shslscenthound-blog

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two sets of five pleas and thank u!!

Novelty “How to Train Your Dragon” Pendant

This was probably given out at some kind of promotion. The front shows that it was for the sequel, and the back has a dragon head design on it.

Cooking Torch

A small sci-fi looking gizmo that sets stuff on fire. Ignite responsibly.

…And it seems you some coins back! Four, to be exact!

#ch2 #ic #jackal tag #normdays

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jackal spends 3 sets of 5 of those little owly binch chips

Someone’s a Richie Rich aren’t they?

You slot your 15 chips in the giant capsule machine and crank the dial and…

Three capsules pop out!

You get…

Harvard Law Degree

Finally! A law degree all your own. Or… someone else’s, but you’re not sure what the name is. Most of the legible text has been covered with food and drink stains. You really thought these were worth more than that….

The Starry Night

A replica of that One Painting. You know, by Van Gogh. At… least, you think it’s a replica! It looks pretty real… you think… with your normie eyes. Who knows if it’s real. It’s pretty amazing though!

Maximum Potency Caffeine Tablets

A 100-count bottle of tablets, each of which contains 200mg worth of caffeine. Perfect for when you need a quick burst of extra energy, focus, and endurance. May cause nervousness and restlessness, insomnia, increased heart rate and respiration, and stomach aches if consumed in excess.

Taking it out you see… two additional chips! Nice!

…and then the machine shifts for a second and… lucky! Another capsule appears!

Glowsticks

Got two left feet? Bad with the ladies? Have no fear! Simply wave these around in as frantic and wide a radius as possible, and soon you will become the object of worship of every peon in the club. Huff.

Quite a haul there!

#ch2 #jackal tag #ic #normdays

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Jackal retracts his card, replacing it with one... flipped upside down. Thanks, Jax.

Vote Recorded!

#ch1 #trial #ic #jackal tag

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and they were all out of vape juice | JACKAL | trial 1

((re: pincer

“A will isn’t a private document, they’re read out loud– q-quite frankly, we haven’t got the time for this! People don’t typically carry their wills on their bodies, they’re kept in a safe place. The fact it was found on her body- something isn’t right.”

Jackal is sitting up at this, nearly out of his chair. His face looks… frantic.

#jackal tag #ic #trial #ch1

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none of these headache cures are working | JACKAL | trial 1.whatever im not keeping count

“Wait. Hold up. Will? There was a will?”

Jackal places his hand to his face, groaning.

“Does anyone have it? Or… has anyone seen it who would know whether or not it looks like Nickel’s handwriting? Urgh… Why are you guys just bringing it up now!? Was there anything notable in the contents? I mean– can anyone just relay everything it said? As specifically as you can.”

He sounds frantic. And then, he turns to Mongrel.

“As Paliacci’s roommate, I really don’t think it’s him.

My vote for Dolly is a shot in the dark… Just because we’ve pretty well cleared that the note must have been forged, but the voice the note is written in… seems similar to that of Dolly’s. And to be honest, all of the obvious suspects don’t line up for one reason or another…”

#ch1 #jackal tag #ic #trial

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Jackal slides a card across the table, face up, revealing... Dolly's card?

Vote recorded!

#ic #ch1 #trial #jackal tag

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best remedy for a hangover is more belligerent accusations | JACKAL | trial 1.7

Jackal slid his coat back on, tucking some objects back into his waistband as Duck scuttled away. He seemed… confused.

“Ah, Cassino… I actually tried to lead the horse with food, but it seemed uninterested. It wouldn’t let me get close to it at all, even with food in hand. So, even if food was used to lead the horse, it had to have been by someone who was already familiar with it.

I guess the horse could’ve been too spooked or angry to eat, but… It… seemed pretty calm.

If anything, I think it’s more likely that the noose we found in the fourth floor was used to lead it, but… I don’t know. It seems a little unlikely.”

Seeming satisfied with his coat, he again sat back down in his chair.

“There’s something else we’re forgetting. Something strange. That ballgown. Assuming it wasn’t taken by Gambit, and nobody in our investigation party stole it from underneath our noses… And nobody seems to be able to account for it… Things just don’t disappear. Perhaps it was magic or the supernatural, too.

Maybe the reason we have a strange, disappearing dress in our evidence is because we’re not looking for someone who can shapeshift, but rather, someone with illusory abilities.”

#ic #ch1 #jackal tag #trial

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knife emoji knife emoji period to denote tone. | JACKAL | trial 1.6

Jackal closed his eyes.

Took a deep breath inward.

You can see the vein on Jackal’s forehead, and you have a terrible feeling about what’s about to happen next-

“Are you fucking kidding me!?

I’m getting pissy about being called shady!? You’re serious? You’re really fucking serious? That’s what you got out of that? That’s really what you got out of that?

