hopesong | (no subject)

hey kate, got that guitar you were after sorted for you. shop owner says if you want to go in and check it out and make any changes you're welcome to pop by any time, i've got the costs covered

how are you settling in? sorry, i'd have let you know i got it sorted sooner but i kind of got a little bit murdered during the bubbles thing

Thanks a bunch. I'll be sure to put it to good use for you and everyone else. What was the name of the shop again? I'll swing by after I'm done cleaning up at the house I'm in.

I'm settling in just fine. There's a lot I'm still getting used to, but it's nothing like it was back where I came from. I think the weirdest thing is sleeping on a normal schedule, but even that might change soon enough. Same with eating though, honestly.

Paulsen and Sons, it's not too far from the big library by the big tower with an A on it. Told him to sort you out with any accessories you need too and I'd pay him the rest when it's sundown again.

You can still keep a somewhat normal schedule. I got about a month in before I had to go fully nocturnal. Least that just means shifting everything around 12 hours so not going to bed before 6am is less of a concern to others.

[Plus he was already... Kind of nocturnal. Thanks Fog.]

It's kinda mixed how quick everything comes in, I made it a few months before I got the hunger part, at least. Any... 'Symptoms'? I know vampires get little bite marks when it starts setting in.

Thanks, you're a darling. I promise not to go overboard, though. Just a guitar and I guess maybe a pick or two in case I end up with claws in the future.

What sort of monster are you? I don't recall of you've told me. It's sort of been a blur since I've been here, so I apologize if so.

And no teeth marks that I've seen, and no symptoms either. Just my usual restlessness. Any other monsters have give away symptoms? Maybe I've got one of those?

Oh, definitely get picks. Most of the monsters get claws or would struggle to pick strings for other reasons.

[Like he has to hazard a guess slimes would really struggle.]

I'm a gargoyle. Here that's just... a massive lizard with wings. Got the tail, teeth, tongue and sight first. Wings, full body scales, the hunger, claws and the whole dragon face came later.

I've heard that some of the uh... Undead guys notice that they start... Dying, but that might not be true for all of them. For me at least I just started changing. My boyfriend had it all just happen all at once when he became a werewolf, so it really is ymmv on when things turn up

Well, that all sounds delightful. I'll remain vigilant for these kinds of changes, but so far I'm pretty regular. Not even any pin feathers, which might be dashing my hopes and dreams of being compliant with my username already.

[Which is just funny, at this point in time.]

Seems a bit hard to stagger the changes of being a werewolf doesn't it? Aren't they kind of just an all or nothing monster? That's how every horror story paints them, anyway.

Does your boyfriend also happen to like headpats? Gotta know in case that's my future. Might be a bit awkward if someone scratches my ear and I thump my leg like an idiot.

hey, wings are still a possibility even without pin feathers. i think the manticores get bat wings sometimes. only ones i've ever met have both had bird wings, though.

I mean, you can probably go just teeth first? I think literally every single one I've met went all at once on the beast mode deal, though.

...and yeah, he does. He is more dog than wolf, but... Tail wagging? More of a problem than you think

Too bad. Bat wings aren't really my style.

You're making it sound like I get a say in whether or not I go full monster or just stop at the teeth. As much as I'd like that, I don't think I'll be that lucky.

How many things has he knocked over with his tail?

You can't, but it'd be nice if you could.

I'm on my 3rd coffee pot since we started dating and I'm not sure about how many he's been through.

Oof. Sounds rough.

Maybe investing in one of those single cup machines might be better for you?

good luck finding one of those here that doesn't taste like ass. the coffee scene is pretty much the cafes people have brought, the stuff the conbini sells and filter coffee

There was a woman who was kind enough to get me a coffee a few weeks ago while I was more or less dead on my feet. It was pretty good, all things considered.

I'm pretty sure my views are skewed as hell now with food and drink being good or bad, though.

People bringing in home comforts really is a blessing.

Supplies hard to come by, where you were before?

