01, text | un: PAPYRUS

[spaghettimonster]

[Time for a text message to the network, as Papyrus takes up Sans' suggestion... several weeks after the fact.]

IT. HAS. BEEN. TEN. WEEKS.
AND I AM AT MY LIMIT.

PEOPLE WHO'VE REGAINED LOTS OF MEMORIES,
WHAT IS YOUR SECRET???
HOW DID YOU DO IT!?

I BARELY REMEMBER ANYTHING AND I'M TIRED OF IT!!

THE DOG KEEPS HINTING,
THAT I COULD REMEMBER THINGS FASTER.
BUT WHEN I ASK HOW IT JUST WINKS AND WALKS AWAY.

IF I HAVE TO PUBLISH POETRY, I'LL DO IT.


[ooc: As always, I'm happy to drop the capslock or the font for readability if it helps, just let me know! (They continue IC because Papyrus.)]

Comments

text; un: eudaimonikos

[eudaimonikos]

You know, I haven't remembered anything either.
Do you think they're all just making it up?


Also, what dog?

[spaghettimonster]

THEY COULD BE...
BUT THEY SOUND SO CASUALLY CONFIDENT.
AND REALLY GOOD AT KEEPING THEIR STORIES STRAIGHT.
NO, I THINK I HAVE TO BELIEVE THEM.

THE DOG IS MY DOG.
YOU KNOW, MY FAMILIAR?
YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN IT ROAMING AROUND BEFORE.
SMALL, WHITE, A LITTLE ANNOYING...

IT LIKES TO TRICK PEOPLE INTO BUYING IT LUNCH.
DON'T BE FOOLED! I ALREADY FED IT!!

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, okay.
I probably wouldn't have anyway.

[Not out of any particular cruelty (this time), but like...it's not his dog.]

I don't know what to think.
They're all kinda weird to me.

[Almost like they can tell he's acting completely differently!]

[spaghettimonster]

YOU SAY THAT NOW.

[If you ask Papyrus, this dog wrote the book on effectively wielding puppy-dog eyes. It always gets to him.]

BUT YOU'RE RIGHT!
THEY'RE ALL WEIRD.
NO COMMON THEMES BETWEEN THEM.

SOME PEOPLE GO EXPLORING, AND RIDDLE-SOLVING,
LIKE THE SUPER SECRET BRACER CLUB IS FOR HEROES...
AND OTHERS JUST WANT TO LEAVE???

WE REALLY NEED TO PICK AN ATTITUDE HERE.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, that can't be right.
I'm pretty sure I suck as a person.

[His feelings on that are mixed, lately, but. It seems true.]

[spaghettimonster]

HMMM.
THE BUREAU OF BALANCE: WE SUCK AS PEOPLE.

SNAPPY, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL CATCH ON.

[eudaimonikos]

How about: the Bureau of Bastards?

[spaghettimonster]

THEMATIC! EVOCATIVE! I LOVE IT.

OH! HEY. ALSO, ARE YOU ONE OF THE PEOPLE,
WHO WANTS TO FLEE THE ISLAND AS FAST AS POSSIBLE?
JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BASTARDY B.O.B. STRIVES FOR.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, I don't know.
What's the point? It's not like I've got anywhere else to go.

[spaghettimonster]

RIGHT?!
IT'S FINE FOR PEOPLE WITH MEMORIES.
BUT SOMETIMES HOME IS WHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF.
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S THE ONLY PLACE YOU REMEMBER.

BUT. I COULDN'T HELP NOTICING.
YOU SOUND A LITTLE DOWN.
ARE YOU FEELING LOST AND CONFUSED, ADRIFT WITHOUT PURPOSE,
WANTING TO VENT A LITTLE FRUSTRATION AT THE WORLD??

> private

[eudaimonikos]

[.....well, he sort of hates to admit that much weakness to a stranger over the network, but he's felt...calmer, a little, since he talked to a few people. Since he did better at the coliseum, didn't lash out. And the concept of home being where they are stings, a little; he's never felt that about here, either.]

I guess.
But if you spread any of it around, I'll set you on fire.

private

[spaghettimonster]

[Such hesitance, such a threat! Somehow, it feels perfectly comfortable to deal with such a prickly comment, and he matches the private setting without complaint.

