gamehead | graveyard part 4

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graveyard

graveyard part 4

hunter's game the graveyard

You wake up in an unfamiliar cabin.

At first, it almost seems like you're in an entirely different place and that everything had been just a dream. The interior of the cabin looks nothing like the run-down, old-timey shacks that you had been living in before. Everything in here is sleek and modern, from the enormous flat-screen TV mounted on the wall to the fridge and mini-bars stocked with all your favorite foods. There aren't any individual rooms in here, just a common area large enough to house everyone comfortably, no matter how many more people join you...and there will be plenty more people joining you before the week is over.

Because if you look outside the window, it quickly becomes clear that not only are you still in Prayer's Pass, but that you are no longer among the realm of the living. Judging from the tombstones directly outside, you're now in what had been the abandoned broken-down cabin in the graveyard. The cabin's not all that changed; the world outside has gone completely grey and everything you see appears to be faded and blurry. The only things that remain sharp and in color are what's inside the cabin, including your fellow ghosts. Occasionally, people who are still alive may enter, but it's clear that what they're seeing is completely different from what you're seeing. The door's unlocked; however, a mysterious force prevents you from stepping beyond the threshold, no matter how hard you may try. After all, this cabin is a cage for the dead - a gilded one, perhaps, but a cage nonetheless.

On the flat-screen TV plays everything that is currently happening in the town. It will shut off once night starts...and something else will appear instead.

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Isn't it just? Let's hope they can figure it. There's no guarantee they'll piece things together after that though, and then the wolves will walk away with a clean victory because that other team is full of bleeding hearts and buffoons. Claiming something like "oh, just wait, wait one more day, maybe another clue will appear!" ["that other team" he can't even affiliate himself with it now. he'd put a hand over his face if his hands weren't currently full of sweets...]

—He's armed with a knife, I suppose. I asked him to carve that for me if both Sayaka and myself died as I didn't have the strength to do it. At any rate, that was all just for dramatic flair. It's Beat's note that has the solid evidence for what little good that's done. My plans were all made based on the idea that I'd have to convince the prey who to lynch, not that I'd have to convince them to go after the wolves in general. [WEARY SIGH]

Oh, I know humans will never stop being infuriating about the whole thing on principle even when their own lives and those of their dear friends are at stake. [PAT ON THE SHOULDER... #INHUMANE PROBLEMS]

During the trial where Syo took Holden hostage, didn't Critter say that sort of weapon wouldn't actually work? So his knife probably can't be used as a weapon to that... point...

Humans will be humans, I suppose. [at least someone here understands...]

Oh, no, the knife is useless. Now that the guns are out of the picture, we're going to be stuck here for longer than I had hoped. [THE TRUE TRAGEDY... he truly looks like he's lamenting this extension. screw the time limits okay he still believes they all lost on day one.]

I'd been assuming that unlocking all the clues meant true third-option victory would become automatic. But if it's contingent on the survivors figuring out the truth, whatever that is...

[Trails

off

considers survivors]

We're fucked, aren't we.

[CRACKS UP. he likes you kanaya you can stay]

Right as rain, you are! Every mistake I've made in this game has come from overestimating my opponents, so I won't assume they'll be able to figure it out even if the last clue literally spells out the answer for them. [and then this happens and wow WOW ARE THEY REALLY GONNA DO THIS]

...You know, it may be better that things haven't gone as I planned. The unpredictability makes for a much better show.

Yes, remember when they almost executed Joshua instead of Bruce because surely they wouldn't have made the mistake of hunting someone who voted for them again, oh no. Both sides are impossible to underestimate is the key lesson here. Maybe that's why Critter thinks it's a good game for humans along with nonhuman accents to play.

[Watching a little more.]

...the doctor is just so self-righteous. I abhor that trait whether it's in a rabbit like him or wolf like Bruce.

So we tear our hair out in frustration every time they make a dimwitted move? Truly, Critter is a master of doling out miserable punishments. [...] That must have been quite a difficult trial for you to watch.

[pointing at the Doctor with a half eaten churro] I actually knew him quite well in Mayfield, you know, so I wasn't surprised to see this behavior. It's why I avoided him here; I knew this would be a game he'd play miserably.

I wish I'd never approached him in the first place but I was taking Ciel's advice. I almost wished I hadn't when I saw you running around trying to figure out whom I would have recognized during the trial. During the trial...

[...

Quieter:]

During the trial, it was before Kyouko had been converted and... and she avenged me after all. I was so proud of that. And I wonder what would have happened instead if I'd lived longer.

You have to watch the advice you take from that woman. [bruce said it himself CIEL IS TOO SHADY. even he and joshua were preparing to shoot her for potentially being the convert...]

I wish you had lived longer. You would have understood the importance of figuring out the mystery without allowing the wolves to simply kill the rest of the rabbits off without any struggle. You would have seen the futility of trying to group abstain or self-vote. [a sigh] What we need now is a person who can prioritize without worrying about bloodying their hands and everyone who could fit that role is dead. ...So was it Bruce, then?

Of course it was Bruce. I fucking voted for him. And for the record [touching the spot on her head where her left horn, the one with the hook, used to be] this was Damian for me "LYING" about Bruce. Sayaka has it now. I trust her with it.

[This topic has gotten her unusually curt and blunt. She skips ahead a little.]

You know what I would have done, if it really got to the point where executing a known hunter isn't what we want? We'd set up a chain - alphabetical, say, so Beat votes for Clara, Clara votes for the Doctor, the Doctor votes for Gundam, and so on - to generate the necessary tie. That way anyone who abstains from this plan is the one who might get punished.