I’m busting my ass out here, not for you ungrateful assholes who can’t seem to listen to anyone else over the sound of your own hellishly annoying voice going off like an alarm, but for Nickel, because I cared about her! I have no problem with people calling me shady! Did you miss the part where I agreed? Oh! Of course you did! You’re too busy screaming and screeching and making this all about you, you attention-grabbing little shit! Oh no! You’re a suspect because you were in the same locked building as the person who murdered someone and we have to consider that option in the due process of justice! Poor you! Your poor fragile ego! I’m so-o fucking sorry, I forgot that you’re a precious, fragile little flower that we should’ve let wave in the wind for the entirety of the small amount of time we have to figure this out!

Give me a break!”

He leans back in his chair, turning away from the group. Apologies to the ear of whoever is sitting directly to his left.

“I’m the one who dragged myself all over this building looking for clues! I was one of the ones who moved the chandelier so the rest of you poor fucks could figure it out! Didn’t you say you… barely did anything?

Get it over with and admit you care more about your pitiful little ego than you did about your oh-so-precious Nickel!”

You get the feeling that he might be… just a little bit upset.

In reality, he was exhausted. Exhausted from the lack of sleep, exhausted from doing the legwork, exhausted from feeling like he was being prodded and poked and targeted. Wholesale exhausted. He kicked his feet up on the table, retrieving a carton of cigarettes and a lighter from… His waistband? And flicking one out, holding it in his teeth, and lighting it in one smooth motion.

It was irresponsible, sure, but right now he just needed something to get his mind off of the sheer anger he was feeling and chewing on his lip wasn’t going to cut it.

…But, admittedly, he didn’t have the ability to hold onto that rage when it was Bams.

“Oh, what? You’re just driving me further into Valet’s arms, you know. Next time the trial gets caught up on my personal business, it’s all your fault. My defense is, ‘I had no choice, Bams made me do it-’”

Ah, but he looked surprised. Shaking his head.

“Now’s not the time for jokes, though.

Duck– do you have any way of narrowing it down beyond that? Since it sounds like we’re looking for something we can’t prove exists right now. Or are we going to have to resort to other methods–

Ah… About the note again, though… It just occurred to me… It looked like Candy’s handwriting, or similar to it, but it didn’t really sound like how I remembered Candy’s writing voice sounding. From the Hoot name sheet Bams made.

Oh, yeah, and I don’t recall anyone bringing it up, but it was written in English.

That’s not much to go on, but we can at least eliminate the people who we know can’t write in English, and maybe look at anyone who has a writing voice similar to that of the note.”

#ch1 #jackal tag #ic #trial

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eggplant emoji eggplant emoji sweat emoji knife emoji | JACKAL | trial 1.5

((re: who isnt he shouting at at this point

Was this really happening? Like, actually? Like real life? This was really, actually real life?

He couldn’t help but gape like a fish gasping for water, glancing between Mongrel and Loyal and Pagliacci and Valet and Bams.

In this moment, Sord the horse had become a metaphor for this trial, in that it was a big, aggressive beast that seemed to like baring its teeth at any attempt to control or even gently guide it, may have been involved in murder, and seemed to enjoy taking potshots at Jackal.

And… how did they get on this?

He made a long, drawn out noise something between a groan and a whine, pinching the bridge of his nose tightly between forefinger and thumb.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

He just wanted to solve this quickly and easily, without unnecessary detours along the way.

But that was just too much to ask, wasn’t it?

His chair was kicked out behind him, teetering on the edge of the platform. Hands were slammed down on the table hard enough to make the deck of cards jump a few inches off of it.

“Can you all just shut the fuck up about whatever drama you’ve decided to latch onto this minute, or is that just too hard for you!? Fucking hell, it’s like I’m in highschool again! What I do behind closed doors is none of your business!

I’m not going to pretend I’m any paragon of moral standing, but it’s real fucking telling that some of you are throwing insults and cutting up mere hours after someone was murdered!”

He’s bellowing. Speaking with more force than you figured he’d have in his body. Putting those singer’s lungs to work for once. And when he was done, you could see him shaking with his anger.

He wasn’t about to claim he was better than anyone, oh no. But he was sure as hell doing better than some people.

…But, ah, Caesar–

Hearing him shook him out of his anger a bit, turning his head. Swallowing. Shaking his head. Pinching the bridge of his nose again. Deep breaths. He took a moment to pull his chair back into order, sitting down again, acting as though he hadn’t just exploded at the courtroom.

“Er… Well, first of all, there’s dirt on the fourth floor, yes? As well as dirt in the elevator. Time already addressed that the elevator smelled of horse, so we can be reasonably sure that the horse was in the elevator at some point. I can’t say for certain that the horse was in the Roost, but I think we can be reasonably certain that the horse did exit off into the fourth floor.

