ninjay | week 1, saturday

Yeesh. That's... That's rough, buddy. [he immediately facepalms after he says it] I mean-- that sucks? Oh my gosh. I'm gonna be honest, we really don't know each other well enough for me to know how to react to that. Thanks for telling me?

[HE IS TWELVE AND WHAT IS THIS]

Unfortunately, playing this game means we are going to have to tell each other some truths about ourselves in other to make people more likely to work with you.

[ he sounds genuinely annoyed by that. he would prefer not to say anything but people for SOME REASON!!! keep asking about murder. god, so rude and nosy. ]

The plus side to that, however, is that it's probably the best way to figure out what people's personal motives might be. And if you can get a sense of what kind of morals someone has, then it'll be easier to figure out who they might target as a potential victim. For example, someone who is forced to kill another only because they're being threatened would more likely be less willing to go for a child. For the most part, anyway, I'm sure there might be some exceptions to that.

I'm not worried about anyone trying to kill me. They wouldn't be the first. [a beat] Not that I want someone to try to kill me. In fact, I'd rather no one try to kill anyone, but that's kind of hoping for a lot? Anyway, you're right. We can at least assume the "ghost" and whoever else they were working with aren't being coerced into murder, since they went after Jason when there's a lot of other options here. But getting to know people won't be enough to win this. People can lie, and in a situation like this? They're even more likely to try to save their own skin.

[please. stop chewing that pen. it is disgusting, dipper.]

That's true. I doubt we'd be able to catch any skilled actors that way. But lying all the time is a lot harder than it looks, especially for people who aren't used to it. You're more likely to slip up in a high stress situation, which is why it's very important to try to get to know as many people as you can in between the weekend. For all you know, one throwaway comment mentioned in a conversation can make or break a case, but only if you can make the connection.

[ still. ] In any case, all of this probably won't even become a viable option until several weeks in after we've gotten to know each other better. This early on, we can only really depend on the evidence and what we can figure out from roles.

You've obviously never met my great uncle Stan. He lied to everyone about who he was for, like, thirty years.

[...context--nope, moving on]

But we don't have several weeks. People are already being murdered! If we can't find out who's doing it, we're all just going to be picked off one by one. Or more-- if they think they can get away with it, why limit themselves to one? We need a way to figure people and roles out, and fast.

[ uncle stan what did you do ]

Oh, I am definitely sure we'll be having more than just one murder per night eventually. Some people might be motivated simply by the fact that once we're down to three people, the game ends. That will go a lot faster if the body count is higher when we wake up on Friday.

[ ya gotta be realistic. ]

The thing is about a kind of game like this, you have to be both personable and analytical. You aren't going to solve anything without talking to the others, but whether or not they share their own findings with you depends on how trustworthy or useful you are. But you also need to be able to piece together all this information that we get both of others and just straight evidence. So you have to decide who out of everyone left you are willing to work with even a little, even though they might stab you in the back later.

[dipper's eyes are wide throughout all of jay's explanation, and then slowly his expression turns into what can definitely be described as "the full yikes". he's cringing because-- first, wow, trusting strangers who can possibly betray him. second, being personable. third, that sucks? this sucks.

it takes him nearly half a minute after jay speaks to just... sigh and droop and PUT ON A BRAVE FACE]

Being personable and analytical, huh. Good thing I've got Mabel.

[she's personable, he's analytical! together! they are one normal human being. also, it's meant as a half-joke. it's a joking tone, at least.]

You sure know a lot about this kind of game.

I run an information network back home. Before I got dragged into fighting during the war [ BECAUSE CERTAIN SINGING AND DANCING OTTERS KEPT TRYING TO FUCKING FIGHT!!!! ] I was helping behind the scenes by gathering intel on the enemies and planning strategies.

[ he has no issue with giving this information away since his... profile card basically calls him something like a spy. ]

So on the level of information gathering, this is something I'm more or less used to. When you add in the whole having to murder each other for the enjoyment of some unseen and powerful entity part is when it goes from familiar territory to "no, why, stop."

[whispers to himself] Like a real spy. [...dipper, plz. CLEARS THROAT AND MOVES ONn]

Really? That part's pretty familiar to me. Not like, identical, and there's a lot more actual death involved, which is going to do great things for my future therapy bills, but there's definitely some striking similarities. [@bill fight him] It's the amount of actual people involved that's throwing me off.

