"We should talk to Deedee about it first, though," Cici points out.
"Oh, yeah," Kate replies. "Natch."
"It might be a while before we can even think about going in on this plan, if we ever even do," you remark. "We need to at least figure out what the mayor's actually after, first--like, if she's trying to leverage the house to conquer the world or raise a dead god, then obviously we don't want to unshackle her from the law and help her hire a supercop."
"Yeah," Kate says. "Table it for now, keep an eye out for more info on Parsons. This could be a prime-ass end game strategy if it pans out, though."
"If Parsons isn't really the final boss," you add.
You all finish eating.
You grab the book about haunted houses from your room, since you know you won't just immediately fall asleep while staying at a stranger's house.
You return to the living room.
"So are you two both going to stay here tonight, or--?"
There's a brief pause.
"Huh," remarks Cici. "I, uh-- that's--"
"Exactly what we were thinking," Kate interjects. "Yeah. Yessir. We'll both stay in the Spooky House tonight."
You continue. "So whose place am I staying at...?"
Another pause.
A... strangely long pause, and several unreadable glances.
Cici finally gives a big shrug. "Whichever! You can stay at my place OR Kate's place."
Kate chuckles lightly, pulling out another stick of level. "Yeah, it's whatever you want."
Kate's hiding it better, but Cici had clearly not considered both of them staying in the house without you after Kate's original pitch of staying here by herself.
Kate's place! We'll get more background info about Kate this way, AND we'll avoid the surveillance at the Mondoplex! Maybe before we go we can briefly ask Kate if she'll be willing to bleed more on the house to test the memory effects? Maybe she'll be able to find the laundry room lol
+1 to sleeping at Kate's, but let's not be too pushy with The Blood. If she happens to get a cut, we wouldn't complain about this little experiment, though...
Also re: Laundry Machine, I was thinking earlier. The hot water in the house has to come from somewhere, and something tells me Ninelives doesn't have a massive boiler room for the entire town! We've gotta have something here. Best to check around one last time before heading out for the night.
+1 to sleeping at Kate's and avoiding Mondol surveillance. Maybe we could also pay Kate's mom a visit?
In regard to the laundry room, I was wondering if some cleantex might help us? It's a drug from the Blood Is Mine story that allows a person to recall every memory they've ever had. I'm wondering if it could counteract the Spooky House's memory-donking powers.
+1 to finding this house's dirty laundry.
Edit: also we should spit on the walls to see if the house absorbs that too.
Also we should give Kate the dream ring if she can wear it.
+1 to laundry search and Kate's house, though I don't know if we should encourage more bleeding on Kate's part.
With regards to cleantex, I don't think Plaire knows it exists yet? Although if enough of us gave it a +1, it'd probably happen regardless, and Plaire would probably be a little wigged out at eldritch powers beyond her comprehension shoving info directly into her brain, haha.
...Although, I wonder if that might have any practical uses, beyond stupid party tricks like making Plaire imagine that Mondol is run by a sentient rutabaga or something.
I just assumed that cleantex was a widely known-about drug in this world, like level is commonly smoked as much as weed in ours. You're right though, it might be something obscure, something you only folks with some specialized knowledge are aware of. Maybe Kate would be the type to know about such things?
On the other hand, Cici didn't give blood, and is much more powerful.
Kate did(did this happen before or after her turn in the dungeon?) and isn't.
Just throwing that out there.
So Kate's place is way out in the boonies if I remember correctly, but no Mondel surveillance. Cici's place is close by, but Mondel surveillance.
Hmm, I would go for Cici's place. We already spend the night there once so Mondel probably won't get any info it doesn't already have, and if something odd happens we are closer to the house.
Agreeing with the rest: Kate's house.
But also, uh, Cici's visually melting into the walls a bit? Dunno if it's intentional shading, but it's different. Just a heads up!
If Plaire is interested in Kate then she needs to show some interest. She should kiss Kate goodbye, before the brainsate wears off. Or at the very least try to say something flirtatious in that awkward Plaire kind of way.
-1. Kate is great, but I'm personally rooting for either Plaire/Cherry, or Plaire/Parsons (the latter being dependent upon Parsons being a decent sort).
Really, it might be worth it at some point in the future to sit down and take stock of all the eligible ladies in Plaire's life, and the pros and cons of pursuing a romance with one of them.
