(10/14) video; un: undeadbeat

[necrolord]

[ It's John again, only a day after the last post. Those familiar with the format might recognize the bit: he sits on a couch facing the camera, hands clasped over his knees, looking somber. It's very canceled-youtuber-apology of him. Atop his head is a slim crown of pale fern fronds.

He opens with: ]

I lost a bet.

[ Hilarious, right? But he goes on, more intently: ]

My last announcement was not, you know, universally popular. Let's clear up a few things. First: I did not kill Kiriona, and I'm a little offended by the implication. We had a rocky start, sure, I was never around... But, to be fair, I didn't know she existed and I never met her mom. If you think your family tree is a nightmare, hah, don't even ask about ours.

[ This is already off to a wild start, but he seems to only be warming up. John drums his fingers on his knuckles and considers his next words, looking more serious than the network has ever seen him. ]

She died before I met her, and there were extenuating circumstances— even from a necromantic standpoint, this was a remarkably weird case— that allowed me to place her soul back in her body. She's not alive, in the traditional sense. That's not something I can hand out willy-nilly, back home. Resurrection's a lot pricier than we have it here locally.

[ He cracks a smile to the camera, wry and humorless. ] I get how it looks. And an existence like hers isn't, you know, everybody's cup of tea. She's— no offense, kiddo— an undead nightmare who can tear through my enemies like tissue paper.

But, I mean. Like father, like daughter, right?

[ His smile twists grimly, and he leans in. ]

Don't get me wrong: my heart beats. My lungs breathe. But that's mostly habit, at this point... Squid rules notwithstanding, you could drop a nuke and I'd get up and keep walking. Ask me how I know.

[ There is a moment's silence, a slow exhale. John leans back and runs a fidgety hand back through his hair, which knocks his fern crown askew. He doesn't seem to notice. ]

What I did to Kiriona was not meant as cruelty. As selfishness, maybe... What dad doesn't want to have something in common with his kid? Sometimes a secret long-lost daughter drops in your lap and it's like: shit, let's be monsters.

[ He huffs out a breath, clasps his hands again. ]

Now, speaking of monsters, all this may have kicked off an argument with another dead guy. But nobody got hurt. I mean, except me, and I think the consensus is that I was being a dick and probably deserved it. Still, my apologies to anyone who got caught up in the Beast fight... or, Beasts plural. Seriously, we worked it out. No casualties.

[ The wry smile drops away, and for a moment he says nothing more. There is a breath of silence. He seems to be rallying to say something carefully, chewing over each word: ]

I am never going to love this, this world where bigger cosmic assholes treat us like dress-up dolls. I get what we're doing here: I hear you loud and clear on the 'come on, John, turn over a new leaf' stuff. This is me playing softball. This is me making nice. I know when I'm outgunned, and I know who I want at my side.

[ He lets this hang for a moment, and then says: ]

Here's to Big Bird for kicking my ass about it. [ Exhaustion tightens the creases around his eyes. ] And to Kiriona for being worth the fight.

[ There: it's said. John slaps his hands on his knees, like: Well! That's done. It's a moment before real amusement starts to creep back in, the grin threatening at the corners of his mouth. He raises a hand, grave and slow, to display a thumbs-up. ]

And don't forget to like— [ and subscribe, he doesn't finish, because the feed cuts out. ]

Comments

text; un: grollschwert

[hauntedsavior]

[anna spends a long time staring at this. watching and rewatching the video. her chest feels as empty as gi—kiriona's, and twice as volatile. she may as well be honest about that.]

I don't even know what to say to you anymore, John.

[necrolord]

[ He doesn't reply for a while. Then: ]

Popular options seem to include commentary on my parenting style. Which, you know, is fair. There have been ups and downs. It's never a great sign when you have to declare lack of malicious intent.



It's been six months, for us. Might take a bit to settle in.

un: GoldenFlowers, text, private

[the_obedient_servant]

Could be worse. You could have turned her into a flower.

She has a soul then? Why is she so empty?

[necrolord]

Worryingly specific. I'll make a note not to do that one.

Empty's pretty harsh. It's been a tough couple months, from our perspective. I think it's a reasonable attitude.

un: enpawnsant

[hearthebell]

I've seen the way you love and the way you hate.

I barely pity both of them.

1/2

[necrolord]

[ He ignores this, and feels everyone should give him a fucking award for it. ]

[necrolord]

[ Some time later, seething at comments on the internet: nope here we go ]

Apparently you've seen a lot of how I love.

I'm flattered, but it's getting kind of weird.

text; un: littlebird

[dohaeris]

[sansa has told only one person about this nickname and she really doubts he's told anyone. hopefully nobody's come across it in a memory book; the drama of it is too good for littlefinger's best student to resist.]

In her video last July she told us all you had called for human sacrifices and that she was to be one of them.

Do you deny responsibility for the circumstances surrounding her death?

[would you be willing to testify to that in court]

[necrolord]

Now that's an exaggeration. Human sacrifices, yes. I'll own up to that one. But I never threw her in the meat grinder on purpose - which is probably sadder, I know.

The boat trip was my bright idea. That death is on my head.

text; un: tabris

[peripheries]

Empty men only speak empty words.

[necrolord]

[ He looks at this for a long time, and keeps coming back to it, again and again.

He can think of nothing to say back. ]

video;

[bolstafir]

[So here's the thing; Qrow of all people can't immediately discredit the notion that he and Gideon have, in fact, patched things up. Whatever is complicated between them, he never learned the details, but he has had a complicated reconciliation of his own.

But there's one part that does bug him, and Oscar's connection to this guy means that this guy's nonsense is lowkey his business these days, so:]

So what's with the new name? Did she ask for it?

