marsascending | ic inbox;

Helloooooooo you've reached BARiTONES' Paloma! I'd love to chat with you but I'm away from my phone right now, so leave a message and you'll hear from me soon~

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From:

marsascending

If you think typing on phones provided to us by demons is safer than speaking aloud in a hotel provided by demons, well—I suppose that could be the case. But I think it's a bit silly, if I'm being honest.

It's a little nicer to just talk freely, isn't it? So ask what you want to ask.

From:

420blazeit

[ she looks at the phone and erases and then trashes the note. ] I guess so. [ huffs a small laugh and then tosses the phone back at her jacket. ] If only we weren't in hell completely surrounded by demons. [ she shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath, activating the cameras in her eyes as she opens them. ] But that's where we're at and it's probably not changing anytime soon.

So what, if anything, are you willing to share?

From:

marsascending

I admit I'm curious how you heard that I might be the person to ask.

Friends with the serpent, are you?

From:

420blazeit

I have working relationships with a number of people in power. It all goes back to when I wanted to slit Lady Death's throat and take over her job. Need to have friends in high places if you plan to do something as stupid as that, no~?

Edited Date: September 6th, 2020 10:28 pm (UTC)

From:

marsascending

Oh, that's really quite the goal. Bold of you to be willing to announce that publicly.

From:

420blazeit

I'm no longer interested in the job, but I'm not going to stop until I can kill her. She's hurt too many people I care about, so I'm afraid she sealed her own fate.

From:

marsascending

I was thinking that it didn't seem like the sort of thing that would rest easily upon your shoulders. But still—impressive ambition, nonetheless.

I suppose even Asmodeus himself would find that level of vengeance something to be respected.

From:

420blazeit

...mm, A few people said it'd make me miserable, but it wasn't until my, ah, "Ideal World" that I really realized that was true. Like you'd said earlier, I'm an entertainer, and I'd much rather be in the spotlight than in the shadows.

If only the target wasn't mommy dearest.

So is there anything you can tell me?

From:

marsascending

Suppose I did have something to say—

Well, you'd understand if I wanted some assurances first, right? Who would you pass anything I say onto? And, furthermore, what would be in it for me?

From:

420blazeit

I'd be passing it along to the Liars. I don't think it's unusual for them to be concerned following the murder of one of their hosts, let alone one of their best hosts. All they want is how, what, and why, because they already know the who and where.

What would you want?

From:

marsascending

Not passing it on to our very own Intensity, too?

From:

420blazeit

He's not the one that asked me to look into it. [ so no. ~~maybe.~~ ]

From:

marsascending

That's not a yes or a no, dear. If you're going to lie to me, just do it outright. It's more convincing that way.

From:

420blazeit

Honestly? Depends. If you'd rather keep what we talk about between us, then all you've got to do is say so, because whether I say anything to him will hinge on if he says anything to me.

I know he knows more than he lets on. He's not stupid. Information is a powerful tool~

But really I'm just here at the behest of the Liars.

From:

marsascending

Well, the thing is—I can't compel anything you do without the assistance of a member of Taisho Roman Revolution, and even if I put something like death on the line, you don't seem like the sort who'd shy away from a consequence like that if it meant getting what you wanted.

So tell Intensity whatever you want. Besides, I'm sure the fact that I shot Exael six times is on security camera footage.

Honestly the most surprising thing about that is that it was all it took, really.

From:

420blazeit

[ she chuckles. ] And you've got that right. Death is really just an inconvenience, and the hotel thoroughly tortured me, so if you or anybody else thought they could trump that, well, I'd legit be impressed to see.

If I'm being honest, I'm kind of surprised I'm even being asked to do this, since there were cameras all over the place for the sake of the game. You'd think there'd be footage, but perhaps my ~*~faith~*~ is just being tested. [ she shrugs. ]

[ but she does arch a brow. ] ...me too. [ like, genuinely, she's surprised. ] Even those imp boss monsters took more than a couple of bullets. [ so she quirks her head. ] Did she look... [ purses her lips, trying to find the word. ] ill, because, LBR, I think both of us thought demons were, uh, less squishy.

From:

marsascending

Well, she looked a little frazzled! She'd been working hard, clearly, delivering our fans an exciting time. Didn't even show us any exciting powers...

From:

420blazeit

...come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her use her powers. [ or if she has she can't remember. ] But talk about boring. Not that I'd want her choking you out or anything, but getting to see what she's made of could have been interesting.

So why? Did you guys have a vendetta? Or are you just trying to thin the Liar numbers? Or maybe did you want to send a message? Or were you just taking advantage of the situation you found yourself in. All understandable, really!

From:

marsascending

A game like that, wouldn't anyone feel a little bit like killing the host?

From:

420blazeit

A lot of people like Exael. She's helped us out a couple of times, so, like, I get that she'd been the host, but to kill *her* of all of them..?

From:

marsascending

So, because you think she's helped you, you don't mind that she runs games like that? That she oversees every single iota of your customized suffering, in that place?

It truly must have been a staggering amount of work, setting all that up. What delusions would cause the most exciting drama? The most bloodshed? What new stressors would best drive us toward them?

From:

420blazeit

I never intended to imply she helped me, personally. If I'm being honest I'm not a fan of either side. I don't know about that though. She might run the games, but I get the feeling they come from the top. Does that abstain her from guilt, oh, absolutely not! but I'm just saying.

I'm not so sure running murder house took that much time & effort. We were given a chance of scenery, sure, but the inevitable ghostly mindfuck catalyst still followed the same old formula.

But to sum what you're saying up, you killed her because of the suffering she's made everybody endure?

From:

marsascending

Oh, I think you've made it quite obvious where you fall when it comes to sides.

[ and she reaches out to gently touch the odd little ??tattoo?? across DVa's midsection with one knuckle. ]

And it seems you've yet to get an appreciation for logistics! Recycled or not, do you know how many hands something like that requires, especially when you add catering, live performances and herding crowds? If you're aiming for high places, you have to deal with those sorts of things, you know.

But I digress. Can you guess what the sort of person I hate most in the entirety of existence is, D.Va?

From:

420blazeit

[ smirks. ] In the end I hope to make sure that neither A nor B still stands, but until then I'm afraid I need to make nice with the side that offers the better temp. benefits. [ and she'd been unsuccessful in coaxing any of the people in vengeance hell to cooperate. ]

[ it might look like a tattoo, but it's actually a scar. enjoy the smear of pink blood that probably appears as a result of her touching. ]

... [ nods along with her. ] I don't doubt a lot of hard work went into it, especially when you put it like that, but this isn't the first time they've recycled a game concept. But that's besides the point. [ she looks down at the scar. ] I'm afraid I hadn't gotten a chance to, ah, "enjoy" it, but only because I was and still am living in a permanent state of existential dread.

No, what kind?

From:

From:

marsascending - Date: September 8th, 2020 06:56 am (UTC) - Expand

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an entertaining thing to do would be to replace every instance of “for ritual purposes” in any archeology article with “for funsies”

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