Whoa, I never would have thought of either of those two options. I'm not saying they're not valid, I just thought that there was something brewing between Kate and Plaire because they ended up spooning when they slept over at Cici's. In any of the above scenarios, Plaire has to show interest if she's interested.
Listen Plaire. It's either the Mondol place or the place that has Kate's hot mom. I think you know who what you have to do... Then again I guess the Mondol option has a less dangerous road leading to it and also a couple identical large buff ladies.
"I have work in the morning, and have to go to bed a lot."
In context, that means, given the dream has shown a correlation with sleeping in, that Cici might not want to sleep here. Wouldn't want to be late to work in the morning, you know.
Bear that in mind, but otherwise, everyone may do as they see fit.
Kate's house due to less Mondol, though ask whether that means we'd be staying in her trailer in the backyard or inside the actual house, and what she thinks we should tell her mom (and maybe have Kate actually text her before we get there).
Where ever Plair goes then Kate or Cici has to call ahead.
Potential Mondel nonsense or a mile of dark country road. Staying at Cici's sounds slightly better, but could clue observeres in that something is going on.
+1 to searching for laundry. It is a small house. Did we find the basement yet? How about stairs up? Attic?
Hey, I just reviewed some of my notes, and I had a good idea tucked away:
Potatoes. You've confirmed wearing your armor to bed results in wearing your armor in the alcazar. However, you still don't know the exact mechanics very well.
Hence, potatoes. When Kate goes in (wearing armor and hugging toolbox, presumably), ask her to Place more potatoes, and see which ones make it in. In the bed, under the bed, on the bed, etc. If all goes well, you can use the knowledge gained to avoid some hours' discomfort every morning after you dream.
+1, if she has some sort of string or tape, like floss, she could try tying some as well. But she doesn't need to add so many that sleeping is uncomfortable.
+1 to all, especially the string trick. If we can tie a string around our finger and then anything it's tied to comes into the dream with us, then that's just ripe with tasty, tasty abuse possibilities.
I'm even imagining something absurd like having Cherry park at the street, tying a string around Plaire's finger, and stretching it through the window and, I dunno, tying it to Cherry's axle or something and bringing the bus into the dream that way. (Of course, if it comes through as an actual bus, and into a room too small to hold it, Bad Stuff might happen).
for some reason, i think she would be a buss plushie o-o ....... wait, we dont know what happens if Plaire is touching a person when she falls asleep, could that bring them in more normal like?
I've been giving some thought to the whole sanctuary city/Sheriff Deedee thing, and I think it is something we should definitely 100% purse as soon as possible. I have just two words: Deputy Plaire. Either Parsons deputizes us herself, or Deedee does when she takes control of the police. Either way, we get access to all sorts of deliciously fun police hardware, which we can use on anything from mutant opposums to the creepy abandoned library to, yes, the dungeon after we TAKE THE ENTIRE POLICE ARMORY INTO OUR DREAM.
Well, that's a very clever idea. I can't give it a whole-hearted endorsement, however.
Hook Deedee up with Parsons, and empower them to do something great... then watch and enjoy. I, for one, would find that sufficient. Grabbing for more strikes me as a bit greedy.
Anyway, would Player make a good officer? Underweight, out of shape, and zero firearms training, you know. Unless we're looking for free weapons and no actual law enforcement duties?
I suppose physique is a big drawback with regards to our qualifications, but I imagine we have time before any of it would go through anyway, so we can exercise and eat right and all that jazz. Regardless of our physical state, I'm sure we'd make a better cop than the fascist, corporate boot-licking dicks that currently make up the police force.
I suppose actually fulfilling law enforcement duties would be a good thing, since it might help us make friends around town and give us a leg up on investigating Mondol shenanigans. Plus, another thing that just occurred to me: it might be a PAID POSITION, so we'd have more money to throw around. (Now I'm imagining trying to convince Deedee to let us claim sleep as overtime, as long as we wear our badge into the dungeon and frame it like we're fighting dream crime, haha).
Today I decided to see what kind of rodent opossums are.
Well, I learned they're not actually rodents. Check out Wikipedia's mammalian Order table (link), you can see opossums (Didelphimorphia) are actually almost as far from Rodentia as you can get while still being a mammal at all.