It’s not… an in-depth reason.”

He nodded to Caesar, hoping that got his point across.

And… seemed to be glancing across the table to try and catch Valet’s eye, without much luck.

#ic #jackal tag #ch1 #trial

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why everyone shouting | JACKAL | trial 1.3

“Mongrel.”

Jackal had stood up out of his chair, speaking with a tone that was firm but not harsh and looking at her with concerned eyes. And… sighing deeply. What a mess.

“I understand that you’re stressed and it hurts to be accused, but letting your anger out right now isn’t doing anything to help. We need to stay calm and rational. Caesar’s timeline has some glaring errors and little evidence, we all understand that, but lashing out at him isn’t going to catch Nickel’s killer and I don’t think it’s going to make you feel better.”

(funny choice of wording for someone who’s barely keeping it together, isn’t that?)

He clenches his fists against the table. Did he always look that pale, that tired? Were his eyes always that hazy and unfocused?

“I implore everyone to… please avoid the underhanded shots and pointed accusations. This isn’t about any of us right now, this is about Nickel.”

#ic #ch1 #jackal tag #trial

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why everyone mean to me | JACKAL | trial 1.2

((re: loyal, caesar, bambles

Jackal was truly too tired for this shit. But still, a crooked smile made its way onto his face as Loyal continued her onslaught. He couldn’t help but let a light laugh eek out of him–

“Me, a paragon of virtue? No, I know I’m scum. I don’t need you to tell me that. But I’m trying my damnedest to get this figured out and if you’d pull your head out of your ass for more than five minutes, you’d find that there are other people who cared about Nickel besides you and whoever you decided is good enough. And insulting us is just throwing a wrench in the process.

Besides, I’ve heard it’s bad luck to argue at funerals.”

With that he seems to notice he’s been smiling, turning away from Loyal and looking just a little bit embarrassed.

“That aside, unless you have some sort of proof that Nickel spent all that time with you, or someone to corroborate what you said you saw, it’s just that–your word. I don’t think you’re responsible, but I don’t think we can just take your word at face value if we want to be thorough.”

And he looks like he’s said his peace, folding his hands back down into his lap and spending some time listening. His eyes closed. Taking deep breaths. Now wasn’t the time to let his anger take hold of him, even if his temper was… being so very tested today.

But something did occur to him.

“Ah… The… I don’t know if the horse was specifically meant to scare Nickel. I mean… There are probably easier ways to scare someone than… bringing an angry horse up to the top floor, you know? But the decorations, the ballgown, going up to the top floor with the giant chandelier… As Loyal said, I’ve been in Nickel’s room, and it’s very pink and gold. Very shiny. Very… princess-y.

So I suggest this- what if the horse was just meant to follow that royal theme? I mean, isn’t the whole knight in shining armor on his valiant steed part of the whole princess fantasy? Maybe they didn’t know Nickel was afraid of horses at the time. Or… maybe they did, and are just a stickler for following the theme.

I’ve also thought about the horse being used in some way to move the chandelier. I mean, it took Duck, Type and I just to move it a few feet off of Nickel, but dragging it might be easier if you have a horse to move it… But there’s really no reason to think the chandelier was moved at all beyond dropping it.

Either way… the horse definitely went up to the fourth floor, and it can’t operate the elevator on its own, and I think dropping through the floors would be enough to injure it. So we’re probably going to have to revisit Caesar’s timeline…”

Jackal looked…

Uncertain.

None of the details were adding up, and it felt like the more info that was surfacing, the less things made sense. The more they tried to put things in order and figure out a why, the less it seemed like they had all the pieces. The further away it felt.

Guh. And really, he’d just wanted to go back to sleep…

“The dress… Does anyone recognize it? Perhaps, was there a costume or clothing store in any of the places we failed to open up? Maybe it belonged to someone else? If it was someone else’s formalwear, it’s possible that it was tailored to fit Nickel, since I agree… it did seem like it would have fit Nickel well, but…

…Something feels off about the situation.”

#ic #jackal tag #trial #ch1

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i wanna go home everyone's talking too loud and my feet hurt | JACKAL | trial- 1

(re: pagliacci, loyal, time

Here they were, up in the wee hours of the morning, trying to… solve a murder. Exhausted from trudging around the entirety of the hotel grounds and feeling like it was jackal season what with the amount of shots people had fired at him over the course of the evening, he’d almost forgot that they were only halfway through tonight’s itinerary.

Not that Gambit intended on letting anyone miss out.

