preybeforemeals | 002. [Video/Action for Goldenrod City]

002. [Video/Action for Goldenrod City]

[Well, it seems that Tsukiyama has finally left whatever hellhole he's buried himself in for the last couple of weeks; he hasn't been out nearly as much as he'd normally like – really, he hasn't been out at all unless it's been absolutely necessary – but it seems that today he's decided that if he's going to bury himself in several layers of escapist fantasy, he might as well do it outside rather than behind the locked doors of a hotel room.

...That, and he's run out of reading material.

The feed from Tsukiyama's device today opens with a slow pan over some of what he's managed to find in his attempt to stave off boredom; after a moment, his voice can be heard over the video.]

I'm finding myself a bit at a loss, really – if nothing else, I'm unsure whether I should be impressed or offended.

[To his credit, he sounds more amused than anything; after a moment he turns the camera around to actually get him in the shot. He seems well enough, if a bit exasperated.]

They seem to have things such as The Metamorphosis and Battle Royale as well, things that don't seem to have changed much just judging by the title, but I'm sure there's some sort of completely hideous difference in there that will make itself known eventually. For now I think I'm just grateful that I haven't found anything like The Black Gogoat's Egg...I'm sure it would be by someone like Takatsuki Sentret, while we're at it.

[Because this place is a travesty like that.]

From what I've seen, the film selection isn't much better... Tell me if you've found anything particularly interesting during your time here, will you? I don't particularly mind if it's a pun-entrenched mess; if anything, I'm a little curious about how badly they've managed to butcher things.

[Granted, he's not entirely sure how this is going to go, given that there's apparently a market for things like Sharpedonado around here and as such he is effectively asking for recommendations from people who find things like that to be high art, but you know what, live a little.]

[ACTION]

[It's a little overcast today but it's not too cold, and as such he can be found sitting in one of the squares near the department store; there's a café nearby that he's come to like, even if it's not Anteiku (because nothing is quite like Anteiku, even if he'd never really frequented the place as much as some it had its charms, he can't deny that), and he's claimed one of the outdoor tables with a book laid nearby and a cup of something that steams in front of him. As usual, he's a little hard to miss – which is really just a polite way of saying that he's still something of an eyesore, but at least it looks like there was an attempt today and the entire ensemble is blessedly argyle-free.

He's not reading the book he's got laid out, though once in a while he looks at it in a way that implies he's tempted to at least see how much of a shitshow it's surely going to be; for now, his time seems to be given to actually taking the time to savor the joy that is pumpkin-spice everything while it lasts (as long as we all take the word "joy" to mean "experience that involves drinking that coffee once in a while like he's not sure if it's poison, only to set it down and look at it funny and be clearly unsure in its general direction...but for some reason he can't stop drinking it once in a while anyway") and...once in a while swatting away a really persistent Klefki that is hovering near his head.

She doesn't seem to mind the swatting; if anything, she's seeming to find it to be a game of some sort, and she keeps coming back and...unlatching, for lack of a better word, for the sake of waving one of the keys she's found in his general direction with the happiest damn noise because NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

SHE FOUND A PRETTY ONE AREN'T YOU PROUD OF HER.

...After a while the implications of that will sink in, however, and...]

...Mirabella...

[Surely she hasn't.]

Mirabella, amore – exactly where have you been getting those...?

[If he has gotten some sort of kleptomaniac keyring he swears to god - ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Onscreen appears a middle-aged man who has given this some thought.]

Raging Tauros isn't bad. Or Regirocky, Sylvester Starlyon's petty good in it. Got a face like a sack of hammers, but that's part of the charm.

Sylvester St-

[NO.]

Oh, this place didn't.

[Seriously, that is one of the better things he's heard all day; it'll actually get a bit of a laugh out of him, in that oh-you're-terrible sort of way.]

I'll have to keep that in mind, monsieur - if for no better reason than morbid curiosity.

[Blake perks up a little.] Shit, you've actually heard of the real one. You must be from the real world.

[Immediately he hears a chorus in his head of all the people who always tell him everybody's world is the real one to them. Assholes. He clears it up anyway.] I mean, the planet Earth.

[His brow furrows when he gets called misyur.] What are you, French?

[He says it in a tone similar to, What are you, a three-headed antelope?]

Ah - no, no. I'm from Tokyo, actually.

[...that probably is not going to help with his status as three-headed antelope, is it.]

But I'm about as "from Earth" as they come, yes! It's nice to find others that are, believe me, the sentiment is returned.

[Blake sighs.] Japan, huh. Well, close enough.

[That's almost the real world.

He smiles faintly.] It beats being an alien or a horse.

On both your end and mine, judging by the way people were carrying on the day I arrived! It seems the transformation is a little jarring on them.

Granted, it's also a little jarring to hear them talk about it so openly, so trust me, I see what you mean.

Aw, great, we got more horses and weirdos lately?

