maxxxacre | 𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖇𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖙 𝖎𝖓𝖇𝖔𝖝.

𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖇𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖙 𝖎𝖓𝖇𝖔𝖝.

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maxxxine

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Hey, Snow White.

You ever get what you were looking for, or did you take my advice?

snow white's a new one. ( she likes it.

but following that text is another of just a picture. )

Someone forgot a coat of paint on your diorama.

[it's not quite clicking yet. but cocaine isn't the real reason he reached out, compelled to make sure during lockdown that she's alright - even if he very much gets the impression she can handle herself.]

You got any dwarves around, or are you on your own?

probably because paint ain't supposed to go up your nose. ( i mean... should coke really, though? )

my suitemate is with me. she's a sweetie, actually.

Not so sure that stuff is either. [his thoughts exactly!! he'll change his tune in about 20 years, don't worry.] You sure you wanna ruin all that hard work?

Lots of sleepovers happening tonight. You gonna braid each other's hair?

I'm bunked up with royalty, myself. She's sweet too.

little too late. already have. we might actually. she's got a lot of pretty red hair to keep back. went from princess snow white to a queen? damn, hawk, i'm hurtin here.

That ought to last you a while. What's after the Taj Mahal - Versailles?

You know, this place has a lot going for it. Bet they've got some fancy detox and everything. Christ, they've got a theater and a nightclub - that's the least they could include. Don't go thinking I'm a nag, just an idea.

Well, you got yourself a redhead too. Look at us.

My suitemate - he introduced us. Saved her life. Don't worry doll - I'd never pit royalty against each other. That would be unladylike.

By the way, speaking of: got a party I'm running coming up soon. Leave the party favors at home, though.

maybe. have to see what the Library says.

( she sits there a minute, looking at his next words. she doesn't think he's a nag. worse. she thinks he cares. and she doesn't know what to do with that. she tries to think of something to say. sassiness feels a bit... disrespectful in the face of his kindness. honesty feels like a let down. lying is off the table.

so she skips it and goes on. )

so your queens a redhead, then? anyways, i know you wouldn't. you're too much of a gentleman. your suitemate with the two of you, too? hopefully they're okay. and i'll be there at the party. just me and my pretty self, no party favors.

[he knows when he's being given a gentle brush up, but he's willing to bet she knows he'll be here in case she wants to talk about it or changes her mind.]

Dowager Queen Alicent, if you know her. I think you missed out on the festivities before, but - my suitemate protected her from....well, let's call it an animal attack.

Yeah, he's here too. She's fond of him, but I think anyone would be.

[him too, but that's neither here nor there. :x]

I'll tell you a secret before anyone else gets the invite: start thinking about Hollywood starlets or your favorite chapter in history class.

( she's appreciative of his willingness to push past it. she knows he means well. she likes him for it, too. if only she were good enough for concern. )

i ain't met her yet. not really sure i'm the kinda person that should be meeting a queen, truthfully. that's good, though, the three of ya are safe together. sounds like i don't gotta fret about you :) and considerin i history was my least favorite class.... looks like hollywood it is.

Would you feel the same way about the Queen of England? Part of the job to meet everyone. Frankly, they should meet more people like you and me.

Least favorite - well, I won't let my suitemate hear that. He majored in it at Fordham.

[why did he share that. she doesn't even know tim. christ.]

What was the favorite, then?

[it's easier to picture her skipping class, honestly.]

Carrie - This was so much scarier than the sci-fi drive ins I'm used to. The scariest movie I've ever seen, I think. I almost turned it off, but it was really well made. The camera is dynamic in a way that makes you feel the stress, it's somehow vulgar and tragic at the same time. Relatable, in a weird way. Not the powers that kill everyone part, but the fear and shame attached to sexuality.

It was good. I'll never watch it again.

Alice Sweet Alice - I couldn't finish it. The murder during Holy Communion was too much.

Grease - I loved it, just like you thought I would :) I liked the romance, the music, all of it. I've watched it three times already. That song 'Hopelessly Devoted' is stuck in my head.

Rocky Horror Picture Show - I liked this one too. Not as much, it was silly and racier than I would prefer. I liked the songs, though. The performers all seemed like they were having fun.

The Wolf Man - Kind of made me miss home, since it's older, something I might have been able to see in a theater myself. It was sad. But not as terrifying as Carrie, which was good.

( admittedly, she may have been trolling him a little at first. though she stands by that her list were all classics of her favorites. except Grease. that one was a classic but not anywhere near her favorites list.

but his responses are just so genuine she can't troll any further. )

are you a movie critic in your home? horror movies got a lot of themes like that about fear and shame, especially when it comes to sexuality. not always as obvious as others, but it kinda is what it all always comes down to. grease isn't my thing, but i'll be damned if i don't get 'you're the one that i want' stuck in my head every damn time. was it the the murder or the church part in alice sweet alice that got ya?

Oh no, not at all. I just like to go to the matinee on the weekends, it takes my mind off things.

I can understand that. When I was a kid, I snuck into a movie with my sister called Cat People. Do you know it?

