video | call out to the afterlife

[inuko]

[ Shino gets the camera rolling, and backs up, leaning forward and looking to where the light is, leaving him looking off camera. ]

The blinking light means it's on, right? [ He breathes out in a huff, straightening up and reaching for the table at his side. His fingers linger there, pressed against barely visible pieces of paper. ] Okay, so I don't know how to show pictures I've drawn except like this, and I have a few people that aren't here but might show up sometime, so if anyone sees them, I'd appreciate you letting me know.

[ He picks up the first, then shows each of them, one after another. ]


This is my little sister, Hamaji. And this is my older brother, Sousuke. They're the most important that I know about right away. Hamaji wears black dresses with lace and sturdy heeled shoes, and Sousuke is usually dressed like he's part of the church. You can find him in buttondown shirts, too, like this. [ He lets the drawings be lowered to show the white buttondown he's wearing. The pictures are set on the table, and he gathers up the next few. ] Then there might be one of these guys...


This is Kobungo, Genpachi, and Keno. They're the people who'd most likely want to find me. Genpachi might be in or out of military uniform? Kobungo is sometimes in his inn uniform. Keno always tends to dress traditionally.

[ These are set back on the table, his hand lingering on the surface. He looks to his last drawing, seems to frown, then picks it up to show the camera anyway. Once there, the dog is clearly given more depth to their eyes than literally any of the people, and that's... for reasons! ]


Then there's this guy, Rio Satomi, who'll probably be frowning and angry, because if I can't stand being here, he's going to hate it even more. I guess you could tell me if you see him, too.

[ All the pictures are now back on the table, and a crow, who had been off camera for most this, hops in camera and starts prodding at the drawings while Shino addresses the camera. ]

My name's Inuzuka Shino, and you can contact me on this weird phone if you see any of them in the future. Thanks!

[ He smiles, waving at the camera, as the crow picks up a drawing and attempts to fly away, over the camera, leading to Shino darting forward, hitting his comm, sending it flopped flat to film darkness as he calls out for Murasame to drop that, don't eat the drawing, you stupid bird, and then a fumbling click as the feed finally ends. ]

Comments

[hopefanatic]

So he can choose to be invisible?

[That's certainly very convenient. Most people would probably find such a thing hard to believe, but he seems to take it in stride without questioning it at all. He does catch the way the crow almost seems to be mirroring and following along with everything, though.]

Generally animals don't like me, so I definitely don't think that's the sort of thing I'd risk trying.

[inuko]

Yeah, he can. [ All the animal gods of the four beast houses can to some extent, he supposes, though he hasn't met the fourth one yet. He's not interested in talking more about any of the animal gods; what this person's saying is of more immediate, relatable interest. ]

Really? What's your reason?

[hopefanatic]

Well I just tend to always have bad luck with that sort of thing. And most people don't like me, so I guess it's just natural that animals would like me either.

[inuko]

Is that because you have an attitude, or are you just that grating?

[ How do you manage to make everyone not like you? Seems there'd need to be a reason, right? This has never been his problem, but still. ]

You don't go around kidnapping and threatening to kill everyone you don't get along with, do you? No stealing body parts or accusing people of being demons for your own agenda?

[ ??? ]

[hopefanatic]

Well people seem to think I'm off-putting, but honestly I'm just a pretty pitiful and miserable person.

[He admits it so easily...

Of course people mostly avoid him because he's a meddler and says things that tend to be... More than a little unsettling. It doesn't help that bad luck tends to follow people who get close to him.]

I would never kidnap anyone. And I've never met a demon so I don't think I would really have any reference to accuse anyone else of being one.

[... He doesn't comment on the threatening or stealing body parts bit. Oops.]

[inuko]

[ ............. what have you even done? Shino notices what he doesn't comment on because that list was one he just came up with, there's been no distraction period! Talk about a reason to raise his eyebrows. ]

But the rest is something you've done before? That'd be plenty pitiful and miserable if true.

[ Could he be any more blunt or unsure looking? ]

[hopefanatic]

[Listen he's had a wild life.]

You're right! I'm really the worst type of person! I don't blame any living creature that would want to avoid me...

[inuko]

You're awfully upbeat about being a terrible person...

[ Shino over here giving the camera the weirdest expression. Even Murasame seems to be finding this whole thing strange. ]

But you're not dead, so you have to have people who can tolerate you around here for long enough to at least hold your hand, right?

