graveyard part 4

[gamehead]

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.

Comments

[encored]

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.

[speakveryclearly]

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?

[encored]

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.

[speakveryclearly]

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.

[encored]

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.