Nonexistent, more like. More to it than that, but it's a long story, so we'll just leave it there.

hey, it's your story, you choose when to tell it. you aren't gonna catch me sitting down for the whole life story any time soon either.

i'm glad you're somewhere that's... well, i hope it's less... terrible, at least.

No? You don't want to hear my tragic backstory? Too bad.

[She's teasing.]

Far less terrible, honestly. Much more preferable, and that even includes the whole having to eventually eat people thing. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Hey, tragic backstories are key character moments, you gotta prepare for them. Trading war stories is also absolutely a "over some form of drinks" thing and if anyone here doesn't buy you a drink first you're being ripped off

yeah. that bridge comes for all of us eventually.

Fair enough. It'll cost you at least two bourbons to hear my story. One as a friendly gesture, the second to loosen the lips.

You've been here awhile, right? Any more humane ways to get what needs to be got than going out?

And any chance I can put myself on one of those "Dinner To Go" signs while I'm still perfectly human? I'd hate to take someone out of commission when I could take a spot myself. Especially knowing that I'd come back and they wouldn't.

uh

from what i've heard eating someone who's a monster doesn't necessarily help hunger even if you're not changing yet, so your mileage may vary

someone might take you up on it on the network, though. but gotta warn you: you die enough times here and you'll start forgetting shit. i've been here since february and died once, so i didn't forget anything, but a few deaths in and uh
you'll start losing shit

Well, that doesn't necessarily throw my plan out the window, but even if it staves it off for a bit, I think contributing in any amount is helpful if I can do it.

I've heard about the whole forgetting things, and I'm not too terribly concerned about it. Forgetting some things might be nice, after all.

The problem is, you don't get to choose what you forget. Yeah, it might be something awful, something dreadful that you're glad to see the back of, but it could be something you're glad to remember, or a happy memory or something like... Where you were born. It's a roulette wheel on exactly what goes.

Might be a problem for some people, and understandably so, but I think losing a memory or two is worth saving, or even just extending someone's life.

Besides, the most they can take from me is me forgetting how to hit an E4.

I mean you raise a point there about if it can take learned skills from you. Maybe just how you learned them.

My first month here I had to eat some... Horrible fake amalgamation of people important to me that the cultists brought about, so maybe I'm just a little jaded. I do try to keep my hunting to people that uh... Won't be missed, as awful as that sounds. Criminals that hurt kids, etc. Gotta try, at least.

Can't imagine that there's still too many people like that around, but I understand.

Are people who are already dead viable? I'd hate to resort to grave robbing, but if its a choice between that and hurting people, I'll take it.

Yeah, but you'll have to be quick. Push comes to shove there's also Ragnarok, an Inn out by the lake. They get and cook meat for monsters, there's just the caveat of uh. They do hunt for it.

I'm not going to get someone else to do my dirty work.

If they're already corpses that's much preferable, but I understand they're in high demand. Still, I suppose it's a good thing to have a few options at the ready just in case.

iPush comes to shove and the Inn and the soup kitchen are good options, at least. Staves off the need to go berserk, at a minimum.

Of course. I'm not as foolhardy to think I'll be the one who doesn't have to eat people out of the dozens of monsters here, or those that have been.

Not that it'll stop the lament over having to hurt people, though.

Oh, you'd be surprised. There's a guy who's been here a bit who insists he doesn't have to eat people. Seen him posting about it on the network. Not sure what his deal is.

Oh? Anyone actually checked on him to see that? Might be worth checking out if it's true.

Oh, it ain't. People have seen him feeding in his fog form, apparently. But... Well, if we had a therapist worth a damn here they'd sure have a time working things out with him.

Oof. Well, that sounds about right. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Not that they were particularly high when I messaged you, but still.

[ Kate is hard to track down, but the next time Steve sees her he'll have a holiday care package waiting, consisting of:

A tupperware containing some of the stew he's been practicing making. This portion is human-free, though, notably.

A cozy scarf that he figures shouldn't be in too much danger of getting torn up when she shifts. It's warm brown, and has little cream-colored silhouettes of birds in flight repeating down the length of it.