And so, here he was, feeling a bit like his brain wasn’t in his skull, eyeing Bambles and Valet in their places across the table, feeling terribly lonely and out of place. And well… He couldn’t keep himself from glancing at the pit behind them. As if he wasn’t already feeling lightheaded enough…

He knew the owl was one for theatrics, but this seemed to be pushing the limits somehow.

And then Pagliacci spoke.

Jackal gripped the arms of his chair, acting as though he was about to stand with a look of anger on his face, before remembering where he was and how awful an idea standing up would be.

“Pagliacci. Didn’t I ask if you knew anything about this and you said no? That’s what I meant by something,”

He should’ve expected Pagliacci to be a headache. When was he never not a prickly burr that managed to wedge itself inside his clothes? And just when he felt like he addressed it, another little thorn by the name of Loyal stuck itself right into his side.

Jackal season, indeed.

He sighed.

“What, just because I happen to make friends with girls I’m a predator? I met up with Nickel to offer my services. Because I do bodyguard work and consultations. Throwing potshots damages your credibility, you know.”

He huffs.

“That said… How do we know you’re even telling the truth? If you claim to have been so close to Nickel as to spend a lot of your time with her, I would bet you’re also someone who Nickel would leave her room late at night for. Candy was the one who tried to defend Nickel to get all of this started. All of us knew Nickel trusted Candy, and anyone could’ve written a fake note. And there’s no guarantee that Nickel even went straight to meet Candy, or that she didn’t meet someone on the way back.”

He gave Loyal a look, as if to say anyone can sling shit. Not that he really thought Loyal was the murderer- she didn’t come across to Jackal as a fantastic liar. But… Jackal just couldn’t seem to resist the urge to bite when poked.

And as far as he was concerned, biting when poked was the natural order of things.

Ah, but there were things that should take precedent. Like Time musing about the horse. The rotten, evil thing.

“I kind of assumed it got there of its own volition. It probably got scared of something. I mean, the people I was with and I couldn’t get close to it without it bearing its teeth at us, and it got out on its own, so I don’t think it was… put in the bath. For what it’s worth.

Ah, but did anyone else notice it was missing its saddle..? Those things aren’t easy to get off, are they? And I don’t recall seeing it show up anywhere else…”

#jackal tag #ic #trial #ch1

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here's johnny! | type | react + attn: jackal

“What would we even have to gain by expanding?! We could just settle with staying like this for as long as it’ll take us to be released…!”

… No, that was probably just another one-way ticket to drive someone to the exact same result. As much as TYPE could care less about ‘expansion’ or liberation if it meant the cost of a student’s life, confinement was one of the many known causes leading to conflict among the captives. At least, that’s what he learned from The Shining. And if that same book taught him anything, it’s that some things like murder are doomed to happen in haunted houses. Or houses that look haunted. Or just large, isolated, empty houses in general.

TYPE stepped away from the group, attempting to rationalize the situation, and trying to come up with a logical outlet. Obviously, he has no direct, straightforward answer that came to mind, because he has never worked for a business that dealt so directly with, quite literally, hostage and murder situations. He thought, for once, he couldn’t be blamed if his decision-making was flawed, because it was bound to be flawed no matter what anyone here attempted to do.

When everyone’s safety, let alone sanity was threatened by a murderous animatronic owl… who you’re gonna call?

“Mr. Jackal… may I have a word with you? If… possible, in private…”

#jackal tag #type tag #ic #ch1

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the flat mates of room 201!

[ art credit to my wonderful friend mickey! ] [ check her out! ]

#pagliacci tag #jackal tag #art tag #HHHHHHHHHH I LOV

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Prologue | borger time

Seems like the bulletin board is getting popular. Yet another note gets posted up there, though mercifully, there’s no spot for public participation like the last note you saw in one of these handwriting styles. 

HELP WANTED

we made too much ‘fast food’

dining hall

8 oclock fuckers

charming ad

((public slot 2!))

#jackal tag #obama tag #ic #prologue

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can jackal just go ahead and slam his 5 coins in that there machine

You slot your chips in the giant capsule machine and crank the dial and…

A capsule pops out!

…That’s it, what, were you expecting something else?

The label reads:

Guppy Plush

Looking much more smiley than he generally does in the game he hails from, this black and white cat plush sports… well, absolutely nothing special, aside from being a cuddly black and white cat plush. Could be worse. No flies either!

Nice!

#jackal tag #prologue #item tag #ic

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Jackal pulled himself up to the edge of the bath, dangling his arms off, and peered over at Caesar. To get his attention, he flicked a little bit of water in Caesar’s direction.

“Hey. What’s up?”

He folded his arms on the side of the tub, resting his chin on them and tilting his head to the side. Like an inquisitive dog.

“I know unhappy faces when I see them and that was certainly one of them.”

the baths of agrippa | caesar | attn: jackal

#jackal tag #caesar tag #ic #prologue