I was expecting some violence. But not in the church.

huh. well you got a lot of good points. most people - especially churchy people - just see that kind of thing and say it's disgusting just for existing. never take the time to pay attention to it. no. it sounds weird. is it weird? ( she likes weird. )

got ya, though. avoid the church horror movies then, yeah?

I think it's easy to dismiss a message when it's hidden under the sensationalist bits. Not everyone will want to wade through the buckets of pig blood to get to it, and that's okay. That doesn't mean the message isn't there.

I was about twelve, so it would have been the early 40s. It's about a woman who's afraid to consummate her marriage because she thinks she's been cursed to turn into a panther if her passions run too high. And there's the question the whole time of whether she's crazy or she really is cursed. So that's about the fear of sexuality too, always being lonely because you don't think you can love the right way, without ruining everything. Knowing you can never have a normal life, because of something wrong inside you that you can't control. It's not as violent or over the top as Carrie, but you might like it.

No murder in the church, please :)

Edited 2024-09-01 04:41 (UTC)

you're right about the sensationalist stuff. it's fine and dandy if you don't wanna see it. but doesn't mean it isn't worth seeing or making for other folk. you really should think about being a movie critic. i'm gonna have to see if they have cat people in here now. i bet they do if they had wolf man. religious man, then?

There's enough real horror in the world that our energy would be wasted getting angry about the fictional ones.

I don't know if it's that insightful. It's barely even subtext. But that's sweet of you.

Yeah, I am. Catholic.

that's the fucking truth. maybe. but you put it nicely. you're good with words. former evangelical christian. you're a lot better than most the folk i grew up with.

Thank you. Maybe we can watch it together, after Halloween.

Can I ask why you left?

i'd love that. movies are always better with friends. :) i wanted bigger things. wanted to go to hollywood and be an actress. my dad told me i was gonna burn in hell for it. just don't fit my lifestyle.

For acting? That's really overblown. Nobody says that to stage actors or musicians.

hollywood's all violence and porn and corrupting the youth. so the protesters say.

War and poverty and discrimination corrupt the youth, too. And worse, I'd say. They should worry about that.

Got those bullets for you. They're in your top drawer - but I sure as hell hope you don't have to use them. Make sure you read the note too.

Listen... but you remember what I said about Embry, right?

The rest of this - I'm fairly sure it's unconnected. Shitty timing. Are you alright?

breaking into my room is very creeper like, hawk. ( teasing! )

thank you. i found the note, too. note is real specific about human... but yeah i suspected it wasn't connected. seemed a huge ramp up from one intimate kill to several quick ones. i'm just keeping my head down for now. what about you? you okay?

Least it was just me.

Pinning the blame on everyone else just because they're different - stronger, outsiders, got abilities....I don't know. Seems a little too on the nose. Obvious, doesn't it?

The same. Worried about - how the hell I'm gonna keep you and everyone else I care about safe. Once upon a time it'd just be about surviving on my own. Can't say I haven't been a ruthless son of a bitch to save the skin on my own nose.

But now I had to go and care, huh? No regrets, by the way.

...Did you know anyone?

well don't forget i'm a ruthless bitch myself when it comes to saving my own skin. you don't gotta worry about me that hard. but i get what you mean. i didn't know anyone that well this time. had a couple decent conversations with some, but still. but if it'd been you? or tim? even accused. saw your friend was accused too. i'm real sorry about that. did you know anyone else who died? ( he's got enough on his plate with embry... )

oh by the way, someone with a vision like the others are getting reached out to me. said that he saw that i was innocent and wanted to reassure me i wasn't doing anything against my will. another reason you don't gotta worry about me either.

Wouldn't want you to be any other way, darlin'.

No. Not really - just. One of the girls at the gym, Grace. I'd see her in the mornings sometimes. Parisa...she was Embry's roommate. And the other one, Saxisce? Talked to her once.

Can I tell you something I've only told Tim?

The evidence against her was stacked. Bad. Honestly...I wouldn't be surprised if she did do it. But I don't think it's any worse than half the other shit that's happened here. Maybe we've been here too goddamn long.

A vision?

Who was it, Maxine? Do you trust him?

I'm not saying I think you're involved - but the people working overtime to figure this out...I worry they're gonna wind up on the chopping block if we're going for round two.

i can't remember. did i tell ya what happened when i went back home? with my dad? and the guy with the vision? never met him before. i promised i wouldn't say it was him, cause i think he mighta been telling the truth. he didn't know me from jack. he had no reason to tell me this either. he doesn't know i won't tell anyone and risk exposing him. but he trust me. so i think he was serious. and that's why i gotta help keep his secret. because i think you're right about that. which also means i'm worried you're pretty front and center yourself.

Not the whole story - just the time passing. What happened? You alright? Didn't think you two were particularly close.

That's honorable of you both. Sounds like he's got a lot more to lose in telling you, but he did the right thing.