Cici's your animal expert, and she's seen a picture, so it must have been a possum, all right. Don't call it a "rat" in her presence unless you want another biology lesson, though.
just to update: I'm still here, and more pages are coming; I've been having to juggle a lot of real life business (mostly involving my living situation, non-patreon income and mental illness), but it's coming
I'm sorry for all the huge breaks in content, and I'm trying really hard to get shit back on some sort of track. Maybe 2021 won't suck quite so much ass for everyone but also me and trying to write
Also re: Laundry Machine, I was thinking earlier. The hot water in the house has to come from somewhere, and something tells me Ninelives doesn't have a massive boiler room for the entire town! We've gotta have something here. Best to check around one last time before heading out for the night.
In regard to the laundry room, I was wondering if some cleantex might help us? It's a drug from the Blood Is Mine story that allows a person to recall every memory they've ever had. I'm wondering if it could counteract the Spooky House's memory-donking powers.
Edit: also we should spit on the walls to see if the house absorbs that too.
Also we should give Kate the dream ring if she can wear it.
With regards to cleantex, I don't think Plaire knows it exists yet? Although if enough of us gave it a +1, it'd probably happen regardless, and Plaire would probably be a little wigged out at eldritch powers beyond her comprehension shoving info directly into her brain, haha.
...Although, I wonder if that might have any practical uses, beyond stupid party tricks like making Plaire imagine that Mondol is run by a sentient rutabaga or something.
Kate did(did this happen before or after her turn in the dungeon?) and isn't.
Just throwing that out there.
Hmm, I would go for Cici's place. We already spend the night there once so Mondel probably won't get any info it doesn't already have, and if something odd happens we are closer to the house.
But also, uh, Cici's visually melting into the walls a bit? Dunno if it's intentional shading, but it's different. Just a heads up!
Really, it might be worth it at some point in the future to sit down and take stock of all the eligible ladies in Plaire's life, and the pros and cons of pursuing a romance with one of them.
whowhat you have to do... Then again I guess the Mondol option has a less dangerous road leading to it and also a couple identical large buff ladies."I have work in the morning, and have to go to bed a lot."
In context, that means, given the dream has shown a correlation with sleeping in, that Cici might not want to sleep here. Wouldn't want to be late to work in the morning, you know.
Bear that in mind, but otherwise, everyone may do as they see fit.
Potential Mondel nonsense or a mile of dark country road. Staying at Cici's sounds slightly better, but could clue observeres in that something is going on.
+1 to searching for laundry. It is a small house. Did we find the basement yet? How about stairs up? Attic?
Potatoes. You've confirmed wearing your armor to bed results in wearing your armor in the alcazar. However, you still don't know the exact mechanics very well.
Hence, potatoes. When Kate goes in (wearing armor and hugging toolbox, presumably), ask her to Place more potatoes, and see which ones make it in. In the bed, under the bed, on the bed, etc. If all goes well, you can use the knowledge gained to avoid some hours' discomfort every morning after you dream.
I'm even imagining something absurd like having Cherry park at the street, tying a string around Plaire's finger, and stretching it through the window and, I dunno, tying it to Cherry's axle or something and bringing the bus into the dream that way. (Of course, if it comes through as an actual bus, and into a room too small to hold it, Bad Stuff might happen).
Hook Deedee up with Parsons, and empower them to do something great... then watch and enjoy. I, for one, would find that sufficient. Grabbing for more strikes me as a bit greedy.
Anyway, would Player make a good officer? Underweight, out of shape, and zero firearms training, you know. Unless we're looking for free weapons and no actual law enforcement duties?
I suppose actually fulfilling law enforcement duties would be a good thing, since it might help us make friends around town and give us a leg up on investigating Mondol shenanigans. Plus, another thing that just occurred to me: it might be a PAID POSITION, so we'd have more money to throw around. (Now I'm imagining trying to convince Deedee to let us claim sleep as overtime, as long as we wear our badge into the dungeon and frame it like we're fighting dream crime, haha).
Well, I learned they're not actually rodents. Check out Wikipedia's mammalian Order table (link), you can see opossums (Didelphimorphia) are actually almost as far from Rodentia as you can get while still being a mammal at all.
Cici's your animal expert, and she's seen a picture, so it must have been a possum, all right. Don't call it a "rat" in her presence unless you want another biology lesson, though.
just to update: I'm still here, and more pages are coming; I've been having to juggle a lot of real life business (mostly involving my living situation, non-patreon income and mental illness), but it's coming
I'm sorry for all the huge breaks in content, and I'm trying really hard to get shit back on some sort of track. Maybe 2021 won't suck quite so much ass for everyone but also me and trying to write