dear_mun | on the prospect of a canon update

I think muns like to pull us from the most awkward points imaginable. I already have a suspicion of where my mun would pull me from if I were ever to go to a proper game, and it's not a good period in my life.

My mundane was polite enough to retrieve me from a good point, but I should have known there was some wicked plotting behind it. One month she had me viciously murdered during a so-called "event" - and now this?

I would hope yours could reconsider that choice. I don't understand how one take enjoyment out of our torment and still claim to like us.

Well, I suppose that's something. . .

*His eyes go wide.*

She -- she what?! How could she -- *rendered incoherent*

*shrugs, shakes his head* I don't either. I don't think I need worry yet -- she's still "getting her feet wet" with me, as o-one might put it, but. . .

Amusement. [ Schadenfreude, she'd rather believe. ] She was one of many who deemed it fitting to have us die at the hands of the beasts they brought into the city. [ she chews on her lip for a good moment. ] It was temporary.

[ cue a long silence. ]

... But that being the case, I would hope you won't have anything to worry about.

*Victor scowls, arms folded.* I think it would have been much more fitting for you to have slaughtered the lot. You're a fighter, through and through. I'm glad you were able to come back, though. *For a moment, he's tempted to ask about the afterlife wherever she is, but -- no, probably too rude.*

*He laughs humorlessly.* Well, she's got me in memes at the moment. My first one dealt with insomnia, my second -- asylums. She threw me into Rutledge for that one.

I assure you, I fought for as long as possible. The beast that followed me was much larger and unfortunately unstoppable. I never saw its face.

[ He could ask, but she barely recalls a thing. She would have liked to forget any of it had ever happened. ]

Mine enjoys leaving me in memes on occasion t--
[ Her eyes widen. ]
Rutledge? Why would she leave you there? [ She doesn't sound very happy to hear that. ] It's practically a death sentence.

Oh, I have no doubt you gave it trouble up until the very end. *little smile*

*He grimaces and fiddles with his tie.* B-because she felt it was appropriate -- my world is actually a crossover with yours. Though I wasn't put into R-Rutledge in my regular "verse."

*He winces.*

My parents sent me to Dr. Bumby instead.

[ The surprise must be evident in her expression and the way her shoulders tense. ]

Your world... Meets mine? [ After her experience in a game, this should be the least of surprises. But it still manages to catch her off-guard.

Especially at the mention of him. ]

You poor man. Dare I ask why?

*Victor nods, sighing.* Yes. My mun enjoys both my movie and your games, and -- well, she likes seeing us -- interact. *He's tiptoeing around saying 'actually, she ships us like mad' because that's a pretty weighty thing to drop on an Alice he's just met.*

Well -- I had an incident where I accidentally m-married a corpse bride. I thought things were all settled after I set poor Emily free, but my parents refused to believe my story and decided the only way I was going to be 'f-fit for society' again was to forget her. *huff* And they heard that Dr. Bumby was the b-best for that. . .

My mundane thinks that yours has very good taste. [ Whatever she means by it. Alice can't quite figure out what her mundane found so interesting. She would stop to think about it further, but Victor's words draw her attention. ]

A corpse bride? How did you do that? [ Curiosity is evident in her tone - but so is a faint feeling of disappointment and even the slightest hint of resentment. ] He really is skilled at helping one forget, isn't he.

My mundane says thank you. *Victor's not sure he wants to think about it further -- he has no objections to the part the other mundane might be talking about, but it's still a little awkward.*

*He fusses with his tie. He doesn't blame Alice for that little bit of disappointment and resentment -- the Alice he knows from his backstory actually got really angry with him when she first heard the story, so. . .* Well -- my parents arranged a m-marriage for me with some of the local nobility. They needed money, we needed status. Fortunately I rather liked the daughter once I met her. . .but I couldn't remember my v-vows for the life of me. So I went into the woods to practice. I finally got them right and s-slipped the ring onto what I thought was a root --

Only to discover I'd said the vows above the g-grave of a murdered bride, and that the "root" was in fact her hand. She'd vowed, after being k-killed by the man she meant to elope with, to wait for her true love to come set her free -- and since she thought I'd just p-proposed. . . *He shrugs awkwardly.*

*Victor glares off into the distance.* Yes. He is.

[ Alice simply nods, blissfully oblivious to any further commentary. It's likely for the best, however - it would indeed become very awkward otherwise.

She listens intently, frowning ever so slightly with some of the details - an arranged marriage, fleeing to the woods-- an actual corpse bride? It's not that she doesn't believe him, far from that. But it's in Alice's nature to be curious and sometimes she can be rather impressionable. ]

So you married a dead bride. [ Matter-of-fact, but not judgemental. Whatever happened to "until death do us part?" ] And your family refused to believe you?

[ She purses her lips. ]

The question is how much he helped you. [ She places emphasis on "help", but from her tone she means the exact opposite. ] I only wish I had a way to help mend that situation.

*Extremely. Poor muses.