[hopefanatic]

Well it's all I've ever been so there's really no point in being upset about something that I can't change.

[And being almost eerily optimistic is the only way he's lived so long. There's really very little else in his past to be happy about so being cheery when he definitely shouldn't has more or less become one of many unhealthy coping mechanisms.]

That's true... I'm just a charity case, though.

[inuko]

Is there nothing good that's ever happened in your life?!

[ wow he feels bad for this guy? still weirded out, too, but also? bad?

at least he can sympathise with the no animals liking you bit of things. ]

... How does that even work!? People charity hug you?!

[hopefanatic]

Hmm... Well I suppose that being able to spend time around people I admired so much was amazing, but even then things didn't exactly go as planned.

[Considering the whole... Murder trip business. But then he chuckles.]

I don't know any other reason why someone would hug me. I'm pretty pitiful and ugly, but I guess maybe if someone was really desperate for Chroma they might consider it.

[inuko]

[ ... He doesn't want to know what that means! Really, it just sounds weird! Everything he's been saying ends up sounding weird! ]

You say that, but what happened? What was even planned?

[ Did everyone end up dead or something, he's concerned! Though he should suppose that on the count of traumatic happenings, he has no room to speak, given what he was entangled in and tends to end up caught up in anyway. ]

You... aren't ugly?

[ He's so confused. Maybe he smells bad! Go take a bath, you'll feel better about yourself, weirdo! ]

Or not that ugly, I can't tell, these are small pictures. Pitiful, sure, you make yourself sound enough like it.

[hopefanatic]

[Sorry that's just... How he is. His default setting is "weird".]

I won't bore you with all the grisly details, but let's just say that my high school career didn't exactly go as expected! I had hoped to just live out my final days being able to admire all my talented classmates, but instead we wound up in the end of the world more or less. Not to mention being forced to kill one another.

[So yeah they. Kind of did? Although he's not telling the full truth of the "killing one another" bit, even though it's a calculated choice. Also that's hardly sparing him all the gory details, Nagito.]

Hm. I suppose that the small size of the screens does lend itself to one looking different when condensed in such a way. So maybe I should be thankful for that!

[inuko]

What kind of school ends with classes killing each other?!

[ Sure, he's never attended a school, but just because he was homeschooled for various reasons doesn't mean he knows nothing about school. Everything he said right now! That sounds absolutely not normal! ]

I have no idea if the weird phone's doing anything for or against you... being tiny and ugly would be as obvious as large and ugly, wouldn't it?

[hopefanatic]

It isn't like they were exactly part of the curriculum.

[Even though it did kind of become part of it thanks to a certain someone.]

Well when a picture is smaller flaws are less obvious, right? And lots of people claim they look better in photos than in-person, but I can't say that I've ever really spent much time thinking about how I look since it's kind of depressing. Maybe if I looked more like you I wouldn't mind, though!

[inuko]

I hope not, that'd be insane!

[ But make sense in some historical place he's fairly sure. Somewhere. Things are Weird between worlds! ]

Honestly, do people really say that... and how you look, is that such a big deal? We're born how we're born, life does what it does. So what if you're not as [ he pauses, he doesn't want to say beautiful but saying handsome is likely not going to fly because he's not handsome, he really is beautiful, SIGHS] beautiful as I am. It's not like I chose that anymore than you chose your... everything.

[hopefanatic]

Well it isn't really to me but at the end of the day my own thoughts on the matter don't make much difference, you know? Even if one doesn't take their own appearance into consideration other people will still make judgements based on it and draw conclusions from that. Those who are lucky to be naturally blessed are dealt a much different hand in life, just like people with talent.

[Sorry that you caught the attention of this guy, Shino.]

[inuko]

Yeah, like the number of times someone wants to shove you into a dress...

[ this is more muttered than stated. ]

You at least keep clean, don't you? That matters even more than anything else. Good hygiene!

[ HEAR THAT, BAKURA?!?!?? ]

[hopefanatic]

Do you not like dresses?

[Not that he's judging, just curious.]

Oh, of course! Even I'm not so degenerate as to not do that much.

[inuko]

They're just fine, as long as I don't need to wear them.

[ he's done. done with that! you live all your life dressed as a girl to keep you safe and healthy, have it fail, then feel like bothering again! huh?!

but it's grousing without much heat behind it, because he's the one buying clothing for himself here, and it's not an issue. ]

Well, good. You have some sense of self worth preserving, then.

[ .... really, shino?! ]