( OPEN ) all things fit in the mouth

[harageous]

Who: Eda (harageous) & probably you
What: Donate stuff to be destroyed! Or well "destroyed". GUESS WE'LL SEE.
When: Late March
Where: West Park, Sunset Falls.
Content Warnings: Hole talk.

( ridiculous posters have been stapled up all over the city of sunset falls.



put {STUFF} into the {HOLE}. today only! today only! today only! visit west park between the hours of 11am and 4pm to donate! become part of history when your treasured item gets consumed by the hellmouth!

today only! don't forget that! limited time!

should the posters provide proper enticement or just invoke enough curiosity, eda can be found set up at a small booth near the entrance of west park. it's just a folding table, chair, and a couple plastic bins, but the star of the show are the several light orbs dancing above the table.

the perfect little spheres spell out "DONATE TO THE HELLMOUTH TODAY" if viewed at by the correct angle. should anyone make the mistake of walking by, eda is already all but forcing a flyer into their hands. )

Hello, hello! Ya got anything for the Mouth ™ today?

Comments

[a_gaggle_of_ghosties]

[Once he'd caught wind of...whatever this was (garbage day?), Nox was quick to investigate. Both because it sounded utterly strange to begin with, but also because he had informed the new mayor he'd look into whether the Hellmouth could serve as a suitable method to dispose of any ghosts that insisted on remaining a public menace.

Nox only bothered to make himself known after Eda had finished accos-encouraging the latest passerby for an offering. And, as usual, anything approaching a polite introduction was completely out of the question, and Nox instead opted to just reappear out of thin air a short distance away from the witch.]

Bit of an aggressive approach, but I can't argue with the results. Word is spreading quickly.

[harageous]

( of course it is! one of eda's special skills is demanding attention.

also holding attention. on occasion, it can actually be a little bit of a problem. being vibrant and memorable had its drawbacks, as it turns out. )

I've only got two modes. Aggressive and more aggressive.

( she chirps, pressing her palms against the folding table and leaning forward. )

Looks like word got to you too. You got anything you're looking to get rid of?

[a_gaggle_of_ghosties]

If that's true, it's a pity you weren't put in charge of the mayor's press events.

[Would it work out? Probably not. Would he find it entertaining? Absolutely.]

My "donation" isn't something that can be placed in a bin, it will need to be disposed of directly. The mayor suggested I make arrangements with you to find out whether or not the Hellmouth could rid us of troublesome ghosts.

[harageous]

In another life, I was! Ha!

( granted, it was on a much smaller scale within the bubble. still, the fact remains.

but the suggested donation gives her pause. )

You couldn't just chase 'em out?

( said in the same way as if they were discussing raccoons. after all, by her perspective, they're about the same thing. grabby, noisy pests. )

[a_gaggle_of_ghosties]

I'm not fond of half measures. Chase them out and there's nothing stopping them from returning, or from causing trouble elsewhere.

[He was very much aware that "let it be someone else's problem" was its own school of thought when it came to nuisances. Sometimes it was even the appropriate course of action.

But Nox was someone who preferred to only have to deal with any particular problem once.]

It's easier for everyone to bind them until they learn to behave. The ones that do are free to go. The problem is I don't currently have any way of getting rid of the ones that don't. Even as weak as they are, there's likely a limit to how many I can bind at once, and I'd rather not discover it the hard way.

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth was not brought here because of the flyers. He just likes to walk in the park sometimes.

The presence of a person he met only when he wasn't really himself gives him pause. He's not entirely sure how to handle it. Pretend they're strangers? But if she really is a friend of Loki's in any way, he'd like to know.]

...why would I carry around useless items?

[harageous]

Because they could be too dangerous to leave unattended.

( the immediate answer. there are plenty of other reasons why one might carry around junk, but that's the first one that comes to mind. )

Magical artefacts can be tricky like that, baby girl.

( because she remembers. )

[unkindled_madness]

I only get my enchanted items from those I trust to make them.

[As if he has a great number of them. It's true though.]

...and I prefer "Sephiroth."

[harageous]

Yeah? You often stocking up on the strange and magical?

( because if he is, she wants to know where. like yesterday. )

Oh! Yeah? That was your real name?

[unkindled_madness]

Not often, but Loki has a talent for it.

And yes. [A pause. Loki did go by "Luke"- did more people have their names changed?] Is yours not Eda?

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki comes to survey because this is his employee (sort of) and he gave her this job out of trust (no, he did it because it was funny). ]

How is it going so far?

[harageous]

( sometimes both things can be true. not only was eda an inspired choice for the job, but she has been taking it very seriously. in her own way. by her own design.

for her own machinations.

she grins as he approaches, gesturing to the plastic bins with a fair amount of odd objects thrown into them. )

I'm making it happen.

[dothelokimotion]

[ his lips twitch. ]

I can see that. Clearly I left it in the right hands.

[harageous]

Don't tell anyone, but between you and me and the boiling seas—

( the sea doesn't boil here. )

I appreciate that you did.

( which is about as much appreciation as she's willing to verbally extend on the matter. really, the important part is that she was saying it at all. her status as an unaligned individual made things complicated, but they were a lot less complicated with a steady job under her belt. )

[dothelokimotion]

I won't tell a soul.

