R3 Viewing Party!

[grimgrinningghosts]

[It’s another average, but boring morning in the mansion when suddenly voices start coming from Rod’s room again. Thankfully, the room is locked and it appears that he isn’t trapped inside his own body (luckily for everyone it appears that Oswald finished Rod’s new body so that most likely won’t happen again).

However, true to the Hatbox Ghost’s word, it seems like the new round has started and everyone in the Haunted Mansion has a front row seat to watching the torture unfold. This time you are no longer in the comfort of someone who has any idea of how to get them out.

… There sure are a lot of people you might recognize this time around, huh?]

Comments

Week 1

[grimgrinningghosts]

[keyofimagination]

[He dreaded this day from the moment the last game ended. The only bright side to all of this is that Oswald made him a new body made from tank pieces so he didn't have to worry about losing control of his body again. It wasn't the most perfect body ever, but to him it meant the world.

Any amount of happiness he got from that, however, is completely ignored when he sees a certain raccoon on the tv screen.]

Oh.

[His expression is a strange mixture of confusion and annoyance. Yeah he's not having a great time right now.]

[lusito]

[So these are the objects of ridicule this time around for them to watch try not to act like idiots or kill each other. So far, that sure is a talking raccoon, one of the puppets from the movie that kept playing a million times in the hotel, Neku Sakuraba, a cup of coffee getting dropped and smashed onto the floor...

... oh wait, that last one is actually on our side of the screen, because that coffee cup sure did slip out of Joshua's hands when that ginger kid appeared on the screen without any proper warning.]

[keyofimagination]

[Wow Josh this is his room you know.]

It appears... as if they've picked people specifically to hurt us this time around...

[Whether there's any real wait to that he's not entirely sure, but it seems like too much of a coincidence to not consider.]

[tadaishi]

[This is the first time Tadashi's gotten to watch one of the rounds. He made it halfway through the first one and all the way through the second one, so he didn't really need to watch any of those. This time around, he's watching partly out of curiosity and partly because he wants to see if there's anyone he'd recognize. Hopefully not.

There's Mabel--she's definitely Dipper's sister and he feels horrible about her looking for said brother first thing. Stan looks familiar, but there's no one--

Wait. That's not true. There is someone else, and ]

Oh no...nononono...HIRO!

[As if the kid can hear him on the other side of the screen.]

Sometime before spotting his brother

[tadaishi]

[Clearly Joshua sees someone he didn't want to see.]

You okay?

now in the right place

[toogoodforhim]

[Lefou wasn't expecting anyone else from his world to get dragged into this. He wasn't even meaning to watch, just passing by. After all, what had happened to Belle was already the Worst Possible Option, there was no real point in anyone else, right?

Wrong.]

No...

[His voice is so small you'd be forgiven for not hearing it, but anyone who looks at him will see him paler and shaky like he hasn't been since Belle's body was found.

But that sure is his voice coming out of the speaker next to the man's portrait.]

[kindaruledatit]

[Wendy had been trying to fight off the dread for the past few weeks now. However much she tried to brush off, when the new people start to come out of their rooms.

Honestly, when Mabel comes on screen she doesn't even make a sound, but other's are definitely going to notice her jump in her chair. The next two faces are met with stunned silence. Finally, she takes in a breath, runs a hand through her hair...]

He's going to so regret this.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Part of Elsa didn't want to watch all of this unfold a third time. She had nobody left to look out for, and watching the events of the previous round had done nothing but bring up bad memories of what she had been through. But the others were here, and she cared about most of them, so... she'd stay and watch. For their sakes.

She'd been close to Lefou and Wendy as they watched the new group wake up, so Tadashi yelling startles her a bit.]

Tadashi?

[It takes a moment, but the name he yells sinks in, and she looks towards the screen at the boy, at the obvious similarities, and.... oh no.]

That... he's your brother, isn't he?

[tadaishi]

[Elsa won't get an answer right away, and even when she does, Tadashi's addressing the screen more than her as if something might now happen to Hiro if he dares to take his eyes off of him.]

Yeah, he is. I was hoping he wouldn't show up in one of these games...

[lusito]

Of course. When am I ever not?

[... Says the guy who just dropped coffee all over Rod's floor.]

[lusito]

[WE WILL... probably not clean that up honestly, sorry. Despite that momentary very uncool reaction, Joshua has his mask of indifference back up as he flips his hair.]

It would certainly be an efficient way to manipulate us in addition to the people they've captured for their game. [There's a pause, before he speaks again, almost sounding... amused?] Though, to pick Neku for the potential purpose of being used against me is rather brave of them, all things considering.

[keyofimagination]

[Why do all the men in his life end up disappointing him?

Rod looks a little suspicious that Josh looks so indifferent now, but he decides not to press it for the moment.]

I suppose if there's one nice thing about this, is that it's a good motivator to find a way to get them out of there.

[lusito]

[How long have you known us by now Rod? This should come as no surprise here.]

Indeed. Until then, I can only hope that my dearest Neku doesn't get himself into too much trouble without his partner to bail him out this time.

[it's probably a good thing that neku can't hear the things joshua can and will say about him here]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa doesn't blame him for being distracted. Hell, she'd be shocked if he wasn't distracted. If she and Anna had been in different games, rather than the same one, she knows she'd be glued to the screen like he is now.]

... I'm sorry. I... I know how you feel. My sister was with us, when we were first dragged into this sick game.

[She leaves her little group to move over to his side; she doesn't even put a hand on his shoulder, because touching people has still been a problem for her, but she's still there. Where Elsa once did her best to keep her distance from Tadashi after the second group arrived, now... now she's not sure she should leave him alone now.]

[keyofimagination]

[A few hours later you will find Rod cleaning up the coffee and cursing their friendship.

But for now he smiles a tiny bit at that.]

I can only hope, with what little I know about him.

[lusito]

Really? Well that certainly needs to be amended right away: I have so many stories I could share about Neku and our other friends.

[keyofimagination]

I would love to hear stories about your friends, actual-

[... And then that happens.]

... Didn't he die?

[lusito]

[damn there goes my plan to make flirtatious comments about the R3 villain host]

... Well I think that would be obvious, given his current state of being?

[keyofimagination]

Right, that was a painfully obvious statement I made.

[He says as if he said something stupid.]

It's strange that they didn't find someone else for the job. After Ghostave and I, I thought they would have continued to pick hosts who would serve as an ulterior motive.

But Facilier... I guess they no longer need an ulterior motive for a host now.

[tadaishi]

Judging from the coffee...

[Nodding towards said coffee and broken cup.]

[tadaishi]

Anna, right? The redhead with the pigtails?

[They talked once or twice, he recalls that much. Enough for him to remember her name and face. She died fairly soon, but he doesn't recall exactly how.

That's not something to bring up, not right now.]

He's a smart kid and knows how to defend himself if he needs to, but he's still only 14. And I wouldn't put it past him to take a motive to heart, especially if it involves our family.

[defyingfrigidity]

[She just nods at that. Normally if someone were to ask her about Anna, she'd just go off on talking about her little sister and how wonderful she is. But now... now is probably not a good time. She could talk to him about her later; now she's gotta focus on him.]

That's just how it is with younger siblings, isn't it? They can be old enough to take care of themselves, and you know they can, but... they'll always ne your little sibling. You'll always worry.

[Anna was 18 when they were dragged into the mansion, and Elsa still fretted. God, if she'd been younger like Hiro is....]

... Do you think he might attempt something?

[She doesn't sound cautious as she asks that, just worried.]

[lusito]

Perhaps they couldn't get anyone else to agree to working with them?

[lusito]

[...]

It was stale.