Aefenglom IC Inbox

[spaghettimonster]

Residence: A large manor in the Haven, previously the residence of Liliana and Chandra, now the residence of Papyrus and Mettaton. (Mettaton has taken control of the decor. Whatever you're imagining, it's more splendid, vividly colored, and tastefully filled with ficus plants than that. Also, Papyrus keeps digging holes in the yard.)

Watch display name: CoolSkeleton95

(He types in all-caps, let me know if you want me to drop it for a thread with you)

Comments

Modranicht gift

[thejoyrider]

[The package left on his doorstep contains a plate of homemade cookies from Marie and a fresh lily flower.

“Happy Holidays! We are not friends yet but I hope we can become friends in the coming year.” is what the attached note says]

[spaghettimonster]

[It's not long later that he discovers the gift and rushes the flower inside to keep it safe from the snow... Then takes his time looking over the rest. Free cookies are always welcome, and the offering of friendship even moreso.

Does the note have a name with it, to hint at who this potential friend is?]

[thejoyrider]

[Why hello there, new friend! She did not sign it, but as long as he asks around, he should easily find out who was that going around on Modranicht night, giving cookies and flowers to Mirrorbound - after all Marie has quite a presence in the city.]

[spaghettimonster]

[He will be asking around, and will be briefly baffled by the answers - he already knows of a Marie, and he can't imagine her giving out free cookies.]

[thejoyrider]

[Look, whoever is this Marie who does not give out free cookies, she is not this Marie. This one is always vey happy to give out all kinds of gifts!]

early ieneuer

[hallucinogem]

hey
you're one of Chandra's other Bonded, right?
have you been feeling it too?

[spaghettimonster]

THAT'S RIGHT.
I'VE BEEN FEELING LOTS OF THINGS, ALL THE TIME!
WARM AFFECTION. A WILL TO MISCHIEF. AND THE RESPECTFUL DISTANCE OF PRIVACY.
BUT, IF YOU MEAN -NEW- BOND THINGS...
IT FEELS LIKE CHANDRA'S DOUBLED DOWN ON HER AMBIENT ANGER?
AS IF IN CELEBRATION OF THE NEW YEAR. OR SOMETHING.
...
I'M... A LITTLE WORRIED SHE'S GOING TO BURN HERSELF OUT, WITH ALL THESE FEELINGS.
WHICH IS RIDICULOUS! SHE'S VERY FLAME-RESISTANT.

[hallucinogem]

i'm worried, too.
she's not usually like this. i mean i know she's angry, but it isn't... this bad.
do you think we should do anything about it?
or should we just leave her alone until it passes?

sorry that was a good joke about her burning out i'm just not in the mood for it.

[spaghettimonster]

NO, THAT'S FAIR. I ONLY SAID IT BECAUSE... I ALSO MEANT IT IN A VERY LITERAL WAY.
THE FIRST MEMORY I SAW FROM HER WAS VERY, EXPLOSIVE?
BUT THAT WAS YEARS AGO! I'M SURE IT'S FINE!!

ANYWAY!! I DO THINK WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I'VE BEEN THINKING VERY ENCOURAGING THINGS, AND FEELING VERY SUPPORTIVE FEELINGS, AND DOING MY BEST TO THINK AND FEEL THEM AT HER.
BUT I'M WORRIED, HER ANGER MAY BE EVEN LOUDER THAN ME.
IT MAY BE BETTER FOR US TO INTERVENE... IN PERSON. WITH AFFECTION, AND MAYBE A SNACK.
AND GIVE HER SOMETHING ELSE TO PUT HER MIND ON?
DO YOU THINK SHE'D LIKE TO GO BEAT UP SOME SHADES OR SOMETHING?

[hallucinogem]

do you think that works?
heh. the only time thinking positive might actually do something.
i think right now she needs to be set loose on something.
she has to burn some of this off. not burn out.
i'm going to move past worried and into afraid if she's like this for much longer.

listen to me. caring about her.
you're gonna get the wrong impression about who i am.

[spaghettimonster]

THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU...
WORRY AND CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIEND, WHEN THINGS ARE WRONG?

IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE IN AGREEMENT ON THE MAIN ISSUE!
THE CHALLENGE IS, WHAT TO SET HER LOOSE AT...
AND GETTING HER TO GO ALONG WITH IT.
I WAS THINKING ABOUT INVITING HER TO GO INTO THE WILDE WITH ME.