A first-aid kit. This one's kind of a joke, kind of not. ]

[It turns out a lot of people had plans for Nattensfest gifting, and as an Italian, well, Trish is entirely blind-sided by it! So her gifts to people outside of the Hill House come after Nattensfest. Still, they're wrapped in frankly awful looking wrapping paper, and vary in size depending on contents, but they all contain a box tied shut with red string that also fixes a card in place. The card itself has two sides, one adorned with a design of various cats, and the other side normally blank but now adorned with neat, tightly written cursive from La Befana, which to the Italians of the peninsula is a familiar holiday figure. To the rest, however, it may take some slight process of elimination as to who La Befana is. It's probably impossible to tell due to Ryslig magic as well, maybe, but Trish writes her notes to the people of the 38-8 in English! Mostly.

As before, each card has a unique message. For Kate, it reads:

Kate Denson, was it? You're a hard one to find. I've left this with people I can trust to find you, wherever you're hiding at the 38-8.

Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo.

Inside, Trish apparently had a lot of inspiration considering how little she knows Kate. There's a notebook of blank sheet music with a pen included, a set of absurd looking tongs, and a multi-tool for guitar repair, which should help in a pinch. Hope you found your muse, you aggressively cheerful weird woman.]

Edited (subject line is important ok ok) 2021-12-27 03:48 (UTC)

hey kate

do you know any prince?
like on your guitar

Sure do, sugar.

What are you asking for?

[ Five minutes later: ]

i was thinking about putting a little concert together for my boyfriend's birthday
he really likes prince

[ He's not happy with how long he had to steel himself to press send. Once again, the time has come to decide how honest to be to someone who might be surprised by who he's dating. And once again, the nerves he thought he'd gotten rid of are back.

But whatever.
There it is.

Band-Aid off. ]

what do you say?

I would love to play for you and your boyfriend, Steve! You give me a date, a place, and a time, and I'll be there. I'm happy for you, I didn't know you'd found someone!

[She'd only heard that Nancy was his Ex in the fog, and while they'd still been fairly good friends, the fact that he was constantly around someone he'd previously dated was probably... a little hard.]

[ He definitely doesn't want to imagine himself in the murder dimension getting, well, murdered next to his unrequited love... not just because they broke up, but because he'd never wish anything like that on her. ]

thanks, kate :)
makes living here a lot easier ,that's for sure

date? april 16th
place? i'm still working that part out, but if i can convince maya to convince dandy to clear out their restaurant out for the party i could do that whole thing where i make him think i'm inviting him to a normal dinner
time? well
i've got a bass player on the line who turns into a giant bear after sundown, so probably before then

you know trish?

Edited (now with more lame emoji use) 2022-03-24 07:44 (UTC)

I'll be sure to be there. I'm sure he'll love it!

I know Trish. She's a great bass player and singer, I managed to convince her to do a duet with me at the Halloween party, and I think we really hit it off there. As for her turning into a bear after sundown, can't say I cant relate. I turn into a rather large dog, you see.

But I've been practicing playing guitar like that, so I think I can still swing something then, even if its not perfect.

I'll do my best to make your night special ♥

hey i wasn't going to call you out on the dog thing, but i thought that might be an issue too
glad to hear the big, clawed mitts are working out for you

but i think i'll still try to time things so there aren't any crazy transformations happening mid-song

Oh no, the dog thing is fairly funny, I think.

As for mid song transformations... I don't know. Maybe we can plan something cool for it?

i wish i could say "save it for halloween"

but knowing him he'd probably find a guitar-playing wolf fascinating and give you some explanation from national geographic about why it's impressive you can move like that

[ He's dating a bit of a brainiac. Again. ]

Edited (code bork) 2022-03-28 23:35 (UTC)

That seems so far away for something so cool.

Well, thankfully for myself, I get to keep having fingers and thumbs while I'm a giant furball. Really helps, I think. The hardest part is that pawpads and guitar strings and claws can lead to some not fun string breakage. It's been a work in process, but I've been getting better.

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, KATE DENSON. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 ***songbird has joined 018.07.154.55 <songbird> Kate here. <sonbgird> Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

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a nattensfest letter to you

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