mallowhallow | Rehearsal 1: [Text, from Astralfield]

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Rehearsal 1: [Text, from Astralfield]

[The text is written in long, loopy handwriting, and displays as a dark blue -- the color of the chalk he's using. Victor's not even close to figuring out the video function yet.]

I -- I don't even know what I'm doing. . . Apparently this chalkboard can be used to talk to other people? Like letters, only more -- instant? Oh dear, I'm so confused. . .

Is there anyone out there who can explain this to me? All I know is that I was in my room, preparing to draw, when suddenly I blacked out and then. . .

[And he just can't help asking the question that's been on his mind since he first woke up here.]

Is this Wonderland?

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[He listens intently, a little confused at first. On his planet they didn't have ceremonies like weddings. But as soon as he reached the part about the branches you could see the anticipation in his eyes. And then he read about the corpse bride. He sat up straight, hand going to the other side of the phone as he read on. In that moment you could easily see the youth behind the blank dead eyes and skeleton motif. He waited for more with baited breath, and if you listened closely you could nearly hear a soft purring.]

That's me! Are you figuring out your device yet?

[Yeah, Victor can see how interested he is -- and it is such a nice change from being told he's insane. He continues his narrative with vigor.]

I was scared of her at first, but as time went on -- well, she was just so nice to me. All of them were, really. You wouldn't think people who were rotting corpses and skeletons would be nicer than the living, but. . .

And it's so colorful down there too! So many bright reds and purples and blues. . . Everything's a little off-kilter, and rather macabre, but it's all so strangely welcoming too. I felt more at home down there than I ever did in my actual home. Which I suppose is a bit sad if you think about it, but -- well.

Good to meet you in person. And I'm trying. . .

[He turns it over in his hands.]

At least I can communicate with people, I suppose.

Don't worry! You'll get the hang of it. What have you found yet?

Well, I know how to send text, obviously. . .and I've seen how the moving pictures work with others. . . Still figuring out how to do it properly with myself, though.

[He feels a little embarrassed calling it "moving pictures" -- he's sure it has a proper name, but being from the 1870s puts him at a disadvantage.]

[His shoulders shook as he read about the dead being nicer then the living. It really was true in the end. He gives a perplexed look at the text, wondering what Victor was going to say before he switched topic.]

[He read on, gleefully. This place really did sound amazing. He wishes he could have been there, and met those people. He shakes his head in the end, it wasn't sad, and gives him an understanding look. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that he too felt more comfortable around the dead then the living. But things changed after he became a part of it.]

[green letters start appearing on his 'chalkboard' on answer]

Don't worry, we were all really confused at first... [She's still trying to figure out how to use her 'scroll' properly to talk with people] And- I don't know? Does it look like a wonderland to you?

[Victor notices the perplexed look and sighs.]

My hometown isn't the most welcoming, let's say.

[He and Burtonsville have "issues" with each other lately -- which is probably why he appreciates that understanding look so much. This fellow gets it. For different reasons to be sure, but he gets it. And that's something that's been lacking from Victor's life for a long time.]

I didn't end up staying, as you might have guessed, but it was a good visit nonetheless. And I managed to help Emily -- my corpse bride -- avenge her murder, as well as keep said murderer from hurting anyone else. The man she loved killed her after convincing her to elope with him and steal gold and jewels from her father. Would you believe the same man showed up at my rehearsal with my living bride, and stepped in to marry her when I disappeared?

[Alice has said it sounds like a penny dreadful, and Victor has to agree. Weird coincidence indeed!]

[Hooray for fellow confused people!]

How long have you been here, then?

And -- well. Chalkboards that let you talk to people, a district of dreams, another of pillows. . . If it's not Wonderland, it could be its next-door neighbor.

[Kurloz could also understand being ostracized from society due to differences. The trolls around his own home tended to keep their distance due to his peculiar tastes and rare bloodline.]

[He tilted his head and glanced up at the camera, a question as to why he didn't stick around. But soon enough he was back to reading, eyebrows lifting when he read about the murder and then shaking his head slightly as he read about the man stepping in.]

[After finishing he started to text him.]

[Text]

THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL FATE, MOTHER FUCKER.

Huh? You mean like the video? I can help you with that! See, you do this... *She demonstrates starting it up without actually posting.*

[Victor waits until he's done reading to answer the questioning look.]

Staying would have meant dying -- and while, after a while in her company and hearing that my living bride was marrying another (under duress, but I didn't know that at the time), I was willing to do that, Emily didn't think it right for me to give up my life. She saw Victoria -- the living bride -- watching our near-wedding Above, and didn't want to hurt her the same way she'd been hurt.

Fate is baffling sometimes -- but I'm glad he was there. Emily finally got to confront him, and the idiot killed himself drinking the poisoned wine meant for me.

[Victor watches intently, nodding as she demonstrates.]

Oh, so that's the button you push -- and that means it's capturing the picture, right?

Uh-huh. Your world must be really different.

Yes, very. We don't have anything like this at home.

[Pause.]

Well, we have chalkboards, just -- not ones that can somehow capture moving images. And if you wish to send someone a message, you write a letter and wait for it to arrive. Not that I dislike this curious "instantaneous" version. . .

It's sort of like what we have in the human world back home, but different, too.

The human world?

[You have Victor's attention.]

What other worlds do you know?

[He read on silently, another question forming in his mind but he kept it to himself until the end. He smiled when he learned the fate of the man, Karma can certainly be a bitch.]

GUY FUCKING GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM. BUT BROTHER, I GOTTA ASK...WHAT IS A "WEDDING"?

Well, there's Makai, where the demons live, and Heaven, where the angels live. Have you been to other ones?

Ah -- yes. I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Land of the Dead. . .

Not yet.

[It certainly can be.]

Oh, I totally agree.

[Victor's a little surprised, but -- well. Different worlds. . .]

It's when two people join together to live the rest of their lives together. Usually because they love each other, although my parents arranged my marriage to Victoria purely for monetary and social reasons -- the Everglots needed access to our fortune, and my parents wanted the prestige of being in-laws to a lord and lady.

[Okay, that gets a little laugh.]

It's part of the afterlife in my world. Heaven's supposed to be part of it too, but -- I assume it works differently where you live.

[Ah yes, royal bloodlines. You can't see it Victor, but he's certainly rolling his eyes right now.]

PUTTING SIGNIFICANCE TO "ROYAL" BLOODLINES IS THE MOST MORONIC MOTHER FUCKING THING I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF DEALING WITH.

[He glances through the message again.]

DID YOU LIKE THEM?:o(

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