[EVENT] Memory Tapes

[vrdr_mods]

On the morning of November 21st, denizens in the Velvet Room will awake to a message on their phones or by their bedsides in an envelope. Perhaps even on their computer screens.

Greetings! If you've received this message, then you've been selected as a participant in a new activity to strengthen bonds within this community.

In order to facilitate connections with your fellow residents, we advise you to watch this video. Watch it and return the tape to its rightful owner. If you lacked the means to watch VHS tapes before, we have provided you with the necessary equipment.

Failure to do so may put your own memories at risk. Do not be selfish, lest you find yourself struggling to recall crucial moments of your life. You have no way of knowing which memories have been shared, so ask yourself if it is worth the risk to selfishly hoard another's secrets.

They will soon find a VHS tape, with a case that gives off a soft, blue glow to symbolize its importance. If they lack a TV or VCR, they will find one in their living space.

What they do is up to them, but they should heed the warning, if they value their own memories.


[For links to characters' memories, please see this post in the OOC comm. Have fun!]

Comments

[herewardbound]

"That's not a high bar. You have no idea how abysmally low that bar is. Christ on a stick these people are the worst. And I've seen the peerages, Ren, that is not a family tree that is a briar patch. How I ever managed to run into the two they managed to produce that were somehow functional-"

[willowandoak]

"Yeah?" He tilts his head, interested. "How do you rule Hell badly? Is he not evil enough or something?"

[herewardbound]

"Mostly by spending all of their time plotting to stab each other in the back and never doing any actual ruling."

Inhale. "Anyway, it's not- nobody here's getting a throne. I don't think Paimon knows or cares how many children he has, but he's something like ten thousand years old or some shit and my father's thirty-five. It's a 'the son of a king is a prince whether he's in line for the throne or not' and 'the son of a prince is still a prince'. He has duties, I guess, but my sister's the one who'll inherit those."

[willowandoak]

Ren takes that in for a second in pensive silence. Then he grins.

"A life of idle luxury for Your Royal Highness."

He's having such a good time with this. But the smile fades fast. "I did actually want to talk to you. Not just about how you're a prince."

[herewardbound]

And there it was. "Yeah? What about?"

[willowandoak]

"Goro and I can take Futaba, if you need us to. I spent a lot of time with her one of the times you left, when she stayed with my sister. It wouldn't be like sending her to a stranger."

He doesn't quite look apologetic. But the conversation topic isn't bringing him any joy.

[herewardbound]

"I won't send her away. If she wants me to leave... then I'll leave."

He looked around at the front room. At Sojiro Sakura's house. "This is more her home than it's ever been mine. I have a family to go back to, and she's got people who love her back home. She's... brilliant. She's got a future doing anything she could possibly want and I've... already left that world behind. This was always going to be a temporary situation, and I've dragged it out longer than I ever should have because... because I'm a coward. I couldn't bear to see her hurt."

He leaned back, against the wall. "It's better this way. Maybe by arming her I can... save her mother. Wipe some of the red out of my ledger."

[willowandoak]

"I hope so. I didn't say you should tell her just to fuck with the two of you, you know? I want things to go better for some Futaba, somewhere."

It doesn't occur to him that Phoenix might be wrong about Futaba's reaction. Why would she want to stay with the person who killed any version of her mother? Ren's sister asked him to come back, but that's not the same.

It is true that Ren killed his own Wakaba Isshiki, admittedly, which might not make him the best option. But if Futaba needs a place to stay, isn't helping her more important than telling her how half the people here have killed an Isshiki? What would that do to her, having to ask herself if everyone she meets murdered her mother? This is the kind of thing Ren tells himself, over and over.

"I bet Goro would like living here, in any case," he murmurs. "He wishes he was Futaba's brother. Like, the one back home, not... You don't have to bring us into it, but you can if you need to. That's what I wanted to say."

[herewardbound]

He nodded. "... Thank you, Ren. I'll need a couple days to prepare. I want to... compile a dossier for her. Something she can use. Every name in the Conspiracy I can remember, every person she can trust, everyone who might be able to help. A rough timeline of events so she can have an idea of what they might be doing. Maybe that's too much, but I'm long past the point of caring about causality."

He hesitated, looking across... and stepped into the kitchen. Pulled a pad of stick notes from their place by the fridge and a pen-

"There's one more thing, actually. I've been meaning to give this to people. Put my money where my mouth is. But I said I'd find a way to help, and here it is."

He returned, and held out the paper, offering that. "For you and Frog both."



"That's a Goetic Seal. Draw that in any kind of blood and invoke my name. I'll come when called."

[willowandoak]

Ren blinks down at the paper. His first thought is, What the fuck is that, Picasso could have drawn that. But then the implications sink in.

"Uh. Wow. Thanks." He glances up. "This isn't the kind of thing where you summon a demon and he has to do whatever you say, is it?"

[herewardbound]

"Shouldn't be. We don't have a contract. This is a service freely offered. Though... I'd appreciate a warning beforehand, so you don't pull my ass out of the bath or the bedroom."

[willowandoak]

He visibly relaxes at the confirmation that he's not going to be controlling Phoenix. "I'll do my best," he says dryly, folding the paper and sticking it in his pocket. "If it's a crisis, I might not have time to pull out my phone and send a message."

He hesitates, searching for words. Not too flippant, not too sappy... "Thanks, by the way."

[herewardbound]

He smiled, faintly. "If it's a crisis, I might be able to find it in my heart to forgive you. Given... suitable payment. Good sushi, maybe. A cup of Leblanc's house blend always goes over well. We can say I'm... I don't know. Frog's cousin, or something, if I'm around long enough for a cover story to be a concern."