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notasstrange2023-07-29 07:39 pm
strangerpeople) wrote in notasstrange2023-07-29 07:39 pm
SHIFT Meme
WELCOME! There's been a lot of SHIFTing in this round, hasn't there? What if you were SHIFTed into another round, or another version of this round, or even one of the rounds in R7's backstory? Or....maybe somewhere else entirely??
Look no further than here! So sit back, tap into the morphogenetic field, and come on down! Your characters are the next contestants on...on wherever they end up! Oh boy!
| 1. The Ship of Blood Well, this one is familiar at least! But...who are all these people with you? Is that one of the Spardas? Wait-who's that guy with the fedora? You mean there are timelines where there are more rounds!? BOOOOOOOO! 2. The Home of Happiness and Horror Oh great, you're in Denton, Aka a soundstage where you are forced to kill one another in front of a live worldwide audience. Oh, and said audience gets a vote in who dies. Oh, and in some timelines, you randomly start singing! Or...wear full body costumes. It's weird. 3. ??? The Meme is ever-present. The Meme will not be contained. The multiversal clusters are vast and infinite. Perhaps you SHIFT into a previous game. Perhaps you SHIFT into a game as yet known. Or perhaps it is happening right now. Who knows, now...and what fate awaits you...? |
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[What situation could even require them to interact? Conveniently Makima asks this in a way that could be heard as referring to his face. There's only the faintest disorientation that she can put her finger on - in this afterlife, now he looks a little more like an angel. Her gaze is more easily drawn to his hands. Yeah, she held them at one point. Definitely felt like there was something more hidden deeper than the little vial of truth serum. But he'd come out as a murderer in such a bombastic way. Although Makima has blood on her hands as well, there are very few scenarios where it could be in her best interest to keep clinging after that. Even though those biker gloves are rugged surfaces to imagine touching her shoulders. ...It's possible that Kira has kept watching her just as she's kept watching Brain - at that rate, maybe they really are both recipients of the death penalty who have no one else to talk with. She'll still barb her tongue for now.]
You're surrounded by so many beauties already in there. Do you really need to add one more?
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It just happens that the Noise, like our Reaper Life Coach, can't stand cats. But if you don't want to, I could always tell them how great you taste instead.
[Truthfully what he did to her the week before is a blur let alone deriving any pleasure, but Makima threw him to the wolves in the last check, so it wouldn't bother him if the actual wolf noise overtook her. But his big mouth at the trial did create a situation where most wouldn't want to bind themselves to him. LC laughed and wasn't allowing him to live down his failure of getting away with the murder considering his wealth of experience... talking to her on this side got old in the first ten minutes. He can't quite overlook how well him and Makima worked together in the past.... Not if he could be able to enjoy strolling peacefully through the mall again, instead of the mad dash he makes every time with tin pin wheel assisting his speed to get from place to place. To enjoy the pleasant sensation of being fully invisible in a crowd.]
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[She means it in the negative sense of lax, the way that the life coach surely threw in at some point... But in the end, to her the word also means "sweet". The notion that no one will ever taste her again is a sad one. She must have been gathering the weapon humans for some important purpose, had some reason to be manipulating that uncouth boy, but whether due to memory loss or just distance, it all feels so pointless now. Makima, though not deigning to acknowledge Kira's presence, steps over the threshold.]
I couldn't possibly be more affected by negative emotions than I already am right now. So I'm not too worried. But I guess my feet are going to get sore if I have to keep running all the time.
[With this, she sits down at a table and puts her feet up on the opposite chair, removing her shoes and socks. Makima puts her elbow down on the table and her cheek in her hand, looking up at Kira as if to say, "Talk."]
CW for the absolute nightmare of de-fetishized Kira attempting to think like a regular straight dude
You were hoping I would go further? Don't flatter yourself too much, now.
[He really wonders why he had been so attracted to her in the first place. Now that he's dead, he doesn't think with his dick at all... Even if he used his new invisibility to stalk the changing rooms, he'd feel absolutely nothing. It's disappointing to him too. Yoshikage Kira would not like to think that he wasted his life, as he has no remorse, but clearly he didn't prepare his soul for the world beyond. His stupid father should have told him about this rather than his pathetic diversions making children and hospital patients into stand users. In any case, he has about as much interest in the glowering woman as a friend from work, but he can get into the introduction.]
The noise will likely not bother to affect your emotions on this side... True, they create negative ones as a side effect while possessing a person, but what they really do is consume a soul bit by bit. Now that we are dead, they can prey directly. Had you remained outside, you would have to flee or accept erasure. Our powers do not work on them individually... An agreement must be undertaken to share pain and synergy with another to strengthen the weak psychic abilities. It is called a pact.
[The word used is synonymous with contract. Kira has read enough of Makima's mind to understand that it would normally be unwise to ask her for this. However, Yoshikage Kira has never let risk outweigh reward.]