Victor gets it. As stated, he knows Alice from his own backstory. He knows how curious she can be. He nods, glad to see this one's not judging him. He sighs at her question, though.*

They w-weren't there to see it all, I'm afraid. It's a rather complicated situation. . . Emily -- that was the bride -- took me down to the Land of the Dead after our 'm-marriage,' so I was missing Upstairs. My parents went out to l-look for me, but our driver, Mayhew, d-died midroute, and their carriage drove on out of the village without him. *He frowns.* I don't know how long it was before they missed him. So they were out of town when the d-dead rose for our proper w-wedding -- you see, the first 'proposal' didn't count on account of her being dead and my being alive, and I agreed to m-marry her because I'd heard my living fiancee, Victoria, had married another. . . *He shakes his head, scowling.* The rest of the v-village saw it all, but they didn't even t-try to back me up.

*He grips his tie tightly in his hands.* I -- I f-fought him for the longest time, but. . . While y-er, the Alice I know was in Wonderland, fighting off his influence, I h-happened across the ledger he used for his -- business, and he -- caught me.

*He closes his eyes*

And broke me.

*He shudders, then opens his eyes again.* It's -- it's appreciated, I assure you.

They didn't? [ She sounds incredulous. That's almost like a witch hunt - it was their word against his, then? How could someone do that. She shakes her head. ] How tragic. They could have spared you.

[ But as he keeps explaining, aside from the unsettling realisation that he knows a lot more than she thought he would, she finds this sad sense of familiarity. Of course the way they found out about the truth was most likely different, but the fact is that they did.

And then, Alice discovers the aftermath.
She gasps, covering her mouth with one hand and holding her breath for the longest time. Shock was an understatement and for a brief moment she almost wants to reach out - literally reach out, not just verbally.

But she can't. As she often finds herself unable to. ]

That-- That beast! [ Her voice takes a higher pitch, both the result of incredulity and anger. ] Oh, no, no. You poor man. If only I could have helped you. The... Other me, rather.

*Victor shakes his head, face dark.* No. Instead they s-started listening to Pastor Galswells and calling me damned. Which -- h-honestly, I don't mind them getting nasty w-with me so much as them accusing their own d-dead loved ones of being demons. And the only people Mother and Father m-might have listened to, the Everglots, fled the t-town the first chance they got. By the time we f-found them, my parents were too set on the idea of me being mad to listen even if they had spoken up for me.

*Well, according to his backstory, he arrived at Houndsditch some months before Madness Returns, made friends with his Alice, then did his best to keep track of her when the actual events of the game came about. (Mun should probably just link the informational post.)

He grimaces as she gasps, taking a deep, shaky breath. He desperately tries to give her a reassuring smile. It doesn't come out well.*

You did -- s-she did. He -- he t-tried to get me to h-hurt her at the train station, but -- seeing her snapped me out of it l-long enough to punch him. Then, after she avenged e-everyone he'd ever hurt, she helped get me back to myself. Though it took a while, I admit. . .

Although this actually t-ties into what we were discussing before. For some reason, when she thinks of points to t-take me from for a game, she thinks of that time a-after you'd killed Bumby, but before I get all my memories back. *He shakes his head.* I don't see the appeal of a nearly-totally-amnesiac me. . .

The ones who weren't completely oblivious to your situation still rejected actual evidence. How could they? [ Alice is adamant in subjects she firmly believes in and she has strong opinions that she can become downright unyielding over - in this case it strikes her as incredible how so many people could do that to someone, and part of it has to do with her own life experiences. How strange for her to find a point to relate, but still, she does.

This is all very puzzling - she doesn't know Victor the same way he knows another instance of her (or the same way either Mundane could grasp the situation) and ultimately all these different levels of meta can indeed become troublesome to keep track of. It's best to focus on their conversation, she thinks. ]

So you helped me? Or- the Alice you know. You helped her. Us. [ She's not about to argue semantics. ] And in returned, she helped you recover your own memories?
[ A frown. ]
To consider bringing you from such a point is downright cruel.

Edited 2012-11-25 05:08 (UTC)

All I can say is Pastor Galswells is a very scary man, and I s-suppose having the dead rise is a rather upsetting situation. . .even though everyone seemed all right by the time we a-arrived at the church. . . *He shakes his head. He's given up trying to figure out how the villagers could do that. What's important is that they did, and now he has to figure out how to deal with that. Or not deal with it, considering Burtonsville no longer feels like home to him. . .

Yes, it does get confusing, doesn't it? Victor feels a little weird having to explain this to someone he feels he already knows. . .but that's what happens when you meet people from different universes. Fortunately, he has some experience with that from tumblr -- he can handle it. He thinks.*

*A nod.* I d-did my best, anyway. *And now, a real smile.* And yes. She did everything she could to bring them back. Ended up with her drawing the Hobby Horse and a few other weapons so I could borrow them to smash down the wall that he set up in my mind to block my memories. . .

*He nods again, looking grumpy now.* I know. I'm fortunate in that she wouldn't want to do it until that part of my story is actually up for all to read (she's writing it down), and apparently the part in question is giving her trouble. Mostly where the chapter breaks should go, I believe.