[ not unless it's funny, in which case, he'll change his mind. ]

[hackrid]

( claudia's been trying to spend time in the various cities she sees crop up in her ~research. sunset falls piqued her interest pretty quickly considering the vibes. she's cruising, a giant iced coffee in one hand and her busted farnsworth in the other, waved around in front of her in the vain hope of a signal when the largest greyest elf she's ever seen blusters in on her.

because she's only human, and humans when presented with flyers have no choice but to accept them, claudia flounders for a moment to get a hand free. instead, she holds a pinky out and pinches the flyer between it and the farnsworth. )

The...............Mouth?

( uncomprehending eyes take in the flyer, and then return to eda's face. my, what big fang you have. )

[harageous]

( that's one of the best parts about humans! they were remarkably easy to market to. they were also easy to bully. one might think that those two things correlate and they would be exactly right! it's why you've got to be a shark out here in the human realm. to survive!

although, truly, the same could be said for the demon realm as well.

eda grins down at the newcomber, immediately delighted with her reaction. )

Short for Hellmouth. Welcome to Sunset Falls! Located right smack across three leylines and with its own portal right to Hell.

( for as much as that sounds fake, it's entirely true. there's something wrong with this entire town. it's a freakshow. eda loves it.

then she winks and gestures towards claudia. )

For when you need a vacation.

[hackrid]

( an almighty stare takes over her face, scrunching one eye a little more closed than the other as she takes all of...this in.

where she's from, you don't talk openly about leylines or call things hellmouths. that's a one way ticket to the loony bin, and she already got the tshirt from that experience. )

Hellmouth.

( one more moment. )

As in, the mouth of hell.

( ...processing complete. she's in. )

What have you tossed in already?

[harageous]

( quick on the uptake!

eda likes that in a person, especially in what looks like free-spirit to boot. as a result, she's more than happy to start explaining herself. )

That's right. A mouth of hell right here. Under the school.

( explains a lot, huh? )

Like highschools don't have enough problems already.

( a wave of the hand.

then she gestures to the bins on the ground with a small, budding collection of items placed within. on the front of the bins, eda has written the general percentage of magic she could read from the things she'd placed within. from low levels of magical energy to high. )

Nothing yet. I've been separating items based on magical energy in preparation.

( "in preparation" is code for knowing that she's doing something potentially very dangerous. )

I'll start with the regular stuff. Record how it reacts, you know?

( only science if you write it down. )

[hackrid]

( instead of getting caught up on the high school thing and how she sort of didn't really go as much as she was supposed to, claudia locks in on the bins full of goodies. )

Yeah. Yeah...work your way up in intensity. That's smart.

( she is way casual about messing with magic items, historically. as evidenced by the way she puts all of her stuff down and produces a hanky with which she plucks a good out of the bins. )

Ooh, Polaroid! You think it grabs one of your personality traits and freezes it in film forever?

[fearfully_symmetrical]

She didn't want to admit she was curious.

She didn't want to go hang around an event. But after a little internet searching, the very concept was...well, too much to pass up. And hopefully she can see hellfire, which is a little bit interesting, she has to admit.

She comes towards the end of the day, and is trying to blend in. She's not precisely homeless, but...well, one can only use conveniently-floated-into vacant hotel windows so much, really. And the clothing she's picked up is...not arranged in a cohesive outfit, since she has no idea how fashion works.

Grown in a lab, trained in a secret bunker. Turns out colour coordination wasn't on the curriculum. Which explains the khaki slacks and the incongruous purple tank top, and she seems unbothered by any wind. Oh, and there's sunglasses. Big ones. In short, she looks like she's trying to be incognito.

And has a bag of VHS cassettes. She'd bought them from a thrift store when she'd had a credit card, thinking she could watch them. But then never found a VCR.

And one needs something if you're gonna stand in line to chuck stuff in a hellmouth.

[harageous]

Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb.

While Eda isn't the most versed on human fashion, often looking like she raided the lost and found bins herself, she's still got a pair of eyes and perfect vision. Meaning she can see the fashion monstrosity in line well before she actually makes it up to her table. It also means that there is ample time for Eda to form her own excited conclusions about what sort of person might be underneath those clothes.

By all rights, probably someone who knows how to have a good time.

After those in front of her have been spoken to and their items properly binned and sorted for the future Hellmouth feeding, Eda leans against the edge of her table,

"Well, well, well," she starts. "Looks like we got a regular superstar over here."

Her tone is friendly, welcoming.

"What'd you bring me?"

[fearfully_symmetrical]

She casts her eyes down a bit, the glasses slipping down her nose. That tone is...oh, still so unfamiliar to her. Like a potential landmine, but she wants to grab it anyways.

"Oh, uh, no, I'm nobody special, um."

She stops talking, because it's so spectacularly smooth, and just opens up the bag.

"I got tapes," she says, unceremoniously. "Do I throw them in one at a time, or all at once?"

She has certain notions about things.

[harageous]

As soon as the bag opens, Eda is leaning in to peer inside of it. She gives it a careful look, examining it, but as far as she can tell, she's being given a whole sack of some sort of soot brick. It's kind of perfect, really. What better to throw into a Hellmouth than a little soot?

There's humour in that.

"Hold on now, Miss Nobody Special," Eda says, lifting a hand to stop her before she starts unloading. There's a process to this sort of thing. Not much of one, mind, but there was still definitely a process. The first step, of course, was to determine the energy value of the item.

"Tell me about what you've got first. Do they have any special properties or magical energy or oddities?"

[fearfully_symmetrical]

She blinks a few times. She hadn't considered that. How do these things work?

"Uhh....no?" she guesses, voice clearly unsure. "I mean, I bought them from, like, a normal shop. Nothing magic or nothing."

She looks down at them again.

"And there's, like, a tape reel in them. Is that odd?"