I believe the Reapers have their own plans about the roles we were meant to play in their game, and the odds will be tilted against you and I. We are going to require a competent partner to survive.
CW suicide, graphic violence, mention of Nazis
Why should I?
[The last thing he said wasn't actually about how they will make a pact. It was about how they will survive. Makima props up her chin in both hands.]
If you make a contract with me [and screw everything, she's just calling it that] surely you will become aware of my true nature. [She might be repeating herself from the trial. Might as well. Kira can be a little inattentive anyway, and has become more attentive now that the critters wore him down.] I am the Control Devil. The Noise are not all that different from Devils. Instead of being born and dying of old age like humans, we are agents of fear and destruction. I would like to believe that control is a special type of concept that can implement plans to destroy bad things, but I have proven unable to so much as deceive a little group of less than a dozen people. The moment I return home, some country or other's large fragment of the Gun Devil will set its ten thousand sights upon me. My contracts will most likely reactivate and allow me to rise to that occasion. In fact, my contract with the Prime Minister may mean that I cannot refuse. But over many reincarnations, I have performed such duties in one place or another for six thousand years. And what do I have to show for it? My world did not have Nazis; it still has Soviets.
[What happened to Makima? Where is the proud woman who, during her execution, swung her body with chains so that instead of being eaten by "someone other than Chainsaw Man", the rhinoceros impaled her brain stem on its horn?]
And in return, I get to extend the lifespan of a human who kills for pleasure.
[She sits there, absolutely no tension in her body. Her eyes bore into Kira's. Her words are still not exactly a refusal.]
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Would it make you feel better if I told you the women I killed had cruel hearts and I wanted to save them?
[It almost sounds like a joke, but this is the dust outline that remains of his murder motives. It obviously sounds completely different from how he described it during his breakdown on the stand.]
I already knew you were a devil from scanning your mind with the player pin, and I decided I was fine with it. Yet you spend one day in the UG without that which is most important to you, and you're ready to accept erasure. This one day, after so many years... Honestly, I didn't expect you to be so weak.
[Kira takes his hand off the cat and places it on the table, tapping it a brief moment before he decides to keep pushing even despite his judgement.]
Very well. How about this, then. We will not play the game to win. It can just be for the convenience of it... By gaining the ability to walk around freely, you will be able to influence your living allies as you like. I don't imagine you will want to pass up your last means of control here.
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[Makima clucks that out in a sardonic sing-song voice. Kira does realize that he was killing them and wasn't accessing the afterlife either, right? He seemed a bit more aware during his trial that he was only satisfying himself. When Kira invokes the notion of the entry fee and Makima begins to object—] I haven't been deprived of what I treasure for only one day. Rather, I—
[Her eyes constrict a bit, like a bright light was flashed into them, and she doesn't finish her sentence. Kira, who inferred how many time loops Hayato remembered from his gestures, will almost certainly see what has happened: Makima was getting too close to the truth. For the Devil who controls everything and is used to making inferences about retroactive continuity (and boy is comparing different histories of Earth doing a number on her when she no longer is clear on the source of this information), there is a larger number of experiences that fall under the umbrella of not remembering something.
Because of getting stunned like that, Makima's thoughts redirect themselves to the question of Kira's entry fee. She would love more examples to analyze. It must be something interesting and subtle (like hers?), if he's willing to not play to win. Though perhaps he's just that desperate to survive. That's how Makima would feel if she were in the position of offering an egalitarian contract. As she listens to him, she gently places each of her nails in succession between her teeth to scrape out any grime and feel any sharp edges. Why not make the man squirm? Kira projects onto Makima the desire to personally control others, without much impact on her original long-term plan. He may be overestimating how much she cares about the outcome of this silly game, but... he's not wrong.] I guess that after all the effort I put into raising up Brain-kun, it would be a little boring to stop now. [What's really interesting is that, regardless of the cell phone functions, the person she would get the most control over is Kira himself. Kira, who kept watching her after he had died. Although not everyone had reacted to the details of her revelation the same way, Kira accepted her as a Devil before anyone else even knew. Seems likely that the others who died have rejected her, if they haven't come running under the assumption she'd keep acting as a strong and driven Devil Hunter. They should be all the more desperate for partners if Kira's vileness has gotten him left on his own. He's like a mountain lion panting by the side of the river after going for days without prey, the way he had been holding the cat without relaxing at all because Makima was what he really needed. That image... it's not as clear a match to her recent memories like Bomb Girl, but every Devil has some kind of relationship to humans' desperation... Makima's gaze is drawn in.]
Devils can't stand being weak and unfeared. If you show me that I hold your life in my hands, I won't be able to resist taking pity on you. Will you get on your knees and press your forehead to my feet?
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[He doubts she would be phased that much by him, so perhaps she recalled something. Her fingernail licking does make Kira squirm a bit, but not in the way she expects. Kira looks at her with mild contempt at the griminess of it all.]
How unsanitary...