[hallucinogem]

the impression that i'm a halfway decent person, but that's a conversation for... not right now.

i think she'd like that. i think she could burn through a lot of Cwyldtid like this.
and honestly if everyone inside the walls is still trying to focus on throwing endless parties, the city probably needs people willing to go out there and kill the actual threat.

i'm still working on whether i actually want to join you for that.
some of these new Monster things i'm dealing with are a real pain in the ass.

un: WJH

[indispensabilis]

You were right about the dreams. I keep turning into a snake.

[spaghettimonster]

MORE THAN ONCE?

WAIT.
NO, I UNDERSTAND.
YOU'RE SLOWLY TURNING INTO A SNAKE. LIKE THE FORM YOU DREAMED ABOUT.
ALAS... I'M USUALLY RIGHT. EVEN WHEN I DON'T WANT TO BE.

YOU'RE ONE OF THE NEW PEOPLE, RIGHT? I DON'T RECOGNIZE YOUR INITIALS...

[indispensabilis]

You wouldn't remember me, there were a lot of people that day.

My name is Will Henry.

[spaghettimonster]

HMM... I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT.
IF ANYONE INTRODUCED THEMSELVES, WITH THAT NAME, I FORGOT.

[Certainly he wouldn't have asked the young monster-human's name, though if either of them mentioned Doctor Warthrop he'll remember.]

IN ANY CASE, IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU AGAIN!
I AM, AS I'M SURE YOU READ IN MY LATEST 'ASK ME ANYTHING',
THE GREAT PAPYRUS.

[indispensabilis]

I like your name. Papyrus is a type of paper from ancient Egypt, we have some papyrus records in the Monstrumarium.

Is that a common name? I've never met anyone called that.

[ Not like William, James, or Henry. All of which were interchangeable names and he met others with them constantly. Victorians liked such conformity, it made you proper. ]

[spaghettimonster]

IT'S PROBABLY NOT COMMON.... I'M THE ONLY PAPYRUS I KNOW.

[And unsurprising, at that. So many monsters erred toward puns and relevant references, with names like Undyne for a fish monster or Snowdrake for a snowflake dragon... The more typographical names in the skeleton family were a little unusual.]

I WONDER IF THAT PAPER IS WHERE THE NAME CAME FROM. FUNNY IF IT IS. ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE USED TO SEEING IT IN A MONSTRUMARIUM. WHAT IS THAT, ANYWAY?

[indispensabilis]

Its a catalogue of specimens and records. Professor Ainesworth is in charge of it, but I worked there with him for a little while.

My master is a scientist, in the order of Monstrumologists. They call it the study of aberrant biology, but nobody else ever knows what that means. It means they study really unique and elusive creatures that the rest of science wouldnt think was real. Or theyre so dangerous that it wouldnt really be safe for people to know about them.

We dont have magic, the Monstrumologists wouldnt think a lot of the monsters here were real. They have whole consortiums on why vampires and chimeras are just stories. There was a big fight about adding the Wendigo too.

early May, text; un: METTATON

[metalcrusher]

[You know, send messages from a rehearsal of some kind when it occurs to him to do so instead of... engaging Papyrus directly!! As one could do, with a housemate!

There's no ill intent behind messaging instead of having a face-to-face talk. Really, it's because it slipped his mind to tell him at all.]

Papyrus, darling, I wanted to let you know that I've set my Bonded up in one of the spare rooms. The one with the royal navy hues that I had furnished... Yes, that's the one. I figured I would let you know. Just in case you ended up encountering a tall man with a rather peculiar gait, in my absence. Or, in case you've smelled him. Either-or, don't fret!

His name is Emet-Selch. You could consider him as a frequent check-in... rather than a permanent housemate, at this point in time. But I imagine he'll be staying for a while.

[Not a message to negotiate, just one to alert him to this change. Out of consideration for the both of them, really. Belated though it is.]

[spaghettimonster]

[It's fine, Mettaton's probably busy, with his efforts to re-establish stardom in this city. And Papyrus is in and out so much himself! And besides all that, messages by watch are so much more convenient than sticky notes - he hasn't even seen any of those for sale.]

