[Video]

[chenqing_player]

[There are dark circles under his eyes as he turns on the phone, looking like he is ready to punch something.]

Okay...so...I know we are all kind of getting used to the fact that we have these powers. And I admit I was kind of hoping I would be left out of getting too many of them.

[He sighs and pokes at a stuffed animal that has decided to jump up on the bed beside him. Yes...that teddy bear is moving by itself.]

Well...is there anyone out there that isn't afraid of ghosts and might be willing to be a chaperone while I make sure I don't summon a 100 foot marshmallow man?

[That teddy bear suddenly smacks the phone out of his hand and there is a black out for a moment and a small scuffle while he tosses the bear off the bed and reaches down to get the phone. His face comes back into view.]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to need some help before my whole apartment gets overrun by angry stuffed animals. So if there are any takers...let me know.

Comments

[temptationaccomplished]

Given all we've seen, I feel like you should approach any powers as if they're likely to work, more than not.

That said, it sounds like it's just a troublemaker, at least, but do be careful you don't summon something more sinister. And don't try it on a doll--you know the reputation those have.

[chenqing_player]

Yeah...I thought teddy bear was soft and cute and couldn't do any harm. I was very wrong. But I don't even know what better options there would be.

[temptationaccomplished]

You know, soft and cute things can be right bastards if we so desire, possessed or not.

But I think your best option is to come up with some, ah... counter measures. Perhaps you might talk to our resident Demon? I believe he had you set on a fetch quest for him that might also help your ...predicament? Not that I have any experience with possession, but just hazarding a guess.

Of course that's an awfully Christian solution to the problem. What might your ancestors have done to thwart evil spirits? Every culture seems to have some kind of ritual. An herb to burn and clear the air? Something to anoint with? A religious talisman to ward it off? Or a prayer of some kind?

[chenqing_player]

I should have sent the teddy bear on the mission. No one would suspect a teddy bear.

Well...I don't really know about my ancestors but in these memories I am the one that fights the ghosts and things...usually by using other ghosts.

[How convoluted is that?]

Or a sword...for awhile apparently I had a sword.

[scotch_egg]

Crazy-- Don't just use that shit! Especially if you don't know what you're doing! Christ, we could have an actual-- No I'm not going to think about it. [zombie apocalypses were still just fiction and it would stay there]

Maybe focus. Or stop focusing. Or get some sleep. I don't know.

[chenqing_player]

I definitely not sleeping while that thing is running around!

[he could literally start a zombie apocalypse and that is freaking him out.]

All I need to do is be able to catch it and then wipe the symbol off its back. That has to turn it off...except I can't catch the damn thing!

[serpentinthegarden]

I like mine. It's like... slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes.

[ Which he couldn't help wondering, however briefly, if that was a good thing or a bad thing. ]

What made you decide to try the whole doll possession thing?

[scotch_egg]

Maybe set a trap? Get a net? [he didn't want to go over there but...] Do you need help?

[chenqing_player]

[he collapses onto his bed and stares up at the ceiling.]

Well...I wanted to see if it was easier to handle then when I tried it with the talisman. I keep watching myself do all of these things in my memories...terrible things. And I just want to make sure I don't make the same mistakes and this power just...takes me over.

[he's holding onto the person he is now by a thin straw and just praying it doesn't break.]

The guy in my memories isn't a bad guy but he has some terrible luck.

[chenqing_player]

Do you really want to help wrestle a possessed teddy?

[He is going to search around his house now though.]

Not sure I have a net...or anything to make a trap.

[scotch_egg]

No but I'd rather that than something worse come up.

I can...get a cat carrier? [somewhere]

[chenqing_player]

How could this possibly get any worse?

[He stops and glances back at the teddy bear.]

Get off the counter!!

[And the sound of breaking glass...]

Maybe I'll just call the pound.

[serpentinthegarden]

So it's practice? Makes sense. I just thought... well, some people do take up weird hobbies.

Choosing a stuffed bear was better than a steamroller or something that could do you some damage. Maybe next time try a sponge? I doubt it could be as mobile.

[ A beat. ]

Have you had some more memories about that other you?

[chenqing_player]

Yeah...a lot more. It feels like I can't go a week without one. I just wish they would come to me in order. He had such a complicated life that it's hard to piece together when each of these things was.

And he apparently died and came back to life so...that's fun. Trying to figure out what was pre-death and what was post-death.

[serpentinthegarden]

Died and came back to life... You're not supposed to do that. What was he a ghost? Reincarnated?

[ Lightbulb! ]

He didn't have an entirely different life where he started getting these random memories of a past life he doesn't remember, did he?

[chenqing_player]

[He laughs a little at that.]

Not exactly. I almost wish it was that.

Apparently someone sacrificed themselves so that he could come back and take revenge on people for him.

[serpentinthegarden]

It was some kind of dark ritual?

[chenqing_player]

Yeah...apparently all of these powers with the dead is something called demonic cultivation. he created the spell and wrote it down and someone found it and used it to bring him back. But this kind of stuff wasn't exactly smiled upon whenever he lived.

[serpentinthegarden]

Messing around with demonic powers never is welcomed... Unless you are running in the right circles.

[ ... ]

Which are the wrong circles.

Who was he supposed to be getting revenge against anyway?

[chenqing_player]

That part of the memory is kind of patchy...a couple family members and then someone else. Maybe still family but not one he lived with. He didn't seem to have a very good life.

[temptationaccomplished]

Do you think he would obey you for it though?

...Sounds ...overly complicated. Oh, but a sword. That sounds fun.

[chenqing_player]

Not likely...

Yeah, sword is cool. He stops using that after awhile though. Changes to a flute. Slightly less cool but definitely never thought about fighting with a musical instrument.

[temptationaccomplished]

And you use the flute to command ghosts? Or just to fight them?

[chenqing_player]

Control them to do the fighting, control them to leave. I haven't quite figured out how to play the flute otherwise I would use it on this guy.

[temptationaccomplished]

Oh, a ghostly pied piper.

I know Miss Imai is a musician, so you might ask her if she has anyone who could teach you the flute. Seems that may be easier to come by than the sword.