[His revulsion only deepens at her conditions as the idea of him being the one to receive pity is altogether too strange, but he holds his tongue and stares into space. He... isn't sure he's scared enough to sink that low. If possible, it would be much better if Makima could understand on her own that existence in the mall is troublesome enough to reconsider. But if she's really willing to throw away that existence, that could be a big problem for the upcoming week. There may even be a battle with the Game Master soon... his strategy of drifting between shops might not hold up if something more intelligent is hunting the Players. After a moment, he tilts his head back to glance at her from a sideways angle.]
Hmph. You truly do not wish to survive without the existence of someone to pity?
[It would be like he was her reason to live... that's absolutely pitiful in its own way, despite how rottenly selfish she frames it. Maybe he is also drawn in by that, but it's still hard to admit. He would rather she listen to how she sounds and see reason.]
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Did you know that there are Devils who can make you forget that you've even forgotten them? It was funny, Power-chan got so surprised that I'd lost memories in this place at all. I'm not an angel or goddess or anything like that. Just an especially smart and nice Devil.
[The empty smile on her face suggests she almost threw in "beautiful" too. Though he wasn't drawn in this time. How odd. She lowers her hands on the table, and also draws her feet back from the opposite chair to her own side of the table (it's a standard four-chair table, Kira is sitting in the other opposite chair). Makima ponders things. It really is difficult to think like an ordinary human who cares about the future, and also deal civilly with a flamboyant murderer.]
Do you wish to survive without women at your disposal to kill? You and I both attempted to sacrifice everyone remaining in this mall so that we could keep living out our roles. I wouldn't have taken you as interested in these "nudges".
[She can't remember him seriously trying to influence the game through the kokkuri-san spoof, either. Though it's a bit disgusting for the two of them to have this apathy in common. When she's redirected back into the events prior to her latest scheme... deaths 1 through 28... she supposes she can come up with something.]
Well, Devils are formed by humanity's fear of a concept. If I'm erased like this, then maybe the next Control Devil will incarnate without having access to my memories. She'll plan something even more pointless.
[She inclines her head a little, looking up at Kira almost through her bangs. Waiting for more attention, as Makima still feels a bit... The word she'd use for it is hollow. Yes. It's not right for the human's side of the contract to be quite so painless.]
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[it's hard to tell if Kira is joking. Their continuation here proves that the secret wouldn't automatically be preserved by doing such a thing. The voice that took his entry fee claimed that they would get to come back if they survive.... From that perspective, it's possible to see a path forward in siding with the Reapers. He has seen how LC can exist on all three planes. He is starting to see convincing Makima to live for herself may be a lost cause, so his next rebuttal is mostly curiosity with a mix of stalling.]
Can you still reincarnate as control devil if you are erased? It's my understanding that we will be annihilated into particles that form a shape that the Reapers decide upon.
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[Makima might disdain Kira's hedonistic focus on killing, but she doesn't have a lot of faith in their comrades... She feels like arresting the serial killer would end up being her job. Yet again, Makima struggles to balance her ruthless pragmatism with pretending to have any normal hope for the future. Where are the boring police to handle this, like in the obscure movie Angel Dust? She knows her maudlin attitude is almost cliche. "The Woman Who Wanted to Die" (1971) comes to mind as one of many trite examples.]
Power abhors a vacuum. The question is "who will be the next prime minister?", not "will there be one?" I wouldn't be able to operate so much like a human if the control devil had always been "Makima". My accent would be much worse. [So the question really is just whether Makima will survive at all. ...in particles.]
...like their pet executioner. [Some kind of pink. Cat. Thing. Makima quirks her head to the side and imagines this. She does not seem to like it very much.
Makima puts her hand out on the table a bit quicker than any other gesture so far.]
We will share pain, energy, and also budget. Brands are supposed to make our abilities more effective, yes? You can bring my style up to your preferred level. [This is actually the opposite of how it works, as her psych itself is already tied to the "Your Best Friend" brand and Kira's has no brand at all, but. Let her dream.]
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If that's your thinking, I can wear your preferred style. The one I have is... Difficult to make trend. It's mostly school uniforms.
[Wanna wear a sailor fuku, Makima? He doesn't think she's in the mood. And he's trying to stay off the hook... It looks like he might not need to bow, if he's convinced her.]
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I guess a tiger can change his stripes after all.
[Since "Your Best Friend" has a lot of those striped polos. It's a riff on his belief that his nature could never be changed... Makima isn't sure herself whether losing what they value could change them so radically, but she feels like she's still a devil in the end. Though these aren't exactly like what she knows as contracts, her intuitions about the terms are the same. She puts her hand out again.]
Yoshikage Kira, I will dedicate my body and mind to ensure you are not erased. In return you will do the same on my behalf. Make this pact with me.
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We have a deal.
[Kira shakes her hand, brief and firm. The cat scurries beneath the table as sparkling bright light envelops them, decidedly more angelic than demonic.]