OHO, SO THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS. I NOTICED A NEW SMELL... BUT I LOOKED AROUND, AND NOTHING WAS MISSING. SO I FIGURED, EITHER WE HAD A GUEST, OR THE MOST POLITE BURGLAR IN THE WORLD. NO FRETTING HERE.

[It took a little looking around, since so much is out of order of what he'd gotten used to. But it's nothing to complain about! Change is good! Reorganization is a sign of life, and growth, and all that!!

And all that's a big improvement over feeling quietly lonely.]

SO HE'LL BE STAYING FOR A WHILE... AND VISITING SOMETIMES FOR EVEN LONGER. THAT SOUNDS GREAT! BONDING WITH YOUR BOND THAT WAY, IT'S SO COMFORTING.

I'M NOT SURE IF I'VE MET HIM... I DON'T RECOGNIZE THAT NAME. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN VERY MUCH, WITH EVERYONE'S WATCH HANDLES. WHAT SORT OF WELCOME DO YOU THINK HE'D LIKE?? I'M GOING SHOPPING TODAY. I COULD GET A FEW THINGS!

[glitzandglamour]

[In the age of texts, who needs sticky notes?? Although they do create a fun sort of immortalized dialogue.]

Really? So you don't recognize the name. Interesting. He told me he spoke to you over the network... Let me see. Stay tuned, darling.

[And this message is sent as Mettaton peruses the network. Just a rudimentary search, though he's positive Emet-Selch wouldn't have made a post... But just as he's about to give in, a post authored by Papyrus shows from roughly a month ago, complete with a totally generic commenter that he knows belongs to his Bondmate by virtue of having messaged him before.

And, well. By the content of their conversation. He doesn't pour over the messages, but he can tell that he's really getting to Papyrus... Of course, he sees his own name like a neon sign and reads that part.]

I've found it. The sullen, inconsolable one you spoke to over the network! On your last post. The one who recognized me by name. That's him... And, your introduction to his general bearing. Don't let him get you down, gorgeous. Conveniently, it seems you've also been informed of his stance on welcomes.

He'd might say he needs no welcome. But really. Would a thoughtful gesture hurt?

[spaghettimonster]

[They can be great living room decoration. Really gives guests a taste of what the more passive aggressive arguments are like.

Papyrus takes that pause as a moment to mull over the many conversations he's had over the network... But he's doesn't usually ask people their names. And, worse, he doesn't always remember them once offered. He has approximate knowledge of some names.]

OH MY GOD, HE DID KNOW YOU SURPRISINGLY WELL...
AND NOT LIKE YOUR REGULAR FAN.

[Surely a regular fan would have looking forward to Mettaton's next performance as a reason why the world isn't so dismal, and why the uncertainty of their very future isn't too terrible to bear. Mettaton's shows were one of Papyrus' bright spots for ages... And, come to think of it, the new performance are as well. A funny relief, that.]

WELL, THAT EXPLAINS IT.
I'LL DO MY BEST TO STAY STEADFAST, WITH GOOD CHEER.
AND SHARE A LITTLE OF THAT, TOO!
A LITTLE GESTURE COULDN'T HURT AT ALL.
I'LL START WITH A BASKET.

[It might have no difference, and it might remind the sad Emet-Selch of some other, sadder things... But surely the intention and the gesture would balance out even the worst potential effects. And mostly it could only bring things up.]

[glitzandglamour]

[He'll be looking forward to his next performance in no time. He already seems to be... Mettaton will make anyone who Bonds with him a fan. By force.]

A fabulous idea, darling! I knew you'd be quick with a genial gesture.

[Whether or not Emet-Selch will be grateful for it is not Mettaton's business.]

If I could supply you with an idea of what he likes, I would. Unfortunately, he likes sleep. That's about it... Besides ME, of course. [Ah, Mettaton's delightfully vain presumptuousness...] I've never seen him eat, in fact. Much less express interest in it. I have no clue what he favors.

In the end, it's your sentiment that will shine through.

[spaghettimonster]

[After feeling Mettaton's love for himself, how could his bonds not share it?]

SLEEP, HUH...
I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT'S SUCH A COMMON HOBBY.
OR THAT HE MAYBE DOESN'T LIKE FOOD?

OH WELL. I'LL START WITH ALL THE BASICS!!!
AND YOU, OF COURSE!

[He'll certainly make an effort, anyway.]