[Not that he can be all that mad, for all his groaning. The horses he's run into have been pretty decent.]

Figures you must be pretty recent, if you're not used to all this offbrand bullshit yet. Most stuff you can find if you look hard enough. I've never heard of that Battle thing you were talking about, though.

Battle Royale, you mean? The original isn't really my sort of piece, and if anything it seems to go against the basic message they're trying to force us to swallow here, since it's about a bunch of students forced to fight each other to the death.

Honestly, I'm tempted to pick it up for that reason - I want to know what they've done to it.

[Blake expression is pure bafflement.] What the hell kind of sicko comes up with something like that? Who the hell'd wanna watch it?

[Shrug!]

It's not considered a good thing within the scope of the work itself - the novel presents the idea that it's a terrorism tactic, actually.

I wouldn't take it any more seriously than anything else in the horror genre, anyway.

Edited (...fingers really) 2014-11-25 10:14 (UTC)

Christ. Whatever happened to horror movies being about guys with chainsaws in hockey masks?

Making kids kill each other. Jesus. That's no fuckin' kind of entertainment.

[...All right, how...does he ask this...]

Do you believe children should be exempt from violence in general, monsieur, or is it the fact that they're killing one another that you're finding repugnant?

[It occurs to him once that's out there that that's probably a strange question, but he doesn't seem inclined to take it back or try to brush it off, either.]

[Blake's dark brows nearly meet in the middle of his forehead.]

What I believe is I say anybody who'd get their kicks out of watching something about kids getting murdered should be slapped in a straitjacket.

Christ. It's bad enough that that shit happens in the real world without some Hollywood shitbird trying to make a paycheck off it.

[His expression flickers a little at that, though he doesn't falter far before he relaxes; it's not something he thinks about often, but the CCG is still looking for Hinami-chan, aren't they? That's why they're looking after her, because the doves are-

It's unpleasant business, not something he cares to think about, and so he simply doesn't.]

Oh, I'm very aware of how often that sort of thing happens in real life, trust me. At the same time, there's still something to be said for being able to separate fiction from reality.

[A weird look came over the guy's face for a second there. Maybe he needed to sneeze.

Blake's own expression is dark. What he's thinking of is a straight-laced, scared kid who'd been through hell.]

There's some things that people shouldn't be playing around with for fuckin' fun.

[Mm, that is interesting, isn't it.]

Spoken as one would after having personal experience on the topic. Is that the case?

[Blake snaps back immediately] That's none of your fuckin' business!

[Tsukiyama settles back a bit at that, his hand alighting on his chest gently as he does so; his fingers flutter a little against his lapels.]

Of course, monsieur - my apologies.

[And to his credit, he does seem willing to back off on it for the time being.]

Likewise for the unpleasant topic, actually, especially with someone I don't know; may I ask to whom I've been speaking?

[The apology mollifies him. He mutters,] Yeah. There's shit nobody wants to talk about.

[He brushes off his sleeve.] Carter Blake. Police lieutenant, back in the real world. You?

...Ah.

[The sound leaves him involuntarily, and for a moment he hesitates because ahahahahaha fuck, this just got about a million times more awkward, and it takes him a moment to shake it off.

It's more likely the man is just...well as he said, isn't he? A police officer, a civilian. Even if he's not, he isn't a threat here; if their kagunes don't work then the quinques won't either, and even if he's completely wrong about all of that...well, somebody's going to die and Tsukiyama's gotten into it with enough doves to know that he won't be the one dying.

Worst-case scenario, of course. Best-case...again, maybe he's just a civilian.]

Tsukiyama Shuu - it's a pleasure, Lieutenant.

[He gives those rapidfire syllables his best shot.] Sookuhyammashoe?

[That's an odd sound and an odd look on the guy's face, but Blake's gotten a lot worse. However, he's not in the mood to let it pass. A hint of nastiness tinges his voice.] If you got a problem, go ahead and spit it out.

...Tsukiyama. "Tsukiyama" is fine.

[...Granted it's also the more complicated half of it but you know what, he is nothing if not...usually polite in addressing people and as such, you are not calling him Shuu if he has any say.

As it stands, however, he just sort of laughs a little, shrugging a bit at the statement.]

And I wouldn't say I have a problem, monsieur; there's just something a little intimidating about a policeman insinuating that I'm possibly some sort of psychopath for having read Battle Royale, that's all.

[Blake tries again and gets a little closer.] Sookiyama. Got it.

[He crosses his arms.] I didn't say psychopath. But you gotta admit, that's a pretty fucked up thing to get entertainment out of.

[...Close...enough...]

Getting pleasure out of something like that, yes, of course. But I don't always read things for the sake of pleasure alone - I'd hate to think of what my usual reading material would say about me, if that were the case.

Who the hell reads for fun, anyway?

[Voluntary intellectual activity is something Blake is deeply suspicious of.]

002. [Video/Action for Goldenrod City]

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