welcome to the mansion

[airlockedmods]

[The Champions wake up not in a bed, but alone on a plush, velvet seat. Some may recognize the backseat of a limousine, while some may not, but the windows are tinted black inside and out, and there's no chauffeur. All are wearing expensive formalwear, no matter what they thought they were wearing before.

The door opens by an unseen hand and reveals a gravel drive with a red carpet and a lavish fountain. Others are already there, and more limousines continue to pull up afterward. The front doors are locked, and overhead curls a large protective glass dome, keeping the cold void of space at bay, but hey, there's also an unparalleled view of the stars.]

Hey there, Champions, welcome to the IGS Fantasy Sweet. I'm PAL, your onboard maintenance system for this location. Your Overseer will arrive shortly. Please be patient.

Comments

[misanthropicprinciple]

It's slice of life, dude. Aren't there usually multiple combinations available for that kind of thing?

[shikosuki]

[ He shakes his head ]

No, even slice of life casts tend to skewer more towards one gender than the other. Usually in favor of girls so they can appeal to the moe crowd. Like K-***!

And even if they don't they're usually set in high school or something domestic... single dad with his kid... single man with an adopted kid...

[ Why is this convo happening ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei puts his hand to his chin.]

Isn't "lifestyles of the rich and the famous" a pretty common setting, too, though? Maybe not for slice of life exactly, but something like it--dramas, maybe. It already looks like they're mixing genres with the whole kidnapping plot point.

[Isn't it a bit like D****** R****?]

What would you call that, slice of drama? Mystery slice? No, that sounds like cafeteria food...

[shikosuki]

[ Shit, good question, now he's also thinking ]

Mmm... suspense life? Romance thriller? Stockholm romance drama life?

[ Why does each of these sound so much more extreme than the last ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

Romance thriller sounds pretty enticing. I mean, if you're not the one in the middle of it...

actually, 1/2 I changed my mind

[shikosuki]

[ nod nod ]

Right, right? Thrillers are exciting on their own and pretty much everyone can appreciate a good romance!

[ ...... ]

[shikosuki]

WAIT, WE'RE GETTING WAY OFF TRACK HERE!!

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Poor Choromatsu. Gotta play the straight man even in his brothers' absence.]

What were you talking about, anyway? You mentioned a, uh... skit?

[shikosuki]

[ It's okay, it's the only life he knows ]

Ah-- you know. Like a bit. A gag.

[ No he wouldn't know, Choromatsu, why else would he ask ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

I mean, I know what a skit is. I just don't know what that's got to do with this.

[shikosuki]

Eh? Oh. Um... er...

[ He's not... sure really how to respond to that. But it's the first time he's genuinely felt uncomfortable since coming here. Everyone back home just... knows exactly what he would have meant, even though they don't talk about it much. It's just their reality.

Having someone react like this to it is the first sign to him that maybe something is really, really wrong and not just the standard weirdness that is his life. ]

Just um... well. My life is full of... skits. Because it's an... [ okay this is the part he really doesn't want to say because it feels like the part he shouldn't have to but ] an anime.

quietly threadjacks

[honoraryembryon]

... Was the world you lived in written by someone, too?

[ HE'S SO CURIOUS ABOUT YOU, CHOROMATSU. Sorry. ]

[shikosuki]

[ Oh! Someone who knows what he's talking about! He thinks anyway. ]

Um... that's one way of putting it! Akatsuka-sensei created us.

[misanthropicprinciple]

...

[Junpei's aware of Roland playing along, but in the meantime:]

You're from an anime.

[shikosuki]

Y...es......

[ And you're not??? ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

[No? He is from the world of ABSOLUTE DESTINY REALITY.]

As in, you work on an anime, or you're. You're a character. In an anime.

[shikosuki]

A... character.

One of the main characters, actually.

[misanthropicprinciple]

...Congratulations...?

[Junpei has no idea what's going on anymore.]

[shikosuki]

[ Neither does he ]

Um... is it really that weird? [ seriously this is beginning to freak him out ] M-Maybe you've heard of it? It's about me and my brothers, we're sextuplets...?

[misanthropicprinciple]

W-wait... You're from...?

[No way.]

You're one of those Matsunos?

[shikosuki]

Oh! So you have heard of us!

[ Yep ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

But... that's crazy, how can...? Shit, my parents were into that, it's a classic!

[shikosuki]

[ HE'S SO PROUD TO HEAR THAT HONESTLY IT KEEPS HIM FROM THE DREAD OF THE REALIZATION THAT HE'S NO LONGER IN SAID ANIME ]

It's a revival! A new anime to honor Akatsuka-sensei! But since he passed away and we're adults now, we mostly just run things ourselves.

[ ...yeah, he interpreted that as "how can you be an adult and on TV again" not "how the fuck can this classic anime character be here" ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

No, I... uh...

[This is one step too confusing for Junpei. He looks totally lost for two more seconds, then shakes his head and runs both hands back through his hair.]

Okay--okay, it... that's explainable. I mean, if you take the branching timeline theory all the way out, it's possible that anime is based on a real thing...