[Room #3]

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourselves in a large, square Japanese-style room. It was likely lovely once, but time and neglect have taken their toll. The screens are crooked and the tatami of the floor has come unwoven in places. The scent of incense hangs in the air, but it does little to mask the pervasive odor of decay. Flickering candles of different heights ring the outskirts of the room, causing your shadows (they are your shadows, certainly?) to dance.

A curtain covers something bulky against one wall. Silk cushions in your team's color have been placed on the floor in front of the curtain, around a makeshift table that looks like it began life as a box of drawers. It's a flat surface, anyway.

The Masked Lady's voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, echoing in your ears and down your spine.

"Central to any scary story are two things: an injustice, and a monster created by that injustice, wouldn't you agree? Otherwise it wouldn't be scary. So, children, tell me about your monster, and how she came to be."

Comments

✿ PART ONE

[dramatispersonae]

"Choose a monster."

The curtain doesn't rise -- it falls, as though the hangings simply cannot support the fabric any longer. It hits the floor with a thwump and a cloud of dust rises.

The dust settles quickly, though, and in any case, it's not enough to conceal the small tiered doll stand that the curtain revealed. The red cloth is faded and stained, and the top level is concealed behind a semi-circle of folding screens. On the lower level, three dolls stand. All are somewhat weathered but still lovely ichimatsu dolls.

The one on the right wears a white kimono with a red obi and necklace of beads.

The one in the middle wears a light blue kimono with a dark blue obi and wears a decorative comb in her hair.

The one the right wears a red kimono with a black obi and holds a small mirror in her hands.

DISCUSSION

[kegare]

Re: DISCUSSION

[puppy_loves]

[already a little uneasy]

A monster, is it...

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

[glancing over the dolls, then Ren]

So she says...She did specify that the monster is meant to be shaped, so we may have the chance to be able to shape our monster into something else, if you would prefer.

Re: DISCUSSION

[puppy_loves]

That'd be an odd horror story.

Which of these do you prefer?

Re: DISCUSSION

[theriverlethe]

[ Acheron says nothing right away, watching the proceedings. ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

...What do you think of the options?

Re: DISCUSSION

[theriverlethe]

[ He glances at the dolls sideways. ]

I have a preference for the one in blue.

ANSWER

[kegare]

Re: ANSWER

[glorious]

[choosing the one in the middle that's dressed in blue!]

✿ PART TWO

[dramatispersonae]

"A child who has lost her family but gained a loving husband. She knows she is not particularly smart or beautiful, but she is thankful for what she has. There are whispers that he spends his time with another, but she will not listen. After all, he personally brings her medicine for the strange illness that has befallen her. Isn't that evidence enough of his love?

How will you destroy her? How will you create a monster?"

DISCUSSION

[kegare]

Re: DISCUSSION

[puppy_loves]

...It sounds to me like the medicine's poison.

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

That...is an unfortunately likely scenario.

Re: DISCUSSION

[theriverlethe]

Yes, and that she would be well enough without him.

ANSWER

[kegare]

Re: ANSWER

[glorious]

The way she's be 'destroyed' is that she learns of her husband's betrayal, and how he's been poisoning her with the supposed medicine that he's been giving her. She'll learn of this by speaking with others around her, including those who have been whispering rumors about her husband's infidelity. She is home sick often and her husband also spend times away, so she would need to occupy herself by making friends around her home -- and in the process she acquires more meaningful bonds to the people all around her and can rely on more than just her husband.

These people are the ones who may realize how suspicious it is that her mystery illness seems to progress despite the medicine, and do investigations of their own. Those who could now be called "friends" would be able to bring up this betrayal to her, and know how best to do so in a way that would have her believe it.

It would shatter her bond with her husband irreparably, but she will not fall and become a monster. In this story, she has a collection of friends she can trust and rely on, that can help her exist without him.

✿ PART ????

[kegare]

"If there are no monsters and no vengeance... then the story is not a scary one at all.

Would you destroy that?"

Re: ✿ PART ????

[puppy_loves]

He was already poisoning her. Is the difference you're looking for that there's no relief from the fear...?

Re: ✿ PART ????

[kegare]

"Perhaps."

Re: ✿ PART ????

[puppy_loves]

I find the idea of this quite frightening by itself, but... I'd like to think that she could still find a support network. Though I imagine she'd have difficulty trusting love after.

Re: ✿ PART ????

[glorious]

The monster was the husband. He's simply a monster whose actions will be exposed and justice can take place as it should. The monster may be destroyed, depending on the laws of their land. Vengeance, perhaps, was also destroyed, in the sense that we replaced it with justice.

I don't think we destroyed the "scary" part though. I think the mere fact that someone so close to you, whom you've placed your absolute trust in, would turn around and betray you so readily is terrifying enough on its own. The 'scary' aspect of the story is there, and I don't think a 'monster' or 'vengeance' will do anything to make it any more frightening.

Re: ✿ PART ????

[kegare]

"You have written me out of the story."

Re: ✿ PART ????

[glorious]

...And what part do you play? Vengeance?

✿ WHAT IS REVEALED

[kegare]

AND THEN...