Ah, what'd I tell you? Don't worry about me. I've always been bulletproof. Time to test it out again.

yeah, ya weren't wrong. i killed him. he was on a killing spree in hollywood, killing all the sinners and shit like that. he killed three of my friends trying to get close to me. then there was this girl. she wasn't a friend, but she was nice enough. i could have saved her if i had just dealt with my dad sooner but i didn't. i don't wanna be too late saving someone again. that goes for you, too.

You've been through too much loss for anyone. The fact that you're still willing to stand up against it makes you braver than half the people here. All of us, maybe.

Look, speaking of all this mess - you know anything about a guy named David? Someone saw him in a dream, just like the guy that came to you. I trust the source. It was confirmed by someone else I'm aligned with.

And based on process of elimination, cross referencing on butler, details of an attacker...he might be another guy. Case is gonna be a little harder to prove, though.

i trust ya if you say you trust who the vision came from. i don't really know anything about him, though. we had a nice chat on butler once. weird thing, though. before the whole wolf game some odd days ago, he climbed into my bedroom through my window while i was in the bath. found him in my room and he asks me to wear his jacket? then just fuckin leaves down the hall like nothing happened. i wish i had more context for ya, but that's literally all the context i got for what happened. i will say he didn't seem threatening or scary. he was looking back out my window too when i stepped out. like he was maybe looking at something? i don't know. but i didn't feel like i was in danger from him. or that it was even about me, if that makes sense? hard to explain. whole thing was weird.

Is that why you asked for the gun?

That's odd, Maxine. Were the windows locked?

I don't know how this...supposed compulsion works. Maybe it was targeting the wolves days before it took over. Do you still have the jacket? I wonder if - maybe I can ask for help from someone for a spell. Or one of the doctors can...do whatever it is they do with the microscopes.

Uh, hey. You're Maxine, right?

[This is gonna seem so random, but it's gotta be done.]

( huh. well this is unexpected. and a little weird concerning what going on. feels like the time to be suspicious of everything.... )

that'd be me. why ya asking?

Cool, alright! I'm Usopp.

[It takes surprisingly little effort to not put 'the great' or 'captain' in there somewhere; maybe a bunch of people dying in some freakish game has curbed his appetite for lying about his status as a sea-faring hero-type.]

You know how some people are worried that they might be the werewolf? Like, others are nervous that maybe they're a werewolf and can't even remember it, or black out? Stuff like that? Is that something you worry about, too?

is this some roundabout way to ask if i'm feeling guilty or something?

( it's not her first time being accused of innocent murder. it wouldn't be her first murder. in all honesty, she probably should worry more about if she did it or not.

but in reality, guns are more her style. and her gun is clean. so she's pretty sure she didn't do it. )

No! No, not that. I wasn't gonna bring anything up unless it happened during all that arguing, but. I just wanted to let you know, since you might be unsure like everyone else - you're not the werewolf.

I don't know why or how, but I got some kind of vision or something from the manor that told me you're not. And I know it's gotta be legit and not just my imagination being crazy, because it told me your name and showed me how you looked, and I didn't know that before now.

So.

I figured I'd let you know. You're good.

Edited 2024-10-10 16:21 (UTC)

( oh. definitely not the direction she thought this was going to go in.

interesting.

she'd probably think this was weird.... if she wasn't sitting in a plush bedroom in a whole ass fucking other world than she's from. so yeah. weird visions? seems on par. plus he wasn't the only one to talk about visions or dreams. it's probably a part of the game.

so she puts down her hackles before she responds. )

thanks. that does actually make me feel better. also helps me think a bit straighter rather than worrying what i mighta done. or might do. i won't tell anyone your name or anything, either. don't want you getting targeted for being able to sort out the innocent.

Yeaaaah... I definitely would want to know if I went all murder-mode and blacked out.
But thanks. I would also like to keep being alive. I like being alive! 💀

Hopefully it's not the only time, maybe me and whoever else gets these weird powers can sort out more people.

[It's really nice, to feel helpful. Useful. He's... not used to the idea.]

Edited 2024-10-10 16:35 (UTC)

Ms. Maxine? Could I ask you a strange question, if you aren't too busy?

hey kobes. what do ya need?

[Oh, the nickname, the same one Nami uses. That throws him off for about two flustered seconds, then:]

Well, I can't explain why I'm asking, not just yet, but I promise I will as soon as I can. And it's nothing mean. What sorts of movies do you want to direct? When you get home, I mean.

( ... she was expecting some weird wolf related question. not if she was the wolf, Usopp cleared her and she's seen that Usopp moves with Koby. but she'd expected something related?

but she doesn't mind the question. )

i could easily direct pornos. i've been thinking about maybe doing that here out of sheer fucking boredom and being surrounded by a bunch of horny freaks. but at home? i'd probably wanna direct a drama. something with real emotional appeal. the kinda thing that earn ya oscars. ( it's always about how to be the next biggest fucking star she can be. )

I see. Thank you, that's very helpful. I think you'd be good at whatever you decide. You seem very determined.

[ remember those red boots of yours that went missing during that party? they are now carefully parcelled and placed in front of your door. no note, but the shoes do smell and look clean, with all stones accounted for. ]

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