even have to think twice that Jack and them would get along like a house on fire. Still, it’s said fondly with a small laugh.]

So, are slasher film marathons going to be your bit of holiday fun?

[Private video]

[thedifferencebetween]

Ha, every family's got one!

Maybe they will. I dunno what I'm doing yet. Probably depends on who I end up hanging out with.

Hey, speaking of...

[Jack flips the feed to a private one, because there's more then enough people around here he doesn't want privy to his social life.]

You wanna go out again sometime? Like an actual date?

Look, I'm gonna be totally up front. I'm not looking for or expecting anything serious or major. But you're fun, you're smart, you're gorgeous, I have a hell of a lot of fun with ya...

I don't believe in wasting potential opportunities.

A [video]

[paladinlost]

[Now that is a lovely personal challenge! ...Cecil hopes their trainer is fine with it, though.]

Levels, preparations and the items at your disposal can influence the results, as I'm sure you know, but Dark-types are not particularly disadvantaged against any of Kanto's Gyms. If the Absol in question is strong enough and can endure the length of the matches, defeating them all single-handedly should be possible. The biggest potential problem would be Viridian.

[video]

[oldestfriend]

[The next camera shot has Billy Bob seated at a small table in the room with his big oversized hands clasped. Well. Loosely clasped. He’s a plush, there’s only so much one can do. The sketchpad is propped up using the insides of his elbows now.]

SO ITEMS AND STAMINA ARE KEY!
THANK YOU MY FRIEND.
WHY VIRIDIAN?

B [video]

[kissmyaspis]

A festival dedicating to honoring the dead has come and gone already. When that happened, the ghost-type Pokemon attracted by the celebrations decided to impersonate the dead.

So doing it again? Not a good idea.

[yeah she's uh.... still really sore over all that...]

video]

[oldestfriend]

For Johto, yeah, but we’re not from Johto, right?

[Still smiling, Dee gives an easy roll of her shoulders.]

Some people still want to stick to their own traditions, even when horrible things happen. Hmm… Actually, sometimes especially when horrible things happen. Something familiar in the face of a lot of unfamiliar things.

A; video;

[modulatingphases]

Nice to meet you, Billy-Bob. And hey, I say go for it. You'll never know how far you can get until you try.

[Zack, the world's best cheer leader. Even for over sized pushes.]

video;

[oldestfriend]

[The view snaps on again with Billy Bop leaning up against a wall, arms crossed to hold the sketchpad in place.]

THAT IS A GOOD VIEW TO HAVE.
THANK YOU!
HAVE YOU BATTLED GYMS?

B; video

[fuelthefire]

[Krieg's stared death in the face thousands of times. Usually other people's deaths, typically a result of his guns or his grenades or his axe. He's probably had hundreds of near-death experiences himself, always revived at the very last minute and at great personal expense by the New-U machines littering Pandora. Death, to him, is not a frightening state to be avoided, but a warm embrace to be pursued. It's why he brings a buzzaxe to a gunfight, and why he willingly shields his allies with his own body when the going gets really tough.

He has no idea that this is why the woman on the network looks familiar. It's a strange sensation to see a complete stranger and to find their countenance both familiar and comforting, but to have no idea why. Naturally he's intrigued, because comforting isn't a sensation he experiences very often.

Her question naturally brings both Angel and Roland to mind. He and the other Vault Hunters had killed their killer, and he can't think of a more fitting way to pay respect to someone than that.]

Respects paid, blood for blood, pain screams and open wounds drowned in a symphony of slaughter.

[His voice is a low growl, and more subdued than it usually is when he recounts the glorious moment of Sticking It To The Man, because his thoughts are with the ones who were killed, rather than their killer.]

video

[oldestfriend]

[Psychos are the people who her littlest sister welcomes with open arms, and hair, and whatever she’s decided counts as a body part for that particular moment. However, well… Everyone comes with Death sooner or later, and some brush her hand more often than others.]

[The slight ramble is listened to with clear consideration, and Dee nods.]

An eye for an eye, right? Or I guess that sounds more like a corpse for a corpse. But that’s usually the kind of thing you do once.

[“Usually” being the key word there.]

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[She doesn't directly respond to Billy-Bob's question-- but the fact that she's STILL laughing when she eventually responds to Dee's own video several hours later is probably an indication that she has viewed and enjoyed the plush's public debut.]}

Halloween!

Honestly, we already got shit with the ghosts out of the way.

So that means this Halloween is either going to be some light-hearted frivolity, or something worse. But at the risk of invoking irony's wrath, I really don't think this place can throw anything at us that'll shock me at this point.

[Video]

[oldestfriend]

And you know what that means: costumes.
[Dee leans forward, grin splitting her face.]
I’ve already decided vampire viking for me, what about you?