( text ☀ video )

[gamefaqs]

[So, it's less of a text message and more of a scrawling, for now. Neat and cursive and slightly angled and full of small loops. Such are the downfalls of having to use a chalkboard to communicate. At least she's got a good enough piece of chalk to use.]

Hello, my fellow residents of Mallow Hallow. Forgive me for the sudden interruption.
Allow me to introduce you to a new acquaintance of mine.

[And then a video feed opens, like clockwork. There's nothing quite as succinct as a punctual transition. On screen is a clear shot of Rose's lap, and her bare forearms beneath the draping orange cloth of her robes. Resting against her elbows -- and her crossed knees, and her chest, and her stomach, and everything in between -- is a particular sort of black and purple and green and god-knows-what octopus-looking creature, albeit noticeably smaller.]

This is Herald Bonaparte the II [or, second]. I found him not too long ago, lost amongst the bustling crowds of Astralfield. He appears to be quite fond of me.

[She'd probably be fond of any stranger who plucked her up out of the streets if she were an alien-Eldritch abomination, too.]

Despite whatever fondness I may feel in return, his presence is key for more than just exciting the secret parts of me which find scaled-down recreations of insatiable monsters endearing. As some of you may have noticed, this particular district has something of a habit of entertaining the unusual. This, for instance, is something that I believe to be the work of whatever innocuous powers may hold jurisdiction over our beloved home, though the "how" and "why" elude me.

Creatures resembling those lurking within the confines of one's own mind... perhaps even people, or places, conjured before us without so much as a word of warning; has anyone else found something similar occurring around them? It may be worth looking into.

Comments

video! also i'm sorry for kanbe he's horrible

[digsdeep]

Oh great, it isn't just my luck that weird stuff keeps popping outta nowhere!

Nice...Thing, ki--

[Kanbe's face contorts visibly, and when he speaks next, it's very slowly and somewhat strained. This...Nice thing is hard.]
Young lady. Lots of eyes and touchy bits. Much more interesting than what I got.

[The feed shakes a little as he clumsily moves and tries to not drop or fumble his own chalkboard in the process; impressive considering his hand situation. Eventually, the camera pans along the chains feeding from his shackles to--

is that a riceball


it's a riceball with feeble little arms, reaching out and waving a little]

This keeps changin' on me. It was a doll head when I woke up here first, and now it's just what I was hungry for. ...And it's alive and I can't even eat the thing.

shh never

[gamefaqs]

Thank you. As recompense for having to behold us in all our glory, you need not strain yourself to be so formal. We're not judging here.

[Question one: which is more interesting, a man wearing shackles and not complaining about it, or what seems like a somewhat-sentient riceball?





The riceball, of course.

Probably.

Them's still some damn interesting shackles, though.

As a passing gesture, Rose angles the chalkboard a bit more thoroughly towards herself, so he doesn't have to watch poor Herald wiggle its bits everywhere the entire time. There's amusement on her face moreso than confusion. It's a really cute riceball.]

Have you tried taking a bite?

[digsdeep]

Prison rats like me don't make friends with our normal talk, kid. But if you say so, then I'm not complaining! Just don't get upset if I get a bit rough, right?

[Best not to ask for the story on the shackles, Rose; it's a self-centred, petulant pity party and much less interesting than the rice ball.

...Well, depending on tastes in literature, it could be interesting. Probably. Maybe?


Kanbe's expression shifts from bemused to relieved rather quickly once he's allowed to let up on the 'young lady's and formality, and even moreso when he doesn't have to look too closely at the underside of Herald's tentacles and...whatnot.

That quickly changes to comically exaggerated and completely genuine horror at the suggestion of trying to eat the flailing riceball, though. What a beautiful sight!]

Wait, huh? I'm not eating it while it's still alive, and I don't know if you can kill somethin' that's already cooked--


Why would you say that? What if it's got a clan or something and I go eatin' it and leaving a bunch of little riceballs leaderless?

[bohemianrhapsody]

That's... some acquaintance.

[gamefaqs]

Charming, isn't he?

[bohemianrhapsody]

That's one word for it.

[video] 1/3 i'm sorry

[nationalairheadchampion]

[forgive him if he just...stares at this thing for a moment it's just so cool looking...]

[video] 2/3

[nationalairheadchampion]

[but he snaps out of it soon enough a gives her a faintly abashed looking smile]

Aah, sorry, he's really interesting! I like his name.