He must be. It's understandable to be frightened, but it's awful that they'd place the blame on you. Why, you sound like you had much to deal with as it was. [ Her tone isn't necessarily sympathetic, it's not much like her to sound like that. But any coldness is directed mostly at the actions performed against Victor.
It would all be much easier if Alice knew all of this already.

She looks down at her hands, momentarily feeling the imaginary weight of the hobby horse. She always did like that weapon. ]

Did she? I hope she drew a proper teapot cannon for you too. [ If any other instance of her helped him, then she would like to hope that she did a good job. Second-guessing herself does happen on occasion, however. ] And... I'm glad it worked. [ She nods, attempting to sound calm and rational. ] Or I hope it did.

[ She tilts her head ever so slightly. ] Well, that gives you time to convince your mundane otherwise, isn't that so? It's a good thing. Although mine hopes that yours can find a way to solve that problem; she believes it can be quite troublesome.

Yes, it was a -- *He stops himself from saying "crazy" because that just seems rude.* Difficult time in my life. *He rubs the back of his neck a moment, then straightens.* It's all in the past now, though -- technically. I'm doing m-my best to move on. And my mun assures me the series ends happily, so -- that's something?

*He smiles a little.* Oh yes. Hobby Horse, Teapot Cannon, Clockwork Bomb, and I believe the old Jackbomb for good measure. And it did work. Or it will work. *He frowns. Tenses become confusing when you personally are from the end of the story, but the story itself is only up to the middle.* The mun says it will work, she just hasn't written it down yet.

Yes, and hopefully I'll get her to change her mind. Or at least get the idea out of her system in a meme where it'll do the least damage. *He nods.* Mine thanks yours -- it's just a matter of keeping some chapters from being tiny and others from being huge, she says. Balancing me in London and you in Wonderland.

I imagine as much. [ Alice nods, listening intently. ] And it's certainly something to look forward to - I suppose mundanes can be trusted to tell us the truth on those matters. I would like to hope that mine does that, at least.

[ There's a pause on her behalf as she remembers some of her older weapons and only then does she continue. ] The Jackbomb was very useful to me on some of the toughest occasions; if you realise its true power, it will be useful to you too.

And my mundane asked me to let yours know that she wouldn't mind taking me to a meme if you happen to be there. I can't complain - it seems interesting, doesn't it? I'd like to know more about your story.

*Victor nods a little.* Yes, I can take comfort in that mine is. She likes her happy endings. And she's had me on tumblr for a while, so I know how she works with that. . .

I think it was -- or will be -- very useful against that wall. *He fiddles with his tie for a moment.* I'd hope I wouldn't need it against anything else. . .

*Little blushing.* Well, that's v-very kind of you and your mundane. We'll h-have to see if anything in particular catches her attention. . . *He smiles.* She's still working on it, but this has some more information, if you or your mun is interested.

Has she? Well that's not so bad then, is it? Mine prefers these pages; games, memes, her so called "muse box"... [ quotation marks and everything. ] It has been manageable so far, but I wish she didn't remind me that I share this space with the Red Queen. It's can be very upsetting.

I hope you won't have to use it against any other enemy, but if you do, then you'll know what to do. I hope the other me will help you with that; if she has reason to encourage you, then I do too.

There are all sorts of memes and there is plenty of time. [ Alice nods. ] Thank you. I will make sure she reads it and allows me to do so as well.

*Victor smiles.* I started out on tumblr, actually. Though my mun has experience RPing in this style -- she used to be on LiveJournal. Anyway, it's been good -- met other mes, other people from my canon -- well, f-first canon -- and even an Alice whom I had some very g-good times with. . . *The smile fades.* Though they've all -- l-life happens, you know? *Frowning now.* Oh dear -- that's -- awkward. *Understatement of the year, Victor.*

*He nods* I'm sure she will. Thank you very much.

*Another nod.* That's true. That 'Bakerstreet' place seems very busy. I'm sure something will pop up sooner rather than later. *A small smile.* You're very welcome.

I see. I believe mine mentioned having been on that live journal place before she found me. [ She nods. ] It's easy to meet new people here, but sometimes it's just as easy to lose contact. It's very unfortunate. That has happened to some of the other muses whom I share my mundane's creative space with.

[ She can't help it; for once, she offers a tiny, yet sincere smile. ] Bakerstreet is indeed very busy; my mundane has found very interesting memes there - and it seems as though we have options already, isn't that so? I think we might actually have... Fun.

Mine finally bit the bullet after LJ started something up about changing the comment page. . . *Shrugs, then nods back.* I imagine. In my case, on tumblr, people just -- well, their muses -- l-left. *He bites his lip, then looks away.* There's nothing you can do about it, I suppose. I just hope I'll be able to make some other friends on here.

*He can't help but smile back. She's got such a pretty smile.* My mun's been enjoying it too so far. And it does appear that way. I c-certainly hope we do. *A little shy tie-fiddling.*

on the prospect of a canon update

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