It's got flaws, of course - just like the mass abstention, a noncompliant hunter could also decide the vote instead of a noncooperative prey. That would reveal them for what they are, though. It'd be a way of proving whether or not your goal is only to solve the mystery. It's an idea, anyway. It's not as inane as group abstention. That's just relinquishing responsibility! Clara said HERSELF she wanted to relinquish responsibility!!! I'm so disappointed in her.

[oh, ouch— he had been wondering about her horn but had politely declined to ask about it, so she gets a vaguely sympathetic look at that. he's surprised Damian still has all of his teeth...]

She seems trustworthy. Anyway, it's a shame that you aren't there to guide them properly, but there's nothing we can do for it now. Don't waste your energy getting angry at Clara; her inaction will only damn her in the end, or perhaps the Doctor. We must all pay for the choices that we make, you know?

Maybe. Or maybe she'll just float on till the end of the game... I feel like we were forced to pay for trying and they're rewarded for not. At least Peggy Carter got her due today. I don't understand...

I do trust Sayaka, though. Did you know that early on in our afterlife, we were permitted to watch Sayaka kill Damian because we had been cheering her on so much?

It makes sense, you know? Those who are the most active in anything at all will always draw the most attention. Attention is just what got us killed in this case. [he hums, setting his plate down.]

Oh? My, she truly was a beloved piece in this game, wasn't she? I only spoke with her a few times but I do quite appreciate her personality. It's refreshing. Her pink friend isn't bad, either. [mostly because she actually cared about his death and made him a grave MADOKA AW...]

Yes, back before the plans of your little trio started rolling and the trials were all so farcical, we thought she was the only hope of our winning the game. At one point the two hunters she'd taken down was a better tally than the town had. She's straightforward and focused on justice to the point that she felt genuine guilt realizing what she'd done in her role and doesn't want to come back to life because of that.

And Madoka... every single other platitude recitation rings hollow to me, but when she says there's still hope and a peaceful way out of all this, I believe her.

As good as our efforts were, we certainly don't have the, ah— stage presence of Sayaka. It's rare to come across a human of her nature and caliber. A shame she didn't have more time in the game itself; she undoubtedly would have been able to handle this final situation.

[a thoughtful hum] I can't say I believe something like that, but she's got quite a bit of passion in her, that one.

Yes, Sayaka and Madoka... balance each other out. One firm, the other yielding. We've seen what happened to Madoka, and left to her own devices Sayaka might make the same decision Mondo did, but together...

Madoka has her glove, at least. And I do believe the hunters want to spare her.

Oh, she'll make it through this perfectly fine, I'd imagine. Unless she does something to upset Critter or decides to volunteer herself, I can't see why anyone would think to send her off. [and then hg became everyone loves madoka: the game.]

She's shown more conviction than the rest of these spineless apes even with all of her handicaps, anyway.

She will have to die if the hunters win... But whatever greater good they hope to achieve appears increasingly unlikely now. And the rest of the town recognizes her virtues enough to prevent her from going through with any sufficiently self-sacrificial plan.

It's strange. The way the ex-wolves act make me believe the only lies we preys have been told are ones of omission, about whatever glorious prize accompanies wolf victory, and that none of what Critter says about the prey simply surviving and being able to return home is false. In that case, what do you think would accompany solving the entire mystery before us? An intermediate outcome?

The hunters won't need to win if this stupid bonus round is as important as everyone is making it seem. [he props his chin up] But wouldn't it be something if the clues didn't lead anywhere at all and everyone just died and sacrificed themselves post-mortem for absolutely nothing?

I'd like to think that the solved mystery would be the key to beating Critter but I can't say something that optimistic with one-hundred percent genuine belief. You'll have to speak to Joshua if you want that - we've decided to divide pessimism and optimism between us and the former is my duty. If I were to be optimistic, however, I'd like to believe that solving the mystery would be hitting a reset button.

A reset button. [Hmmmmmm.] These games tend to have those too. It doesn't necessarily guarantee the end of the game, just... better conditions for the next round. Those could have a steep price - and I'm not talking about the one we've paid to bring it about.

The clues could just all be poppycock, though. I'm not going to let myself think that. We've come too far in this, you see, I'd rather not spend my last twenty-four hours in complete despair.

The price has been steep so far, anyway. [he laces his fingers together and props his chin up.] I'm hoping for a more thorough reset button than that, though. Something that would prevent us from coming here in the first place - maybe prevent anyone, past present or future, from making that mistake.

[and then he just kind of laughs because CLEARLY this situation is hilarious yes] I believe I've enough pessimism for everyone in this cabin.

[don't mind him cutting in here to join the bitchfest about absolutely everyone]

I still can't believe that none of the hunters voted for me that day. I really can't decide which side came off worse during that trial.

I suppose they thought it would make themselves look suspicious... it's ironic, though.

They only needed two more votes, and they could have easily lied their way out of it. It's not like anyone suspected the people who voted for me afterwards anyway, and better to take a minor risk to eliminate a prey who's a threat. Their greatest advantage was the fact that they could work as a team and sacrifice each other for the greater victory, and they squandered it worrying about their own individual survivals. [wow he actually sounds kind of bitter about not being executed for some weird reason, probably because being shot would have been way better than being crucified]

[Joshua Batman got shot because he hates guns, come on, don't be a hater.]

There's a lot of squandering that went on in this game. Ema Skye being the deerhound instead of Rapunzel, for instance...

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graveyard part 4

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