And in truth, Papyrus can relate with that hesitance to reveal too much... But he's already rediscovered the trick of admitting to inane and exaggerated weaknesses, the better to express his feelings without necessarily telling people every thought that passes through his mind.]

OF COURSE! I WON'T SPREAD IT AROUND.
YOUR WORRIES OR THAT FIRE.
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY.
LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS...
MY LIPS ARE SEALED! AND NONEXISTENT.

private

[eudaimonikos]

Well.

[Well...shit. He doesn't actually know how to talk about his feelings at all, maybe? He certainly has some, but now that he's supposed to verbalize them, it seems like they've all fled.]

I don't know.
I guess I feel lost and all that junk you said?

private

[spaghettimonster]

FEELING PURPOSELESS, ADRIFT, AND FRUSTRATED?
IF WE'RE TALKING CONFIDENTIALLY...
I SAID THAT JUNK, BECAUSE THAT'S, A LITTLE BIT, HOW I FEEL.

APPARENTLY WE'RE ALL IN SOME BUREAU, AND TRYING TO RESCUE THE BOSS,
BUT I DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF IT.
IT'S HARD TO SOLVE MYSTERIES, WHEN YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE BASICS OF THE CASE.
IT'S EVEN HARD TO WANT TO.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, I don't care about rescuing anybody. I don't even know who the boss is.
I don't really see any point to ANYTHING we're doing here.

[spaghettimonster]

I HEARD SHE'S -LUCRETIA-.
A SMART, ANGRY LADY.
THAT'S ABOUT WHAT I KNOW.

WELL, BESIDES A POINT TO DOING STUFF HERE.
IF YOU HAVEN'T RUN INTO ANY SHADOWS IN THE WOODS...
I RECOMMEND YOU DON'T!! THEY'RE SCARY.
STOPPING THE CURSE, WOULD BE GREAT, BECAUSE IT'LL BE THAT MUCH EASIER TO HAVE A GOOD TIME.
AND BE POPULAR AND FAMOUS AND PROBABLY WEALTHY.
AND I DON'T MIND RESCUING PEOPLE.

[eudaimonikos]

Why should I care about some angry lady I don't know?

[though there's a point with the rest of that, sure]

Yeah, the curse is a little weird.
I kinda learned that dance that's supposed to fix things, but I don't know that it really does anything.

[spaghettimonster]

I LEARNED THAT DANCE TOO!!
IT'S SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT THE CURSED.
IN A MORE FINAL WAY, THAN WALLING THEM OFF.
BUT GOING OUT NEAR THEM TO DANCE AT THEM...
I DON'T THINK I WANT TO TRY IT ALONE.

[Of course, if he tried venturing out to the wall to dance at the Cursed, he would at least be accompanied by a dog (familiar) and skeleton (brother). But more reinforcements would be better.]

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, probably a good idea.
I've practiced it a bunch, but I can't even tell if it's doing anything.

[it's that inability to summon positive feelings!]

[spaghettimonster]

ARE YOU PRACTICING NEAR THEM?
OR JUST ANYWHERE?

[It seems like an important distinction, if they're troubleshooting what's not working.]

[eudaimonikos]

I've tried both.
I mean, not incredibly close to them. That seemed dangerous.

[spaghettimonster]

IT DOES. BUT IF YOU DIDN'T GET RESULTS...

OH, I KNOW!
LET'S GO NEAR THEM, BUT WITH ROPES.
SO FRIENDS CAN REEL US TO SAFETY.

[eudaimonikos]

Who's gonna be on the ropes?

[it's sweet that you think he has friends]

[spaghettimonster]

[Okay, that's a challenge he hadn't anticipated. Despite not having many friends of his own, the (relatively) reliable presences of Sans and the dog have ensured Papyrus hasn't felt alone in most of his memory.]

UHHH.
WELL, IT'S TO SOLVE A PROBLEM FOR EVERYBODY.
MAYBE OTHER BRACER CLUB MEMBERS.

[eudaimonikos]

You trust that many of them?

[Michael...he likes Sayori, but she's very small. There's Alex, though. He doesn't know why, much like he doesn't know why he was drawn to the teenager in the first place, but he thinks he trusts him okay.]