[necrolord]

We have our own ways of honoring a rebirth, in the Empire. This is one of them.

[ That's a no. ]

text post; anon

[xiaoxiuya]

...
I like your shoelaces.

[necrolord]

[ He has to put the Omni down, for a while. When he comes back, the response doesn't match any of his others; he's dropped capitalization like a man sinking back into his native language. ]

let me tell you: no one's ever seen a weirder heist

you would not believe the things secret service let slide just to get me out of their hair

[cryptograms]

[ John is near the top of the long list of people Ford knows better than to engage with, so of course he can't not engage with him when he says something interesting. ]

Do you think that's why we were brought here? Turning over a new leaf?

[ He at least sounds curious instead of scornful or condescending... but he's also the sort of person where curiosity could easily be read as both or either. ]

[necrolord]

[ He knows Ford well enough to read the real fascination in it, whatever else may come. ]

You want to know what fun bonding activities we had on the schedule, my first week? A blood ritual to release the past. All your regrets put on rotting display. Shows of power by the Pthumerians over anybody— tossing us into the ring like we're stray dogs for a fight.

Every month it's some fun new twist on the same game. Confess your sins, repent, be reborn.

[ Dryly: ] I've got enough religion already.

Video | 1stStrike

[strikefirster]

[Johnny actually appears to look more serious and somber than he has on during any previous showing. This hits very close to home for him.]

Look asshole.

I get being a shit dad. If there's one thing in the world here I know what that's about. But you've shown your ass when it comes to kids around here.

I'm not about to stand between you and your daughter here. That's not my place and I've got no right to do that.

I do however, want to see if you've got what it takes to stand up and fight for her. Protect her, and do what's fucking best for her when the time comes.

So if you aren't too worn out from the bird, the challenge still stands.

[necrolord]

[ This, from Johnny 'spraypaint dick on the wall' Lawrence, is nearly poetry. It's genuinely decent. He doesn't respect it.

God says, in the flattest of tones: ]

Come at me, bro.

[ He has already agreed to accept this smaller, stupider fight. He's already doomed to embarrass the both of them with this totally unnecessary show. ]

Set your terms. Or take the deal I gave the bird, if you want to keep it simple: anything you can throw at me, and I'll just bring a bone.

text | un: sds

[fogsong]

I know everyone here wants to talk about your shitty parenting and dead daughter but I want to focus on the nuke thing.

Tell me about the nuke thing.

[necrolord]

Everyone always wants to talk about the nuke thing. I try to have one conversation and it's always 'crimes against humanity' this and 'extinction of whole civilizations' that.

The world ended. It wasn't great.

[Video][UN:A_Wesker013]

[subject_013]

[Well, it's the coldly cocky fellow who ended up in the body of a different version of himself during the July debacle, staring into the device, his face stolid as if trying to hide his irritation. Then his pale eyebrows quirk in a 'what am I hearing?' manner.]

...I'm not going to ask as to how you 'never met her mom'. I can imagine at least one scenario, which one could argue constitutes some form of organ theft. [He glances away as though processing it, then looks back to the device.]

No judgement from me, as to - pardon the oversimplification - resurrecting your daughter. I'm somewhat between undead and dead myself, though considering that actual zombies are a possibility in my world of origin, I wouldn't be as crass as everyone else has been, by using the zed-word. There are these things called 'nuances' which people need to consider. The word 'revenant' might work, though people need to become more aware of it and use it.

this is ancient, feel free to consider it an endtag!

[necrolord]

See? That's the spirit. 'Revenant' has its own meaning where we're from, and it doesn't quite get the whole picture in this case, but we're on the right track.

Not everyone in town has a standard relationship with life and death. You'd figure more open minds, locally.

[Video] un: QueenCobra

[abornfighter]

The Pthumerians and all the stupid shit that happens with our blood powers every month are a pain in the ass. I'm glad you're trying to work things out. Let me know if you want some more art supplies.

[necrolord]

Glad I've got someone in my corner. When everything else is gone, at least I'll have art supplies.

video; un: SilentSaturn

[melodyofsilence]

[ Perhaps John remembers his brief video call with Sailor Moon, because this girl's attire is somewhat similar. #same aesthetic. Physically, she doesn't look very old, but her gaze clearly states that's not true. This is her first public appearance as Sailor Saturn, take that how you will, John. ]

My own father could not let me go when an accident took my mother and nearly me from him. He gave me a body that was made of metal and wires, while he lost himself in his work - obsessed to the point where he sacrificed me to bring about his own selfish desires. [ There is no judgement in her words, just simple facts about her own experiences. ] I loved him dearly, and wish I could have saved him. In the end, we both died.

[ Yet she stands here clear as day. ]

I don't know whether Mariana's version of death and rebirth would fix anything, but perhaps my method would work should either of you wish to change her state of being. It is an offer I will leave open for as long as I am here in this world. An offer from one deity of death and rebirth to another.

[ She's not here to step on anyone's toes, just offer it once and leave the rest up to them. ]

this is ancient, feel free to consider it an endtag!

[necrolord]

[ He seems to be drowning in gods, lately. There are too many of them crammed up too close together, and that in itself is antithetical to what he is, what he's meant to be. He does not want anyone else's offer of rebirth: that's the whole problem with this place, the threat it holds over him, the promise that his power is insignificant and his rules no longer apply.

Even back home, betrayed and backed into a corner, he did not feel so helplessly denied control. ]

I hear your offer, and I believe you.

[ He keeps claiming that he could not bring Kiriona back as anything other than what she is now, but they know that's not the whole of it. She's his, like this. As daughter, as construct, she's the perfection of his magic. ]

But this is between my daughter and me, and we'll stick to what we are. She's not a robot, if it helps.

[ (She is, though, in all the ways that matter.) ]