[video]

[nationalairheadchampion]

[aaand on to the point of the post. congrats, Rose, you're the first to get a semi-serious Ren.]

I think I've encountered something similar.

[Ren points the camera at the dog-like creature laying next to him on the bed he's sitting on--and taking up most of it, because it looks like it would be at least half the height of a man standing up. When he turns the camera back, he has just the fondest look on his face.]

I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and some of the other units in his deck. ['lately' meaning 'since just a bit before arriving here' but he's not touching on that haha] I didn't really expect to run into any of them here, though. But he was there waiting for me when I went outside this morning.

text; 1/2

[soulfully]

ヾ(´･ω･｀) ohhh your colored font is super duper cutee!! ♡

text;

[soulfully]

[ and then at the speed of light-- ]

∑(;°Д°) wwwhat is that?!!?
a ghost type??
aaaa aaah scary...

[horseshit]

[That text warned him bro.]

So the tldr version of what you said is basically that you're stuck in a messed up dream town which sounds about up your alley.

[Meanwhile in Quest64....

No, addressing the important issue: ]

Put it back Rose we can't afford to take care of it we don't even have a fish tank.

[gamefaqs]

[Good to see you too, bro. Herald waves a tentacle. Gimme the dreamer.]

They live in space, Dave.

video, but text.

[hollowbutnotempty]

*Doll's phone was still somehow set to video, thanks to the latter half of Rose's message being a video feed... even though Doll's replying in text. She'd be able to see, easily enough, exactly why: Doll doesn't even have a mouth.*

*Or eyes, for that matter, technically. It looks like a doll that's hollow inside, though with faintly glowing yellow irises hanging in the darkness visible through the eye-holes of its masklike face. Yes, a doll of some sort just responded... and if she checks the caller ID, it confirms it with "Doll" of all things.*

shadows there?

text.

[gamefaqs]

[Her choice to switch herself to text comes down to two key reasons: one, she doesn't entirely feel like showing off her mix of surprise and intrigue as she's stuck staring at the figure on her screen (??); two, it seems only appropriate to match.

Looks like she'll have some questions of her own.]

Pardon?

[ text ]

[obfuskate]

I can testify to the following occurrences, being a resident of Astralfield myself:

I. The presence of voices and flickering apparitions considerably similar to those of my dreams and past experiences,
II. The sudden overabundance of cups of confectionery I vastly prefer, and finally,
III. Flying miniature hedgehogs screaming in my vicinity.

It doesn't seem like you are the only one.

[ no matter how weird this is... ]

[gamefaqs]

[If only she had her trusty notepad around. Good thing she's not so bad with committing things to memory.]

So it seems.
I can't say I've had the pleasure of an encounter with screaming hedgehogs, though.
You must be quite the favourite.

[voice]

[tipping_scales]

[That was a lot for Robin to take in.]

You were able to conjure that creature up from your mind? That seems rather impossible, but the evidence is right in front of me... and it certainly did not happen when I fell asleep.

What district are you in?

video!

[gamefaqs]

Astralfield. And, yes, that would be an accurate summation of recent events.

[There's likely more to her dreams that have manifested somewhere in the area, but she doesn't quite feel like going on an adventure at the moment. She's got enough evidence as is.]

I take it these occurrences aren't commonplace for other districts?

[genitrix]

I've been avo+iding Astralfield as much as po+ssible. I wo+uldn't want my dreams co+ming true.

[gamefaqs]

Oh? Why is that?

permatext

[tyrians]

woah shit
rose human??
wait
oh my cod is that a horrorterror
thats a glubbin horrorterror

[gamefaqs]

Correct on both counts. It's good to see you.
I'm sure he feels the same.

[Video]

[crackpotcrocker]

GAH! What is that thing?!.. Herald Bonaparthe the II?

No, I haven't. The place I'm in is technological and as much as I, Mr. Crocker like - TECHNOLOGY!

The supernatural is more fascinating, yes and it would appear that each
'distract' of this new world plays by it's own set of physics.

video

[keybearer]

Sheesh, that thing's like Ursula's mutated cousin.

[A beat.]

...No offense. I know better than to judge a book by its cover, anyway.

[He takes a few seconds to process the rest of her words. So this thing... came from a dream? Weird, what isn't weird about this world?]

Can't say I've experienced anything like that in Orlea, though. All the twisted imagery I've dreamed up's locked safe inside my head.

[Except he's probably exaggerating, really.]