[ jay manages not to smile at the whispered comment even though it's. so funny. why is dipper hilarious at all times. ]

Hm, I wonder if there's any significance to the number forty-two, or if they just wanted a large-ish number of people for things to not end too quickly.

It's the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? [dipper no one gets your nerd jokes. also dipper read the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy if i say he did @ alex hirsch fight me] I've never actually heard of 42 being used in demon rituals or anything like that. It's an even and pronic number, but I get the feeling math is probably not relevant in this case. More than that, they need 39 people dead, since three people have to live to the end, right? That's even more of a random number.

[please don't let him math i am not actually good at math]

[ dipper why the fuck are you messing around with demon rituals. why can't you be from a normal canon like jay's, where you fist fight the ocean ]

We could always ask Craftly if it's always the same amount of people each time. Whether or not he tells us is a different matter.

[ oh goddammit ]

Dipper, why do you know so much about demon rituals.

Has that guy ever been forthcoming on anything actually useful? Ever?

[who's salty? dipper's salty. he hesitates when jay asks about demons but what the heck. why not]

Aaaand the answer to that is a strong obsession with all things weird and paranormal, and secondhand information on the occult from a man who spent his life studying all sorts of anomalies? [...shrugs] My personal experience with demons and demon summoning rituals is kinda limited to one, though. But I didn't summon him! I just deal with him terrorizing my family. Constantly.

Edited 2017-05-29 20:30 (UTC)

That's... [ dipper already made the zuko reference, damn. but at least now jay has some insight as to why dipper keeps claiming he knows what he's doing. sure, jay is now keenly aware of what the kid's screams sound like, but still. ]

Well. Since the people in charge of this place seem to be paranormal in nature, that obsession will probably come in handy.

And yet, I still managed to completely muck up the first trial. [technically, they all did, but that won't stop dipper from being Dramatic] I should've known it wasn't her, I did the same thing the last time I tried to solve a murder mystery. Except when I accused the wrong guy he wasn't going to-- I don't know, get all his entrails strung out of his body to spell out "YOU'RE WRONG"!

[...what vivid imagery]

This is a fairly extreme situation all around.

[ honestly, after talking to hana jay did start to believe she was innocent, but he sided with what the evidence said versus a gut feeling that said, "u know maybe she ain't lying" ]

You aren't the only one who made that decision though. We all failed Hana.

Edited 2017-05-29 21:37 (UTC)

Yeah, well... [he doesn't have a response to that. it is technically accurate] That doesn't make me less responsible, even if it's partly.

[so there???]

I'm not trying to take the responsibility off of you. It's important for us to remember the weight of our actions, so we'll remember that even though they call this a game, it really isn't one. So, yes, we helped send an innocent girl to her death. Let that motivate you to set it right and catch the real culprit.

[ jay he's twelve ]

I spoke to Hana earlier, after the trial. She said that the only thing she wants from us is to make sure the real killer's death is "epic."

[JAY, HE'S 12 and that shit just makes him look somber. and then the hana shit is, uhh. well.]

... Yeaaaah, alright, that's fair. A little messed up, but fair. Whoever this ghost is would probably deserve it.

I don't think we can really argue against her last request.

[ jay would be very pissed off if he were in her shoes. ]

... Now that I think about it, a situation like this would probably call for a lot of people kill for revenge later on once you get to know others.

...Great. I always wanted to be caught in a murder/revenge cycle while also trying to solve a bunch of mysteries.

[he's so glad he was picked for this. so... glad.....]

There's only a possibility that that might happen. But we should still be expecting it, just in case, so we're not caught by surprise.

Again.

Yeaaah, I've become a strong believer in Murphy's Law. Any terrible thing that could happen can and absolutely will happen.

[ he nods his head, and then falls into silence, like he's thinking about something. the quiet is short-lived though. ]

How about we trade information then? I wouldn't call it an alliance, but we can offer each other info that we discover. I'm not asking you to tell me everything you figure out, but anything that you decide is good to pass along.

[... oh. Dipper takes a moment to think about it, gnawing on his lip.]

Like... we don't tell each other our sources, but anything that might be useful, we share?

Edited 2017-05-29 23:50 (UTC)

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