[Week 6, Monday: Varian]

[doublecrows]

. . . Hikage-san is unkillable this week.

[THAT'S. HOW HE STARTS THIS??? GOOD JOB, AKECHI. he seems a little disappointed but not devastated]

Our alternatives?

Comments

[alchemenace]

[ oh jeez. okay. ]

... For Heroes, the only one I know is Evan, though he's attached to Waver now. [ ... ] And I know he's a Villain, but there's always Belph. That guy does not trust you at all.

[ does he sound slightly sulky when he says the name belph. no. surely not. ]

[doublecrows]

[oh my god]

[Akechi looks mildly put out when Belph's name comes up]

Oh? Has he been talking about me?

[alchemenace]

He outed his role to me because he was completely certain you would tell me about it.

[ was he wrong? probably not. but. ]

[doublecrows]

[. . . I MEAN. . .]

I suppose I would have, if it had become necessary. But so far, it hadn't been. The only other people I've told about his extra title have been the other Historians.

[alchemenace]

Yeah, he's really interested in knowing who those guys are, for some reason.

[ probably because he knows akechi outed him. anyway. ]

I'm not saying we have to, but I am saying he's already suspicious of you half the time.

[doublecrows]

Imagine that.

[THIS IS AKECHI'S SURPRISED LOOK]

. . . he's useful to me. [but the personal connection there is minimal, even if Belph approached him in an attempt to understand in earlier weeks] But I have no qualms with killing him.

[. . .]

There is, however, something you should know before we do.

[alchemenace]

[ the entire game is suspicious of akechi it's true. anyway, this isn't reassuring at all, wow. ]

I'm not going to like whatever this is, am I?

[doublecrows]

Likely not.

[a small exhale]

[his gaze narrows]

You can't tell anyone this. No one. Understand? If I find out you leaked it, I'll make your life miserable.

[but not OUTRIGHT KILL HIM because. . . villain.]

[alchemenace]

[ ... now both eyebrows are up, and varian raises one arm in a "woah chill" gesture ]

Woah. Okay. Alright. I get it. I won't tell anyone.

[doublecrows]

[relaxes. somewhat]

Natsuo is no longer a villain.

[o. . . oh]

We are down one more villain than what the title list implies.

[alchemenace]

[ ........ oh my god. i mean, varian was debating whether he counted or not every week, but. this is horrible. ]

What... What does he count as, exactly?

[doublecrows]

A Hero.

[ah]

Even if we targeted Belph-san, presuming that nobody else targeted a Villain this week, we'd still have four left. That's cutting it rather close, but we need to trim them down eventually anyway, don't we?

[a shrug!]

Truth be told. . . if we were still targeting Hikage-san, I'd recommend we kill him, anyway. He's rather. . . protective of Hikage-san, after all. And I suspect he'd automatically assume I was involved somehow.

But since we aren't, there's no harm in keeping him alive. Particularly because he's useful.

[alchemenace]

[ varian looks like he just aged ten years. natsuo. was a mistake. he does go: ]

When Sandalphon revived him, he became Snow White. That's it, isn't it?

[ welp. w e l p. ]

Alright. If that's the case, I'd rather not play the numbers game just in case someone else tries to. So... Evan it is.

[ hm. ]

I might as well warn you, his gift is wind powers. He can affect people as well as himself.

[doublecrows]

He never confirmed why the change took place, but yes. He is Snow White.

[WELP. and even at the mention of wind powers, Akechi just smiles]

Duly noted. With my Persona, I should be more than enough of a match for him.

[alchemenace]

[ ... with his what ]

With your ... persona?

[ he knows akechi's personality is bad but ]

[doublecrows]

[wow that's rude]

The monster I can summon from my psyche. As referenced on my tapestry.

[alchemenace]

... But powers from home are... [ ah. ] You wished for it back, didn't you? That's what you used your first objective token on.

[doublecrows]

It's what I used the token I received for successfully killing Soo-Won and getting away with it on, yes.

[ah]

I don't have the full range of abilities I'd have back home, but Loki should be more than enough anyway.

[alchemenace]

[ thats what i get for not writing first token like i wanted to but anywAY ]

... That makes sense too. [ why is akechi so yikes. a n y w a y ] Alright. So long as you know and believe you can handle it.

[doublecrows]

I do.

[confident!!]

With that business taken care of, I'd also like to share with you a bit of information we Historians gleaned from the memory we recalled today.

[alchemenace]

What was it?

[ rapt!! attention!!! ]

[doublecrows]

Hiro Hamada and Yona.

Those are the names of Beauty and the Beast. They were Editors, as you know. And I learned from this memory that even when Editors are voted for execution at trial, even when they are technically culpable of homicide. . .

They will not be executed, nor considered truly "guilty," because their murders were committed at the request of Tiger-san and Dragon-san.

[alchemenace]

[ ...... ]

Oh. That's what "they can't be held responsible" means. They literally can't. But-- is that only if they're actually guilty?

[doublecrows]

I presume so, since Hamada-san in the memory was guilty. By now, I'm sure both of our Editors have completed at least one kill.

[alchemenace]

Dave and Hijikata, at the very least, were two outliers. Do you think anyone else might've been hit?

[doublecrows]

. . . Monika, perhaps. I can't be sure about her, though.

[alchemenace]

We... can't really be sure about any of them. [ because this game sucks at solving murders thanks. ] Still, Monika's death did fit their usual patterns.

[doublecrows]

[something about his gaze grows distant]

I'd like to find out who they are.

[alchemenace]

... That's right. You and Monika were close, weren't you?

[doublecrows]

[yes]

. . .

She and I had a mutual understanding.

[alchemenace]

[ ... hm ... ]

Well, whatever it was, there's a lot of reasons we should look into the loose canons around here.

[ ... what hypocrisy???? ]

[doublecrows]

[AS THOUGH AKECHI IS NOT ALSO A LOOSE CANNON]

I agree. Particularly if we're to be careful about maintaining faction populations.

[alchemenace]

Which they will have hopefully gotten the message about now.

[ hopes and dreams, honestly. ]

[doublecrows]

[THIS THREAD IS HILARIOUS IN HINDSIGHT OH MY GOD]

I would hope that hearing it three times over is enough to pound it into their heads.

[alchemenace]

You'd think so, but the part about killing an entire faction was in the book, yet everyone seemed to have forgotten that one.

[doublecrows]

Possibly because it was too atrocious to even consider? Not that Dragon-san's ending is particularly better. As a matter of fact, hers requires far more casualties than Tiger-san's does.

[alchemenace]

Sure, but one version's casualties are theoretically temporary. I know which one I'd rather have if it's an either or situation.

[ if, because, well, obviously they can still get screwed over, but ]

[doublecrows]

Yes, yes.

[he's fairly certain anyone would prefer the "temporary death" option to the "permanent death" one]

Everyone here is quite dead set on receiving that happy ending.

[alchemenace]

... Are they?

[ he shrugs ]

I still don't think it's completely out of the question for someone to be working towards Tiger's.